Chapter 53

The assassination of Charles Argos and the critical condition of Raul Berze.

Two shocking pieces of news were enough to plunge the imperial family and nobility into chaos. Though it hadn’t yet spread to the common people, it was only a matter of time.

And the one who suffered the greatest shock and predicament was none other than Rosie Nevermore, the very person who caused the incident.

“……”

The moment she woke up, she was met with Camilla, who was ready to kill her, and the Emperor and Empress desperately trying to stop her.

Having lost her brother, whom she trusted, and with Raul, whom she loved, in critical condition, Camilla had completely lost her rationality.

“Move. I’ve spared her for Layla’s sake until now, but that woman doesn’t deserve to live.”

“Calm down. I understand your anger, but now is not the time to wield a spear.”

“Put the spear away, Camilla. That’s what the enemy wants. We need to kill the mastermind. The punishment of an ignorant accomplice can wait.”

Camilla, crackling with blue electricity, looked utterly terrifying as she tried to kill Rosie.

When people are pushed to their limits, they often become eerily calm, and while Camilla’s eyes were cold, her spear was anything but.

Thanks to the Empress’s persuasion, Camilla reluctantly turned her back, but the Empress herself wasn’t kind enough to let this slide.

“The acting Minister of War was in the middle of finding a way to clean up your mess.”

He didn’t particularly like Rosie. He simply judged that her downfall would cause long-term damage. His personal feelings were minimal—just a faint goodwill toward a fellow noble.

“Your former fiancé, Raul Berze, our mentor, Arthur Berze, and even the acting Minister of War, Charles, all cared for you.”

The Empress smiled coldly and stabbed Rosie’s heart with her words.

“Congratulations. You’ve cut them all down with your own hands.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

“Of course you didn’t. If you had, you’d have woken up in a cold underground prison, right? How nice it would’ve been if you had known. Then we wouldn’t have had to endure this.”

The Empress’s words pierced Rosie’s heart sharper than any blade.

The guilt of tarnishing her mentor’s honor and toppling one of the nation’s pillars because of her actions came crashing down like a tidal wave.

On top of that, the fear that Raul might die by someone else’s hand.

“If my friend Raul dies like this…”

The Empress glared at Rosie with a deadly serious expression, devoid of any humor.

“Then you’ll beg me to kill you, little girl.”

“…You’re quite harsh, Your Majesty.”

“Oh? Should I say something even harsher?”

The Empress laughed mockingly.

“What would Layla say if she saw you now?”

“How dare you bring up my sister…!”

“Trust me, we know your sister better than you do. We’ve shed more blood together than the tea you’ve shared with her.”

After the Empress left, Rosie began to drift in a sea of unknown emotions.

An innocent person had died. Because of her.

She wanted to explain. That it wasn’t intentional. That the real culprit was someone else.

But the moment she said that, the Empress and Emperor would sneer and reply:

‘Wasn’t it the same with your sister, Marquess?’

‘Do you expect the logic you used for your hatred not to apply to the hatred directed at you? How selfish.’

She had no choice but to crumble under the same logic. And if she did, she might have to face a cruel truth.

The truth that her sister’s death was inevitable.

She didn’t want to face that, even in death. Her sister had to have died by Raul’s hand. It had to be that way.

Only then could she turn her love for her sister into hatred. Because nothing hurt more than losing the place where her love for her sister could go.

“Sister… tell me… if you’re listening, answer me… come to me…”

Unlike Raul, who was being guarded by Rizel, the Emperor, the Empress, and Camilla, no one stood by Rosie’s side.

Her relatives believed that her death would allow them to take her place.

She had no allies left.

She had tarnished the honor of the mentor who had always stood by her.

The fellow noble who had always judged neutrally and helped her had also lost his life because of her.

And her fiancé, who would have protected her in place of her sister no matter what, had become her enemy.

She was now truly alone. An outcast with no allies.

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, she wasn’t seriously injured and was able to leave the treatment room after simple care.

But the moment she stepped out, a hand struck her cheek like lightning.

The sharp pain and the sound of the slap made Rosie glare at the culprit.

“Rizel Berze.”

“Add ‘Countess’ to that, Marquess Rosie Nevermore.”

“Do I owe manners to a ruffian who slapped my cheek?”

“Do you think one slap is enough for someone who caused my mentor’s death, insulted my father, and put my brother in that state?”

“…Ha. If you think that’s cheap, are you planning to slap me again?”

Rizel answered by slapping her other cheek.

“Yes.”

“…You’re more violent than you look.”

“And you’re as venomous as you look.”

Rosie looked down on Rizel.

She thought of her as trash who had lived comfortably under her brother’s shadow. To Rosie, Rizel posed no threat.

“Have you hit me enough? I won’t hold back if you go further.”

“No. I won’t hit you anymore. But instead…”

Rizel glared at Rosie with a sharp, venomous gaze.

“I’ll show you hell.”

“If you can’t bite from the start, don’t even bark, Rizel Berze.”

“Right. I’ll bite you properly now.”

“Huh?”

Rizel showed her the appointment letter she had received from the Empress.

“I’ve been put in charge of investigating this incident.”

Hearing this, Rosie lost her composure for the first time and nearly fell backward.

It was already highly unusual for a family head to investigate a case involving a noble’s death. But to appoint Rizel, who couldn’t possibly be neutral, was a blatant declaration of intent to mess with Rosie.

If Camilla’s brother were alive, he would have opposed this as unjust.

If Raul were in good health, he would have protected her at all costs.

But now, she was alone. She had to overcome all these obstacles on her own.

“…Go ahead.”

No matter how much Rizel schemed to bring her down, Rosie was still a family head with power.

She could protect her position, and a vague incident like this wouldn’t be enough to take her down.

She might suffer some painful losses, but she was confident she could recover.

“Don’t worry. I’m not doing this to bring you down.”

“Huh?”

“But I do plan to leak parts of the investigation frequently. So that everyone, from other nobles to the poor in the empire’s outskirts, will know.”

Rizel pointed to the Nevermore family crest on Rosie’s chest.

“That the Nevermore family is connected to the demons. That they made some kind of deal and tried to kill not only the acting Minister of War, Charles, but also Raul Berze.”

“…Don’t.”

For the first time, Rosie showed signs of panic.

“I did it. Target me. Leave my family out of this.”

“How can I do that without clear evidence? Who would deliberately target something that won’t cause any damage?”

“…Please, don’t. Don’t tarnish the honor my sister raised.”

Rizel scoffed and replied mockingly.

“It wasn’t me who tarnished it. It was you.”

With those words, Rizel left abruptly.

Left alone again, Rosie began to collapse under her own logic.

“No… I only wanted revenge for my sister…”

Rosie couldn’t finish her sentence.

What mattered wasn’t the process but the result. Just like the logic she had forced on Raul.

In the end, she had brought in the demons, killed one of the empire’s pillars, and stained the honor of her family.

“…I just wanted that man to suffer as much as my sister did. I never… wanted this to happen.”

Rosie just wanted Raul to suffer.

She wanted him to feel the pain her sister had felt as she died.

That was all.

“That man has to suffer… He has to suffer as much as my sister did…”

“No.”

A sudden voice made Rosie turn her head.

What she saw was a small crow.

“He’s already suffered enough. No, he’s still suffering. He feels many times the pain Layla Nevermore felt every day.”

“Who are you…? No, never mind that.”

Rosie glared at the crow with venomous eyes.

“Don’t make me laugh…! There’s no way that man suffered because of my sister’s death…!”

The crow covered its eyes with its wing and cursed.

“Damn it… Spoiled rotten, huh… This is all your sister’s fault… Should’ve beaten some sense into you.”

“Don’t you dare insult my sister with your filthy mouth!”

“If it weren’t for that lizard woman’s barrier, I’d have flown over and plucked your eyes out long ago. What am I even doing this for?”

The crow glared at Rosie with eyes filled with mixed emotions.

“You’re really beyond correction, you know that?”

As the crow flapped its wings in irritation, a black wind began to swirl, as it always did.