🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 45
Grrr…
“!”
Startled by the loud rumble from my stomach, I quickly bowed my head.
Of all places, it had to be in the basement, where sound carried so well that, if I exaggerated slightly, everyone down here could probably hear it.
Can a human stomach really make a sound this loud?
“…Pff, hm, hmm.”
I couldn’t hold back the laughter that slipped out.
Ah, I shouldn’t be laughing… this is crazy!
She had pretended she wasn’t going to eat, yet she wasn’t being honest!
And with a bowl of soup in one hand and a spoon in the other, I couldn’t even cover my mouth.
“Wha-what? Are you laughing? It’s not me!”
Katarina’s frantic excuses followed immediately.
When I glanced up, her face was bright red, clearly visible even in the dim light.
Meeting her trembling gaze made it even harder to stop laughing.
“Ah, pff, no… sniff… I’m not laughing!”
“You are laughing!”
Sad thoughts, sad thoughts…
“Sniff… I’m crying!”
“Who’s going to believe that? Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Huh? I… wasn’t?”
“Rene!”
“Ahahaha!”
Ah, this is killing me with laughter. Why is this so funny?
Eventually, I set the soup down carelessly and just laughed for a long while.
No, it’s just too cute!
Anyone could see she was trying to pretend she wasn’t the one.
Katarina, too, after staring at me, seemed to realize she was laughing and quickly turned her head to hide it.
Even that was so funny I couldn’t help but tease her further.
“Pfft! What’s with you, why are you laughing? Honestly, you’re funny too. Hahaha.”
“N-no, who’s funny! It’s Visionha who’s laughing first, in a way that’s so funny!”
“Laughing funny? Hahaha. I… I feel like I’m going to lose it.”
In the end, we both clutched our stomachs and rolled around the underground prison laughing for a long time.
Like teenage girls who find even falling leaves hilarious.
The unexpected noise even drew a torch’s light down the hallway toward us.
The soldiers who had cleared the space for us probably looked over, puzzled by the sudden laughter.
After some time passed, I finally calmed my laughter and stood, offering the soup to Katarina again.
“Sigh… all laughed out now? Eat up.”
Dare to starve in front of a proper noble?
Impossible!
I shook my spoon with dramatic resolve, and Katarina pouted as if she couldn’t resist.
“Hmph. I’ll just taste it, then.”
She answered tersely, yet this time accepted the soup without protest.
I crouched in front of her as she hurriedly ate, chuckling quietly.
“You were hungry, weren’t you?”
“I really hadn’t had an appetite until now. Isn’t it strange for anything to go in my mouth in this situation…”
Muttering, she nibbled at the bread on the tray with neat, deliberate bites.
I simply smiled at the sight.
Her face looked slightly gaunt.
Her golden hair, which had shone beautifully, was all disheveled.
From all the crying, her puffy eyes had shrunk her normally large eyes by half.
She had clearly been through a lot mentally.
After transferring the partially empty bowl back to the tray, I spoke again.
“You know, Katarina… after getting a grip, everyone says you pushed me. Did you really?”
Clang.
Startled by my calm question, the spoon fell from Katarina’s hands.
Her entire body trembled, pale as if she had seen a ghost.
This incident must have been a shock for her as well.
I firmly held her shoulders through the bars to calm her.
Her unfocused eyes swayed endlessly, as if trapped in a nightmare.
“Katarina, Katarina!”
“…Yes?”
Swallowing hard, Katarina finally met my gaze.
I spoke even more seriously.
“Listen carefully. I don’t intend to punish you.”
“!”
Her bright blue eyes widened in surprise.
“Why…?”
Her following questions carried a trace of suspicion.
I simply smiled faintly.
“Why? Do you want to be punished?”
“N-no… but… it’s strange. I… tried to… kill you, you know?”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller as she spoke.
Tears began to well in her eyes again.
She curled up, burying her face in her knees.
Her thin shoulders shook as soft sobs escaped.
“That’s why… it’s strange.”
I sat down in front of her with a thump.
It took a moment to fully wake up and process the situation.
But no matter how I thought about it, everything seemed off.
“You couldn’t have pushed me, could you?”
At my words, Katarina lifted her head slightly, looking flustered.
“…You really think so?”
Her voice trembled, unlike her usual self.
I nodded silently and added:
“But maybe there’s a reason why multiple people said the same thing. So be honest.”
“….”
“Katarina… did you really push me?”
She didn’t answer.
It seemed more that she couldn’t answer.
Her whole body trembling was clearly visible.
I asked carefully, one question at a time.
“Every feeling, thought, and action in that moment. Tell me everything honestly. If you don’t remember, it’s okay to say you don’t.”
Right after she regained consciousness, leaving everything else aside, the reason I came to the underground prison to see her was only one thing:
‘Our tsundere Katarina couldn’t have done that!’
Katarina Hugo.
In North. Big. Spring, she initially seemed like a villainess but eventually became an ally who understood and supported the heroine.
At first, she resented losing her position, but gradually felt sympathy for Rene, who was not only kind but frustratingly naive.
Eventually, she acknowledged her jealousy and desire, returned to her family, and enjoyed a moderately happy marriage with a suitable noble.
After the original Rene died of illness, she was one of the most sorrowful at his funeral.
Above all, I remember…
She actually tried to save me.
Of course, my actions differed greatly from the original story, so present-day Katarina may have acted differently.
But Katarina Hugo herself was not a villain.
No matter the variables, the person wouldn’t change.
On the rocking boat, Katarina had definitely reached out her hand to me.
Her intention was clear:
Katarina tried to grab my hand.
Just before I fell into the water, she desperately threw herself to catch me.
Her face pale as I had never seen it before.
So, of course…
“I… believe you. I know you wouldn’t do that.”
Suddenly, water splashed before Katarina’s eyes.
Splash!
A cold, chilling sensation enveloped her.
Her hearing dulled as if submerged.
Her vision blurred, and her heart raced nonstop.
Her breathing kept faltering.
“Katarina, breathe.”
“!”
Small hands touched her cheeks.
Rene’s soft hands carried her tears, which streamed down her face.
Carefully wiping them away, Rene smiled faintly.
A clear, unshakable expression.
How…
How could you do that? Even to me?
Something surged in my chest, swelling up uncontrollably.
Katarina asked in a trembling voice:
“Why… do you trust me? I was mean to you. I spoke ill of you, and even for a moment, I wanted something bad to happen to you.”
“That’s…”
Rene spoke, expression unreadable.
