C114
"What do you mean?"
The question came out of my mouth without me realizing it.
"The orphanage. Do you happen to remember it?"
Angela studied my expression and tilted her head as if it were strange.
"It was when you were young, but not young enough to not remember it at all..."
I tried to find a hint of a lie in her reaction, but there was none.
I instinctively knew. Angela wasn't a scammer trying to get money.
"Did Ethel really grow up in an orphanage?"
I had no way of knowing. I hadn't even paid much attention to Ethel's childhood.
"Why was she in an orphanage? Was she under their care for a while because my family's circumstances weren't good?"
"It's not like that."
Angela shook her head and widened her eyes.
"You were abandoned in front of our orphanage when you were three. Then you went to another orphanage and from there you were adopted by the Wallace family."
"..."
Was it true that Ethel wasn't the biological daughter of Count Wallace and his wife? Was she an orphan?
It was hard to believe. I had never doubted that Ethel and the Wallace family were related by blood.
Because Ethel and the Countess Wallace were quite similar.
However, when I thought that she wasn't their biological daughter, her behavior so far had a strange sense to it.
In addition to mistreating Ethel, the Wallace family often treated her like a stranger. Really like a servant.
"One moment."
I looked at Angela with suspicious eyes, then opened the carriage window and spoke to the driver.
"Please go to Williams Street. Right now."
Williams Street is a street where several law offices are located, and Sharon's office is also there.
Count Wallace and Samuel left the capital.
In that case, the only person from the Wallace family I could meet immediately was the Countess.
Let's go to Sharon and ask her where the countess is currently staying.
"This person named Angela..."
It didn't seem like she was lying, but I couldn't believe it without any confirmation.
Above all, I wanted to see the countess immediately and find out the truth.
"E-Ethel. Why are you doing this all of a sudden? I'm not lying!"
Angela must have sensed my caution and shrugged anxiously.
"Calm down. I'll check the facts with Countess Wallace."
"...Is that so? Then, I'm relieved. But she won't tell you the truth."
"Why?"
"That's because she adopted you secretly."
"She adopted me secretly?"
"This is a story I heard from someone in charge of the orphanage you moved to while I was tracking your whereabouts. I think Count and Countess Wallace requested not to leave a record of adoption because they wanted to raise you as if you were their own daughter."
"Is that possible?"
"There's nothing you can't do if you give money. I also heard this story after giving some money to that person."
I had many questions for Angela, but I asked this one first.
"Why did you go to such lengths to track my whereabouts?"
"Really? It's because I care about you."
"Then why did you appear before me now? Did it take you so long to find me?"
"That..."
"If you don't speak honestly, I can't trust what you say."
"Fine! I'll tell you everything!"
Angela continued speaking resignedly.
"I was planning to take you to Cassius back then. But when I heard the rumor that the duchess loved Liena, I wondered what the point of all this was..."
"Wait a moment. Why do Liena and Cassius suddenly appear here?"
"Right. You don't have memories of your childhood. So you won't even remember about Liena."
No way.
"Liena, now Princess Cassius, was in our orphanage a long time ago. She was a close friend who was always with you."
Shock invaded me again.
I remembered the question I asked myself after having a strange dream in the Lucibiu mine.
How did Ethel and Liena become friends?
"Yes, it was because of this."
Ethel and Liena were from the same orphanage.
I should have suspected from the moment the word orphanage came out of Angela's mouth, but I was too distracted by the fact that Ethel wasn't the biological daughter of Count Wallace and his wife, so I couldn't even get there.
"Why did you want to take me to Cassius?"
After regaining my senses, I opened my mouth.
"Does it have to do with the most important problem of my life that you wrote about in your letter?"
"That's actually..."
Angela swallowed saliva and looked around with trembling eyes.
Then, Vinetta, who was the only one besides us in this carriage, asked me.
"Is your escort trustworthy?"
"Yes, she's someone I trust."
We risked our lives together in the mine and fought against the divine beast.
"I see... Ethel, don't be surprised and listen."
Angela's voice became calmer than before, perhaps feeling somewhat reassured by my confident response.
"If things had gone as planned, the girl to be adopted by Duke Cassius would have been you, not Liena."
Truly, it was something I couldn't hear without being surprised.
Then the carriage stopped, and the driver shouted.
"We have arrived!"
Williams Street was not far from the Spring Flower Park, so we arrived quickly.
"...I will listen to more details later."
Since Liena's name was mentioned, it was a topic that needed to be approached with more caution.
"Please wait here for a moment."
I spoke with Angela and exchanged glances with Vinetta. It meant keeping an eye on Angela so she wouldn't go anywhere.
Seeing Vinetta nod, I got off the carriage and entered Sharon's office.
"Ethel! How have you been?"
Robbie greeted me warmly, but unfortunately, it wasn't the time for a casual greeting.
"Is Sharon there?"
"Yes, she's talking to a client right now... Oh, there she is."
At that moment, I saw Sharon coming out of the counseling room.
"Oh God, what happened suddenly for you to come without prior notice?"
"Ethel..."
And Countess Wallace was beside her.
"Countess, please have a conversation with me."
Sharon, noticing that I was in an unusual mood, gave us a private room.
The Countess Wallace and I sat facing each other.
"I heard the news."
The countess looked at me and spoke.
"I heard you got rich with that abandoned mine. Originally, it belonged to Wallace, so why don't you give us something too? Please pay Samuel's debt."
It was so absurd that I couldn't even laugh.
Well, he decided to divorce because he was going through a tough time, but there's no way his deep love for his son would disappear overnight.
"Why should I do that? He's not my real brother anyway."
"What do you mean...?"
"I was adopted by Wallace."
The countess Wallace's pupils dilated.
"E-Ethel... Did you really regain your memory?"
As expected, what Angela said was true.
"You've been deceiving me all this time. I didn't even know, I thought they were my family."
"I didn't mean to deceive you! We thought it would be better for you. In an accident, you lost your memory and got confused..."
"What accident was it?"
"Eh?"
"Countess Wallace, I'm very angry right now. If you want the slightest recognition from me, you must stop hiding it and reveal the whole truth. Do you understand?"
Indeed, intimidating was a very effective way to make this person open her mouth.
"When you were six or seven years old, you slipped and fell down a slope."
She trembled and spoke of the past.
"You hit your head on a rock while rolling and fainted, but fortunately, there were no serious injuries."
"But I lost my memory."
"That's right. You couldn't remember anything."
"Why did you hide the adoption? Why did you adopt me in the first place?"
It was impossible to think that the count and countess Wallace, who were not wealthy, would have taken in an orphan into their family with good intentions.
The countess Wallace hesitated, but when I urged her, she finally spoke.
"...I needed a daughter to marry the son of Viscount Cainbert."
If it's Viscount Cainbert, she refers to the one who tried to take over my mine by waging territorial war.
"It was a long time ago. We promised to form a union. If the Count had a daughter, he would have her marry his son."
Yes. The viscount clearly stated that at that time.
"I didn't think it would be a good idea to adopt a girl for that reason, but your father insisted."
"They coveted Viscount Cainbert's property."
The countess Wallace lowered her head in helplessness.
"I understand why you hid the adoption from me. If I consider Wallace as my real family, I won't be able to abandon you even if I become the young viscountess of Cainbert."
She was speechless. Indeed, she confirmed my assumption.
"If I were an orphan, Cainbert would probably hate me, so they adopted me secretly. To make me pass as your daughter."
"How is that...?"
"Yes, the reason you and I resemble each other is not because we're mother and daughter. From the beginning, you chose a girl who looked like you and adopted her."
"Ethel."
"It's a pity. They tried their best, but Cainbert refused, so their dreams were shattered."
It was very likely that Viscount Cainbert had broken his promise a long time ago after seeing the worsening financial situation of Wallace.
To Wallace, who was already heavily indebted to Viscount Cainbert, it would have been difficult to argue with him.
"No. In the end, Leandro appeared and married me, so it was a much greater outcome than they set out to achieve."
The orphan who had become useless and treated like a maid had become the young Duchess Cassius.
"...Don't speak like that."
"Ha, I never thought there would be something more disappointing about you."
I stood up and looked at Countess Wallace with cold eyes.
"Now wait a moment!"
The countess grabbed my arm, but I shook her hand away.
"Unless you have something else to hide from me, I will never see you again."
I left the office, quickly greeted Sharon and Robbie, and returned to the carriage.
Angela was waiting for me.
"The story about the girl who was originally going to be adopted by Duke Cassius being me... Please tell me about that."
It was time to know the rest of the truth.