Chapter 50 – Stranger (3)
Isabella looked down at her Lucia, who buried her head in her own chest. Seeing her look like a cat with a wish for her master, Isabella felt a strange feeling in her.
She had seen too many of her childlike whining and begging to be pampered.
As a child, because her parents passed away too early, and because Mason left her early, Lucia projected her parent’s vacancy into Isabella, and she tried to compensate for that vacancy. Seemed
Because she was well aware of that, and because she used it to get her Lucia into her hands, she usually tuned in to her tune. She stroked her hair when she was spoiled, and cheered her up when she complained.
To her Lucia, Isabella was her lover, step-sister, and adoptive parent at the same time.
– I love you Isabella.
It was her sincere confession that Lucia made to her one day when she was younger than she is now.
-You are my only family. More than my sister.
I felt pleasure emanating from the depths of my heart as I watched Lucia holding her hand with her silly smile as she couldn’t control her own emotions and shed tears.
Maybe it’s this easy
In her village, she was praised for her beautiful looks and friendly personality, but in fact she was more internally worn than anyone else.
Lucia, from her early years, to her lost parents, to the absence of her Mason who should have taken the vacant place, to her confused and lonely times, was the friendship she was desperately clinging to. Among them, Isabella, who showed a more mature appearance than her peers, began to long for Lucia even more.
When Isabella said that her long hair would suit her, Lucia started growing her hair out. She complied with her request without asking, and she did her best to satisfy her. She is like a child trying to be praised by her parents.
Whenever that happens, when she smiles at her, gives her a light thank you, or strokes her hair.
The face dyed with happiness as if he had won the whole world was so funny.
So, she didn’t deal like Becky. No, she didn’t have to deal. Because she felt her rivalry with Becky and felt that her position was threatened, she tried harder to win her love.
Okay. Haven’t had any problems so far.
When Isabella didn’t respond, her watchful eyes looked up at her. Lucia’s head was clearly visible as she was crying. She still looks sad, but her eyes are calculating quickly.
Why she doesn’t pamper herself as usual,
She wondered if she had gone against Isabella’s planting.
Isabella gave her smile to Lucia, who rolled her head eagerly, but at the same time she firmly released her hands from her waist. As for Lucia, she seems to be embarrassed by the unexpected development, and her tears are relieved in an instant and she is embarrassed.
“What is going on? Our Lucia?”
As she spoke softly, she could see the relief on her face. Perhaps it was because of her lack of affection and her aspirations in her childhood, that Lucia liked the words her parents might have said, such as ‘kid’ and ‘we’.
“That, that-“
“I don’t know what made you so sad.”
She cut off Lucia’s words with her single sword. She needs corporal punishment for a naughty child.
“The maid must have told me not to disturb you now?”
The bewilderment on Lucia’s face deepened. Isabella feels satisfied seeing her like that.
“What the hell, how important is it, why did you ignore my ‘request’ and come up like this?”
I feel bad. But Isabella had a duty to discipline her.
Because that is the role of parents.
Lucia’s body began to tremble.
I’m sure that her steps, which became light at the thought of meeting her Isabella, her hum that came out without her knowing, when held by her, will be stroked by her as usual and whisper her sweet words. This.
It disappears like a lie, and only a sense of crisis takes its place.
Of course, it was obvious that her Isabella was walking her tightrope on her own line, and that her only Isabella was holding herself to a finite standard.
But Lucia only does it because she truly believes in Isabella. She played with her because she trusted her with all her heart that she wouldn’t hate herself. She showed a weak side because she believed she would never abandon herself.
Because she loved her with all her heart, she revealed everything about who she was and played freely within the boundaries she had set for herself.
She was just acting normally.
She put her toy, which she used to play with often, in her mouth as usual, and although she showed a slight annoyance, she just wanted to see her master, who would listen to her overpowering her herd.
Like now, if you get angry unexpectedly.
It is unfair. Because she is also a human being, she is angry at times, and her sorrow rises. But that’s just an impression that comes to mind when she looks back later.
The fear that maybe, just maybe, Isabella might hate her turns her anger into her submission, her anger into her pleading.
“… Ugh, black…”
The corners of her eyes became slightly hot and blurred. Little by little, I felt that my breathing was getting better. Her quickened breathing is about to get out of her control.
She felt sorry for herself. She hated herself for not being able to logically express her own opinion about this, even though she was in a situation where she felt a bit offended.
But what she hates more than that is that she is out of Isabella’s arms and she is herself.
Being abandoned by my only reason for living is more painful than dying.
“Why are you crying?”
I hear Isabella’s calm voice as hot tears roll down her cheeks. Surprised by her voice, which contained only her doubts, not her anger or emptiness, Lucia hurriedly wiped her eyes and looked at Isabella.
Her face is calm The aura of her that had held her back until just now disappeared like a lie.
No, maybe it wasn’t there in the first place? Isabella wasn’t even angry, so did I just stare and guess?
“Wipe away your tears. Why are you crying, what’s going on?”
Isabella laughed. Her bright smile relieves her tension and builds a sense of relief. Like an idiot, her tears haven’t dried yet, but an arc is drawn on her lips little by little.
“M-I’m sorry…”
She tries to open her mouth and offers her apology in a trembling voice. Isabella didn’t even get mad at her, but I guessed her foolishness and frightened her, embarrassing her. It’s embarrassing for her to be weak, but she was able to handle that.
More than that, I got incomparable satisfaction from the fact that she wasn’t angry, that she didn’t abandon me.
“Let’s talk about that later, then come into the room. I’m thinking of doing something fun right now.”
“What, what… ?”
Wiping away the remaining tears, he smiled again and followed Isabella. He catches Isabella’s finger with her tear-stained hand. She thought Isabella might be a little offended, but it was her own gamble.
Finally, to get rid of the unpleasant bits of anxiety left in one corner of your mind.
At Isabella’s hand holding her tear-stained hand without rejecting it, Lucia could feel her heart beating fast again. Feeling happy and thrilled, she asks Isabella again in her joyful voice.
“So Isabella, what’s interesting-“
Lucia’s words had to be cut off in front of the bed Isabella had taken her to.
Because there, an angel who had just fallen from the sky was looking at him with eyes locked in haze and boredom.
She would be more like a child than innocent to Lucia. All she needed was her love. If she hadn’t made up her mind to have her, Lucia would have grown up to be just her normal, bright young lady.
But because she deliberately made her lean on herself, she manipulated her into thinking of herself as her only family and friend.
She became a fool Even though she complained and joked, she wanted to be confirmed that the other person would bring me unchanging love and infinite affection like her parents.
She had no regrets for making her that way. She said she regretted it every day. She joked to Lucia, but that was a common phrase, and she couldn’t have let Isabella go so far if she hadn’t wanted it in the first place.
Okay. But now it’s just annoying.
Lucia’s stare, her hardened gaze, was over her Ciana, so she didn’t notice what expression Isabella was making. If Lucia had seen her expression now, she wouldn’t have been able to get over it by taking off her pretense as if she had never been as angry as before.
Lucia is loyal, but Lucia has her life as Lucia.
Since she was young, she has known many people in the village, so if she suddenly disappears one day, she has no choice but to give off a strange atmosphere. Neither did her Becky, so Isabella couldn’t keep the two of her in her own mansion.
But.
Because now, there is a woman lying on the bed looking disheveled, looking at a new character with enchanting eyes.
With all links to the world cut off, even though people might be curious, there was no reason to find or bother to search, because there was a marionette without an owner here.
Because here was the perfect, never-to-be-received toy that she had ever put in her hands, seen or imagined.
“Ah oh…”
Lucia looked back and forth between her disheveled gray-white hair, her patent shoes rolling carelessly on the floor, and Isabella’s feet, now wearing only her stockings without her shoes.
I slowly realized what this situation was.
“Lucia.”
Isabella whispered in her ear as she stood idly by, leaning close behind Lucia’s back. She was startled and felt her body tremble. She could feel the emotions running through her body. Her upset, her sense of betrayal, her regret that Cianna is over there, not her.
And, like Becky, whom she hates the most, she is not a partner in Isabella’s relationship, but a third party who interferes with her relationship.
The punishment isn’t over yet. She couldn’t apologize for interrupting her own enjoyable personal time to that extent.
Isabella became a pushy parent to a child who refused to eat her vegetables.
The health and satisfaction of the child is a secondary issue.
This is a matter of authority and prestige as parents.
“It’s fun, let’s do it together.”
Saying that, Isabella slowly moved her hands to loosen Lucia’s collar.
