Chapter 86

Episode 86: Lady Misérian is a Witch

“I’ll be waiting outside.”

The knight let me in through the entrance with a face of embarrassment. I shoved something into the toilet to make it clog, and then I barely managed to get out.

Originally, the knight was trying to come in as a guard to prevent any unforeseen situation, and I barely managed to enter by myself on the grounds that my honour would be tarnished.

By the way, if I disappeared through the mirror, the knight would notice, and I didn’t know what Medea was going to do. I thought I would do well on my own, but I kept worrying and doubting myself.. I looked around and tapped the mirror slightly.

Medea. Soon after my whisper, she appeared and reached out to me.

Medea grabbed my hand and pulled me, and I was sucked through the mirror helplessly.  When I woke up, the place I arrived at was Kynthia’s house.

As if they had already heard, Kynthia and Anakin were waiting for me in the room with their eyes wide open. Looking at those familiar faces, somehow I relaxed and laughed.

“Lady…”

“We don’t have time to say hello. Kynthia, there’s something you have to do for me.”

“Just say anything.”

The child blinked and nodded vigorously. Looking at that face suddenly made me feel guilty. I didn’t mean to say anything to a child who liked me like this, but I couldn’t ask for anything else. I grabbed Kynthia’s cheeks and whispered.

“Spread rumours that I’m a witch on the street.”

“What? What do you mean…….”

“Spread it to the informants. You have to make as many people believe it as possible.”

“My lady!”

Kynthia shouted. He asked me, trembling. Poor thing, he was terrified.

“Does the lady know what she is saying right now? If you’re cornered as a witch, you’ll be at least executed! Don’t you know how much this country hates witches?!”

“Yeah, that’s why you’ll spread the rumour that I’m a witch. Definitely, so that I’ll be executed.”

Kynthia was restless and wandered around the room, but eventually knelt at my feet. He grabbed my hand and shook his head.

“No, lady. Please don’t do that… There’s a saying that living is better even when it’s dog shit. Yes? Even if you regret it, you can’t go back.….”

I knelt down to him without saying a word.

Cynthia jumped, but he didn’t let go of my hand. I knew I was cowardly. But it was me, not Kynthia, who was more desperate. I made eye contact with him and prayed earnestly.

“Please, Kynthia. There’s no one but you who can do me this favour. You found out I was a stranger last night, right? I must be executed to return to my world.”

Kynthia’s shaking eyes avoided my gaze. The child whispered in a thin, small voice.

“If you’re branded as a witch, you may be tortured.”

“I know.”

‘’You’ll be stoned until the moment you get to the death penalty.’’

“It doesn’t matter.”

Tears dropped from Kynthia’s eyes.

The child nodded reluctantly. That was a relief. Actually, I thought he would say no until the end. I sighed and wiped away his tears and told him to spread the words right now.

As Kynthia left the house, Anakin was watching me silently.

Perhaps, now was the last chance for us to say goodbye. But I didn’t even know what to say.

The words ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘thank you’ just lingered in my mouth. We looked at each other for a while.

If I had been a real witch, I would have stopped time now. Every minute and every second that was slipping through my fingers was precious.

I finally sighed and told Anakin.

“There are things you have to do for me…”

“Please name them.”

“It may be impossible.”

“It’s okay.”

“You may not want to.”

When I said that, Anakin stared at me.

“There is no need for personal feelings for orders.”

Ahh, I had such confidence that day. This man in front of me would never stray away because of love. I liked you because you were such a person. Even if you loved me, you wouldn’t refuse my request because you loved me.

“Will my death… make you sad?”

“Yes…”

“But, you…… Can you kill me?”

Anakin nodded silently. I burst into tears. But I couldn’t stop talking. How long has it been since I tried to calm down with my mouth covered? I barely subdued my shrill voice and whispered to Anakin.

“If I’m executed, those men will come to save me. Anakin, you have to stop them. And….”

Please chop my body so that I don’t come back to life.

* * *

One day, a vicious rumour spread in the city. Lady Misérian was actually a witch and tried to usurp the throne by marrying the crown prince, but when the crown prince recognized her ambition and refused, finally failing to marry, she murdered the crown prince’s new bride.

At first, the stories that were chewed as snacks by people at the bar began to have credibility as they spread through the information guild. There were also testimonies that not one or two people heard Lady Misérian muttering something alone in an empty prison.

Rumours continued to swell, and the myth that the sudden death of the emperor and empress was due to the witch’s curse became a fact.

The imperial family warned against rumours and against spreading groundless words, but it became a situation where they incited the witch, saying it was to hide what she had suffered.

In addition, Lady Misérian’s father, Marquis Misérian, had the history of withdrawing from politics after being accused of opening a magic gate in the city.

Suspicions had spread that the reason for the light punishment of dismissal and seizure for a crime that deserved the whole family to be executed, might have been because Lady Misérian, a witch, was behind it.

It also came to mind that she, who deserved to be executed for killing the crown princess, was able to keep her life because of the witch’s magic tricks.

Marquis Misérian and Lady Misérian, who had a bad external image because they were already extravagant and arrogant. When even branded as a witch, voices calling for their execution immediately rang day after day.

At a time when the people’s hearts were becoming more ferocious, Alecto’s coronation to the throne was held.

Not long after the funeral, the coronation was held solemnly rather than splendidly.

There were no firecrackers or marches. Dark purple embroidered the imperial palace, and the city also responded with silence to the tragic events that took place day after day.

The people replaced the new emperor by offering flowers along the walls of the imperial palace.

On behalf of the pope, who was still lying on the bed, a young and beautiful high priest stood in formal attire in the temple.

Whenever Alecto walked, a purple cape fluttered. Finally, when Alecto knelt in front of Hubris, he put his hand over the crown prince’s head that became white overnight.

“As the heir of the Holy Empire, do you swear that you will do your best to protect the Empire’s territory and its people?”

“I swear.”

“Do you swear that you will not bring the people into sorrow by abusing the power that has been bestowed upon you in this glorious position?”

“I swear.”

“Are you accepting that all your authority is subject to God, and swear that you will never fall into false beliefs?”

“I swear.”

“May God protect you.”

When the coronation oath was completed, the high priest lifted the crown and placed it on Alecto’s head. As he straightened his bent knee and turned his body, the knights and ministers who had previously gathered instead knelt on one knee at once.  A majestic hymn flowed from the organ.

As soon as the coronation ceremony was over, Alecto had to attend the parliamentary meeting immediately. The same was true of the ministers who participated in the coronation.

As soon as the meeting began, the topic that the ministers brought up was, of course, the disposition of the Misérian family.

“Now that the coronation ceremony is over, we can no longer delay the disposition of the Misérian family!”

“That’s right, Your Majesty. Do you know what rumours are circulating on the streets? It is said that the imperial family was possessed by a special witch. If you sit by, the dignity of the imperial family may fall!”

Alecto swept his face as if he were tired of the pouring voices. From the beginning, the imperial faction, which was the enemy of the Misérian family, as well as the aristocratic faction raised their voices saying that the death penalty should be carried out.

Now that she was being accused of treason as well as being a witch, if anyone defended the Misérian family for no reason, they would be put in the same category and their political life would end.

Alecto recalled a skinny, haggard woman trapped in the tower for a moment. Her green eyes and cynicism.

He even checked with the high priest, but he actually knew that the woman was not Eris Misérian. But he didn’t want to believe it.

It was hard for Alecto to accept the fact that the child, or the one who blindly loved him, had disappeared forever.

It was all the more so now that he had lost everything.

Guilt, hatred, possessiveness, love……. It didn’t matter what the name of this infested emotion was.

Alecto… desperately needed even the ghost of Eris Misérian.

He closed his eyes, and last night’s memories poured on Alecto. Secretly, he called in a substitute to examine Helena. After looking at Helena for a long time, the High Priest reported that she was under the witch’s curse.

When asked how to release it, the High Priest shook his head silently. It was said to be a kind of ancient magic that had been passed through at least two witches. Considering the transcendence of the witch, human power was not enough, it had to be about the level of a dragon to release it.

When asked why she did not die even though she was caught in the witch’s magic, the answer came back that it was not intended for her to die in the first place. He also said that if she really died, it would have been more comfortable to deal with since they could have revived her with divine power.