Chapter 2
“…The Pope is in cahoots with you too?”
At the trembling question, Mason snapped back, raising his voice.
“Cahoots? Watch your tongue. His Holiness simply delivered rightful punishment.”
“Ha, rightful punishment? Don’t make me laugh. It was all fabricated lies.”
In that moment, she remembered the priest’s voice beyond the prison bars, just before her parents’ execution.
‘After your execution, ownership of the mine will revert to the Grand Temple and His Holiness the Pope.’
Why hadn’t she realized it sooner?
‘From the start, Mason didn’t have any real evidence for his accusations.’
Even so, the Grand Temple and the Pope took the word of a mere baron and acted upon it.
It had never made sense. How could the Pope — the supreme authority of the land — be swayed by a lowly baron?
Moreover, knowing Mason’s personality, he wasn’t someone bold enough to orchestrate such a grand scheme.
Of course. That’s what this was. Now it was clear. Mason had the Pope’s power behind him — that’s why he dared to do this and dared to talk nonsense about becoming a duke.
Pope Anacheto — the absolute ruler of the Rasierra Empire. In this nation, the Pope’s power far outweighed the emperor’s.
The imperial family and the emperor were nothing more than figureheads now.
True power was held by Pope Anacheto.
‘Normally, the assets of traitors should be confiscated by the crown. But the mines on our land were instantly handed over to the Grand Temple — like they had been waiting for it.’
From the start, the Pope had his eyes on our mines.
A bitter smirk escaped her lips as she pieced the situation together.
“You, a coward, pulling something so audacious — now I see. You had the Pope’s backing.”
The Pope — hailed as the greatest saint in history — turned out to be the villain.
To someone like her, a frontier noble’s daughter, the Pope was a being she dared not even look upon. To the common folk, he was like heaven itself — unreachable, unseen.
Realizing this truth crushed her. A sense of helpless despair washed over her.
‘The person I must take revenge on… is someone I can’t even lay a finger on in my current state. This is just…’
Too cruel…
With all hope gone, all she could do was stare into empty space with hollow eyes.
Mason shook his head at her as if she were pathetic.
“I’ll head to the capital to receive my dukedom. Prepare yourself.”
He added, “Not that you have much to bring,” and turned to leave the execution grounds.
Even as his disgusting back disappeared, she couldn’t say a word.
Crushed beneath the weight of overwhelming power, her head hung low.
And then, painfully, she thought of him — Diasi.
‘You told me not to worry. You said you’d hide and protect me forever…’
Where are you, what are you doing… The unanswered question strangled her heart.
Could it be…?
Had Diasi betrayed her?
That even now — when she had lost everything because of Diasi’s father — she still thought of him felt utterly ridiculous.
But she couldn’t forget his smile… the way he gently held her.
“Ha…”
Her eyes, sore from crying, burned like they were scalded.
Tears fell silently onto the ground, leaving trails on her cracked lips.
“Diasi… Please… help me…”
In the empty execution ground, where she was the only one alive, her heartbroken cries echoed in vain.
A few days later – The Richards Baron Estate
Silver hair loosely draped over her face blocked her vision, but she didn’t care. She lay on the bed, blankly staring into the air.
Her body had no strength.
Whether he truly meant it or not, Mason had immediately sent his men the next day to drag her to the baron’s mansion — saying he’d make her his mistress.
Though she screamed and resisted, she was forcibly taken and confined to a room tucked away in the estate.
The treatment was… different. Perhaps on Mason’s orders, she was given good food and a soft bed, even while imprisoned.
But whether it was here or the prison she had just left, it was all the same hell.
With a quiet sigh, she sat up and looked around. Her room was in the corner of the first floor, surrounded on all sides.
The window was barred with thick iron rods, and the door was locked from the outside — escape was impossible.
Even if she did manage to escape somehow, there was another problem.
The daughter of a traitor who siphoned funds from the royal treasury and conspired with enemy mages — that was her label now.
With such a title, even if she escaped, she would never be able to live freely anywhere.
She was doomed to stay trapped in this mansion, becoming Mason’s mistress. That reality dragged her deeper into despair.
‘Even after coming here, Diasi never once came to see me.’
That hollow truth made her bite down on her lower lip.
In prison, at the execution ground, now — all she could think about was Diasi.
No matter what, no matter the situation, he had always said he was on her side.
Yet now, he was completely gone, like he had vanished into thin air.
Reality screamed the obvious — Diasi had betrayed her.
There wasn’t a shred of hope left. Everything around her was suffocating.
When she thought of the future, terror gripped her. A world where no one was on her side…
“…Should I die? Is there even a point in living like this…?”
…No, there wasn’t.
She took a shaky breath and reached into her belongings, pulling out a small silver dagger.
It had been among the belongings Mason had sent for, after bringing her to the mansion. It was disguised as a hairbrush, so Mason hadn’t realized it was a weapon.
She had known it might come in handy, but she never imagined it would be like this.
With trembling hands, she gripped the hilt. The reflection of her face on the silver blade seemed to mock her.
“Huu…”
She tried to steady her breathing, but it didn’t help much.
Finally, she raised the dagger high.
As her eyes followed the blade upward, her gaze locked onto something.
‘…That.’
The urn holding her parents’ ashes sat atop the nightstand — and all her strength drained away.
The owner of the crematorium had shown rare kindness by cremating her parents when no one else would.
It was the only treasure she had brought with her, clutched tightly in her arms.
Faced with that urn, she could no longer hold the dagger.
Clang—
The dagger slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor.
‘Louise, our princess. Take this.’
‘…Is it a brush? Oh… no, it’s a dagger! It’s so pretty! But why are you giving me this?’
‘You’ll be an adult soon. Your guards will protect you, but you must also learn to protect yourself. We prepared this dagger just in case.’
‘I see! I love it! It’s so beautiful!’
‘But… we hope you’ll never have to use it. Avoiding danger is what matters most.’
‘I will, Papa. Mama, don’t worry. I’ll be careful.’
‘That’s our girl. Always be careful, our precious daughter.’
There it was again.
Those memories, creeping back the moment she let her guard down.
Memories are cruel. Once they’ve taken root, they’re impossible to uproot.
They trap the person in the past and prevent them from moving forward.
Perhaps that’s why the gods gave humans the blessing of forgetfulness.
But why, then — why hadn’t that blessing come to her?
Overwhelmed with grief, her head bowed low. The air in the room felt unbearably heavy.
After collecting her thoughts, she tightly shut her eyes.
This dagger had been a gift — given with the hope that she’d never need to use it. How could she dare use it for this?
‘What was I thinking? I must be out of my mind…’
There couldn’t be a worse daughter than her.
Shame and regret flooded her chest, spilling out as tears.
“Hrk… I’m sorry… M-Mama… P-Papa…”
The broken syllables barely made it out of her mouth.
Unable to end her life before her parents, she picked up the dagger and shoved it deep into her belongings.
‘I can’t die. Not like this.’
She wiped the streaming tears from her cheeks with her sleeve.
Her cheeks stung from all the crying — and wiping them only made it worse.
But she didn’t care anymore.
And then—
Click.
“!”
The lock outside the door clicked open. She quickly composed herself and stood up from where she had been crouching near her belongings.
Was it lunchtime already?
The one who brought her meals was the nanny of the Richards household — the same woman who looked after Diasi’s younger brother, Jacob. They were somewhat acquainted.
She came every meal without fail. Even when Louise flipped the tray in protest, the woman would just say, “Oh dear, what a mess,” and hurry to clean up.
So surely, this time would be the same.
Or… could it be… this time…
She instinctively turned her gaze to the door.
‘Just one more time. If it’s not Diasi this time either… then he really has betrayed me.’
She should’ve given up already. She knew it. She knew how pathetic she was.
But she couldn’t let go — not of the only person she had opened her heart to, her one childhood friend.
If she let go of that, she’d have nothing left at all.
Still, when had the world ever answered her desperate prayers?
As if mocking her hope, the world trampled it once again.
