I Can't Eat Love

Side Part 4 - Edith

In a previous life...

Everyone has a place in life. A shining spot belonging just to you. And if you are able to sit in that spot, your life will be happy and blessed. This is what I've always believed.

There is a girl who stole that place from me.

I learned about this while I was still young.

"Mother, why doesn't Father like me?" I was crying, a feeling of frustration and helplessness overcoming me. Even a simple conversation with my father led to criticism, he looked at me as if... as if I were something worthless. Something dirty.

My mother, the Countess of Erand, was a beautiful woman. She had large eyes, a pitiful expression which inspired sympathy and love. She shook her head at my question, smiling strangely.

"That's because he isn't your father, silly." What a shocking thing to tell a young child, but she didn't seem to sense any inappropriateness to her words. Mother quickly explained my true parentage, that my father was the Duke of Armeny, one of the most powerful noblemen in the kingdom.

"Why don't we live with him?" I felt upset, looking at the poorly furnished room we sat in. In our home the outer sitting rooms were luxuriously furnished, but it was only a front. The Count of Erand was not a wealthy man, and so our actual living quarters were quite humble.

"He married another woman." Mother smiled despite the terrible words. "He didn't have a choice, his heart will always remain with me."

I stared at her in shock. "Can't you win him back?"

"I wouldn't want him to be unhappy, or mire his name in scandal." She shook her head slowly. "He has a wife, and a daughter now. She's actually close to your age." A small sigh escaped her. "She's your half sister, but she looks a lot more like your father than you do."

"Is she... better than me?" I whispered, my heart breaking at the sight of my mother praising another girl.

"She's raised by your father, so naturally she will be more noble and refined." Mother shrugged, not noticing the despair she caused with these few words. "I want you to become friends with her, but make sure to always treat her well! Don't embarrass your mother by acting poorly in front of her! She's HIS precious daughter after all."

"O- of course, mother." I smiled, the expression at odds with the coldness I felt in my heart. I was young, but even I could sense the unhealthy light in my mother's eyes as she spoke about that man and his daughter. She loved him, to the point of madness, until she could ignore everything and everyone else.

I thought love was a fairly pointless thing, then, if it made you like this.

I wanted to ignore her words, but a seed had been planted in my mind. No wonder I was unhappy. I wasn't where I was meant to be. The place in life I was meant to have had been taken, which was the source of all my misery. If I just could take it back...

Thus began my obsession with my half-sister, the girl who stole my place.

_________________________

"Hi, I'm Lenora." A smiling young girl, with light colored hair and bright eyes, curtseyed prettily in front of me. She seemed happy, secure, and comfortable in the luxurious environment around us.

I felt immediate dislike for her, a thick wave of jealousy choking in my throat.

How dare she look so content? How dare she enjoy the shining spot that was meant to be mine? She had wealth, a position of power, and her father at her side.