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Chapter – 03
“Poisoned, you say. What do you mean by that?”
“I mean exactly what it sounds like. I put poison in his tea at the tea party hosted by Lady Anthea.”
“…Lady Anthea is the future Crown Princess. Do you have any idea how dangerous such an action is?”
I stared at the countess, my brows still tightly drawn together.
If what she said was true, this could be treated as an attempt on a member of the imperial family.
Yet unlike my grave expression, the countess looked remarkably calm. She waved her hand lightly from side to side and smiled.
“Oh, Priest. You misunderstand. I didn’t use a lethal dose. It was only enough to make her collapse unconscious for a few days.”
“That is not the fundamental issue. The act of poisoning itself is the problem.”
“Why? I don’t see why. Lady Anthea didn’t even drink the tea in the end. Another young lady beside her spilled it by accident. Such a shame, really. I don’t know how the rumor twisted into me throwing tea in Lady Anthea’s face, though.”
She was impossible to reason with. How could someone be so shameless after nearly killing a person?
At her remark about it being “a shame,” I pressed my lips together tightly.
God grants humans only a single life. That is why life must be cherished, and why humans must live according to His will. A human life belongs not only to oneself, but also to God.
In the end, the countess’s actions were an affront to God Himself.
“Why did you do such a thing?”
I could feel my voice trembling slightly as emotions tangled within me.
Still, I had to remain calm. As a priest, I could not recklessly expose my emotions. I recited a passage of scripture in my mind as I waited for her answer.
“It was because of His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Her answer was both expected—and unexpected.
Why would the Crown Prince’s name come up here?
Had the countess grown jealous of Lady Anthea, the Crown Prince’s fiancée?
I tilted my head slightly.
Come to think of it, Anton had told me something not long ago.
Countess Salome and His Highness the Crown Prince had been childhood friends. Originally, it was Salome—not Lady Anthea—who was meant to become his fiancée.
However, due to the Crown Prince’s firm refusal and certain undisclosed reasons, Lady Anthea was chosen instead.
No one knew why His Highness had refused, or what circumstances lay hidden behind the decision. Still, if it had been for the sake of the position of Crown Princess, it was not entirely incomprehensible.
What if the countess had loved the Crown Prince?
The thought crossed my mind.
It was a common tale—someone loving another so desperately that they were blinded by jealousy.
“You desired the position of Crown Princess… because you love His Highness… and so you committed such an act. I cannot say I don’t understand your feelings. But to envy Lady Anthea—”
Before I could finish, the countess’s eyes widened.
Then, suddenly, she burst out laughing.
Her laughter echoed through the garden, loud enough that only her voice could be heard. She clutched her stomach as she laughed, then finally turned back to me.
“The position of Crown Princess? Me? And love? Jealousy?”
She was clearly mocking me.
After laughing for quite some time, she finally managed to compose herself. Tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes from laughing so hard.
“Priest, you are gravely mistaken about me. I have absolutely no interest in becoming Crown Princess. And I don’t envy Lady Anthea. Because I don’t love His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Then why on earth would you—”
“Because it’s fun.”
She answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Luciano—ah, I mean… tormenting His Highness the Crown Prince is quite enjoyable. It’s one of my few hobbies. If his beloved fiancée were to collapse unconscious from poison, the look of panic on His Highness’s face would be quite a sight.”
The countess gazed dreamily into the air. Like an actress performing a comedy, she stretched her arms forward, indulging in her imagination.
“……”
“His Highness has always had a very tender heart, ever since childhood. That’s what made tormenting him so entertaining… but I’ve been deprived of that pleasure for ten whole years due to studying abroad! So wouldn’t staging one little attempted assassination as a surprise gift be rather nice?”
Crown Prince Luciano was praised throughout the empire as a man destined to become a benevolent ruler.
Yet there were also voices criticizing him as overly soft. This was due to his passive response to the border skirmishes he had overseen in place of the Emperor.
But His Highness had argued that he did not wish to lose precious citizens just to gain a small stretch of land.
He was a man who loved his people more deeply than anyone.
And yet—to torment such a man simply “because it’s fun.”
And to do so by endangering his fiancée.
The woman standing before me no longer felt human.
Was she possessed by a demon?
“Besides, there’s no evidence of any of this. The poison I prepared was cleaned up when a maid from the Anthea household wiped up the spilled tea. That means there’s no way to confirm whether what I’ve just told you is true or not.”
Salome shrugged.
She was right. I had absolutely no way to verify her claims. Any evidence would already be gone.
If she insisted that this was all a fabrication, I would have no grounds to accuse her.
In the first place, it would be strange for me—a mere priest—to testify about her crimes.
Even as a high priest, knowing such private truths would only invite suspicion.
Salome Kruger was far more unhinged than I had imagined.
And yet, she was also terrifyingly intelligent. She told me this story precisely because she knew I could do nothing about it.
I stopped criticizing her. There was no point—she wouldn’t listen anyway.
Instead, I asked a simple question that had come to mind.
“Lady Anthea did not drink the poison. Then why is she absent from worship?”
“Most likely… His Highness warned Lady Anthea. To be careful of Salome Kruger. To avoid meeting me, and not to speak with me. His Highness is very wary of me.”
To be someone the exalted Crown Prince was wary of.
Salome Kruger became more incomprehensible the more I learned of her.
Speaking with her made the back of my neck ache with tension.
I wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
No good would come from continuing this conversation—it would only harm my sanity.
“If I stop attending weekly worship, Lady Anthea will probably start coming again. Though I have no intention of doing that until I grow bored of this little game.”
She called out to me as I turned away.
Though I had come to the garden to clear my head, my thoughts had only grown more tangled.
I began to feel sorry for Lady Anthea.
I did not respond, and continued walking away.
The countess did not follow.
“Priest, people call me a ‘villainess.’ And Lady Anthea is treated as a ‘saint.’”
At those quiet words, I turned back without realizing it.
“In the end, all humans are the same. In their eyes, women only exist as two types: villainesses and saints.”
“……”
“But I’m truly relieved. If all of my actions can be dismissed as nothing more than a ‘villainess’s behavior.’ No matter what I do, it will be interpreted within the frame of being a woman. It’s a massive wall—but precisely because it’s so solid, it makes an excellent shield.”
People had gravely misunderstood Countess Salome.
She was not a simple, shallow ‘villainess’ as society claimed.
At her core, she was evil itself.
A demon wearing human skin.
I even found myself wondering whether one day, this countess might bring about the fall of the Terrium Empire.
O merciful Ataras, please protect the Terrium Empire.
Salome came to her senses to find herself pouring scalding tea onto a servant’s palm.
The servant was kneeling before her, trembling violently.
The servant’s hand had swollen bright red, but the servants of House Kruger could never disobey Salome.
Those who defied the mad countess had a habit of disappearing without a trace.
Salome looked down at the servant silently.
‘Ah, again. What was I doing just now?’
This happened from time to time.
There were moments when Salome did not even realize what actions she was taking.
Those around her believed it was simply because she was too intelligent. They said geniuses were all like that.
But Salome knew better.
This wasn’t a problem of concentration.
A world where she couldn’t even control her own body—what a miserable, dog-like existence.
She set the teacup down on the table.
She’d caused another incident. A sigh escaped her.
The servant, thinking the sigh was directed at them, nervously watched her expression.
Before Salome could do anything else strange, she dismissed the servant.
The servant fled the room as if escaping for their life.
“How unbearably boring.”
The words slipped out of her mouth without thought.
Just before closing the door, the servant heard Salome’s muttering.
Their face pale with terror, they shut the door.
Salome frowned unconsciously.
Only after confirming the servant was gone did she relax her expression.
She had to do this—otherwise, her mind would drift into that fog again.
She moved to her vanity.
Unlocking a tightly shut drawer with a key, she found papers filled with writing inside.
She took them out one by one, reading and muttering to herself.
Then she stopped, holding one particular stack.
On the very first page, written in large letters, was a name.
“Johann.”
Salome carefully pressed the papers to her chest, as though handling something priceless.
She flipped through them slowly.
They contained detailed information about Johann—
where he was born and raised, his childhood, his hobbies.
Every detail was recorded with obsessive thoroughness.
Salome closed her eyes and whispered.
“Johann… I’ve been waiting for you all this time.”
