Chapter 85

The only thing on Lady Nordic’s mind, who was dragged into prison, was one thought.

‘As long as Diana and Ash are safe, that’s all that matters.’

Then, she noticed someone sitting in the opposite cell, wearing a tattered robe pulled tightly over their head. Just the thought of being in the same space as a filthy and sinister-looking criminal made Lady Nordic feel nauseous.

The person in the opposite cell looked at Lady Nordic and asked in a repulsive voice, thick as if phlegm was caught in their throat.

“Did you get caught selling poison too?”

Lady Nordic said nothing. The humiliation of even speaking to such a criminal made her tightly shut her mouth.

“I sold poison to a pretty young lady not long ago, and you look like her. Heh, especially those brown eyes. For a second, I thought it was that young lady who got caught, but looking closer, it’s not her.”

At that moment, Lady Nordic thought of Diana and asked the prisoner across from her.

“A young lady who looks like me?”

The prisoner took off their tattered robe, revealing a hideous face covered in severe burn scars. They spoke to Lady Nordic.

“I’m saying you resemble the young lady who bought poison from me recently. She said she came from the Grand Ducal household. Seems like something went wrong. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been dragged here like this. I wonder if that young lady, who looks like you, managed to kill the silver-haired woman. Heh heh.”

At the mention of a “silver-haired woman,” Lady Nordic thought of Meia.

“What are you talking about!”

“She said she wanted a love potion that works on men, but come on, do I look like someone who sells that kind of stuff? Heh, I only sell poison. Since the Grand Duke is still alive, I wonder if she killed the woman first…”

“What on earth are you saying?”

“The name of the person who bought the poison… was it Diana? Or was it Dia…”

“No… It can’t be. No, no.”

Lady Nordic collapsed to the floor in shock. She silently called out Diana’s name dozens of times.

Regaining her composure, she shouted loudly for the jailer.

“Bring my daughter Diana! Please! Diana, my daughter!”

She must not have bought poison! It must not be true!

Lady Nordic continued to cry out.

The noise brought the jailer over, who replied only with, 

“Understood.”

However, when the jailer returned, their words made Lady Nordic collapse once again.

The jailer said, 

“The young lady is not at the estate.”

Hearing those words, Lady Nordic clung to the bars, crying out Diana’s name sorrowfully.

But soon, Diana was dragged into the prison by knights. Seeing this, Lady Nordic turned pale and screamed.

“Diana!”

“Mother, I’m innocent, I swear! Sob sob!”

Diana kept insisting on her innocence, but the knights holding her looked at her coldly and handled her roughly.

“There is an order to confine her in solitary.”

“Mother! Please save me!”

As Diana was dragged away, Lady Nordic clung to the bars, crying.

“My child!”

“Mother!”

Her screams were enough to carve out Lady Nordic’s heart.

“What has my Diana done to deserve this!”

“Your daughter was caught attempting to murder Lady Meia using poison, Lady Nordic.”

The knight explained but did not elaborate on the details.

The countless possibilities running through Lady Nordic’s mind filled her with fear.

“Even though this is a foreign nation, the victim is a noblewoman of the Hatzbellua Ducal family. If the Carpen Empire learns of an attempt to assassinate their lady, it will not end as a mere diplomatic issue. That’s why the Grand Duke has ordered severe punishment for your daughter, Lady Nordic.”

Lady Nordic’s face twisted in despair.

“Even aside from the matter of Lady Meia, bringing poison into the Grand Ducal household is already a grave crime.”

“I will do as you ask, so please, please tell the Grand Duke to spare my daughter’s life.”

Lady Nordic clung to the bars, sobbing as she pleaded.

Descending into the dark underground prison, Theodore stood in front of the disheveled Lady Nordic, who was seated before the cell bars.

“Grand Duke… Please forgive Diana… Poison—this doesn’t make sense.”

After a brief silence, Theodore asked a question completely different from what Lady Nordic wanted to hear.

“I know Baron Lakia is involved in human trafficking. Are you also connected, Lady Nordic?”

“If I speak honestly, will you spare my daughter’s life?”

Lady Nordic choked as she begged.

“Depending on your answer, her life may be spared.”

“I have not participated in human trafficking! I only heard about it and turned a blind eye.”

Theodore frowned as he looked at her.

“When Baron Lakia is prosecuted for human trafficking, testify against him. Then your daughter’s life may be prolonged, Lady Nordic.”

Lady Nordic didn’t hesitate. Attempting to assassinate a foreign noblewoman alone was punishable by death.

She knew Diana didn’t do it. But if the evidence was clear, her daughter was as good as dead. Whether it was true or false, Lady Nordic knew that pleading innocence to Theodore a hundred times would be futile. Thus, she decided to follow his words.

“I will do it.”

However, Lady Nordic felt something strange.

Why was he only asking for testimony and not information about the human trafficking operation?

But she quickly dismissed the thought. If betraying Baron Lakia could save her daughter’s life, she would do anything as a mother.

“I appreciate the help you’ve given the Grand Ducal household after my parents passed away. That’s why I want to save at least one life this time.”

“Sniff…”

*

Juan arrived at the Florence Grand Ducal household, carrying a woman hidden in a rolled-up carpet.

“Juan, you’ve done well.”

“It’s nothing.”

When the carpet was unrolled, a beautiful blonde woman appeared.

Her body was emaciated, her hair was matted with dried blood, and her arms and neck were covered in hand-shaped bruises. Anyone could tell she was a woman who had been subjected to violence.

“Welcome, Baroness Lakia.”

“You’re the one who saved me, aren’t you?”

Through Stella’s eavesdropping, it was discovered that Baron Lakia’s third wife was not dead.

As soon as Meia learned that he had sold her to someone, she sent Juan to retrieve her.

<My wife… No, she’s dead.>

Meia was infuriated by Baron Lakia’s sly attempt to cover up the fact that he had sold his wife. She was even angrier at the idea that he had treated his family as less valuable than objects, even if it wasn’t out of love.

Meia led the Baroness to a table set with food.

“Please, have a meal first.”

At the sight of the delicious food, the Baroness drooled and sat down as if in a trance. She began eating with her hands, ignoring the fork and knife, shoving food into her mouth hurriedly.

However, she couldn’t eat much before she started gagging. Clutching her stomach, she cried bitterly and confessed to Meia.

“I’m pregnant.”

She grabbed her hair with both hands and repeatedly slammed her head on the floor, weeping. Only the victim knows the unbreakable nightmares of what she endured in that hellish place.

“Rebecca.”

Rebecca wiped her tears and looked at Meia, who had called her name.

“Currently, the Baroness of Lakia is you, Rebecca. He claimed that you were dead, but he didn’t even file a death report for you, his deceased wife.”

Rebecca flinched.

“In the end, you can just say you went on a retreat due to pregnancy.”

“But still!”

“Rebecca, don’t you want to live the rest of your life comfortably, being called ‘Baroness’? Don’t you want to reclaim the dreams you’ve been having?”

Meia extended her hand to Rebecca.

“I want to live. Hic… I want revenge!”

“I know you’re a victim. Baron Lakia created insurmountable debt, destroying your family and humiliating your loved ones worse than death, Rebecca.”

Rebecca nodded, wiping her overflowing tears.

“If you despise the Lakia family name, I can grant you a different one. After all, the child in your womb will still be the heir to the Baron’s household.”

After crying for a long time, Rebecca finally said what Meia wanted to hear.

“All the documents related to the human trafficking Baron Lakia manages are in my secret space.”

“Where is your secret space?”

“My secret space… Hic.”

“Don’t hold back. Cry if you need to. Take your time.”

Rebecca cried again. Meia waited silently until her sobbing subsided.

She had endured abuse for so long. Meia was prepared to wait all day if necessary.

After calming down, Rebecca spoke.

“They’re hidden in my mother’s grave.”

Rebecca Heden.

That was Rebecca’s name before her marriage.

***

A prosperous family. Loving and kind parents, loyal servants, an adorable younger brother, and even a fiancé with whom she had promised a future—Rebecca had everything one could wish for.

But all her misfortunes came at her at once.

Her father’s sudden bankruptcy.

The mysterious deaths of her mother and younger brother.

Her fiancé walking away.

The relentless pursuit of debt collectors.

Baron Lakia approached Rebecca and said:

<Beautiful Lady Rebecca, if you marry me, I will provide severance pay to your servants and clear your debts.>

The greed glistening in his eyes was like sticky, melted candy clinging to one’s fingers on a hot day.

<Please, give the servants their severance pay and at least preserve the name of the Heden family.>

<You don’t need to worry about that. Just follow my words, and all will be well.>

He kept his promise.

Before their marriage, he gave the servants their severance pay and said they had all gone to “better places.”

After marrying him and starting a new life as the Baroness, Rebecca quickly discovered that Baron Lakia turned extremely violent whenever he drank.

Beatings became a daily occurrence, and he forced himself on her against her will. If she resisted, she would be beaten again.

The more his vile laughter grew, the more she cried and screamed.

<Why! Why is this tragedy happening? Mother! Father! Leonard! Nanny!>

Even when she closed her eyes, the nightmare continued. In the inescapable, horrifying nightmare, she couldn’t distinguish reality from dreams. She couldn’t figure out what to deny or where to start forgetting. Even when she asked herself, she couldn’t find an answer.

Time passed like that. Feeling the passage of time had become a “luxury” for her.

All her time was meaningless. Every time she closed her eyes, she thought of those happy days.

She wanted to go back. But she couldn’t. Her younger brother, who used to run to her with a bright smile, calling “Sister!”; her parents, who smiled at her in return; the loyal servants who protected their family—none of them were by her side anymore.

She prayed to an unresponsive god.

‘Please let me wake up from this nightmare.’

In her dreams, her mother would embrace her with a gentle voice, saying, “I love you.” Each time, the overwhelming longing would drive her to pray to the god again with all her heart.

‘If it’s a dream, please don’t let me wake up.’

But there was no god.

Every day, she dreamed of taking revenge on Baron Lakia. But for her, revenge was nothing but a “novel.”

A “novel” known only to her, one that would disappear along with her faint hopes—a fleeting “novel.”

When she became pregnant against her will, she decided it was time to write the ending to her “novel.”

To others, it might look like a tragic ending, but for her, it would be a happy one.

To preserve the last shred of her crumbling, unfeeling heart…