Chapter 36

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 36

With a weak smile, Katie groveled closer on her knees towards Rosetta.

As she limped, the chains attached to her legs were dragged across the ground, accompanied by a loud noise again.

Katie looked around the prison, then when it was clear that there was no one else there, she prostrated as low as she could.

Even so, there wasn’t much space for anyone to see this.

With a bored expression, Rosetta waited for the older woman to open her lips.

“Actually… I am keeping a big secret. It’s a great secret that could shake the Duchy. No actually, more than that, it’s a secret that could shake up and overturn the entire noble society because of how shocking it is.”

“…A secret that could shake the Duchy?”

“Yes, Milady. I know a secret that could turn the world upside down. If you get me out of here, if you promise me. No, no… no, it’s… If you listen to what I have to say, you won’t be able to resist getting me out of here.”

After saying these words, the sound of rough breathing filled the dungeon.

Excited by what she herself said, Katie scratched the stone floor with her blackened nails.

‘It doesn’t look like you’re lying.’

Observing how worked up she was about it, Rosetta slowly opened her lips.

“Are you the only one who knows this secret?”

“Yes, of course. I’m the only one.”

“Then how can I believe your words to be true?”

Despite accusingly asking this question, Katie’s smile couldn’t be erased from her face.

Because she was smiling too broadly, her chapped lips had cracked and started bleeding.

In an instant, there was a grotesque sight of blood flowing down her lips.

“I have proof. There’s evidence to support what I say—if you let me leave this place. I can show it to you right away. If you save me… I can prove everything.”

The more she whispered, the more her eyes shone.

‘What kind of secret could shake up the Duchy?’

Even when she recalled the original novel’s contents, Rosetta couldn’t think of anything.

But to say that it was a lie…

‘It looks like she’s telling the truth.’

While resting her head on one hand, she tapped her chin and tilted her head to the side.

But she didn’t have any guesses. She couldn’t even fathom what kind of secret this was when it didn’t even appear in the novel.

While doubting this, Katie spoke again as if in a hurry.

“Milady, you know. Actually…”

Over the gloomy air, her trembling voice resounded.

Clap!

Although the voice was stopped with a sudden clap.

The lips that wished to speak urgently closed because of this.

And the flustered eyes turned towards Rosetta.

Getting up from the ground, Rosetta took the lamp with her and ignored that gaze.

Katie’s face, which was still in shock, was lifted along with Rosetta’s movement.

“Mi… Milady?”

As the perplexed voice called out, Rosetta reached out her hand that was holding the lamp and brought it closer to the bars.

Grimacing at the light, Katie flinched back.

The chains clinked loudly and the sound echoed.

With an amused expression, Rosetta looked down at Katie, then soon opened her lips.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“What?”

The wrinkled forehead stretched tightly, and the head that tilted to look at Rosetta fell back with a thud towards the iron bars, her eyes glaring.

Over the dark blue eyes that were wide open in astonishment, the lamp’s illumination quivered.

To the point that it couldn’t be distinguished whether it was the lamp that was shaking or her pupils.

“A secret that could overturn the Duchy. That only you know. If I don’t listen to you, you’ll forever be the only one who’ll know.”

“Milady—”

“When more people know a secret, that number of people would eventually grow, and the less of a secret it becomes.”

Wasn’t it like that?

If Katie told Rosetta this secret, there wouldn’t be a guarantee that she wouldn’t tell others, right?

A secret that could change the Duchy.

Knowing a grandiose thing like that was just going to be an unnecessary burden.

It wouldn’t be easy to keep such a thing under wraps.

Even now, Rosetta was already carrying so much. She was already overflowing with knowledge like that.

And at the same time, it was a secret that didn’t appear in the novel.

‘Besides, I don’t know if it’s a secret that could also shake up the Carter family…’

What’s the point of knowing the truth when it would only be a nuisance to her plans?

It might potentially help knock Leo down his position, but at the same time, it also might not.

And especially, Katie had specifically called her for this.

“So I’m not going to hear you out.”

Strangely, it felt right that she was feeling strange about this.

And in the end, no matter what Katie did, Rosetta had no intention to save the former nanny.

Even if the Duke himself would listen to this woman and would pardon her of her sins.

Therefore, it was better not to listen to something that would only bother her.

While she was here to hear out this woman, to no avail, Rosetta thought that it would be really troublesome if a problem would arise once it was time to deal with her.

When Rosetta stood straight as she looked through the bars, Katie hurriedly reached out to try and hold onto the younger woman, but she failed.

Because there were long chains on her arms as well.

Clang!

With that harsh sound, Katie clenched her teeth, then she shouted at Rosetta, practically screaming.

“Mi… Milady! Don’t do this to me! You’re making a mistake right now! Huh?!”

Her face turned blue from shouting.

It seemed like the truth of the situation still hadn’t sunk into her.

She must have thought that Rosetta would listen to her.

How foolish, this arrogance.

She had to remember that Rosetta also had the choice to reject her suggestion.

Rosetta came here to play along because she was curious, but what could be done here when she didn’t feel as interested as she thought she would be?

With a soft smile on her lips, Rosetta spoke.

“I’m not going to listen, so stop being so pathetic. Just die, Katie.”

Even towards Rosetta herself, the voice sounded kind.

Amidst the quivering light, their eyes met.

One gaze looking up, one gaze looking down.

As the silence deepened, Rosetta turned around and began to walk away.

In the same way that she entered, the sound of her footsteps echoed throughout the dungeon.

Katie, who had been rendered speechless in her shock, started again and yelled violently by the time Rosetta was out of her line of sight.

“Rosetta! Okay, sure! You’re supposed to make your own decisions, right? But you’ll regret this eventually! You’ll regret it to the point that you’d shed blood and tears! There will definitely be a day like that!”

The malice-infested voice ate up the echoing footsteps and filled the space around them.

However, it was only that.

It didn’t affect Rosetta, this desperation that a person on death row was feeling.

And in addition—

She had already been so exhausted by regrets, so exhausted by crying blood and tears.

The curses that this sinner was eagerly spouting were already memories of the past for her.

However, when she was finally going to leave,

“Fine, get lost! Just leave. Do you think you’re the only one who could listen to what I have to say? No, by all means. If I tell this secret to that stupid b*tch, she wouldn’t be able to resist getting me out of here.”

In the midst of those hostile words, a terribly unpleasant phrase was mixed in.

Tak, Rosetta’s footsteps halted.

With her eyes were fixed on the door a distance away, the tip of her tongue flicked up and touched her canine.

A sharp sensation stimulated her nerves.

“Stupid b*tch…”

When she repeated the word that bothered her, the damp walls that echoed her voice sounded like a snake’s slithering tone.

‘Stupid b*tch.’

Who the hell was she calling that.

Who the hell was it that Rosetta’s mood felt this dirty.

And, that person she called a stupid b*tch, why could she save Katie.

Why was Katie so sure that Rosetta would spare her life after hearing this secret.

Her mind was doused with ice cold water.

She didn’t know why, but she felt odd.

It felt like she was cold, frozen iron rod tightly with her bare hands.

Like she couldn’t take her fingers off it or hold it properly.

Her own shadow, which was there in the dark, damp dungeon, was swallowing her figure.

The shadow that was cast under the lamp flickered dangerously, following the small flame that illuminated her.

Looking down at her feet, she placed the lamp on the floor and turned around.

She rearranged her black cloak, undoing the collar and pulling up the hood so that there would be nothing that could be held around her neck.

As her steps took her closer to Katie, Rosetta could hear the older woman’s harsh breathing, stemming from anger.

She took the same spot earlier, and before long, the gaze of the panting woman turned to her.

One gaze up, the other down.

“Ha. Now you want to try and listen to me?”

With ridicule mixed into her tone, she reached out and held onto the bars with both hands.

What first entered Rosetta’s senses was the nauseating smell of metal that poked at the tip of her nose.

And as she leaned down, her eyes met with the woman’s poisonous gaze.

They couldn’t see each other’s faces properly because Rosetta didn’t bring the lamp, but even in the dark, the loathing they felt for the other was palpable in their words.

Looking at her quietly, Rosetta opened her lips and spoke softly.

“I’m not very interested in whether your secret overturns the Duchy or shakes up the entirety of noble society. However.”

“…Why come back when you’re spouting such bull—”

“If it’s a secret that could affect the one you called a stupid b*tch, then it would be better for you to forget that secret.”

The chapped lips, which were scowling at an angle, opened.

“…What?”

“If you shut your trap, that secret will disappear forever, right?”

As Rosetta said these words, silence commenced and reduced the sound around them.

If silence could take a form, one of them would have choked already.

However, it ended in one swift movement.

Rosetta had already grabbed Katie through her worn-out clothes.

“Urk.”

She pulled the woman towards her with the strength in her hand. The face that was helplessly dragged forward showed terror.

“Let… Let go of me… What… What are you… Just what the hell are you planning to do!”

“Yeah. What am I going to do.”

With a light smile, she slowly reached out with her other hand that was previously holding the cell’s bars.

There was the distinct smell of iron.

That stench. Perhaps it wasn’t the metal.

What was black on the bars might not be rust, but something else.

“St… Stop… What are you going to do to me.”

After Rosetta moved her other hand, Katie’s eyes trembled as much as her voice quivered.

Until the hand in the air touched her cheek and couldn’t be seen by her anymore.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you right now. You can stay alive for a few more days. Here.”

Right. Rosetta didn’t intend to kill her.

If a person were to die in prison, someone else was bound to be the target of suspicion.

It would be useless to stir up such an incident.

The ducal estate was already noisy enough with one thing or another, and Rosetta was, unintentionally, always in the middle of it all.

This was enough commotion and attention.

Since Katie was going to die even if Rosetta wasn’t going to kill her anyway, why would she need to take any risks?

Pulling the clothes that were in her grasp, Rosetta pulled Katie’s frightened face closer.

“You… You… Why… What are… What are you going to do?!”

With a sense of urgency, the chained hands held Rosetta’s wrists.

But it was impossible for Katie to take them off.

Looking down at the shaking hands, Rosetta calmly spoke.

“What’s the point of knowing.”

“That… What…”

“It’s not going to happen, but if I knew, wouldn’t I just be uselessly given something to fear?”

At the quiet voice that spoke as though she was reading out a fairytale, Katie’s neck moved abruptly.

Then, after a while, the sound of a dry heave was spat out of the throat that had swallowed dryly.

“Rosetta… You.”

“Hm?”

“You… Are you really Rosetta?”

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────