TSHLWTL Chapter 48

Episode 48 – 

The Eastern Father, Valois.

Once a glorious family, now they only had a small estate left. But the people living nearby all had something to thank the Valois family for.

Because of that, the people had deep love and pride for the family.

The Valois family had once served as a temple, and maybe that’s why the whole family was known to be kind and devout.

Their core belief was: “Always be kind and considerate to others.”

Even the servants followed that rule.

There was a silly rumor that the Valois family only hired people based on how kind they were.

But in such a gentle family, there was one odd one out — Rachel Valois.

She was born as a twin to Selena, who had a sweet and gentle personality.

Rachel, on the other hand, was wild and selfish — everyone knew it.

“Lady Rachel, you must not abuse the servants with your power.”

“Why not? That one stole my things!”

“Yes, what she did was wrong. But she’s also someone’s daughter… The punishment is too harsh.”

“Hah? Too harsh? If you steal from a noble, you should expect the price. That’s not harsh — that’s just reality.”

People looked at Rachel like she was a strange creature.

They disliked her selfish behavior and cruel words.

In contrast, Selena was the perfect image of a Valois.

“Lady Selena is different. She’s just like the first Saintess of the Valois family — graceful, kind, and beautiful!”

She had silver-gray hair like dawn and rare blue glass-like eyes she got from her beautiful mother.

Everyone adored her.

Though they were twins, Rachel and Selena were different in every way except for their looks — their personalities, how people saw them… all opposite.

Selena, the angel.

Rachel, the devil.

In a family that valued kindness and empathy above all, Rachel, who couldn’t understand others’ pain or sadness, became the black sheep.

She slowly became isolated — except for her parents, who loved her deeply.

Rachel especially believed in her father Gilbert’s love.

“Eternal trust.”

Her mother always said that the love parents give their children is the most sacred and everlasting thing in the world.

“No matter what happens, I’ll never abandon you. I’ll protect you.”

Rachel heard that since she was very young — and she believed it without doubt.

Even after her mother died of illness and Rachel was left alone in the family, her father always stayed the same — gentle and loving.

So Rachel never feared the judgment of others.

But things changed.

“She must be punished!”

“This is improper — unacceptable for both families!”

“Tsk, such disgraceful behavior! The Valois reputation will soon fall!”

It all started after she drank ‘Philothes’, a drug — because of Selena’s plan.

Selena, with her sweet and lovable face, was hiding a monster underneath.

From a young age, if there was something she wanted, she would get it — no matter what it took.

It started with clothes, dolls, accessories… but it got worse.

Once, she broke a bird’s wing just so it could never fly again.

Another time, she scarred a maid’s face with burns just because the maid was leaving to get married.

“Lady Selena… What do I do now? He left me…”

“Poor Mary. Don’t worry — I’ll stay by your side.”

But no one blamed Selena for any of it.

Thanks to her perfect image, everything was blamed on Rachel.

“Isn’t it funny, sister? I only say a few words, and everyone believes you did what I did.”

“…”

“Maybe if you tried acting the way people liked, you wouldn’t have this problem.”

Rachel ignored her.

She didn’t care what Selena did.

What Rachel wanted was simple — to become the head of the family.

So no matter what Selena did, it didn’t matter — because if Rachel became the head, she could control everything with power.

“Sister, are you going to get engaged?”

The engagement day approached.

The Valois family and the Duke Valentine family had agreed long ago — an arranged “womb engagement” before birth.

Rachel didn’t want it, but she didn’t have a good enough reason to cancel it either.

Then Selena said something that made her freeze:

“I like him. I want him.”

(Hereis Valentine.)

Rachel realized Selena and the man, Hereis, had feelings for each other.

So she decided to break the engagement — using that as an excuse.

“Are you having fun with this? I’m not amused at all.”

“What do you mean, my lady?”

“You always act like you’re wearing a mask… like nothing can hurt or touch you.”

At first, Rachel thought that would be the end — but strangely, she started to enjoy being around him.

Hereis frowned at Rachel’s bluntness and rude jokes, but he didn’t stop her.

That made her feel like he could accept all of her — even her worst parts.

So each time she met him, she thought: What game should I play today? What can I do to annoy him this time?

It became fun.

Time flew by.

The day before the engagement, Selena came to visit Rachel.

“Sister, you must be so tired preparing for the engagement. Drink this and rest.”

With a sweet smile, Selena handed her a drink — just like always.

Rachel was thirsty and thanked her — and drank it.

That was the last thing she remembered.

When Rachel opened her eyes again, she was in a room with a strange common man.

She was still in her engagement dress.

The man was tied up tightly with thick ropes, but he kept twisting and moving closer to her with heavy breaths — like a bug crawling. It was disgusting.

Rachel recognized the sickly sweet scent in the air.

It was Philothes.

Luckily, as a descendant of a saintess, Rachel had divine power — weaker than Selena’s, but enough.

While she was unconscious, her divine power seemed to naturally fight off the drug.

“Ugh… the door won’t open…!”

No matter what she did, she couldn’t escape.

Someone had made sure she’d be trapped there.

Rachel had no choice but to stay locked in that room — with that man — for a whole week.

Until Selena came to let her out.

Of course, the engagement with Duke Hereis was broken.

A noble lady who ran off with a commoner the day of her engagement — without saying a word.

That was the false story that people believed.

While Rachel was drowning in despair, Selena appeared again.

Rachel stared at her with angry, hurt eyes.

“Why… Why did you do this to me?”

Selena answered gently, as if nothing was wrong.

“Sister. I really need that man.”

“…”

“I’ll risk everything for my love — just like Mother did for hers.”

Selena softly held Rachel’s face and smiled with care.

Rachel looked into her bright blue eyes — eyes that looked holy but were full of obsession.

Ah… my saintly twin.

“We’re twins, sister. Like you, I always get what I want in the end.”

You… who pretend to be human, yet don’t understand human emotions…

“So please, understand my love.”

You’re truly a beautiful and cruel blue monster.

“You knew I only wanted one thing — to be the head of this family. Why did you take that from me too?”

Rachel’s voice trembled with pain.

Selena laughed as if it were a joke.

Then she said as if she knew everything:

“You think I didn’t notice? The way you started looking at him differently.”

Rachel stopped breathing.

She had been found out — the one thing she didn’t want anyone to know.

“And let’s be honest — the family was never going to support you. Don’t you remember my advice from before?”

“Advice?”

“Yes. I told you to act the way people want. The family has already thrown you away. The knights who disliked you — they’ll probably try to kill you now.”

“…”

“So just run away, sister. Keep your mouth shut and disappear. No one will believe you anyway… This is my last advice to you — as your sister.”

With that, Selena smiled sweetly.