I had been overly convincing in my role as the adopted daughter.

Through the ambiguous yet palpable air of despair, someone stepped forward first.

It was Bichen’s butler.

“Prince Bichen does not wish to meet anyone.”

“The princess insists on meeting Prince Bichen.”

“Prince Bichen says he doesn’t want to.”

“The princess says she does.”

Bichen’s butler frowned.

“Zeno, I warn you. Shut your mouth.”

The two gazes clashed in the air.

Viola felt as if sparks were flying.

Zeno turned to Viola.

“That’s what they say? What should we do?”

“Can you subdue him?”

Zeno alternated his glance between Viola and Bichen’s butler.

Bichen’s butler looked incredulous.

Discussing whether they could subdue the person involved right in front of him was absurd.

Yet, that absurdity was also strikingly Bellatu-like, so it didn’t feel out of place.

Zeno shrugged and spoke.

“Well, you know, all the butlers in this house are strong.”

“Can you do it or not?”

“It seems difficult.”

Zeno pulled a dagger from his sleeve.

He wore a warm smile.

“However, it doesn’t seem impossible.”

“Zeno, don’t do anything foolish.”

“Were we close enough to speak freely with each other?”

Zeno pressed the dagger against the butler’s throat.

“Are you planning to ignore the laws of Winter Castle?”

“That’s why I haven’t stabbed him yet.”

In that moment, Viola felt an icy chill.

The phrase “I haven’t stabbed him yet” felt like it was hiding an implication.

‘If that had been the case, you’d have been stabbed already.’

Viola shivered.

Behind that warm expression and gentle smile lurked a chilling intent.

‘I can’t let them know I’m scared.’

To hide her fear, she started walking briskly.

She quickened her pace.

She wanted to distance herself from the ominous presence. Viola’s ‘body’ sensed the killing intent, but Ah-rin’s ‘mind’ found it overwhelming and terrifying.

Bichen’s room was quite large. It took a while to walk there.

After Viola disappeared into the room, Zeno withdrew the dagger.

“Did you see that?”

“Yeah.”

Bichen’s butler sighed.

“You took advantage of the exact gap and timing when I was pushed. You entered without hesitation. No delay in your steps.”

“Quick decision-making and action. An obsession with not missing the timing. Those are the basic virtues of Bellatu.”

Bichen’s butler asked.

“If I had truly stopped you, would you have stabbed me?”

“Probably.”

You certainly say that with ease.

“Better than lying, right?”

Zeno smiled wide.

“You’ve been blessed with a good person. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you truly intend to serve me?”

“For now, yes. You seem to have great ambition and desire for control.”

“Really?”

“It’s not something you can earn through effort. You were born with the fate of a ruler. Who would have thought? Within ten minutes of meeting, your first command was to fetch a neurotoxin to poison my brother.”

“………..”

“Plus, you scolded me quite appropriately. You acted as if you were raised in this Bellatu.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Based on innate talent, if one displays outstanding insight and precisely recognizes their reality and role, it is indeed possible.”

Anyone who heard this would gasp in shock.

*

‘Phew, finally far away.

Bichen’s room truly was vast.

It must have been at least 200 pyeong.

There were so many rooms with living areas that it was hard to keep track.

Creeeak—

I opened the door.

Ahead, beneath a large window where the bluish moonlight streamed in, lay the severely injured Bichen.

‘Ugh.’

It was terrifying. How should I describe this feeling? It felt like facing a beast ready to lash out.

‘Fear is but a moment.

In this place, such things are routine. It’s not just the smell of blood; it’s the severed heads lying around.

I had to get used to it.

Step by step.

I moved closer to the boy.

“Not a pretty sight, huh?”

Bichen was crouching by the window.

Viola passed by Bichen and sat with her legs crossed on a chair in front of the table.

Then, looking down at Bichen, she spoke.

“Did you take a beating?”

She licked her lips once.

Viola felt she would lick her lips at this moment, so she did just that.

“Yeah.”

“And there’s a lot of blood.”

“Today, there was only a little.”

Viola hummed and looked over Bichen’s body as if judging it.

“Is that Aishila’s lash?”

“Yeah.”

Bichen’s eyes reddened. The red marks on his body were less painful than the burns on his mother.

“That must have hurt.”

“Yeah. Mother must have suffered a lot too.”

“Mother made her own choices.”

“It’s my fault.”

“Really? Is it your fault?”

“Yeah. I was a bad Bichen.”

Seeing Bichen respond cheerfully made Viola’s heart ache unexpectedly.

Naturally, the family she wanted wasn’t in this state.

She absently bit her lip.

Viola approached Bichen.

“Sit with your back turned.”

“Why? Are you going to stab me?”

Bichen tilted his head, innocently questioning.

“We’re inside Winter Castle, right? If you stab me, you’re in big trouble.”

“I won’t stab you.”

To that, Viola replied in a way reminiscent of her character in the original story.

“Someday, I will make you kneel beneath my feet.”

“Really?”

“I’ll have you groveling on the floor, exposing your belly and wagging your tail like a dog.”

Life returned to Bichen’s eyes.

Viola felt like crying.

That such words could revive her brother’s spirit.

“But I don’t like this pitiful version of you.”

“Why?”

“It wouldn’t be fun to trample on a pitiful brother.”

Bichen laughed as if it was amusing.

“True. Hehe.”

Then he turned his back.

“Like this, I just turn my back?”

“Yeah.”

Viola took out an ointment from her pocket.

‘Oh dear. No matter how insane the Duke House in this fantasy world might be, this is still too much.’

Can this really be called ordinary discipline?

If Bichen were allergic to Aishila trees, would Isabella have really chosen to use a switch?

Twitch.

Bichen’s ears perked up like a rabbit.

He seemed curious about what Viola was taking out.

Bichen asked with a bright voice.

“Are you pulling out a knife?”

“No.”

“Then? Poison?”

“No.”

“What then?”

Bichen became even more lively.

“Maybe hydrochloric acid?”

Huff.

What in the world goes on inside this kid’s head?

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

‘Ah, but still. This is truly too much.’

Even if he only had thoughts of knives, hydrochloric acid, and poison, he was still an eight-year-old child.

‘So small.’

From the perspective of 21-year-old Ah-rin, he looked so tiny.

This was truly too severe.

How could a mother do this to her son?

How could an adult act like this?

This child’s back, frequently punished, could not simply be called that of an eight-year-old.

Gentle as if applying medicine for the first time, she carefully applied the ointment to his back.

“Ow, ow!”

He was so startled that his speech became strange.

“Don’t act like such a baby.”

“What kind of poison is this? I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

“It’s not poison; it’s ointment.”

Bichen struggled for a moment to grasp Viola’s words.

He couldn’t comprehend that ‘ointment’ was a medication intended for healing.

Because he had never had ointment applied to him. No one had ever done it for him, and Viola’s heart hurt a bit more.

‘Seems like he thinks ‘ointment’ is a very specially crafted type of poison.’

It was frustrating, absurd, and yet heart-wrenching.

“I told you, I don’t want to kneel before a pitiful brother.”

“So?”

“I hope you heal quickly and feel no pain.”

“Why?”

Viola uttered the insincere words with fervor.

“Because that would make it more enjoyable to kill you.”

At that, Bichen tilted his head.

“Hmm. That’s strange.”

In that moment, Viola was a bit startled.

Was my acting so awkward that it raised suspicions? But it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Bichen poked his fingers into his chest, around the heart area.

“But Viola.”

“What?”

“My heart is pounding. I feel strange.”

Particularly.

‘I hope you heal quickly and feel no pain.’

Hearing those words made her feel very odd.

It wasn’t a bad feeling, but there was a strange urge to cry.

It was a feeling she had never experienced before.

“Why am I crying when I’m laughing?”

She put on a serious expression.

“Did you poison me?”

“………..”

“When did you do it?”

“………..”

“Nice skill you got there.”

“………..”

“Why are your eyes reddening, though? Did you take poison too?”

Viola was not a true psychopathic killer like the character in the novel.

She had dreamt of family more than anyone else and wished to be someone’s warm family.

Looking at the scars etched on this eight-year-old’s back made her eyes misty too.

Outwardly, she spoke like this.

“If I were going to poison you, I wouldn’t waste my time with such a petty poison.”

“Well, that’s true. Hehe.”

“And I was almost disappointed.”

“Why, why?”

“Because the Prince of Bellatu shed tears.”

“When I’m sad, tears come out, you know?”

Viola understood everything.

The reason Bichen had cried.

Because his pain was nothing compared to that of his mother.

From now on, she decided to twist the story.

Bichen’s transformation into a twisted killer was due to Duchess Isabella’s bizarre discipline.

“If Duchess Isabella hadn’t hit you, there wouldn’t have been anything to make you sad.”

“But I did wrong!”

Viola chuckled softly.

“Brother, do you want to know the real reason you’re sad?”

“Do I have another reason for my sadness?”

Yes.

The young Bichen at this moment didn’t understand why.

No. He knew but was unconsciously rejecting the truth.

“You were physically oppressed within Winter Castle. The absolute laws have been broken.”

“But it’s still mother.”

“That’s exactly the point. You know it well.”

After a long time, Bichen would personally kill Duchess Isabella.

「“Why did you do that to me?”

“I have to kill my mother.

To pay for the sins of the rules.”」

Bichen did not want to kill Duchess Isabella.

Bichen loved his mother.

But due to the rules and laws entangled within the Duke House, in the distant future, Bichen would find himself forced to take his mother’s life.

On the day Bichen met his end, Duchess Isabella answered him with a smile.

「“To become a true lord, you must devour your mother.”」

Duchess Isabella dreamed of dying at her son’s hands someday.

In her desire for her son to grow stronger.

To possess the strength to kill his mother meant he would have a stronger heart.

That was the direction of Duchess Isabella’s discipline.

「“You’ve grown up well, my darling. Mother is happy.”」

As Duchess Isabella smiled happily, she died.

After that incident, Bichen was reborn as a true killer.

Recalling this content made Viola shudder.

Ah. Even now, it’s still a story without any sane individuals.

“If time flows like this, you’ll have to kill the mother who has caused you so much pain with your own hands.”

“It’s the law of Winter Castle.”

Time passed a little.

Bichen turned his body and locked eyes with Viola.

“Viola, by the way.”

From Bichen’s lips, a line Viola had never anticipated spilled out.