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Chapter 1
Pitter-patter…
Torrential rain poured down upon the black umbrellas. Dozens of people holding them stood with expressionless faces, entirely preoccupied with stretching and swallowing back yawns.
A cloth-wrapped coffin was lowered into a pit dug in the well-manicured lawn, about to be covered with dirt once more.
“We commit her soul into the hands of the God of the Sun and Moon.”
Beside it, an old man in white priestly robes recited a prayer. Though the words were meant to ask for blessings and peace, his face was just as drained of emotion as the rest.
“It is finished.”
“Thank you for your service, Father.”
A man in black mourning clothes standing at the front of the crowd stepped forward. It was Jonas Nurnbern, the father of the woman lying inside the coffin.
For someone who had just lost a daughter, Jonas appeared unnervingly calm and composed. Neither his neatly combed light-brown hair nor his face betrayed any hint of emotion.
“Let’s go.”
Jonas turned his head and signaled to his wife, Rhea.
“…Yes.”
Rhea, wiping the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, possessed fiery red hair that stood out dramatically even in this colorless funeral. The neatly styled hair topped with a small hat added an extra layer of elegance to her posture. Her light makeup showed just how much effort she had put in before standing here today.
Stumble.
As she turned to follow Jonas, Rhea’s body swayed.
“Mother!”
A young man beside her hurriedly supported her.
Meanwhile, walking ahead, Jonas was not thinking of his deceased daughter, but rather of the profit her marriage had once brought him.
It wasn’t a bad deal for the price of one useless life.
In his eyes, she had fulfilled her role as a daughter. Furthermore, her death cleanly severed his ties with his arrogant son-in-law, whom Jonas had despised. The profit was gained, and the nuisance was gone—Jonas considered it a clean finish.
Right then, a black umbrella pulled up close to Jonas. Its wide brim hid the face beneath it from view.
“Who goes there?!”
The Knight Commander of the Nurnbern house blocked the mysterious figure’s path.
“……”
“What a nuisance.”
Jonas dismissed it coldly and placed his foot on the step of the carriage.
“Lady Ponedo!”
The Knight Commander’s shocked voice echoed out.
“…Spiteful bastard.”
Thud.
The umbrella fell onto the rain-soaked grass. The woman beneath it was Ludiana Ponedo—Jonas’s eldest daughter and the elder sister of the deceased. She had always been an obedient daughter, meekly bowing her head before Jonas and her stepmother, Rhea.
However, the venomous, low whisper that slipped past her lips was drowned out by the sound of the rain. No one heard it except for the Knight Commander.
Did she… just swear?
The unexpected truth made his mind go blank. He could never have imagined that the gentle Ludiana would utter such venomous words.
Tsk, pathetic creature.
Chiding her for dropping her umbrella, Jonas raised his other foot into the carriage.
“Die… Die!!”
In an instant, Ludiana drew a dagger hidden within her skirt and lunged at Jonas.
Because she was at close range, and because no one had anticipated that the masked figure would be her, the escort knights were caught completely off guard.
“Gah—!”
The sharp blade drove deep into Jonas’s right flank. Puncturing his lung by chance, Jonas let out a silent scream and collapsed into the carriage.
“Eeeek!!”
me The faces of the noblewomen and lords standing behind contorted in horror. It was a stark contrast to the indifferent expressions they had shown when the coffin was being buried moments ago.
“Darling!!”
Rhea rushed toward the carriage.
“My Lord!!”
The Knight Commander also leaped into the carriage, trying to pull Ludiana away.
“Uaaahhhh!!”
Yet Ludiana’s madness did not stop. Her fury drove the dagger repeatedly into Jonas’s lifeless body.
What kind of monstrous strength is this…?!
The Knight Commander’s mouth hung open in shock. How could such power come from a frail woman with sickly shoulders that looked ready to snap at a touch and a diminutive frame? She shook him off and turned her sights on Rhea.
“Agh!!”
Rhea shrieked and fell backward. Right before Ludiana could reach her, the Knight Commander subdued her once more.
“Uaaahhhh!! Nurnbern!!”
Her desperate screams faded away, buried deep into the falling rain.
“Ludiana Ponedo, you are hereby sentenced to death.”
A few days later, a noble court was convened. For the crime of murdering her own father with her own hands, Ludiana was handed the ultimate penalty.
“Do you have any last words?”
Ludiana looked around. As her gaze landed on her stepmother Rhea, who was glaring at her, a tear quietly slipped down her cheek.
That hideous woman.
When their eyes met, Rhea slightly lowered her fan and twisted the corner of her lips into a subtle, sinister smile. With Jonas gone, the family’s title would naturally fall to her son.
Ludiana felt her blood boil backward. Deep regret rushed in to the bone. Still, she had taken Jonas’s life—that at least was a bitter consolation.
I was merely an abandoned baroness, a helpless woman. What more could I have done?
And yet… a piercing regret continued to gnaw at her.
“I regret it.”
Her gaze shifted to the judge.
“Do you repent for your crime?”
“Even if you do, the verdict will not change.”
Ludiana, who had been lowering her head, suddenly burst into a hysterical laugh.
“Pfft— Bwahahaha! Don’t make me laugh! What I regret is that I failed to kill that treacherous bitch as well!”
“How insolent! Drag her out this instant!”
“Oh, good heavens…”
“She’s mad, completely mad.”
“There was a reason the Baron abandoned that woman.”
The doors opened and knights entered—an elite squad deployed specifically to transport such an atrocious criminal. Their spotless white uniforms and imposing presence stood in stark contrast to Ludiana’s tattered appearance.
“Ludiana, step forward.”
The knight at the front roughly snatched the rope binding her.
“Ugh.”
The rope bit into her flesh, but she didn’t even let out a groan. She simply hurled a blood-soaked, sneering laugh toward Rhea and her son.
On her way out, she brushed past Allen Pianus, who was hurrying inside.
“You—!”
He had rushed here so frantically that his shoes and the hems of his trousers were covered in mud. His blue eyes trembled violently.
“What in the world have you done?!”
Regaining his senses, his voice roared with anger as he took large strides toward her.
“Duke Pianus, this woman is the parricide Ludiana. Please step back.”
“You bastards—! Tsk…!”
The Conqueror of the East, Duke Allen Pianus, clenched his fists so tightly it looked as if they might burst.
“…Let me go.”
Ludiana raised her head and looked at him. Despite her disheveled hair, swollen lips, and raspy voice, she managed to offer him the softest smile she could muster.
“……”
The corners of Allen’s eyes contorted in pain. He couldn’t say a single word.
She remembered—years ago, at her mother’s funeral, he had been the only person to shed tears. At the deep sorrow of the man who introduced himself as her mother’s friend, young Ludiana had wept in his arms.
“…Let me pass.”
Looking at the exact same gaze reflected in his eyes now, she found a single piece of solace.
“Damn it! If only I had come a little sooner…!!”
“My Lord!”
Unable to reach her, Allen slammed his fist against the wall, held back by his guard knight, Carlos. A bitter smile hung on the edge of Ludiana’s lips.
Hair as bright as sunlight, storm-gray blue eyes, and a solemn face softened by a gentle gaze—Allen Pianus was a man who had achieved perfection through his own sheer effort.
Just like me… another abandoned child.
Though born an illegitimate child and abandoned by his father, he had risen to become the empire’s greatest sword. His fame was such that even Ludiana, locked away in the baron’s territory, had heard of it.
If I, too, had carved out my own path… would something have been different?
Once, she had taken comfort in his very existence. Because he was proof that even an abandoned child could succeed. But she had always known that she possessed no such talent.
As she was dragged away, her face contorted in despair.
What does any of that matter now?
“With this, the sinner is judged.”
The following day, under the charge of parricide, Ludiana was executed at the guillotine.
Until the very last moment, Allen watched the scene unfold with grieving eyes. Carlos, too, offered a final prayer of pity for her.
Averting her gaze, Ludiana closed her eyes with a faint, aching smile.
