IVHMH 03

Chapter 3

“Since I’m here, you can go now.”

The friendly voice with a trace of a smile belonged to Leticia.

The maid left the room without another word.

It was nothing unusual—Leticia always dismissed the maids whenever she came in.

Leticia approached the bed and sat down, leaning in close to look at my face.

“You’ve been through so much. I’ll let you rest now.”

Her fingers brushed my face gently.

Where her fingers passed, a cold sensation lingered.

Though I couldn’t move at all, my senses were still vivid.

“Very soon, Gustavo will become the Crown Prince. And of course, I’ll be right at his side.”

Leticia’s lips curved into an elegant smile.

Was that what a demon’s smile looked like? Her expression was filled with nothing but malice.

“Naturally, the Crown Princess’s seat should be yours.”

Gustavo approached and pressed a kiss to Leticia’s head.

Looking up at him, Leticia’s face shed its venomous smile and instead bloomed with warmth.

She looked at him affectionately and asked,

“Did everything go well?”

“Yeah. Since his daughter was involved, the Duke of Sheaton couldn’t say a word.”

“A woman’s jealousy really is scary, isn’t it? She doesn’t even hesitate to kill.”

Leticia pressed her finger to Gustavo’s lips as if branding him with her touch.

“Thanks to Delina Sheaton, everything went much smoother. All I did was provoke her a little, and she took care of the rest.”

“Hmph, what a foolish woman. To think she could become Crown Princess by killing Princess Risha.”

What stood before me wasn’t human—it was a demon.

Even after orchestrating something so horrific, they were enjoying themselves.

‘I have to tell the truth. If His Majesty the Emperor finds out about their wicked scheme, he’ll never forgive them.’

I glared at them with wide, burning eyes, but I had lost my voice and couldn’t move even a finger. I had no choice but to swallow my rage in silence.

Because I couldn’t say a word, they freely discussed everything.

Delina was desperate to marry Tirzen.

When the Crown Prince got engaged to the princess of the Khan Kingdom, Delina, blinded by jealousy, poisoned her.

She lured the princess and the imperial daughter Loena to the old Berato estate and framed Tirzen for the crime.

“What about the imperial daughter?”

“She’ll die soon. Just because she woke up for a bit doesn’t mean the poison was cured.”

At the thought that they even planned to kill Loena, I felt a crushing pain in my chest, as though my heart were being squeezed.

‘No! You already killed the innocent Crown Prince with your filthy hands! Don’t kill the unaware imperial daughter too! Your sins will never be forgiven!’

I screamed with all my might, but no sound left my lips.

I had always wondered how such a clever, strong man could be brought down so easily—it was because of his sister, Loena.

By the time the Crown Prince arrived at the scene, Delina had already fled the estate.

Risha was dead, and Loena was unconscious.

There were traces of the crime all over, but they all pointed to Loena.

Crown Prince Tirzen smuggled his sister away and took the blame upon himself.

“That idiot actually confessed just to give Loena the antidote.”

“If he’d known the antidote only had a temporary effect, he wouldn’t have died so peacefully.”

“Well, we gave him that small mercy. He died comfortably, not knowing his sister would follow him soon enough.”

They burst out laughing as though it was the most amusing thing in the world.

Then a long, drawn-out kiss followed.

After a while, as they whispered softly to each other and reluctantly separated, Leticia approached me with a small brown vial in her hand.

“This is the medicine I’ve been giving you all this time. It doesn’t kill you instantly—it kills you slowly.”

She waved the brown vial in front of my eyes.

Her eyes gleamed with delight.

“No one will suspect poison. You’ll just look like you died of illness.”

“You’ve worked hard, Leticia.”

Gustavo whispered kindly as he wrapped his arm around Leticia’s shoulder.

Just as she opened the vial to pour the contents into my mouth, Leticia paused in surprise.

“Oh dear, I forgot to mention something important.”

“Tell her everything. Might as well make her journey a peaceful one.”

Leticia feigned sympathy while Gustavo chuckled, clearly in a good mood.

“It’s just a short story—she can hear it after the dose.”

Leticia grabbed my chin and forced my lips open to pour in the medicine.

The familiar taste clung to my tongue.

It had always been diluted before, but now it was pure. The concentrated dose was so bitter it numbed my tongue.

“We found the letter in your room. When we showed it to Duke Mares, he agreed to our plan without saying a word.”

“……!”

That day… I’d run out in a panic after hearing news of the Crown Prince and forgot to hide the letter.

Was that why my adoptive parents hadn’t come to see me even once in the past three months?

‘Because I knew the whole truth?’

[……The late Duke Mares, your father, passed away in an accident before contacting his younger brother, Lord Roel. Isn’t it strange that someone claiming to be your uncle stepped forward only after the duke’s death, without any proof of identity?]

There was now no doubt that Bellus’s suspicious words had all been true.

“If it weren’t for your father-in-law, we couldn’t have gotten the Crown Prince sentenced to death. We owe him a lot.”

What would’ve ended with his dethronement had escalated to a death sentence because her adoptive father intervened.

Their intertwined secrets had given them the power to manipulate each other.

“I’m going to be adopted as Duke Mares’s daughter. Isn’t it such a lovely story? A grieving couple adopts their daughter’s best friend—how touching.”

Leticia’s sharp laughter pierced my ears like needles.

Staring at the two of them laughing like demons, my consciousness began to fade.

A tear, heavy with resentment, slipped down the corner of my eye.

‘I’ll never forgive you! Even if I become a vengeful spirit, I’ll make you pay!’

A light drizzle fell over the forest, which was dim and murky like a fog had settled over it.

It was still early afternoon, but the dark clouds covering the sky allowed not a single ray of light through the woods.

Though not a downpour, the weather was far from ideal for riding.

Kais grumbled the entire way, blaming the gloomy skies.

“Hey, Tirzen. Do we really have to be out here in this weather?”

“Stop whining. This little bit of rain isn’t a big deal.”

“Why do we have to wander around in the rain instead of just camping somewhere dry?!”

Tirzen didn’t care at all about appearances, so this kind of weather didn’t bother him, but Kais was different.

He looked down at his wet, bedraggled clothes.

When they had left the Grand Berato Estate that morning, he had been dressed to perfection—truly the capital’s most fashionable man.

But after being soaked by rain all day, he now looked like a drowned rat.

He scowled.

“If I stay wet like this, I’m definitely going to catch a cold…”

“Then you need more physical training if a little rain can knock you out.”

The cold reply came without hesitation.

Kais pouted.

Even though they were both soaked, Tirzen still somehow managed to look dashing and mysterious.

‘They say God is fair?’

“Not a chance.”

“What’s not?”

“God is not fair!”

Kais shouted irritably.

He wasn’t just annoyed that Tirzen responded to his muttering—he was frustrated by the constant comparison between them.

“I mean, it’s not like I’m bad-looking either.”

As he glanced at Tirzen walking ahead, he muttered quietly.

Those deep blue eyes, cold as a frozen lake, held a magnetic pull. His chiseled face, perfectly sculpted, and the lean, muscular body he maintained without a flaw—even as a man, Kais found it unfairly attractive.

“Only flaw he’s got is that personality.”

A cold and emotionless personality that didn’t allow anyone in.

Whether it was divine error or intent, the Creator had marred His perfect creation with one fatal flaw.

Tirzen was extremely sensitive when it came to right and wrong.

He never wavered in his principles, and he didn’t let rank or status influence his decisions.

“If only he had a bit more human empathy, he’d be perfect.”

Kais shook his head as he stared at Tirzen’s back, dripping with rain.

The only crack in Tirzen’s icy shell was his younger sister, Loena.

He was completely soft for her.

Whenever he was with Loena, it was like he became a different person—overflowing with warmth and affection.

“If he’d just show a fraction of the care he gives Loena to other women, things would be so much better.”

“Why are you grumbling back there?”

Because of the low-hanging branches, they couldn’t ride fast through the woods. With his sharp hearing, Tirzen caught everything Kais was muttering.

“Guess your servants will be in a panic again today, huh?”

“The estate is built to withstand storms. Nothing to worry about.”

“It’s not the house I’m worried about—it’s Loena.”

Kais smirked at Tirzen, who had clamped his mouth shut in disapproval.

Tirzen left estate management to the steward, Brict, but Loena was the exception.

If she so much as ran a fever, Tirzen stayed up all night by her side.

Naturally, the estate staff had to be constantly on edge to prevent anything from happening to Loena.

‘They’re probably panicking right now, worried she might catch a cold in this weather.’

Kais was brushing aside some branches when a fluttering piece of fabric caught his eye.

“Huh? Isn’t that a person?”

Tirzen also stopped his horse and followed Kais’s gaze.

A woman was draped over a not-so-high branch like laundry.

Her chest was caught on the branch, with her arms and legs dangling downward.

Her long, rain-soaked blonde hair completely obscured her face.

From where they stood, it wasn’t clear if she was dead or alive.

Tirzen turned his head indifferently and began to move again.

“You’re just going to leave her?”

“She climbed up there herself. I’m sure she can get herself down.”

That was just like Tirzen—completely uninterested in other people’s problems.

Kais quickly urged his horse forward to block Tirzen’s path.

Tirzen frowned, clearly annoyed, but Kais didn’t back down.

“If a woman is unconscious in that position up in a tree, it means something went wrong.”

“So what? It’s not like I caused it.”

“Of course you should take her with us and help her. Judging by her clothes, she’s definitely a noble lady. Imagine how worried her family must be.”

Letting her stay out in this weather when night was about to fall was unthinkable.

If she remained unconscious all night in that position, she could die of hypothermia.

Even if she woke up, how would a noble lady make it out of the forest alone in the dark?

“Your problem is that you meddle in pointless things.”

“And that girl is one of the people you’ll rule over someday—shouldn’t you care at least a little?”

Tirzen didn’t seem moved by Kais’s words in the slightest.