~Chapter 64~
One month earlier.
“…What do you think, Dylan? Sonya?”
Aside from what was discussed with the Everett family, Camilla’s true plan was shared only with Dylan and Sonya.
After hearing Camilla’s plan, both of their faces hardened.
“So… your real plan is to put Lady Nina into a temporary death-like state using the ‘Golden Elixir,’ and then let her escape safely?”
“Yes.”
Camilla nodded lightly.
The Golden Elixir was a medicine the baron had demanded to be made for killing.
In truth, it was a drug that put the target into a temporary death-like state.
‘Just like the potion the priest gave in Romeo and Juliet.’
No matter what escape plan Nina made, this was the safest way to avoid the family’s pursuit.
“I won’t share this with the Everett family. Drake might be different, but they have no interest in Nina.”
Dylan asked calmly,
“…Wasn’t your goal to destroy the family?”
Camilla nodded. That was true as well.
But that was not the only thing she wanted most.
‘I won’t push Nina into the original story.’
The only person in this world who had approached her without any intent.
Even now, after everything had changed, the only family member who still loved Camilla unconditionally.
To Camilla, Nina was special.
“I want to save Nina.”
Saying that, Camilla looked at the two of them.
“Even if my plan fails, Sonya, you’re the only one I personally taught alchemy in the Mowin family. They won’t treat you lightly.”
Her gaze then moved to Dylan.
“And Dylan, your skills are outstanding. You could go anywhere.”
Sonya asked quietly,
“…What about you, miss?”
“Hm?”
“If this plan succeeds, Lady Nina will escape safely. But what about your safety, Lady Camilla?”
Camilla lifted the corner of her lips calmly.
“I’ll escape just fine on my own.”
She could not say things like one person falling is enough, or that she was preparing poison that would work on herself in case of failure.
At Camilla’s smile, Sonya replied clearly,
“Then there’s no need for a plan for failure. I will succeed and stay by your side.”
Camilla wanted to tell her to prepare just in case, but when she saw Sonya’s tear-filled eyes, she could not say it.
‘I’m sorry, everyone.’
In truth, she had never planned to run away.
Howin and Dylan seemed to sense it, but she deceived them anyway.
She had already committed many sins.
Even if it was for recognition, making drugs and becoming the arena’s manager meant she had helped Glamis’s crimes with her own hands.
‘Even if I stopped the poisoning.’
Those she believed the baron had killed using the Golden Elixir were secretly taken away from their funerals.
And—
“They will become one pillar that brings down the baron at the trial.”
That was what she had asked Dylan to do.
She had only one remaining wish.
‘I hope Nina has escaped safely by now.’
How much time passed after that?
Being trapped in the underground torture chamber, Camilla had lost all sense of time.
Then Ares came to visit her.
“The corpse disappeared.”
He growled quietly at Camilla.
“And we found traces that Nina—that empty-headed girl—escaped alive. Tell me, Camilla. You made the drug, didn’t you?”
Ares had gained everything without lifting a finger thanks to Nina’s “death.”
If Nina was alive, he had broken his promise to the Empress Dowager.
‘Nina really escaped.’
Only then could Camilla truly feel relieved.
“…Even I can’t make medicine that brings the dead back to life.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Someone like you could easily make a drug that fakes death!”
At Ares’s words, the baron pressed Camilla.
“Is that true?”
Looking at the baron, who desperately wanted to capture Nina, Camilla almost laughed.
“I asked whether you can make medicine now.”
“…If that were true, I would have begged to be spared using it as leverage.”
The baron was enraged.
Whether it was a lie or not, the girl before him had no will to live.
Then she had no value.
She could no longer make drugs for him, and she had a mouth that could expose his crimes at any time.
“That’s true. Dispose of ‘that thing,’ Ares.”
At those words, Ares reacted unexpectedly.
“Baron, can’t you just give her to me? She’s nothing but trash, but it would be a waste to dispose of her like this.”
Ares whispered into Camilla’s face.
“Beg. I might let you live.”
Camilla looked at his lust-filled face without expression.
“With Nina gone, it’s obvious where this family is headed.”
“What did you say?”
This damned family.
A family that deserved to fall.
Though she regretted not seeing its complete downfall, Camilla smiled again as she looked at the Mowin family members who would stand at the edge of ruin.
“Please all fall into hell.”
“You—!”
Shing!
With a low growl, Ares drew the sword at his waist and swung it toward Camilla.
Camilla blankly thought of the poison in the laboratory.
The poison she had specially made so it would work even on herself.
‘With that, I could die without pain. That’s a shame.’
At that moment—
Bang! Crash!
Noise erupted outside, where no sound should have reached the basement.
“Stop!”
“Ghk!”
At the sudden screams, Baron Mowin and Ares narrowed their eyes.
Thud thud thud!
Clack.
The door to the underground torture chamber opened, and the butler rushed in.
“What is all this noise? Has the investigation already closed in?!”
“…M-My lord, something terrible has happened! The Grand Duke of Escalus—!”
And what followed was something Camilla could not say she had never wished for.
“I told you to move.”
Camilla could not even breathe.
“You didn’t listen, so I had no choice but to make you move.”
Broad shoulders.
A solid body that even clothes could not hide.
Golden hair shining like gold thread, and arrogant blue eyes.
Those cold eyes were inorganic like sapphires—
yet the moment they looked at Camilla, they changed.
“I heard my fiancée was here.”
“The Grand Duke’s son?!”
It was strange.
‘Why?’
Camilla blinked.
She had given up everything and accepted death.
So why did seeing his face shake that resolve?
“You must be mistaken, Grand Duke’s son! The trial hasn’t even begun yet!”
Baron Mowin stepped in front of Camilla.
Dane looked down at him like dirt.
“Shut up.”
At that cold voice, Camilla’s heart dropped.
She didn’t know why Dane was here, but for a moment, she even wanted to cheer for Baron Mowin, who blocked Dane’s view of her.
She had always wanted to show Dane only her proud side.
She never wanted him to see her whipped and broken like this.
Their eyes met over the baron’s shoulder.
Camilla forced strength into her eyes, afraid she would cry.
Step.
Dane walked up to her and reached out.
Seeing the sword in his hand, Camilla felt her breath stop.
Clang!
Dane’s blade cut through the chain that bound Camilla’s wrist to the ceiling.
As Camilla collapsed to one knee, he caught her and whispered in a voice boiling with anger,
“How dare you do this to my fiancée?”
His fiancée.
‘You were Nina’s fiancée, weren’t you?’
‘…I hate you. Nina—she is my fiancée.’
Four months ago, she had thought everything between them was over.
He had clearly said he hated her.
Yet—
Dane draped his cloak over Camilla’s shoulders and lifted her into his arms, his eyes filled with tangled emotions.
“As a wedding gift, I should tear this place apart.”
A cold threat—
one that suited him all too well.
