try begging

What sin did you commit that made me do such a terrible thing?

I regret those immature times when I hated and burdened you, an innocent person.

A phrase from a letter my mother left behind kept lingering in my head. It sounded like my mother scolding me not to do something I would regret.

I'm not shameless enough to tell you that I love you.

The mother could only say that she loved her daughter if she had to accuse her of being shameless. She had already repeated her mother's fate, but she did not want to repeat the fate of not being able to proudly tell her daughter that she loved her.

The taxi pulled into the townhouse district. Soon the buildings of Winston Street came into view in the distance. There were lights here and there in the windows.

If it's not too late, I wish you would just stay there.

As soon as the taxi stopped, Grace threw her money down and ran outside.

Baby, please stay there.

As she ran around the fence and toward the back door, Grace repeated the same words in a choked voice, her heart threatening to burst out of her mouth.

"Black...."

The moment Grace turned the corner and saw the awning of a black baby carriage beyond the low shrubbery, she burst into a fit of laughter.

There is. There is still.

There was no one in the backyard. Judging from the milk basket still in front of the door, no one had come out yet. Grace threw her bag over the fence and ran inside.

"My daughter... ."

The shade was pulled back. Grace couldn't stand it any longer when she saw the sleeping baby angel.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry, Mommy."

Before it was too late, I admitted with my own mouth that I was this child's mother. Only then did the burden that had been weighing on her for so long disappear with absurd ease.

"Eeeek-."

The child woke up to the sudden noise. The child, who had been yawning with his fists clenched and his hands stretched out, smiled brightly as if he had never complained before when he met his mother's eyes. Grace also smiled brightly, and the tears that had filled her eyes fell down.

Only then did Grace see herself in her daughter. She had always had an infinite and absolute affection for her mother. She saw that in a child who was only six months old. When she was young, whenever she received her mother's affection, she would feel as if Christmas had come. This child, who smiled like the happiest person in the world just because her mother was in front of her, must feel the same way.

You look like me.

He whispered, kissing the child's cheek.

Grace dragged the stroller out of the fence, put the luggage she had thrown on the shelf, and pushed the stroller down the alley, asking me again.

So what is my life?

Grace gave her daughter a chewing gum from her pocket as she began to suck her thumb, and she decided the correct answer for herself.

If I'm going to live doing what I want to do, then baby, I want to live with you.

The path given to this child was not three but four. Grace, who had initially turned away from the path, eventually chose it and walked along the path of dawn with her daughter.

Early in the morning, the center of the royal capital was deserted. A sedan sped along the empty road, passing the magnificent parliament building and heading towards the townhouses.

Leon was lost in thought, his gaze blankly outside the car window. Only when the car suddenly stopped at an intersection did his eyes come into focus.

Someone was crossing the street beyond the intersection. I thought it was a postman pushing a black cart, but upon closer inspection, I saw it was a baby stroller.

"What kind of mother would take her child for a walk at a time like this?"

As the driver acted as if nothing had happened, Pierce, in the passenger seat, shrugged his shoulders. As the woman climbed onto the sidewalk across the street and the car started again, Leon, who was about to look away, suddenly turned his head to the left with a sense of foreboding.

The gait seemed familiar.

He stared at the woman walking briskly, wearing a red wine-colored hat pulled down low, but the car crossed the intersection in an instant and the woman disappeared from his sight. It was too short a time to be certain.

Leon turned his head straight ahead. Maybe it was an illusion. In fact, he had already mistaken a woman walking down the street for Grace several times.

The focus disappeared from the blue eyes again.

I wonder if Grace also pushes a stroller like that.

He was lost in his imagination again. That kind of domesticity didn't suit that kind of wild woman. But on the other hand, he thought she might be pretty cute. At that moment, the car stopped in front of the townhouse.

"Your Majesty, welcome back. I hope you had a pleasant journey."

The butler who had been waiting outside the door opened the car door. Leon nodded briefly in response and went inside the building.

He shook his head at the butler who said he would prepare breakfast first and headed up to the second floor. Only after taking a shower to wash away the dirty feeling left by the train ride did he sit down at the table.

At the table where a light breakfast was laid out according to his taste, the first thing Leon picked up was a cup of coffee. As he drank his coffee, he glanced at the pile of newspapers and letters neatly placed on one corner of the table.

What should I look at first? My eyes, scanning the envelope, stopped at an envelope with a strangely raised corner. The suspicious envelope had no post office stamp.

Suddenly.

The moment the name Daisy Abbington appeared, the coffee cup sank roughly onto the saucer. As Leon picked up the letter and opened it, time seemed to stop in the restaurant. The waiters looked at him with astonishment, and the only sign of time passing was the coffee stains spreading across the pure white tablecloth.

"under...."

Leon took the engagement ring out of the envelope and sighed. It was good news that Grace had come here, but it was bad news that she had returned the ring.

She knew that the ring was wanted. She didn't need the money, so there was no reason to sell it.

He couldn't help but feel the pain of a bullet piercing his heart because he had lost a single clue to track Grace down. Leon's gaze remained on the names engraved side by side on the inside of the ring.

This is a confirmed kill.

I don't need a future with you.

The woman's screams seemed to linger in my ears.

Grace Riddle was the only woman who could kill Leon Winston without saying a word.

He again suppressed his sense of humiliation at being abandoned and asked the bewildered butler.

"When did this letter arrive?"

"I just got it from the mailbox."

"When was the last time you checked your mailbox?"

"It must have been around 6 o'clock last night."

Then, the woman came and went here during those 12 hours. Is there any clue to know the exact time? Leon opened the letter inside. The first sentence of the letter got straight to the point without any introduction.

You raise the child you created responsibly until the end, you son of a bitch.

Irony. Leon immediately turned his gaze to the butler.

"Where is the child?"

The butler looked at him as if he didn't understand English. Feeling frustrated, he urged him to answer impatiently.

"Who said there wasn't a baby left here?"

"I haven't heard anything like that, but I'll look into it right away."

As the butler was rushing out of the restaurant, the maid who was clearing away the coffee cups cautiously opened her mouth.

"Are you talking about what Ben saw around six o'clock?"

"Tell me more."

"that is...."

At about six in the morning, a servant who was drawing the curtains in a room overlooking the backyard of the townhouse saw a strange sight. A woman wearing a red wine-colored hat and a black baby carriage were standing in the backyard of the Count's estate. Thinking she was crazy, he tried to open the window and shout for her to come out, but the woman immediately pushed the baby carriage away, so he said nothing.

Leon, who heard the whole story, jumped up from his seat.

"Call a driver right now."

On the way to the townhouse, the woman I saw at the intersection was none other than Grace. She changed her mind along the way and went back to find the child.

He headed straight outside and checked his watch.

Damn it. It's already been 40 minutes.

Just as I reached the central hall, the driver opened the door to the employee-only area and came running. Then, I suddenly remembered what the driver had said.

"What kind of mother would take her child for a walk at a time like this?"

No, that's not a walk.

Leon recalled his memories. There was definitely a large suitcase on the shelf under the stroller. Something that had been considered insignificant just a moment ago suddenly became a crucial clue.

What sin did you commit that made me do such a terrible thing?

I regret those immature times when I hated and burdened you, an innocent person.

A phrase from a letter my mother left behind kept lingering in my head. It sounded like my mother scolding me not to do something I would regret.

I'm not shameless enough to tell you that I love you.

The mother could only say that she loved her daughter if she had to accuse her of being shameless. She had already repeated her mother's fate, but she did not want to repeat the fate of not being able to proudly tell her daughter that she loved her.

The taxi pulled into the townhouse district. Soon the buildings of Winston Street came into view in the distance. There were lights here and there in the windows.

If it's not too late, I wish you would just stay there.

As soon as the taxi stopped, Grace threw her money down and ran outside.

Baby, please stay there.

As she ran around the fence and toward the back door, Grace repeated the same words in a choked voice, her heart threatening to burst out of her mouth.

"Black...."

The moment Grace turned the corner and saw the awning of a black baby carriage beyond the low shrubbery, she burst into a fit of laughter.

There is. There is still.

There was no one in the backyard. Judging from the milk basket still in front of the door, no one had come out yet. Grace threw her bag over the fence and ran inside.

"My daughter... ."

The shade was pulled back. Grace couldn't stand it any longer when she saw the sleeping baby angel.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry, Mommy."

Before it was too late, I admitted with my own mouth that I was this child's mother. Only then did the burden that had been weighing on her for so long disappear with absurd ease.

"Eeeek-."

The child woke up to the sudden noise. The child, who had been yawning with his fists clenched and his hands stretched out, smiled brightly as if he had never complained before when he met his mother's eyes. Grace also smiled brightly, and the tears that had filled her eyes fell down.

Only then did Grace see herself in her daughter. She had always had an infinite and absolute affection for her mother. She saw that in a child who was only six months old. When she was young, whenever she received her mother's affection, she would feel as if Christmas had come. This child, who smiled like the happiest person in the world just because her mother was in front of her, must feel the same way.

You look like me.

He whispered, kissing the child's cheek.

Grace dragged the stroller out of the fence, put the luggage she had thrown on the shelf, and pushed the stroller down the alley, asking me again.

So what is my life?

Grace gave her daughter a chewing gum from her pocket as she began to suck her thumb, and she decided the correct answer for herself.

If I'm going to live doing what I want to do, then baby, I want to live with you.

The path given to this child was not three but four. Grace, who had initially turned away from the path, eventually chose it and walked along the path of dawn with her daughter.

Early in the morning, the center of the royal capital was deserted. A sedan sped along the empty road, passing the magnificent parliament building and heading towards the townhouses.

Leon was lost in thought, his gaze blankly outside the car window. Only when the car suddenly stopped at an intersection did his eyes come into focus.

Someone was crossing the street beyond the intersection. I thought it was a postman pushing a black cart, but upon closer inspection, I saw it was a baby stroller.

"What kind of mother would take her child for a walk at a time like this?"

As the driver acted as if nothing had happened, Pierce, in the passenger seat, shrugged his shoulders. As the woman climbed onto the sidewalk across the street and the car started again, Leon, who was about to look away, suddenly turned his head to the left with a sense of foreboding.

The gait seemed familiar.

He stared at the woman walking briskly, wearing a red wine-colored hat pulled down low, but the car crossed the intersection in an instant and the woman disappeared from his sight. It was too short a time to be certain.

Leon turned his head straight ahead. Maybe it was an illusion. In fact, he had already mistaken a woman walking down the street for Grace several times.

The focus disappeared from the blue eyes again.

I wonder if Grace also pushes a stroller like that.

He was lost in his imagination again. That kind of domesticity didn't suit that kind of wild woman. But on the other hand, he thought she might be pretty cute. At that moment, the car stopped in front of the townhouse.

"Your Majesty, welcome back. I hope you had a pleasant journey."

The butler who had been waiting outside the door opened the car door. Leon nodded briefly in response and went inside the building.

He shook his head at the butler who said he would prepare breakfast first and headed up to the second floor. Only after taking a shower to wash away the dirty feeling left by the train ride did he sit down at the table.

At the table where a light breakfast was laid out according to his taste, the first thing Leon picked up was a cup of coffee. As he drank his coffee, he glanced at the pile of newspapers and letters neatly placed on one corner of the table.

What should I look at first? My eyes, scanning the envelope, stopped at an envelope with a strangely raised corner. The suspicious envelope had no post office stamp.

Suddenly.

The moment the name Daisy Abbington appeared, the coffee cup sank roughly onto the saucer. As Leon picked up the letter and opened it, time seemed to stop in the restaurant. The waiters looked at him with astonishment, and the only sign of time passing was the coffee stains spreading across the pure white tablecloth.

"under...."

Leon took the engagement ring out of the envelope and sighed. It was good news that Grace had come here, but it was bad news that she had returned the ring.

She knew that the ring was wanted. She didn't need the money, so there was no reason to sell it.

He couldn't help but feel the pain of a bullet piercing his heart because he had lost a single clue to track Grace down. Leon's gaze remained on the names engraved side by side on the inside of the ring.

This is a confirmed kill.

I don't need a future with you.

The woman's screams seemed to linger in my ears.

Grace Riddle was the only woman who could kill Leon Winston without saying a word.

He again suppressed his sense of humiliation at being abandoned and asked the bewildered butler.

"When did this letter arrive?"

"I just got it from the mailbox."

"When was the last time you checked your mailbox?"

"It must have been around 6 o'clock last night."

Then, the woman came and went here during those 12 hours. Is there any clue to know the exact time? Leon opened the letter inside. The first sentence of the letter got straight to the point without any introduction.

You raise the child you created responsibly until the end, you son of a bitch.

Irony. Leon immediately turned his gaze to the butler.

"Where is the child?"

The butler looked at him as if he didn't understand English. Feeling frustrated, he urged him to answer impatiently.

"Who said there wasn't a baby left here?"

"I haven't heard anything like that, but I'll look into it right away."

As the butler was rushing out of the restaurant, the maid who was clearing away the coffee cups cautiously opened her mouth.

"Are you talking about what Ben saw around six o'clock?"

"Tell me more."

"that is...."

At about six in the morning, a servant who was drawing the curtains in a room overlooking the backyard of the townhouse saw a strange sight. A woman wearing a red wine-colored hat and a black baby carriage were standing in the backyard of the Count's estate. Thinking she was crazy, he tried to open the window and shout for her to come out, but the woman immediately pushed the baby carriage away, so he said nothing.

Leon, who heard the whole story, jumped up from his seat.

"Call a driver right now."

On the way to the townhouse, the woman I saw at the intersection was none other than Grace. She changed her mind along the way and went back to find the child.

He headed straight outside and checked his watch.

Damn it. It's already been 40 minutes.

Just as I reached the central hall, the driver opened the door to the employee-only area and came running. Then, I suddenly remembered what the driver had said.

"What kind of mother would take her child for a walk at a time like this?"

No, that's not a walk.

Leon recalled his memories. There was definitely a large suitcase on the shelf under the stroller. Something that had been considered insignificant just a moment ago suddenly became a crucial clue.