The Lady Wants To Rest - Chapter 4

I, myself, was not Rubia, and it was tiresome to pour energy into a dysfunctional family for some affection.

“Sorry.”

“…What?”

“I am sorry. As such, please relieve your anger. Since you like apples, please go eat many apples.”

T/N: This is a word play. The word “sorry” sounds the same as the word “apple”. She’s using wordplay to taunt both the stepmother and stepbrother. I think she’s being rebellious because she herself can’t stand being blamed unfairly rather than seeking justice for Rubia.

A chilly silence fell on the room.

That lasted but a short while, and the stepmother trembled as if convulsing.

“You, you…! Just now…!”

“Do you hate apples? I thought you liked apples. If you dislike them, then please do not eat them.”

At my words, the stepmother was even more angered. It was to the point that she wasn’t able to hold back her temper and slap me in the face. Of course, that was the exact development that I wished for.

At that time, Viscount Sabien stepped forward as if to appease the stepmother’s rage.

“Rubia, what kind of rude word play is that?”

He stared at me ferociously.

I returned his gaze apathetically and replied.

“Is there something wrong? Apples are great for your health. If you eat one a day, the chance of catching a serious illness decreases. I understood after becoming sick. Being healthy is the best.”

“You…!”

Viscount Sabien, who had been about to blow his top, thought of something and suddenly pressed his lips tight.

The stepmother who had expected Sabien to scold me instead of her looked at him with an odd expression.

“…I think it is best that you return to your quarters, mother.”

“Royal Son?”

The stepmother drew on a bewildered face.

However, Viscount Sabien shook his head gently, yet firmly.

Then, the stepmother helplessly withdrew from the room. After all, Sabien, who was the heir to the Grand Duchy, was not someone that the stepmother could dare to rival.

After glaring at me for a long while, she disappeared.

Left all alone, I thought of how unexpectedly the Viscount had acted.

‘So, he’s not entirely a fool.’

Sabien had definitely understood that my apology was not a simple play on words, but a sarcastic statement on the irony of their own conduct.

Decorum and whatever. It was sarcasm on their rude conduct of crowding into the room of a family member recovering from a rather serious illness and berating them.

Seeing how he had retreated without a word after his realization, there appeared to be a chance for starting anew.

‘Whatever. This time, let’s actually sleep.’

I collapsed onto the bed. And immediately fell asleep.

***

I dreamt a happy dream.

Memories.

What I mean is, in this 53rd life of mine, I dreamt of spending time with my precious son.

At the time, he, who was but a small boy, smiled brightly at me. I love him, and he too loved me. I looked happy in my dreams.

“……”

When I woke up, I found that the pillow underneath me was wet. They were tears.

I let out a sigh.

“Rue. Get me that.”

I was surprised by my own subconscious words. There was no ‘Rue’ anymore. I had searched out of habit.

‘I’ve bid farewell 53 times, but I still can’t get used to it.’

I smiled bitterly.

There was something that I could never get used to.

It was the sense of loss felt through death and rebirth.

When I first received the punishment of reincarnation, I had thought the contrary. If I repeated the process of birth and death, I would become accustomed to it.

However that was not reality. It was something that one could never become accustomed to.

‘I should eat something.’

Feeling my mood dropping, this was what I thought. Eating was the best on moody days.

I was about to have someone bring me food, but I realized that there wasn’t even a single maid assigned to me. It was all due to the stepmother’s schemes.

And the one maid that had been assigned to me was currently receiving her punishment in my stead.

As a result, I had no choice but to throw on any clothes and hurry down to the dining hall.

“Today, you know….”

“Is that true?”