There Is No Mercy

Chapter 2

Everyone spoke indifferently.

It was ridiculous for the only daughter of a duke, who had nothing to be ashamed of, to mimic the daughter of a count, who had nothing but money.

They even asked me if I was imitating Belietta.

And then there were the flattering comments about being a little bit like her.

Their words hurt me.

I don’t think anyone who has experienced that would have been able to say those things so easily.

I never liked the idea of someone taking an interest in me, watching my every move, and copying my every move.

When I was younger, I didn’t resent it.

But as time went on, I started to feel uncomfortable with Belietta’s behavior.

I hid the clothes I wore, my hair, my jewelry, and many other things so she wouldn’t copy me.

But all my efforts were useless when Belietta showed up in a dress that looked and felt exactly like mine.

All the thousands of nobles in the banquet hall saw her.

And they all said one sentence.

“It seems that Lord Brilloxen is very fond of the Princess of Bozbourne, but it’s hard to mimc her.”

In their eyes, I was a young lady copying Bellieta, nothing more and nothing less.

Some laughed at this, others mocked me.

In their eyes, I was just a shadow of Bellietta.

‘I don’t want to go out in social circles.’

So I told my parents that I would no longer go out in social circles.

My father was reluctant but did not try to stop me, and my mother understood me.

On the contrary, my mother did not show it even though she was being criticized for using her child to attract the attention of the Bozbone family.

So I cut myself off from society, holed up in the manor, and continued my training as an heir.

The Gray Mountains owned by my family contained large deposits of rare metals, gems, and iron ore.

We even had the buildings to cover everything.

With so much money coming in, we needed to handle it well.

I focused more on my education, which I had been doing since I was a child.

So naturally, I distanced myself from Bellieta and closed my ears to the stories from outside.

But I was mistaken.

As I disappeared from social circles, Bellietta took an extreme measure.

She started a fight over the ownership of the Gray Mountains.

The Duke of Bozborne was the kind of man who would accept all the foolishness of his one and only precious daughter.

So Belietta, who was obsessed with me, decided to lure me out of hiding.

‘The Bozborne family was taking legal action over a contract document that was drawn up three hundred years ago. It’s ridiculous, but they’ve enlisted the services of the Chancellor of the Treasury and the Chancellor of Justice.

Vaguely written contract documents.

The contractual documents signed by Brilloxen’s first patriarch with the then Duke of Bozborne were open to double interpretation, they claimed.

‘I don’t know why they were bringing this up now, but I suspect the Duke of Bozbourne has a bad taste in his mouth.’

The Brilloxen were wealthy but not powerful.

Bozbourne, on the other hand, was a family with deep roots.

If they crossed us, we couldn’t win.

For half a year, I stood by my parents’ side as they were torn apart by the Bozbournes, but there was nothing I could do.

Money meant nothing in the face of power.

The mountains have been taken away from us.

Just as I was thinking this, Bellietta came to me.

“I’ll help you.”

It was the end of winter.

With tears in her eyes, as she clutched my cold hand, Belietta said she would help me.

Of course, I didn’t believe her.

”Go away,” I said, ”and don’t come back for more, because I’m tempted to kidnap you and blackmail the Duke of Bozbourne.”

I cut her off coldly.

“Sierra, I’ll help you.”

Belliata said, but I didn’t believe her.

But I wanted to protect my parents, protect my family.

I didn’t have a choice.

Of course, I didn’t really believe what she said.

But Belietta had made my doubts worthless.

At that moment, I had fallen under her spell.

Who would have thought?

It all started with her stubbornness.

And our family was her victim.

From then on, she never left me.

She wore the same clothes, ate the same things, and acted the same as always.

She acted in a way that I never thought she was upset with me.

At every opportunity, she would mention the day’s events and emphasize that she was my benefactor.

Whenever I tried to distance myself from her because she was too clingy, she would always end up bringing a lawsuit against the family.

The Bosebon family was not the only one having disputes over ownership with other families in different businesses. Eventually, once again, Belrietta stepped forward and resolved the issues.

Others claimed that the Lady of Bosebon took a liking to me and willingly acted as a shield for me. But heaven forbid. I wasn’t foolish, nor was I oblivious. There simply was no way to escape her obsession. In the swamp that she pulled me into.

Even without speaking, Belrietta was showing me that if I continued to push her away, she could turn our family into ruins. Every time I pushed her away, it was my family and the people of the clan who suffered the consequences. I didn’t want to see that.

As Belrietta’s obsession deepened, in the end, she destroyed my parents and the clan, taking away even my man.

I woke up in the chilling and cold abyss pressing down on my body. I looked at the necklace floating gently around my neck.

A necklace that glowed softly in the moonlight.

I clenched the treasure given to me by Archmage Ezaqiel Ros with my hands and closed my eyes.

And quietly asked.

If I could go back, could I repay everything Belrietta did?

If I had the confidence not to let her take myself away.

I answered from the deep abyss.

I would protect every strand of my hair from Belrietta.

But now, what use was it?

I lost everything, and to preserve the last remaining piece of my name, I threw myself into the water.

Already, it was too late.

Quietly closing my eyes, I gradually succumbed to sleep.”

* * *

It was warm.

The warmth in my body was so comforting that it was hard to believe I had just thrown myself into a pond.

Is this what death feels like?

My entire body felt relaxed, and my strength seemed to have drained away. Somewhere, I sensed a faint, stirring feeling in my body.

It felt like a familiar sensation, as if I were sitting in a carriage.

While experiencing that sensation, I slowly exerted some force on my eyelids, and a voice echoed.

“It’s not too late! Sierra, you’re not too late yet!”

The voice pierced through the muffled eardrums.

I slowly opened my eyes.

Between heavy eyelids, a blond figure came into view.

And I realized my body was shaking.

A creaking sound mixed with the unsettling feeling woke me up from my haze.

The back of my neck was stiff.

Raising my arm to massage my rigid shoulders and neck, I opened my eyes a bit wider.

Only then did my vision become clear.

“…What is this?”

Something was off.

I wondered if I could still hear the voice because I hadn’t died yet.

Well, even if it’s deep, it wasn’t a lake or the sea.

If I wanted to escape, I could do it easily.

The reason my ears felt stuffy was probably because I had emerged from the water.

But where I was now was an entirely different place.

It wasn’t an issue that it was a carriage.

It could move me to another place.

The blurry vision made sense; it could be a side effect of keeping my eyes closed.

However, what I couldn’t understand was the nonchalant presence of Belrietta sitting in front of me.

Just a moment ago, she had given me a memory that felt like hell, and now she was looking at me as if nothing had happened.

But something was strange.

The woman sitting in front of me was undoubtedly Belrietta, but there was a sense of youthfulness about her. Her skin was a bit more moist, and her hair was shorter. Moreover, her cheeks were still slightly swollen, indicating that she hadn’t fully grown out of her baby fat. Could she be a young adult who had just turned eighteen?

I stared blankly at my reflection.

I thought she would be wearing wet clothes. Well, the clothes might have dried, but at the very least, she should be wearing the dress she had on when she fell into the water. However, contrary to my expectations, she was dressed completely differently. Moreover, this type of dress was not suitable for a lady; it was excessively youthful.

“Where does it hurt, Sierra? Are you okay?”

“What is this…?”

After blinking a few times, I pinched the flesh on the inside of my thigh.

“Ouch!”

I pinched too hard.

Due to my confusion, I didn’t control my strength properly.

“My shoulder?”

Moreover, my shoulder was fine. Layton had definitely stabbed my shoulder last time, and there should be a deep wound. The shoulder was intact, and there was no sign of any injury.

Despite the bewildering situation, my mind was clear, telling me that this was neither a dream nor an illusion.

The tingling pain and these sensations were definitely not a figment of my imagination.

This was reality.