My Fault

(Margaret’s Perspective, continued)

Smash!

Hiss—

“Urgh… AHHH!”

The woman froze, as if she hadn’t expected things to turn out this way… while Elizabeth clutched her face, screaming in agony.

My mind went blank at the sight.

At the moment the bottle was about to hit, my vision spun.

It was Elizabeth—she’d thrown herself in front of me at the last second, shielding me with her body.

But in exchange, she bore the injury.

The searing pain of corroded flesh sent her writhing on the ground.

“Aaah… YAAAH!”

Unable to process the scene, I screamed too.

“What happened?”

Hearing our cries, our father rushed in with servants.

They quickly restrained the woman and took Elizabeth for emergency treatment, leaving me kneeling on the floor, at a loss.

(Still Margaret’s Perspective)

After the chaos, the deranged woman was confined, and Elizabeth, already frail, was so badly hurt she could barely leave her bed… her face ruined.

…It’s all my fault.

If I’d secured that bottle… If I’d reacted faster…

Regret swallowed me like a serpent.

A few days later, I was summoned to the earl’s office.

The man sat in his chair, his back to me, not even glancing my way.

“Good thing only the defective one was injured. Your face is still intact, so you’re still valuable.”

He let out a cold laugh.

“Hmph, she was never going to marry anyway, and her life’s short. Might as well die sooner.”

…Are these words a human could say?

How could a mouth at thirty-something degrees spit out such icy venom?

“I don’t know where you got that dangerous stuff… but no more of those weird contraptions. An earl’s daughter should act like one—just marry another noble and be a pretty ornament.”

…Is this man even human? Does he only see profit?

I felt sick enough to vomit.

I wanted to tear his mouth apart.

I couldn’t hear his barking anymore.

What time was it? I didn’t know, just trudging mechanically through the corridor.

Staying in this house made my stomach churn.

Rather than remain here, used by that inhuman thing, I’d rather flee with Elizabeth—even if we froze on the streets, it’d be better than this.

Resolved, I snuck Elizabeth out under the cover of night, using homemade knockout spray to incapacitate the guards and escape that suffocating cage.

…Would this let thieves invade and ruin the earl’s house? Hmph, what’s that to me?

Perhaps too ashamed, the Noy family never sent anyone after us.

More pressing than anything was filling our bellies.

We wandered for ages, scraping by meal to meal. At night, we huddled under tattered blankets scavenged from trash heaps, warming each other with our body heat.

But… Elizabeth was ill, and in such harsh conditions, her health worsened daily.

…Luckily, things soon took a turn.

It was perhaps the second greatest fortune of my life, after meeting Elizabeth.

A merchant took interest in my magical devices, buying exclusive sales rights and giving us this abandoned mansion to settle in.

With those funds, our lives improved—we no longer starved or shivered… and I could buy potions to slightly manage Elizabeth’s illness, letting her walk again.

But… this only slowed the disease’s march.

If left unchecked, it would take Elizabeth from me.

…I couldn’t accept that.

I couldn’t imagine a life without her.

In my despair, I stumbled upon “curses.”

“Causing ongoing harm to a target through a medium…? Depending on the medium, it can damage organs or the mind…”

Could I limit the target to her “disease”?

With that idea, I began my experiments.

It was a thorny path… For humans, curses are incomprehensible, an uncharted realm with no texts to guide me, like starting from nothing.

But so what?

For Elizabeth, I’d face any hardship.

Because I love her deeply.

I realized I was utterly captivated by her.

I love her soft, adorable smile, her strength to laugh despite cruel treatment, her resolve to never give up even when the world abandoned her.

So… for her, I’d give everything.

I threw myself into curse research, so engrossed I’d lose track of time, often blinking to find it was already morning.

As I lived with my days and nights flipped, Elizabeth took care of me, learning chores on her own without my teaching.

…Over time, my biological clock shifted. I became a full-on night owl, sporting deep dark circles like a panda… my face grew haggard, and I barely grew taller.

But it was all worth it.

Through my tireless efforts, a miracle finally came.

…

“That’s it. Pretty boring past, right?”

Margaret spoke with little emotion, but as listeners, our hearts churned with mixed feelings.

Glancing at the young lady, her face was steady, but her lips trembled slightly. Olivia was already wiping tears… though, hadn’t she heard Margaret’s story before, given her earlier reactions?

I thought my own past was tragic, but compared to hers, I at least had my parents’ love.

I couldn’t help but admire Margaret’s resolve.

To act for her sister, abandoning her noble status, pressing forward in despair to find a way out at such a young age…

I recalled my past self, giving up and awaiting death, and felt a wave of shame.

Silence hung in the air.

“…”

Margaret scratched her head.

“Shouldn’t have said anything. This is too awkward. Honestly, I only told you because you’re Olivia’s friends. Normally, I wouldn’t even give my surname.”

“Oh my~ Little Margaret gets shy too~”

Olivia blurted out suddenly.

“I’ll punch you.”

Margaret raised a tiny fist in mock threat.

Their banter eased the tension a bit.

“Margaret, I need to talk to you about something else.”

“Hm? What’s that?”

Olivia pulled Margaret aside for a whispered conversation.

Whisper, whisper…

Halfway through, Margaret’s eyes lit up, darting toward me.

…What’s going on?