One Day My Sister Died - Chapter 4 - Part 2

Chapter 4 Part 2

Yuan endured Marquis Compani’s gaze, desperately wanting to block out the noise but unable to.

She wanted to ask why he was staring so intently, but she was terrified that if she spoke carelessly, he might suddenly decide to leave her behind, which would be even worse.

She could see Frederick, blocked by the knights, shouting with such force that his Adam’s apple was clearly visible. Though he was an idiot who didn’t even know why he was protesting, his thunderous voice only heightened Yuan’s anxiety.

Hurry. Move the carriage. Please. Just get me out of here.

Yuan wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt, silently praying.

Then, she heard the news that preparations were complete.

Marquis Compani turned to her and asked, “Any final words?”

“I want my sister to be taken away.”

Yuan said this while taking one last look at the Felice people.

When the Marquis didn’t immediately respond, she looked at him.

With his gaunt face and shining eyes, Marquis Compani looked like a snake.

Her pale lips hesitated for a moment before she gathered her courage again.

“I don’t want those people to see Louise’s body. I want to bury her with my own hands.”

“I’m sorry, but…”

The unfamiliar title and voice didn’t even register with Yuan.

She was consumed with the thought that she had to leave Felice. She needed to leave with Louise, anywhere but here.

“If we don’t bury her here, we’ll have no choice but to burn her.”

“Burn her?”

The blood drained from Yuan’s face.

She urgently asked, “Please answer me. Are you going to burn her? Why?”

“That is the law of the imperial family.”

The mention of the law seemed firm and unyielding.

Yuan looked at Louise’s coffin, still resting where it was, and pleaded again with Marquis Compani.

If necessary, she would even kneel before him.

“Then, burn her where I am. Don’t let her stay here. Don’t let them get the body, whether you burn or bury it. Please. Please, I beg you.”

It was almost like being drenched.

Her hands, neatly placed on her knees, were clasped together in prayer.

“Since you boarded the carriage without further complaints, please cooperate with me.”

When the Marquis Compani didn’t budge, Yuan’s words became sharp.

She didn’t even know where she found the courage.

Seeing the Marquis’s rigid face made her head spin.

If begging and anger wouldn’t work, what could she do?

What if she had to stay in the mansion with the corpse even now?

But contrary to Yuan’s worries, the Marquis squinted and sighed, then gave instructions to his attendants.

Yuan watched as Louise’s coffin was placed on the baggage cart of the procession before she finally drew the curtains on the window.

She had wanted to close them since earlier.

What Yuan was staring at wasn’t the suffocating relatives but her home, the Felice mansion, which had been her everything.

She simply wanted to imprint that mansion in her eyes for as long as she could.

Leaning against the window, Yuan closed her eyes.

Goodbye, our home.

Goodbye, Mom and Dad.

Yuan sealed her lips and bid farewell to the mansion where she had lived for 20 years.

To the beautiful mansion. To the perfect family.

Acknowledging that her wish was ultimately denied.

“Yes! Go away! You crazy raven! Just try coming back! I’ll make sure to nearly kill you!”

Regina’s curses were the last thing Yuan heard from the mansion.

***

The carriage traveled for three days straight.

During the occasional rest periods, Yuan was nothing more than a ragged, doll-like figure.

She gazed silently out the window at the winter forest.

Endless fir trees reaching skyward, covered in snow.

The world remained white as the snow repeatedly fell and stopped.

Snow.

Damn snow.

Damn winter.

Even as she rubbed her dry eyes and whispered to herself, the snow only mocked her by making the world white.

After three days of the Marquis attending solely to his own affairs, he spoke to her after passing through a massive gate.

“There won’t be a wedding. Probably.”

He folded the newspaper he had been reading for hours twice and placed it neatly beside him.

“You can live just as you did at home. You won’t have any social engagements or visit the palace anyway.”

Though exhausted, Yuan listened intently and nodded, making sure not to miss a single word.

“Further scandals wouldn’t be good for the former prince either.”

Yuan tensed and straightened her back at the reminder of the former prince, whom she had momentarily forgotten.

“Welcome to the Black Mansion.”

The Marquis smiled as he pulled back the heavy curtain on his side.

Through the red curtains, a colossal, pitch-black mansion loomed in the distance like a mountain.