“I’m going to let everyone know about this tomorrow morning.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the flowing remarks. In the silence, laughter spread, and soon her head turned to me. I shrugged my shoulders slightly because her eyes were asking how I got so bold to react like that.
“Sorry, it’s just a little funny.”
“The Princess is too light-hearted.”
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh.”
Words won’t come out well. I still have a lot of things to say to Richton, but it’s because I didn’t want to hear her talking nonsense.
You’re pregnant with Richton’s baby? What could be more ridiculous than that! It’s Richton, who has poison instead of blood in his veins. It was natural that the gut would melt before the child was born. But not all the Empire’s nobles are aware of it. If Ariel insisted on pregnancy, there could be a suspicion, even if there was no evidence. Her claim was that her time at Ingord’s annex could come back to haunt Richton.
Of course, there is no guarantee that the actual relationship between Ariel and Richton is not pure. Yes, of course. How many women must have passed by in the meantime, a man called the power of the empire. I licked my drying lips and rubbed the strangely stiff back of my neck.
What’s wrong? It doesn’t matter to me anyway.
Susan’s just an owner’s dog.
“Beatrice.”
It was the call of Richton. She quietly lifted her eyes and her gaze met his.
“I’ll come over to you when I’m done, so you’d better go back to your room. I would like to show you only good looks.”
“… Are you visiting her? For real?”
A scream rang out from somewhere. Ariel, who had been scanning her veil with a dignified face until just a moment ago, opened her blood-stained eyes. She pointed at me with her fingertips. A shadow was cast on her wrinkled face in an instant, as if turning over her palm.
“You’re going to visit her yourself?”
Richton didn’t answer, but Ariel’s face crumbled as if she had heard “yes”.
“It was you.”
The fingertips towards me lose their composure and sway up and down. I didn’t feel good. I had felt this way before. It was just like when Reina grabbed me and sought her relief.
“It was you, you cunning bitch!”
“Kean”
It was the moment Ariel reached out to me, bent like a rake. Kean, who I wasn’t aware of his presence, appeared from behind and blocked her way. She couldn’t be seen by his large back, but her sharp cry rang in both ears.
“Is it that bitch? Are you trying to use that peasant princess now? All the medicine you gave me is going to that bitch! Right?”
Medicine.
“I think you should lower your voice, Ariel. We are not the only ones in this mansion, are we?”
“I no longer had mine anymore because you were giving it to that bitch!”
The pale back of her hand gripped Kean’s arm roughly. Her unmoving arm hangs pitifully as if it was her lifeline. Ariel’s fingernails were ripped apart as if they had been eaten by a mouse.
Is it a single phenomenon? Then, the existence of the drug that the woman spoke of can only be Ingord poison. In other words, it is Richton’s blood that was diluted in water.
“I… I gave up all my pride and hung on you like a dog… I cried miserably….”
A poison that causes hallucinations, paralysis, and extreme addiction when consumed in trace amounts. Richton poisoned that woman. He poisoned her to achieve what he wanted.
As if it were to me.
“…it’s true that I have a child.”
Cough, the woman swallowed her breath with all her might. The voice was weighed down by the weight of emotion, as if reciting a poem for the dead.
“It’s exactly the same time I spent in the Ingord annex. My soon-to-be-appointed brother wants to let go of His Highness Wilhelm. If the union between you and me is achieved, Crohertz will also….”
“What a shame.”
Richton closed her mouth from leaking anymore nonsense, his face showing no remorse whatsoever.
“The Marquis of Crohertz. He was driven to death because of his daughter who was blinded by pleasure.”
His hand, pale beyond comparison to Ariel, waved the wine glass. Soon after, Kean slowly stepped away in front of him.
“The child’s father must be Mern Triviache. You thought I wouldn’t know?”
“Mern Triviache? Your Excellency, do you mean the eldest son of Triviache who died?”
My shoulders trembled at the familiar and unwelcome name.
Mern Triviache was a master of the employer I once served……
Richton nodded at the man’s question, and the surroundings became quiet again. Only Ariel was howling silently in front of the man who killed her lover. She sat down on the floor, shaking her head constantly.
“I thought you two were in a very hot relationship. But considering that, you came to my bedroom tirelessly every summer night.”
Richton’s eyes were on me for a short time. I couldn’t turn my head because of the atmosphere that was tightening my whole body.
“Or, were you thinking of taking revenge for your dead lover, poor Miss Ariel? Too bad I’ve never responded, and all your chances are lost.”
“Argh! You murderer!”
Kean, who ran out, grabbed Ariel’s body trying to jump forward.
“He wasn’t a man to die for! He wasn’t a man to be burned alive, treated like such a high treason. We had promised our whole lives under the juniper… You.”
“It’s funny that the Marquis’ daughter, of all people, says that. Do you know where your father went and what he did?”
“Shut up!”
As soon as she spat out cuss words, Ariel trembled and seized. She scratched the floor incessantly with her unsung nails. I turned my head because I couldn’t bring myself to see more of it. Deep down inside, there was an unpleasant feeling of nausea. Rather, it would be less disgusting to see the fate of Campbell, who fell from the third floor.
“No, no! No, your excellency… Mern is nothing to me anymore. I, I need medicine. I just…”
The bottom of the bottom that a person can see. I couldn’t believe this is how it feels to check the end.
“M, medicines….I need it”
Richton, who emptied his wine glass, asked in an insensitive tone.
“Did you kill the Marquis?”
Whew, whew. Ariel breathed heavily.
“Did you kill the Marquis, Ariel?”
Maybe she wanted to deny it to the end. Or belatedly realized the consequences that she brought. Unable to control the pouring tears, Ariel slowly nodded her head.
“A well-behaved child deserves an award.”
Richton pulled a small glass bottle out of his collar. It was a familiar thing in my eyes. Richton’s office was decorated with dozens of glass bottles the same size as that. Kean received a glass bottle from him and handed it to Ariel. Ariel, waking up in a hurry, looked like a mother who had found her lost child. She hugged a glass bottle that was the size of a thumb.
That’s how it goes. It was like this. That’s how Richton got the empire in his hands. The inside of my throat became dry. Ariel’s feeling of helplessness was conveyed to me nearby. The fear I had when I first encountered Richton vividly revived. The fear of having to crawl under Richton’s feet to survive.
“Kean. Take Miss Ariel to her bedroom.”
Ariel refused Kean’s support and shook her head like a child.
“Tomorrow, I’ll tell tomorrow. To everyone that my child is your child….”
“You’ve been saying things I don’t understand. Don’t tell me you think your child can survive in that rotten body.”
“… What?”
Richton shook his hand with a look of no further comment.
“Ah, No”
Not only did all the guests gathered in the room move at his simple gesture, and Kean also forced Ariel’s body to rise.
“No, no, no! Duke, please tell me no!”
Kean’s thick hands shut Ariel’s mouth and chin. The loud voice that was ringing the ceiling disappeared in an instant. The woman was dragged like a pack animal and disappeared from the room. In the meantime, both hands were cherishing the glass bottle.
“Susan.”
After a while, he and I were the only ones left in the room.
“Come here.”
Richton’s voice calling for me was smeared with drowsiness and a slight temper tantrum at dawn. Yeah, he must be exhausted. He must be tired, but I am also exhausted today. Too much work has been done beyond the limits of body, mind and head. I couldn’t wait to get out of here and go back to my isolated room. I didn’t approach him and delivered the major concern.
“My face has been exposed to Viscount Campbell. I pushed him out of the third floor, and I think he saw it.”
And what I heard next was.
“He’ll be found soon. Security is strict in and outside the mansion.”
It was a very, very emotionless voice.
Why isn’t he asking me anything? My carelessness has hurt your confidante. Your political opponent caught sight of it!
“Master.”
You’ve been so vicious and cold to Ariel Crohertz.
“Is it really not your child?”
I was scared. I was scared that I might be treated like trash thrown out just like Ariel.
Is this fear coming from that mind?
I wanted to directly hear from Richton that it’s not and confirm my value. Having been silent for a while, he spoke in a low tone as if he was sighing.
“Susan, I didn’t expect you to ask such a stupid question.”
The tall body, which was leaning deeply against the chair, raised itself. He took a great stride and stood in front of me. A picture-like man in a frame carved of gold headed straight to her.
“You’re the only one who can depend on me and keep your limbs intact. Others would struggle to death slowly.”
I knew it already, but I didn’t tell Richton about it. This is because I was not confident to answer wisely to the question about why I still asked knowing the answer.
I just looked up to him for a few seconds without a word. Richton tilted his head sideways as if something was unsatisfactory.
“Don’t you believe me? I can confirm it right now if you want.”
The flesh inside the cheek that had suddenly been bit with my teeth became sour. I didn’t notice anything until now, but it was as if I poked with a needle. His pupils lowered slightly below mine. I thought I could see where his eyes had fallen. Eventually, I uttered the useless words that hung around my tongue. It was hard to move my lips because my chest was frozen without any movement.
“That’s how you used other women. Just like how you did to Ariel Crohertz.”
It was such a regretful question that I wanted to cram back into my mouth. As I lowered my eyelids, only a quiet, calm breath was heard from Richton. Not once did he blink, as if seriously reflecting on my question. His eyes were so big that every single strand of beautiful eyelashes was in sight.
“If necessary.”
It wasn’t long before Richton pulled my veil off. One beat late, our gaze met and one beat late, a vivid emotion pervaded.
“That’s a face that makes me feel like I have to justify myself.”