🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 34
Brushing aside the hair whipping in the wind, Marianne scanned the distance. The blizzard narrowed her field of vision and made things difficult at first, but once she adjusted, she was able to examine her surroundings carefully.
‘There’s only one road here where a carriage or people could pass.’
The road wasn’t very wide. On the left, dense forest stretched on, while on the right stood a towering cliff, making the terrain look harsh and dangerous. In other words, if you strayed from the road, you’d quickly get lost.
She liked it. Marianne smiled.
There was probably a hunter’s cabin nearby, or perhaps a very small village. Rapiu, the knights, and the coachman must have checked it out in advance and ridden off in that direction.
‘They must have been hoping I’d stay in the carriage alone, crying and begging.’
An ordinary person—especially a delicately raised imperial princess—would naturally find it difficult to step outside a carriage in a snowstorm like this.
Whether the mastermind behind this was Marquis Biarritz or Rapiu, they must have assumed she would panic helplessly inside the carriage.
But Marianne had no intention of doing that.
In fact, she’d been wondering when she should use the brooch, and now they had kindly provided her with the perfect place to escape.
As a bonus, she could also make Rapiu and Marquis Biarritz suffer a little for it.
“Shall I walk just up to there?”
Marianne headed left, toward where the forest began. She wasn’t worried at all about leaving traces. The snow swirling violently with the wind would soon erase her footprints, and in the end, it would be hard to tell where she’d gone.
If the imperial princess went missing like this, then naturally Rapiu—who was responsible for escorting the carriage safely—and his master, Marquis Biarritz, would be questioned and forced to apologize.
‘Louis would probably stop it from going as far as stripping titles or imprisonment, but they’ll have to pay a hefty compensation, won’t they?’
Brushing the accumulating snow off her shoulders, Marianne walked briskly and soon reached the edge of the forest. Without a moment’s hesitation, she took off her gloves and pulled out the brooch. Her slender fingers pressed down on the gemstone.
Rapiu was in a good mood.
It felt great to escape, even briefly, from the bone-chilling wind. Drinking the strong liquor left behind in the cabin warmed his body pleasantly. And most of all, the thought of putting that insolent bastard girl in her place delighted him.
“Sir Rapiu, shall we head back soon?”
“Hm. Yes, let’s. If we stay any longer, the carriage might turn into a sea of tears.”
“Haha. Well, she should have behaved humbly from the start. Honestly, I don’t know why someone so half-baked acts as if she were a real imperial princess.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. She even dared to throw our young lady out in the middle of the night—it’s absurd. Of course the marquis would be furious. And once His Majesty passes away…”
“Ahem, sir. Watch your words. For now, His Imperial Majesty is still firmly holding the empire together.”
“Ahem. Yes. I spoke carelessly. In any case, just imagining that woman—who acted so haughty—crying and trembling in fear makes me giddy.”
They rode back toward the carriage, which had been left behind for an hour, expecting to see the bastard girl with her pride crushed.
But the Marianne they expected was nowhere to be found.
On the way back, one sharp-eyed knight suddenly halted his horse and shouted in alarm.
“T-The carriage door is open!”
“…What?”
Rapiu urged his horse forward and rushed closer. Just as his companion said, the wide-open door was swaying back and forth in the wind.
“This makes no sense…”
This wasn’t the situation he had imagined. He hadn’t wanted to see a gaunt coachman, pale-faced comrades, and an empty carriage.
“Damn it—search immediately!”
A comrade’s shout rang loudly in his ears.
Hearing the voice mixed with panic and fear, images of Marquis Biarritz, Prince Louis, and finally the furious face of the Emperor flashed through Rapiu’s mind. He squeezed his eyes shut.
“…Wow.”
Was this magic? The moment she murmured in awe, Marianne collapsed onto the floor with a thud. A wave of dizziness—almost like motion sickness—made her stomach churn. Only after closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths did she slowly open them again.
And then she froze.
‘…A lake?’
Beyond the window lay an enormous lake. The sunlight—something she hadn’t seen in a while—was dazzling, but the way it shimmered and sparkled across the rippling water was breathtakingly beautiful.
‘Is this… Lady Rotento’s villa?’
The letter left with the brooch hadn’t specified exactly where the magic would send her.
Lady Rotento must have taken into account the possibility that someone other than her daughter might read it.
Still, fortunately for Marianne, this seemed to be a small villa in a quiet, remote area rather than the Rotento main estate, which put her at ease.
She got to her feet and looked around. The place where she’d arrived appeared to be the villa’s living room. The lake was clearly visible, and in the spacious hall stood a long table and several sofas.
It seemed no one had visited in quite some time; a hazy layer of dust covered the luxurious furniture.
Once she stood fully upright, she noticed a large box placed on the table. Marianne walked over and brushed the dust off it.
“Achoo!”
Her nose tickled, and she sneezed loudly as she opened the box.
“This is…”
On top lay a neatly folded sheet of paper.
There was no envelope, but the end was sealed, making it obvious at a glance that it was a letter Lady Rotento had written to Marianne.
When she carefully broke the seal, she found two sheets layered together. Unfolding them revealed tightly packed, elegant handwriting.
“My beloved daughter, Marianne.
If you are reading this letter, I will already have passed from this world. My heart aches knowing how little this inadequate mother has been able to do for you.”
The first letter was filled with worry and apologies for the daughter who would be left behind alone.
‘I’m sorry, my lady.’
Marianne apologized to Lady Rotento once again. The daughter she worried about, even in death, was not Marianne herself.
Then, with a heavy heart, she moved on to the second and final letter.
“…Good heavens.”
After rubbing her eyes, Marianne read it again. Contrary to her fears, the letter carefully explained the items Lady Rotento had thoroughly prepared.
“…I have prepared a few things, though they may be insufficient, so that you can live safely. Take them and go to the place written above. There will always be someone there waiting to help you. Please, be strong and live on.”
Marianne roughly wiped the table with her sleeve and took out the contents of the box one by one, laying them out.
A pouch of gold coins.
A potion that changed one’s appearance.
Forged identification papers.
‘To forge an ID, you’d normally have to go through the underworld. And the potion, too—how did she manage to obtain these in secret?’
But the most astonishing item lay at the very bottom. It was so valuable it had been stored inside a smaller box.
Just reading the description in the letter hadn’t been enough—but seeing it in person, Marianne immediately recognized it.
‘This is the artifact Estelle carried in the novel.’
She lifted the artifact, which looked no more than an ordinary ring. No matter how she examined it, it matched the novel’s description perfectly.
Especially the dense, unreadable silver characters engraved along the band—whenever they caught the sunlight, they emitted the same soft, mysterious glow.
Why was the artifact Louis had given to Estelle—out of concern for her lack of offensive power beyond purification—here?
‘Originally, Estelle only leaves for the north much later… Did she find the letter and brooch while sorting through Marianne’s belongings and search this place?’
No matter how much she pondered, it was an unanswerable guess, so Marianne shook the thought away. What mattered more was that the artifact was now in her hands.
“It reflects attacks back at the opponent… That means I can travel safely to the south.”
She slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand. It fit perfectly, as if her size had been measured in advance.
Letting out a soft breath, Marianne found a wardrobe and changed her clothes.
Thoughtful Lady Rotento had prepared garments that were neither too flashy nor too plain, along with a travel bag.
After putting on a simple dress, a light coat, and boots, Marianne checked her reflection in the mirror. She no longer looked like an imperial princess, but rather like a fallen noble from a declining house.
‘I’ve moved all my belongings. Now there’s just one thing left.’
Lastly, Marianne drank the potion.
“Ugh…”
The strange taste made her nearly gag, but she forced it down and emptied the vial. A tingling sensation spread throughout her body.
“…Done.”
Once the sensation completely faded, Marianne checked herself in the mirror. Her once silver hair had turned a deep, night-dark brown, and her pale blue eyes had changed to a slightly lighter grayish brown than her hair.
‘Amazing. Would it stay like this even if it got wet?’
Her curiosity surged, but she held herself back. If the effect disappeared after touching water, it would be disastrous. She picked up the leather bag instead.
The potion’s effect would last only three days. Within that time, she needed to get as close to the south as possible.
Silver hair and pale blue eyes weren’t unheard of in the empire—but being spotted near the capital could still become troublesome.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Putting on a wide-brimmed hat, Marianne stepped out of Lady Rotento’s villa.
It was the first step toward a new beginning.
