Chapter 23
Ruined Face (1)
“What is this……?”
Even though she used cheap toner, her skin had always been smooth without a single blemish.
It might grow rough on dry days, but inflammation had never flared up before.
Edith narrowed her eyes and glared at the unfamiliar face that was supposedly her own.
Up until she had sat down at the desk, her face had been pale and clear.
Now, red inflammation had broken out in blotches.
It wasn’t an overwhelming amount, but her entire face was flushed, making it seem as though it would soon be completely covered in inflammation.
“What on earth…?”
This wasn’t normal.
Perhaps because she had been thinking about poisoning nonstop, the first things that came to mind were poison and Wyatt.
‘No, it can’t be the Marquis of Reynolds. He’s planning to marry me off to the duke—there’s no way he’d ruin my face like this before the wedding. Then who? Lillian? Is it Lillian after all?’
Knock, knock—
As she stared at the mirror, someone knocked on the door.
Assuming it was Lenny, Edith told them to come in—but it was Julia who entered.
Catching Julia’s reflection at the edge of the mirror, Edith clenched her teeth.
‘It was you.’
There was no reason for Julia to come all the way to Edith’s room, tucked away in the highest, farthest corner of the estate.
Usually, when Julia sought out Edith and her mother, it was to enjoy the aftermath after doing something cruel.
Like after mocking Eliana at a party.
Or after ruining one of Eliana’s dresses.
And now, Julia had come to Edith’s room—unable to wipe the smile from her lips.
Watching Julia struggle to suppress her laughter, Edith deliberated briefly before making a decision.
At the sight of Edith turning around with a tearful expression, Julia lowered her head for a moment.
She must be holding back her laughter, composing her expression.
Just as Edith expected, when Julia lifted her head again, her face was filled with concern and shock.
“Oh my, Edith! What on earth happened to you? Why is your face like this?”
Her voice was so loud that servants passing nearby peeked inside curiously.
Edith’s eyes welled with tears as she covered her cheeks with both hands.
“What should I do? After I took a bath, it suddenly turned out like this.”
“My goodness, what a disaster. You’re getting married soon—what will you do if your face is like this? Didn’t you apply your toner properly?”
“Could that be it?”
“Yes. You should have applied it more carefully, several times.”
It seemed the cause of her face ending up like this was the toner.
Edith hid her true feelings and covered her face with both hands.
Watching Edith pretend to sob, Julia failed to hide her laughter.
‘Serves you right.’
She hadn’t expected the medicine Lillian gave her to work this well.
She’d been so curious she couldn’t hold back and came to check—and to think Edith would show her such a splendid sight.
Julia felt like dragging Edith straight out into the street and showing everyone that wretched state of hers.
‘Look at this. Her face really has turned into a witch’s.’
The sight of Edith crying with her shoulders shaking didn’t stir a single ounce of pity.
Ever since Edith and her mother had entered this estate with designs on Wyatt, Julia hadn’t liked them.
Eliana, despite being old enough to be Julia’s mother, was beautiful enough to be compared to her—and her daughter Edith was the same.
Every time people compared Julia’s looks to Eliana’s, it had been utterly humiliating.
Being able to return that humiliation to Eliana’s daughter made her happy.
“If I apply it more carefully, will it get better?”
Looking at Edith asking so desperately, Julia lowered her brows and put on an expression full of concern.
“Of course. The wedding is coming up soon—you have to take good care of yourself. If the marquis finds out, he’ll be terribly worried, so make sure you keep your face covered until it improves. Alright?”
If Wyatt, who was set on marrying Edith off to the duke, were to see her like this, he would surely summon doctors no matter what to make her better.
‘Not that showing it to doctors will make it go back to normal.’
Even as Julia watched, the condition of Edith’s face continued to worsen.
Near her left cheek, blisters so grotesque they made one’s skin crawl were steadily growing larger.
Though she knew it was because of poison, fear of catching it made Julia quickly step back from Edith and say,
“For now, apply the toner one more time and get plenty of sleep. It’ll probably improve after you sleep. They say sleep is good for the skin.”
“Yes, Marchioness. I’ll do that.”
Seeing Edith answer so innocently, Julia smiled in satisfaction.
The moment Julia left, Edith’s gaze turned cold.
She almost raised her hand toward her stinging face, then stopped and called for Lenny.
When Lenny saw Edith, she screamed in shock.
‘If it doesn’t work, I’ll go see a doctor tomorrow. The duke isn’t marrying me because of my face anyway. As long as I calm the inflammation and get treatment, it’ll be fine. Even if scars remain, makeup can cover them.’
When Lenny returned some time later, Edith added some of the herb powder she had already ground in advance into her toner.
Not knowing what Edith was doing, Lenny stood beside her, fretting and muttering,
“Oh dear, oh dear.”
After waiting a while, the clear toner turned brown.
When she opened the lid and poured a little into her hand, it was sticky enough to make her doubt whether it was safe to apply, and it gave off a foul, overpowering stench.
When Edith applied the filth-like toner to her face without hesitation, Lenny let out a muffled groan.
She looked as though she wanted to stop her, but Edith’s face was in such a terrible state that she seemed unable to do anything either.
After applying the toner several times, Edith stared into the mirror.
Aside from the smell becoming even worse, there wasn’t much visible change.
Still, Edith could feel the burning pain gradually subsiding.
“Lenny. Could you do one more thing for me?”
“Yes, miss. Just tell me.”
“There’s a theater called Lion on Red Road. Do you know it?”
“Yes, the one with the large lion painted on it?”
“Right. Could you tell the makeup artist who works there that I might be visiting tomorrow? Ah—don’t say it’s me. Just say it’s someone from a noble family.”
Lenny looked puzzled by the inexplicable request, but she nodded and left the room.
***
Her face had been ruined in an instant, but it took a long time for it to heal.
The swelling had gone down, but the blisters and inflammation still hadn’t subsided by the next day.
Even so, they seemed to have shrunk a little.
Julia came to Edith’s room again.
It seemed she had come to check on Edith’s condition.
