Chapter 46
“Don’t follow me.”
“It’s my duty to protect the lady—”
“No. Stop. Do not set foot on the second floor.”
I left Luca, who seemed ready to chase me all the way to my room, and hurried inside. Then I packed in a panic.
If Nathan’s health was failing, it would be smarter to get away as fast as possible.
Is this enough?
I muttered while checking the pouch that held the most important jewels. I hadn’t managed to take everything valuable from the house, but I had to make do.
For some reason, the estate felt very quiet today.
Is this a sign to run?
Just as I slung the bag over my shoulder and moved to leave my room—
“Sister, where are you going?”
Nathan stood in the doorway, looking perfectly well.
“Hey—” I started, then stopped.
“No. You, stand over there and watch quietly.”
“Yes.”
What was this? Luca was standing in the corner, watching me just as Nathan had ordered. Were they in on this together?
Panic flared. Should I strike now? I clenched the dagger hidden at my waist.
“Even if you struggle, it’s useless,” Nathan said, smiling as if he were amused.
“You mocking my swordsmanship?” I snapped. Pride pricked me, though it was ridiculous — I’d never learned to fence.
“How do you think it would be, sister? If people did whatever I told them to?”
No. No way.
My father’s old story about a man who stole rank and wealth with hypnotic words flickered in my mind. The legend of the voice that bent people to its will.
“Can you really put people under a trance?” I asked.
“It’s curious, isn’t it?” Nathan replied lightly.
“Sounds wonderful.”
“No. It’s not that wonderful. It’s hard work — I only used it this once and I don’t plan on doing it again.”
You mean you used it to try to kill me?
He nodded, as if confirming a piece of perfectly ordinary news.
“Why would you want to kill me?” I demanded.
“My mother’s will,” he said simply. Take the Lambert dukedom.
How filial of you. I couldn’t hold back the barb. “Do you think the lady in heaven would be pleased you’re committing wicked deeds?”
Nathan’s smile tightened as though I’d hit the truth. Enjoying the taste of victory, he forced his tone to evenness and continued.
“You must understand. She felt betrayed by the Lambert house.”
“So you plan to kill my father and me?”
“No. Only you, sister. Don’t worry about Father.”
Would I not worry? I’m the one who’s supposed to die.
I stared at him, incredulous.
“So you were the one who sent the assassins during the festival, and the ones who tried to flip the boat?”
“That’s right. You noticed cleverly,” he said, chuckling.
His casual smirk made my blood boil. Then another terrible thought hit me.
“You made Rina give me that poison, didn’t you?”
My previous life’s death flashed through me—the sleeping draught that had really been poison. I had been murdered by Nathan.
My Doomed Love Is Entertaining
Episode 86
(Excerpt omitted)
“You made Rina drug me?”
“No. I didn’t control Rina.”
It was the first time Nathan had encountered someone who moved according to his plan without him having to use his power.
Four months earlier.
“Thank goodness. I can relax a little now. Thank you.”
“No need. I’m glad the business is prospering.”
Nathan lingered outside the drawing room and eavesdropped on the conversation between Duke Lambert and Count Pover.
Take the Lambert house. But do not use your power.
My mother’s will was picky. She had ordered me to secure the family’s position but to win Father’s approval honestly. So I had tried to win his favor without using the trance power — every use cost the user’s life-force. Mother had drained herself and died young because of overuse.
“I was worried when my daughter suddenly started investing,” Father had said.
“That’s right. I nearly let go of it myself.”
“You’re my daughter. I wouldn’t mind passing the title to you.”
“Have you finally decided?”
“I’m still thinking. Nathan is my son, but—the bloodline is… complicated.”
Nathan felt his heart drop. He had assumed the inheritance would be his.
I must plan.
As he headed down the corridor, a fragment of conversation stopped him.
“Lucky you, Rina. You’ll be Yvonne’s personal maid.”
“Isn’t that wonderful?”
“You don’t seem thrilled. Well, you like Nathan, after all.”
The words were odd. Showing affection is a mistake; never fall in love. Mother’s warning echoed in his head. Yet his sister and the maid showed such foolish love.
Using someone who loves you can be useful, he remembered his mother saying.
“Hello, Rina.”
So Nathan approached.
At first it was a greeting. Later, he spun a loneliness so convincing—
“The house is lonely. My father and sister don’t treat me like family.”
—he aroused pity.
“Please, don’t be so sad, my lord. I’ll take better care of you.”
Rina, sweet and foolish, fell for the performance. Nathan stopped pretending to cry and smiled at her.
Two months later, he’d become close to her — to the point that she fussed over him more than she did Yvonne. The time to act came.
“Rina, you love me more than the lady, right?”
“Of course. It’s a secret from the lady, yes?”
“You know I’m not close to her.”
He scanned the room, made sure no one looked, then handed Rina a vial.
“The lady hasn’t been sleeping well. Give her this instead of a sleeping draught.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t ask what it is.”
“If I ask, will you tell me?”
Of course he wouldn’t.
Nathan laughed it off. “I’ll go deliver it.”
“Wait — will you really give it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Lord Nathan asked me to,” she said with a blush.
At the sight of her smile, a strange pang touched Nathan’s chest. Was that guilt?
“You’re her personal maid, after all.”
“Anyway, I’ll go now.”
Her face flushed and she hurried away. Nathan felt odd — being on the receiving end of someone’s goodwill was new.
“Have you lost your mind, the audacity of a maid attempting to harm a lady.”
Duke Lambert’s voice thundered as he confronted Rina.
Nathan looked at Yvonne, lying motionless, and thought, she will never wake.
The plan had succeeded. Without using his power, he had disposed of his sister. The Lambert house would naturally be his.
“Why did you poison her?” Duke Lambert demanded.
“…” Rina said nothing.
He had ordered it; she had only followed. He had expected her to explain, to be vindicated, yet she kept silent. Strangely, she did not try to justify herself.
“Until you tell me the reason, put her in the dungeon and deprive her of water.”
Rina was dragged to the pitch-dark prison below.
Two days later, Nathan entered the study.
“Release Rina.”
“Do you not know what that woman did?” his father asked.
“I know. I told her to do it.”
He had never intended for her to confess; he’d used her. But when she was thrown in the dungeon, guilt gnawed at him.
“Why would you—”
“If you had chosen me as heir sooner, this would not have happened.”
“You mean to kill your sister for that?”
Anger flared in Duke Lambert’s eyes. Nathan left the study with a relieved sigh.
In exchange for the title, I will no longer touch my sister.
He smiled and vowed to treat the family better when he became duke — no more commands, only money. He believed the stain would be lifted and Rina would return.
But the next day—
“What do you mean by execution?” “There was no alternative.”
Rina was executed.
“She’s innocent. I only had her follow my orders!”
“You cannot tell the truth. Not if you want to preserve our house’s honor.”
She had no farewell. She was gone forever.
Nathan had expected things to be bearable. But he kept seeing her traces around the estate — the places she loved, the paths she took.
“It’s absurd,” he said with a laugh, wiping tears — the first he’d ever shed in the ducal house.
With her, life in the mansion had been less dull. What had she been to him?
A few days later, I woke.
Even the famed priests had given up on healing me, but when my purple eyes met his—
Rina is gone, so why only you remain?
His anger redirected itself. He swore to use his power until he finally killed her — his way of righting Rina’s injustice.
And then he said it.
Sister, stab your own heart. For Rina.
At last, Nathan smiled and commanded his sister to die for his revenge.
[Comments]
→ ?? She died because of you?
→ That brother blames everyone else
→ The family is so strange;;
→ Rina really loved him!
Back in the present, the cold truth sank into me: Nathan had meant to use the trance to make me kill myself. He’d planned it so carefully — his power, the poisoned draught, the staged evidence.
I stared at him, at the easy cruelty in his face. The house was quieter than it had any right to be. Luca stood like a statue. Panic and fury warred inside me.
I must not die this way.
I tightened my hand around the dagger, but Nathan’s voice was soft and assured.
“You might as well give up.”
“Never,” I wanted to shout. Instead, I searched his eyes for any hesitation. There was none.
I won’t let him win.
The estate’s old legends had warned against such voices. But I had to act now — or be acted upon.
