CH 15

Ophelia tilted her head to the left and back to her waist, then looked up at Richard with a puzzled expression.

His shadowed face remained expressionless, so Ophelia tilted her head more.

“Maybe I did something wrong without realizing it…”

“No. There is no such thing.”

“Then why did you squeeze like you were going to make my stomach burst, and drop me as if to grind my face to the ground?”

Again, no answer came back.

Ophelia was bewildered, but Richard was no different.

Because he didn’t even know why he did it himself.

“It doesn’t matter now. If it’s certain that Marquis Neir is unconscious…”

When Ophelia turned around, the jealousy that had stabbed Richard in the chest, which he had not even realized he had towards Cooper, dispersed like smoke.

But that jealousy was a very small ripple.

Almost invisible, like invisible concentric circles created by tiny stones thrown into a deep, deep lake.

Thus, Richard himself did not feel it, but it certainly exists…

“Are there plans for something bigger?”

“The fact that the marquis is unconscious, this assassination might be a smokescreen for something else.”

“Marquis Neir would not be stupid enough to do dangerous things that make him unconscious for the sake of a smokescreen.”

Something wasn’t clear, but there was no more hypotheses to squeeze out.

“If it was a request from the Neir family, wouldn’t it be possible that it’s the lady that did it?”

“Lady Raisa Neir, who is nothing more than the marquis’ puppet, will not be able to take the initiative in such a thing, because the marquis will not tolerate it.”

“A puppet?”

“Literally. She can’t do anything unless the marquis allows it. Even if she does, it’s not very intimidating.”

Ophelia’s eyelashes fluttered like a butterfly’s wings.

‘Last time I saw her, she didn’t look like a paper tiger.’

When Ophelia recalled the gray eyes of Raisa’s that she had met, instinctively, goosebumps rose on the back of her back.

‘But it’s only once… No, that’s not it!’

“No. She didn’t look like that kind of person.”

“On what grounds?”

Ophelia became a honeyed mute.

(TL/N: Honeyed mute – a person who can not say what he/she wants or thinks.)

If asked what the reason was, it was normal to give an answer, but the reason she dared to pick was…

“My feeling?”

An ambiguous answer came out vaguely, but Richard nodded at once.

“Right.”

“What? No, I’m embarrassed if you agree so easily. It’s a little burdensome that you trust me that much…”

“No.”

“Ah, no. Phew… that’s good. Then why did you change your mind?”

Seeing Ophelia patting her chest sincerely, Richard smiled and held out his hand.

“Let’s go for now.”

At his sudden words, Ophelia’s eyes widened like a rabbit, soon realizing that the surroundings had become very quiet.

“Huh? The bears and the assassins… they’re all lying together.”

The fact that the ground was dyed black and red was not spoken.

Ophelia shrugged, placing her hand on his.

“Fortunately, I think they killed each other.”

“No, there were a few assassins left.”

“What?”

Richard wrapped his arms around the waist of Ophelia, who was shocked to hear that there were still assassins left, and pulled her gently toward him.

“I took care of all the rest.”

Ophelia floated in the air for a moment thanks to his strength. When her feet were back on the ground, she opened her mouth and… promptly closed it. 

She wouldn’t understand when and how he dealt with it.

‘Right. He is Richard.’

As she was about to take a step, Richard stopped her.

“You can’t.”

“What’s wrong…”

Ophelia had to keep her mouth shut so as to not accidentally bite her tongue while speaking. 

Because of the sudden heightened visibility and the change in distance from Richard, which was much closer than before.

He placed an arm under Ophelia’s knees, lifting her up entirely, then he blinked towards the ground.

“What’s wrong with the ground… Ah.”

The ground on which she was about to step was submerged in a pool of blood.

Come to think of it, there was no drop of blood on the ground she stepped on when she came down from his hold earlier.

Ophelia looked at Richard anew.

He was tired of life itself, and he was sick of the world.

This kind of Richard was afraid she would step on blood… 

For some reason, she felt a little ticklish in the stomach. But as soon as her feet hit the ground, as quickly as the change in her field of vision, the wind that swept past her ears washed away that feeling.

It was also a small ripple.

It existed as Richard’s did, and it, too, was so small that Ophelia herself didn’t even realize it.

At the time, the two did not know.

The fact that a small seed towards each other had been sown in their hearts, not knowing what kind of flower would bloom. And that they would recognize Raisa, who held a clue to the infinite regression they were searching very much for.

No one knew.

.

When the scarlet sunset began to color the edge of the forest.

The hunting competition was coming to an end where it started.

A group boasting of what they had achieved while roaming the forest, and a group discouraged because they couldn’t catch anything.

Even a group of people who couldn’t see Richard’s fingertips and were completely wasted and went crazy.

All of them were focused on one person’s words.

“This year’s winner!”

After a moment’s pause and the announcer named the winner with a big smile, cheers erupted from one side and sighs of discouragement from the other.

The winner came forward with envious shouts and pushes from his acquaintances.

His face was shining brighter than ever with hope for tomorrow and the excitement of facing the crown prince.

And a moment of glory.

Facing Richard who was on the podium, the winner knelt down on one of his knees and shouted with emotion.

“I see you, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Raise your head, Sir.”

“Glory…”

The knight couldn’t even speak at all, and he stiffened.

It was because he was crushed by Richard’s gaze looking down at him.

The hand slowly reaching out towards him was so large that it was suffocating, and a cold sweat formed on the knight’s forehead.

The crown prince in front of him was as huge as a wall that could never be crossed, and like a sea so deep that if he fell into it, he could never get out.

“Uhm.”

The knight could barely hold his breath as the prince’s hand rested on his shoulder.

He looked up at Richard with indescribable eyes.

Since Richard went through many regressions with those terribly familiar eyes, he indifferently gave the words he had said tens of thousands of times to others other than this knight.

“I look forward to your future.”

“For the glory of the Empire!”

Behind the knights’ loud lead, the cry of those gathered in the rear rang.

“For the Empire!”

The hunting competition, which was left in such an awkward point, ended.

.

That night.

At the time everyone was asleep, a dim light was burning in the corner bedroom located on one side of Marquis Neir’s mansion.

—Tak, tak, tak, tak.

The sound of the door opening and sharp heels ripped the silence of the still room.

“Mother.”

Raisa went to the bed where Marquis Neir was sitting and leaning her back. She neither sat down, nor asked her how she was. 

“What did you call me for?”

Marquis Neir also omitted the greetings and brought up the main subject.

“You did it.”

“Poison?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m the only one who can poison my mother’s tea.”

“Why?”

The corners of Raisa’s lips twisted.

“It would be disappointing if Mother suspects that I poisoned you to kill you.”

The same gray eyes stared sharply at each other.

No matter who the other party was, they held the other’s gaze without blinking. Eventually, Marquis Neir drew her eyes away first.

It was not because she was swayed by Raisa’s momentum.

She merely belittled her daughter.

“You can’t do that, can you?”

A voice full of confidence, as if she had never imagined that Raisa would harm her even in a dream.

Marquis Neir truly thought so.

‘She’s a greedy and stupid daughter.’

‘She’s gotten a little smarter or calmer in the last few months, but she’s still a long way off.’

“If it’s a new poison, shouldn’t you have told me ahead of time? A day was wasted, things were pointlessly pushed.”

“I didn’t know that you would collapse like that because you have tolerance to most poisons. And it doesn’t matter for a day or so.”

“Tch.”

Marquis Neir clicked her tongue.

A small bottle entered Raisa’s eyes as she followed her mother’s fingertips.

“Drink.”

“It’s poison by all accounts, is this a punishment?”

“Well, you might as well think of it as training to develop poison resistance.”

“It’s only one day.”

“Time was wasted. Not just a day, but even a minute is a waste.”

“Even if I’ve finished all the work you have to do?”

One of the marquis’ eyebrows rose.

“You?”

“Yes.”

Even after hearing Raisa’s answer, the marquis did not hesitate.

“Drink. How many times have I told you not to let me say things twice?”

Raisa stared at the marquis, then swallowed the poison at once.

A bittersweet, slimy liquid wrapped around her tongue and ran down her throat.

After seeing a little movement from Raisa’s neck, the marquis opened her mouth.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know that you sent an assassin to the Crown Prince? Do not do anything without my permission.”

Then the marquis waved her hand, telling her daughter to leave, and Raisa left the room without saying anything to her mother, turning her back on her.

After a few steps, Raisa held the wall and stopped.

The sensation of her five internal organs being twisted and burned was vivid, but Raisa didn’t groan.

Wiping the black blood running down her lips, Raisa endured all the pain.

“Someday, one day…”

For the day when her mother’s black blood flowed under her feet, the crown prince’s corpse rolled around, and the empire was under her feet.

She could drink any amount of poison.

“I have to sit on the throne.”

Raisa, vomiting more black blood, smiled and vowed.

‘If it doesn’t work once, I’ll kill the crown prince again and again.’

Ame: dO yOU feel the TENSION!? *smirks*