Chapter 62

Liliana was never particularly warm toward Vail. Their first meeting had left a bad impression, and since he wasn’t a character from the original story, she found it difficult to let her guard down around him.

But this time, she couldn’t respond harshly. Liliana tried to hide her embarrassment by tucking her hair behind her ear.

“It’s alright. If anything, thank you for helping me. I appreciate your assistance.”

Her face was slightly flushed, likely from the suddenness of the situation. Vail knew that her blush was not from any romantic feelings.

Yet, for the first time in his life, Vail found himself struck by an emotion he had never experienced before: he found someone’s blushing cheeks endearing. It was a bewildering sensation.

Liliana quickly assessed the situation while Vail still tried to grasp his emotions.

“Minelli, could you light the ground ahead?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As Minelli extended the lantern to illuminate the area in front of Liliana’s shoes, a thick, dirty rope, about the size of a child’s arm, came into view, covered in grass and soil.

“Ah-choo!”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Although she said she was fine, the damp air carried a musty mold smell so strong it made her nose tingle.

Liliana frowned slightly at first but recalled the moldy scent she had noticed from Sir Ferren earlier. Though mold tends to smell similar, it was suspicious that the source of the smell was the captain.

No matter how much training a captain might have undergone, they were unlikely to smell like mold instead of sweat. Moreover, it was even stranger for a moldy smell to be present in a garden near the royal banquet hall.

As Liliana stared at the rope silently, Minelli, ever dutiful, prepared to move it off the path.

“Minelli, where did that rope come from?”

Liliana asked calmly, trying to keep her suspicions hidden from others.

Minelli set the lantern down and dragged the rope toward the flower bed.

“The rope is quite long, Your Highness.”

“Is that so?”

As she surveyed the surroundings illuminated by the lantern, Liliana noticed something unusual—a piece of metal protruding from the bushes. It was firmly embedded in the ground with a hole the size of a fist, likely used to secure the rope.

Could it be a coincidence that the smell of mold, which had lingered around the captain during the interrogation of the suspects in the carriage incident, was also present here?

“What in the world…?”

Minelli’s voice, filled with sudden panic, broke the silence. Typically composed, Minelli was now moving frantically toward the path.

However, she quickly regained her composure, not forgetting to raise the lantern again.

“What’s wrong?”

“What happened, Minelli?”

Liliana and Vail asked simultaneously. Unable to tear her gaze from the flower bed, Minelli clutched her chest as if trying to steady her racing heart.

“… It’s nothing, Your Highness.”

Minelli spoke with her head bowed, though her voice lacked conviction. She knew her words wouldn’t be taken at face value.

Ultimately, Liliana lifted her dress slightly and stepped into the flower bed.

“Your Majesty, there’s truly nothing there!”

But Minelli couldn’t stop her. The only thing that gave Liliana pause was the shoes that Helio had given her.

As her beautiful shoes, reflecting the soft moonlight, approached the damp soil, she remembered Helio’s confident promise to get her new shoes, which made her reconsider her steps.

“It’s quite chilly tonight, Your Highness. Perhaps it would be best to return now…”

Minelli’s face brightened, thinking Liliana was about to leave.

However, Liliana removed the jacket Vail had lent her and handed it to Minelli. She then removed the thin shawl she had been wearing and spread it on the ground, stepping on it to keep her shoes clean.

After a moment of satisfaction, Liliana walked deeper into the flower bed.

A sharp, thin wind began to whistle as she delicately stepped forward. Listening closely, she heard a faint, almost imperceptible sound like ants entering an anthill.

“Please, kill me.”

“Just kill me, please.”

Chills ran down her spine, and Liliana’s body froze. The more she focused, the more sensitive her hearing became, picking up even the sound of grass rustling.

“You promised you would kill me.”

“I did everything you wanted!”

As a metallic voice mixed with a scream reached her ears, Liliana instinctively covered them with her hands.

“L-Lady Liliana, please, come this way.”

Minelli’s voice trembled as she spoke, but Liliana only bit her lip, refusing to stop. Instead, she bent down and scanned the grass with her eyes.

She soon realized the rope she had seen earlier extended underground, specifically beneath a wooden plank.

Now that she looked closer, the rope gradually pulled downward, following a faint force. Someone below was pulling it. However, since the rope was not secured to anything outside, those below would eventually reach the end of it with no way out.

Who had given them such cruel hope?

And who were they, to begin with?

Liliana, lowering herself even further, asked in a quiet voice.

“Who are you?”

At that moment, Liliana almost screamed. She saw a faint, pale figure through a crack in the plank.

The gap was too narrow for her to be specific, but… it was alive, though far from human in appearance, a grotesque figure.

“L-L-Lady Liliana!”

A voice scratched against the walls, calling out her name. Perhaps the voice was more apparent now, driven by the hope of salvation.

“It’s me, Terry. I served in your palace…”

Terry.

Liliana remembered the name clearly. Terry was the young maid who had disappeared the same day the guards left the Emerald Palace.

She knew Helio had taken her away, but she hadn’t imagined it would be to a place like this.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I’ve committed a grave sin. I put poison in your tea leaves. It was all under the orders of Duke Gabriel! I was too tempted by the money that the vile man offered! I’ll confess everything in front of everyone. But please, please, kill me!”

Not even a dying animal would cry out so desperately. Liliana’s eyes darkened.

“Your Majesty, it’s time to leave.”

This time, it wasn’t Minelli who spoke, but Vail. Even he had heard Terry’s strained voice, pushing his strength to the limit.

“Being close to such a sinner is dangerous.”

But with an unreadable expression, Liliana continued to gaze beneath the plank. Listening to Terry’s desperate plea for death, she asked in a voice lower than usual,

“Why don’t you end it yourself?”

At that moment, Vail found Liliana almost unrecognizable.

“You can’t be seen, yet you can speak and pull the rope. You’re not entirely helpless. If you truly wanted to die, you could. So why do you beg me to kill you? Why must I be the one to grant you death?”

The gentle, fragrant woman who had seemed so pure and innocent was nowhere to be found. Instead, she appeared as a goddess of death, born from the darkness where not even shadows could reach.

“Go on, tell me. I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”

Liliana’s voice was warm, but anyone present could sense it. She was someone who understood the depths of the abyss.

There was silence beneath the plank as if the presence there had felt her intimidating aura. But they were desperate for death, so eventually, the voice spoke again.

“If I die by my own hand, they said they would bring my entire family here. If I had no family, they would bring my lover, and if I had neither, my closest friend… Your Majesty, my family, lover, and friends would curse me, and I would surely fall into the deepest hell because of their hatred. I’m afraid. I’m so afraid!”

As Terry wailed, Liliana slowly rose to her feet. Terry wasn’t genuinely concerned for her family. It was the uncertain specter of their curses that terrified her.

“… She’s lost her mind.”

Perhaps the horrors of this place had driven her to imagine a hell even worse. Liliana realized Terry had gone mad within her delusions.

As soon as Liliana stepped back out of the flower bed, using the shawl she had placed on the ground, her legs nearly gave out. Vail reached out quickly, but Liliana held up a hand, refusing his help, and straightened herself.

“I’m fine. Just a little startled. Ah, Minelli.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Push the rope entirely beneath the plank and close it up.”

If the prisoners saw the rope’s end, they might feel a brief moment of despair, but at least hope wouldn’t break their hearts.

Minelli hesitated for a moment. She knew who had designed this prison, which was made of hope.

After a brief pause, Minelli gathered the rope and threw it below. There was a moment of cheers from beneath the plank, followed by cries of despair.

But there was no sound at once. Minelli closed the plank and secured it with the lock.

After ensuring that Minelli retrieved the shawl, Liliana turned toward Vail.

“Lord Vail, what you saw today must not be spoken of to anyone.”

Vail didn’t answer immediately, seemingly lost in thought.

“This is my ‘final request.'”

At the mention of their pact, Vail finally bowed his head obediently. But it wasn’t a sign of complete surrender.

“There’s no need to use your ‘final request.’ I simply want to know why. Duke Gabriel will suffer if they speak, and Your Highness could gain much from it.”

TL NOTE: A more advanced chapter of this story is already up on the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories.