BTCATL 11

11.

The doorknob turned laughably easily.

It had definitely been locked at first—when had it been opened?

“……”

The attic door opened silently, revealing the familiar hallway of the mansion.

Light I hadn’t seen in so long pierced my eyes painfully.

I blinked several times, trying to adjust to the lamps lighting the mansion.

The maids whose voices I had overheard earlier seemed to have gone elsewhere, as no one was in sight.

When I stepped out of the attic, my body wobbled slightly, having lost balance. Maybe because I had been curled up for so long, my legs were weak.

Bracing myself against the wall, I barely managed to take a step, closed the attic door behind me, and began to move slowly.

Perhaps everyone was resting, or maybe all the staff had been gathered somewhere—fortunately, the hallways were mostly empty.

Barefoot from being locked in the attic, the wooden floor stung against my soles, but I had no choice.

I soon arrived in front of the tightly shut bedroom door and took a deep breath.

It had only been a month, yet the whole mansion felt unfamiliar.

With trembling hands, I pushed the door open—and inhaled sharply.

“Which room needs to be cleaned?”

“Young master’s! He made a mess again.”

“Ugh, seriously. It’s been, what, a month? Why does he keep doing this?”

I froze for a moment, then snapped back to my senses at the sound of the servants’ approaching voices. I slipped into the room and quietly shut the door behind me.

Click.

“…Did you hear that just now?”

I held my breath.

“You keep saying weird stuff. Cut it out—we’re in a hurry.”

“R-Right…”

Only when their footsteps faded away completely did I finally let out the breath I’d been holding.

I turned on the magic lamp in the room.

It was a complete mess.

Clothes were scattered everywhere, the pillows and blankets ripped apart and tossed aside.

Documents that had once been neatly stacked on the desk were strewn all over the floor.

Drawers hung wide open, their contents fully exposed.

It was a scene completely different from what I remembered.

Even though he no longer shared this room with me, it was still officially the couple’s bedroom, so I had kept it tidy—just in case the Grand Duke ever decided to visit.

Yes, he could visit anytime. A thought that, in the end, had never once come true.

I blinked slowly and looked elsewhere.

A dried flower wreath—the first and last gift I’d received from the Grand Duke—had once hung on the wall. Now it lay on the ground, crushed beyond recognition.

I bent down slowly and picked up the withered flowers.

As I applied a little pressure, the dried petals crumbled to dust almost instantly.

And in that broken flower, I saw myself.

It wasn’t just the flower.

The disheveled mess that looked like a storm had torn through, the untouched dust piled thick on the windowsill, the utter ruin of the entire room—it all seemed to point at me.

First, I had been a doll for the Emperor, and then, a doll for the Grand Duke.

No, calling me a doll would be too kind.

Even dolls are treated with care, with affection. I hadn’t even been that.

“It’s an artifact. Contact me if you change your mind. I’ll send letters whenever I have time.”

“Rather than live being ignored by people who don’t even recognize who you are, live freely and show your abilities. You know how Spiritists are treated.”

I didn’t know why those words suddenly came to mind.

But as if possessed, I headed toward the desk, rummaging through it wildly—no, I was looking for the emerald-colored artifact hidden inside.

“…It’s gone.”

There was nothing.

The box where I had kept the artifact was wide open, completely empty.

My mind went blank. But one thought remained:

I had to find it.

Why?

Because it had been given to me by Ledyn. It was the only way I could escape from here.

Who took it?

The answer was obvious: Sasha.

No matter how much the Grand Duke might hate someone, he wasn’t the type to touch another’s belongings.

If it had been him searching my room, he would’ve found the poison, been satisfied, and left.

I didn’t believe a servant had come in here on their own.

And yet, the fact that I could still predict the Grand Duke’s character and behavior in a time like this was laughable.

It hurt. So much that I could hardly breathe.

No matter how much I loved him, I didn’t think I could endure anymore.

No—was it even love anymore?

That man with the golden hair. The sea-blue eyes. The one who was so gentle to everyone—everyone but me. And yet loved by all.

It hurt.

What was this feeling?

My heart was still beating. A normal, steady heartbeat.

But something had changed.

Even when I realized he had pushed me into a false world, even when I knew I was being used for revenge against the Emperor—I had still felt a fluttering in my chest.

But not anymore.

I didn’t know what I was feeling now.

Slowly, I stood up and flung the door open.

Staggering, I made my way down the hallway toward Sasha’s room.

I no longer cared about hiding from the servants.

“…Grand Duchess!”

“How did you get out? Go back immediately. His Grace ordered that you are not to leave until the young master recovers—”

I stopped as I saw a group of maids approach with hostile faces.

It was funny when I thought about it. They treated me however they pleased, as if they were nobles or royalty themselves.

When they locked me in the attic under the Grand Duke’s orders, they had pushed me aside without a second thought.

I grabbed the hand of the maid who tried to seize my shoulder.

My arm trembled from weakness—I hadn’t eaten properly in days—but it was enough to make her freeze.

“What do you think you’re doing—!”

The once-quiet, insignificant Grand Duchess was grabbing her arm, and she looked absolutely furious about it.

She’s upset, huh?

Would she have been just as upset if it were Sasha grabbing her?

No—more likely, she’d be terrified to be touched by someone with higher status.

“How bold of you. No matter how I’m treated by the Grand Duke or his lover, I am the Grand Duchess, and before that, a princess. Even if the royal family shows me no interest, do you think a commoner maid who disrespects royalty would be left alone?”

Of course, they might just ignore any report I made.

Still, when the maid paled and backed away at my words, I gave a bitter laugh.

My voice had been loud enough that nearby maids flinched too. At least they didn’t try to stop me anymore.

When I reached Sasha’s door—not far away—I opened it without even knocking.

The servants inside looked at me as though they’d seen a ghost.

Pink hair swayed gently.

She wore a luxurious dress, seemingly about to go out somewhere again.

She had inflicted so much suffering on me with just a few words over the past month, and yet now she looked at me with that innocent, porcelain face—how shameless.

“Leave us.”

“But…!”

“The Grand Duchess seems to have something to say to me. Leave us.”

The same maids who had declared me a would-be murderer of a child, who had loudly speculated what I might do next—those same people now shut their mouths and left the room at Sasha’s order.

The door closed.

Large green eyes stared at me, full of feigned innocence. As if she truly didn’t know why I was here.

Those eyes didn’t belong to someone who had falsely accused an innocent woman of murder. Who had orchestrated public torment.

But I didn’t care anymore.

“Give me back the artifact you took from my room.”

Sasha tilted her head for a moment.

Then, as if she understood, she took something from a drawer and held it up.

“Oh, you mean this?”

The emerald artifact sparkled in the sunlight.

I gave a small nod. Sasha smiled faintly.

“No.”

Then she added, mockingly,

“This isn’t yours. It belongs to Karl. Everything you’ve ever had came from him. I don’t know why he gave it to you, but… mm. I don’t like you having it.”

I wanted to say it wasn’t from the Grand Duke, but something constricted inside me, and I froze.

Sasha’s green eyes glinted strangely.

“You know something?”

She began walking toward me slowly, holding the artifact.

There was a madness in her gaze. I instinctively stepped back—only to feel the wide, open window behind me.

Like a seductress, she leaned her body against mine.

“I really hate you. I was going to come find you eventually, but thanks for saving me the trip.”

You know something?

She asked again, cheerfully.

“I was the one who poisoned the child.”

I slowly turned my head toward her.

My mind went blank again, in a completely different way.

“There was no one else. I saw her—Lady Sasha put something in the milk bottle.”

I remembered the maid’s voice just before I left the attic.

“No matter how much I try to break your pride, it doesn’t work. And brute force doesn’t work either. Even you showing up like this—it annoys me.”

Crash!

“Sasha!”

The Grand Duke shouted her name and burst through the door.

“So, I decided to take more drastic measures.”

Time seemed to slow.

She reached behind me and threw the artifact out the window. Then, with a force I didn’t know she possessed, shoved me hard.

My thin, malnourished body, half-perched on the window ledge, teetered and fell.

“Sasha, are you all right?”

“H-hngh… Karl…”

The Grand Duke spared me only a glance as I fell, then turned to Sasha with concern.

She smiled as she watched me fall, then collapsed into the Grand Duke’s arms.

In that moment, I realized something.

The fragile sprout of love I had tried to grow in barren soil had already withered and died.

The pain I had felt was nothing but the leftover remnants of regret.

And now, even that had turned to ash and blown away.

Hatred for the Grand Duke and the woman named Sasha grew in its place.

That man… was someone who wouldn’t even blink if I died. Especially if Sasha was behind it.

I felt disgusted that I had once fought through so many painful emotions for people like them.

I no longer wanted to be at their mercy.

I wanted power.

The sensation of falling into empty air grew terrifyingly real.

And then—

A voice echoed in my ears:

[Do you desire us?]