Chapter 113
When I snapped out a refusal, Cerulian lightly tugged at the hem of my clothes.
“Edel.”
“Ugh.”
I was saying it for his sake, but maybe I’d cut him off too sharply. I added in a softened voice,
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so prickly.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
He said that, but the glass of water in front of Father had been knocked over.
If you’re upset, you could just say you’re upset.
He really was timid in the strangest ways. As I wiped Father’s wet fingers with a handkerchief, I said,
“…But you say things like that and then pour everything out in your diary every day.”
Father, startled when I took hold of his hand, widened his eyes even further at my words.
“How do you know that I keep a diary?”
I shrugged.
“When you leave it spread out so conspicuously in the study, what do you expect me to say if you ask how I know?”
Even after handing over the ducal title, not much had changed in Father’s study. The only differences were the faded portrait of Mother now proudly displayed on the desk, and a weekly paper titled The Daily issued under Cerulian’s name, replacing The Newcastle Times.
Maybe it’s because Vanerinne is gone. He doesn’t bother hiding things in the study anymore.
I hadn’t meant to read the diary. It was truly left open as if inviting anyone to look.
Father made an awkward face, rubbed his dry cheeks, and muttered,
“…I should take back the key to the study.”
No, absolutely not! I shook my head vigorously.
“Ah! That key is mine! Don’t you know that taking something back after giving it is worse than never giving it at all?”
“I’m joking.”
It didn’t sound like a joke. But if I said that, he really might take it back, so I forced a smile.
That study is perfect for reading, but it’s also perfect for napping. It’s rare for a place to be both grand and cozy, but it has everything.
I loved it so much that I was half tempted to move my office in there altogether. When I unconsciously clenched the study key, Father let out a sigh through his nose.
“I should have just built you a study as a gift.”
“Oh, come on. There’s already one—why make another? That would be such a waste.”
More than anything, books were expensive. Even after coming to live with the Duke of Luke’s household, I still couldn’t easily shed the frugal mindset of a commoner. Which was only natural.
When I firmly rejected Father’s suggestion, Cerulian whispered softly,
“Isn’t it simply that he wants to do something if it would make you happy, Edel?”
“Ugh, that’s…”
Had I once again made Father self-conscious without realizing it?
Because I’m not used to this kind of kindness, I keep cutting it off too bluntly.
I felt awkward, as though I’d become a terrible person. Fidgeting with my fingers, I said to Father,
“Honestly, sudden gifts like that feel burdensome to me. And I’ve already prepared everything like baby supplies.”
“……”
Father pressed his lips together at my words. He was such a reserved person that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his expression alone.
As I watched him carefully, the diary I’d glimpsed in his study the other day came to mind. It had contained this line:
<If only I could have bought these for Edel when she was little.>
For all his indifferent appearance, it was proof that he cared in such meticulous ways. I looked at Father for a moment, then gathered my courage and spoke.
“…Father.”
Father flinched and looked up, his expression one of disbelief, as though he doubted his own ears. Somehow, it made me smile. I continued in a gentler tone.
“We’re already family, aren’t we? You don’t need to buy gifts. And you don’t have to be so tense about everything.”
“Edel.”
It took courage to call him Father, but it took just as much courage to meet his gaze afterward. I made an embarrassed face and changed the subject. As if on cue, the chef entered, pushing a cart.
“Oh, it looks like dinner is ready. Let’s eat first.”
Even as I deflected the topic, Father couldn’t take his eyes off my profile. Only when all the dishes and cutlery were set before us did he slightly bow his head and murmur in a low, subdued voice,
“Thank you.”
Feeling self-conscious, I pursed my lips and added quietly,
“So you really don’t have to say things like that every time.”
“Alright.”
Father nodded easily, then added again in his usual blunt tone,
“Still, don’t peek at my diary.”
“Okay.”
Despite what he said, that day, in the diary left open in Father’s study, there was a short message addressed to me.
<Thank you for becoming my daughter, Edel.>
Vanerinne was exiled to the very edge of the border.
It was a harsh region with brutal weather, so desolate that almost no one lived there anymore. But even sending her that far apparently wasn’t enough to satisfy Theodor. Her place of exile was a vast, empty mansion halfway up a mountain, even deeper in than the border guards’ garrison.
Vanerinne’s punishment was that she could not step a single foot outside that mansion. As the border guard escorted her there, he said,
“Even if you wanted to go out, you wouldn’t be able to. Savage beasts roam everywhere around here. An untrained civilian like you, Your Highness, would likely be torn apart by wolves.”
“You expect me to stay in a place like this? Are you insane?”
“Of course, if you were to be mauled to death by wolves, it would be troublesome for us as well. So please stay quietly inside the mansion.”
The soldier looked at Vanerinne with open contempt—something utterly unfamiliar to her. In the capital, everyone had gazed at her with admiration.
How dare they treat me like this?
Vanerinne trembled with humiliation. But compared to what awaited her, this was nothing at all.
What in the world is happening?
The very next morning, the moment she woke up, Vanerinne fell into panic. There was no one in the mansion.
Basic necessities were placed in front of the mansion once a week. Everything else was her responsibility. Laundry, meals—she received no help from anyone.
It was an unbearable humiliation for her. Normally, exiled royalty were confined to a tower within the imperial palace, attended by maids. But she had been completely isolated.
Such a remote place! Lady Veronika can’t even come here!
She had no idea that Lady Veronika had already been imprisoned for commissioning Edel’s assassination.
Shrieking as cold water splashed over her hands, Vanerinne washed dishes she had never washed before. If she wanted to eat, she had no choice. As she worked, tears welled up at her situation.
How can this be allowed?
She had never done such menial labor—not as an imperial princess, nor even when she lived at the Duke of Luke’s estate.
Washing dishes and doing laundry were agonizing, but what tormented her most was bathing. She loathed cold baths, yet hauling and heating water was unbearably exhausting.
Brother Theodor is truly cruel. No matter how much he hates me, how could he impose such a vicious punishment? If it were me, I would have killed them cleanly.
To subject her to endless punishment with no clear end—it was unspeakably malicious.
I never realized before. Just surviving requires so much work.
Until now, others had done everything for her, allowing her to live comfortably without lifting a finger.
“But that’s only natural for people born lowly! How could I possibly be the same as them!”
Unable to contain her rage, Vanerinne hurled a dish she was washing. It shattered against the wall with a deafening crash.
Panting, her eyes gleamed with malice.
But I’ll be able to leave soon. Father would never leave me like this.
Her hope lay with the Emperor. Ever since childhood, he had granted every one of Vanerinne’s wishes. He was the one who taught her that her single life was worth as much as thousands of commoners.
Once I get out of here, I’ll take revenge.
There was no way he would abandon her here forever. As she waited for the Emperor to rescue her, Vanerinne hardened her resolve for vengeance.
Naturally, the first person she wanted revenge on was Edel.
Paul Luke—how dare he deceive his own child so thoroughly. Bringing his real daughter in as the adopted son’s wife… there’s a limit to how much one can deceive others.
Despite having switched the children herself, she shamelessly blamed the Duke of Luke.
If I kill that woman right in front of him, his face will twist in agony. That would be worth seeing. I should poison her with belladonna and make her die in the most excruciating way.
Belladonna was a vile poison that made its victim vomit blood and writhe in agony before dying. Imagining the cruelest possible death, Vanerinne let out a quiet, deranged laugh.
I won’t spare Brother Theodor either. Nor Lora, who betrayed me, nor Grand Duke Parme, who didn’t save me. And then…
As she counted her enemies one by one, the image of a skinny, insignificant maid surfaced in her mind.
The maid who had first entangled her fate with Edel.
Noel.
In the end, all of this had started because of her. Because she had caught Edel’s attention. Because she hadn’t died.
As Vanerinne ground her teeth in hatred, it happened.
A knock—one that shouldn’t have been possible—echoed softly.
Who is it? This week’s supplies already arrived.
Was it a wild beast?
Vanerinne went down to the first floor and peered outside through the small shutter by the door.
Amazingly, the very face she had just been thinking of was smiling faintly at her.
“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”
It was Noel.
