Few nobles are accustomed to being publicly criticized or denounced in front of others. Peon was somewhat used to it, but that was because the one criticizing was the master of the empire, so there was no one who could resist or stop it.
But Kaela’s case was different. It was common for mere maids or butlers to try to lecture and teach her. There were even cases where ordinary knights mocked her. The Grand Duchess who had lost everything and had nothing left was that ridiculous.
[Your Highness seems to only be interested in spending money. It would be better if you first acquired the qualities of a mistress of the house.]
Such words would pop up at every opportunity.
[That wicked woman! How dare she try to sell us out!]
She even heard such words when she was confined to the tower. Kaela heard all sorts of insults she had never heard before.
It was the first time she heard them, so she was very surprised and shocked. They were the kind of insults she couldn’t even properly describe. So, she became accustomed to it. She became accustomed to the unreasonable things in an unreasonable place. That’s why Kaela wasn’t very surprised.
However, being accustomed didn’t mean it was okay.
A moment of silence passed. Kaela didn’t make excuses or refute, and Peon just quietly looked at the butler without turning his gaze to Kaela.
How is this going to turn out? Sir Renard, who was quick-witted and quick to act, kept looking at the faces of the Grand Duke and Duchess, thinking that someone should refute here. But he couldn’t step forward carelessly unless the Grand Duke allowed it.
“…Is this all?”
The Grand Duke stared at the butler for a while and then repeated the same question.
“You don’t have anything else to present?”
“Yes…, that’s all.”
The butler hesitated a little, then raised his chin and spoke. He too had crossed a river of no return.
“Nothing more?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
After confirming once more, Peon stood up.
“Your Highness. A moment.”
At Peon’s words, Kaela had no choice but to quietly stand up as well. Taking Her Highness aside, the butler was confident in his victory.
If he hadn’t believed the butler’s words, refutations would have poured out right here, but taking the Grand Duchess aside meant interrogating her.
In front of the butler who was trying not to smile, twitching the corners of his mouth, Peon just picked up a crystal bottle and disappeared behind with Kaela. After letting Kaela in, he shut the door tightly.
“Your Highness.”
After calling her, he thought it strange that Kaela was keeping her mouth tightly shut. The butler who turned his eyes and rattled on was also strange. Everything was strange. Lusenford was truly a strange and bizarre place.
“…First of all, I apologize that such an unsavory incident occurred. I asked you to come here because if I questioned you in front of the subordinates, it would turn into an interrogation.”
And the one ruling this bizarre place was the strangest of all. Kaela stared blankly at the overly polite Peon before finally opening her mouth.
“Yes. Please ask your questions.”
Even as she answered, she thought all of this was futile. Why bother with something like an interrogation? Just pass judgment on her as they wish and be done with it. After all, the outcome of all this was already decided.
That’s why she left the butler to rant as he pleased. She had done enough rebutting and arguing over the past 4 years. She had done it so much that her throat was raw.
No matter how logical a rebuttal might refute that claim, it couldn’t overcome this land’s desire to bring Kaela down. So this was just a predetermined event, a fate that Kaela had to accept.
She didn’t think this time would be different. No matter how different the current Peon was from the Peon she knew, what was going to happen would happen in the end. The head maid had done it, and now the butler was doing it.
Looking at Peon, whom she thought might be a completely different person this time, Kaela felt a deep fatigue.
‘Where to start?’
Kaela knew exactly how all of this would proceed and end. Those who have experienced it are familiar with it.
‘He’ll start with confirmation, I suppose.’
On the surface, it seemed quite perfect. There was physical evidence, and the fact that it was confirmed by none other than the Grand Duchess’s personal physician made it natural for suspicion to fall on the Grand Duchess.
Whether Kaela felt wronged or not, whether there were visible flaws in the loosely pieced-together story or not, in Lusenford, if the people of Lusenford said so, then that’s how it was.
‘Is the content of that bottle really poison? Is this yours? Things like that.’
“Is this bottle truly yours, Your Highness?”
See? The cautious manner of asking was meaningless. In the end, the core of the question was the same. Kaela nodded.
“Yes, it is mine. I specially ordered it and brought it from Ostein.”
She admitted it readily. The person answering was very composed. She had been very quiet and calm from yesterday when Peon first announced the expansion until now. If anything, it was the person asking the questions who seemed anxious.
“I see….May I ask what’s inside?”
“It’s poison.”
Once again, a kind answer came immediately. There was no hesitation or excuse whatsoever.
“It’s a good poison made by refining perfura and caradin well.”
It’s a very expensive and precious poison. She didn’t mention that when drunk, it doesn’t cause abdominal pain, vomiting, or diarrhea, but rather stops the heart without any pain.
It was testimony that would help prove her innocence, but Kaela would not be judged innocent. So it was useless.
It’s futile to speak. She had pleaded her innocence until her throat bled and argued logically every day for four years, only to end up confined.
Peon didn’t say anything for a while in response to her unhesitating confession. Was he shocked? No, rather than that, he seemed to be contemplating what to say.
“Did you put this on your dressing table?”
“No. I ordered a hardcover edition of Thomas Townsend’s ‘Death and Memory’ separately. In a format that could be buckled. As soon as I received the book, I cut out the entire paper in a square shape, put the poison inside, and placed it in the bottom compartment of my book box.”
It was a very kind and detailed statement. A classic where a philosopher and theologian discussed death – Peon opened his mouth and closed it again.
Thump thump, the pulse in his temples beat violently. It’s the sound a criminal fears. Peon raised his head.
The Grand Duchess facing him looked like a clear and pretty porcelain doll without any expression. Like a doll, she was waiting quietly for what he would say, without any sign of life, not even blinking. No, rather than lacking vitality, she seemed to lack a heart.
“…Don’t you have anything you want to say?”
You argued logically, didn’t you? You spoke well enough to refute those ridiculous claims point by point and immediately spot and pierce the flaws. So why are you staying silent?
His eyes were full of desperation. It was a plea for her to speak.
“Not particularly.”
A dry answer fell, indicating she didn’t feel the need to do so. The head of the man that never bowed no matter how forcefully pressed down, now lowered so easily.
“When did you know?”
“About what?”
After asking “About what?”, Kaela immediately thought she shouldn’t have. Why ask? It’s obvious anyway. In any case, they had lived as a married couple for four years, and she had constantly observed his complexion, mood, tone, and behavior, so she knew well what he was asking.
“…About us, coming back, regressing, I mean.”
It’s strange. Honestly, even though they lived as a married couple, they weren’t even a formal couple. They were just strangers to each other.
Yet she knows. It’s probably only Kaela who knows unilaterally.
How well does that man know her? If he knew her well, he wouldn’t need to tremble like that.
She chuckled. They had already explored each other sufficiently, and clues were scattered everywhere, so there was no need to deny or be surprised anew. It was enough to simply admit it.
“Ah, so you call it regression. I didn’t know that.”
She just simply divided it into before death and after death. Kaela looked out the window where spring had fully arrived.
While people were distracted by the uninvited guest and the war, the once-distant spring had completely taken over Lusenford. It’s a good day. A much better day than the chilly, eerie, and damp early winter.
“Ah, you asked when I knew, right? I’m sorry. As you know, I’m slow, so I didn’t realize quickly.”
Is that something to apologize for? The man’s heart sank again as he watched the woman who, with a powerless voice, attacked and belittled herself before being attacked by others.
“I was certain when you mentioned the expansion yesterday. It was at the level of notifying me to notice, so I had to understand that.”
From beginning to end, the words full of self-deprecation didn’t even contain mockery. She just stated it as a fact, calmly. Someone who had heard such things all along had come to accept and acknowledge it herself. I’m a fool. I’m stupid. I’m a useless person.
Peon was at a loss for words, facing a self-esteem that had crumbled to a level more terrible than the restrictions and brainwashing that had been placed on him.
He had been determined to pay the price for his actions all along, but he had no idea how to pay for this. The level at which he could atone was too small compared to the broken Kaela. Even his life was too trivial.
“…Then you didn’t know at all before that?”
Did she not know? Is that important? No, did she really not know? Kaela reflected on herself upon receiving a question she didn’t think was very important.
‘I enjoyed it with my eyes closed.’
Kaela de Chasser reflected in the window was glaring at her. The her who wore dirty clothes and drank melted snow glared at her and cursed.
‘You crazy girl. You have quite the stomach.’
Kaela averted her gaze.
“That’s not important. What’s important is the result.”
Anyway, Peon is the Peon she knew, and Kaela is the Kaela he knew. That was the result.
“All this time…, did you know and endure it?”
But Peon’s voice trembled as if it was very important to him. It means she had noticed even before she was certain.
“Did you… know me and still endure me?”
It must have been disgusting. It must have been disgusting and very unpleasant. But the woman who was quietly dragged here endured him without ever resisting or refusing.
Kaela turned pale, then quietly looked at the man who looked like he was dying sporting a somber complexion.
“Why, why did you do that?”
A panicked voice stumbled as it asked.
“…Because you were afraid of me?”
No matter how much he searched, that was the only answer he could find. To that tiny woman, he was a monster. So, she must have been afraid of him. She must have been so scared that her body froze and she couldn’t do anything. So the monster swallowed Kaela who was suppressing her fear.
It would be better if she hated and despised him, but it hurt too much that she feared him. It stung painfully. It felt like something was poking, hitting, and stabbing his solar plexus.
“What I’m afraid of is hunger.”
Dazed purple eyes blankly stared at the noble Princess of Ostein. What did she say?
“Being hungry and cold is what I fear the most.”
But outside, flowers were blooming profusely. Finally, full spring had filled Lusenford. At this rate, summer would come together. It was a good time. Kaela was happy.
“I hate it terribly.”
The porcelain doll, taking her hands out of her pockets, exuded a loathing for cold and hunger with her whole body. It was palpable even though her expression was blank.
“It’s easy to be cold and hungry here.”
Kaela looked at the man who had completely crumbled and forgotten how to speak.
“I was curious how Your Highness would react when your eyes were clear.”
“…Huh?”
What did she say? Peon looked at Kaela again as if to confirm, not understanding properly.
“Sometimes there was something black in your eyes. Every time that happened, something bad would happen to me.”
She noticed his eyes were different just before she was about to die. No one else knew, but she could see it.
When Peon’s purple eyes turned dark black, common sense didn’t apply to him, and he ignored and despised Kaela as if possessed by something.
So she gave up hope relatively quickly. She had to give up, thinking there must be some devilish magic at work here. Because Kaela, who wasn’t even a saint, couldn’t solve it.
“After I died, oh, did you call it regression? After regressing, it happened once recently.”
Kaela started to recall a certain night but stopped. Then she looked into the clear purple eyes, without a trace of black malice, those eyes with visible bloodshot.
“I was curious how you would react when your eyes were clear.”
She wanted to see, just once, how he, who was popular and kind, would face what he had done with a clear mind.
“So this is how you react.”
Kaela nodded. What little curiosity remained was satisfied, and she had no lingering attachments.
“At first, I wished this world was a dream and hoped to wake up soon. I slapped my face many times too.”
Yes. That’s right. Kaela had unhesitatingly struck her own face. Sometimes Peon had stopped her. She remembered.
“I guess it was because it was a nightmare.”
Peon barely managed to look at Kaela, steadying his reeling mind.
She, who had been habitually clutching her pocket, was now holding her rounded fist to her mouth. What is that? His mind, plunged into panic, was significantly slower in deducing the result.
Kaela put down the small bottle she always kept in her pocket. That bottle was now empty. The moment his brain, floundering in the swamp he had created himself, clicked to a conclusion, Peon immediately rushed to Kaela.
“No!”
There was a ringing in his ears. It was exactly the same as at the banquet held at the end of winter. This time too, Kaela had deliberately swallowed poison. Yes. That time too, it was deliberate. Because she wanted to die quickly. Because she wanted to escape this cold and hungry place.
“Kaela!”
The poison was already taking effect. She had said it was good poison; she looked at him blankly and then dropped her head. As his world turned black, something hidden opened its eyes.
