Parental negligence.

"What kind of relationship did Evelyn and the Duke have?"

Mary looks away wondering how to phrase her wording.

"I'd like to affirm that the Lord barely pays attention towards My lady, b-because he's occupied with the state's work!"

"Mary stop sugar coating and explain things as they are"

Mary bites her lip then nods in approval.

"My lady, the last time you've interacted with The Lord was 5 years ago"

If that's the case, the Duke didn't meet Evelyn after she attempted to kill herself. What happened between them for it to get this bad?

"He was never interested in Lady Evelyn, nor Lord Eugene's affairs since birth"

"Well, what caused him to disregard his children?"

Mary takes a deep breath before resuming.

"The Late Duchess, Sylvia Agrece died giving birth to Lady Evelyn and Lord Eugene.."

Mary's words perked up a bit of my recollection of the novel. The late duchess that the Duke cherished, ended up dying while giving birth to the twins and The Duke ended up resenting his children for it.

Eventually, after growing up, Eugene and Evelyn both expressed their obsessive love towards different people. Eugene towards the female lead Blanche and Evelyn towards the male lead Theodore. What's intriguing is that these two different characters have something in common. They were both the first to ever show genuine concern towards the siblings.

The siblings simply sought and craved what they lacked in their childhood but in turn ended up in one sided situations, almost mirroring their relationship with their father.

Evelyn ends up in front of The Duke's office while being engrossed in her thoughts. Mary couldn't help but worry that Evelyn is going to be devastated at the end of this interaction as it's invariably been that way.

She intently gapes at Mary and Mary nods comprehending her master's wishes. She proceeds to knock on the door and announce the visitation.

"Lord Agrece, The Lady is here to meet you"

The silence that heightens Mary's anxiety soon dissipates when the door opens without a response. The butler bows as a greeting towards Evelyn, soon vacating the office for the family to have their discussion privately.

Evelyn's gaze lands on the middle-aged man staring intently at the paperwork on his table. His eyes and hair possess the same colours as Evelyn's.

Evelyn abruptly feels a sharp discomfort in her chest. Her vision blurs out from tears that are forming.

What's this? What's happening to me? Why am I tearing up?

Evelyn looks back up to The Duke and all those sensations resurface.

Wait. Are these the real Evelyn's emotions?

Evelyn snaps herself out of the short trance, immediately settling down on the seat.

"I'll get straight to the point as you clearly seem busy with work. I'm here as I require a favour from you"

Evelyn utters without garnering a reaction from The Duke.

"I need to meet the High priest and only you're able to help me grant an audience with him"

"Leave"

The Duke utters ever so nonchalantly.

"Leave? You're not going to ask for what reason?"

"What reason do I need when I know each action of yours bring harm to the duchy. Your lavish lifestyle, your bad temper and your attempt to kill yourself. Why would I trust you when you'd pull off another antic like that?"

His disregard for Evelyn's suicide attempt disturbs me.

Although, The Duke's words make me ponder.

Would Evelyn end up acquiring a problematic personality if it weren't for her dad's negligence and resentment?

How much of his negligence would have caused her to be the way she is? And if so, does he have the authority to condemn her for her unpleasant behaviour? I'd love to point this out to him but I doubt he'd help me meet the priest if I do that.

"Have you at least investigated Eugene's death?"

"I have other work to take care of, that can be done later. It's not like he's going to come back alive, is he?"

"I'm curious, can you tell me what we've done to be neglected by you?"

"Are you pretending to be naive? You're slowly taking away everything from me, wasn't that your intention from the beginning of it all? You took away my most cherished person, why should I attend to you?"

This old hag is delusional and playing the victim. I wasn't going to go this far but I can't take this anymore.

"Didn't expect Karens to exist in the medieval era"

"Karen? Who's Karen? What insanity are you uttering?"

"Duke.. Do you really believe a fetus is capable of Intentionally taking away your beloved wife at birth?"

The Duke's hand abruptly ceases causing the ink to gradually absorb, forming a spot on his paperwork.

"Are you really blaming your children for the Duchess' inevitable death? Oh yeah, my bad I should have gone back in time and killed myself while I was in the womb"

"Or even better, maybe you could have just fucking pulled out?"

"W-What?"

"Do you realise that this is the kind of logic that you're wielding to justify your wrongdoings?"

Evelyn stands up and strides towards The Duke's desk.

"The Duchess you loved so much. Have you ever sat back and thought about how she would feel, seeing you neglect and blame the children she sacrificed her life for?"

The Duke, for the first time, peeks at his daughter's face full of repulsion and irritation. The ink spot that was absorbed into the paper has now spread wider, identical to the tightness in his chest accumulating with the weight of Evelyn's words.

"Don't you think rectifying the grief of your loss by shifting your blame and hatred towards your own children, will only make you lose more people around you?"

"I.. I don't have-"

"I can try to understand how utterly devastated you would have been but you cannot use your children as a vessel to dump your rage"

The ink spreads further and deeper reaching into the several pages underneath.

"You're hanging on to your made-up delusions of your children plotting against you. Drop your pathetic excuse and think about everything from the get-go, this time from our point of view"

The Duke's grip relaxes on the ink pen while trying to organise his thoughts.

"Well, unfortunately, It's too late to come to terms with it"

"Both of your children are dead. Evelyn died the moment she tried to kill herself."

It's true, Evelyn most probably did die before I ended up in her body.

Evelyn's words keep ringing in his head, failing to realise that she's already gone.

The ink pen falls off of the Duke's loose grip and twirls towards the door that's now closed off.

The face of young Evelyn calling him flickers right before his eyes. Gradual flashbacks of Evelyn throughout her interactions with him.

"Father, I didn't mean to hurt you"

Her face slowly lost hope with each interaction.

"Father, I just wanted to talk to you about something"

No longer bounded by expectations.

"Father, you never tried to listen to me when all I ever did was try to listen and understand you"

Finally, left with nothing but disappointment.

"Duke"

The word he took for granted if only he could go back in time to hear it once more knowing that it was the last time.

"In the end, I've failed again Sylvia. You were unable to hold them in your arms, while I was able to but determined not to. What a foolish father..."

The Duke utters with tears staining his paperwork that he once deemed important.

_

"My lady, are you alright?"

Mary inquires with a worrisome look on her face.

"I'm absolutely fine, although I do feel troubled by the fact that I'd have to figure out another way to meet the High priest"

My chest feels a bit heavy, I reckon that's Evelyn's emotions and not mine.

"My lady, I'm proud of you"

"Proud of me? For what Mary?"

"You never once talked back against The Lord, this was the first time you finally questioned his wrongdoings. Must have taken a lot of courage to do so, and that's why I'm proud of you"

Does that mean Evelyn bore up all of that old hag's hurtful words her whole life? No wonder she'd want to end her life, but I still can't be fully sure of what caused her to be suicidal.

The more I get to know Evelyn, the more I realise that the novel never talked about her past. If Evelyn as a character was deeply ventured in the book, would she still be regarded as the novel's villainess by the readers?

"Thank you Mary, I'm glad to have a kind and empathetic presence such as yours during tough times"

Evelyn's words cause Mary's cheeks to tint slightly red and fumble a quick reply.

"Y-Yes"

A sudden knock on the door is heard halting Mary's flustered emotions.

"Lady Evelyn, I'm the Duchy's butler"

"Come in"

The butler bows as a greeting towards Lady Evelyn, with his usual expressionless face.

He looks like someone who's doing a 9 to 5 job while getting paid the minimum wage.

"The Lord has requested me to escort you to meet The high priest, he personally contacted the priest about your visit"

What?!