NIYTR 48

Chapter 48

Broken Fingernail

The drawing felt oddly familiar.

As she stared intently at it, a distant, cozy day came to mind.

‘Wow, Edel. What’s this?’

‘I drew Uncle! There’s a tree and flowers, and also, a butterfly!’

‘My goodness, you did such a great job. Violet, maybe Edel has talent. Right?’

The Marquise of Blossomweaver had bluntly said that it didn’t look like she had any talent.

In response, the Marquis of Blossomweaver had gently covered her ears to comfort her.

Memories of that spring came drifting back like a haze.

‘I really was terrible at it.’

The Marquise’s comment about her lack of talent wasn’t wrong. If not for the matching hair and eye color, it would’ve been hard to tell she had drawn the Marquis at all—it was that dreadful.

Why would something so pitiful be placed in a treasure vault reserved for family heirlooms?

‘As if this meant anything.’

And yet, it was treated as if it were precious.

Edelweiss, overcome by a surge of emotion while brushing her hand against the drawing, fled the treasure vault.

“…Edel?”

When she looked up at the sound from above, the Marquis of Blossomweaver was coming down.

He glanced at her injured foot with worried eyes filled with unmistakable and steadfast affection.

He hesitated, then parted his lips.

“Edel. I didn’t prepare well enough and ruined your coming-of-age ceremony. I’m sorry.”

Had the Duke of Stern told him the same thing? The thought made her feel embarrassed and upset.

“I’ll make sure your wedding is held splendidly. Don’t worry. Is your foot alright? Anna said Prince Damian treated you.”

“…..Yes.”

“Still, just in case, wouldn’t it be better to see a doctor?”

“……I will.”

“Good girl, Edel.”

The Duke of Stern had called her selfish and asked if she couldn’t try to understand him.

But the Marquis of Blossomweaver always apologized.

Even for things that weren’t her fault, he was considerate—just like when she used to watch the Duke of Stern’s mood as a child.

Back then, as the Duke’s daughter, she had one-sidedly longed for him. But now, as the Marquis Consort’s daughter, the situation had reversed.

She had always wanted to call him “Father.” It wasn’t that she drew a line because she thought of him as her uncle.

She had simply been afraid that if the Marquis of Blossomweaver ever had a child of his own, she would be presumptuously taking away the title that child deserved to say.

“Thanks to you, I was happy yesterday.”

“…..Hm?”

“Thank you, Father.”

She didn’t need to hesitate anymore.

The Marquis of Blossomweaver was so surprised he couldn’t even close his parted lips.

Feeling shy to face him, Edelweiss slightly bowed her head and returned to her room.

It had already been a week since the coming-of-age ceremony.

Calling the Marquis of Blossomweaver “Father” at meals had become natural now.

While drinking tea alone with the Marchioness of Blossomweaver, she chuckled and said,

“Do you know how much Cesare brags about you calling him Father these days? I told him to record it like a gramophone and carry it around, and he actually liked the idea.”

The Marchioness of Blossomweaver shook her head in exasperation and pulled out a handkerchief, then began to cough violently.

“Aunt!”

“I-it’s nothing, really.”

A metallic scent spread through the air. Crimson blood had soaked into the handkerchief clutched tightly in her hand.

“Aunt, I—I’ll make a blue rose—”

As Edelweiss tried to summon a blue rose, the Marchioness firmly stopped her.

“I told you last time, didn’t I? No matter how many you bloom, I won’t take them. I’ll throw them into the fireplace right then and there, so don’t put yourself through that for nothing.”

Edelweiss held back the whirlwind of emotion.

So… was she just supposed to stand by and watch her die like this?

Doing nothing, powerless, was suffocating.

“…..Why?”

“What parent would want to prolong their life using their child’s?”

“And don’t tell Cesare. Understand, Edelweiss?”

The Marchioness gently soothed her.

As she tightly shut her lips to hold back her sorrow—

“My lady!”

The butler burst in, rushing through the door in a flurry.

Something was clearly wrong—his appearance was completely disheveled.

“Princess Isabella was found drowned after throwing herself into Lake Emael!”

“Who… drowned…”

The moment she heard that, her mind went blank.

Her vision blurred.

Isabella.

Adolph’s twin sister.

Though it had been a past life, Edelweiss used to spend time with Isabella often.

This time around, she hadn’t become lovers with Adolph, so there had been no opportunity to meet Isabella.

But regardless of what happened with Adolph, her affection for Isabella remained unchanged.

“Isabella will be married into the royal family of Vicenne half a year later, so why…?”

The Marchioness of Blossomweaver clicked her tongue and asked in a sorrowful tone.

“What would drive her to jump, tsk.”

“……”

“It’s strange. Empress Roxanne must’ve cherished Princess Isabella more than Prince Adolph.”

It was strange—Isabella’s sudden death, and the fact that she drowned herself in a lake, of all things.

This was the same Isabella who had married into Vicenne’s royal family just six months later, given birth to several children, and lived a happy life.

More than anything, Isabella had once fallen into a lake.

It left her with trauma so severe that she wouldn’t even go near the shallowest waters.

It wasn’t just fear—she couldn’t even breathe properly at the sight of a lake.

And now she was found drowned?

It couldn’t have been s*icide.

“……Aunt. Is there anyone who would benefit from Princess Isabella’s death?”

“No one comes to mind. Princess Isabella had renounced her right to the throne.”

“……”

The Marchioness of Blossomweaver saw Edelweiss’s darkened expression and gestured for the butler to leave the room.

Once they were alone again, she asked in a low voice,

“Surely you’re not suggesting that Princess Isabella didn’t jump, but was killed by someone?”

Edelweiss slowly lowered her head.

The Marchioness let out a deep sigh and pressed her forehead.

“But why? She gave up her succession rights, and she wasn’t the kind of person to make enemies. Who would do such a thing to Princess Isabella?”

“Isabella nearly drowned in a lake once. She would never go near water after that. How could she have chosen to jump into a lake?”

“……How do you—no, that’s not important right now. Your theory does make sense. But listen—don’t tell anyone about this. Don’t get tangled up in Princess Isabella’s death.”

“……”

It wasn’t that Edelweiss didn’t understand the Marchioness’s cold advice not to dig further.

Still, it felt like a stone was pressing down on her chest.

“Can I at least attend the funeral?”

“Of course. I won’t stop you from that. Someone from the family has to attend a royal funeral anyway.”

There was no way the person who killed Isabella wouldn’t attend the funeral.

Now, she had to watch carefully—who would look visibly relieved that Isabella’s death wasn’t being treated as murder?

Isabella’s funeral was held in the solemn atmosphere of St. Marian Wolf Cathedral.

Everyone refrained from wearing anything too extravagant and paid their respects in mourning.

In front of the glass coffin where Isabella lay, Empress Roxanne—visibly gaunt—and a red-eyed Adolph stood.

‘…Damian?’

Just as the requiem mass began, Edelweiss saw Damian.

He silently sat beside her.

Throughout the entire requiem, he wore an indifferent expression. He didn’t shed tears, but his demeanor was completely subdued.

At the very least, he was showing respect to his half-sister.

Edelweiss approached the glass coffin and gently placed a tulip—Isabella’s symbol—near her chest.

‘…Her nails!’

And then, Edelweiss saw it clearly.

Isabella’s fingernails—broken.