“Alyosha? This is the Count’s office… isn’t it?”

Kasha tilted her head, hoping her eyes would quickly adjust to the darkness. The air in the corridor, where only a cool silence lingered, was unusually cold, making goosebumps constantly rise on her arms.

But Alyosha didn’t seem to have any intention of answering Kasha’s question. Instead, she suddenly turned to Kasha and asked an absurd question.

“Young lady. Why did you come out of there? You should have waited until everything was over.”

An abrupt tone of reproach, as if scolding a child.

“What do you mean by there? What are you talking about, Alyosha?”

A hint of wariness tinged Kasha’s voice as she heard the bewildering words.

“If you had waited just a little longer, we could have driven out all the trash and handed the kingdom over to the princess… Why couldn’t you bear that short time and came out? Like the queen, why don’t you listen to me, princess?”

“Alyosha?”

Kasha raised her voice and called her name, realizing the situation was abnormally unfolding.

“Driving out the trash… princess. What on earth are you talking about? First, take me to the Count. Hurry.”

Why did this woman named Alyosha keep saying such strange things to her?

She didn’t know what was going on, but she felt like she needed to get out of here first.

She surveyed the darkness at both ends of the corridor. Which way could she find the path more quickly?

“That’s what I’m saying. Count Lyuschino, he’s the same. He still hasn’t told the princess anything. Who the princess is, what the princess ought to enjoy. Not even the brutal things they did to the queen!”

Bang.

Unable to contain her anger, the sound of stomping feet echoed through the quiet corridor.

In Alyosha’s eyes, glowing intensely in the darkness, was… glistening tears.

In a situation she couldn’t possibly comprehend, Kasha froze on the spot.

“Alyosha. Why are you doing this to me? Princess. And who is that queen…?”

Tap tap.

Suddenly there was the sound of hastily striking a flint. Shortly after, an orange flame flared up in the darkness. Alyosha, who had lit a candle from somewhere, silently pushed it towards the wall.

“…This is?”

What she thought was an empty corridor was actually a gallery.

On the walls hung portraits of various figures, all of whom looked to be of very high status.

…And somehow, they seemed familiar.

The candlelight that had been silently illuminating each portrait suddenly stopped in front of a woman’s portrait.

“This is the queen. Do you recognize her?”

Do I recognize her?

Kasha, furrowing her brow at the question whose intention she couldn’t fathom, suddenly felt her pupils begin to tremble.

‘Why, why is she familiar? Why does that woman…’

Look exactly like my mother?

Whether she knew or was oblivious to Kasha’s confusion, Alyosha began to reminisce in a voice tinged with longing.

“She was such a kind and intelligent person. I became Princess Camilla’s maid when I was thirteen, and even though the princess was a year younger than me at the time, she always felt like an elder sister.”

Camilla, the princess?

Kasha’s mind was still dazed at the combination of two words that didn’t go together at all.

Camilla Yefrin. That was definitely the name Kasha’s mother had. But a princess. What kind of bizarre joke and cruel prank was this?

But why did the crazed look in her mother’s eyes from her memories perfectly overlap with the face of the astute-looking teenage girl in the portrait?

“In studies, in character, and even in magical abilities! The princess’s magic was already far ahead of the mages of the Magic Tower at the age of sixteen, and everyone had such high hopes that a wise ruler would emerge to lead the Kingdom of Gillenua to great prosperity once again.”

The things Alyosha was saying gradually took on meaning and recombined in Kasha’s mind.

The Kingdom of Gillenua was a small country in the northern part of the continent that had been destroyed by the Aranias Empire about 16 years ago.

Come to think of it, she vaguely remembered reading in a history book that the area from near Gilistin Castle, where she was standing now, to the border of the Empire had been the territory of the Kingdom of Gillenua.

And a princess who could use magic? Kasha’s mother, Camilla, was definitely a mage. One with outstanding abilities at that. But at the same time, she was also a wandering madwoman with no family.

“If only she hadn’t met that damned knight… Princess Camilla would surely have become a wise ruler. She would never have been caught up in the schemes of those dog-like bastards of the Aranias imperial family and lost everything, falling into ruin!”

Alyosha’s voice gradually sharpened with escalating emotion.

“If only she hadn’t met that knight… There would have been no such thing as falling into useless love. Then the princess would never have willingly walked into the trap set by those Aranias bastards to protect him and the young princess!”

Sobs of resentment soon mixed into Alyosha’s voice. The originally noble and elegant old lady was gone, and only a crone possessed by evil was spewing resentment at someone unknown.

Her ramblings were incoherent, but what they meant gradually pieced together like a puzzle in Kasha’s mind.

So, was my mother Camilla the last princess of the Kingdom of Gillenua, which was destroyed by the Aranias Empire?

Or was this just the delusions of a deranged old woman, bringing forth nonsense?

The princess’s portrait, reflected in the flickering candlelight, kept fueling an ominous premonition.

Kasha read the inscription carved on the bottom right of the portrait frame.

‘Camilla Yefrin Gillesers – Portrait Commemorating the Princess’s Accession’

Features that perfectly resembled her mother’s, and deep pink eyes. But instead of the madness that always rose on her mother’s face, that princess’s face was graced with a sunny smile and unshakable confidence.

As if no hardship could ever cast a shadow over her future, Alyosha’s grotesquely wailing silhouette draped over that self-assured smile.

“Princess. Do you know how long I have waited? After the kingdom fell, when you fled to escape those Empire bastards who were so eager to kill you, the heirlooms of the Gillesers dynasty that you entrusted… Those magic stones and even the ward stones, I truly guarded them with my life. Not knowing that you had passed away so absurdly… Ooh hoo hoo… Princess… Princess Camilla…!”

A rough crying sound, as if tearing at her heart, flowed from Alyosha’s mouth.

Kasha clenched her teeth, putting strength into her legs that trembled as if they would collapse at any moment, and listened to Alyosha’s delirious words. Then, the word ‘magic stone’ that suddenly popped out made her mind snap to attention.

“Wait, Alyosha. Magic stone? You said my mother left magic stones?”

A premonition slapped her mind, making even her forehead feel hot.

“Of course… The demon’s magic stones… The ones only the descendants of Gillesers have the right to seal. Those… you told me to send them, princess.”

“What? I told you to send the magic stones, what do you mean by that now?”

At Kasha’s question, an eerie smile rose on Alyosha’s wrinkled, tear-stained face.

“Why are you pretending not to know? You said, princess, that you needed to take revenge on those Empire bastards… so you told me to send those magic stones the queen had entrusted. Only after receiving that letter did I feel like I was living again. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to close my eyes and die peacefully without properly taking revenge on those Empire bastards even once….”

“No, no! I didn’t even know you had magic stones until now. I didn’t send that letter!”

Kasha shouted, gasping for breath.

“What do you mean by that, princess? Those magic beasts swarming outside right now, you’re the one who summoned them. Who else but you could dare to do such a thing? Unless it’s the great descendant of the Gillesers dynasty, who will revive the Kingdom of Gillenua…!”

Madness flashed in Alyosha’s tear-filled eyes.

Kasha finally collapsed to the spot, her legs giving out from the shock that felt like it was crushing her mind.

Those magic stones that borrowed the power of demons belonged to my mother? That’s why I was able to unseal the magic stones? Because I’m a descendant of the Gillesers royal family?

Alyosha was already laughing in a daze, holding the candle and gazing at the portrait.

“Princess. Look. I truly took revenge for you. Can you hear it, the screams of those Empire bastards wailing outside? Those bastards who drove my daughter and my husband into a pit of fire are finally receiving the demon’s judgment….”

“Alyosha. Get a grip. Look at me.”

Kasha abruptly stood up and shook Alyosha’s shoulders.

“That letter you say I sent. When and who brought it? Do you still have that letter by any chance?”

“I threw it away, already threw it away…. In case Count Lyuschino found out. So it wouldn’t ruin our plan.”

Alyosha grinned from ear to ear. Her cloudy eyes seemed to be stained with the years of regret she had sent away.

Considering she was the princess’s close maid, she must have been born into an enviably noble family of the kingdom as well. It must have been a picture-perfect life, serving a master she wouldn’t hesitate to give her life for and living happily with her husband and daughter.

But all of that shattered in an instant.

Watching the fall of her beloved princess and kingdom, and losing her family in the process, she must have slowly crumbled while guarding the legacy left by the princess alone.

So Kasha could no longer say anything. It felt like Alyosha’s pain, piled up over more than a decade, was being transmitted directly, making her blood vessels tingle.

Then Alyosha hurriedly whispered to her.

“Princess, let’s run away quickly.”

“What? Where…”

“Those people who are helping you. Those people who informed me that you were coming here and had me prepare in advance. They will come to take us. They are truly righteous people. If it weren’t for them, how could I have brought the ward stones to that forest at the right time?”

“…It was you, Alyosha, who brought the ward stones there?”

“They said you would pass through that place. I wanted you to safely hide within the barrier until everything was over. After all, only those with the blood of the Gillesers royal family can enter or leave the barrier….”

So that’s how it was.

A bitter sneer flowed from Kasha’s face.

She had truly struggled in vain, caught in the net each of them had woven for their own goals, without knowing anything.

Feeling perfectly like a fool.

But Kasha had no intention of continuing to be buried in such feelings.

After regaining her composure shortly, Kasha asked in a cold voice.

“Those people. They approached you, saying they’re helping me. And they were supposed to come here now?”

“Yes. They said they would take you and recreate the glory of the kingdom. That they would establish a new Gillesers dynasty!”

“Nonsense.”

A chilling scoff burst from Kasha’s mouth.