“Okay, okay. I understand, so wipe the blood.”
Carlothian reached out to the healer, who quickly handed him a clean cloth. He wiped my face and hands in turn, saying,
“Is it really that important that you can speak?”
“So I can sing.”
“Sing?”
Carlothian asked in surprise.
“Did you… enjoy singing?”
“It was just a hobby I picked up while at the monastery. There wasn’t much else to do.”
I couldn’t tell the truth, so I gave a vague answer.
Carlothian looked at me with troubled eyes. When I looked at him questioningly, he sighed heavily.
“Now that treatment is done, let’s go to my room.”
“Why your room, Your Grace?”
“Well, don’t we have a lot to discuss?”
Ah, yes, that’s right. I was supposed to tell him about the regression, and he was supposed to tell me about the madness. I nodded and followed him.
The walk there was quiet. We passed through corridors, climbed stairs, and headed towards the farthest room.
‘I snuck in here secretly last time.’
Carlothian turned to look at me, perhaps recalling that day. I smiled awkwardly.
‘Yeah, I’m sorry. For taking advantage of your suffering from madness.’
“Um… I’m sorry.”
Upon hearing this, Carlothian furrowed his brow slightly.
“Don’t apologize.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Oh… okay.”
What’s up with him? I’ve felt this since last time, but Carlothian seems to dislike receiving apologies. Why does he dislike receiving apologies?
First, we entered through the door opened by his servant. He gestured for me to sit on the sofa, and I obediently took my seat.
“… let’s talk about the madness first.”
“Alright.”
“I don’t have the slightest clue why it was transferred.”
I raised a finger and offered a hypothesis.
“Wasn’t it triggered when you… killed me?”
“There you go again with that.”
“No, I’m not asking you to kill me.”
Knowing that my voice could be heard, what reason is there for me to die? I need to find the reason quickly so I can sing perfectly.
“Didn’t everything happen after you killed me, like the regression and the madness transferring to me?”
“…It does seem that way.”
“First, tell me more about the Deathrotea. You said the madness started after you had it, right?”
At that, Carlothian’s face became pensive. I quietly closed my mouth and waited for his next words.
“Deathrothea is…….”
He opened his mouth cautiously.
“It is a sword that contains black magic.”
“Black magic?”
My eyes widened at the unexpected words.
“It’s just an ordinary sword by day. Only at night does it emit a strange light and give off an aura of black magic.”
Ah, well. Then.
“So you knew right away that it wasn’t when I did that weird thing?”
“Yeah.”
Haha, if that was the case, he should have said so earlier. I just wasted my precious blood. I chuckled to myself and ruffled his hair.
“Well, there is at least one common point,” Carlothian said.
“What is it?”
“Black magic.”
Black magic? I widened my eyes. Observing my perplexed expression, he provided an explanation as though he were doing me a favor.
“Deathrotea contains black magic. And you’ve used black magic before.”
“Ah…….”
How do I explain this? I’ve never used black magic. I rubbed my forehead, my head aching.
Should I be honest? We’ve even gone through the regression, so he should be able to believe me at least a little, right?
“Look, now that you’ve mentioned it.”
“What?”
“It really wasn’t me who cursed the saint, you know…”
“You’re saying that again?”
Carlothian’s face twisted in annoyance.
“You’re stubbornly insisting on that until the end. Is it that hard for you to admit it?”
“No, it’s really not like that…”
“Ha…….”
He sighed heavily right in my face, as if I were hopeless. Ah, it’s so unfair. I didn’t do it, and Ariadeline didn’t either.
“If you could just believe me for once…”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
Carlothian pointed to the door with a cold expression.
“Get out.”
“…….”
I scowled and stood up from my seat. Fine, don’t believe me. Keep stumbling like that, and you’ll dig yourself a hole a mile deep! Let’s see what comes out of it!
I walked briskly to the door and opened it. That’s when I heard Carlothian’s voice.
“We’re expecting guests in a few days, so stay holed up in your room.”
After hearing that, I slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
“Anyway, if talk about Dorothea comes up, it drives him crazy.”
It was frustrating. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous because it was widely known that I was the one who cursed Dorothea.
‘But shouldn’t he at least pretend to ponder it?’
Frustrated, I bit my lip hard enough to hurt.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
It was a beautiful room, with walls adorned with golden paint, large windows, and a sturdy, massive table carved from wood and painted white.
A woman with pink hair and deep blue eyes was sitting at the table, arranging flowers in a vase.
Snip.
She cut the stems without hesitation. With a gentle touch, Yermondi, the First Princess, placed a red rose into the vase. It was then.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
A woman in a neat dress entered. She served as the princess’s maid, tasked with providing various information.
“Your Highness…”
The maid bit her lower lip. The princess knew the news she was about to receive was not good. Nevertheless, she continued to trim the stems, smiling beautifully.
“Let me hear it.”
“I, it’s about Ariadeline, the sinner. She has returned to the temple in the capital…”
Thud.
At those words, the princess stopped cutting with the scissors. She turned to the maid, a smile still on her face.
Gulp.
Her eyes didn’t reflect any joy. The maid swallowed nervously.
“The sinner has returned to the capital?”
“Yes…….”
The maid was tense, for she had more to report.
“Continue.”
The princess urged.
“Well, the place where she stays…”
The maid closed her eyes tightly as she spoke.
“…is the mansion of Duke Carlothian Denaves.”
Clang.
The princess dropped the scissors on the table. The sharp metal sound echoed, and the maid’s shoulders began to tremble.
“…In Carlothian’s mansion.”
The princess smiled, as if truly delighted. But the maid, knowing her well, understood that this smile had no good intentions.
When dealing with the sinner, Ariadeline, the princess always smiled like that.
“I wonder what that man is thinking.”
The princess smiled widely. Despite her beautiful face, it felt eerie. The maid bowed deeply, trembling.
“I assume you’re doing what I asked, right?”
“Yes, yes. The rumor about your engagement with Duke Carlothian Denaves is spreading well.”
“I thought that by spreading the rumor first, it would become inevitable to accept it.”
If the princess’s reputation is tarnished before she even gets engaged, the emperor will not remain silent.
Her father was that kind of man—someone who values propriety and appearances more than anyone else.
To preserve the princess’s dignity, the emperor would indeed proceed with the engagement to Carlothian.
But now, at this critical juncture, he had brought the former Duchess, the sinner Ariadeline, to his mansion.
What an unpredictable man! The princess chuckled softly.
“This time, I must execute the plan properly.”
“Pardon?”
“Retrieve ‘that’ from the secret vault.”
“B-but.”
“This time, I really must get rid of Ariadeline.”
The princess’s deep blue eyes gleamed with madness. The maid bowed deeply and replied.
“Yes, understood.”
Yermondi looked at the red rose in the vase. Ariadeline, who had once been like a single blooming flower, came to mind.
Bright blue eyes, shining like the sea at sunrise, and curly, bright blonde hair. A face that smiled like a newly blooming flower.
For the first time, Yermondi frowned and tightly gripped a rosebud with her hand.
The rose easily crumbled in her grasp, its petals falling off.
The princess smiled again after the rose petals crumpled and fell off.
“…This time, I will erase her right before my eyes.”
Ariadeline. Ariadeline. Ariadeline. Such a pesky presence.
Even in the bright sunlight, her deep blue eyes flashed darkly. They were filled with indiscernible emotions.
The ml, upon learning about this, turns around and yells, ‘why didn’t you tell me!?’
FL, meanwhile: pss, pss, pss, demon sword, come on, pss pss
The ML is annoying me…he’s gonna act like a victim when he finds out
This Carlothian guy seems to think everyone other than Dorothea would never understand him, and no one as evil as Aria who tormented Dorothea because of jealousy. I want to see how far he can go.