A Letter Never Meant to Be Read

"I'm talking about this."

As she said this, Lucia took out an envelope with a broken seal. I carefully accepted it and opened the letter.

I read the letter silently. My eyes widened, and panic overwhelmed me.

Everything in this letter was a secret about Lucia's mother's death. Besides Eden, no one else knew about this secret. Even in the novel, there were only brief glimpses of this secret from Eden's memories.

According to the novel's story, Lucia Thames didn't know that the person she had always considered her mother was the younger sister of Lucia's biological mother. Lucia's biological mother was killed by her jealous younger sister, who resented the status and wealth of Lucia's biological parents.

To avoid raising suspicion, Lucia's aunt adopted her and moved to another kingdom.

In front of Lucia, her aunt acted like a loving mother who cared deeply for her daughter.

Several years later, Eden Thames' father fell in love with Lucia's aunt.

At that time, Eden was thirteen years old, and Lucia was nine. Eden regarded Lucia as his younger sister, but Lucia's aunt always tried to keep Eden away from Lucia, implanting evil suggestions in Lucia's mind that Eden hated her existence.

Lucia believed it. Eden's rigid personality made the situation favor Lucia's aunt.

Two years later, Eden's father died, and Eden became king. Eden hired spies to investigate the mysterious circumstances of his father's death secretly. From there, he discovered another fact about Lucia.

Regarding Lucia's biological parents, who Lucia's aunt killed in the same manner as Eden's father. All the murder plans, by using a special poison, causing those affected to appear to die from illness.

Eden discovered that Lucia's aunt had taken all the money he had given her. He also learned of her plan to arrange Lucia's marriage to a wealthy elderly nobleman so she could continue enjoying her wealth.

But I have no idea that in this story, Eden revealed his secret to Lucia.

No, no way, I muttered to myself. This isn't how the story should unfold. In this story, Eden never reveals that secret until the end. I don't recall this letter ever being mentioned in the story.

So who wrote this letter and sent it to Lucia?

"I didn't know you were so worried about me all this time..."

I was so engrossed in reading the letter that I forgot Lucia was still beside me. When I finally shifted my attention to her, I noticed she was sobbing. I reached into my pocket, took out my handkerchief, and handed it to her.

"Stop crying."

Lucia took my handkerchief and nodded slightly, trying to stop crying. Meanwhile, I refocused my attention on the letter, examining it carefully.

This letter was written in Eden's handwriting, but it was not Eden who wrote it.

There were some details in the handwriting style that didn't match Eden's handwriting, which I had studied when I was learning about this kingdom last week.

In all the kingdom's letters, reports, and Eden's signatures, there were differences in the strokes.

I know this because I also had to study Eden's handwriting style so that no one would suspect I was Alfred, a 21st-century human who had entered this novel's realm.

Compared to me, the person imitating Eden's handwriting was still an amateur.

The question is, why? Why did the person sending this letter want to tell Lucia about the secret Eden was hiding?

I truly don't understand the plot of this story. Could it be that the story continues and doesn't follow the novel's plot because Eden Thames is still alive? 

Does my arrival in this realm as Eden Thames disrupt the original plot of the story?

Another new reality emerges, making my head ache even more.

"When I received this letter, I was going to burn it. Because..."

"Because you hate me?" I interjected.

"Y... yes..." Lucia nodded weakly, clutching her skirt nervously. "That..."

"There's no need to hide it," I said calmly. "Regardless, the person you consider your mother made you hate me. Am I right?"

Once again, Lucia nodded. "But... when I was about to do it, the servant who delivered this letter asked me to read it."

I turned to look at Lucia, who now seemed calmer. The woman adjusted her sitting position, then sighed deeply with an expression of sadness mixed with regret.

"I'm glad I chose to read it..." Lucia's hands clenched tightly, her knuckles turning white. "I... I'm such an idiot..."

I just sat there, observing Lucia. I'm not the kind of person who can read other people's minds like James Patrick did on the day I regained consciousness.

So I don't know if Lucia was acting in front of me to regain my trust and try to kill me, or if she was really serious about what she said.

Everything is so complicated. I find myself not knowing what decision to make.

Now, all I could do was go with the flow. Until I could find out who did it and what their plans were.

"It's all in the past," I said again, in a flat tone. "There's no need to bring it up."

"But…"

"I suddenly feel tired," I said quickly, not wanting to hear Lucia's words. "I want to rest. Can you leave me alone now?"

"Oh, of course. It's no big deal. You've just recovered from being near death, so you need plenty of rest," Lucia stopped crying, put on a sweet smile, and immediately stood up from her chair, bowing to me. "Well, I will take my leave now. I hope you recover soon."

I only responded with a weak nod, watching Lucia's figure walk away from my room. 

Once she was gone, I closed my bedroom door and walked toward the side of the bed.

What I told Lucia wasn't entirely wrong; I was indeed feeling tired. Maybe it was due to the shock of meeting Lucia, or my fear of the murderous intent she might harbor.

I lay my body on the bed, thinking about all of Lucia's words while staring at the ceiling.

I don't understand. What's happening? Is it because my arrival has disrupted the storyline?

Everything is getting more complicated...

***