CH 69

I returned to Dahlia leaving behind Dietrich who kept opening and closing his mouth as if he had something to say to me. 

‘If anyone sees him like that, they might think I was the one in the wrong.’

He looked miserable as if he were hurt by my attitude. I didn’t know why he looked like a dog wet in the rain despite his stony face. 

‘His aura looked a little sad.’

It was still difficult to read his dark aura, but it seemed to have a tinge of blue energy. 

“Anissa!!!”

As soon as I entered the front door, the triplets who had been standing around in the hall rushed to me. 

“Are you all right?”

I nodded at Maslow’s question. Looking at his puffy eyes, he seemed to have cried all night. 

“Of course. I’m all right.” 

“Derek’s guard came by. They said you were imprisoned in the basement, Anissa.” 

“Damon?” 

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I see he delivered the news to Dahlia. 

I shuddered at the thought that the effects of the aura manipulation I did lasted for a long time. 

“Maslow, do you remember what Veronica said before?” 

“Which words?”

“When she asked what it would be like to leave Lagrange.” 

I looked down at the triplets who chased after me when I entered the bedroom. 

“I would like that.”

Brown hairs of the same texture gathered together and swayed up and down at the same time. 

“Anywhere is fine as long as we can be with you, Anissa.”

At Riesling’s words, I grinned and stroked the child’s fluffy hair. 

“The capital is much warmer than here. The number of merchants is ten times more and the markets are open most of the time.” 

“Is there a gambling house too?”

Rose’s eyes sparkled, already used to having fun following me in and out of the gambling house. I nodded, trying to make a stern face.

“Of course.” 

I crawled under the bed, which was very large for my size, and pulled the treasure chest containing the ‘treasures’ I had gathered in Lagrange. 

“Wow. Anissa, you’re so rich!”

“Not that much.”

As I said that, I started moving a bundle of bills into my pocket. 

‘It’s not a lot of money, but it’ll somehow solve the cost of settlement.’

It was a fund created by collecting prize money from lottery tickets, where you had to really have good luck to win, and from going in and out of the gambling house. 

I couldn’t win a huge amount of money because if a child like me going in and out of the gambling house, it might be suspicious or someone might target me, but I felt quite reassured to save even a small amount of money. 

“Veronica said she had some money saved up, so she should be able to buy a small house.”

I may not be able to get out of Lagrange right away, but I thought I should at least prepare for it. 

I let the triplets know the location of the pocket with money and then pushed the box in. 

“If something happens to me, I’m telling you this so you could at least use it.”

“What are you talking about? What will happen to you, Anissa?”

Derek may be a garbage human, but it was unlikely that he would have beaten me in front of Dietrich for no reason. 

‘He said I was a sacrifice.’

I’m not sure what it meant, but I’m at least sure it was related to the successor game. 

“Anyway, there might be situations where I couldn’t protect you.” 

“I don’t like those words.”

Riesling pouted and hugged me. I patted his back as if to comfort the child. 

“Don’t be too upset. I need to find out more about the situation.” 

After that, I went looking for Liatris. After Neil’s death, she left Liatris Palace and stayed in the lonely and small Star Palace. 

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat in front of the Star Palace, where not even one maid roamed around just like Dahlia Palace in the past. 

“Miss Liatris.”

Just in time, Liatris, who was sitting on a rocking chair in the garden, raised her head at my call. Her eyes were still empty, but her condition seemed to be better. 

“It’s been a while.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have much time but I want to ask you something.” 

“What is it?”

“Do you not know anything about the last gate of succession?”

I looked down at her forlorn face, like a tree left with only its trunk, and bowed. I didn’t hear her answer.

Silence again. 

Instead of looking at her emancipated face, I focused on sharpening the tip of the sword that now fitted my hand. 

“It’s alright if you don’t know. Thank you for teaching me swordsmanship. I just came to say my farewell.” 

It was Liatris who taught me the sword instead of Baal who followed Dietrich on the battlefield. Her family, the Euler, was a renowned family of warriors. 

“Are you planning to leave Lagrange?”

“Yes.”

“Then I really don’t have a single thing left anymore.” 

It was out of the blue, but they were Liatris’ words who didn’t utter any other sound than the occasional crying since Neil died. 

I held my breath, not wanting to interrupt her speech. 

“I thought that flowers would bloom again when they wither and that branches would grow again if they were cut.” 

“..........”

“In the end, everything I gave to this North was my roots. I see now, I cut off my roots and fed the demon’s stomach myself.”[1]  

Did she sacrifice her life for Lagrange without knowing that she was being sacrificed?

I blinked slowly, paying attention to her dry lips. 

Screech.

Liatris stood up from her chair and placed her hand on the tip of the sword I was sharpening. Blood dripped from the tip of her finger to the floor. 

“Anissa, the demons don’t work for humans without cost. The successor who wants to become the Grand Duke must pay a fair price.” 

I grabbed Liatris’ finger. She looked at me with her empty eyes as I pressed on her finger, stopping the flow of blood. 

“Derek Lagrange said I was a sacrifice.”

“I see. Then you’d better leave.”

Even without her advice, I had already packed all my belongings. 

The reason why I hesitated was not simply a matter of whether I would be in danger. I sheathed the sword and faced her expressionless face for the last time. 

“What happens to the successor who can’t pay the price?”

At my question, her lips faintly smiled. 

“Are you still worried about your brother? Even though he’s cruelly turning a blind eye to you.”

It seemed like she was blaming my lingering attachments so I couldn’t answer easily. Liatris stared at me, who didn’t open my mouth, and continued to speak. 

“That child could at least open the gate.”

But he wouldn’t be able to come out. I read the lines between the words she swallowed. 

────── 〔✿〕──────

“Anissa--”

“Shh. Don’t make noise.” 

After waiting for the dark moonless night, I took the triplets and hid in the withered rose forest.

Yuric and Veronica appeared as supporting roles in the “Rose War of Men” so there was no need to worry that they would die, but the situation of the triplets was a little different. 

Only their names appeared in the original novel, and according to it, they were destined to be eliminated by Dietrich, who became the Grand Duke. 

‘As soon as he returned, I was going to persuade him that he didn’t have to get rid of the children anymore.’ 

Dietrich was no longer the boy I knew, who was bad at dealing with people, but a successor who was ready to become the Grand Duke. 

“Now, follow me and come up carefully.” 

I climbed the tree with a sigh that was barely audible to the children. 

The old tree where the triplets and I were hiding was the largest and oldest tree in the forest of withered roses.

“We can wait for the signal here.” 

“Where are we going?”

“To Lorraine.”

“The jewelry store lady?”

“That’s right.”

“Then are we going to be sold as slaves now?”

I chuckled at the anxiety in Riesling’s voice. 

“No, we’ll hide at Lorraine’s place and run away as soon as the Grand Duke is decided.”

Dietrich had not yet ascended to the position of Grand Duke, so the triplets could not escape Lagrange due to the shadow constraints. 

The sound of the trees swaying in the night breeze resounded. As if the cool wind was cleansing my ears, I momentarily forgot the situation and closed my eyes. 

“A--Anissa.”

Rose, who was sitting on my lap, called me with bated breath. I opened my eyes wide and followed the child’s vision and looked down. 

‘Gasp!’

For a moment, I was convinced that Dietrich’s eyes met with mine. 

But he quickly turned his gaze to the other side of the forest. On the side where he turned his head, there was only a field of sparsely grown Eulalia grass. [2] 

‘What is he looking at?’

I was blown away by Dietrich’s dazzling appearance, so dazzling that I felt that the description in the book was insufficient. 

‘Maybe the reason why Charlotte saved him was because of his face?’

On the dark moonless night, the only light shining on him was the street lamp in the garden, but he shined brightly like the sun. 

I wondered why he came out for a walk in the garden on this night, but the forest of the withered roses was Dietrich’s favorite place in Lagrange, and he didn’t sleep at night. 

I sent the children up further with my eyes wide open for fear that they would be caught. 

Crunch. 

I thought I had barely sent them all up, but one child stepped on the wrong foot and a weak branch fell to the floor with the sound of a fragile branch breaking. 

‘I’m sure he caught us this time.’

It felt like my heart was going to drop. Tired of just thinking about it, I quickly looked at Dietrich’s reaction, but he still hadn’t turned to us. 

‘Was he in really deep thoughts?’

I wondered how he could have survived on the battlefield without that much attention to his surroundings. 

────── 〔✿〕──────

T/N: [1] [Liatris is talking about if the roots were intact, flowers would still bloom and broken branches would still grow, but it turned out she had given everything to Lagrange by cutting off her roots. Thus, flowers won’t bloom nor branches will grow again. She’s speaking in symbolism/metaphors.] 

[2] [Silver grass]

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