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

“…What a pity.” So the person who tried to kill was still walking around somewhere in the palace. Just great. I felt a chill run down my spine.

Unlike me, Sabelian remained as indifferent as ever, and slowly took a sip from his tea before continuing. “Do you remember anything about your death? The investigation would end more swiftly with such information.”

As nice as that would have been… I could only shake my head. “Unfortunately, I do not.” Abigail’s memories came in bits and pieces. Some were crystal clear, others completely absent.

Sabelian lifted his head at my response and quietly stared at me before saying, “Do you remember that event by chance?”

“That event"?

“Six months ago, when you consumed poison.”

Six months ago? I trawled through what few memories I had. Aha… Oh, I do remember. I did consume poison, but…

“… You mean the time I poisoned myself.” Right. Abigail willfully poisoned herself. This was the brilliant plan she came up with to gain Sabelian’s much desired attention. While bedridden, Sabelian did actually visit her. Although initially elated, Abigail soon despaired after Sabelian found out the truth and treated her even worse than before.

He nodded and looked at me again, his piercing gaze trying to dissect me with his eyes. “You wanted my attention again, didn’t you, Abigail?”

My jaw almost hit the floor, I was so unbelievably surprised. E-Excuse you? Does he seriously think Abigail tried to kill herself? I couldn’t deny that Abigail’s done some crazy stuff in the past for attention, but being suspicious right off the bat is too much. Yes, she pretended to be sick in the past! Yed, she tried to drown herself! And yet, she drank some poison too, but!

… I stand corrected… Yes, it’s totally understandable to come to that conclusion. Even I was starting to get suspicious of her. Why the hell do I have to clean up all these messes Abigail left behind? Despite my annoyance, I kept the anger at bay, not wanting it to impact my efforts to improve my future. “I admit, I am guilty of a couple…creative ploys to obtain your affection in the past…”

“A couple?”

“A-a few…”

“A few?”

“N-nevertheless! This time, that was not the case.” I did my best to maintain an image of composure.

Even so, the man’s eyes belied his utter doubt of my sincerity. “No matter your ploys, I will not be able to give you the love that you desire.”

I wanted to dump cold water on that stupid face of his. When did I say anything about that just now? It was like he was trying to preemptively dump me before I could confess. “That’s all well and good, in that case, as I do not desire your affections either.”

This wasn’t a joke or a taunt, I was being completely serious. I no longer wanted anything to do with a man who behaved this way. But Sabelian’s aura of suspicion remained. I spoke once again with complete honesty. “After my near-death experience, I finally realized how useless all of it was. No matter how much I sought your attention, all you gave me was pity. Well I don’t want your pity.” Just like how Sabelian felt no affection for me, I also didn’t feel any affection for him. I admit to being attracted to his face at first, but his personality immediately ruined that. “You may be suspicious of me, but I swear to you upon my family’s name that I have uttered no falsehood.”

“I seem to recall you swore on your family’s name last time.” God damn it, Abigail! You couldn’t throw me a single bone?!  What is it with you and lying about everything?!

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, and choose my next words carefully. “Then riddle me this, if I truly used this situation to once again garner your attention, would I not have immediately accused one of the maids of poisoning me?” The real Abigail would have done this for sure, I’m 100% confident. She would have chosen a relatively pretty maid, and had the poor girl’s entire family killed for the false offense. “Yet I told you I knew nothing about whatever perpetrator might have committed this crime, fully aware that suspicious would then shift to me. Had I blamed someone else from the start, the situation would turn in my favor.”

“……” Sabelian didn’t say anything, but the suspicion hadn’t fully dissipated either. The distrust we held for each other didn’t diminish at all.

“I fully understand your hesitation to place your trust in my words. But I guarantee you’ll see the truth of them from this point on. In fact, I have a proposition right now to start atoning for my past misdeeds.”

“A proposition?”

“Why don’t we,”—I mustered the kindest smile I possibly could with my current face—”sleep in separate rooms?”

I could see Sabelian’s eyes widen just a tiny bit. It was much the same as the moment I came back to life after being assumed dead. “Separate… rooms?”

“Yes. Separate rooms.” I spoke slowly and clearly to get the message across. Although I made it sound like the suggestion was for Sabelian’s benefit, it was as much for me as it was for him.

Currently, Sabelian and I were sharing a bed together. That… made me uncomfortable, to say the least. I wanted to sleep soundly, but I couldn’t get 3 winks lying next to someone I didn’t even know. At the end of the day, he was a stranger. We might be a couple on the outside, but on the inside we were little more than acquaintances.

Sharing a bed with a man I don’t know? Every night I suffered through stress induced sleep paralysis, and I was getting sick of it. So… my brilliant solution: separate bedrooms. I’d be happy, he’d be happy. And on the plus side, it might start to improve his opinion of me.

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