Dorothea spoke.
“That maid still insists that she acted alone. And she also conveyed that fact to Princess Yermondi.”
“I see.”
“But the maid said something strange.”
“What kind of strange thing?”
“She asked me to protect her family.”
“……”
Dorothea glanced to the side. Ariadeline appeared to be deep in thought.
“So what did you do?”
“For now, I assigned someone to keep an eye on her. Ariadeline, you’re a sinner, and just because she tried to harm you doesn’t mean I’ll punish her family. But I still don’t understand why she keeps saying such things.”
Ariadeline hesitated, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something, but she closed her mouth. Dorothea seemed to have an idea about it but chose to change the subject.
“This is the exact time when the guards change shifts.”
“That means now is the only time we have?”
“Yes. Besides, the only prisoner in my underground prison is that maid, so it’s a bit lax.”
“Is it okay for you to talk about your palace affairs like this?”
“Well, what can I do? It’s the truth.”
Soon, ignoring the guards who seemed to have left to prepare for their shift change, Dorothea used the key she had brought to open the door leading to the underground prison.
Creeeak—
A chilling sound accompanied the opening of the door, and the two began to descend, relying on a single magical lantern mounted on the wall.
Tap, tap.
The sound of dripping water could be heard from somewhere. This truly was the underground prison.
“This is it, Ariadeline.”
Dorothea pointed to a cell not far from the entrance. Inside, a maid sat hunched over, looking disheveled. Fortunately, it seemed she hadn’t suffered any torture, as there were no visible wounds.
Ariadeline greeted her.
“Hello.”
“A-Ariadeline?”
The maid’s eyes widened as she looked at her. Ariadeline nodded.
“I’ve come to help you.”
“M-Me?”
The maid stammered, seemingly flustered. As Ariadeline silently grasped the iron bars, the maid, clearly frightened, buried her head against the floor and spoke.
“Miss Ariadeline, I truly regret trying to frame you. But please, it was my fault for being blinded by jealousy, so please punish only me. And…”
The maid clasped her hands together in prayer.
“Please spare my family. I beg you.”
At that, Dorothea, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.
“That maid was living with her younger sister and mother. Nothing has happened to them yet.”
The maid’s eyes widened at the fact that nothing had happened to her family. She continued to bow her head to the floor, saying,
“Thank you. Thank you.”
Ariadeline looked at her for a moment in silence. Then she slowly opened her mouth.
“Do you think someone will harm your family?”
At those words, the maid’s movements abruptly halted.
“Oh, no. It’s just that… I’m worried my sins will bring harm to my family…”
Seeing her continue to repeat the same words, Ariadeline decided to take a stronger approach.
“I know that Princess Yermondi ordered that incident.”
In an instant, Dorothea turned to Ariadeline with wide eyes. Ariadeline kept her gaze steadily on the maid.
“Ah, no… no…”
“Do you think denying it would keep Princess Yermondi from touching your family?”
“…”
“Princess Yermondi is persistent. Don’t think that just because you stay silent and lock up here, your family will remain safe.”
“Ariadeline, what on earth are you saying…” Dorothea shouted. But following her outburst, Ariadeline’s calm voice continued.
“I will protect you.”
Ariadeline opened her bright blue eyes wide.
“Both you and your family.”
“W-What did you say?”
The maid’s voice trembled. Ariadeline replied with a voice full of conviction.
“I said I would protect all of you. Well, it’s just not my power; it’s the power of Duke Carlothian Denaves.”
Ariadeline shrugged her shoulders. However, to the maid, that statement was even more convincing. The fact that it was not just Ariadeline, a sinner, but the Duke, and Duke Denaves at that, who would protect her, was enough to shake her heart.
“Are you really… going to protect me and my family?”
“Of course, all three of you will enter the Denaves mansion. But you must also be careful when going out.”
“Th-That’s fine. I can endure that much.”
The maid clasped her hands in a prayer-like position.
Watching this, Dorothea was taken aback by the maid’s 180-degree change in attitude. This made her think that Ariadeline’s shocking words might actually be true, filling her with mixed feelings.
However, since she was the only one who could make a decision here, she struggled to part her lips and said, “Okay. For now, this isn’t a conversation to prolong here, so we should hurry and get out before another guard arrives.”
At Dorothea’s words, the maid hung onto the iron bars and looked back at Ariadeline for confirmation once more.
“Do you really mean that you will protect me and my family?”
“Of course. I don’t lie.”
“But you did back then.”
At the maid’s sharp retort, Ariadeline let out a brief “ugh” before replying to her.
“Back then, I had to protect you.”
The maid’s expression contorted at those words, and soon tears began to fall. Ariadeline, looking flustered, wiped the tears from the maid’s face and said, “You will be officially released this afternoon. While a fine is unavoidable, we will leave the castle together then.”
“Ah, understood.”
“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Miss Ariadeline. I won’t forget this kindness.”
“No need to thank me. By the way, what’s your name?”
The maid replied in a choked voice, “Stell. My name is Stelle.”
“Alright, Stelle. From now on, try not to worry too much.”
With that, Dorothea and Ariadeline successfully escaped the underground prison and began to return to their room. Dorothea, following behind Ariadeline, had an expression that was extremely serious.
‘Is it certain that Princess Yermondi orchestrated the poisoning incident?’
Of course, she had already suspected something. After all, it was a conversation that came up when she was with Carlothian.
But back then, it was just a suspicion. She hadn’t had such complete certainty with a witness backing her up.
‘Now that I think about it, during our earlier conversation…’
Ariadeline had spoken about the curse as if it were the first time she had encountered one.
‘It doesn’t make sense that she would curse me and yet not know the nature of that curse.’
Dorothea’s mind was in turmoil. The culprit behind the poisoning incident, which aimed to frame Ariadeline, was Princess Yermondi.
And Ariadeline spoke of the curse as if it were her first encounter with black magic. These two facts kept spinning around in Dorothea’s head.
“Aah, we’ve arrived.”
Oblivious to Dorothea’s inner turmoil, Ariadeline cheerfully opened the door to Dorothea’s room.
“Are you alright?”
Dorothea’s guard, Tarn, asked her. Dorothea nodded and smiled nonchalantly.
“Of course.”
With that, the two young women entered the room and lay down on the bed as if nothing had happened.
“We need to wake up early tomorrow, so let’s go to sleep quickly.”
Ariadeline closed her eyes, unaware of Dorothea’s thoughts, as she settled onto the bed.
Dorothea lay next to Ariadeline, looking at her as she rested her eyes.
She remembered that Ariadeline used to have a more glamorous impression—quite honestly, she looked a little more vicious too—but now she seemed so much more like a girl.
What on earth had happened for her to change like this?
Dorotea was deep in thought, and slowly, a question arose within her.
Thinking about it, why would the maid say that Princess Yermondi did such a thing? Why does Ariadeline seem unaware of the curse? Why, why…?
Dorothea’s worries piled up throughout the night.
As morning arrived, Dorothea and Ariadeline quickly prepared to leave. Dorothea issued orders to her maid.
“I intend to release the maid from the underground prison.”
“Excuse me?”
The maid looked back in surprise. Dorothea smiled in a casual manner.
“Well, since Ariadeline has forgiven her, it would be odd to keep her locked up under the charge of attempting to kill a sinner.”
At Dorothea’s words, the maid exchanged glances and soon nodded in agreement.
“Have a guard bring the maid here.”
“Yes, understood.”
The maids called a servant and relayed this to the guard. The guard, upon receiving the message, asked,
“You want us to bring the maid?”
“Yes, it is the order of Her Highness, the Crown Princess Dorothea.”
Scratching his head in confusion, the guard made his way down to the prison to find the maid, banging on the bars.
Clang! Clang!
“Get up! Someone important is calling for you!”
The maid, who had been curled up in her spot, slowly stood up. Her joints creaked as she moved. The guard opened the door to the underground prison and ordered her to come out.
The maid staggered out, her gaze fixed on the entrance of the prison. For the first time, hope filled her heart.
Miss Ariadeline said she would protect my family. She said she would protect me.
Perhaps she could survive. A hope that she would be able to reunite with her family began to blossom within her.
“Follow me.”
The guard began to lead the maid up to the entrance of the underground prison. With each step closer to the light, her heart raced. Just as they reached the entrance, a voice as cold as ice cut through the air.
“You really know how to cause trouble.”
