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Chapter 68
If necessary, annihilate them all
Estelle’s eyes flushed red and dew-like tears welled up.
“I—I didn’t know you thought of me like that.”
Estelle looked pitiably sad like a single, fragile flower. Diana, of course, and Queen Isabella, even Hessen, all sighed at Estelle’s frail appearance.
Her shoulders trembled thinly, and her face looked like she might burst into tears at any second — it was unbearably pitiful.
Miryuu ground her teeth inside.
‘It was a trap!’
There was no doubt the situation had been staged so that she would misinterpret it.
‘That detestable girl!’
Anger rose in Miryuu. She wanted to reveal Estelle’s true colors immediately, but whatever she did right now would only make Miryuu herself look worse.
And that was exactly what Estelle wanted.
‘Why would I have so stupidly demeaned you? There are far better ways than that.’
Becoming close with Princess Diana had been an accident.
Because Diana had wronged me many times before, she warmed to me more quickly. Even though it had bothered me at first, Diana’s honest friendliness wasn’t unpleasant.
But I couldn’t view Diana separately from Miryuu.
‘If Miryuu finds out, it’ll be chaos.’
Miryuu would go crazy just knowing I’d become close to Lady Royam Diana. She’d misinterpret my intentions as malicious.
Since things had already come to this, I decided to use that chance more cleverly.
After all, Diana, who liked me, also wanted to know the truth about the things that had happened between Miryuu and me.
“By the way, Estelle, may I ask about what happened with Miryuu unni?”
Each time, I beat around the bush.
“Really? Did Miryuu tell Diana that?”
“Why? Is there something different from what Estelle knew?”
“Um, no. Miryuu is about to become family with Diana, after all.”
I wanted Diana to be more suspicious. Then I praised Miryuu a bit, so she would appear even more suspicious.
“Even though they’re distant now, Miryuu is a good child. She treated Diana so well, right?”
“But now, I’m not sure whether that was real.”
“Just because one bad thing happened doesn’t mean everything is bad. Don’t be too upset.”
Suspicion kept mounting in Diana, and she invited me to the Royam residence.
“It’s the day our new sister went to the Juti baron’s manor, so it’ll be easier for Estelle to come.”
My waiting time had come.
Although Miryuu unexpectedly returned earlier than planned, things turned out even better because of it. The nervous Miryuu only chose to act stupidly, making things easier.
“Mother, Hessen, this is a trap.”
So I decided to make Miryuu into even more of a clear trash.
“She deliberately led me into making a slip of the tongue!”
“…Huh.”
I finally shed a pitiful tear as if I couldn’t hold back crying. Diana wrapped me up and cried out.
“New sister, do you think such nonsense will work?”
“Diana, you’re being tricked by Estelle into misunderstanding me. Listen to what I have to say first.”
Miryuu tried to placate Diana in an aggrieved voice.
“Misunderstanding?”
But that only enraged Diana more.
“How could there be a misunderstanding here? Everyone present is a witness!”
Diana taunted with no restraint.
“You said before it was an accident with those words from your mouth. And now you call it Estelle’s staged act? I don’t know if anything you say is real anymore.”
“Diana.”
Miryuu called Diana’s name with deep feeling.
“We were closer than anyone else until now. Do you really think it’s just a coincidence that things suddenly went wrong like this?”
“If it’s not a coincidence?”
Diana’s hand tightened on my shoulder. She clenched her jaw.
“So this is all Estelle’s fault? Like you said earlier, because you’ve been jealous of the new sister since long ago?”
“That’s not what I mean. Rather—”
“Don’t take me for an idiot.”
Contempt flashed in Diana’s orange eyes.
The atmosphere around them wasn’t kind toward Miryuu either. Just when Miryuu seemed about to sob and look to Hessen for support, I stepped forward.
“Sorry, Miryuu!”
With the saddest face, I desperately grabbed her hand.
“You’re right. It’s all because of me. If I had stayed quiet, you would have married safely.”
Miryuu’s face, which was about to break into tears, froze.
“What do you—”
“Diana, Prince Hessen, and Queen Royam.”
I slowly looked around at the Royam family who were staring at Miryuu with hostile eyes, lowered my long eyelashes with a doleful air, and pleaded in a plaintive voice.
“Please don’t think so badly of Miryuu. This isn’t Miryuu’s fault.”
Prince Hessen asked, puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“…It’s because I became close to Diana without Miryuu’s permission. If I hadn’t become close to Diana, Miryuu wouldn’t be suffering like this.”
Naturally, Diana didn’t stay quiet.
“Estelle, what do you mean by that— that you became close to me?”
“As you all probably noticed, Miryuu didn’t want me to make ties with the Royam royal family. She was afraid of misunderstanding my bad reputation.”
“That’s nonsense—!”
“But I ignored Miryuu’s feelings and became close to Diana. Please understand Miryuu’s anger as my mistake.”
Water formed in Diana’s eyes as her gaze met mine.
“E-Estelle, that’s really ridiculous. Why would you…?”
“I’m sorry, Diana. I liked you for approaching me honestly regardless of my reputation. So I broke Miryuu’s request.”
Diana clapped a hand over her mouth, stunned. Prince Hessen stepped back with a confused expression.
Queen Isabella, who had been watching the situation quietly, spoke.
“…Lady Blanchet, that is not the duchess’s fault.”
“But if I had not behaved so rashly, Miryuu would not have made that mistake with the Royam family.”
I deliberately used the phrase “behaved rashly,” reminding the queen of Miryuu’s “mistake.”
The hand I held shook. Miryuu’s lips turned pale as she stammered.
“Mother, this is— it’s not like that.”
But the sentence could not continue.
‘Right. What could you say?’
At this moment Miryuu couldn’t insist that my words were lies. She had already been caught lying. And if she tried to act innocent, anything I said would seem true.
‘You must be annoyed enough to go crazy, huh?’
As if sobbing, I held Miryuu and pretended to be unable to stop my tears.
“Sorry, Miryuu. I was wrong. I should have been more considerate of you, my one and only friend…”
Then, as if sobbing, I buried my face in Miryuu’s shoulder. Diana rose and called to me in a choked voice.
“Estelle, it’s not your fault. Rather—”
Hessen called out to Diana, whose agitation was flaring.
“Diana. Stop it.”
“But you do something too! You brought the woman you say you love!”
“That is—”
The sibling fight flamed up. Miryuu ground her teeth and asked in a small voice.
“What’s your intention?”
“Intention? It’s a misunderstanding.”
I lowered my brows in the most detestable way, leaned close to her ear, and smiled—a tiny, contemptuous snort.
Only for Miryuu to hear, as if mocking Miryuu’s situation.
‘Sometimes one short laugh can feel worse than a long string of curses.’
When I lifted my head a bit, Miryuu’s facial muscles trembled uncontrollably. Watching that face gave me a gratifying feeling.
‘Yes, get more annoyed.’
I pretended to worry more for Miryuu in an even more obnoxious way.
“What’s wrong, Miryuu? If my apology isn’t enough—”
Miryuu suddenly snapped and shoved my body away as if she couldn’t stand it. I was thrown back as if her touch had been very rough.
“Ah!”
Like a tragic heroine, looking pitiable.
Hessen and Diana, who were fighting, were startled and looked at us. Diana immediately rushed to me.
“Estelle! Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine. I was just surprised—”
“New sister used violence on you on purpose!”
Diana glared fiercely at Miryuu.
“New sister! Now you attack someone who is trying to protect my sister? Do you even have any shame?”
“No—I—”
“Quiet.”
Queen Isabella slowly rose from her seat.
“There is nothing more to see. I have already made my decision.”
Miryuu crawled toward Queen Isabella on her knees, but Isabella’s gaze didn’t waver.
“From today forward, all promises between the Juti baron family and the Royam kingdom are null and void. You know well who is at fault.”
“M-Mother!”
“Don’t call me that. Who says I’m your mother?”
Despair showed in Miryuu’s eyes.
Nearby, Hessen and even Diana — who had been angrily taking care of Miryuu — stiffened, surprised by the queen’s swift decision.
Clap. Queen Isabella lightly clapped.
“Escort the Juti young lady, who is completely unrelated to the Royam kingdom, out. Any belongings that belong to the young lady are to be sent to the baron’s manor before tonight.”
I looked at Miryuu leaning on Diana’s shoulder, unable to cling on any longer.
‘Since Queen Isabella decided as the King’s proxy, the marriage won’t happen.’
Right now, Miryuu’s Juti baron household survives with support from the Royam kingdom.
The funds and influence Miryuu used while participating in society had come from the Royam kingdom.
But this wasn’t an amicable annulment—this was a unilateral cancellation of the marriage because of her mistake.
‘Goodbye, Miryuu.’
She would fall as far as she had risen.
Johan sat elegantly on a black sofa with his legs crossed. Johan, leafing through documents, asked the man in the black mask.
“And the investigation on the Sleeping Princess?”
“From investigating patients afflicted by the Sleeping Princess, we collected a strange legend.”
“What is it?”
“That the Sleeping Princess was in fact a punishment God inflicted on humans for their sins. I will organize the details and report separately.”
“God’s punishment on humans?”
Johan rested his chin expressionlessly.
‘Could that legend be true?’
It was hard to dismiss a mere legend — Johan himself had become a black magician by dealing with the demon that was said to have faded into legend.
Most myths were closer to reality than expected.
‘But if it were true…’
He understood why gathering doctors and having them examine and research the Sleeping Princess produced no progress.
From the start, it wasn’t an illness.
At that moment, Johan remembered the demon’s last words.
‘Give me that cookie.’
Could Estelle’s disease somehow be related to the demon? The countless possibilities multiplied in his thoughts.
‘I don’t have time to check all of that.’
Estelle’s lifespan was at most one year.
‘I need another way.’
Johan asked the masked man.
“How is the investigation into who spread rumors about Estelle coming along?”
“If you go down to the guild headquarters now, you’ll be able to check the results.”
“Understood.”
Johan nodded and was about to stand when the masked man spoke.
“Also, my lord, there is one more thing I should tell you.”
“What is it?”
“It seems Lady Blanchet visited other information guilds.”
Johan’s eyes immediately hardened.
“For what reason?”
“T-that part I don’t know…”
There were hints. The day Estelle was asked how she wanted the Royam kingdom handled, she had told Johan,
‘Let me handle it.’
‘Don’t do anything?’
‘I want to try it myself. If it doesn’t work, I’ll ask Johan to help.’
At that time Johan had felt an inexplicable foreboding. But Estelle was a terminal patient with only a year left to live, and he wanted to grant her every wish.
‘Maybe it’ll be hard.’
Especially seeing the coquettish curl of her eyes stopped him in his tracks.
So Johan had smiled and allowed everything. After all, the Royam kingdom couldn’t hurt Estelle no matter what it did.
‘…It was just because of what happened before that caused this to move.’
Still, an eerie unease kept rising.
“Find out immediately. What my woman asked, what she planned to do, everything.”
Johan glared at the guild member with a murderous look.
“If necessary, annihilate that guild.”
