Chapter 68
“…Go in!”
The guard shoved Helene hard on the back.
Clank—the iron door of the cell slammed shut.
Helene couldn’t help but wonder if she had failed to change the original story after all.
The lowest-tier villain, Helene Emildia, had pretended to repent and even entered the royal court, only to be blinded by a moment of greed and steal Princess Angelina’s jewel. She was caught for theft, imprisoned in the underground dungeon, and eventually executed.
Despite all the chaos she caused, the ending was hardly different from the original story. Helene let out a bitter laugh.
The guest who had once dined with the emperor was now a newbie in the palace’s underground dungeon.
Who else in the world could go from heaven to hell in a single day like that?
The underground dungeon of Lepia Palace was dark and pitch-black, just like a cave, living up to its name.
The only light came from a single lantern hanging in the corridor.
Whether it was the damp chill or her own anxiety, Helene kept rubbing her forearms.
The stench of urine and mold assaulted her nose.
Rustling noises from the walls made her nervous, though she didn’t want to know whether they were rats or insects.
“…Hahahahahahahahaha!!”
Her neighbor in the next cell, who had supposedly been imprisoned for twenty years, seemed completely insane.
The sudden bursts of laughter sent Helene’s fear skyrocketing.
She had a foreboding feeling that if she stayed here for even a year, she’d end up laughing like that neighbor too.
“…Visiting hours.”
The guard’s voice was a relief like no other.
Helene, curled up on the hard bed to avoid something moving at her feet, quickly ran to the iron bars.
Right in front of her was Liliana.
“Li… Lili…”
“Stepmother… are you okay?”
Liliana pressed close to the bars, studying Helene’s face.
It was so dark that she had to be this close to even see her.
“…I’m fine. But what was that earlier? Why did you say that in front of the princess?”
Helene unleashed words she couldn’t say in front of others as soon as she saw Liliana.
Who did she think she was, defending me in front of the princess like some soap opera head office manager?
Helene thought Liliana’s earlier actions were reckless.
“How can the chief maid of a princess side with someone who isn’t the princess? Does the position of chief maid seem trivial to you?”
“Then are you telling me to leave my family behind and side with someone else? You sided with me, Stepmother!”
Liliana retorted immediately, refusing to back down.
Family.
Hearing that word, Helene felt her anger melt away.
It was the first time anyone had called her family—aside from Raoul, in both of her past lives.
Liliana continued to sulk. She must have been really angry.
“No… it’s fine if I take the blame. But if you’re implicated as an accomplice, what about Jaina and April…?”
Mentioning “Jaina” and “April” caused Liliana’s green eyes to flicker with worry.
She had no regrets about siding with her stepmother today, but she was worried that Jaina and April might suffer because of her.
Then, Liliana tilted her head, sensing something odd.
“This still feels strange… I can’t believe you did something like that, even caring more for Jaina and April than me…”
Her rational and foresighted stepmother, the one who thought of Jaina and April even more than she did, couldn’t possibly have done such a thing.
Liliana was certain Helene hadn’t stolen the sapphire hairpin.
She knew better than anyone that her stepmother wasn’t the type to do something like that.
Even if it were by accident, as her mother had said, she must have just absentmindedly put it in her pocket while admiring it.
She had probably made a mistake from being too nervous at the imperial lunch and the princess’s tea party.
Even if others criticized her for such a “mistake,” Liliana trusted Helene.
“I really think it’s strange too. Did you really do this?”
At that moment, a dark shadow appeared, and a tall man suddenly emerged.
It was Blaine.
Helene couldn’t hide her surprise at his sudden appearance.
“The godfather… how did you get here…?”
“I was at the palace today as well. When I heard about the theft, I came here immediately after learning the culprit’s name.”
Helene knew Blaine, closely connected to the royal family, came and went in the palace like it was his own home—but she hadn’t expected him today.
Helene lowered her head.
Even with her thick-skinned nature, being seen in prison was humiliating.
“……”
Blaine looked at Helene, trapped behind the bars.
In the past, he might have expected her to end up like this.
But not anymore.
This was no longer a place where she belonged.
Seeing her, once always confident, unable to even meet his eyes out of shame, pained him.
Clearing his throat to change the subject, Blaine asked again.
“Did you really take Princess Angelina’s sapphire hairpin by accident?”
In both her past and present life, Helene had never disappointed anyone.
No one had ever relied on her.
She had been ready to take the blame herself, fearing Liliana might do something reckless, but now, in front of Liliana and Blaine, she couldn’t bring herself to lie.
She didn’t want to make Liliana sad, and she knew that a clumsy lie wouldn’t work on Blaine.
Whether they believed her or not, she thought it might be best to tell the truth.
“…The culprit is Princess Angelina’s maid, Marisol.”
Blaine was surprised, but Liliana’s face instantly brightened, as if she had expected it.
“Why did she do it?”
“She wasn’t trying to frame me. She was trying to frame you, Liliana.”
Helene explained in a calm voice.
“Me…?”
“…Marisol is blindly devoted to Princess Angelina. She probably saw you as an obstacle.”
Liliana was shocked, then distressed at a sudden thought.
Perhaps Marisol had discovered her feelings for Duke Sieghart.
Thinking that Helene ended up in this situation because of her, tears streamed down her face.
“It’s… it’s because of me… Stepmother…”
“It’s not your fault… She did it to protect her position as chief maid. Marisol has always protected Princess Angelina that way.”
Hearing that, Liliana felt even more like giving up her chief maid position.
She even blamed herself for becoming chief maid and causing this mess.
Blaine, who had been silently listening, finally spoke.
“Then that’s strange… How did you know that Marisol put the sapphire hairpin in Liliana’s bag?”
Blaine wanted to help Helene properly.
A theft in the royal palace could mean execution—or a lifetime in the dungeon.
Even if the mistake were acknowledged, Helene would never enter the palace again.
In the worst case, she might even lose Liliana’s chief maid position—or Jaina’s bodyguard post.
That’s why Blaine wanted to actively defend her.
He trusted Helene, but a contradiction arose.
How could Helene know that Marisol would put the hairpin in Liliana’s bag?
If it was Marisol, the princess’s long-time maid, she would have done it skillfully, leaving little chance of being caught by Helene.
“Th-That’s…”
This world was a novel called <Unfinished Plan>, and Helene had read it in her past life, so she knew what kind of person Marisol was. But who would believe her if she said that?
Helene bit her lip in frustration.
How could she explain this?
It would be more convincing to say she saw it in a dream.
She considered lying, but that would mean continuing to fabricate stories.
In front of Liliana and Blaine, she didn’t want to lie anymore.
“…I know it sounds strange. I can’t explain it, but somehow I just knew.”
Helene could only say this.
Even if Liliana and Blaine didn’t believe her, there was nothing she could do.
“…Understood.”
Though full of gaps, Blaine held back the questions he wanted to ask.
He assumed she must have had her reasons.
“I believe you, Stepmother. Should we report this to the royal family as is?”
Liliana fully trusted Helene and was certain that Marisol was the culprit.
She wanted to get Helene out of the dungeon as soon as possible.
