Chapter 37

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Chapter 37

Richard replied in silence,

“Yes. I’ve burned all the Qualum leaves that were kept in the mansion.”

“Well done.”

Carinne looked down at Viscount Brienne lying on the bed. He was in a deep sleep. Richard spoke anxiously,

“You don’t have to do this.”

“By now, the Crown Prince must have heard of the existence of a sorcerer. The situation is against us.”

“One can’t find the caster just from the traces of sorcery.”

“Olivia has witnessed me.”

Of course, Olivia wouldn’t be able to say anything for the time being. The seed she planted in Olivia’s body was not magical, so Lennox Kravant would not be able to recognize it.

However, Olivia was awakened and her influence was rapidly growing as she stayed with Lennox Kravant. It was only a matter of time before Carinne was named as a prime suspect. Now that this was the case, it would have been better to perform a spell and erase the evidence completely.

“If we let our guard down, everything could collapse in an instant.”

It was an opportunity that Carinne had managed to grasp after many years. It would never happen again. So she had to be perfect.

“Then wouldn’t you rather have it all removed?”

“I would rather have a house to come back to one day.”

There might be ways to kill those who could be proof, but the Brienne family still had its use.

“This will strain you physically.”

Richard finally dissuaded Carinne, but she was stubborn. It was her way to take one arm off rather than risk the whole plan being ruined to keep herself intact.

“Will you wait?”

“…Yes,” Richard replied reluctantly.

Carinne lowered her eyes gently. Soon, the ancient spells of sorcery began to flow from her red lips. The process was performed to erase the memories related to sorcery from people’s minds.

As time went by, Carinne’s complexion turned pale. Richard couldn’t hide his nervousness as he stared at his master. It was only once the ceremony was over, when…

“Cough!”

“Lady Carinne!”

Her body was greatly reeling. Richard rushed to support Carinne.

“It’s all right.” She casually spoke, but her voice sounded rough. Richard couldn’t say anything back.

“…”

Instead, he just quietly clenched his teeth at the hopeless sight.

Her white palms, which she had been gripping, were dark red and moist with blood. But Richard’s indignation was lost and sank back into the depths of his heart. As it usually did.

He silently took a handkerchief out of his arms. There was no emotion on his face. However, the hand that wiped off the bloody hands was sincere. The white cloth soon turned red.

“Allow me to take you to the carriage.”

“I can walk alone.”

“Let me take care of you.”

Carinne sighed at the repeated stubborn requests. It was hard for her to beat Richard at a time like this.

Carinne slowly raised her arm and wrapped it around Richard’s neck. He held her skinny body carefully. While they were leaving the mansion, the two remained silent.

Outside the main gate, a carriage with no patterns or decorations stood alone without a coachman. Richard, who opened the carriage door, carefully seated Carinne inside.

The sunlight that passed through the window shone on Carinne, whose eyes were closed. Her face was pale, without a trace of blood. Seeing the drops of blood around her mouth, he bit his lips deeply.

“You need to rest for a while.” It was a reproachful voice that was unlike Richard’s usual tone. Carinne smiled faintly in response.

“I’m sorry to worry you.”

Richard clenched his fist with a troubled face. He didn’t mean to blame his master. However, what he wanted to say was only at the tip of his tongue, and it never came out of his mouth. For her, and for him, weakness was an unforgivable luxury.

“Forgive me.” He said what he had to say, swallowing the feeling of suffocation. Carinne nodded with her eyes closed.

“Let’s go.”

“If you’re not feeling well, please tell me.”

“Don’t worry about me, just focus on getting us to our destination.”

Despite no one watching, Richard politely bent down and closed the carriage door. His hands were rather rough, sitting in the driver’s seat and grabbing the hump.

Neigh!

With the cry of the horse, the carriage began to move away from the mansion at a rapid pace. Even after the images of the two disappeared completely, the birch, where everyone was asleep, was still.

It was a peaceful, sleepy environment with a latent secret inside.

“Hah!”

I jumped up, horrified. My eyes quickly scanned the surroundings I was in. Sitting on the sofa, I could see my body half-leaning against the backrest. It seemed that I fell asleep here after returning to his room.

[Olivia! What’s going on?]

Ash, with a worried look on his face, looked at me.

“Nothing. Just a nightmare.”

[What kind of nightmare was it? …Oh, my God, you’re in a cold sweat.]

He was making a fuss. I brushed my forehead with the back of my hand.

‘I can’t believe I had such a dream.’

In the dream, I had become Olivia, who had been imprisoned. The Olivia, whose soul was in Carinne’s body and was about to be taken to the execution site. The cold and shady prison, with bone-chilling temperature, had a strong scent of death everywhere. Carinne had appeared as I trembled with terror.

“Poor thing.”

Taking over my body, she looked at me with abominable sympathy.

“Oh, I should’ve fired a word.”

[What?]

“There was something.”

If she had laughed at me or mocked me, I wouldn’t have felt so dirty. ‘A bad guy should just be a bad guy.’ A villain with a backstory story was just uncomfortable.

‘You’re already a failure in evil sorcery.’

As soon as I was relieved that things were going well, I dreamed of Carinne.

It was just a dream and I wanted to forget it. The more I reflected on what I had been through in the Brienne mansion, the more I suffered.

“Ash. Let me ask you a favor.”

[What is it?]

“Go check on Carinne’s activity.”

[She’s not showing up at all…]

“If it’s difficult with Carinne, look at Richard’s movements. They work together, so maybe we can find something.”

[Got it.] Ash, who nodded decisively, floated out of the window. His back gradually faded away.

I murmured, rubbing my frowning brow,

“…It’s gonna be okay.”

It felt strange. I wasn’t anxious or afraid, but I felt like something was off.

“We’ll know when Ash comes back.”

For now, it was best to wait for the news he would bring. Worries that couldn’t be solved anyway were just a waste of time. It was when I had just turned around by the window after I succeeded in shaking off my worries.

“Madam, this is Nishir.”

As soon as we went to the palace and got the marriage approval, the Duke’s servants changed my title. The wedding was still left to do, but thanks to Lennox’s orders, they treated me as the Duchess.

“What’s the matter?”

Nishir, who bowed deeply, marked the start of my afternoon schedule.

“The craftsmen who are in charge of the wedding robes have just arrived from the boutique.”

A few hours later.

I had come to realize how much hard work it was to change clothes.

‘How long do I have to wear things and take them off for?’

Not only dresses, but headdresses, veils, gloves and shoes had to be tried on dozens of times.

There was no end in sight. Later, I was confused about whether I was wearing the clothes or the clothes were wearing me.

“I’ll bring the next dress.”

There were dozens of white dresses, each of a different design.

“Wait, isn’t this the dress I wore earlier?”

“No,” replied the fastidious-looking craftsman, who was wearing glasses.

“I think it’s the same…”

“It’s completely different, from the lace decorations to the drag at the bottom of the skirt and the jewelry insertion at the top of the bodice.”

Just in case, I was blocked off. Another craftsman with pink hair neatly opened a large box.

“You’d better wear gloves up to your wrist. Don’t look too frustrated.”

“Your hands are so white and thin, I think you’d look good in lace gloves.”

Dozens of gloves began to be neatly placed in front of me again. I hurriedly picked up any glove I could see and shouted at the ghastly sight.

“This one! I’ll take this one.”

But the tenacity of the craftsmen was truly frightening.

“That’s not bad, but there will be more suitable gloves.”

“Sure. How many pretty gloves are there in the world?”

I was speechless when I saw their eyes blazing with pure aspiration.

“I’ll make sure you get the most perfect wedding dress in the world!”

‘D*mn it. Wrong line…’

Since then, the labor of wearing and taking dresses had continued. I gave up counting from the 40th dress.

‘I want to pretend that the wedding and everything isn’t going to happen…’

“It’s almost over now, so cheer up.”

I opened my eyes to what the craftsman said to comfort me.

“Really?”

‘Yes, just a little bit more trouble and it’s over…’

“You only need to try on ten more clothes.”

…Far from winning, I felt like crying.

Before that, I was sure I was going to faint…

Even on the day of the wedding, I was starved without lunch to save my clothes.

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