Chapter 8. Those Who Remain

It was night turning into dawn. But Yerena sat on the couch with both feet up, her head tucked between her knees.

“Please drink this. I’m worried you’ll become dehydrated.”

The knight who hadn’t left her side brought water. Yerena neither moved nor responded. ‘Kian’ considered placing his hand on her shoulder to force her to drink but decided against it. Though it irritated him to see her harm herself over a mere commoner woman, he chose to exercise patience since this would soon end anyway.

Another long while passed in that state. It was now well past midnight. Yerena finally raised her head slightly and murmured as she looked at the wavering figure of the man before her,

“……Jane couldn’t have done that. You know too. Jane is kind and warm.”

Her expression full of wounds was both pleasing and pitiful to him. Though he had actually created those wounds, the man rose from his seat, wanting to comfort her. He gently pushed back the table in front of the couch where Yerena sat, then knelt before her and said,

“I saw the evidence with the priestess. The handwriting was Miss Jane’s.”

The woman who hadn’t looked at him for a long time didn’t push him away. She hadn’t told him to leave in the first place, so perhaps she actually wanted him nearby. The man was smiling at this fact, but Yerena couldn’t see it.

“No. There must be some misunderstanding. I can’t believe it until I see Jane.”

Yerena shook her head like a child throwing a tantrum, insisting on her opinion to the end. The man stared at her, unable to let go of Jane, then spoke,

“The priestess won’t allow you to meet Miss Jane.”

“I will meet her. I can’t believe anything until I hear it with my own ears.”

Hearing her determined voice, the man was glad he hadn’t killed Jane using the poisoning as an excuse. Anticipating the princess might react this way, he had given Jane an important role when initially making his plan.

“……Do you truly want to meet Miss Jane? I don’t recommend it.”

“That means…… there’s a way?”

Yerena completely raised her head at the man’s words. He sighed and pretended to hesitate before reluctantly saying,

“Miss Jane is a commoner, and since your status is ambiguous, she’s imprisoned in a not particularly high-level prison. It’s not far from here. And the person who oversees that place is my colleague who owes me a favor.”

“……”

“I think I could help you see her briefly. Do you want that?”

Yerena’s eyes focused entirely on him. The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed at her blind gaze.

“……Please help me. Sir. Help me see Jane. Please.”

Yerena said as she dropped a tear. It was radiant. His blood boiled. When this small, fragile woman looked only at him like this, when she yearned for something like this, ecstasy surged through his entire body. The deceiver barely concealed his trembling voice as he nodded and said,

“Very well.”

* * *

“Will she be alright?”

“I mixed in a mild sleeping scent. It’s not harmful, so she’ll wake up refreshed tomorrow morning.”

Yerena was needlessly worried about the new maid who would be sleeping like the dead in her room. ‘Kian’ reassured her. Then he drew close and said,

“We’ve left the permitted area. There aren’t many people in the outskirts, but there are patrols. So you must stay close to me.”

“Oh…… yes.”

The man practically embraced Yerena, almost imprisoning her in his arms. She found the body that was not just close but pressed against her uncomfortable, but recognizing the seriousness of the situation, she simply nodded without comment.

The man moved. Though he said it wasn’t far, it was a difficult journey for Yerena who knew nothing of the imperial palace’s geography. Moreover, she was tense about possibly being caught, making each minute feel like a full hour.

“Please endure a little longer. We’re almost there.”

Perhaps sensing her state of mind, the man reassured Yerena at appropriate moments. She unconsciously felt relieved as she felt his large, warm hand.

“We’ve arrived. Please stay right here for a moment.”

At one point, the man pressed against the corner of a building and spoke. When Yerena silently nodded, he went to what appeared to be the entrance of the building. Soon he returned, embraced Yerena again, and guided her.

“I asked my colleague to temporarily remove the people. But we can’t stay long.”

The man said as he guided Yerena inside. Upon entering, cold and damp air touched their skin. Yerena hunched her shoulders and opened her mouth,

“Is this……”

“This is where Miss Jane is. Fortunately, Miss Jane is the only female prisoner here, which made things easier.”

As the man said, there was no one in the building. Yerena followed his lead down the stairs, through a corridor, and arrived at a door. The man took a key from inside his clothes. Soon, with a creaking, chilling sound, the iron door opened.

In the corner of the room, someone was curled up facing the wall on what looked like a bed. Yerena immediately recognized who it was.

‘Jane!’

The figure on the bed stirred and turned, perhaps hearing someone enter. Then she stiffened her body and slowly rose.

“You must speak quietly. And it would be better to have your conversation from here.”

The man held Yerena as she tried to approach Jane and spoke. She was about to shake him off but nodded when she saw Jane standing still like a statue. Jane, whom she had seen almost daily until just a few days ago, felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Lady Yerena.”

“Jane……”

Jane spoke first. After rising completely from the bed and standing, she started to approach Yerena but stopped when she saw the man.

“I came because I have something to ask you, Jane.”

“Please speak.”

After a moment of silence, Yerena took a deep breath and opened her mouth. Jane deliberately spoke stiffly. Yerena looked confused at Jane’s cold voice, which she had never heard before.

“J-Jane…… Is it a lie that you tried to poison me? You’ve been falsely accused, right?”

“……”

“You can be honest with me. I’ll help you somehow. Okay?”

Jane bit her lip at the sight of Yerena still trying to believe in her. Seeing Yerena so obviously hurt made her want to tell the truth. But she couldn’t. The red eyes glowing brightly behind Yerena. They were urging her. To play her role as instructed.

“……What could you possibly do.”

Jane, having steeled herself, bluntly threw out the words. A mocking tone. Yerena opened her eyes wide. Her finely trembling eyes looked pitiful. Jane clenched her fist and spoke the words she had practiced many times,

“Lady Yerena, you can’t do anything. So what help are you talking about?”

“……”

“And I never wanted your help in the first place. Because this was my choice.”

“That means……”

“Didn’t you hear everything from Alicia?”

Confirmation from the person herself. Something shattered into pieces inside Yerena. Her legs gave way, and she staggered. The man supported her while giving Jane a signal with his eyes. Jane continued her act with a pale face,

“That you came all the way here to confirm…… Should I thank you for believing in me?”

“……”

“But what can I do? There’s not a single wrong thing in what Alicia said.”

“No!”

Yerena shook her head, pouring out tears. Jane paused briefly. Yerena continued shaking her head several more times, insisting it wasn’t true, then glared at Jane with a resentful face.

“Why…… Why did you do it? I thought…… I thought just as I cherished you, Jane, you must also at least, at least thought of me as a friend, but why!”

“……You’re asking something obvious.”

“……”

“Because my own interests, my family, are more important than playing friendship with a princess from an enemy country who’s lost her status.”

Jane was deeply hurt even as she lied. But there was truth in her words too. Indeed, family was most precious to her.

“Don’t make that face. Lady Yerena, if you had to choose between family or me, it would be family, right?”

“……”

“I valued my family and myself more than you, Lady Yerena.”

“……”

“I’ll be honest with you now that it’s come to this. If you had caught the emperor’s eye and become a favored concubine, I wouldn’t have betrayed you. There would have been plenty to gain without having to play the spy.”

“……”

“But Lady Yerena, you’re imprisoned in a tower, and with your eyes like that…… Who knows when you might catch the emperor’s eye? Waiting endlessly was too boring for life in the tower. I couldn’t earn as much money as I wanted…… Being stuck with only you every day was truly dreadful.”

That’s why Jane poured out harsh words so fluently. Although she spoke with her eyes tightly closed, she became a perfect actress as practiced, following the orders of the monster lurking behind Yerena.

“After all the trouble I went through to please you…… It feels so refreshing to speak like this.”

“Ah……”

If she could see perfectly, Yerena might have easily noticed Jane’s deception. But to Yerena, Jane appeared only as a mass of golden light. Because of this, Yerena completely believed Jane’s lies in the end. She couldn’t think it was false. Just as the man standing behind her intended.

Yerena looked at Jane with almost empty eyes. The man lowered his head to confirm the last emotion residing in Yerena’s eyes, then signaled to Jane once more. Jane bit her lip until it bled, then released it. And finally began her last words.

“Do you know something? They say I won’t die.”

“……”

“Because Lady Yerena, you’re so insignificant…… Since you’re just a prisoner, they decided to show me mercy.”

“……”

“I’ll be exiled far away, but my family will live well with the money I earned for them, and I’ll live well too after serving my sentence.”

The last thing the man saw in Yerena’s eyes was concern. Yerena couldn’t let go of her worry that Jane might die because of this incident.

The man had anticipated even this. That’s why he had already instructed Jane. Tell the princess you won’t die. So that the princess would shed her concern for you, remember you only as a traitor forever, and eventually forget you.

‘How lovely.’