IPTD 44

Chapter 44

Inside Katarina, there was a clear sense of relief. No matter how stubborn she was, it seemed she completely crumbled in front of her parents. But…

“Your Grace, please have mercy!”

Thud! Without hesitation, they dropped to their knees at Genos’s feet.

“I’ve heard roughly what happened from the messenger. She is still young, a naive daughter who knows nothing. I will take responsibility and apologize. It is my fault for raising her poorly. So, I beg you…”

“Please, considering the loyalty our Hugo family has shown Celeste until now, we humbly ask for leniency!”

“Please, just spare her life! Spare her life!”

A beautiful middle-aged woman, bearing a striking resemblance to Katarina, pressed her upper body to the floor and sobbed. The same went for the kindly-looking old gentleman.

The hope that had briefly flickered on Katarina’s face shattered completely. As if she couldn’t believe any of it, she whispered in a trembling voice:

“Father, Mother… What are you saying? I didn’t harm Her Grace, the Duchess… I really didn’t…! You don’t believe me?”

“Katarina, this is not the time to be proud! Please understand the situation!”

The countess scolded her daughter with a voice full of emotion.

As the hall became chaotic again, Genos rubbed his throbbing head and stood up. Then, with complete indifference, he delivered his verdict.

“Lock Katarina Hugo in the underground prison. She is a traitor who attempted to harm the Duchess. This is an insult and a challenge to Celeste itself and will not be overlooked lightly.”

“Genos!”

“Your Grace! Please!”

Many calls followed like tails, but that was all.

And so, back in the present.

Drip. Drip. Drip…

Katarina curled up, listening to the rhythmic sound of water droplets. In the pitch-black darkness, the only thing visible was a faint torch hanging far off on the wall. Even in spring, the northern underground was chilling.

Clutching a blanket she had never wrapped herself in before, Katarina sobbed. Her beautiful eyes were exhausted and hollow, and her cherry-like lips had lost their color, dried and cracked.

“Ughh…”

How did it come to this? Tears flowed endlessly.

“Ugh, crying again. Crying again.”

“Waaahhh…”

“Leave her. What else would a pampered noble lady know to do in this situation besides cry?”

The guards stationed outside the bars jeered openly.

But Katarina heard none of it. In her mind, the memory of drowning kept replaying. The urgent sensation of moving between water and air, life and death, emptiness and river, made her breath catch.

Splash! Katarina’s vision blurred as if a strong wave had erupted before her. The moment the boat overturned and she fell into the river was so vividly etched in her memory.

‘I… really pushed Rene… the Duchess…’

Before that, the extreme inner conflict she had felt was almost entirely erased from her memory. Perhaps her mind had done that to protect her. If Genos had not appeared at just the right moment, Rene would truly have been gone from this world.

“K-Katarina pushed Her Grace the Duchess…! Everyone here saw it…!”

The voice belonged to none other than Katarina’s personal maid. The little girl who had always trembled and feared her. Though she had served Katarina for years, her mistress had never even learned her name—so it was perhaps inevitable that the maid would appear now.

Everyone present echoed the same words: the close ladies, the loyal servants, even Katarina’s own parents. How utterly humiliating it was, that even they did not believe her.

“No…”

Even as she tried to deny it, another voice in her heart repeated the same words.

‘But can you really say it’s not true? You don’t even properly remember that moment.’

Even this question pierced Katarina’s heart like a dagger. If she couldn’t even trust herself, who else could?

“Ughh…”

So all Katarina could do was shed bitter tears.

Then.

Tap, tap, tap.

Delicate footsteps, reminiscent of her master, stopped abruptly right in front of her.

“Ah…”

After spending days in darkness, even the light from the candle held in the visitor’s hand dazzled her eyes. Katarina blinked several times before focusing properly. But even without that, she instinctively knew who it was. The person holding the candle was…

“!”

Not imagination, but truly Rene Blanche.

“Katarina.”

Her voice was slightly hoarse. Even under the dim light, her beautiful face looked much thinner than a few days ago.

‘Has she finally woken up?’

Katarina had heard that Rene had not regained consciousness even after she herself recovered. After that, she had been thrown straight into this underground prison, and Katarina had lost track of how much time had passed.

‘Thank goodness… she’s not dead…!’

No matter what anyone said—Katarina felt genuine relief that Rene was alive. If Rene had truly died, Katarina herself would have been crushed under guilt, unable to live normally.

But immediately afterward, facing Rene in person, Katarina felt an immeasurable fear.

“….”

Her expression was unreadable. Even in the faint light, her pomegranate-like eyes shone sharply as they stared down at Katarina.

‘Will she kill me? Or torture me? She won’t let the woman who tried to kill her go free.’

Whether it was the bone-chilling cold of the underground prison, instinctive fear, or both, Katarina’s jaw trembled violently.

Then, from afar, another set of footsteps came. Tap, tap, tap. The small, light steps soon transformed into a youthful voice.

“Your Grace, the Duchess. I’ve brought what you requested.”

“Thank you, Jeannie. Go up first. It’s a bit cold here.”

“Shall I bring a thicker shawl?”

“No need. You may go.”

“Yes, then I shall withdraw.”

“!”

Katarina’s eyes widened as she saw the maid bow politely. It was the very same maid who had testified that Katarina had pushed Rene. Always tense and fearful, her face now carried a gentle smile.

In that instant, their eyes met. Katarina read subtle disdain mixed with trembling in the young maid’s gaze. She truly believed that Katarina had pushed Rene. Even though she had been assigned as Katarina’s servant by the Hugo family… she had rushed straight to the Duchess.

But…

‘Do I even have the right to scold her?’

Katarina had just realized the maid’s name was Jeannie. With that realization came an overwhelming rush of emotions.

‘Perhaps… all this time, I’ve been living my life wrong.’

Katarina curled herself up even tighter. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t bitter when she was accused. She thought they were scheming against her, so she had denied it fiercely.

‘But… no one believed me. They acted as if I wasn’t even worth listening to.’

At this point, despair had overtaken even the sense of injustice. All the events, and the fact that someone had almost died because of her—these had been shocking even for the usually reckless Katarina.

Meanwhile, Rene’s gentle voice reached her again.

“Why haven’t you eaten? You didn’t touch food the entire time you were trapped.”

“…….”

“Here, try this. It’s cream soup. I asked the cook to make it thin so it would be easier to swallow.”

Even with Rene’s kind words, Katarina did not respond. It was hard to look at her face, and her pride still lingered.

But Rene, insistently, scooped a spoonful of soup and held it through the bars to Katarina’s face. The fragrant aroma finally reached her nose. Her hunger grew almost instantly.

“……I’m fine.”

But out of pride, Katarina turned her face sharply and buried it deeper between her arms.

‘This isn’t… right…’

She knew her behavior was wrong, but her lifelong stubbornness would not yield.

Once again, Rene’s gentle voice reached above Katarina’s bowed head.

“Not going to eat?”

“……”

“Sigh… if you keep refusing, you might really collapse—”

At the same time, a small sigh of worry escaped from beyond the bars.

Rumble-rumble-rumble.

In the silent underground prison, the sound echoed loudly, like a ship’s horn.