Chapter 32
Russell’s invitation to Rena had been nothing but a grand trap.
Letting her step foot in the North, overlooking her rash behavior—it had all been calculated.
From the very beginning, Russell had never harbored even the slightest interest in her.
From the moment he handed her that bouquet, every single one of his actions toward her had been pretense.
‘I… I hope you’ll come after me, Russell Glacies.’
Back then, he had felt an overwhelming sense of disgust.
It wasn’t that he thought she was being presumptuous by acting coy with him—no, it was because his body and soul already belonged to someone who had long returned to the earth.
He felt sorry for her.
Even if they could never meet again for eternity—it didn’t matter.
Even if death separated them, Russell was convinced that someday he would see her again.
Even if, by that time, he looked nothing like the man she remembered.
‘Your eyes… they’re as beautiful as the sunset.’
Russell still had no intention of letting her go.
“I have two questions for you, Lady.”
“…What is it that you wish to know?”
Russell stepped away from her, disappearing behind the curtain billowing with the northern wind.
As she stared at the shadowed outline of his figure, an uneasy feeling crept up Rena’s spine.
The man who once smiled kindly and handed her flowers—he was gone.
What stood beyond that curtain now was the emissary of the North Wind.
“Is it true that you continuously bullied Fiana?”
The moment the question left his lips, Rena’s expression stiffened.
He’s been digging into the ducal family’s past.
“You’re really bringing up such boring, old stories right now? You’ve got no sense, do you?”
“Answer me.”
“Why does that even matter—!”
Rena tried to take a step forward—but her body wouldn’t move.
Her eyes widened as she stared ahead.
Russell remained half-hidden behind the fluttering curtain, a dark silhouette.
When she forced her gaze upward, she realized the ceiling was covered in thorny vines. From those thorns bloomed flowers of deadly beauty.
“It’s a paralytic poison. You can still move your lips, so answer my questions.”
“Ha! Is that supposed to be a threat?”
“Depending on how you behave, it might become one.”
So he wasn’t even denying it.
Rena’s whole body tensed, every muscle stiff with fear. She couldn’t figure out what kind of magic this was.
I smelled something unfamiliar in the room earlier. Could it be related to that?
But the scent hadn’t been strong, and its base note was something she’d never encountered before.
Rena tried to gauge his true intentions carefully.
Does he really plan to take that half-wit Fiana as his duchess?
“Are you seriously planning to make that simpleton your wife?”
“Lady, I dislike repeating myself.”
Rena bit her lip so hard it turned white. Since she couldn’t move, the only thing she could do was answer.
“Yes, I bullied her. I did! So what of it?”
Russell said nothing.
Taking his silence as encouragement, Rena began to justify herself, her words spilling faster, harsher.
“She was a defective from birth—born blind! She didn’t deserve to be part of House Lucianos at all! She should’ve been grateful we even fed her three meals a day!”
Russell felt a sudden surge of disgust.
Before he realized it, his right hand trembled, fingers twitching as if to snap.
He didn’t understand why—but he forced his hand still.
No… not yet. There’s more I need to hear.
Unaware of his rising fury, Rena kept talking freely.
“Yes! It’s ridiculous to even compare her to me! Every time she lost her bread to me or tripped because I stuck out my foot, she’d run crying into the woods! That useless thing—how could she ever be suited to withstand the North as a duchess?”
“What did you just say?”
Russell stepped out from behind the curtain, and Rena, now hysterical, shouted:
“Everything she has belongs to me!”
Russell froze.
And Rena, as if demanding to be understood, screamed even louder:
“Why is everyone in the North obsessed with her? Fiana this, Fiana that! Obviously, I’m the one who can see, who’s talented—I’m the one who deserves to be duchess! Unless… unless she did something—”
SMACK!
The blow came like a bolt of lightning. Her body lost all strength, and she collapsed to the floor. Her throat tightened—no words came out.
The poison’s concentration… it’s stronger now.
Her eyes rolled upward. The ceiling flowers bloomed in full again. She still didn’t know their name or their scent, but she could tell—they weren’t flowers that grew in the capital.
Even with the window open, this level of potency… could this really be magic?
A faint murderous aura seeped from Russell.
“I can’t stand to hear another word.”
He knew this kind of person all too well.
He had grown up surrounded by them—vile, sneering, cruel.
He had wanted to forget them, but he never could.
‘You useless brat!’
‘In this pit, the slow ones get eaten alive!’
‘Ha! The beggar girl’s dead! Bring in the next one!’
The voices in his head were nauseating.
He had thought the world outside the slums would be different, but people in the capital weren’t much better.
Rena Lucianos was no different.
She just had the privilege of a noble birth.
Had she grown up where he did, she would’ve been just another villain.
“Have you been comparing yourself to Fiana your entire life, Lady?”
“W-what did you say?”
“Then stop.”
Russell stepped closer, and Rena flinched.
The emissary of the North Wind, the one who could summon blizzards, stood right before her.
“Fiana doesn’t consider you family. She doesn’t even care about you. So just answer my question quietly.”
In truth, he didn’t even want to question her anymore. He just wanted to put her to sleep with the paralytic poison and send her back south.
But there was one thing he had to confirm.
“Does Fiana Lucianos possess magic?”
“Nonsense!”
Rena denied it fiercely, her breathing ragged. Her eyes were bloodshot from the strain.
Of course she knew Fiana never saw her as family—not since long before that fateful accident.
But that didn’t make it hurt any less.
And now, the idea that Fiana might have magic—
Then I’d have nothing over her at all.
In this empire, magic was worth more than beauty, more than grace.
“If she has magic, then it’s only natural that I should have it too!”
Rena’s body trembled with fury. Then, a chilling realization struck her.
Her lips trembled as she spoke.
“Don’t tell me… you brought me all the way here just to ask me that?”
Russell gave no reply.
He only looked down at her, his eyes colder than the raging blizzard outside.
Rena let out a hollow laugh, then burst into manic laughter.
“Ha… haha…! You invited me here just to humiliate me like this, didn’t you?”
And at that moment, she finally understood—
She had been devoured by the northern wolf.
Not as prey, but as a toy to be broken and discarded.
Her face twisted in fury.
“I’ll never forgive you! I’ll tell my father everything!”
“Do as you wish. But if Duke Lucianos comes here himself, I’ll do as I please too.”
Her teeth ground audibly. Russell didn’t even flinch.
The Lucianos were a powerful house, yes—but not powerful enough to win against a man of royal blood.
Troublesome, nothing more.
Russell walked up to the paralyzed Rena and knelt before her.
His eyes glowed with a destructive crimson light—like an omen of the end.
“But before you tell your father, Lady,” he said coolly, “you might want to consider something.”
“…And what would that be?”
Rena asked, averting her eyes from his piercing gaze.
He smirked faintly.
“That perhaps… you’ve failed to live up to his expectations.”
