Chapter 10: You’re the One Who Perfected the False Accusation

With a face drained of all emotion, Elana stepped down onto the stairs—then suddenly drew a sharp breath.

She’d thought she’d be fine, but apparently, she was wrong.

The dank, reeking air of the prison, black and gaping before her, sent a wave of dizziness through her.

Her body swayed without her will.

“Are you all right?”

Evan quickly reached out to steady her.

His gloved hands were rough, but his grip was gentle.

At his worried question, Elana pulled herself together.

She had narrowly avoided tumbling down the steps.

Composing herself, she bowed her head lightly.

“Thank you. How embarrassing, tripping in the dark at my age.”

“I’ll guide you down.”

Evan went down a few steps and held out his hand to Elana.

She hesitated for a moment before taking it.

Evan’s escort was impeccable, and for the first time in a long while, Elana experienced a proper escort as she made her way toward her destination.

As they walked through the dungeon, no real conversation passed between them.

They simply moved in silence, the sound of their footsteps accumulating in the dim, narrow corridor—until, finally, they stopped at a certain spot.

“This is it.”

“Thank you. May I know your name?”

“Evan Hutas Opel, ma’am.”

“Sir Opel. I hope I can repay this debt someday.”

“Not at all. Please, have your conversation. I’ll wait here.”

“No. I don’t want to trouble you any further. The guard at the entrance has to stay at his post, doesn’t he? Please go on and make your report. Call your superior if you wish.”

Elana gave a little shrug, as if to promise she wouldn’t try anything dangerous.

She didn’t forget to glance meaningfully toward the entrance.

“……”

Evan knew it was rude to delay, but he simply stared at her for a moment.

Even though it was a situation that called for suspicion, he found himself believing she wouldn’t do anything reckless.

After a moment, gazing into those sun-bright golden eyes, he finally stepped back.

“Then I’ll excuse myself.”

“Thank you. Truly.”

After Evan gave a polite bow and left, Elana took a deep breath and turned her eyes to the cell.

Just then, Robellina, who had been glancing about at the sound of footsteps, locked eyes with her.

Robellina, who always dressed herself in a level of finery that bordered on excessive, was a pitiful sight.

Her once-luxurious red hair was tangled and wild, her unwashed face filthy and streaked with grime.

Her clothes were ragged from struggle, and scratches covered her hands and feet.

Sitting in the shadowy cell, dazed and half out of her mind, Robellina suddenly sharpened at the sight of Elana, her eyes blazing as she lunged at the bars.

Clang!

Robellina grabbed at the rusty bars, reaching out as if to snatch Elana.

“Princess!!”

“……”

Yet even in the face of such savage behavior, Elana didn’t so much as blink.

She simply stared back, expression calm and unyielding.

‘My wretched, tangled fate.

It’s been a while since we’ve come face to face like this.’

“How! How are you here?! How are you the only one—?!”

“Who knows. How do you think?”

Compared to Robellina’s frantic voice, Elana’s was calm and composed as it echoed through the dungeon.

At Elana’s attitude, Robellina pressed herself even closer to the bars, shrieking with venom.

“Why are you the only one who’s fine?! I’m stuck here in this filthy hellhole looking like this—so why just you?!”

“That’s why you should have kept your head on straight and listened to people’s warnings.”

“Hey!!”

“I’m going to be empress.”

A faint, careless smile traced Elana’s lips as she tossed the words out.

Robellina’s expression crumpled beautifully.

“What?”

“They say you’ve been seeing ghosts? There’s no such thing as ghosts in this world. Especially not one that handsome.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Are you insane? Are you dreaming? Hah!”

“The person you saw, it’s Killian. He’s not dead.”

“Ha! Wh-what a joke. He died in the mine collapse! I even checked the scene myself! I was there… I was sure…”

Robellina clutched her head, groaning in confusion.

Elana simply watched her, a smile painted calmly on her lips.

‘If only you knew how long I’ve waited for this day. You could never even imagine it.’

So no matter how sick she felt, she had to come here.

With a bright, almost taunting smile, she looked Robellina straight in the eye.

Robellina, still not comprehending, rolled her eyes in a daze, then suddenly began rattling the bars and screaming like a madwoman.

Elana, narrowing her brow in annoyance, replied in a nonchalant but needling tone:

“He’s unified the continent and returned as emperor of an empire. Calliod. That’s my fiancé Killian’s new name. Unlike you, I’m going to live very well—because I’ll be his wife.”

The power Calliod had given her was, in many ways, useful.

Normally, brandishing someone else’s authority didn’t suit her temperament—but just for today, she let herself put on a brazen mask.

Compared to the bitterness she’d endured, this much was justified.

“Hahaha! As if! Do you really think that makes any sense? You’re the one who sentenced his father to death and turned him into a slave! He must’ve lost his mind!”

Robellina’s laughter was hysterical, but then her expression twisted with outrage.

It was almost comical.

And the more she acted that way, the more Elana grounded herself in reality.

“If that weren’t true, I wouldn’t be here now, would I? I guess I’m just too valuable to kill. Unlike your son, I’m the legitimate heir of this country.”

“How dare you even mention him! My precious son, by the likes of you—by the likes of you!!”

“Your precious son… I was a precious daughter to my parents too. And he, too, was a precious son to the Duke of Ridges.

How special was your son, that you had to destroy us all for him?”

Her lips, which had just held a dazzling smile, suddenly went icy cold.

Seeing Elana’s face freeze so chillingly, Robellina gave a scornful snort.

“If getting rid of you meant putting my son on the throne, what’s one more life? A fake coup? False charges? Who cares? Getting rid of you, and Ridges—your greatest supporter—was only natural if it cleared the way for my son.”

Robellina was utterly shameless.

Elana, who had given up everything and begged again and again just to save Calliod’s life, let out a hollow laugh.

“Eight years have passed and you don’t even bother to pretend anymore. Back then you flatly denied everything, feigning ignorance.”

“What’s the point in pretending now? My son became king in the end, didn’t he?”

“God… you’re unbelievable.”

“Unbelievable? Weren’t you just as complicit? You suspected I was the ringleader, but at the same time you wondered if Ridges’s rebellion was real. That’s why you made that choice back then, isn’t it?”

Robellina laughed gleefully, as if she had uncovered some grand secret—delighting in the thought she’d struck a nerve in Elana.

“You only cut Ridges down so cruelly because you were scared you’d be dragged into the treason yourself. I’m the one who framed Ridges, but you’re the one who made it stick. We’re accomplices.”

Robellina’s unpainted lips twisted into a sly, mocking smile.

“You threw innocent people away just to get rid of me.”

“If you hadn’t, would you have given up the throne so easily? And let’s be clear—you took those innocent lives with your own hands.”

It was an undeniable fact.

Elana bit the inside of her mouth to keep from showing her devastation.

Even though she felt like her insides were being torn apart, she forced herself to appear calm and unaffected.

“And yet, now he says he’ll make me empress. At least this time, I’ll have more power than I did back then.”

“Ha! Do you think that scares me? I don’t care what you become. What’s the worst that could happen? Death?!”

Despite the way she swallowed hard, clearly frightened, Robellina stubbornly tried to maintain her fierce front.

“Fine then. Hold on to that resolve. Go ahead—say to him everything you just said to me. This might be your last chance to drive a wedge between us, to ruin what we have. Not that I know if he’ll throw me away for it.”

“Don’t talk nonsense about ‘last chances.’ My son will surely overcome this crisis, and we’ll rise again. The fact that they’ve kept me alive—don’t you see what that means?”