I Didn’t Know I Had Two Husbands - Chapter 5

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Lost in memories of the past inside the carriage on the way home, she only opened her closed eyes after the carriage came to a stop. The coachman opened the door for her. She checked her appearance and let out a deep sigh before getting down. Just thinking that she would be harassed at home no differently than at the tea party already made her head throb.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all, Miss.”

After greeting the coachman, she entered the estate. As if she had been waiting for her return, her older sister, Elisa, rushed out.

“Hey! Did you ask what I told you to?”

Normally, she wouldn’t wake up until the sun was high, but today she had gotten up earlier than Elaria and had been pestering her about it.

“…About what?”

When she pretended not to know and asked back, Elisa immediately burst out in irritation.

“I told you to ask Lucian! It looks like the name in the proposal letter was written wrong!”

“……”

Elaria looked at Elisa, who was jumping in agitation in front of her, with faintly weary eyes. Even the way she threw a tantrum looked cute because of her flower-like beauty. Her large eyes, slender facial line, and small red lips looked like rose petals.

Above all, her bright pink hair, which contrasted with Elaria’s dull deep violet hair, shimmered with a healthy shine. And unlike her own ambiguous light brown eyes, Elisa’s clear golden eyes were enviable as well.

For these reasons, having been compared to her sister since childhood, Elaria understood why Elisa was acting this way.

But that didn’t mean she wanted to indulge her sister’s tantrum.

“If you’re curious, ask him yourself.”

“What?”

No, the one who was most curious was herself. Why had he sent a proposal letter to her, his former lover whom he had broken up with?

Two years ago, on a rainy day like the day they had first kissed, Lucian had suddenly told her they were breaking up. With the same gentle manner she had thought of as the kind Lucian, he had told her in a soft voice that they should part.

It had been a shock, but deep down, she had accepted it.

That he had never intended to marry her.

He was the sole legitimate heir of a duchy, while she was merely the second daughter of a barony with neither wealth nor power, so modest that they lived on the outskirts of the capital. They had never been a suitable match.

To begin with, she herself had never hoped to marry him either.

So she had obediently accepted the breakup and tried to find a spouse suited to her station. As a noble lady, marriage could not be avoided, so it proceeded regardless of the fact that she still loved him. And about a week ago, she had received a proposal from the heir of a viscount whose territory was not far from the capital.

As she was being drawn back into the past again, a sharp voice struck her ears.

“You pretended to be so innocent, but you’re nothing but a shameless wench!”

Unable to hold back her anger, Elisa smacked her own skirt repeatedly with both hands. After breathing roughly, she glared fiercely and added,

“If there’s a mirror, take a look at your face. Who would like a dreary girl like you? Just looking at your drooping eyes makes even me, your own sister, feel depressed and annoyed. If you know your place, you should refuse Lucian’s proposal!”

Her loud, furious voice echoed noisily through the mansion lobby. She did not stop her insults.

“Anyone would think the name was written wrong. But you’re planning to humiliate your own sister because of your greed? Do you even think with that head of yours?”

Elaria suddenly found herself wondering. Since they were daughters of the same family, how different could she and her sister really be?

Of course, she knew there was a difference in appearance, but she wondered whether a marriage to the heir of a duchy would really be decided by looks alone. If so, then why had he proposed to her?

At that moment, their parents, who had just arrived at the estate, entered with faces full of confusion. Their mother first noticed Elisa, whose face was flushed and who was shedding tears, and hurried over to embrace her.

“My daughter, why are you crying!”

“Mom… hic.”

“What are you doing, causing a scene in the foyer? Aren’t you ashamed in front of the servants!”

Their father scolded sternly.

Not at Elisa, but at Elaria.

It had always been that way since childhood. Unlike Elisa, who expressed her emotions openly, Elaria had always been timid and unable to express her feelings, so she neither cried much nor laughed much. Because of that, whenever the two fought, their parents always took the side of the one who was crying, Elisa.

Was it because even her crying looked pretty, or simply because she was the eldest? She didn’t know the exact reason. She had simply grown used to it. No, she had given up.

Perhaps that was why it had been easy to accept his breakup.

Could someone who wasn’t properly loved even by her own parents truly be loved completely by someone who wasn’t even bound to her by blood?