Chapter 44
“Did I love you?” Rachel scoffed. “No. I’m not someone who even knows what love is.”
“……”
“Not even once, Catherine. I never loved you.”
Her words felt like daggers—cold and deliberate as if she wanted to hurt Catherine on purpose.
Was she trying to see how much it would wound her?
Even as the light in Catherine’s blue eyes dimmed, Rachel didn’t stop.
“Your blue eyes are a curse. My beautiful little Cathy, my precious Cat, who looks just like her mother…”
Her voice, soft like a gentle humming, poured out venom.
“From the moment you were born with those eyes, your fate was sealed. You were meant to be miserable.”
Perhaps, in some twisted way, Rachel believed she was speaking a prophecy.
“People with those eyes… they’re monsters.”
A child so perfect on the outside, as if sculpted from all the world’s beauty.
A child blessed—and cursed—by something unknown.
A child born from a woman who never even saw the light of dawn.
“Tell me, who could ever love a monster desperate for affection?”
I curse you.
I curse your beautiful, sky-colored eyes.
Those eyes that remind me of someone I cannot forgive.
Rachel met Catherine’s gaze with her own duller, darker version of the same blue.
“You… never loved me…” Catherine murmured, stunned.
“Not even once…”
Something caught in her throat. A lump of emotions too heavy to swallow.
She shut her eyes tightly, but no tears came yet—thankfully.
“I always knew,” she whispered. “Since I was a child, I knew you didn’t like me.”
Rachel said nothing.
“But I still loved you. I kept thinking… if I just behaved, if I were good enough, maybe… just maybe, you’d love me.”
Her voice trembled slightly, as though holding back tears.
“I guess I was never someone you could love. Right?”
Even though Catherine had always known Rachel only kept her around to manipulate Alex, she stayed by her mother’s side. She believed… one day… maybe their broken family could become real.
That Rachel could change.
That she could make Rachel a better person.
But no. That had never been possible.
She remembered—
“You hurt Eleanor?”
“Y-yes… but it was an accident!”
“Hahaha! Good job! Well done. That’s my daughter!”
Rachel had laughed when Catherine hurt Eleanor.
“It’s okay to bully that girl. If anyone criticizes you, I’ll protect you. You’re my daughter. You can do what you want.”
Rachel had praised her whenever she tormented Eleanor.
To Rachel, Catherine had been nothing more than a tool. A pawn she could use to hurt Eleanor. A weakness to keep Alex under control.
“Your eyes… they’re my treasure.”
A means to fool the Duke of Heraith. Nothing more.
Rachel had never seen her as a daughter. Never cherished her.
So how could Catherine ever have changed someone like her?
“Back then,” Catherine said quietly, “I used to think your smile was the most beautiful thing in the world. I just… wanted it to be for me.”
“……”
“So I kept trying to make you smile. I studied hard, tried to act properly, behaved like a noble… all just to please you.”
Her voice grew dry now. No longer trembling.
“But the only time you smiled at me… was when I hurt Eleanor.”
They say after winter, spring comes.
But for Catherine, there was no spring.
Only the sun beating down on a lost desert.
“From the beginning… I was always beneath her. I was never going to be enough. I just… realized it too late.”
Rachel was obsessed with Eleanor—but somehow still thought Catherine was worth less.
Catherine opened her eyes again.
Now, everything was clear.
She had to atone for all the wrong she had done.
Looking at the woman before her—her mother—Catherine spoke with calm, quiet resolve.
“I don’t know what will happen next. But you’ll have to face punishment for your sins.”
And I will too.
Catherine let out a soft, bitter laugh. She could even see her breath in the cold prison air.
“I just… wanted to see your face one last time.”
“……”
Yes. This would be their final goodbye.
The woman who raised her, yet never loved her.
A farewell Catherine never thought she could say.
“Goodbye… Rachel.”
At last, she said it.
The next day, Catherine found herself walking through the Duke’s garden.
She had expected to feel lighter after seeing Rachel—but instead, her heart felt heavier than ever.
“What is it with these eyes?” she thought. “Why do both the Duke and Rachel care so much about them?”
She gently touched the area near her eyes.
To her, they were just ordinary blue eyes. Nothing special.
But to others… they seemed to mean something dangerous.
“Wow…”
She looked up.
Before she knew it, she had reached the garden, now blooming with lovely pink roses.
It was May, and the air was filled with sunshine, sweet scents, and birdsong. She began humming softly as a gentle breeze blew.
“Ellie…?”
“……!”
Startled, Catherine turned around.
An old man was staring at her with eyes full of longing.
As she instinctively stepped back, the man quickly apologized.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You just reminded me of someone I knew…”
Catherine remembered that he’d said “Ellie”—Eleanor’s nickname.
“Did you just say, Ellie? Are you talking about Eleanor?”
The man was tall, so Catherine had to tilt her head to meet his eyes.
He had ashy gray hair and soft blue eyes, and a big bear-like frame that somehow still looked gentle.
Noticing her cautiousness, the old man bent down a little to meet her gaze properly.
“No, not Eleanor. The Ellie I meant was named Eileen—my wife.”
He smiled, his eyes warm with memory.
Catherine sensed that “Eileen” must’ve been someone deeply precious to him, but she pretended not to notice.
“Oh… I’m Catherine. And you are?”
The old man paused. His face stiffened a little.
“So… you’re that Catherine.”
“…Excuse me?”
She blinked, confused, watching him carefully.
But his eyes—despite the chill in their color—were full of affection as they rested on her.
Why… is he looking at me like that?
It was the look adults give babies. Soft. Tender.
“I’ve found you at last. My granddaughter.”
She froze.
“…What?”
Catherine started, dumbfounded.
Me? Your granddaughter? What is he saying?
“You look just like her. That’s why… that’s why that man…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
Then he added, “My name is Gilbert. You can just call me Grandpa.”
He said the word grandpa with such warmth it made her flinch.
Catherine instinctively took a step back, but when he pouted like a child, she couldn’t move further.
“…But I don’t have a grandfather,” she said quietly.
His expression crumbled.
“What do you mean you don’t? I’m right here…”
It didn’t make sense.
If he was her grandfather, how could someone like Rachel have come from someone like him?
“I look like Eileen, then?” she asked, changing the subject.
She assumed he mistook her for someone else—again.
It wasn’t the first time someone saw another person in her face.
Is my face that common in this world?
“No, no. You misunderstood. Eileen was my wife. And you—you look exactly like her.”
Catherine looked up at his eyes.
And suddenly, she remembered the Duke. He had also said she looked like someone.
But Gilbert’s face… was different.
He wasn’t seeing someone else through her.
He was seeing her.
Just Catherine.
“She had eyes like yours. That same beautiful blue.”
His gaze was soft. Full of love. Not toward a memory—but toward the girl right in front of him.
“I found you too late. I’m sorry.”
His sorrow was real.
Even though this was the first time they’d met—why did Catherine feel like he truly was her grandfather?
Are you my grandfather?
Am I your granddaughter?
Are we… family?
So many questions ran through her mind.
But she couldn’t say them out loud.
Why did you only find me now?
She didn’t want to throw blame at someone who had just found her.
“I’m your grandfather, Catherine. Your mother… Rachel… and Selena… are my daughters.”
“…Wait—what?!” she gasped.
Rachel and Eleanor’s mother… were sisters?
“You mean… they’re twins?”
“Yes. Rachel and Selena are twins—born from the same womb.”
Twins?!
That made her and Eleanor… cousins.
This was never in the original story.
Catherine felt dizzy.
“But… Mother doesn’t look anything like her…”
“They’re fraternal twins. Not all twins look the same.”
Gilbert spoke kindly, trying to calm her as she paled.
When she still looked shocked, he gently reached out and took her hand.
“There’s… a lot I need to tell you. Will you come with me to my room? We can talk there.”
He made it clear—this wasn’t a demand. Just a request.
Catherine hesitated, then slowly nodded.
Thank you very much
wow..