I'm Just a Stepmother but my Stepdaughter is just so Cute!

“Ah, uh. I’m… fine. Really, I’m fine…” Blanche quickly hid her right hand from me, acting as if she got caught doing something wrong. Her gaze immediately went to Sabelian in fear. Seeing Blanche so tormented hurt me inside. She didn’t even cry after she fell…

Sabelian opened his mouth, all the while maintaining his cold voice. “I’ll summon a doctor for you. You may take your leave, Blanche. I have something to discuss with Abigail.”

“….Yes, father.” After giving Sabelian a final bow, Blanche quickly fled, not unlike a small rabbit.

I glared daggers at Sabelian. “Aren’t you being a bit too cruel?”

“In what regard?”

“Your daughter’s hurt… You couldn’t even bring yourself to spare a word of comfort?”

Sabelian slowly tilted his head in mock confusion, his gaze almost piercing me. “How laughable. Since when do you care so much about Blanche?”

“……” I couldn’t refute his words. After all, until recently, no one harassed Blanche more than I did. For me to cover for the girl came off as a bizarre turn of events. “I’ve had a change of heart after my brush with death.”

“Is that so?” His expression indicated he didn’t believe me at all. C’mon, it makes sense for someone to change at least a little bit after a near-death experience, right?

Sabelian slowly made his way to the table, and took up Blache’s vacated seat. The maids scurried over with a new cup of tea. He gestured with a nod of his head for me to sit back down. Don’t treat me like a pet, damn it! That’s not how you ask nicely for someone to do something.

I gritted my teeth as I took my seat. Looking at him from the front like this… He’s a piece of trash, but god be damned if he wasn’t a pretty one.

“Did you also injure yourself? You don’t seem well.”

“The tea is just a little hot.” Using my paltry excuse I forced my gaze away. Ah, I hate this so much. To think drinking tea with a handsome man like this would be so aggravating… Reality really is stranger than fiction.

In many ways, Sabelian was perfect. He was a handsome king, praised for both his wisdom and martial prowess. Big friggen deal, though. His heart was as empty as the desert, and the blood that ran through his veins was as cold as ice.

The first thing I saw when I awoke in my coffin was Sabelian’s face just as he was giving me his final farewells. “Let us never have the misfortune of meeting again in the next life, Abigail.” The moment I heard those words, several memories came flooding into me, which caused me to burst out of the coffin.

Normally, a husband and wife will kiss to seal their vows of eternal loyalty when wed. But Abigail and Sabelian did not kiss. Even worse, they didn’t even share a first dance at the wedding reception. Sabelian left after making some excuse about being tired. And on their first night, Sabelian didn’t even lay a finger on Abigail. He simply said, “Abigail, know this, I won’t ever lay a hand on you.“

Without so much as a reason, he simply turned over and went to sleep, leaving Abigail unable to catch even a wink. They never even held hands. Thanks to all this, Abigail’s pride was absolutely shredded. Devastated by this, she at first answered his cold treatment with her own. But as time went on, it only served to increase her desire for attention. It finally came to a point where she begged him, so badly did she crave his love. “Your Majesty, why do you always keep me at arm’s length? What must I do to earn your love?”

“Do not approach me. Even better, pretend as if you did not exist. No, if you truly desire to please me, act as if you are dead. Only then will you have perfected your role.”

Her thoughts went round in circles wondering why Sabelian rejected her to this extent. She came up with only one conclusion after all that contemplation: she wasn’t beautiful enough for him. Her personality was bad to begin with, but reaching that verdict nearly drove her to insanity. From then on, anyone remotely pretty in the palace would be thrown out. Even Blanche’s suffering originated from this moment.

There’s no denying Abigail was an awful person. I could not, and would not, defend her actions. But I could at least understand her feelings as a fellow woman. A political marriage between two countries, arranged for its benefits, not for love. Even among arranged marriages, hers was especially bad.

Sabelian, that bastard. How could he treats girls like this? Why even marry in the first place? Just thinking about it sent me into a tizzy. I took a swig of some cold water to cool myself off. It didn’t need to be said, but I wasn’t too happy with Sabelin paying me a visit today. And for what reason could he possibly have come? Certainly nothing good. “Your Majesty, may I inquire as to the purpose of this visit?”

“I wished to speak with you regarding your death.”

Death. I flinched a bit upon hearing that word. I set my teacup down and looked at him. “My death?”

“Yes. You were lucky enough to survive, but you were certainly dead at the time. So I looked into the cause.”

My ears perked up at this. The ending of this fairy tale concerned me, but so did Abigail’s death. I heard Abigail death’s appeared as if she was simply asleep. She was only 23, not an age you would expect someone to suddenly pass away. Neither was she sick. That left the most likely conclusion: Murder.

Ugh, I got the chills just thinking about it. I may have died once already, but dying from overworking is completely different from being straight up murdered…

Sabelian continued with his monotone monologue, as if he was reading a passage from a book. “Poison seems most likely. Had we the chance to dissect you, we would have known for sure, however…”

Hey now, could not give me that look when talking about dissecting me?

“I investigated all the servants close to you, but no evidence of attempted murder could be found.”

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