One Day My Sister Died - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Prove Your Worth

Yuan met Gustav’s gaze calmly.

The butler, who had looked at her in disbelief, let out an involuntary chuckle before shaking his head.

“That’s unlikely, but technically, yes.”

With a bow, he then left.

Despite Gustav’s cold response, Yuan felt as though she had glimpsed a ray of hope.

‘Just working and enduring won’t be enough.’

She didn’t want to return to Felice.

Nor was she confident she could escape empty-handed and not be caught.

Her uncle would never let her go.

If Yuan fled from the dethroned prince, her uncle wouldn’t miss the opportunity.

He would track her down, declare her missing, and lock her in a room near the Felice laboratory.

The thought alone was terrifying.

Thinking long-term, an indifferent husband wasn’t the worst thing.

At least his behavior was far from that of a reputed “womanizer.”

If she could just close her eyes and prove the consummation, Yuan might be able to live relatively peacefully in a secluded room in this mansion where no one searched for her.

As his wife, Yuan could also subtly inquire about his former wife without being easily dismissed.

“Madam! Madam, let’s prepare for the consummation!”

Henna, who had been watching nervously, quietly cheered, clasping her hands together as if in prayer.

“It’s time for you to take your place as the lady of the house. Prove the consummation, and I hope the master won’t be able to send you away even if he wants to! What luck! This is a sign from the gods helping you, Madam. For the royal family to suddenly issue such an order!”

With a flushed face, Henna immediately sat Yuan in front of the dressing table and began brushing her hair in earnest.

After making her look as healthy as possible, she even produced a slip dress that a new bride might wear, helping Yuan put it on.

As Yuan, in a daze, allowed the maids to prepare her, she began to feel anxious as the sun set.

‘Will he come?’

“Still, it’s a request from the royal family. Wouldn’t they at least pretend to comply?

Butler Gustav had become somewhat lenient due to Yuan’s recent enthusiasm, but he was fundamentally a principled person. Naturally, he would have conveyed the royal family’s request for her to prove her chastity to his mistress.

However, contrary to Yuan’s expectations, even after the sun had completely set and the early evening had passed, the exiled prince Claude Yufrees had not shown even a hint of his faded blonde hair.

‘It’s not just today, my lady. Don’t worry too much. Your health isn’t completely restored yet, is it? Perhaps the master is being considerate of you in his own way.’

Henna, who had been waiting eagerly for a message that Claude was coming, said this brightly as she tidied the bed.

Yuan, looking at Henna’s bustling hands, fidgeted with her attire, which she still wasn’t used to.

Perhaps that man had known from the beginning. The royal pressure to prove her chastity. The fact that she was in the position of waiting for her husband.

Was it because he could always use the excuse of her failure to prove her chastity to drive her away whenever he wanted, despite her efforts?

Contrary to Yuan’s expectation that it wouldn’t be easy to drive her out once she was here and tried to adapt, he must have had some confidence in his position.

A family without a drop of shared blood is indeed a relationship that can be severed so easily.

‘What if I get kicked out like this?’

If she couldn’t live in this mansion, then living a peaceful life, inquiring about Louise’s death, or properly conducting Louise’s funeral would all be in vain.

Some maidservants changed the canopy over the bed to gold and lit scented candles before leaving.

Yuan watched as they closed the door behind them and then asked Henna, who had finished tidying the bed.

It was the question she had wanted to ask the most since she arrived here.

‘Henna, is there any way I could see the previous wife’s room… I mean, Louise’s room?’

Henna’s chattering voice abruptly stopped.

A fleeting moment of silence passed in the room, and Henna straightened her back and bowed her head.

‘I’m sorry.'”

Everyone reacted like this whenever she asked about Louise.

Not just Henna, but all the servants in the mansion had the same reaction.

The reason was that one must never speak about the previous wifes.

‘The bridal chamber has been arranged, and it seems to be enough for now, so I’ll be going, my lady.’

Henna, feeling urgent at the thought that she might be soon dismissed, made a hasty exit. It was a mistake.

Seeing Henna trying to quickly leave, Yuan responded bitterly.

‘…Good night, Henna.’

Henna, who had been gathering odds and ends, glanced at the dejected Yuan.

Yuan forced a smile.

The young maid hesitated at the bedroom door, then looked down, her large eyes rolling downward.

‘The guest rooms are all clustered on the 2nd and 3rd floors here.’

‘!’

‘…Just so you know.’

Henna quickly shut the door and left without making eye contact.

Yuan stared at the spot where Henna had been for a long moment before suddenly standing up.

***

The hallway on the 3rd floor was eerily quiet.

Though the mansion was vast, there were few servants, and the guards only patrolled the outside, retreating to their quarters at night. This made the mansion very quiet at night.

Compared to the constant patrols of maids at the Felice mansion, this silence was profound.

For Yuan, it was a relief.

But the problem was:

‘Please…’

No matter how many doors she opened and closed, she couldn’t find any trace of a person inside. 

Not only were there no signs of people, but most of the rooms didn’t even have any furniture, and the rest were all locked.

‘Louise, Louise, please…’

Let me find some trace of you.

After hours of desperately searching and praying, Yuan finally descended to the 2nd floor without finding any clues on the 3rd floor.

As soon as she stepped into the hallway on the 2nd floor to search systematically from the inside,

Yuan froze at the sudden sound of agonized groans.

Thud! Thud-thud! Strange noises continued for a while.

Hunched over, Yuan took cautious steps toward the source of the mysterious sounds.

In the middle of the 2nd-floor hallway was a massive room.

Each time the sound from inside the room cut through the air, the flame of the candle she held flickered sharply.

Hesitant, Yuan slowly passed by the heavy door, ignoring the sounds coming from within.

She couldn’t tell if the thudding noises were echoing from the walls or if it was just her own heart pounding.

She wiped the cold sweat off her palms quickly and hurried her steps.

But despite her efforts to keep her gaze fixed on the ground and pass by quickly, her steps didn’t take her far.

Even though she knew it was dangerous, even though she knew she needed to get past quickly.

Yuan turned her body sideways and stared intently at the massive door from which the groans emerged.

‘Haah-‘

Yuan’s steps, which were about to move past the door, stopped and she found herself standing in front of it.

Yuan knew all too well when such groans were heard.

She remembered the day her uncle had forced six elderly couples suffering from chronic illnesses on her, claiming he wanted to treat them. 

When the pain of twelve portions, carefully withheld and stored, burst forth from within her.

She recalled the moment when her vision went white and she could only scream in agony.

In fact, it wasn’t necessary to remember those six elderly couples specifically.

She had endured immense amounts of pain in various forms many times before.

This was the sound of pain that no one person should have to bear.

Yuan reached out and carefully turned the handle.

The door was locked.

For a moment, her mind waged a fierce battle between the desire to ignore the pain and the compulsion not to. But Yuan could not turn away.

The sense of satisfaction she had first felt when she started taking on the pain of the mansion’s inhabitants was like a shackle holding her back.

Yuan recalled the kind and warm people of the black mansion. Her body moved before her thoughts could catch up.

Thanks to Frederick, who locked her door whenever he had a chance, she was familiar with picking locks.

Yuan took a pin from her hair, which Henna had styled, and inserted it into the keyhole.

Click—.

With the sound of the door opening, the noise ceased as if it had been a lie.

At the same time, the door opened with a disheartening ease.

***

The room was a wreck.

In the large room, a few pieces of furniture were strewn across the floor.

As Yuan adjusted her eyes to the pitch-black room, where not a single ray of moonlight penetrated, she extended the candle ahead of her.

And there, standing awkwardly in front of the window on the opposite side, her eyes met those of the exiled prince.

It was indeed his room, as she had feared.

Though his appearance was far more shocking than the one she had seen from outside, there was no doubt in Yuan’s mind that he was the exiled prince.

His eyes, bloodshot and red from burst blood vessels, were glaring at her.

The intense stench emanating from the room was the least of her concerns.

Yuan, with a pale face, barely managed to hold the gaze of the man whose eyes were brimming with hostility.

‘There’s a real possibility I might get kicked out.’

Though his appearance, which seemed to have lost touch with reason, was frightening enough, Yuan was more terrified by the possibility of being told to leave the mansion as she was.

Anxiety surged within her, as if she had crossed a river of no return with a brief sense of camaraderie and sympathy.

At that moment,

Claude, standing with his back to the window, started striding toward her.

For some reason, his hands and body were covered in bloodstains.

She could also hear him muttering low curses as he moved the short distance toward her.

No, no, I can’t be kicked out like this.

Yuan stepped further into the room instead of leaving. She immediately closed and locked the door.

As Claude finally stood before her, Yuan opened her trembling lips.

“Proof of chastity.”

She couldn’t bring herself to meet the intense gaze that seemed to press down on her.

But she also couldn’t stop speaking.

“I-I waited a long time for the proof of chastity period, but you didn’t come.”

How pathetic was this excuse she had come up with?

But she could never admit that she was searching for Louise’s room before being kicked out.

Yuan tightly gripped the loose collar of her clothes and summoned her courage once more.

“I didn’t just wander around. I came to find Your Highness’s room.”

A profound silence.

Yuan licked the inside of her dry mouth and glanced up at Claude, who remained silent.

“…Hah.”

Claude, his eyebrows twitching and face contorted with pain, gave a bitter laugh.

She had expected him to shove her away or strike her with his bleeding hands.

Compared to that, his response was infinitely mild.

Yuan gathered a bit more courage.

“I don’t want to leave this mansion. If you’re thinking of using the excuse of not performing the proof of chastity to expel me, that’s—th-that won’t work! I-I’m already here in Your Highness’s room!”

Her voice wavered terribly, sounding more like a feeble bravado. Yuan was well aware of how pathetic she sounded and was almost driven mad by embarrassment.

Maybe it’s for the best.

After all, this man had no intention of coming.

It was something she had to say.

Even as she tried to comfort herself, the shame was the same. Yuan clasped her trembling hands together and hoped that Claude would say something.

She could hear him grinding his teeth. His exhalation was rough, and his eyes were filled with irritation.

‘Ah, yes. This man must be in a lot of pain right now…’

“If you want to stay in this house, then prove your worth.”

The suddenly spat-out voice was very low and ominous.

“Prove your usefulness. Cleaning. Laundry. Meal preparation… Anything a mere servant can do, not that.”