Chapter 3
From Childhood Friends to Enemies
“Gasp! Hng!”
“My lady, it’s me.”
“!”
Aella, who had been struggling fiercely, froze at the familiar voice.
“Lo… Lora?”
“Shh. Please follow me.”
As she followed Lora down the corridor, Aella’s body trembled.
Father… Father killed the Duke? N-no… I must have misheard…
The echo of that booming voice rang in her head, and Aella squeezed her eyes shut, covering her ears tightly with both hands.
Click.
“Please come in.”
Lora opened the door. As Aella stepped into her room, she turned to face her.
“You know something, don’t you, Lora?”
Lora stayed silent, but the look in her eyes gave Aella her answer.
“Tell me. Anything you know.”
“Could you wait just a moment?”
When Aella nodded, Lora prepared some warm tea and brought it over.
“Please drink this first, my lady.”
“I don’t feel like drinking anything right now.”
“Please, just a little.”
After taking a few sips, Aella gripped the teacup tightly.
“Alright… now tell me.”
“This will… be quite a shock.”
“It’s fine.”
“Please sit.”
Lora gestured to the bed. As Aella sat down, Lora sat beside her and began speaking in a calm, yet slightly trembling voice.
“Your father, Count Bluanz… is not a good man.”
“……”
“He is, quite literally, a devil in human form.”
Aella was too shocked to respond to the words of Lora—her nanny and the head maid of the Bluanz household.
The father she believed had raised her alone while mourning her late mother… was in fact secretly maintaining a hidden harem garden within the estate, imprisoning young, beautiful women to satisfy his desires.
Worse still, his marriage to her mother had not been out of love. He had only married into the Bluanz family as a son-in-law to escape his life as a mere wealthy merchant, since the family had no son—only a daughter.
But what shocked Aella most—
Her grandfather, who had died less than a year after her mother.
She had believed he passed away from grief after losing his only daughter. But the truth was that her father had used a forbidden dark art—strictly outlawed in the Empire—to curse and kill him.
The revelation was so horrifying that Aella couldn’t feel anything for a moment.
“W-why… why didn’t you tell me any of this until now, Lora? I… I knew nothing and treated him as…”
“I’m sorry, my lady. That monster… I feared he might harm you. To protect you, I became his accomplice and committed countless vile acts.”
“Lora…”
“I will gladly accept punishment later. If it is for your sake, I would do anything. You are the precious treasure Lady Maria entrusted to me.”
Seeing Lora smile through tears, Aella felt ashamed of herself for having lived so naively, like a flower in a garden, unaware of everything.
“Miss… you’ve already heard this, but it was the Count who harmed Duke Hormons.”
“……”
“He didn’t kill him himself, but he hired someone to do it.”
“Then… what was his reason for killing Duke Hormons?”
“……”
“Was he that greedy for the Duke’s wealth and honor?”
“He is a greedy pig of a man.”
Facing Lora’s clear hostility, Aella clutched her chest and let out a long breath.
“…How am I supposed to face Kael now?”
“My lady…”
“I… I can’t even like Kael anymore. I can’t dream of a future with him. Ah… sob… Kael… Kael… I’m sorry…”
“My poor lady…”
After crying in Lora’s arms for a long time, Aella finally spoke again.
“I’ll… tell Kael everything.”
“M-my lady!”
“Even if it’s like this, I must clear the Duke’s unjust death!”
“My lady! There is no evidence!”
“……”
“And even if evidence appears, murder in this Empire is considered an offense against the Imperial Family. It is punishable by death. You might be spared… but…”
Aella knew all too well.
If she went from a noble lady to the daughter of a murderer, she might be demoted at best—but most likely, she would become a slave, forced into hard labor for life.
And for female slaves… the fate was far worse.
I’m scared… but… Kael.
Thinking of Kael—who, despite his cold demeanor, always smiled gently at her—brought fresh tears to her eyes.
“The young lord will surely uncover the truth behind his father’s death.”
“……”
“Before that happens, you must escape. I’ll buy you time somehow. Take Kina and run.”
“No.”
“My lady!”
“I won’t run. I’ll accept it. That’s one way I can atone to Kael.”
“What did you do wrong?!”
With tears in her eyes, Lora looked at her as Aella gently smiled and held her arms.
“I lived for 20 years without knowing what kind of man my father was. Someone once said ignorance can also be a sin. So I will pay for it—as the daughter of a sinner. If it can ease Kael’s anger… and comfort the Duke’s spirit.”
Lora could do nothing but hold her kind, foolish lady and cry.
“I should go back now.”
“I’ll escort you.”
On their way back, Aella encountered her father in the corridor.
Suppressing the urge to vomit, she forced herself to remain calm.
“Aella, why are you wandering the halls at this hour with the head maid?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I was talking with Lora. I’m heading back now. And you, Father…?”
“This father is also grieving deeply over the loss of a dear friend. I cannot sleep.”
His shameless acting made her clenched fists tremble.
After bidding him goodnight, she returned to her room.
“My lady, you did well.”
“…Lora, is there any evidence?”
“This was done solely by the Count…”
“We need evidence.”
“My lady, even if you and Lord Kael were childhood friends, once this truth is revealed…”
“I know. That’s why I want to reveal it quickly. So it hurts less. Even if we become worse than strangers… I want him to remember me as someone decent.”
With tears streaming down her face, Aella forced a faint smile.
Lora held her trembling body tightly.
***
After quietly holding his father’s funeral, Kael suppressed his emotions and began investigating rationally.
“Damn it! Why is there not a single trace?!”
Everything was too clean.
There should have been at least one mistake—but there was nothing.
It was as if someone had orchestrated everything perfectly.
“Who the hell could do this so flawlessly…? It must be… a high-ranking noble. Someone who could easily approach Father…”
Suddenly, Count Bluanz came to mind.
He fit the profile too perfectly.
But Kael shook his head.
“Get a grip… don’t let emotions control you.”
Still, something felt off.
The Count had been avoiding him ever since the funeral.
‘It’s been nearly a month…’
“Something’s definitely being hidden.”
Knock knock.
“Young lord.”
“Come in.”
The butler Matteo entered.
“Did you find him?”
“Yes… but there’s a reason it was difficult.”
“What is it?”
“He was living in the slums. And… he’s already dead.”
“…He’s dead?”
“Yes. Apparently, before the Duke’s murder, thugs attacked his family.”
Kael grabbed his coat.
“I’m going to the palace.”
“…What?!”
At the Imperial Palace—
“Let him in.”
Kael bowed before the Emperor.
“I know you are investigating your father’s death.”
“Your Majesty, has that man still not spoken?”
The Emperor nodded.
“Let me meet him.”
“…Very well.”
In the underground prison—
Kael knelt before the barely alive man.
“Your mother and siblings are dead. The day before my father was killed.”
“!”
“Who ordered you?”
“…Bluanz… Count…!”
With his final breath, the man confessed.
Kael stood.
“So it was you… Hans Bluanz.”
He let out a hollow laugh.
***
A month later, Kael finally came to see Aella.
She was trembling.
Will he believe me…?
When she saw his cold eyes—
She knew.
He already knew everything.
“Kael…”
“…I know everything.”
“….”
“Aella Bluanz.”
His voice was ice cold.
Aella closed her eyes.
Their relationship as childhood friends…
…was over.
