Backstage Trap - Chapter 9

Only moments ago, she had been shot. She had fallen from a rooftop and died. So how was she alive?

And why had time carried her back into the very past she had longed to escape? Surely this had to be hell. What else could explain being forced to relive the worst moments of her life?

Unable to make sense of it, Lucia instinctively covered her mouth.

Back then, she had fallen asleep during her bridal lesson because Ian had tormented her throughout the previous night. Now, she had been slow to open her eyes simply because she couldn’t process what was happening.

“Even if you were from the same Eldora…! No, if I’d known that vulgar red hair was your natural color, I never would’ve even considered taking you in as a foster child!”

Just as in the past, Mrs. Lancaster’s vicious words drove Lucia to cover her mouth.

The gesture was the same. The feelings behind it were not. Everything unfolded exactly as it had before.

While the insults rained down without restraint, no one stepped in to stop them. Every servant stood with their eyes lowered, as motionless as ornaments.

Within this house, Vanessa Lancaster’s word was law.

The original head of the Lancaster family had died on the battlefield. His parents, unable to bear the loss of both their son and the homeland they were forced to abandon, had slowly withered away before passing as well.

For over a decade, Vanessa Lancaster had ruled the family in place of her young heir. Every servant answered to her alone.

“You’d been plotting this from the very beginning, hadn’t you? You had your sights set on Ian all along! I should’ve known the moment you started sticking to my innocent boy when you were children!”

“…”

“You’ve always been a cunning little thing. Tell me. Were you after Ian even back then?”

Her shrill voice climbed higher and higher.

“I’m talking to you! Why won’t you answer? Have I struck a nerve? Look at you—you can’t even deny it. Girls without parents are always this shameless!”

Each razor-edged accusation stabbed toward Lucia’s heart.

… Or at least, it would have. If this truly were the past. If she were still the Lucia who knew nothing.

Back then, every cruel word had made her tremble. She had swallowed every protest that rose to her lips and endured the abuse in silence.

‘Because I had needed to marry Ian.’

At the time, Lucia had believed herself to be the guilty one. She had accepted every humiliation Mrs. Lancaster inflicted upon her because she genuinely thought she deserved it.

But now? Now that she knows the truth… Did she still have to endure it?

‘…No. I don’t want to.’

Though she still couldn’t believe what was happening, Lucia forced herself to focus. There was no time to lose herself in confusion.

If her memories were correct, the next thing to happen would be—

“Why should I ever accept someone like you? Do you have any idea what I sacrificed to protect this family?”

Lucia’s eyes dropped to the teacup in Mrs. Lancaster’s hand. The veins on the older woman’s hand bulged around the porcelain.

Then—

Clink.

The instant she heard the teacup being lifted, Lucia grabbed hold of the table.

“Do you know the humiliation I endured just to keep this family standing?!”

Unable to contain her rage any longer, Mrs. Lancaster slammed the teacup down. It shattered with a sharp crack, sending jagged shards flying toward Lucia’s face—

“Aah!”

… They never reached her.

The scream came from somewhere else.

“My face! My face!”

“Madam!”

The moment Mrs. Lancaster lashed out, Lucia instinctively flipped the table over to shield herself. As a result, every shard that should have cut Lucia’s face instead flew back toward Mrs. Lancaster.

A thin streak of crimson appeared across the older woman’s cheek. Just as one had once appeared on Lucia’s.

“Y-You… What… what have you just done to me…?”

Unable to believe what had happened, Mrs. Lancaster frantically touched her cheek, her lips trembling.

Lucia was just as stunned.

“Ah… I’m so—”

The apology rose to her lips out of habit. Then stopped.

Why should she apologize? Originally, this was the moment when she was supposed to be scarred.

The shard had cut deeper than anyone realized. Even after Ian brought ointment for her wound, it had healed into a permanent scar. Lucia had hidden tears throughout her own wedding because she couldn’t bear the mark on her face.

‘But now…’

The scar wasn’t hers. It belonged to Mrs. Lancaster.

As though karma had finally come full circle, the wound the older woman had once inflicted had returned to its rightful owner.

After that day in her previous life, Lucia had never stepped outside without covering the scar on her cheek beneath thick layers of makeup.