* * *
As soon as Cynthia heard that Captain Declan, who had taken bereavement leave, had returned, she immediately went to see him.
“Captain, have you seen Anita by any chance? You work at the same facility. Captain Carlton hasn’t seen her…”
Captain Declan, who had secretly taken Anita out of the compound, was flustered and couldn’t continue speaking.
He had heard from Charles, a servant of House Queensguard, that Anita’s husband had been found dead, and feeling sorry for Anita, who had no idea, had taken her to the funeral.
‘I thought she had disappeared from the funeral and returned to the official residence on her own, but did she just run away?’
“She must have been frustrated being confined to the official residence and unable to even hear news from the outside.”
“I tried my best… I guess there was something she was upset about that I didn’t know. Did you hear anything?”
Seeing Cynthia’s guilty eyes, the Captain thought it was disgusting and opened his mouth.
“You knew that Hans Everett had died and didn’t tell her, didn’t you?”
A moment of silence flowed.
Cynthia stared at him blankly, without even blinking.
She was reminded of when she had given Hans a gold bracelet after he had threatened her, warning him, ‘If you use luck for gambling, you will pay the price.’
“…Hans is, dead?”
There was no way she wouldn’t know something that even the servant she brought knew.
The Captain frowned slightly.
“Yes, I heard he was murdered by someone. No matter what he did wrong, he was the father of her child, shouldn’t you at least tell her about his death?”
Cynthia’s slowly blinking eyes gradually darkened.
“Murdered? How do you know that, Captain? Even the Brigadier General doesn’t know about this.”
Realizing something was wrong, dismay crossed Captain Declan’s face.
“Did you perhaps go to the Everett Barony for the wake? Did you take Anita to the Barony?”
It was the first time Cynthia had spoken in such a cold voice.
Captain Declan was pushed back by the force of the woman, who was much smaller than him. But only for a moment, he confidently asserted his opinion.
“Shouldn’t she attend the funeral of her child’s father? Even the servant you brought from House Queensguard knows, how could you not know?”
At this, Cynthia, regaining her composure, asked in a calm tone.
“Are you talking about Charles? Let me ask you something. Do you think I’m close enough to that servant to share such information?”
Declan closed his mouth.
Truthfully, he had never seen him directing assisting her. Mainly, the servants of the official residence attended to her, and soldiers accompanied her when she went out.
“The servant may have accidentally learned about it and asked me for help out of pity.”
Cynthia stepped closer and looked up at the Captain.
“And as a result, Anita disappeared from the funeral.”
“Well, she was probably shocked by the news that her husband was murdered and dumped in the river, and she left because she was upset that the Princess didn’t tell her first.”
Seriously, are you going to blame me for everything?
“Did you tell her all that? How reckless…”
Did he even think about the impact of that on a pregnant woman?
Cynthia bit her lip, holding back the anger that seemed about to explode.
“I know you hate me. Viewing me only out of a prejudiced mindset, immediately suspicious of everything I do, waiting for that ‘gotcha’ moment. What’s funny is that you immediately believe all those negative things without even using that brain of yours to think about them.”
Finally exploding, Cynthia grabbed his collar roughly and rebuked him with an angry face.
“But you should have stopped to think before jumping on that high horse of yours! If you stopped for a minute to question why the Baron would hold a funeral for his bastard, you wouldn’t have taken a pregnant Anita there!”
“…!”
The reason the barony held a funeral for the bastard was to collect condolence money.
But that also meant acknowledging Hans as a member of the family, and Hans’s child would have inheritance rights.
Someone might have known about it and taken the pregnant Anita.
‘Or Helene might have framed me as the murderer who killed her husband and tricked Anita into going with her.’
Either way, Anita was in danger.
Only then did Captain Declan realize that something was seriously wrong and stepped back in dismay.
Cynthia, looking at him with contempt, coldly rebuked.
“If you were truly a righteous person, you would have thought about finding her first, before coming back and blaming others.”
* * *
“The Princess? She went to ask Captain Declan something…”
Hearing the servant’s words, Masera hurriedly headed towards the restricted facility.
Captain Declan hated Cynthia, a member of the royal family, so much that he had made a commotion about it up until the day before his wedding.
He might be spewing some harsh words at her even now.
Arriving in front of the Captain’s office, Masera paused when he heard Cynthia’s voice coming from inside.
Bang-!
Soon, the door burst open and Cynthia stormed out.
Beyond the open door, Captain Declan was seen standing with a dumbfounded face.
“What’s funny is that you immediately believe all those negative things without even using that brain of yours to think about them.”
Her typical response was to brush it off with a bright smile as if she didn’t care at all, even when someone was hostile towards her.
‘For her to get so angry…’
He approached Captain Declan with a serious face.
Rather than chasing after Cynthia and offering words of comfort, a practical solution came first.
“Take responsibility and find Anita. Disciplinary action will be discussed later.”
Captain Declan foresaw his future and lowered his eyes.
Masera would relieve him of his post and send him to a military prison.
“I understand that you can’t trust my wife, as is a member of the royal family, due to the hardships you’ve been through. However, as a friend and fellow soldier who has been with me for a long time, I hope you-”
But Masera was saying something different from what he expected.
“I hope you can break free from your anger and trust me.”
At the following words, Captain Declan stared at Masera with a blank face.
‘…You’ve changed.’
Could it be that he has become a little freer from the pain that was like a shackle in his life?
Forgiveness was not for others. Rather, it was about freeing oneself from the cycle of pain.
Captain Declan bowed his head towards Masera.
“…I’m sorry. I was blinded by anger and didn’t make the right judgment.”
Giving the other person a chance to repent and cooperate.
It was a strategy Masera had learned from Cynthia.
* * *
Carlos received Helene’s letter and went straight to where she was staying.
‘She didn’t return to the Queensguard County, could it be that she’s regretting everything and is trying to ask for help?’
Still, she was his sister, so he couldn’t be completely cold.
“Brother, it’s a ribbon tie I made. Throw it away if you don’t like it.”
When she was young, Helene was a prim but cute younger sister, and they were close siblings could be.
‘When did she change?’
He believed that Helene was not inherently bad.
If she came to her senses, he was willing to help.
And there was something he had to tell her.
“Brother, it’s a shame that I couldn’t go on my honeymoon because of everything going on with Father.”
Contrary to his expectation that she was having a hard time, she was living in a large and luxurious mansion. Her face was haggard, but her clothes were more extravagant than when she lived as a Duchess.
She was like a gorgeous flower full of poison.
“What is all this? Did the Ducal House grant you alimony?”
At Carlos’s question, Helene burst into a hollow laugh.
“They only made a show of it.”
Sitting at the table where refreshments were prepared, Carlos was surprised and widened his eyes when he saw the woman bringing tea.
It was a servant of Queensguard County, that is, a maid who should have died in the purge.
“This is Anita. Do you remember her?”
Helene asked, elegantly holding a teacup.
Carlos, nodding, looked at Anita with uneasy eyes.
As soon as Anita bowed her head slightly and left, Helene opened her mouth.
“You look like you’re questioning my intentions. I rescued her from Cynthia, she was being locked up in the official residence, and now I’m protecting her.”
“Why?”
“Why, is it that strange for me to do something good?”
Helene raised the corners of her mouth, savoring the fragrant black tea.
“I’m going to publish an article soon. You know what she did, right?”
“What?”
“That Cynthia killed her biological father. In addition to that, she killed another runaway maid, killed Anita’s husband, and even tried to poison our father.”
Looking at Carlos, whose expression turned serious, she gripped her neck.
“I’m going to expose it slowly, piece by piece. Like strangling her. In the end, even the fact that she’s a fake.”
Helene’s eyes, grabbing her own neck and laughing, were filled with joy and madness.
Carlos, who stood up abruptly, grabbed her hand from across the table.
“Helene. What happened with Cynthia’s father, she was just protecting her own life. And our father…”
‘You’re the one who did that.’
Carlos couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that you covered up the murder and were complicit in encouraging a fraudulent marriage.”
Helene grabbed his wrist and raised her head.
“Help me reinstate the monarchy, so I can sit on the throne. You’re not interested in such things anyway.”
“Sit on the throne…”
Carlos’s face turned pale and his voice trembled.
“Helene, do you remember our Mother?”
“Why are you suddenly asking me that?”
“I happened to remember something. Not a painting, but the actual face and voice of our mother.”
As silence flowed between the two, tension rose.
Soon, Carlos’s suppressed voice broke through.
“Helene. Our mother was not a princess.”
We were the fake ones.
