Free Web NovelChapter 28: Chapter 28: A Daughter’s Pain
Chapter 28: A Daughter’s Pain
—CELIA—
I am completely and utterly distressed at the fact that I am currently standing in front of a suspicious bookshelf in the darkest corner of this enormous room while following magical glowing thread like some underpaid side character in a horror movie.
Honestly, this is how people die.
I stared at the floating line accusingly.
"...If a ghost suddenly appears, I am leaving this world voluntarily."
The mana ignored me completely.
Rude.
The glowing thread merely hovered near the shelf expectantly, as though waiting for me to do something important and intelligent.
Unfortunately for it, I possessed neither qualities at the moment.
Still, curiosity dragged me forward anyway.
Slowly, I stepped closer toward the towering shelf built directly into the wall. Dust rested faintly across several untouched sections while countless old books remained arranged far too neatly compared to the rest of the disaster currently occupying my room.
The mana line flickered once.
Then suddenly...
FWACK!
"OW—!"
Something shot directly out of the shelf and smacked me straight in the face.
Specifically my nose.
I stumbled backward instantly while clutching my face in complete agony.
"Oh my gosh—!"
My eyes watered immediately from the impact.
"What kind of demonic library behavior is this?!" I cried out in betrayal while crouching dramatically onto the floor.
The object landed directly in front of me with a heavy thud.
It was a journal.
I glared at it through teary eyes while rubbing my poor assaulted nose.
"...You could have introduced yourself normally."
The journal, unsurprisingly, offered no apology.
Sniffling pitifully, I reached down and picked it up carefully.
The moment my fingers touched the cover, soft silver mana spread instantly beneath my hand like ripples across water.
I froze.
The journal glowed faintly.
And then, letters slowly appeared across the front cover.
My breath caught immediately.
I stared silently at the journal resting in my hands.
And for the first time since arriving here, something twisted painfully inside my chest.
Because until now, despite everything, part of me still separated the original Aria from reality.
She had always been "the villainess."
The spoiled antagonist.
The tragic female rival written to lose.
A fictional character.
But this...
This was real.
These were her thoughts.
Her feelings.
Something private enough to be hidden away and sealed with mana.
Slowly, I sat down directly onto the carpeted floor while staring at the journal uncertainly.
Then after several long seconds...
I opened it.
The pages shimmered faintly beneath the candlelight.
Beautiful handwriting filled the first page elegantly.
The ink looked untouched by time.
Carefully written.
Carefully preserved.
Like every word inside this journal had once mattered deeply to the person who wrote it.
And as I slowly scanned the page, my eyes caught words I never expected to see.
"I am Aria Valen, the daughter of Duke Valen, born from his unloved wife."
My breath caught slightly.
"The duke may seem generous, kind, and loving towards me, but deep in my heart, I know he never truly loved me. He was merely burdened by guilt over the fact that my mother died because of his coldheartedness."
My fingers tightened unconsciously around the edge of the diary as the room suddenly felt quieter.
Heavier.
"When I marry, I wish for a husband who would love me wholeheartedly. Someone who would give me the world."
The sentence alone sounded painfully young.
Aria...
Was she truly this lonely?
I swallowed quietly and turned the page.
"Today, I overheard that my father will be bringing in his love child who is a year younger than me. What am I supposed to do?"
The next lines became shakier.
The elegant handwriting remained beautiful, but the pressure of the ink deepened unevenly across the page, as though the writer had been trying very hard not to cry while writing it.
"I tried to smile during dinner today. Father looked nervous when he mentioned that a distant cousin of mine would be living in the household for a while. But I knew. It was his other daughter. So I chose to remain quiet."
My chest tightened painfully.
Slowly, I turned another page.
"The servants think I do not notice the way they whisper.
’Poor young lady. The duke truly loved the other woman.’ freewёbnoνel.com
But I heard all of it, and I could not help but lash out at them."
My vision blurred slightly.
The room around me slowly disappeared the more I read.
Because suddenly...
Aria no longer felt like a fictional villainess from my sister’s novel.
She felt real.
Painfully real.
"Father bought me jewels today. He looked relieved when I smiled. But why does everyone think gifts can fix everything?"
I pressed my lips tightly together.
The next page contained faint stains.
Water stains.
Tears.
"I met Duke Sebastian today."
My eyes widened immediately.
"He was beautiful. He spoke to me politely even though everyone else only speaks to me because they fear father. I think... perhaps if I become his wife someday, maybe somebody will finally choose me first."
The next lines looked messier.
More rushed.
"But then again, I overheard Father speaking with Duke Sebastian. I heard that he wanted Kaelen to marry Father’s other daughter instead.
I was hurt.
No... I am still hurting.
If I ever meet that other daughter, I will make sure to change her mind about staying in this estate."
Something inside my chest cracked quietly.
Oh no.
No no no.
I kept reading despite the growing ache in my throat.
"I know people think I am difficult.
But today, when Duke Sebastian returned to the estate, I came face to face with father again, who as usual pretended to love me dearly.
So I pointed at Duke Sebastian and declared that I wanted him as my husband.
They were both shocked.
I saw father clench his fists in anger, but he kept smiling and approved my demand. Duke Sebastian looked equally stunned.
That was the beginning of his change toward me. It was my fault. I know that. But I do not wish to take it back, even knowing that at the end of the day, I may become just like my mother. An unloved wife."
My eyes burned painfully.
Because this was not the cruel, shallow villainess my sister described in the novel.
This was just...
A girl.
A lonely girl desperately trying to be loved before someone else replaced her completely.
I turned another page with trembling fingers.
A tear slipped down my cheek before I even realized I was crying.
I wiped it away quickly, but another followed immediately after.
Then another.
The journal continued mercilessly.
"Sebastian avoided me again today. I think I frightened him. So I demanded that he come here every morning and dine with me. But he still looked exhausted after speaking with me."
I covered my mouth shakily in realization.
Every single thing Aria did in the original story suddenly made horrible sense now.
But just when I thought the entries could not possibly hurt any more than this, another page caught my attention.
And what was written there was far painful than any other entry I had read so far.
