The Story Is Not Over Yet

“I can’t do this… Ir, Irene…”

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Azela turned her head and crawled towards Irene, whose body was drooping on the floor.

The strength in her hands and legs were lost, and she couldn’t get her body up.
Even though her knee was scratched, she felt no pain.

Her maid, who was like her sister, couldn’t even close her eyes.

Maybe, she was not dead yet…?

Azela, who crawled up to Irene, raised her trembling hand and called her name as she gently shook her body.

“I, Irene.
Wake up… I was all wrong.
It’s all my fault, so get up.”

She shook Irene’s body as her body was getting cold, though there was no response from her.
The corners of her mouth, who always smiled kindly, became stiffed and the embrace that had held warmly became cold.

The last reason in Azela’s life that made her able to hold on without collapsing had evaporated as it was.

“Of course, the doctor… doctor…”

Azela let out the roar of a beast as she hugged Irene, stained in scarlet, into her arms.

…She had to live.
Without Irene, she would have died as well, so she had to somehow save her.

“She’s already dead.”

However, at Daniel Earl’s cold words, Azela’s heart was crushed.
There was no emotion in his gaze as he looked down at Azela and the dead Irene.

He opened his mouth again, looking at the messed-up Azela as he walked, carefully avoiding his shoes from getting Irene’s blood that soaked into the floor.

“Now, you must understand what I mean, Azela.”

“…Daniel.”

“This is the last warning I can give you.
Don’t touch Sylvia.
If the same thing happens again, the people lying there will be the people you care about.”

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That was the end of Daniel’s words.

He certainly knew what Irene meant to Azela.
There was no way he didn’t know.
Still, he didn’t even say a word to her or asked if she was okay.

When he finished speaking, Daniel turned and left the bedroom, and the knights and servants followed him.
Only Azela and Irene, who could not even shut her eyes, were left in the chilly bedroom where only the cold air remained.

“….”

Azela, who was left alone with her, raised her trembling hand and gently closed Irene’s eyes.
Her tears flowed non-stop, and they dropped onto Irene’s face.

“Irene…”

She sobbed as she buried her face on the frozen Irene.

The roar of the beast echoed through the bedroom throughout the night, though no one cared.

 

***

 

The funeral was short.

Although the name was a funeral, Azela was weeping so that she could bury Irene in County Todd’s land.
Even while allowing it, Daniel said, ‘I’ll be considerate.’

Recalling that memory, Azela smiled emptily.

The funeral was modest and quiet.
Irene had no family or relatives of her own, so she had no one to tell about this tragedy.
Other employees she was close with wanted to attend, but in the end, no one came to the funeral due to pressure from Daniel and Sylvia.

Azela was the only one watching the burial.

…Irene’s ending was so lonely.

She watched her last moment being buried to the ground by the hired workers.
Perhaps, because it had dried up in those few days, Azela didn’t shed any more tears.
After Irene died, she didn’t eat anything, didn’t sleep, and just cried.
That was her last apology to Irene.

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“I’m sorry, Irene…”

Azela exclaimed softly as she watched the soil sprinkle over her coffin.

A strong wind blew as if answering her words.
It was as if the warm spring breeze was telling her that Irene was okay and not to cry.
Tears welled up in her dry eyes, the warm sunlight felt like being embraced by Irene’s arms.

Now, Azela had no reason or meaning to live any longer.

“I’ll be following you soon, too, and I’ll see you there again.”

Burying Irene in the ground, she buried everything she felt together.
Even the slightest bit of regret, love, and even the slightest expectation that had remained of Daniel.
The word ‘Daniel’ had no meaning in her mind any longer.

Azela, who watched for a long time as Irene was buried, turned her body and headed towards her bedroom.

It was a neatly cleaned bedroom, and it didn’t even smell bloody like before.
It seemed that all of the furniture had been replaced with new ones.

Sitting on the unfamiliar bed and glancing around the bedroom, even though the furniture was the same, she wasn’t used to it without the stains on her hands.
The smell of the new furniture stung her nostrils and was so unpleasant.

…Azela’s memories with Irene were no longer here.
There was no smell of Irene or nothing from her touch.

Azela quietly laid her body on the bed.

It wouldn’t be terrible to follow Irene like this.
It would be rare for an employee to come to find her in the bedroom.
In addition, now that Irene was dead, all the employees in the mansion had a good sense of where to line up.
They now looked at Daniel and Sylvia, and started ignoring Azela.

The stranger in this mansion was now her.

“Are you so depressed that only one maid died?”

How much time has passed, Azela, who was lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling meaninglessly, heard a voice she didn’t want to hear.

Turning her head, she could see Sylvia standing in front of the bedroom door.
Wearing a fancy dress and fancy makeup, she was far from what Daniel said was hurt.

“…Why are you here?”

Azela spoke in a very hoarse voice.

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Sylvia pulled up the chair and shrugged her shoulders as she sat down near the bed.

“I didn’t even know Daniel would do that.”

“…What?”

“I was wondering if there was any misunderstanding.
It’s true that I was upset, although that didn’t mean I told Daniel to kill her.”

Azela laughed unknowingly at the calm voice that spoke as if there was nothing wrong.
Her bizarre laughter echoed loudly in the quiet bedroom.

She never thought she would ever laugh, but she was laughing like this.

“You were the one who turned down my offer to get along in the first place, so it’s not entirely my fault.
I couldn’t help it.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t help it?”

“What?”

Sylvia looked at her with the startled bunny eyes at Azela’s questioning tone.
Tears that seemed to cease to flow from her eyes were flowing from Azela’s eyes, who was smiling bizarrely.

Contrary to the corners of her smiling lips, Sylvia furrowed her eyebrows, horrified by the tears.

“Are you here to make an excuse that it was inevitable that someone died, and that it wasn’t something you asked for?”

“I mean…”

“No, don’t say more than that, Sylvia.”

Cutting off her words, Azela pulled her torso up from the bed.
She then grabbed Sylvia’s hand tightly with her bare, skinny hand.
She was like a dying corpse.
It was as if she smelled like a dead person and her eyes without emotion were not those of a human being.

“Every time I say something to you, someone else will die like Irene.”

“Let, let me go.”

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“I’ll be dead the way you want me to be, as Daniel wants me to.”

“This, this hand…”

“But, I have to say this for the first and last time.”

As she turned her creaking neck to stare at Sylvia, she tried her best to loosen her wrist that was caught by Azela, but she couldn’t understand why the strength was so strong in the body, which was now only bones.

Sylvia, with a terrified expression on her face, gasped for breath in horror and began to slap Azela’s hand hard, as though disgusted.

Nonetheless, she didn’t move.

“You killed Irene, Sylvia.”

At that word, Sylvia, who was smashing the back of Azela’s hand, stopped.
Her hands were trembling.
However, after finding her composure, she then gave a strong reply and looked at Azela with a poisonous gaze.

“Crazy bitch.”

At her words, Azela released her hand and nodded her head.
As soon as she let go of her hand, Sylvia took more than five steps away from her.

Azela, who took her gaze away from Sylvia, giggled and nodded her head.

“Yes, I’m crazy.
I went crazy and let Irene die like that.”

“I, I didn’t kill her.
If you had just responded when I asked you to get along…!”

Sylvia, who raised her voice, turned her head to see Azela’s gaze at her and shut her lips before taking a deep breath.
She felt like Azela was going to kill her if she had said more words here.
It was as though she had nothing to fear, as she now had nothing more to lose.

She was haggard, and the withered and twisted body like a rotten wood seemed to crumble to death at the push of a finger.

Sylvia spread her messy dress with the palm of her hand, trying not to show her trembling voice, and uttered.

“I understand why Daniel doesn’t love his wife, and why the handmaid named Irene left you.”

“….!”

“Who could love a woman like this, and who could stay with you? You’re so crazy.”