Chapter 7
I looked toward the courtyard gate.
It was pitch-black there. No one came.
No one was ever going to come...
Only the system's voice sounded: [Countdown complete. Extracting host soul from this world. The host body in this pocket world is now declared dead.]
At the same time, beneath the prayer tree at the lantern festival-
Evelyn stood waiting under the tree, watching the two children climb up a wooden ladder to hang their blessing charms.
All of a sudden, her heart skipped, and a strange emptiness hit her.
She suddenly wanted to go back and see Edward.
But just as she turned to leave, the children called out and stopped her.
"We're praying for Dad. May Dad stay happy, healthy, and blessed his whole life."
Charles had told them that children's prayers were the most effective, so they had come specifically to pray for him.
But Lily was still little and too impatient. When she stood on tiptoe, she lost her balance and knocked into Samuel. Both of them toppled straight off the platform.
Samuel screamed in terror, "Dad, save us-"
Charles was standing right beside them, yet instead of catching them, he instinctively stepped back.
Both children crashed hard onto the ground. Lily hit her head, and blood started pouring down.
She was only two. Hurt and terrified, she could only bawl, "It hurts. I want Uncle. I want Uncle to hold me..."
Samuel pulled his sister into his arms, heartbroken.
He had seen Charles step back, and he angrily demanded, "Dad, why didn't you catch us? My sister and I got hurt so bad..."
His mouth trembled as he spoke.
"If Uncle had been here, he would've saved us. Last time I knocked over the candle stand, he burned himself just to protect me."
"And when Lily fell off the rock garden, Uncle used his own body to break her fall so she wouldn't get hurt. But every time, you were never there!"
As Evelyn listened, her face darkened more and more, and her gaze on Charles grew heavy.
Charles stiffened, and for a split second, his face twisted.
Then he quickly put on an innocent look and explained,
"Evelyn, I didn't mean to. You know my health has always been bad. I just didn't react in time."
Unfortunately for him, Evelyn had seen that step back with her own eyes.
Her face turned ugly as she snapped, "You really haven't been caring for the children carefully enough."
Then she took the children by the hand and headed back to the Foster estate. "I'll take you to Uncle."
The three of them got into the carriage, and none of them noticed the dark, resentful look in Charles's eyes behind them.
On the way back, Evelyn fumbled helplessly as she tried to comfort the children.
Lily kept crying for Edward to hold her.
Meanwhile, Samuel complained, "It's all Uncle's fault for not coming. If he'd come, my sister and I wouldn't have gotten hurt. That bastard did it on purpose!"
Evelyn's brow twitched sharply at that.
Her face darkened as she scolded him, "Samuel Hartley. Who taught you to say disgusting things like that about your own family?"
"You will apologize to your uncle the moment we get back."
Samuel jerked in fright, and tears instantly spilled down his face.
"But everyone says stuff like that. Today Grandpa had him whipped, and Grandma even called him a beggar."
"Dad said Uncle acts shamelessly, and that's why you don't like him, why you keep making him copy the house rules."
"He also said Uncle got in the way of you two being in love, so he wrote to Grandpa on purpose and said Uncle hurt him. That's why Uncle gets beaten every other day."
"Even the servants call Uncle a filthy beggar behind his back because they know you don't like him..."
The more Evelyn heard, the heavier her heart became.
These past years, she had been too busy with official duties to pay much attention to what was happening at home.
This was the first time she realized Edward had been living like that, suffering so many quiet humiliations...
All at once, Edward's pale, lifeless face flashed through her mind.
Her unease surged violently. For the first time, real panic took hold of Evelyn.
She desperately wanted to see Edward, and ordered the carriage straight to his courtyard.
The second she flung open the curtain and jumped down, she saw two old maids stumbling out of the courtyard in terror.
They were screaming in horror-
"He's dead! Mr. Hartley coughed up blood and went stiff!"
Evelyn froze on the spot.