The Eldest Daughter Walks Down The Flower Path

Chapter 18

6. Bye, Tilrod family!

All her life, she never felt any love from her family.

So, to be loved, she tried to break her entire body just to make a place for herself with them.

But in the end, the one thing she wished for never came true.

For all the efforts she made just to be loved, the only thing that Radis received was terrible, excruciating pain—and, the betrayal of her family.

When this second chance came to her, Radis didn’t want to repeat that life anymore.

She wanted to get rid of those chains she called family members. In order to do this, she would need to leave the Tilrod family.

But though she had memories of her past life, she was currently just a sixteen-year-old girl, and so it wouldn’t be easy to leave the family’s fence.

Radis’ desperate wish was made all too simple with just the contract she had with Marquis Russell.

She didn’t know how much Marquis Russell paid in order to take Radis, but her family was worried only about the possibility that he might change his mind and end up not taking her at all.

Thanks to this, with a kind of serenity that she had never felt before, Radis finished preparing to leave the Tilrod family.

Radis decided to dispose of the things she once used that surely would be discarded after she left.

Mirror, comb, dressing table, closet. These were things that she had used in her last life, until the very last breath she took.

These objects evoked a reminiscence of her terrible previous life.

Radis burned them all down as though she was setting flame to the hellish life she never wanted to repeat again.

When she burned the old items and packed the things she’d need for her new life, her small room was left empty.

Standing at the doorstep of the barren room, Radis took it all in at once.

Like an apparition, the young woman with haphazardly cut red hair stood by the window, and she could be seen through the glass.

“Sorry, but what you want for yourselves will never come true.”

Radis said, forlorn.

“I’m going to live for myself now.”

She closed the door.

In the hallway, Irene stood by with her luggage.

Her lips were wrinkled and distorted, but her eyes were strangely twitching.

Then, just as Radis was about to pass by her,

“…This, it’s weird.”

“……”

“Why is Milady going to another house when you’re not even getting married? And why are the Master and the Madam being paid money for it?”

Radis could see Irene gripping the handle of the bag.

“When I came to this mansion as a maid, my parents cried and said they were sorry. I was sold as a maid because my house was poor, and that only happened because my younger siblings didn’t have any food to eat. But that’s not the case for the Master and the Madam. Why are they selling you, Milady?”

Irene whispered quickly in a low voice.

“To Marquis Russell? No, Milady. Don’t you know about the rumors surrounding the Marquis? They say that he’s actually a demonic monster. I’m telling you the truth. Mrs. Luda said that!”

Radis stared at Irene silently.

Ever since a soup bowl had been turned over on Irene’s head, their relationship had changed.

Irene really started to serve Radis as a young lady of the Tilrod family.

Once she accepted Radis as her superior and not just a ‘cheeky member of the family who she can bully whenever she wanted’, Irene’s strange loyalty began to gradually shift from Margaret to Radis.

Irene felt sorry for Radis and what she had to go through, and she started seeing how Margaret was being too harsh to her eldest daughter.

And little by little, she began to side with Radis just like this.

However, Radis was about to leave.

‘And she would have to keep living here.’

Radis recalled Irene’s death in the previous life.

Here, Radis wouldn’t participate in the subjugations in David’s stead, and so Irene would not need to be killed just to keep that secret.

However, with this in mind, Irene could die sooner than she did before.

“Let go of that.”

Radis took the bag that Irene was clutching.

“I’m sure you know. I’m sick and tired of this house and the Tilrod family. I would even prefer to live in the forest of monsters. But now, I can stay at the Marquisate of Russell, so what could be better than this?”

Her voice was as cold as ice.

“You don’t have to pretend to be by my side for no reason. That wouldn’t benefit you. It would be better if you can pay attention to how you act around here.”

“Milady…!”

“They’ve sold their biological daughter like this. What do you think they’d do to a maid?”

“……!”

“Take care. For as long as possible.”

Radis went down the stairs with her bag.

In front of the mansion, the carriage that Marquis Russell sent was waiting.

And unexpectedly, Margaret and Yurhi were also at the entrance.

Carrying her luggage, Radis reluctantly said a few words as she passed by.

“Farewell. Stay healthy.”

Margaret’s lips began to twist into a strange shape.

It couldn’t be discerned whether she had decided to smile or to scowl.

With a forced smile, Margaret spoke.

“Goodness, you talk like you’ll never see me again. We’ll see each other again soon.”

“……”

“Ohohoho! Since you’re going to the Marquisate, be sure to get along with the high-ranking people there. Talk about your family, or your younger brother…”

Radis sighed.

“Where’s Father?”

At this question, Margaret’s fake laughter crumbled.

Her face now a poisonous expression, she spoke as though she had spat the words.

“What’s the point in knowing where that man is?”

And Radis realized.

Jade didn’t seem to have come back home last night.

In a worse mood now, Margaret took a step forward and began to vent her anger, grabbing Radis’ arm tightly.

“This isn’t just nagging but your mother’s advice, so keep this in mind! You’re leaving home, but you are still carrying the Tilrod name, so act accordingly and never forget that David is the pillar of this family. And like I said last time, no matter how loaded that person is, if you come back from the Marquisate…!”

Perhaps conscious of Yurhi being there, Margaret’s voice lowered to a hush.

“You’re really going to die after being hit by my hand. Let alone help the family, just don’t bring any disgrace!”

It was only then that Radis realized what Margaret and the other members of the Tilrod family were thinking.

They seemed to think that Radis was going to become the Marquis’ lover or something similar, that’s why she was going to the Marquisate.

Far from the cold expression that Irene saw earlier, all that was on Radis’ features now were disillusionment and cynicism.

“If you’re worried about that, shouldn’t you have said that you can’t sell your daughter?”

Margaret’s lips distorted again, crushed into a strange shape.

The way her lips twisted looked so excessive, and she grumbled and tried to rationalize her decision, her voice becoming increasingly loud as though this would make her excuses plausible.

“I just made a decision that would benefit David’s future along with the Tilrod family. Think about what you’ve done so far. You got in David’s way! You should be grateful that you can even be of any help to your family. You can’t blame me for letting you go there. Hold on to any person in this household and ask. Anyone would say that it would be best to get rid of a daughter like you!”

Radis looked at Margaret with endlessly cold eyes.

Although Irene had changed…

Margaret hadn’t.

And Jade was the same.

Radis spoke.

“I have a lot to say to that, but I’ll refrain myself. I already know how you’ll react.”

“Ha! What is it?!”

Radis was already about to turn around, but she stopped.

This would be the second time she’d ask the same question to Margaret.

The first was when she was on her deathbed in her past life.

And now…

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“W-What did I—!”

“Why did you despise your own child so much? Why did you never love me? You never as much as hit David or Yurhi, but why is it that with me, your hands are so heavy? What did I do so wrong? I don’t know why I had to sacrifice so much just because I was born as the eldest daughter of this family…!”

Radis stopped talking and took a deep breath.

She had to stop herself. If she said any more, things that hadn’t happened yet to the sixteen-year-old Radis might come out.

But this alone seemed to have set off Margaret enough.

She even threw her pretentious mask, which she usually didn’t take off in front of David or Yurhi, then she began to speak recklessly with a demon-like face.

“What? This wench! What?! Sacrifice? What sacrifice have you made? I’m the one who’s sacrificed so much! Don’t you forget that I gave birth to you, I fed you, and I gave you enough grace and shelter where you can sleep! How dare you say things like you’re the only one who’s suffered! You deserve…!”

“I deserve it, that’s why?”

“……!”

Very slowly, Radis’ lips curled up into a cold smile.

“Yes, I know. That’s why you treated me that way. You never loved me or even considered me as your daughter. Even so, I did my best because I thought you’d love me. I endured and worked hard just to be recognized as family. I must have looked foolish since I struggled like that, right?”

Radis looked at Margaret, who had become silent throughout this, and she continued speaking in a dry voice.

“I don’t need you anymore. I don’t want to struggle just to stay here. I don’t want to live like that. So I’m leaving.”

An unbearably frosty silence stretched on between Radis and Margaret.

Unable to withstand this silence, Yurhi shouted.

“Now… Please stop!”

As if trying to change the atmosphere, Yurhi forced herself to smile and spoke to Radis.

“Ah, Radis. Brother David still hasn’t woken up yet, but don’t be disappointed. We’re going to meet again. Since we’re family, right?”

Yurhi clasped her hands together under her chin, and with an earnest look in her eyes, she pleaded to Radis.

“But aside from that, once you get close to the Marquis, please invite me to the Marquisate. You can do that, right? And you’ll send me gifts, right? Right?”

Even she had not changed.

David would surely be the same.

Without even answering Yurhi, Radis turned around.

And she got on the carriage without looking back.

“Please depart.”

Thus, Radis left the Tilrod family.

She felt not a single grain of regret.