Chapter 21

“I’m sleepy.”

She could feel the fatigue throughout her whole body. The stench of ammonia made her head throb.

While she was imprisoned, she wouldn’t be able to eat or wash.

Riv smiled bitterly and remembered the Duke.

“Lionel, wherever you are, are you okay?”

She worked hard to heal him so that he wouldn’t die.

‘That doesn’t guarantee my safety.’

She died during the winter in her past life but felt like it would happen earlier this time.

Riv leaned against the dark wall and fell asleep.

“Wake up! I said, wake up!”

A few hours later, Princess Marianne, who came to interrogate Riv, woke her up.

Marianne couldn’t stand the smell of ammonia in the brown room, so she had Riv dragged out into the hallway. Riv’s eyes widened as Marianne screamed at her.

“If you have something to say, say it, Madame Katana! Come on, tell me what you did to Lionel!”

Riv’s parched lips could barely move.

“Nothing. I didn’t do anything.”

Marianne became even more angry.

“Lies! Don’t pretend to be weak!”

Marianne thought that Riv lost a bit of weight compared to when she saw her the night before, but this thought passed by quickly.

“How dare you covet my fiance!”

“The Duke almost died because of Princess Marianne. What did you feed him? Poison or dr*gs?”

Marianne lost her temper and slapped Riv on the cheek.

Riv’s head turned to the side from the force of the slap.

Riv looked at Marianne, caressing her swollen cheek.

“Are you done?”

Marianne, who had slapped her, grabbed her wrist and cried.

“R-Riv. W-what the hell. Is your body made of stone? No wonder!”

She was insulting Riv.

It didn’t matter.

Riv found the princess funny.

The girl whom she had served before her return and killed her was pathetic.

It was truly absurd.

Riv was a magician and a witch. She was wrong to think that the way for her to survive was by leaving the palace.

“Well. If you had prepared countermeasures, you might have succeeded.”

If they did, she wouldn’t have been involved with Lionel.

“Riv, what are you talking about now? Have you lost your mind?”

Riv, who was kneeling down, glared at Marianne with all her might.

Marianne flinched and avoided her gaze.

Riv was fed up with this pathetic princess.

A sheltered princess in a golden castle who thinks that everything will go as she wishes.

A princess who was raised incapable of doing anything on her own.

Marianne was the type of person who lacked the courage to face Riv.

Riv reached her limit and poured out all her hate.

“The princess handed her fiancé over to me, whom she didn’t like and didn’t want to marry.”

“That, that.”

“You also gave the Duke an unknown dr*g and detained  us. How much did you give him? Did you plan on killing the Duke from the beginning?”

“Sh-Shut up! Riv Katana!”

“Princess Marianne! You didn’t love him. So why did you want to kill your fiance? Why!”

Riv didn’t fear anything anymore as she already foresaw her approaching death.

Marianne, who was overwhelmed by the situation, hastily made an excuse.

“I-I didn’t want to kill Lionel, I didn’t!”

“Princess.”

“I just messed with his drink! I just did what the Marquis told me to do!”

“The Marquis of Quill is plotting to kill the Duke in order to become the princess’ husband!”

“I-I didn’t know! I’m innocent, Riv!”

At Marianne’s excuse, the faces of the guards standing behind them turned pale. They looked at Marianne. The princess shook her head as she felt their distrust.

“I-It’s not my fault. Everything was done by Riv. Yes that’s it, hurry up and answer me!”

[T/N: She’s talking to the guards and her maid]

Every time she was faced with the truth, Marianne would cry and never admit her own fault.

“Riv, you tried to play tricks on the Duke and harmed him. There are no witnesses or evidence to support you here.”

Marianne quickly regained her composure, but Riv’s expression remained cold.

“Princess, the Duke of Sentoren is alive. He knows I am innocent.”

“That, that!”

Marianne looked at her maid, seeming to ask for her help.

Her handmaiden also avoided her gaze. Riv scoffed at her.

Marianne clenched her skirt tightly.

“L-Lionel knows it’s not my fault. You know that. Right?”

Marianne asked everyone, but she never got an answer.

Riv recalled the pain when Marianne burned her to death before her return.

It seems that her situation had not changed much since then. She just seemed to be heading towards her own death much earlier.

“Princess, do you intend to kill me here?”

“W-Why would I kill you?”

Marianne’s eyes trembled anxiously.

“How am I supposed to kill you, when I’m so weak?”

“You’re not going to kill me yourself. The princess’ hands and feet are scattered everywhere.”

“I don’t even need to borrow their hand. Riv, you just need to die for the honor of the Duke of Sentorren. If you want to commit s*ic*de, I’ll get you poison, a rope, a knife, whatever you need.”

Marianne smiled innocently.

“If I kill someone like you, who brings misfortune, my life will be unhappy. I’m so weak, I can’t kill you.”

Marianne couldn’t tolerate the rumors of a love triangle between Riv, Lionel and herself.

“So die by your own hand, Riv. For everyone’s sake.”

In an instant, invisible energy gathered in Riv’s hand and pulsed.

A red aura circled Riv’s pupils. The burn scar left on the back of her left hand was hot and painful.

The pendant hanging from her neck twitched, wanting to return to its ring form.

This was her magic. Power brought forth by her hatred towards Princess Marianne.

After she died, it brought her back to the past and even healed Lionel. It also had magic that could kill Princess Marianne.

It had no limits.

She couldn’t control this magic, but because she was angry, her power was probably enough to kill Marianne.

‘I can kill you anytime.’

However,

Riv looked at Marianne and everyone standing next to her.

Can this uncontrollable force kill Marianne? But even if she did kill Marianne, it would all be for nothing if she used up all the magic and ended up killing herself in the process.

“Haha. Hahahaha.”

If she ends up killing Marianne, herself and everyone else there, she would be no different from the princess.

She was struggling to live but she was willing to kill others?

It was a contradiction. Riv decided against killing Marianne and withdrew the magic.

‘I want to make sure the Duke of Sentoren survives.’

She suddenly had a thought.

What if Marianne and the other royals put him in danger again by pretending to treat him?

The royal doctor, trusted by the king, was a quack and everyone knew it.

After cursing at Riv, Marianne left. Riv was deep in thought as she was locked up in the brown room again.

‘What will happen to me?’

Riv’s fever made it difficult for her to keep her mind strong. The future thatRiv experienced before returning had been erased.

It felt like she was trapped in deep darkness with nowhere to escape.

“Haah.”

Riv sighed and touched her forehead. She was exhausted and seemed to have pushed herself too hard.

Riv crouched in a corner, waiting for time to pass.

***

Lionel woke up to the sound of someone’s laughter.

As he lay on the bed, he turned his head and saw Rambaud, the Duchy’s physician, sitting next to him.

“Duke, you are finally awake.”

At Rambaud’s words, Lionel felt like his head would split open. He sat up without even looking around.

He felt dizzy, but not to the point that he couldn’t move his body.

It was only after he sat up that Lionel discovered the golden patterns on the bed and on the walls. He frowned.

“Is this the Ailte Palace?”

“Yes, Duke Sentoren.”

“What happened?”

“That’s exactly what I want to ask, Your Grace.”

“What?”

Lionel turned to him. Rambaud continued to speak cheerfully.

“I heard that the Duke who went to Princess Marianne’s coming-of-age ceremony was seduced by the princess’ handmaiden and spent the night with her. Now she is facing death as a result.”

“…..”

“And it seems that the doctor Princess Marianne sent wanted to dissect the Duke alive.”

“……”

“There was a great commotion. The doctor wanted to cut all of the Duke’s limbs into pieces.”

Lionel sighed.

“How long has it been since I lost consciousness?”

“It’s not that you lost consciousness, but you have been sleeping. Anyway, a full day has passed since the princess’ coming-of-age ceremony.”

Lionel’s expression contorted. Rambaud stared at the Duke’s face.

“Do you remember what happened that night?”

“What about Madame Katana?”

“What about her?”

“She was with me. Have you captured the Marquis Quill?”

“What about the Marquis?”

Rambaud couldn’t keep up with Lionel’s thoughts.

“He tried to kill me at Marianne’s request.”

“What?”

“The Marquis fed me dr*gs, and Princess Marianne brought Madame Katana and detained her with me.”

“W-What?”

Rambaud’s mouth fell open in astonishment. Lionel was displeased that his doctor was unaware of the situation.

The Marquis must have already destroyed the evidence and fled while Lionel was unconscious. Madame Katana must have been imprisoned.

Princess Marianne probably wanted a justifiable reason to break their engagement under the pretext of Lionel’s scandal.

“Where is Madame Katana?”

“Since she’s Princess Marianne’s maid, the princess would know.”

Rambaud tilted his head back as he realized something.

Did the careful Lionel almost die from a dr*g overdose?

The situation seemed suspicious to Rambaud.

“Why did you take the dr*gs?”

“The Marquis of Quill overpowered me and forced me to take them while I was paralyzed.”

“What do you mean paralyzed? What else did you take?”

“Princess Marianne put something in my drink during the banquet. Perhaps that was what paralyzed my body.”

**********