Beatrice's POV
"Charles… I'm so sorry… Please don't go.
Don't go CHARLES, COME BACK!"
My muffled scream dragged me out of the nightmare and back into the cold reality of today.
The dreams come in different versions, different ways he dies, different ways I lose him. Since the very first day Charles left this world, my sleep has never been mine again.
Every dream is new. Every dream hurts. Every dream makes me wish he had stayed.
Maybe if he hadn't died, I would have been treated better.
Maybe if he hadn't gone, I would have been loved.
Maybe if I hadn't killed him… I wouldn't be treated worse than a servant.
Sometimes I dream of a different life: a life where I call the Count and Countess father and mother not only in public, where I am loved like Elena, where I belong.
The heavy door of this hell creaked open, and a blinding strip of light stabbed into the darkness. I shut my eyes instinctively, giving myself a moment to adjust. I had prayed for the door to open, begged for it even, but when freedom finally came my body felt too weak to keep up with what my heart wanted.
"Get up. His Lordship and Her Lady await your presence," a man said likely the guard who opened the door. When I didn't move fast enough, he grabbed me roughly under the arms and lifted me to my feet. I couldn't resist even if I wanted to. My limbs felt like wet cloth.
Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see clearly: a guard hauling me out of the dungeon and back toward my room. Warm porridge was placed in my hands. My mind wanted to devour it immediately, but my body trembled too violently to obey. I ate slowly, forcing each spoonful down.
Two maids washed me afterward, scrubbing away the smell of cold water and fear. A new dress was pulled over my head. Before I could rest, I was taken straight to the Count's office.
I guess it was time to find out what crime I had committed this time.
"So… you figured out how to survive the water," the Countess said the moment I stepped inside. "Or perhaps it was simply your animal instinct fighting for its miserable little life."
I kept my head bowed.
I still didn't know how long I had been locked away. At first, the water was at my knees. Later, when my legs gave out, it climbed to my chest. I thought it was only to make me freeze. But now… I understood better.
It was also to keep me alive.
Funny, isn't it? The same thing they used to torture me was the same thing keeping me from dying of thirst. They didn't give me food or water. They knew that if they left me without water, I would die quickly. They didn't want that.
So they forced me to drink from the very source of my punishment.
"Do you know why you were punished?"
Father asked, snapping me out of my drifting thoughts.
"No, my lord," I answered immediately, terrified that even a heartbeat of hesitation might earn me another round in the cell.
"Rumors about you visiting the red-light district have spread throughout the empire," he said. "And after it began, several noblemen found it amusing to add their own stories claiming they also had their way with you."
My head shot up, only for me to drop it again. Shock slammed into me. Rumors? Lies that big? And if that was the reason for my punishment… then my adoptive parents must have known they were lies. I never go anywhere unsupervised. I can't go anywhere.
"Your punishment," the Countess said sharply, "was because we had arranged to marry you off to a small noble family one we could control. But now that your reputation is ruined, any family willing to take you will demand a high price. And we are certainly not going to spend that much on you after raising you for free."
My hands shook. I clasped them together to hide it.
She continued, "The first reason you were punished is because the incident ruined our plans. The second is that your stained reputation reflects poorly on us. Now do you understand your mistakes?"
"Yes, my lady. I offer my deepest apologies."
Anything to please them.
Anything to keep me from going back to that freezing cell.
The Countess leaned back in her chair. "Also, prepare yourself. You are to be married to Duke Edward of Fairmont."
My blood ran cold.
"I trust," she went on, "that we do not need to remind you how to behave once you are married, or how to hold your tongue. Say nothing to the Duke. Nothing. We will not protect you if you make a mistake."
She kept talking warning me, instructing me, drilling rules into my skull. But her voice turned distant, like echoes bouncing off water.
Because my mind was stuck on one truth:
If the Duke finds out I'm low-born…
If he discovers the daughter of a Count is nothing but a slum rat…
I could be executed.
My life felt like it was collapsing in front of me. All I could do was nod and whisper, "Yes, my lady," while my future closed around me like a noose.