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Chapter 49
The Thornbush Witch (4)
Berenice clutched the storybook to her chest and stepped back, avoiding Kaiden’s hand.
Kaiden, after watching her for a moment, let out a small laugh and corrected his earlier mistake.
“Pardon me. Let’s read it together.”
Did she like those words?
This time, Berenice obediently took Kaiden’s offered hand, stood up while arranging the folds of her dress, and walked toward the desk placed in the center of the room.
Kaiden watched her from behind, letting out an amused chuckle.
“You know I’m the prince, right?”
Kaiden took long strides to catch up to her as he asked.
“Of course,” she replied.
“Then your behavior doesn’t really seem like someone who knows that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t asking for an apology.”
“Yes.”
“…Are you really listening to me?”
“Yes.”
Seeing her curt reply, Kaiden looked at Berenice’s face, ready to speak, but closed his mouth. Her expression was stiff, tense.
He looked at her hands, gripping the storybook so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, and he found he could say nothing further.
Was it like this the first time too…?
A woman with snow-white hair in a space blanketed with pure white snow.
At first, he had thought she was a fairy.
It made sense.
The black mourning clothes draped over her body seemed like a cloak of night.
He had been poisoned at the time and not entirely in his right mind, so such a thought was possible.
More than a fairy… yes. She’s like winter itself.
Kaiden thought this as he watched Berenice take a seat in the only empty corner of the desk.
Cold and quiet… a woman like winter, hiding something beneath the thick snow.
The fact that I can’t even guess what she’s hiding is fascinating.
Just as snow melts when spring arrives at winter’s end, what she hid would eventually come to light naturally.
If not, then digging through the snow would be an option.
Pulling out the chair, Kaiden sat to Berenice’s right and watched her unable to take her eyes off the storybook, curling one side of his mouth into a smirk.
“Your Highness?”
“I think it would be easier if I turned the pages.”
Without waiting for her reply, Kaiden opened the storybook.
Set in a magical era, the tale began simply: the heroine set out on an adventure for the sake of the one she loved.
Despite the ominous-looking cover, the story started ordinarily.
The heroine faced hardships, overcame them, and grew stronger—typical fare.
But as the pages turned, the story slowly took a strange turn.
The heroine, who had been growing through her trials, discovered an uninhabited castle surrounded by thornbushes.
Inside, a magical mirror reflected the face of the lover she longed for.
And the heroine saw her lover whispering words of love to someone else.
The reason she had embarked on the journey and faced hardships had been to protect that very lover…
Clenching her teeth in betrayal, the heroine refused to return to her lover’s hometown and stayed in the thornbush castle to begin researching poisons.
It was her way of returning the suffering she had endured to the lover who had betrayed her.
“…Kids actually read stuff like this?”
“So it seems…”
“Wait, is this really a storybook?”
“…It was on a shelf with storybooks, so I suppose so?”
“But nothing about it seems appropriate for children.”
Kaiden muttered, pausing to examine the cover.
“Infidelity, betrayal, revenge, and poison?”
“…Seems like a storybook for adults.”
Probably.
Ignoring Kaiden’s incredulous gaze, Berenice averted her eyes and swallowed a sigh that had almost escaped.
It was Bledin who had left the hint within this book.
She couldn’t even begin to guess why he had chosen it.
Of course, if the aim was to pick a book no one would touch casually, it was a perfect choice…
He probably never imagined anyone would read this with me.
According to Bledin’s plan, only Bronwen should have found this book.
Thinking Bronwen would have found it fascinating, Berenice continued to turn the remaining pages.
As the story approached its final chapters, it became increasingly dark.
The heroine poisoned her unfaithful lover so he would experience the suffering she endured. After eliminating the rival who had cheated with her lover, she returned to the thornbush castle.
Becoming the castle’s master, she sold poison to those who sought revenge.
Over the years, she became known as the Thornbush Witch, still resenting her betrayer until her last breath. From the place she once stayed, thornbushes began to bear poisoned fruit.
…That was the story.
Kaiden and Berenice finished the final page and fell silent, staring in different directions.
Was this really a storybook? How could a storybook be so devoid of hope, dreams, or future? Why would Bledin leave a hint in this? Was it a trap for those pursuing him?
Their minds whirled with thoughts.
Kaiden was the first to snap out of it.
“So now… should we look for the hint left by Wiltiera’s eldest?”
He picked up the cover with just his thumb and forefinger, then set it down.
Berenice exhaled, regaining her composure. It took a moment to accept that Bledin had chosen this book.
“There doesn’t seem to be any hint from the content itself…”
“I know very well your eldest brother liked melodramas.”
“No.”
“Not ‘no’ enough…”
“Absolutely not.”
Kaiden, smiling again at her firm response, nodded.
“There really isn’t any information to glean from the story… so it’s safe to assume the hint is hidden in the book itself.”
Saying this, Kaiden began inspecting every corner of the book.
Berenice watched him silently.
If this were before her reincarnation, she would have searched herself, but her untrained hands now would have been unlikely to uncover its secrets. She conceded, remembering her once-injured hands.
Carefully examining the cover, the inside, and each page, Kaiden finally turned the last page and ran his fingertips along the inner back cover.
“Could it be this?”
Muttering to himself, he used a small dagger to pry open a section of the inner back cover.
“Did you find something?”
“Wiltiera’s eldest seems to have enjoyed puzzles.”
“Eh?”
“Another hint.”
From inside the removed section, he pulled out a tiny scrap of paper.
After inspecting it himself, Kaiden handed it to Berenice, frowning in disapproval.
She looked at the paper and read its contents:
Bella
…That was it.
“What is this?”
“I was about to ask the same. It looks like a woman’s name… Did your eldest brother have a girlfriend?”
“No. He had no fiancée and said he never planned to marry.”
Berenice shook her head, recalling how Bledin had vowed to dedicate his entire life to the crown prince.
“Looks like we’ll need help from the White Crow again.”
“Can we bring this book along too?”
Berenice looked at the worn storybook in her hands.
“Bledin wouldn’t have chosen it without a reason.”
“Let’s have As deliver it.”
“To As?”
“Even if he accidentally carried a book from the shelves, no one would suspect anything.”
“What about the anti-theft magic?”
“It’s going to break soon anyway.”
Berenice nodded, watching Kaiden speak with such audacity about damaging the palace property, and fixed her eyes on the scrap of paper in her hand.
Bella
Another hint left by Bledin.
Following this would bring them closer to the truth.
Right, brother?
Berenice clenched the scrap of paper tightly, posing a question that would not be answered.
