#50. I’ll Finish You First
The blow had landed on my cheek, yet why was the wound on my back splitting open?
In fact, I hadn’t even been struck across the cheek. So why?
I stared blankly at Susan.
She winked at me.
“I thought you were just a gentle deer, but you’ve grown up!”
A surge of kinship flooded me.
Even if she were my real younger sister, I don’t think I’d feel this proud.
“Are you mocking me?”
Rose snorted heavily through her nose.
“Your Highness, please calm down!”
Her nervous maid tried to restrain her mistress.
The so-called “lover of the Emperor,” praised by bards, might get hurt.
And worse, the fallout could land on her.
Her fears turned out to be right.
“What is this commotion?”
The cold, low voice silenced the hall.
I lifted my left eyelid just slightly and looked toward Nikolai.
“So he really was supposed to meet the foreign envoys today… Look at him in full uniform. What overwhelming presence.”
Dressed head to toe in his black ceremonial uniform, Nikolai radiated brilliance simply by standing still.
Not a single strand of his neat black hair was out of place, exuding both austerity and sensual allure.
Golden tassels adorned his shoulders.
A crimson sash crossed his chest.
Even the gold buttons on his sleeves emphasized his striking beauty.
Of course, why he had appeared at the Crown Prince’s palace instead of attending the envoy reception was a mystery.
“I greet His Imperial Majesty, the sky of the Empire.”
Rose curtsied, fluttering her skirts.
Her cheeks were flushed bright red.
Seeing the boar who had just cornered Susan and me suddenly blush like a bashful rose made me feel nauseous.
“And there are three more empresses like her? Not to mention countless others? This is exactly why you should never get involved with a man who has complicated relationships with women.”
Nikolai completely ignored Rose’s greeting.
Instead, he approached me.
That familiar scent accompanied him.
When he knelt on one knee before me, low gasps rippled throughout the hall.
“Elizabeta. Are you unharmed?”
His voice was soft as petals carried on a spring breeze, sweet as freshly spun cotton candy.
The honey dripping from his gaze nearly made me dizzy.
“I heard your scream.”
“I was just startled, that’s all.”
“Why were you startled?”
“Well…”
“Surely no one laid a hand on you?”
He asked as though he had witnessed everything himself.
The honey in his green eyes vanished, replaced by a murderous gleam.
The air grew so sharp that both Rose and Susan flinched.
“Tell me, Elizabeta. If anyone tried to harm you, I will not let them live.”
“I’m fine, Your Majesty.”
“I am not fine.”
“I wasn’t hurt.”
“Harm includes threats and intimidation as well.”
“I only fear that Your Majesty might get entangled in needless rumors.”
I lowered my gaze timidly.
Nikolai spoke firmly.
“Violence is a grave crime. If punishment is too light, crime only grows bolder.”
“But… Your Majesty, it was the Empress…”
“The higher the rank of the offender, the harsher the punishment should be.”
Rose stammered helplessly, unable to respond either way.
Her maid bowed her head low, trembling.
Then Susan suddenly dropped to her knees.
“Your Majesty, I will tell you exactly what I witnessed.”
“Aren’t you the sister of Marquis Nettleton?”
“Yes, though humble, I also work as an apothecary in the palace.”
“I’ve heard you’re a promising talent. Speak every detail of what you saw.”
Nikolai commanded sternly.
Even as Susan wiped tears from her cheeks, she answered clearly—almost as if reading from a prepared script.
“Her Highness the Empress threatened and struck Sister Elizabeta.”
“That is a baseless accusation, Your Majesty!”
Rose cried out, pale with shock.
Nikolai raised a hand, silencing her.
“Continue.”
“I can endure insults to the Nettleton family. But I cannot tolerate seeing my sister struck and humiliated.”
“…She struck her?”
“Yes. Not only I, but also Her Highness’s maid witnessed it. Elizabeta was beaten so harshly she fell rolling to the ground.”
Nikolai’s eyes turned to me.
Thanks to all my rolling around, grass stains still clung here and there on my dress.
Driven into a corner, Rose prostrated herself.
“I only brushed her lightly! That lowborn dared insult me, an Empress!”
“Is that a confession?”
“Please summon my father! He will prove my innocence!”
“What business had you in the Crown Prince’s palace?”
“I—I was merely passing by…!”
Rose stammered, her face ashen.
Of course, Nikolai had no intention of accepting such an excuse.
He motioned with his chin.
The waiting imperial guards seized Rose’s maid in their rough hands.
The maid immediately spilled everything without being asked.
“I saw Her Highness strike Lady Elizabeta. Lady Elizabeta rolled three and a half times to the right.”
“And?”
“Her Highness did not come by chance. I clearly heard her say she intended to trample Lady Elizabeta.”
Rose glared, eyes bloodshot.
“Ungrateful wretch! And to think you once wagged your tail before me!”
“I never wished to serve Your Highness. I was dragged here after graduation only because my family owed debts to Marquis Brendan.”
“Shut your mouth!”
Perhaps Rose thought it was over.
But her maid seized the chance for freedom and hurried on.
“Everyone knows House Brendan bleeds the lower nobility dry with usury.”
“Interest on loans is natural!”
“You demanded interest over ten times the principal! You deliberately prevented repayment, seizing their estates—that’s what thugs do!”
It was true: Marquis Brendan bought influence among the nobility with money, raising his voice in the noble assembly.
From what I’d learned, the once-boasted gold mines of House Brendan had long since run dry.
Their lands were in ruin, their taxes poorly collected.
“So that’s where all that money came from—usury? If even her closest maid would betray her like this, how much worse must the commoners have suffered?”
Though this confrontation had begun by chance, I resolved to bring House Brendan down thoroughly and meticulously—so that the name Brendan could never again torment anyone.
“Your Majesty, the maid is blameless.”
At my words, Nikolai asked coldly,
“Did she not encourage her mistress?”
“Not at all.”
“Failing to stop her mistress’s crime is itself a grave offense.”
“What maid could oppose her master? Please, show her mercy.”
Nikolai’s mercy extended only that far.
“Confine Rose Brendan in the Imperial Ice Tower. Until further orders, no one is permitted to visit her.”
Nikolai wished to remain by my side.
And I wished to remain with him.
But I had no choice but to push him away.
The foreign envoys awaited him.
And pretending to be injured was exhausting.
As soon as Nikolai left, I departed the palace with Susan.
“Elizabeta, shouldn’t you rest today?”
Susan asked in the rattling carriage.
“You know better than anyone that I wasn’t really struck.”
“But you collapsed.”
“I only pretended to collapse. Just as you pretended to be worried for me.”
Susan covered her face, embarrassed even in hindsight.
“I’m sorry. I was too bold, wasn’t I?”
“I was proud of you.”
“Really?”
“You were truly like a little sister to me.”
“Sister…!”
Overcome with emotion, Susan pressed her hands against her chest.
“I will never forget today. I’ve always wanted to become real family with you.”
“Susan…”
“I don’t mean with my brother—you would find that burdensome.”
“Thank you for understanding, Susan.”
“Instead, could you grant me one wish?”
“What kind of wish?”
I tilted my head.
Susan, tense and determined, answered firmly:
“Please speak to me informally! The honorifics feel too distant.”
“But you are a marquis’s daughter, while I’m a commoner.”
“What does that matter, when I respect you and you cherish me?”
“But still…”
“You were the one who taught me that character matters more than birth. Please, I beg you.”
Susan’s clear, wide eyes looked up at me imploringly.
I couldn’t refuse such wholehearted affection.
“Alright, Susan. But only when we’re alone, agreed?”
“Thank you, Sister! You’ve granted my lifelong wish!”
Susan threw herself into my arms.
The fresh scent of soap and subtle herbs was comforting.
It felt like returning home.
Though home meant little to me, and I had never truly had a family.
“I always wished I had a little sister like you, Susan.”
“I’ll protect you, Sister!”
“How reassuring.”
“You said we need to persuade that farmer, Boritz? If he’s interested in plant research, I’ll connect with him easily.”
“I’ll trust you, Susan.”
“Leave it to me. I can do anything!”
Looking at her flushed cheeks, I swallowed a pang of guilt.
I had saved Susan from suicide and encouraged her research only out of calculation—because I thought her affection for me might prove useful in the future.
But now it was different.
Susan’s warmth, like spring sunlight, was melting my heart as well.
“Susan feels as precious as a true younger sister. One by one, I’m gathering people I love… What effect will this have on me?”
Even if it became an obstacle, I didn’t care.
Beyond gain or loss, my bond with Susan was priceless.
Silently, I vowed to cure her illness no matter what.
For that, I would need a holy relic of Mora Sincia, the Goddess of Healing.
The Ice Tower stood at the highest point of the Imperial Palace.
Only royals or great nobles could be confined there, but it was as harsh as any underground dungeon.
It was so cold that frost formed even in midsummer.
Yet prisoners weren’t given so much as a blanket.
Since the fallen Empress Penelope, it had been a long time since the Ice Tower had a guest.
Naturally, public attention swirled.
“They say Empress Rose struck Lady Elizabeta until she fainted?”
“Nearly killed her, I heard.”
“She’s always had such a vile temper. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
“And His Majesty saved Elizabeta again? True love, indeed!”
“They say Rose’s maid was nearly executed on the spot. If Elizabeta hadn’t begged His Majesty for mercy, that poor maid would’ve died for nothing.”
“What crime did the maid have? I’d love to see nobles finally punished for once.”
Rumors favorable to me snowballed.
This time, it wasn’t even my doing.
“Doesn’t it sound too glorified? Won’t people notice?”
I asked a girl with long, braided light-brown hair.
Nisa—Rose’s former maid—smiled brightly.
“Lady Elizabeta, you took me in and even repaid my debt. I must repay your kindness somehow.”
Why did so many people around me keep insisting on repaying favors?
When I first met her, I thought Nisa was just an ordinary maid.
But she was not that at all.
