Chapter 101
“Glory to the Holy Cross.”
With a firm expression, Lishar explained the situation to the countess.
“And so, I cast a binding spell on a suspicious individual I found lurking nearby.”
Countess Elvira frowned and turned to question Elda.
“Is it true, as Her Highness the Crown Princess says, that you pushed her into the pond?”
Elda swallowed hard, her eyes flashing.
“W-what is this utter nonsense? When have I ever done such a thing? Do you have any proof?”
I was so dumbfounded I cried out.
“What are you talking about? You were the one who pushed me!”
But it seemed Elda had decided to turn the tables with sheer audacity. Her voice took on a shrill, metallic edge.
“Your Highness the Crown Princess, I am frankly bewildered that you would make such a claim. In fact, I was just passing by when I saw someone fall into the pond and approached to help. And now you say I pushed you?”
She seethed with indignation, as if she genuinely found the accusation absurd. I was so stunned I couldn’t speak, so Delphina stepped forward in my place.
“Don’t lie! You’re just holding a grudge because Her Highness the Crown Princess dismissed you, aren’t you?”
Tears now streamed down Delphina’s face as she shielded me. But Elda’s tongue continued to spin bright red lies.
“How would I, a woman who has lost her position, know that the Crown Princess, who slipped away from her own guards, would be in a place like this?”
“What is all this clamor? What is going on here?”
At that moment, a familiar voice drifted over. A woman was approaching from a distance.
Goosebumps rose all over my skin. It was Mercedes.
“Lady Aroncho…”
It was her—the woman from my waking dream who had killed the other candidates with such a terrifying expression. Now, with a perfectly serene look on her face, she stepped forward.
“I wondered what the commotion was about. So this is what happened. It has been a long time, Your Highness.”
At her appearance, the people around us began to murmur. Mercedes glanced once at the whispering crowd before speaking.
“I have been watching for some time, Your Highness, and I must say, your words seem a bit unreasonable.”
“Unreasonable… you say?”
“Yes. I did not wish to bring this up, but why, Your Highness, were you in a place like this?”
“That is…”
“Evading your own guards to come to such a secluded and dangerous spot, no less.”
A pang of guilt struck my chest.
“I, I was…”
I couldn’t very well tell them I had followed a vision only I could see all the way here. As I remained silent, Mercedes launched into a speech.
“I am well acquainted with Elda’s character. And while I may not have served the Crown Princess for long, I am also quite familiar with your nature, Your Highness.”
Then, she suddenly took a jab at my personality.
“What did you say?”
“Is it not enough that you drove out the handmaidens appointed by Her Majesty the Empress and chased away even me, His Highness the Crown Prince’s sole aide? Are you now framing others as well?”
This was an outrageous distortion.
“No, it was really Elda… She pushed me into the pond…!”
Elda glared daggers at me and shouted.
“So where’s your proof?”
Mercedes’s eyes glinted. Not wanting to lose the momentum as I faltered, she raised her voice again.
“Shall I tell you the real reason why Your Highness the Crown Princess cannot even explain why you came here alone?”
My throat tightened. I was terrified of what she might say next.
She smiled faintly and said, “Could it be that the Crown Princess, despondent over your circumstances, intended to throw yourself into the water?”
At Mercedes’s words, a stir went through the crowd.
“Suicide?”
“How can she say something so ominous…”
Then, someone cautiously brought up the topic.
“Well, another one of the candidates for Crown Princess died here, didn’t she? Threw herself into the pond, took her own life.”
“So it’s true, the place is cursed…”
The murmurs grew louder. Mercedes’s accusation was rapidly turning the situation against me.
“No!”
I shook my head and cried out. In the empire, suicide was a deeply dishonorable act and one of the gravest sins.
To harm oneself was considered blasphemy—an act of defiance against the gods and a taboo on par with the sin of murder for defiling the body one had been gifted.
One misstep, and I could be branded an apostate. That was the yoke they were trying to place on me.
Seeing me shrink back, Mercedes grew even more triumphant.
“If that is not the case, Your Highness, then please explain why you came to this place all alone, having evaded even your attendant maids and guard knights.”
“T-that is…”
I couldn’t tell them I had followed a vision that only I could see. The answer was too unnatural. Such wicked visions or acts of prophecy could easily get one accused of witchcraft.
Just then, someone emerged from the bushes in the distance.
“I have something to say about that. I saw what happened.”
It was a sudden appearance. It was Giovinetta.
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