Chapter 75
I Told You, I Didn’t Kill Him!
“Ah, finally! You’re here, Your Highness Vi!”
Devon, who had been chatting with guests, spotted me and hurried over.
Unlike the rough man I’d seen in Grayzone Village, he was now neatly dressed in a well-fitted suit.
“It’s good to see you, Chief Devon— no, I should say…”
I shook his hand and smiled brightly.
“I should be calling you Director Devon now, shouldn’t I?”
A graceful smile formed on the corners of his mouth.
“It’s all thanks to you, Your Highness Vi. You created this incredible opportunity for me and for my villagers.”
Devon turned, glancing at the entrance of the Welfare Foundation, lined with congratulatory wreaths, before continuing with emotion.
“Every guest who came to celebrate today has done nothing but praise you, Your Highness. To think you would establish a welfare foundation for half-demon hybrids right here, in the very heart of the North, and in such a fine building too!”
He paused, overwhelmed with feeling, then raised his voice with pride.
“I dare say, this place will become the greatest landmark in the entire Western Empire—a true symbol of coexistence between humans and demons.”
I nodded with satisfaction and looked up again at the building.
A three-story structure with elegant gray roofing atop its red brick walls.
The lease had been signed long ago, and before I left for the capital, I’d already set the opening date.
So now, exactly one week after returning to the North, the grand opening ceremony for the Half-Demon Welfare Foundation was being held in the building’s garden.
“Oh my, our Lady Vi has arrived! Everyone, come say hello!”
At Jacqueline’s booming voice, the faces of the Grayzone villagers lit up all at once.
“Your Highness Vi!”
“We can’t express enough how grateful we are… We never imagined you were this serious about supporting the half-demon welfare cause.”
“That’s right! We’re so touched, Your Highness Vi!”
The villagers of Grayzone and the servants of the House of Light and Shadow—
All of them expressed their gratitude, one after another.
‘It really was worth spending every last coin to found this place.’
Mina, looking as proud as I felt, suddenly pointed toward one corner of the garden.
“Your Highness, look over there. Some of the local nobles have already arrived.”
Following her finger, I saw several familiar faces I’d met before at Count Dmitri’s banquet and at the imperial gatherings.
I walked toward them slowly, exchanging polite glances with each.
‘Of course, I sent invitations to everyone, but there’s no way Camilla or Lobelia would show up.’
Their main connection—Henry Bart—had vanished from the world entirely.
But then, a thought made me frown slightly.
‘Even so, knowing Camilla, she would’ve forced herself to come just to keep up appearances for her husband’s sake. So why isn’t she here?’
Just then, a shadow fell across my feet.
“Ah, Lord Dmitri.”
It was Count Dmitri, Camilla’s husband.
He gently tapped his glass against mine, smiling politely.
“Congratulations on the opening of your foundation, Your Highness Vi.”
“Thank you for coming all this way.”
I smiled in return—but my attention was fixed entirely on the empty space beside him.
Realizing what my gaze meant, Dmitri’s smile stiffened awkwardly.
“I’m… truly sorry, Lord Dmitri.”
He nodded slowly, bitterness shading his expression.
“In the end… it came to separation.”
“So you’ve finally divorced?”
He shook his head.
“When the signed documents from the capital return, I’ll present them to His Majesty and His Holiness to complete the official process.”
“The capital? Didn’t you both return to the North together?”
“Yes, we did…”
His sigh was long and weary.
“But a few days later, before I knew it, Camilla had been taken away again—by the Capital Police.”
At the same time, in an interrogation room inside the Capital Police Department—
Bang! Bang!
“For the last time, I told you, I didn’t kill him!”
Camilla slammed the table so hard that her voice echoed through the room.
After several days in custody, she looked nothing like the noble countess she once was—exhaustion had hollowed her out completely.
The investigator looked no better. He rubbed his eyes and sighed deeply.
“Lady Dmitri, do you know why you’ve been brought all the way here to the capital, instead of being questioned in the North?”
“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
Bang!
This time, it was the investigator who hit the table.
“You’re the one talking nonsense! Pull yourself together! This is a murder case under direct watch of His Majesty the Emperor!”
Camilla’s golden eyes wavered violently.
“You already know that your affair with Henry Bart has been exposed. We also know you two were financially entangled over demonic trade goods—and that in the end, all the debt fell solely onto you, Lady Camilla.”
“…!”
“Can you think of a better motive for murder than that?”
His sharp eyes gleamed.
“You should confess now—it’s the only thing that’ll help you, Lady Dmitri.”
Camilla’s chin trembled as her eyes darted about nervously.
“Th-that’s absurd! Then what about Lobelia? She had a motive too! She knew about us! Maybe she wanted to kill Henry herself! Yes—Henry even said she’d grown strangely cold toward him around that time!”
The investigator shut his file with a snap.
“As a matter of fact, we’ve already detained Countess Bart as well.”
“Lobelia too…?”
“That’s right. She had her own reasons, sure—but you remain our primary suspect. The two of you weren’t just tangled in love, but in serious financial crimes.”
Glancing down at his notes, the investigator murmured to himself—loud enough for her to hear.
“Unbelievable. Not even ashamed before the lawful wife… so brazen to the end.”
But instead of being angered, Camilla’s face lit up with sudden relief.
“Wait—yes! Our alibis! Lobelia and I—we have each other as alibis! We were together at the time of Henry’s death!”
Just then, the interrogation room door opened, and a junior officer entered, whispering something into his superior’s ear.
“What? So it’s possible they plotted together? …Ugh. But there’s no record of the two contacting each other recently?”
The two officers whispered back and forth, glancing at Camilla repeatedly.
“Well? See? I told you! Lobelia said so too, didn’t she? That we were together at that time!”
She thought smugly to herself—of course Lobelia would have no choice but to say that, even if she was angry about the affair.
After all, she was the only one who could prove Lobelia’s alibi, and vice versa.
That day…
Camilla had lured Lobelia up to the top floor of the banquet hall.
Just one more flight of stairs.
And once she reached the top—she’d finally shove that woman, who clung to her like a mosquito in summer, right over the balcony.
But as they reached the final steps—
‘Camilla, how do you even know Henry’s up there?’
Lobelia stopped suddenly, unmoving despite Camilla’s urging.
It was as if she’d followed her up here just to ask that one question.
Then her usually gentle eyes turned sharp.
‘I actually know what’s going on between you and Henry.’
‘What… what are you talking about, Lobelia?’
‘You two are having an affair, aren’t you?’
“An… affair?”
It felt like being struck across the back of the head.
And then, hearing those words—“affair”—from Lobelia’s own mouth made her blood boil uncontrollably.
“You crazy woman, who do you think you are to say that? You think you can talk to me like that, you low-born—!”
The mask of the elegant countess cracked.
Her old street mannerisms came spilling out—those she’d picked up as a young lady from a poor baron’s family, hanging around the girls near the red-light district.
She suddenly remembered those days—
The laughter, the teasing voices of the girls who likely still lived there now,
suffering from syphilis passed on by fat clergymen and tuberculosis from talentless poets.
Would she, too, end up like that someday?
The thought jolted her.
No—she couldn’t. Not when she was this close.
Even if it wasn’t the rooftop, she could end it right here.
She grabbed Lobelia by the collar and shoved her toward the railing.
There was no thought—only the desperate instinct that she had to kill the woman before her.
‘Please, just die already! If you’re gone, I can finally be happy without obstacles!’
They struggled by the balcony—and then something fell from above.
Straw fluttered down.
Camilla looked up—just in time to see something drop.
It wasn’t until later that she realized it had been Henry’s body.
Recalling the scene, Camilla furrowed her brow and exhaled slowly.
‘If only I’d succeeded that day… you could’ve been with the woman you loved, Henry. Don’t you think that’s a shame?’
…Ah, right. Henry couldn’t hear her anymore.
A soft chuckle escaped her lips.
Clink.
The handcuffs around her wrists—after so many days—were finally released.
“As for threatening Countess Bart, she’s chosen not to press charges,” the officer said reluctantly.
“You’re free to go. Both of your alibis have been verified, and there’s no evidence of conspiracy.”
Camilla left the interrogation room, walking calmly.
Outside, brilliant sunlight—something she hadn’t seen for days—greeted her.
“Ha… damn.”
She squinted and raised a hand to shade her eyes.
Once she grew used to the light again, she opened them slowly, thinking to herself.
Even if she returned north, all that waited was the husband buried in debt because of her.
There was no reason to go back.
‘The divorce papers should’ve arrived at my lodgings by now. I’ll sign them, send them off, and then lay low in another province until the debt collectors lose interest.’
But before that, there was one last thing to do—
To get her hands on the Bart family’s secret assets that Henry had hidden, before Lobelia could touch them.
With that money, reclaiming her old life would be easy.
Morality was just a boring storybook illusion—
People were, after all, creatures drawn to wealth, power, and beauty.
‘It won’t be me rotting in the gutter without a husband or fortune—it’ll be you, Lobel.’
Her lifelong rival.
That thought alone was satisfying enough.
She bowed her head and laughed quietly for a long while.
Then suddenly, wiping a tear from her eye, she whispered to herself—
“Oh, right… there’s still one more.”
Her cracked lips curved into a chilling smile.
“Rebecca. Twins.”
