CHAPTER ONE
The door was open. I slowly walked through the dark corridor looking at the bright light that penetrated through the gap between the open door.
Saying it’s not true on the inside, I muttered that it was all mistake. Comforting my heart I opened the door where the light leaked out. Then, immediately I bit my lips.
They say that when a person receives too much of a shock they can't speak, it was true. Without being able to say anything, I watched as two people kissed.
The man who used to be my fiance looked at me disdainfully as he told me to get out of his sight. And the girl in his arms haughtily laughed as she stretched out her hand to touch his cheek.
“You’re still not leaving? Get out of this house right now!”
I felt as if I’d faint and wouldn't get back up because of his cold words.
Still, this was a house of cherished warmth. My memories of this place were was my reason to live. This house was no ordinary mansion, it was the inheritance from my respected grandfather whom I followed after I was born into this world.
This large mansion is the pride of the Aztane family.
Grandfather held the young me and showed me the mansion that seemingly held the whole world. Sitting on the shoulder of my exceptionally tall grandfather, the ceiling seemed so close and made me feel giant.
However, this house is no longer mine.
“Older sister, did you not understand older brother’s words? You should leave now. This is no longer older sister’s home.”
What was more shocking? The shock of seeing the man who told me he loved me touching another woman with such intimacy? Or the shock of losing this house?
All of it was a shock, but the most shocking was...
“Erusia.”
“Older sister Lorencia, wouldn’t it be good for you to leave?”
“Erusia, How can you…?”
My beloved younger sister who always laughed so cheerfully. My younger twin sister that looked just like me. My precious younger sister whom I loved so dearly had betrayed me. There was no greater shock than this.
The family of the Aztane viscounty owned most of the farmlands and mines, and were considered to be the richest in the kingdom. The Aztane family were so rich that they had enough money to be part of the King’s family. I am the eldest daughter of this family.
I followed my grandfather who raised me in the place of my parents who passed away in a childhood accident. I was 18 years old when I became the successor of the Aztane family.
I ran the business calculatively and without emotions. I treated all the people equally and ignored status. This was the motto and mission of the Aztane family.
I dedicated 10 years of my life to this motto and mission.
Our family was rich and I had no problems. My only Achilles heel was the failing health of my bedridden younger twin sister.
But now my Achilles heel has stabbed me in the back.
Erusia had destroyed everything I had built. 5 large gold mines, 4 large silver mines, 21 coal mines, all the fields; she had sold them all.
All the homes that we owned were sold. By the time I had found out what she had done, only this mansion remained.
She used the face and voice that resembled mine to enable herself to sign off the papers.
My kind younger sister who was always supportively cheered me on told me she loathed me. All the farmlands, mines, and properties my grandfather had told me to protect with his dying breath... and finally, the fiance who told me he loved me, she had taken them all.
“How could you do this...”
I bit my lips harshly as my body trembled. Betrayal, anger, and regret. All these feelings came down at once, my strength was gone and my heart collapsed.
Even though I tried to stand, I no longer had the energy to do so. The room I used to call mine was no longer mine.
Erusia, who had the same appearance as me, delightfully laughed as she caressed his cheek and passionately kissed him. The two people kissed each other in front of me until breathless and gazed into each other's eyes.
Then as the two slowly walked towards the bed, their breathing became rough and heavy as they began to be sexually intimate with each other. The moaning sounds of these two were no longer human. They had stopped being human, they were beasts.
I had to ask. Why did they do this? I had to ask why they did this. However, my lips didn’t move and my brain stopped working.
Ah, so this is how it ends...
I left the room where the two people were embracing.
One step, another step. I walked without strength. Even though I was about to faint, I worked hard to move myself down the stairs. My legs had lacked so much strength that I felt I would fall, every step was painful.
I couldn’t even let out a groan. My heart hurt more than my body at this moment.
As I felt my tears run down my cheek my body slowly started to move. I could feel my feet throbbing as if I had sprained them.
“...Grandfather.”
The mansion that was once filled with warmth now felt so cold. The moment I felt that I had lost everything, the “door” appeared in front of my eyes. It was the door from an old memory.
- “This door was only open once since the death of your mother and father. I had failed to open the door. You need a strong desire to be able to open the door, and I was unable to do so. I don't know if the door will open, but if you were to live a life where you face something so bitter to the point where want to stop living, open the door.”
My grandfather told me this as he held onto the hand of his 10-year-old granddaughter with a sad expression. What did he mean by saying this?
In my youth, I had tried to open the door, but it refused to open.
“...I am.”
I must be suffering right now. Right, grandfather?
So I’ll open the door now. Even though I am the stupid granddaughter that couldn’t protect grandfather’s home… I’ll open this door. So… help me.
I stretched out my hands. I held the old doorknob in my hand, and with the faint memory of my grandfather and a small smile, I tried to open the door. But just like 18 years ago, the door didn’t open.
“...”
Of course, it’s like this. They were just words Grandfather said. It has to have just been words Grandfather wanted to say.
“Just…”
I bit my lips harshly. Tears fell on my cheeks. I breathed out quickly in disappointment and bitterness despite being painful. While kneeling in front of the door I kept turning the doorknob.
“Open… Open… OPEN! Open up! I said to open! Please… Please open…!”
I clung on the doorknob while crying. I screamed for a while as I turned the doorknob.
Open up, please… Please open up! Show me what’s inside! Tell me the meaning of Grandfather's words.
“Open! Please...I beg of you. I said to open… Right now!”
I’m just so tired right now...
However, a mouthless doorknob can’t respond. So I just held onto the doorknob as I cried.
Above the staircase, I heard those two people mocking me. Erusia and my cursed fiance, Barrett Acpencia, who had finished having sex.
Although I wanted to lift my head to see them, I did not. I didn’t want to show them my crying face. So I looked to the door once more.
“...Grandfather, if you’re there please open the door. When you do, please show me what you told me about… Grandfather.”
I heard them howling with laughter. Suddenly all my emotions rushed back and I wanted to open the door.
“Wake up the door Grandfather.”
I closed my eyes silently pleading as I turned the doorknob once more.
“Please wake me up from my sleep. This is all just a dream.”
At that moment the doorknob clicked. A bright light came from between the gap of the door. Then I fell unconscious.
A cool breeze and the fresh smell of flowers. It was the smell of my favorite acacia flowers that grew on Forlil Hill. Despite being a little chilly, it was a refreshing feeling. I loved the warm feeling of the person lovingly stroking my head.
“Laura, Laura.”
I loved the voice that softly whispered my name. It was a soft whisper I wasn’t able to hear in a long time, a voice filled with love.
“You need to wake up. The sun is setting now.”
Wake up? I want to sleep more… I’m still sleepy.
“Still, you need to wake up. If you sleep here the wolf will come take you away.”
Wolves are scary. The wolves will take grandfather… Wait, wolves?
Startled, I quickly got up. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw flower covered fields in five different colors across the landscape.
“Forlil Hill?”
This place is…
Wait, this voice is a little…
“Laura?”
Laura. That’s right, my nickname. Only one person that called me by my nickname. I turned my head. A man who looked 40-50 years old with neatly groomed black hair sat behind me.
He laughed as he saw me with a kind smile. His thick black hair and emerald like eyes were proof of this family.
“ ...Grandfather?”
“What’s wrong?”
“H-how can I be here? Ah, no, is this place heaven? Even though this place is beautiful… how can heaven be Forlil Hill? Grandfather, did you wait for me long here?”
“What are you saying. This place isn’t heaven.”
He put on an unbelieving expression and lightly laughed getting up gently patting my head, this man is my grandfather… Viscount Bellin Aztane.
“You’re not in the right mind because you just woke up.”
Woke up? Me? No, I was just at the mansion with Erusia.
Wake me up grandfather. Please wake me up from my sleep.
I can hear a voice from faraway. A voice filled with sadness, tiredness, and hopelessness. That voice had been mine. Those were the words I murmured before.
“Did you sleep well?”
The kind and welcoming voice that had woken me up belonged to...
“Grandfather…”
My beloved grandfather.