Dad fell asleep with a relaxed expression on his face.
Right now, he is in an illusion.
His condition wasn’t so great, so it couldn’t be helped. At my request, he summoned Illusion and forcibly fell asleep.
“I need to meet His Highness the Crown Prince.”
In response to my words, Dad’s aide, Goth, responded with a flustered expression. “That’s not possible, Princess.” He seemed worried that I might collapse like Dad when I heard the truth.
“I’ll be fine. I have a rough idea of what’s going on.”
“Still, experiencing it firsthand will be different. Even His Excellency is suffering like this.”
“Is it such a tremendous matter?”
“…” Goth bit his lip and avoided my gaze. There was a hint of rage in his furrowed face, even though this was his lord’s business and he shouldn’t have any personal regrets.
I got up.“I’ll leave him in your care.”
“Princess.”
“We did summon the spirit as a temporary solution, but you know it’s not a good way, right? Please take good care of him by his side when he wakes up, so he won’t get addicted again. I’m counting on you.”
“Sigh…”
Finally, Goth nodded.
I smiled at him and then left Dad’s room.
***
“They must have also targeted the old duke and duchess of Diollus. However, in their case, just digging into medical records is insufficient evidence.”
“…”
“The reason is that the poison they were given is of an unknown type. My personal physician said it’s a new kind of poison that didn’t exist before. Someone deliberately bred it.”
“I see. So, the person who created and supplied this new poison is Molga’s younger brother.”
“Yes. It can’t be openly labeled as a poison because it was meticulously crossbred. It was designed to work as poison only when mixed with specific tea, alcohol, or food.”
It was a clever method, similar to what Dad’s personal physician had done. Perhaps Molga’s younger brother had given him some advice.
“Even if they get caught, it won’t be easy to pin them down. It’s not straightforward to label it as poison in itself, so there’s room for excuses…”
“True.”
“So, if that is indeed poison, and if we want to prove beyond doubt that it was sourced with the intention to harm someone…”
“The best way is to get a confession from the source.”
“I see. So that’s why you needed Dad’s help.”
“That’s right.” Lark nodded slowly, still hesitant.
I left the house and headed straight for the palace. I forced Lark’s reluctant mouth open and heard the gruesome truth. But I wasn’t surprised at all. It was exactly as I had expected.
“Hmm.” I pondered in silence.
My grandparents, my mom, they were all poisoned, and Dad almost met the same fate.
I lived my whole life abused and isolated, not knowing the truth.
‘But it’s not my life. It’s Rubette’s life. It’s not my place to be sad; it’s not about me. It’s just the way it is, I guess,’ I muttered to myself in a trance.
It’s not Juliet Karenina’s life; it’s Rubetria Diollus’s life. It’s undoubtedly sad, but I shouldn’t be the one to mourn.
I didn’t need to cry. It’s pointless.
I was mentally prepared, so I truly was okay.
I was perfectly fine.
Everything was fine…
“Princess.”
I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help it. Damn it…
Through my blurred vision, I saw Lark’s shattered expression, as if he pitied me.
My body and mind, perfectly synchronized with Rubette, once again prevented me from remaining indifferent.
“Ah…”
My dry cheeks felt itchy. As my vision cleared, tears streamed down uncontrollably, against my will.
Unbelievable.
Why did this happen? Is it really all because of the ambition of one woman?
For 45 years, I… Lost my parents, was neglected by my siblings, suffered abuse, endured scorn, and lived in isolation…
Why? Why? Why did I have to live like that?
“Sigh…”
The overwhelming emotions that made me sob were undoubtedly grief. It was the same instinctual feeling I had toward Molga when I first received the memories of this life from Wishit.
It was unfair for Rubette. For me.
“Aaaah!”
“Princess.”
As I screamed in excruciating pain, Lark held me in his arms. I clung to his clothes with trembling hands and wept.
“Please, kill me. I’m so, so sad and angry, I can’t… I can’t bear it…”
“It’s alright.”
“What did I do wrong? Why…”
“…”
“My mother… My father… My family… My life…”
While I vaguely suspected the gruesome truth, I also hoped it wasn’t true. I hoped it wasn’t that. I hoped that woman wasn’t such a terrifying monster, because…
It was because I couldn’t bear to face the truth right now, crumbling and unable to cope with it, that I pitied myself.
“Cry. Get angry. Scream if you want.”
“Ha, ha…”
“And don’t ever think about it again when you leave here. Erase it all from your memory. It’s not worth it to hold onto the memories and feel anger, to shed tears.” Lark, kneeling before me, met my eyes and added, “I hope this was the last tear.”
As he wiped away the tears on my cheeks, he whispered in a chillingly low voice, “Everyone who ruined you will pay a terrible price.”
***
On the way out of the palace, after finally calming my heart.
‘Those bastards…’
It was truly a pathetic feeling.
Leaving aside Molga, our family had never mistreated our house physician and Molga’s younger brother, who had conspired with her ambitions. That fact weighed heavily on me.
Not for the sake of revenge, nor for any noble cause.
‘Everything was done for the sake of money.’
Yes, just for money.
“Sigh…”
Wishit looked at me worriedly as I stopped abruptly.
<Are you okay?>
<Yeah.>
I resumed walking.
After all, it was all over. My deceased family couldn’t come back to life, but the demons who killed my family would pay an even greater price.
“Hooah!”
I wiped away my tears and, pretending to be nonchalant, extended my arms toward the empty space. And then, I spoke toward those who would soon head to hell.
“Добро пожаловать в пекло!”
Wishit frowned.
<…What kind of curse did you just say?>
“What did you say?”
“Ah!”
I was startled by a voice that suddenly popped up from behind—It was Ren.
“Phew, hoo, hoo.”
“Oh my, were you surprised? I apologize about that.”
“How can someone just appear out of nowhere without making a sound?”
“It’s my specialty.”
“Wow, seriously…”
“But what did you just say? Was that a foreign language?”
“…Forget about it. But are you suddenly here? Where are you going?”
When I asked, he looked at me and, scratching his head, replied quietly, “I’m going to catch Gail Bert now.”
“Aah.”
Seeing my expression darken quickly, Ren humorously handed me a handkerchief. “Tears again.”
I accepted the handkerchief and said, “мерси (Thank you).”
“Wow! No, what language is that? Which country is it from?”
“You don’t need to know. It’s a language you’ll never have to visit in your lifetime.”
Russia isn’t here…
“But please tell me! It sounded incredibly cool. Earlier, you did this, looking up at the sky like this!” Ren mimicked me from earlier, spreading his hands wide. “Dtabulo~ something like that!”
“Heh.”
“It felt a bit like the gates of hell, didn’t it?”
“That line would work well for a gatekeeper of hell.”
As I started to feel a bit better, I chuckled, and Ren joined in. “Don’t worry. They don’t have much time left now,” he said.
“Thank you for helping. If it weren’t for you, things could have gone really bad. I keep getting your help like this.”
“Haha, yes, you made an excellent choice. But about what you said earlier, are you really not going to tell me?”
What’s this? I thought he was trying to comfort me, but he seemed genuinely curious.
I asked, baffled, “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes, I want to use it too.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
***
It was late afternoon, and the sun was setting over the rural estate of Bert, located in the central countryside, with a red sky.
“Hmm-hmm~”
Young Count Bert, Gail, strolled through the sprawling greenhouse gardens, humming a tune with a watering can in his hand. His blonde hair cascaded down to his chest in a splendid fashion.
Looking at his beautiful face, strikingly similar to his sister Molga, and his slender physique, no one would think of him as a man. This was why the shaman who had tricked Lisbeth was identified as a “woman”…
“Ah, my back…” Groaning as he rose with his sore body, Gail had endured the aftermath of a night of revelry with women, drowned in alcohol from dawn until now.
Money!
Good clothes, delicious food, beautiful women…
In this world, with money, there’s nothing you can’t do. That’s why Gail couldn’t understand those who clung to power and fame that would be meaningless after death.
“Grow and flourish.”
His exceptional intelligence, which had mastered pharmacology, was a blessing. Gail created plants that had never existed before by crossbreeding numerous herbs. Plants whose names, origins, and antidotes were known only to himself.
“Hmm, by the way, I should start my business again soon…” Gail grumbled to himself.
Prince Nathan, the 2nd Prince, had been the one to overlook Gail’s attempts to distribute drugs in a system filled with wealthy individuals. In return for helping Prince Nathan, Gail could operate his illicit shop in peace.
‘Even so, I never expected my medicine, which I delivered as ordered to Princess Lisbeth, to end up in the mouth of the 1st Princess.’
He had never imagined that the medicine he delivered as ordered would end up in the mouth of the 1st Princess.
‘He’s really insane. Trying to kill his own blood sister. Incredible, truly…’
In the end, due to the escalating situation, Gail had to temporarily suspend his business until things calmed down.
“Tsk, the losses I’m incurring because of that guy are no joke.”
Thinking of the 2nd Prince, who showed no mercy even to his blood brothers, Gail naturally thought of his own sister.
‘But speaking of which, my sister seemed quite anxious…’
Molga, who had little interest in the power dynamics of the palace, had been increasingly restless lately. She mentioned having a grudge against the crown prince, and she had already asked Gail, who had a connection with the 2nd Prince, to help her.
‘Could the two of them be at odds?’
Lost in thought, Gail shook his head. “Whatever happens, happens. I don’t care. I’m tired.”
Before long, Gail chuckled and tilted the watering can. He had no interest in power struggles that involved the spilling of high-ranking people’s blood.
Those foolish people. They might not even know that what they were doing was pointless…
Gail’s desire was to live extravagantly, swimming in wealth for the rest of his life.
“Heh, now I should start enjoying today’s happiness.”
Putting down the watering can, Gail stretched and began to walk.
The greenhouse was vast, covering hundreds of square meters. In this beautiful secret garden where the poisonous plants he had killed many people for were growing, Gail, as always, leisurely made his way through the tranquil space.
“…”
And then, suddenly, he stopped and tilted his head.
‘What’s this?’
In this deserted place, he felt an inexplicable discomfort, an unknown unease that washed over him. Intense tension gripped him. Gail cautiously surveyed his surroundings. The scenery was no different from usual.
‘Am I getting weak? I’m getting sensitive.’
Then, in front of him as he walked once again…
“Hmm.”
For a split second, something glinted.
Gail’s blue eyes slowly lowered.
In an instant, a sharp blade lay just beneath his chin. Its glinting edge seemed poised to pierce his throat at any moment.
“Hush.”
Gail’s head turned slowly.
It was a man with a mask covering his nose and mouth, a glamorous blonde with hidden features. A face he didn’t recognize. Contrary to his cheerful, smiling eyes, there were red irises that emanated anger and malice.
As if…
He were an executioner leading a human into hell.
Those red eyes flashed.
Then, the man swiftly removed his mask, smiled, and whispered softly, “Добро пожаловать в пекло.”
Welcome to hell.
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