Chapter 83: The Switch

From early morning, Ruathe Square was packed so tightly with crowds that there was barely room to breathe.

Even the word “crowded” seemed inadequate. Forming a semicircle around the guillotine at the center, they hurled their fury.

“Execute the criminal who mocked the imperial family—!”

Angry voices surged like waves over the vast stone ground.

Edelweiss sat in a spot overlooking the scene.

She soon spotted Count Sandor. Sitting among the nobles, his expression was oddly composed—so much so that it seemed unnatural.

‘His own daughter is about to be executed, and he’s watching like it’s a spectacle?’

It was as if he had already swapped Rosemary out ahead of time.

Even in the chaos of people shouting for her immediate execution, Count Sandor remained perfectly still.

Not a breath was out of place; his eyes were as calm as someone completely devoid of emotion.

No—more accurately, he looked like someone who had already deemed everything finished.

At that moment, the executioner looked toward Count Sandor. Their gazes met. It was a fleeting exchange.

But Edelweiss did not miss the transaction buried in that brief glance.

“If he’s smuggled her out of the country, he’ll need a train or a ship…”

As she furrowed her brows, Damian beside her gently tapped the back of her hand.

Even without certainty, there was a need to confirm everything clearly.

“…Your Highness. Please send knights to Lumentia Port and Roel Central Station. Take a portrait of Rosemary and check every passenger.”

Turning toward him, she spoke in a low voice.

Damian signaled to the nearby Imperial Knight Commander.

The knight approached and dropped to one knee.

“Carry out Her Grace’s orders.”

The Imperial Knight Commander bowed his head and left the plaza with a few knights.

Moments later, Rosemary, her face covered in cloth, was brought forward.

The crowd, even more agitated, hurled stones, rotten fruit, and eggs.

Staggering after being struck, Rosemary stood by leaning slightly on her right ankle.

She then began to limp deliberately, as if conscious of it—but Edelweiss remembered clearly:

Rosemary’s right ankle had been declared permanently damaged after her fall down the stairs.

She could only walk by relying on her left ankle unless supported or using a cane.

‘She’s focusing only on limping. Like she was told to.’

Others might not notice, but Edelweiss spotted the awkwardness in the gait immediately.

“She’s fake. That’s not Rosemary.”

Her heart sank, and a cold shiver ran down her spine.

It was true—Count Sandor had bribed the executioner and swapped her.

The woman bound in chains was forced to her knees beneath the guillotine.

The executioner looped a noose around her neck.

The murmuring of the crowd faded into an eerie silence—so still, even breaths felt too loud.

Then—

Tap.

Edelweiss stood from her seat with quiet resolve and walked toward the front without hesitation.

“Executioner.”

“…Yes, Grand Duchess of Lorendel.”

The executioner stepped down from the platform and bowed as murmurs filled with curiosity spread.

“You’re about to carry out an execution without confirming the criminal. Remove the cloth.”

The executioner’s eyes widened with tension. He glanced again at Count Sandor before replying.

“The condemned must wear the cloth during execution by protocol—”

“Does that procedure outrank the authority of the Grand Duchess of Lorendel and the Crown Princess of Rejenoel?”

“…That’s not what I meant…”

“If you refuse, I’ll consider that your priority.”

Her sharp glare made him hesitate, but eventually, he moved.

A flicker of coldness passed through Count Sandor’s gaze—a look uncannily similar to Rosemary’s.

When Edelweiss met his eyes, he quickly switched to a concerned expression.

With trembling hands, the executioner slowly removed the cloth.

“…As expected.”

Underneath the light brown hair, a stranger’s face was revealed.

As the cloth dropped to the ground, the crowd erupted.

“Where is Rosemary Widen?”

“Did she escape with someone’s help?”

The plaza turned into a storm of chaos.

Edelweiss whispered to Damian, mouthing that Count Sandor must be apprehended now.

He understood and gave the order:

“Rosemary Widen is the illegitimate daughter of Duke Stern.

Detain Count Sandor—distant relative of the duke—for questioning, and also summon her adoptive father, Viscount Benel.”

Detaining Count Sandor without concrete proof would raise suspicion,

so Damian tied him to Rosemary through blood, and also brought in the viscount.

“I’m innocent! This is unjust, Your Highness!”

Count Sandor feigned disbelief, attempting to elicit sympathy.

Murmurs spread, questioning whether he truly had helped Rosemary escape.

“Take him away.”

But the cold sharpness in Damian’s blue eyes silenced the crowd almost instantly.

***

Roel Central Station.

The piercing sound of the train’s steam echoed loudly.

At the far end of the crowded platform stood a restless figure.

As she tried to board amid the chaotic crowd, one of the knights signaled.

Within the swarm, Rosemary, her robe pulled low over her face, was walking briskly.

The knights circling the area immediately changed direction.

Sensing this, Rosemary shoved through the people and ran with a limp.

But—

Her toe caught on the edge of a protruding iron rail.

The moment her balance shattered into the air, her right ankle twisted.

As weight bore down on her limping leg, a faint cracking sound was heard, and Rosemary’s body was flung forward.

Thud!

A knight pinned down the fallen Rosemary, twisting her arm to restrain her.

“Let go! Let me go! Do you even know who I am, you dare do this to me?!”

In her struggle, the red wig Rosemary wore was flung off.

“Oh my god. Isn’t that Rosemary Widen? The one who faked being pregnant with Prince Adolf’s child and tried to stab Her Highness in court? Wasn’t she sentenced to execution for that?”

“She was trying to escape? We almost ended up on the same train with a criminal. Disgusting.”

As her tangled light brown hair was exposed, the crowd recognized her and gasped in horror.

“Report to His Highness Damian immediately. Tell him we’ve captured Rosemary Widen.”

When the knight commander ordered another knight, Rosemary violently shook her head.

“No! I… I can’t let His Highness see me like this, not now— Aaaagh!”

The knight commander yanked the ticket from Rosemary’s hand and examined it in front of her eyes.

Lenia Ruwes.

“Give that back right now!”

Rosemary clenched her teeth and flailed. The more she struggled, the more forcefully she was restrained. Her bloodshot eyes gleamed with rage.

“Count Ruwes’ family is related to Count Sandor’s wife. So it was Sandor who helped her escape.”

“She deceived the Imperial family, attempted to assassinate Her Highness, harmed His Highness Damian, and now tried to escape punishment?”

“……”

“Imprison the criminal Rosemary Widen in the basement of Central Station.”

Rosemary shut her lips tightly.

Her complexion had turned deathly pale, and despair slowly descended upon her.