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Marysa’s body began to harden. She was excelling too well in her role as the Adopted Daughter.

Marysa’s eyes darted from side to side.

Seeing this, Viola calmly said, “Don’t worry. The Shopkeeper isn’t here either. It’s just you, the Duke, and me.”

“How did you know about the Empress’s mask?”

“Isn’t it surprising to know something about Duke Salmon’s past?”

In fact, Marysa had been thinking that Salmon was acting to some extent. Nelak and Heron. And she presumed that Salmon orchestrated it with a slight touch of dramatization. It was a rational and common-sense thought.

“I thought you wouldn’t believe it if it were Duke Marysa,” she said.

Munch. Viola took a bite of the egg tart.

It had cooled down a bit, but the signature dish of Winter Castle was indeed a signature dish.

‘Ah, it’s delicious.’

A sweet fragrance seemed to spread through her entire body.

It was one of the rare moments when she felt glad to have been possessed.

“So, you requested a private meeting separately.”

“Does anyone else know about the Empress’s mask?”

“No. I didn’t tell my father.”

The tension in Marysa’s body eased a bit. “If the secret leaks, the responsibility will fall on Princess Viola.”

“Perhaps you’ve been thinking that you have to eliminate me in your mind.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“To become Maryantu’s heir, you cursed your own beloved older sister.”

Marysa’s eyes turned cold. “You’re casually uttering words that could be problematic. Are you trusting the background of the Young Noblewoman, your petty strength, or just being childish?”

Marysa’s aura was fierce, but Viola continued without concern. “The Empress’s mask originally wasn’t yours, but it became yours.”

“…….”

In “The Shadow of Bellatu”, Marysa cursed her sister Merlin. Secretly meeting with the witch of the north, she plucked Merlin’s hair and blood to cast a curse, and Merlin died within the curse.

「In her final moment, Merlin reached out to Marysa.

“Marysa, my sister. I still loved you.”」

“I still loved you.”

Marysa’s body shook violently. Those were the last words Merlin left her just before she died.

“I already knew that you had cast a curse.”

“I already knew that you had cast a curse.”

Her body began to tremble even more. Her face went pale.

“No.”

The fork she was holding fell to the ground. “Denying it won’t make the past disappear, Duke.”

“Who are you? How did you hear this?”

Marysa sprang to her feet. Her eyes were filled with murderous intent.

‘I have to kill her.’

Viola knew it was too dangerous. If these facts leaked, Maryantu’s “legitimacy” would be severely threatened. The elders would push her as a “fake Duke,” and the people of the territory would turn their backs on her.

The knights would betray their oath to her, and everyone would point fingers at her.

‘But how?’

That tiny Viola seemed enormous. She had to kill, but couldn’t see a way to do it.

Viola’s power was one thing, but the timing and place were all too favorable.

It felt as if she were resting in the palm of Viola’s hand.

But Viola said something unexpected. “However, I commend you for that point.”

“What?”

“The tenacity to want to kill even the sister you love.”

Viola was well aware of her appearance and aura. She had been acting for the last six years, and it was now completely ingrained in her.

“To become the heir, such sacrifices are natural. If that’s the blood that must be spilled to wear the crown.”

“……….”

Marysa momentarily lost her words. Viola, who had previously seemed colossal, now felt like a mountain.

‘I can’t breathe.’

The dense murderous intent emanating from Viola tightened around Marysa’s chest. It was a thickness that a young Noblewoman couldn’t even begin to imagine.

‘This isn’t acting.

Such a thing can’t be acted.

That presence must be innate.

That’s how Marysa saw Viola.

“I have met many gifted individuals, but none like you, Young Noblewoman.”

Viola lightly nodded and continued, “However, there are things you have overlooked, Duke. Your sister did not love you at all.”

.. What?” 「Merlin Mariantu always envied her younger sister Marysa.」

“But she couldn’t show her jealousy as Merian’s 1st Princess. She wanted to take away her younger sister’s beauty.”

“……….”

「Merlin prayed every night that her sister would disappear.」

“But her sister did not disappear. She couldn’t be killed. So, I wished for her to suffer.”

“What on earth are you talking about, Princess Viola!”

“Let’s be a good sister. I’ll be the sister who loves her younger sister dearly. My sister is going to covet my position as heir. She’s a greedy child, and someday she’ll cause a big mess.”

「Merlin made grand plans. She subtly spread rumors about the witch of the north.

She purposely plucked hair and inflicted injuries to bleed.

She stirred her sister’s ambitions and planted evil thoughts.

Kill me. Curse me. Then you’ll be the ruler of Mariantu.」

The one who first used a curse was not Marysa, but Merlin. She lured Marysa by exploiting her ambition.

“I might die from the curse, but you will suffer eternal pain, my sister, Marysa.”

“Stop!”

Marysa shouted. “Enough with the nonsensical talk.”

“If she truly loved you, why did she leave such a will?”

「“I already knew that you had cast a curse.”」

Viola shrugged her shoulders.

“If I really loved my sister, I wouldn’t have left such a will.

That’s not an expression of love; it was a curse.”

Marysa was left speechless for a moment. ‘It’s already been nearly 20 years.’

But Viola spoke vividly as if she could read everything. ‘Viola’s words are right.’

The trembling in her body calmed down. She was just like Salmon.

Salmon had been astonished at first but then calmed down.

‘I understand Duke Salmon’s heart well.’

It couldn’t be denied. Viola was certainly a “child who read God’s Will.”

“However, Duke Marysa will need more tangible evidence.”

Salmon’s words were sufficient alone, but not for Marysa. She needed to present evidence.

“She had one daughter.”

“A daughter… was there?”

It was a story even Marysa didn’t know. Her sister Merlin had never married. “Through a contract with a demon, she conceived the demon’s child. That child devoured my mother’s body and, cursed by my aunt, was born filled only with hatred and anger.”

Viola glanced at Marysa. It was evident to her that Marysa was agitated.

“I assume you’ve already discovered a girl who resembles your sister terribly. Perhaps you felt a sense of unknown foreboding.”

“……….”

Goosebumps arose on Marysa’s arms. Viola’s words were spot on.

She saw a child who strikingly resembled her sister in her childhood.

A child who emanated an ominous aura.

“Her name is Haida.”

Originally, she was supposed to become the ‘Spirit King of Blood,’ the contractor for Kelberon (Pongpong), a cruel villainess introduced in the latter part of the story.

That villainess was born that way. “Is my story still fiction and a novel?”

Viola stood up. “I believe Duke Marysa is wise enough to judge my story logically.”

* Nelak took a sip of tea and said.

Heron, I never knew you would participate so actively?”

“I didn’t know either.”

“Can you please unify your speech style?”

“I didn’t know either.”

“Formal language would be nice.”

“I decline.”

“Tch.”

Nelak took another sip of tea. She felt better.

It seemed like Heron’s former self was frequently appearing.

“Weren’t you only concerned with the mission of protecting humanity?”

“That was the case.”

“But why?”

“I don’t have the confidence that I won’t become a madman either.”

“Huh.”

Nelak let out a hollow laugh. “You, who wouldn’t hesitate to engage in a slaughter competition among your offspring? What do you think you would lose to become a madman? Wasn’t your blood made of ice?”

“I thought so too.”

That ice had completely melted away. “Yunren actually exists.”

“Yunren?”

Since Heron Duke referred to it as ‘Yunren,’ it must have immense value. Nelak judged that as he listened intently.

“Puppapippop.”

·What?” “That Yunren has eroded my confidence. I can’t be sure I won’t become a madman.”

Nelak tilted his head. He had no idea what that meant.

That evening, when Viola had a private meeting with Marysa.

The three great dukes and Nelak gathered once more in one place.

Nelak opened his mouth, looking incredulous.

“I never expected the three great dukes would band together.

Everyone seemed uncooperative.”

Salmon laughed awkwardly. “Well, I was busy defending against the invaders from the western continent.”

Heron received it indifferently. “Winter Castle always has to perform the role of the shield.”

Marysa chuckled lightly. “The descendants of the White Dragon are sworn to have little involvement in the affairs of humanity.”

In any case, the three great dukes had decided to join forces. They promised to act with power that could not even be swayed by the Emperor’s orders.

At the center of that power stood Viola. In the presence of the three dukes and the Emperor.

The one leading that gathering was surprisingly Viola. “I know the location of the Heat Wind.”

It is accurately mentioned in the novel. “It’s a place that His Majesty the Emperor and the Dukes are also aware of.”