At that moment, Theodor slowly turned his head toward Elliope. She closed her eyes for a long moment before reopening them.

If all of this was truly because of that… If, as Leanne had said, this was all caused by that man’s talk about goods…

Elliope made up her mind to free Leanne from that same trap. Whether Leanne wanted it or not. Whether Elliope wanted it or not, just as she had been sent to the Duchy in place of Leanne.

And all the while, not even realizing she was seen as nothing more than property, struggling and enduring, only to eventually wither and die in violence.

“Duke Theodor of Illmos”.

Elliope knew better than anyone how to devalue a commodity. After all, she had done it herself.

“Did you sleep with the princess?”

“……!”

At these words, everyone but Elliope and Kallian were silently astonished. Theodor stood still for a moment, chewing on the words.

“Sleep…?”

“Yes.”

Elliope pressed her hand quietly to her chest. Then, as if to emphasise the point, she spoke again.

“I ask if you have ever slept with the ‘princess sent by the imperial family.'”

Theodor tilted his head slightly, as if lost in thought for a moment. Elliope, watching him, continued to speak casually.

“I heard that every night… the Princess came to your room, hiding from the others, and you slept with her.”

The rumours she had heard so far, the ones she had tried hard to ignore. Things that Leanne also knew, but had chosen to ignore.

And the moment those words left her mouth, what Theodor remembered were the women who resembled Elliope, screaming as they spread their legs beneath him.

“Ahh! Your Grace, the Grand Duke! Aaah!”

The crude conversations he had with those women, treating them like Elliope, as well.

“So? How did you manage to slip away from your husband… from Kallian’s eyes?”

“I put him to sleep and came—Haang!”

“Excellent.”

“How could I possibly refuse when Your Grace calls for me… Aah!”

“Beg me to f*** you. Beg me, say that my c*** is far better than Kallian’s!”

“Y-Your Grace’s c*** is so good—Aah!”

“Say that you love me!”

“I… l-love you… Ahh!”

Just before entering this audience chamber, he had made love to the women who resembled Elliope.

They had sensed the strange atmosphere in the Grand Duke’s residence and had fled for their own safety, abandoning the heavily intoxicated Theodor.

In his confused, chaotic mind, these women had already become Elliope…

It had been a long time since she had become the imperial princess sent to him by the imperial family.

So Theodor replied with a smile.

“Yes. I have slept with the princess sent by the imperial family.”

For a brief moment, shock reverberated through the auditorium.

“Moments ago I held her in my arms as much as I wanted to.”

Theodor’s words could be interpreted in another way.

“Your Grace! What nonsense is this?”

“How dare you insult Her Highness Leanne with such baseless words?”

The Knights of the Imperial Family reacted first, as expected.

They had no choice.

Leanne, her dress torn and her hair dishevelled from being pushed aside by Theodor and dodging swords…

Combined with what the Grand Duke had just said, it led to an undeniable and disturbing conclusion.

‘Could it be that the Grand Duke…?’

Theodor had once tried to r*pe a vassal’s wife in broad daylight, and when that had failed, he had tried to kill her.

So the possibility that he might have tried to attack Princess Leanne while out of his mind seemed all the more plausible.

‘Did he really do it?’

‘Did he really cause an incident this time, taking advantage of the situation?’

Of course, if Leanne herself denied it, the matter would probably be dismissed as nothing more than the deranged ravings of the Grand Duke.

But if even one person had any doubts…

“No!”

Realising the gravity of the situation a moment too late, Leanne let out a scream and lunged at Theodor.

“Grand Duke Ilmos!”

For Leanne, who had always believed that even the slightest doubt or mistake could tarnish the Imperial Family’s product, this was a terrifying ordeal.

This was the worst nightmare she could have imagined.

Not just anyone, but she could be the one tainted.

If strange rumours were to spread, the marriage alliances that had been meticulously arranged for her –

The highest positions, the ones her father, the Emperor, had secured for her and the Empire-

“I held you in my arms only moments ago-“

“Shut up, Grand Duke!”

At her outburst, Theodor quickly rolled his eyes in Leanne’s direction.

His gleaming, frenzied gaze was fixed on her – the woman he had once so desperately desired.

“What do you mean, no? Hm?”

“Please! Grand Duke!”

Leanne’s trembling eyes darted to Elliope, silently begging her to fix this, to somehow salvage the situation.

Elliope, who had been watching in silence, just moved her lips and said the words again –

“Please, Grand Duke.

“If the product loses its value, there’s no need to cling to it anymore.”

“…….”

“You won’t have to be swayed by the Emperor’s opinions anymore.”

Leanne, her face drained of all color, barely breathing as if her throat were constricted, read those words on Elliope’s lips.

“Perhaps, Your Highness will soon be free as well.”

“……!”

“Just like me.”

Elliope finished her statement in a distant tone.

Even as she passed this terrible judgement on Leanne, there was a faint trace of sadness.

As if she really pitied her.

It wasn’t an illusion.

Elliope, the very one who had crushed Leanne’s worth as a product of the Imperial family, was now looking at her with compassion.

The realisation hit like a blade.

A hot anger surged through Leanne – stronger than at any moment before, even stronger than when her chastity had just been questioned by a blatant lie.

What Leanne hated most was the way Elliope looked at her – with pity.

It was a rage she hadn’t even realised she had, or perhaps one she simply couldn’t admit.

“How dare you…”

She took a sharp breath, struggling to control her anger.

Not just anyone, but her – the one who had been sent in her place, someone of lesser rank, a bastard who had ruined her own value as a product, someone who in truth had never had any value to begin with.

A foolish child, blindly committing usurpation without a second thought, without a care for the Empire or its future.

“How dare you… how could you?”

Leanne, looking as if she might faint at any moment, staggered to a halt.

It was then that Elliope met her gaze calmly.

“Who was it?”

This time Theodor moved.

“Who told me no?”

“Grand Duke Ilmos! Stop this!”

His movements seemed dangerously unstable and unpredictable, even to onlookers.

“Anyone who tells me no – I will kill them all!”

“Your Grace!”

“No one can say that to me! No one!”

Theodor, consumed with rage, raged furiously.

The attempts of those around him to stop him only served to fuel his burning rage, like pouring oil on a fire.

“Go on, keep telling me no!”

Finally, a sharp blade was raised, slicing through the air.

“How dare you all look down on me! I’ll kill every last one of you!”

“……!”

“All of you! Those damned vassals, the retainers, the imperial family – all of you!”

Theodor lunged at Leanne, who was standing alone.

“Your Highness!”

The shocked cries of the knights echoed through the audience chamber.

No one could react in time.

Even the Imperial Knights were a step too slow. They drew their swords and rushed forward, but it already seemed too late.

Theodor’s blade almost touched Leanne’s neck.

Slash.

There was a sound of flesh being torn.

At first, no one understood what had just happened.

Some even held their breath, thinking the princess had been cut down.

“…….”

Theodor stopped abruptly, his expression blank with shock.

It was the look of a man who had yet to comprehend what had just happened.

“Ah.”

Slowly, a deep gash opened across his back.

Feeling the pain at last, Theodor dropped his sword and turned.

“Princess…”

Elliope stood with an expression devoid of emotion.

“So you were there all along.”

Theodor slowly held out his hand.

For a brief moment it seemed as if clarity had returned to his eyes, as if he had regained his sanity in his final moments.

“My wife.”

The whisper fell faintly in the air.

“Strange… I really feel that you are my wife.”

His flickering voice trailed off, fading as he spoke.

“…Elliope.”

At that moment, Elliope thought of Theodor in his coffin.

Theodor, carefully prepared for his last moments, lay peacefully in a glass coffin decorated with flowers, so that the people of his territory could bid him farewell in mourning.

‘This time, that won’t be possible.’

His body would be displayed in the capital’s execution grounds, his limbs severed, to serve as a stark warning to anyone who dared attempt regicide.

And as a consequence of his crime against the Imperial family, his parents and grandparents would also be exhumed from their graves and their remains cast into the sea as part of his punishment.

‘Though, he might be dealt with before it even comes to that.’

Elliope shifted her gaze slightly, looking out the window at the flames rising in the distance.

Having spent so much time in the Grand Duchy, she knew well enough to recognise which part of the palace was on fire.

The place now engulfed in flames was the family cemetery of the Grand Duchy of Ilmos.

The name Ilmos would forever remain a stain on this land.

Once again, Elliope moved her lips without a sound.

“Yes. I was your wife.”

Theodor’s pupils dilated rapidly at the sight of those words.

“And now I am not.”

“El…”

Slash.

In the next instant, Theodor collapsed, blood gushing from his back and chest.

Thud!

His entire body crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

It was the result of Kallian’s sword slicing through him with devastating force.

For a moment, a heavy silence filled the room.

Theodor’s collapsed body jerked a few times, his blood continuing to spill and splatter across the floor.

A few drops landed on Leanne’s hair and face, slowly trickling down.

Elliope stared silently at the blood splattering on her feet.

Then, as if it were something dirty, she wiped it off by rubbing it against the carpet without hesitation.

Of all those present, only Kallian noticed her subtle movement.

He moved closer and gently pressed his lips to her ear.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“…….”

“I told you – I will not tolerate failure.”

Kallian whispered sweetly before pulling Elliope into a tight embrace and holding her for a brief moment.

“You did this.”

To outsiders, it looked like he was comforting a shocked and shaken woman after witnessing something terrible.

“Huff.”

Leanne collapsed to the floor, her legs giving way beneath her.