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Chapter: 3
Seria slowly walked toward Theodore, crushing the papers scattered carelessly across the floor beneath her feet.
She had always carried a faint hope that Serion might still be alive.
Officially, the crown prince and princess of Agenta were declared dead—but Seria herself was living proof that such proclamations could be false.
But what if that hateful man was lying?
What if this was nothing more than bait, meant to lure her out of hiding?
Seria grabbed Theodore by the collar.
“You think I’d fall for such a blatant lie?”
“I’m telling the truth, and yet you refuse to believe it. If your brother heard that, he’d be heartbroken.”
“Stop mocking me. How do you expect me to trust you?”
“Well, I suppose it’s natural for you to doubt me. But nothing I said is false. And I have a way to prove it.”
Theodore easily pried Seria’s hands off his collar.
Seria stared silently at her hands as they fell away so effortlessly.
She couldn’t bring herself to speak rashly.
The fact that Theodore was standing there with such confidence meant he truly had something.
But how could he possibly prove that Serion was alive?
“Surely you recognize this.”
From inside his coat, Theodore pulled out a gold brooch densely set with vivid green gemstones.
Seria couldn’t tear her eyes away from it.
It was a brooch she had given Serion long ago as a birthday gift.
“How—how did you get that?!”
She snatched the brooch from his hand.
As she examined it closely, her face twisted in horror.
Dark crimson stains were smeared across its surface.
Could it be Serion’s blood?
Forgetting Theodore was even there, Seria frantically wiped at the stains.
“…It’s glowing.”
The gemstone embedded in the brooch was one that lost its light the moment its owner’s life was extinguished.
The fact that it still shone was undeniable proof that its owner—Serion—was alive.
With trembling hands, Seria clasped the brooch tightly to her chest.
Watching her closely, Theodore brushed off his wrinkled clothes and spoke.
“Just as you, officially dead, are standing here alive, your brother is alive as well. If I’d intended to kill you, I would’ve done so six years ago in Agenta.”
Seria studied Theodore with guarded eyes.
His claim that he had no intention of killing her didn’t seem like a lie.
He carried no dagger—not even a basic weapon—and when Seria had lunged at him, he had done nothing more than defend himself minimally.
Even now, he stood with his arms crossed, looking utterly unashamed, as though every word he’d spoken was true.
That arrogant posture made her skin crawl.
“Young Duke! Anna! Is everything all right in there?”
The abbot, alarmed by the noise, knocked loudly on the door.
Hearing the voice, Theodore clicked his tongue in irritation.
“It’s nothing.”
“But there was quite a disturbance—!”
“It’s of no concern. Please come back later.”
There was a strange pressure in Theodore’s voice as he replied.
When the hallway fell silent again, he turned back to Seria and met her gaze.
“So—are you ready to talk now?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“All you have to do is grant me one request. If you do, I’ll find your brother for you. And restore the lands of fallen Agenta as well.”
“What?”
In other words, he was offering to help rebuild Agenta.
But how could one possibly revive a nation already destroyed by the Antithesia Empire?
Seria bit her lip.
“You’re saying you’ll start a rebellion?”
“If necessary.”
His answer came without the slightest hesitation.
Seria clenched her fist.
The very man responsible for Agenta’s downfall—talking about rebellion?
It was absurd. Completely illogical.
What kind of scheme was he spinning with that serpent’s tongue?
“You’re insane.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think. I’m serious.”
“…Then what do you want?”
“It won’t be a request just for my sake. In fact, it might be something you’ve wanted yourself.”
“Stop dragging it out and say it.”
At her urging, Theodore’s pale gray eyes flashed ominously.
For a moment, his face looked like that of a demon, as though it could devour her very soul.
* * *
The door to the reception room opened, and Theodore emerged.
The abbot, who had been pacing the hallway anxiously, hurried toward him.
Behind Theodore, the room looked as though a storm had torn through it.
“Young Duke, what in the world happened in there…?”
“I’ll compensate for everything that was broken. That will be all.”
With that, Theodore strode past the abbot and left.
Watching his retreating figure, the abbot quickly rushed into the reception room.
Seria stood alone inside, her face utterly blank.
The abbot approached her carefully.
“Anna… what happened?”
“I—I’m sorry, Father. I’ll clean everything up right away.”
Only after the abbot placed a hand on her shoulder did Seria seem to come back to herself.
The abbot shook his head gently.
“No, Anna. I’ll take care of this. You should go rest.”
“But—”
“You don’t look well. Please, go.”
He patted her back and ushered her out of the room.
Driven out almost by force, Seria didn’t make it far before sinking down onto the stairs.
The shock had drained all strength from her limbs.
She pulled out a small note Theodore had pressed into her hand before leaving and unfolded it.
[Come to the path behind the monastery at midnight tonight.]
A short, curt message.
“If you intend to accept my deal, read this. If not, you can throw it away.”
He had said that as he left—his lips curled in a confident smile, as though he already knew her answer.
Fuming at the thought that she’d been toyed with, Seria crumpled the note and shoved it into her pocket.
“I should’ve just stabbed him.”
The image of Theodore pressing a shard of teacup against his own throat burned in her mind.
The fall of Agenta in just two months.
The deaths of her parents.
All of it must have been the result of schemes devised by Theodore—the crown prince’s strategist.
“And yet I…”
She hadn’t been able to stab him.
The pulse beneath her fingers had terrified her—the overwhelming weight of a living life.
And so she hesitated.
Because she was afraid of killing someone, she let her sworn enemy slip away right in front of her.
She had no face to show those who stayed behind to defend Agenta’s palace until the very end.
Tears began to fall from Seria’s eyes.
Soon, they soaked her sleeves.
She curled in on herself, stifling her sobs.
“S-Sister…?”
Daisy, who had been playing upstairs, spotted her crying and rushed down.
“Why are you crying? Who made you cry? I’ll scold them!”
She mimicked the words Seria often used to comfort her.
But that only made Seria cry harder.
Daisy wrapped her small arms tightly around her.
“Was it a bad person? The one who came on the horse earlier?”
“It’s nothing, Daisy… really. It’s just…”
“Don’t cry, Sister…”
Seria hugged Daisy back and lowered her head.
Daisy gently patted her back until her trembling finally stopped.
By the time Seria came to her senses, the other children had gathered around her.
With swollen, reddened eyes, Seria pulled them all into a tight embrace.
“Thank you… all of you.”
She had cried shamelessly, unbecoming of her age.
Wiping her tears away in a hurry, Seria steadied herself.
What had happened couldn’t be undone.
What she needed to do now was meet Theodore again and hear the full terms of his proposal.
And learn more about Serion.
