“Episode 41”
“We’ve met before, haven’t we? It was a few years ago. The navy of Secradion had long waged battles against pirate gangs plaguing the distant seas of Laktea. Kilian, the Count of Serenade, famous for his domain over the verdant Alden Lake and his valor in the vast Arxas Strait, was a hero of those battles. He was also Daphne’s benefactor, a member of the Green family.
Daphne was fifteen when she was hit by a carriage accident. It was said that her broken leg, suffered at such a young age, would heal without any lingering effects.
– I should stop ballet.
A young girl whose dreams were shattered once was engulfed in unrefined rage.
The benefactor woke Daphne at five in the morning, making her attend his morning exercises and study archaic languages that were no longer used.
“Don’t doze off when it’s not bedtime. Walk without making a sound, keep your back and waist straight. Don’t slouch your legs. Don’t shiver. And never curse recklessly.”
She spent her mornings begrudgingly going to school, fiercely studying on report card days, and studying after returning home until bedtime at twelve.
“I thought if I knew Amber had raised her daughter like this, I wouldn’t have accepted you.”
The benefactor often expressed such regrets.
“You’re quite late to regret it.”
Being immersed in her role as a princess, Daphne sometimes spoke oddly even to adults. After all, she was the heiress to a viscount, while Kilian was just a count.
Initially, Kilian pointed it out, but seeing no change, he let it go.
Kilian, in his forties, was very frail. He had heard he was terminally ill and would die within a few years.
If he could hold on for a while, this land would be Daphne’s, and she would manage the affairs, perhaps even start a business with her share, and then…
But as life often goes, not everything went as Daphne thought.
***
“Why did you write such a letter to the prince?” Kilian threw a letter on the table in front of Daphne with a grim expression. The handwriting was filled with anger and tears, pleading injustice.
Daphne lowered her eyes and remained silent.
“Just as you see it. It’s exactly as it’s written. Lannan Cally, Janet, those girls, asking to destroy their families. Oh, those girls are so poor they don’t even have a proper family. I’ll have to rewrite it.”
At that time, Daphne grew up like a princess in the palace, mingling freely and being pampered, and her manner of speaking was somewhat like that. She thought her words were the law even to those lower than herself.
“Would you mind not intercepting a letter I sent to my fiancé?”
“Intercept? You surely know where the prince is, don’t you?”
Letters would not reach someone who was away at war. It was obvious it would be returned.
“Ah, you read a returned letter. It seems to be quite a hobby of yours. Are you a pervert?”
“Daphne.”
“I told you the same thing, didn’t I? How those girls treat me. They don’t stand up for me, so I just asked for help from my future husband.”
The mansion was like a glass palace. Daphne first interacted with girls her own age and learned how to make friends there. The way to make friends was to spend money. One semester was quite enjoyable.
“I did nothing wrong.”
She was late to prepare for a birthday present for the common girl playing queen at the girls’ school, so she gave her a piece of jewelry she had put aside.
“She called me a whore, Amber Green’s daughter. The Viewcaters and the Greens are money-obsessed demonic families. She thought she was a queen.”
That was the start of giving her accessories. She heard gossip about how she couldn’t use money properly while appearing to be a gentle lady.
“You disappoint me again this time. Nothing has changed.”
It was too easy to disappoint Kilian. Even if she overslept, he would reproach her, saying he knew she would.
“Mother sold me to the benefactor….”
It went even further, saying she would sell her body to the infamously weak benefactor. The rumor even spread that she was behind the paralysis of his lower body.
Hearing the story from behind the correction, Daphne exploded and immediately punched Lannan Cally in the face.
And as soon as she returned home, she wrote a letter to Romeo. Destroy their families as soon as you read this letter!
“I’m going to be a princess in the future, so they deserve to be charged with royal insults.”
“Did you also write a letter to Amber Green?”
“Mother shouldn’t know. She’ll immediately tell me to come home, and it won’t end with just destroying them.”
If Amber, who abhorred Daphne, found out, the girls’ school might even close. When Daphne injured her leg, her mother’s secretary reported that she cried for three days and nights. That’s how busy her mother was!
“But she didn’t come to the hospital.”
Kilian, who had placed the teacup on the table, looked embarrassed. He had mentioned it to the butler in passing last time, but he just returned with the response, “The future princess knows how to endure.”
“I don’t know if you realize how wrong you are.”
“It’s just a rumor, don’t get worked up over passing clouds.”
“Just like now.”
“How do you know if it’s just a rumor or not? You don’t understand the world of these girls. It’s a world where even falsehoods become truths and people get killed.”
“Daphne, that’s not only true for the ‘world of these girls.’ That’s why you need to know your place. Therefore, you should be even more lenient towards those beneath you…”
Daphne rolled her golden eyes upward. It was tiresome talk.
“I know my place very well. I’m the king’s nephew, the future bride, Amber Green’s daughter. And I’m the lady of Kilian Serenade. It’s weirder to survive by acting like that.”
“So, does that mean your violence is
justified?”
“Yes.”
Daphne answered plainly. Kilian sighed deeply.
“If you’re going to behave like this, go back to Viewcater.”
“I don’t want to.”
As annoying and stupid as the Viscount was, Daphne had to play the role of a lady.
She wanted to just give it all up and run away, but running away when things didn’t go as planned wouldn’t look good as the future princess.
Snow fell all night, and the streets were frozen over. Serenade, now covered in white, exuded a winter atmosphere.
“It’s cold.”
Daphne wore fur gloves handed to her by a maid and pushed Kilian’s wheelchair, strolling along the dark Alden Lake shore. She was still resentful towards him.
“Yes, it’s cold.”
“Even after drinking ginger tea, your hands and feet are still cold?”
“Yes.”
Kilian’s scarf was loose, so she tied it back for him. She smiled sneakily as she tied the knot in a ribbon shape.
“Yeah…”
Taking him to the top of a hill, they looked out over the frozen Alden Lake. The orange lights of the houses gathered around the lake were clearly visible.
“It’s really beautiful.”
Daphne looked around at the lights, similar in color to her own eyes. That’s why she couldn’t give up.
“If the Viscount dies without saying a word, this land will be mine.”
Daphne thought so and was ashamed of her evil thoughts. She glanced at Kilian, hoping he hadn’t noticed.
“Eastern tea leaves have a warming effect when brewed, you know?”
“Green tea?”
“No, it wasn’t that. It had a warm and peculiar scent. Like herbal medicine.”
“I’ll try it.”
“Yeah…”
Kilian always took care of Daphne’s health. At first, she thought he was just grooming her as his successor, but there seemed to be another reason.
Daphne fidgeted with her hands, feeling the cold setting in as the day went on. It seemed they should go inside soon.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew, and Daphne’s nose twitched.
“Ah-choo!”
Her raised elbow accidentally bumped the wheelchair, and forgetting to lock it, they began to roll down the steep slope.
“Kilian!”
He seemed unable to make a sound, just holding onto the wheelchair tightly. Daphne ran after him down the hill.
The wheelchair, stopping abruptly on the surface of the icy lake, made a cracking sound, then, with a splash, swallowed Kilian whole.
“It… It…”
Daphne stood frozen in place, holding her breath. On the frozen lake, Kilian’s figure was completely stiff.
The icy lake quickly engulfed Kilian.
