Chapter 8

A telegram arrived from Paddington. The sender was Liliana, Daisy’s lawyer. It requested her presence for a court hearing.

“I’ve met with the opposing counsel,” Liliana said.

“Oh?”

“They came to us first, offering to settle everything. In exchange, they requested that Daisy meet with their client.”

To think they would use giving up custody of Noah as a condition for allowing her to face that shameless person—truly despicable.

However, Daisy felt she needed to meet Elias at least once. She intended to question him about why he had abandoned his fatherly duties after already forsaking his husbandly obligations.

Daisy believed she had the right to do so.

“Set up the appointment. I’d prefer a public place with people around, but where our conversation won’t be overheard.”

“I’ll look into it,” Liliana nodded, considering the request. As a lawyer, she had often encountered clients with similar demands. There were several private room rental businesses near the courthouse.

Upon arriving in Paddington, Daisy headed to the Magnolia Manor.

After her parents’ passing, Daisy inherited all their titles and property. When distant relatives sued, claiming that as a woman, she shouldn’t inherit, they lost. Fortunately, Paddington’s inheritance laws had recently changed.

This change was due to the death of a woman years ago. Wendyne, a talented young noblewoman, had become a knight under her father, the Marquis of the Borderlands. Everyone hoped she would succeed her father.

However, at that time, it was difficult for women to inherit titles unless explicitly named as successors. The problem arose when Wendyne’s father died in an accident before officially naming her his heir.

Wendyne fought to protect her family’s legacy, but greedy relatives sued. They argued that despite being the only direct descendant, Wendyne was a woman and hadn’t been officially named heir, so they should have priority.

The honorable knight who had protected the borderlands lost everything. She was forced to hand over her family’s entire estate to distant relatives, simply because she was a woman. All that remained was her dowry.

Choosing to remain a knight until her dying day, Wendyne used that money to maintain her armor and weapons. But illness struck her down, and she died with no means to fight it.

When news spread of this talented patriot’s tragic end and her impoverished life, people were deeply saddened. The relatives who had ousted Wendyne and taken her manor were heavily criticized. Years later, they sold everything and fled abroad.

In response to the public outcry, the Wendyne Law was born. It stipulated that even if the previous head of the family hadn’t designated an heir, if the only direct descendant was female, she should inherit everything.

Daisy, who had nearly lost the entire Magnolia estate, greatly benefited from this timely enactment of the Wendyne Law.

The timing was so perfect it seemed almost divine intervention.

“Are you the caretaker?” Daisy asked as her carriage stopped at Magnolia Manor and a middle-aged woman in formal attire appeared.

“Yes. I’m Helia Brown, currently managing the Magnolia Viscountcy.”

Helia, who recognized Daisy, greeted her with a hand on her chest.

“I didn’t send word ahead, but I plan to stay today. I hope there’s a room prepared.”

“Magnolia Manor has always been waiting for its master,” Helia replied with a voice full of pride as she led Daisy inside.

The Magnolia Viscountcy, which Daisy had avoided visiting out of fear of returning to Paddington, was impeccably maintained. The annual management fees had clearly been put to good use. Despite the owner’s absence, which might have led to lax standards, not a speck of dust could be found on the window sills.

Helia led the way, opening the door to Daisy’s old bedroom. The room was as tidy as the day she had left, perhaps even more so.

The vase in the bedroom was filled with freshly arranged yellow freesias.

While the younger, naive Daisy might not have noticed, the adult Daisy found this scene peculiar.

“Has there been any shortage of help to maintain the estate?” Daisy inquired.

Helia shook her head. “Magnolia Manor always has sufficient staff. We even have temporary gardeners who come to assist with the gardens when the seasons change, ensuring the viscountcy is always in top condition.”

“Gardeners?”

Daisy was about to say more but pressed her lips together. She wasn’t the type to spend money on seasonally redecorating the garden of a manor she didn’t even visit.

With a slight tremor in her eyes at the thought, she changed her question.

“Did the temporary gardener only come this year?”

“No, they’ve been coming every season for the past ten years.”

“I see.”

Daisy mumbled, walking over to the bed and slumping down.

“I see…”

Her face looked as if ten years of fatigue had suddenly caught up with her. Helia seemed puzzled but didn’t inquire further about her mistress’s thoughts—a quality expected of any household manager.

Daisy heard Helia quietly closing the door. As she barely managed to compose her crumbling expression, she buried her face in her hands.

Who else in Paddington would show such consideration for Daisy? Who would manage the Magnolia Manor that even Daisy herself had neglected, ensuring it was ready for her return at any time?

“Inanna Briancet.”

Her lips moved, and a weak voice uttered the name of the person who had drawn Daisy to Paddington.

An old friend with soft lips, whom she had hated, resented, and sometimes missed.

“Why are you doing this to me…?”

She couldn’t fathom the reason at all.

Daisy spent the night wide awake. She pulled the bell rope, instructing Helia to send word to Inanna Briancet of the Sinclair earldom. However, a telegram from Liliana arrived first.

It was a message that Elias Sinclair wanted to meet today immediately.

Seeing no reason to postpone this dreaded encounter, Daisy sat up and began to prepare herself. She concealed her tired eyes and added color to her cheeks. She was determined to show that she was living well, that she had become a successful businesswoman.

This wasn’t about trying to impress Elias anew. She simply didn’t want to be looked down upon by him anymore.

Wearing a golden apple blossom brooch and an elegant blue suit dress, Daisy examined herself in the mirror.

“You look truly stunning,” she told herself.

As she was about to meet someone from a time when her self-esteem had hit rock bottom and sadness had choked her, she felt her forced smile wavering. She worried whether she could really hold up well.

‘If it gets tough, think about Noah,’ she reminded herself.

However, when Daisy actually reunited with Elias Sinclair, she was gripped by a shock that overshadowed her past sorrows.

Guided by Liliana, they headed to a café near the courthouse that specialized in private rooms. Each room was separated by glass walls, but they were completely soundproof. It perfectly met Daisy’s requirement of being visible but not audible to others.

Daisy, who had thought she would have to wait longer, was directed to the assigned room by an employee who informed her that Elias Sinclair was already there.

For a moment, however, Daisy couldn’t recognize him. This was because the current Elias Sinclair was a completely different person from ten years ago.

It was hard to find any trace of the once-handsome face of her ex-husband, Elias. His eyes were sunken, and his cheeks were hollow. He looked like someone who hadn’t slept properly for days. His hands were tightly clenched, occasionally trembling. Though he seemed to have shaved, his chin was stubbly, as if done clumsily.

His change was also evident in his appearance. He appeared to have made an effort to dress in expensive clothes, but they were poorly ironed, leaving the collar in a mess. There were no accessories to be seen, and his bare hands were exposed like those of a street laborer. His once well-maintained hands now looked rough.

It was hard to believe this was the same Elias Sinclair who had once been the promising young master of an earldom, and later an ambitious young head of the family actively involved in capital politics.

Daisy had seen someone like this before. It was the ex-husband of one of her orchard workers, an alcoholic who couldn’t quit drinking. That worker, who had gained the means to divorce after being employed at Daisy’s orchard, had bitterly smiled, saying that when someone becomes addicted to something, they deteriorate beyond help.

“You said you wanted to see me?” Daisy’s voice was calmer than she had expected. There was no need to compose herself; seeing the once-nightmarish figure in such a pitiful state had cooled her emotions.

“Yes. You look well,” Elias mumbled.

Daisy, having no intention of exchanging pleasantries, went straight to the point. “What did you want to say? If it’s about visitation rights for Noah, it would be better to discuss that in court.”

“I have something to say,” Elias replied.

“Let’s hear it,” Daisy nodded.

“It’s a request. Please, come back.”

Elias looked at Daisy, pleading. For some reason, he appeared desperate. Where had the noble earl gone, the one who had handed her divorce papers and warned her not to cling to anything of the Sinclair earldom?

The man who had once looked down on her arrogantly was nowhere to be seen.

Only a person showing his rock bottom remained here.

“Why should I? Weren’t you the one who told me never to come back, to not cling to anything of the Sinclair earldom?” Daisy responded coldly.

Elias laughed bitterly at her cold reaction. “That was a mistake. I was unknowingly bewitched by Inanna Briancet, that witch. Not realizing that you were the truly precious one.”

His rambling words carried a sense of desperation. But that emotion wasn’t directed at Daisy; it was about his own miserable circumstances.

“Inanna Briancet is a witch? Who was it that betrayed his wife and had an affair, then threw divorce papers at the woman who bore his child? Oh, and at that time, Mrs. Sinclair had just lost her parents in a carriage accident.”

“I’ve committed a mortal sin. Please, just once, take pity on me.”

“I’m not finished yet. Even then, your mother said such things. That a woman like me, with no family to support me and nothing to contribute to the family, was clinging to her son and blocking his path to success.”

She thought she had completely forgotten. That it was a wound already healed. But at this moment, every syllable came back vividly.

Suddenly, she realized. Pain and injuries never completely disappear. They just remain as scars.

“So if I, being such a person, were to pity you, what would change?” Daisy asked.

“…Many things would change. At least that woman would stop tearing me apart.”

“That woman? You mean Inanna?”

“Yes,” Elias laughed bitterly.

“Pretending to be an angel, she entered the family and ruined everything. When I came to my senses, I had crumbled miserably from the political tightrope walking I had started, believing unconditionally in that witch’s words that I would succeed. Before I knew it, I was branded as a flip-flopper, aligning with whoever suited me. Every business of the earldom was entangled in corruption or embezzlement, and my mother…”

As the mention of the Dowager Countess Sinclair came up, Daisy listened intently.

“She became addicted to gambling.”

After a moment of silence, Elias’s face contorted miserably as he admitted this.

“The earldom’s heirlooms were put up as collateral without my knowledge, and eventually seized and auctioned off. Along with the Sinclair mansion. Do you know who bought the mansion?”

Elias asked.

“It was Inanna Briancet. That woman!”

He shouted. Although the glass partitions were soundproof, the activities inside were visible, so Liliana, who was waiting outside, knocked on the door.

Thinking he couldn’t lose this opportunity to talk, Elias hunched his body.

“S-sorry. I got too excited. Please don’t leave with your lawyer.”

“If I give you more time, can you convince me?” Daisy asked.

Elias had no answer. Daisy sighed.

“I’ll see you in court. I’ll remember your promise to give up custody cleanly if I met with you once.”

“Daisy, hey, Daisy!”

As she rose from her seat without hesitation, Elias also jumped up. But when he tried to stop her from opening the door and leaving, Liliana, who had been waiting, blocked him.

Liliana intercepted Elias’s gesturing hand with her briefcase and said, “I’m Liliana Yurel, Daisy Magnolia’s lawyer. If you wish to speak with my client from now on, please do so through me.”

“I want to meet my wife, why!”

“You exchanged divorce papers by mutual agreement, and this was accepted by the sacred court. Therefore, according to the laws of the Kingdom of Claymore, you are now strangers to each other. Even if you were in divorce mediation, meetings are only allowed with mutual consent.”

“Do you… Do you think I’ll back down like this? Noah is my son! My heir! If you don’t come back, I won’t agree on custody either!”

Elias trembled. Daisy watched calmly as the man she had once exchanged marriage vows with fell apart.

Liliana added her final words in a blunt tone:

“We have a written promise that you would give up custody if my client accepted this meeting. If any dispute arises later, I will submit this as evidence to the judge. Also, your behavior now, Mr. Sinclair, could work against you in court later. Please withdraw now.”

Faced with Liliana’s unyielding attitude, Elias slowly crumbled to the floor. Sitting down, he bowed his head to Daisy.

“Please, give me back my family…”

Daisy felt no desire to mock him. Instead, she felt a sudden release of tension. It was a mixture of liberation and emptiness.

“That’s not for me to decide,” Daisy replied calmly. After all, it wasn’t she who had taken the family away from Elias Sinclair. Daisy, who had never even thought of revenge, found this effortless victory bitter.

She had no more time to waste on such a person. She wanted to meet Inanna, to see her.

Daisy headed to the Sinclair mansion but came up empty-handed. She was told that Inanna wasn’t currently staying there. Feeling a strange premonition, Daisy headed to the Briancet Grand Duke’s residence.

From the main gate, the gatekeeper recognized Daisy and cleared the way for her. Surely the heir to the Briancet family should be Inanna’s brother, not Inanna herself. How did they recognize her?

Daisy was led to what appeared to be the head of the family’s office in the main building of the Grand Duke’s residence. There, Inanna was waiting.

Was Inanna now the head of the Briancet family, which boasted power second only to the king? If such a major event had occurred, Daisy should have heard rumors even while stuck in the rural territory of Somerset. After all, weren’t most of Daisy’s main clients nobles?

“Hello,” Daisy managed to say.

“Hello,” Inanna returned the same casual greeting. Daisy, feeling a bit more relaxed, asked:

“Nice office. But wasn’t this your father’s space?”

“By next month, I’ll be the Grand Duchess. He’s planning to retire.”

For a moment, astonishment struck Daisy’s mind. It was unprecedented in history for a woman who had married into another family to become the heir again.

“Congratulations.”

“And using that as a pretext, I divorced Elias Sinclair.”

“…!”

Daisy’s eyes widened in shock. For a moment, she felt anger welling up. No, if Inanna had planned to discard him anyway, why had she taken him in the first place?

“Didn’t you love Elias Sinclair?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Inanna shook her head.

“Rather, I thought he loved you.”

A strange, expressionless look settled on Inanna’s face.

“I don’t understand. Ours was a political marriage. So… I’ve thought so many times. If only you had told me that you had feelings for Elias Sinclair, we wouldn’t have needed to suffer, we wouldn’t have had to part like this.”

“And we would have remained friends forever?” 

Inanna caught the tail end of Daisy’s words. For a moment, Daisy was speechless, staring into Inanna’s violet eyes, which seemed to shimmer with moisture.

An indescribable, distant allure and some long-held emotion were swirling within them.

“I didn’t spend the past decade trying to become your friend again.”

“Then why did you run away right after kissing me?”

Daisy found herself asking accusingly.

“Time was tight,” Inanna bit her lip.

“I had to finish everything, but that day you were so lovely… I didn’t want to return to Paddington. I just wanted to stay put. Yes, the truth is, I did run away. I ran away from you.”

A strange heat could be felt in every word. Daisy sensed that the moment had come to face the shape of the emotion she had been blindly feeling.

“Come to think of it, it was strange from the beginning. Mrs. Hamilton said she came to find me voluntarily, but she’s not the type to move without your orders, is she?”

Daisy mumbled. She rubbed her face dry and steeled herself before asking:

“Then tell me now. What exactly were you thinking?”

As if she had been waiting for this, Inanna began to speak.

* * *

Daisy wasn’t the Grand Duchess’s only playmate. Once Inanna became emotionally stable, young ladies and gentlemen swarmed around her like bees, vying for her attention. The Grand Duke didn’t particularly stop them. As a result, the number of victims caught up in Inanna’s temper tantrums only increased.

Inanna didn’t treat her other playmates specially. It was Daisy who spent the most time with her.

However, there was one who persistently endured – Elias Sinclair.

From Daisy’s perspective, just as she felt admiration for Inanna, Elias seemed to harbor a similar kind of affection. No matter how cruelly he was treated, he wasn’t easily pushed away and constantly poured out his passionate feelings.

It was clearly a one-sided love from Elias Sinclair. At least, that’s what Daisy thought at the time.

His unrequited love continued. Elias Sinclair, who volunteered to be a playmate to get close to the Briancet Grand Duchess and endured all her whims, proposed to Inanna just after she came of age, only to be told never to come to the Grand Duke’s residence again.

However, Elias Sinclair didn’t give up there.

Having observed Inanna for so long, he knew where the Grand Duchess’s gaze lingered. By taking a step back, Elias could see the current flowing between Daisy and Inanna.

The moment Elias realized the nature of Inanna’s special interest in Daisy, he understood that what he needed to conquer wasn’t the general, but the horse the general rode.

That’s why he proposed a political marriage to Daisy. Twisted by repeated rejections, Elias wanted Inanna to suffer. He wished for her heart to shatter into pieces, just as unreachable as his own love.

The bride with kind green eyes stood beside Elias at the end of the aisle, oblivious to everything. Seeing that Inanna didn’t show up to her best ‘friend’s’ wedding until the end, Elias Sinclair sneered at her.

Just by having Daisy Magnolia by his side, Elias had achieved an eternal victory over Inanna Briancet.

Thus, Daisy became Elias’s trophy.

At first, that was all there was to it.

Elias quickly realized that Daisy was Inanna’s weakness. And once, he cast out bait. He let slip at a drinking party that the Dowager Countess Sinclair was causing trouble for Daisy. Not even a full day had passed before Inanna contacted him.

She told him to protect Daisy moderately. Elias explained one of the recent family disputes. As they expanded their business, legal friction arose, and because of this, the Dowager Countess Sinclair was taking out her frustrations on Daisy, who came from a mere baronet’s family.

Within a week, the dispute hindering their business was resolved.

That was the beginning. No matter how unsolvable a problem seemed, if he used Daisy as a hostage and complained to Inanna, things would miraculously resolve. Elias realized that what he held in his hands wasn’t just a simple trophy, but a magic key.

Inanna didn’t suspect Elias from the start. She thought he had recognized Daisy’s worth. Just as she had found happiness in Daisy’s green eyes, she believed Elias had discovered it too and proposed to her.

It was a life Inanna herself couldn’t give. She had been slow to realize her feelings and lacked the courage to voice them. So, in the end, it was Elias Sinclair who took Daisy’s hand.

It was Inanna’s first heartbreak. Nevertheless, she tried to step back and support her ‘friend’s’ happy marriage. However, the repeated requests from Elias grew Inanna’s suspicions. She tried to convince herself it was just jealousy, that she was harboring these thorns in her heart because she couldn’t stand the man who had taken Daisy’s side.

But one day, when she heard that the Dowager Countess Sinclair had berated a pregnant Daisy in a dress shop, Inanna decided she could no longer contain her jealousy and hatred.

The truth she finally uncovered tore her heart into a thousand pieces.

She had only wished for Daisy to be cherished, had only cleared mountains and smoothed paths hoping for Daisy’s smooth future in the Sinclair family. But in the end, Daisy’s life had become the reins used to manipulate Inanna.

Indescribable anger, misery, and despair overcame Inanna. She couldn’t let Elias be.

The first thing Inanna thought she needed to do was to separate Daisy from Elias.

Various forms of temptation found their way to Elias Sinclair.

However, the thriving Earl Sinclair seemed unwilling to create an obstacle to his political advancement with a sudden divorce. Moreover, Daisy was a precious hostage.

So, Inanna decided to use herself as bait. Slowly and meticulously, she laid out the bait and seduced Elias.

Elias Sinclair’s confidence, which had grown by chipping away at Daisy’s self-esteem, didn’t question this unexpected stroke of luck.

Coincidentally, around this time, the accident involving the Baron and Baroness Magnolia occurred. Daisy’s relatives arrived in Paddington, eyeing the Magnolia family fortune.

Feeling urgent, Inanna publicized the case of a knight named Wendyne and mobilized public opinion. It was a case she had heard about from a lawyer she met while studying relevant laws to inherit the Briancet family. Inanna spread public opinion, drew related interest groups to her side, and used the power of the Grand Duke’s family to suppress the opposition from conservative forces.

Thus, she passed the Wendyne Law, which allowed a female to inherit the family in unavoidable situations if she was the only remaining direct descendant.

Even for someone like Inanna, manipulating public opinion and passing legislation after losing her heir position was nearly impossible. Wanting Daisy, who had already lost her parents, to lose nothing of Magnolia, Inanna poured everything except sleeping and eating time into this endeavor.

Because of this, Inanna couldn’t stop Elias. Her second mistake was not anticipating that even a lowly human like him would hand divorce papers to Daisy who had just lost her parents.

Elias Sinclair, seeing an opportunity now that Daisy had lost her parents and had no family to rely on, revealed his relationship with Inanna and demanded a divorce from Daisy.

It was utterly disgusting. But Inanna judged that it might be better for Daisy to distance herself from this quagmire.

The facade of friendship that had been covering Inanna’s heart shattered into pieces.

Only a terribly tangled relationship remained.

Unable to offer comfort or apology to Daisy in this twisted situation, Inanna prepared as much as she could give her.

Somerset, a territory close to where they had visited the Briancet family’s villa together; alimony to ensure her livelihood; workers to tend the ownerless Magnolia mansion…

The tears no longer flowed. She only felt that she had been ruining everything for Daisy since getting to know her.

This self-loathing became the driving force for revenge against Elias Sinclair. Inanna, who refused intimacy citing lower body paralysis and used separate bedrooms, prepared to methodically crumble everything of the Earl’s family.

Given the long-standing history of the family, it would take time to shake its foundations completely. Moreover, Inanna was simultaneously working on securing real power within the Briancet Grand Duke’s family. Her brother, feeling guilty towards her, would make an excellent puppet, but she couldn’t entirely trust and let him loose.

She lived an intense life.

However, among all these plans, the one thing Inanna hadn’t anticipated was Noah’s existence. When she went to see the baby Daisy had left behind, Inanna unconsciously bit her lip.

Noah’s eyes, separated from his mother, were the same green as Daisy’s.

“I’m sorry,” the Grand Duchess whispered, holding the child and crying silently where no one could see.

“I promise I’ll bring your mother back to you.”

It was the first rain to return to what she thought were dried-up tear ducts.

Inanna, while living with Elias Sinclair, instilled arrogance in him. He believed he was politically astute and possessed business acumen. As he successfully closed several deals thanks to Inanna’s tips, he would often return drunk, kissing her and calling her the goddess of victory.

Smilingly accepting his disgusting kisses, Inanna whispered poisonous words into his ear.

The only moments Inanna could breathe in the Sinclair mansion were when she met Noah. She ordered Ginger Hamilton, her former nanny, to care for Noah, and regularly visited him to observe his likes and dislikes and oversee his education.

However, sharing affection remained difficult.

“Your real mother would be good at this,” Inanna would say, and Noah would smile as if he understood.

While designing this grand trap for Elias and caring for Noah, Inanna also worked on destroying the Dowager Countess Sinclair. It began with introducing card games to the bored lady. Soon, light gambling and betting flourished in several salons, and the Dowager Countess Sinclair sought increasingly larger games.

It wasn’t luck that led the Dowager Countess, confined to the earl’s mansion, to find a proper secret gambling den.

It was all Inanna’s guidance.

At first, the Dowager Countess managed money within her luxury expenses, but as she developed a taste for gambling, she increased her stakes. How Inanna laughed when she learned that the Countess had even emptied the earl’s secret vault!

She would soon hit rock bottom.

Elias’s situation was also deteriorating. Thinking he possessed inside information from Inanna, he was repeatedly pushed out of his faction. He was pale-faced, saying he didn’t realize his characteristic tightrope walking, switching allegiances back and forth, would be seen as betrayal.

Within days, Elias Sinclair regained his confidence, reasoning that even if politics were lost, he still had his business.

However, an anonymous whistleblower triggered a massive audit, and Elias Sinclair was indicted for embezzlement and bribery. Word spread discreetly in high society that the Dowager Countess had poured this laundered money into gambling.

No one considered the Sinclair family honorable anymore. People were ashamed, as if mere association with them was a great scandal. The only reason this criticism wasn’t openly exchanged was because Inanna was still in that family.

Inanna Briancet, who had never once dropped her family name, whispered to Elias as he desperately begged his father-in-law, the Grand Duke, to lighten his sentence:

“Why should I, when I’m the one who did it?”

Elias’s face paled as if he’d seen a ghost rather than his loving partner.

“W-what are you saying?”

“Foolishly, did you believe in my love while your family was sinking like this?”

“…!”

“I deeply regret mistaking someone as stupid as you for someone who recognized Daisy’s worth.”

If that had been the case, both Daisy and she could have maintained their relationship without getting hurt.

“From beginning to end, you were just cheap trash, yet I treated you as my enemy. Come to think of it, I should have thrown you in the garbage right then…”

A twisted smile settled on Inanna’s lips.

A revenge spanning over a decade. Perhaps Inanna herself had been steadily growing weary.

“These are divorce papers. Sign them obediently. Otherwise, you might wake up to find your mother’s hand next to your pillow.”

“What have you done to my mother!”

“Who knows? As it turns out, she had sticky fingers.”

Inanna left the Sinclair mansion with a coy smile.

Elias Sinclair, at his lowest point, had to receive divorce papers from the only person who could help him.

Just as Daisy had ten years ago.

* * *

“So that’s how it was…” 

Daisy staggered. Inanna wheeled her chair closer to support her, but Daisy pushed her away and stood straight on her own two feet.

“That’s what happened…”

The strangely indifferent husband, his attitude of ignoring the Dowager Countess Sinclair’s abuse and only helping condescendingly when in a good mood, the rumors of an affair with Inanna that somehow didn’t quite fit…

“I was your hostage.”

As Daisy mulled over these words, Inanna’s violet eyes trembled.

Having neatly packaged and delivered both memories and revenge, Inanna was, oddly enough, watching Daisy’s reaction.

“This has turned into such a ridiculous situation.”

Daisy gritted her teeth, seeming to hold something back.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Inanna stammered. She realized that what Daisy was holding back wasn’t anger, but sadness.

“You should have… you should have told me…”

But Inanna’s comfort came far too late. A whole decade had passed, after all.

“I thought you’d crumble if I told you then. That’s why I didn’t…”

Her husband’s indifference, the Dowager Countess Sinclair’s mistreatment, postpartum depression, and the death of her parents – even Daisy thought she couldn’t have handled the truth Inanna would have given her then.

But learning this after such a long time had passed – what could be done about all the years they had missed?

Tears welled up in Daisy’s eyes and began to flow endlessly. As if losing strength, she sank down, burying her forehead in Inanna’s lap and sobbing loudly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Inanna’s lips quivered several times before she embraced Daisy’s head. She stroked Daisy’s hair with a gentle touch, as if unsure how to comfort her.

“I’m sorry for not explaining to you, for only seeing you as fragile…”

Their long-overdue confessions finally met.