For the first time, Charlen, who had never laid a hand on Katharine’s face no matter what, lost his composure.

The person who grabbed his arm from behind as it raised once more was none other than Astor.

“Your Majesty. Please restrain yourself.”

He couldn’t understand why Astor, who seemed willing to grovel at Charlen’s feet and bark like a dog for advancement, was now trying to stop him.

Astor whispered softly into Charlen’s ear.

“Many eyes are watching.”

Charlen finally looked around at the tense atmosphere and lowered his arm, clenching his fist tightly.

Astor glanced at Katharine, still collapsed on the cold floor and struggling to breathe.

Those snake-like, cunning eyes seemed to hold a hint of pity, which made it even more unpleasant.

“If anything had happened to the child in her womb, I would have struck her neck, not her cheek, right here. Such a witch…”

Katharine, fallen to the ground, stared up at Charlen with her head on the floor.

Then she let out a faint sneer.

“You laugh? You find this amusing?”

“I feel wronged, Your Majesty.”

“Wronged?”

“As I said, I did not harm the Queen in any way.”

“Spewing nonsense under the guise of explanation with that detestable mouth won’t change anything. Except for the fact that my child nearly went to the other world before seeing the light of day!”

“You’ve been going on about the child, but aren’t you worried about Rose?”

“What?”

“At least to my eyes, you seem to have lost your senses not because Rose was hurt, but because the child in her womb nearly died.”

“How can it not be important? I am the King. It is my duty to produce an heir as soon as possible to solidify the foundation of this country. If you, Katharine, hadn’t stupidly gotten into that accident back then, I would have been cradling my son in my arms long ago. Come to think of it, you are the root of all misfortune!”

“What did you say…?”

Katharine’s face turned deathly pale.

Even she, who had always coldly retorted to whatever he said, couldn’t help but feel her eyes burning this time.

How could anyone say such things unless they were a demon?

Katharine raised her bound hands, grabbed a small porcelain vase from the side table, and threw it mercilessly at his chest.

The rapidly flying vase narrowly missed him but left a significant wound on his forearm before shattering into pieces.

“Your Majesty, are you alright!”

“She’s completely mad! That insane woman, immediately…”

“When I was hovering between life and death after the carriage accident, you were having secret meetings with Rose!”

As Katharine raised her voice and shouted, the precarious atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze.

Charlen narrowed his eyes.

“What…”

“Did you think I would never know? Even when you were engaged to me, you had already been secretly having an affair with Rose for a long time. You probably weren’t too worried about me. After all, I had survived, and you could always have another child!”

“No… Since when did you…”

“Even the devil would be appalled to see you now. I was the fool for once truly loving someone like you. I was the idiot.”

The courtiers began to stir restlessly upon hearing Katharine’s revelation.

Charlen spoke urgently.

“You’re deliberately derailing the situation to avoid the crisis. It’s already an old matter, long past, and above all, I was young and foolish then. The most important thing now is that you tried to brutally murder my Queen!”

“Young and foolish…”

What a convenient excuse.

Katharine muttered, giving a bitter smile.

“This incident will not be overlooked. All of your social status, privileges, and assets will be confiscated without exception, and your fate will be decided after strict deliberation. Do you understand?”

Charlen raised one hand as if to say there was nothing more to discuss.

The soldiers who had been waiting for orders rushed in and roughly grabbed Katharine’s arms.

“Confine her in the underground prison until further orders.”

“Let me give you one last piece of advice, for old times’ sake. Charlen Riche. Remember well what I’m about to say.”

Katharine spoke softly with her back turned to him just before being dragged out of the room.

“You are now stepping into the grave you’ve dug for yourself. Before you regret it and beat the ground later, you’d better come to your senses as soon as possible.”

Though of course, you won’t understand it now.

When Rose opened her eyes, the situation had already been neatly resolved.

She first saw Charlen’s face watching over her with worried eyes, and the servants followed with words of comfort.

Among them, Rose had become the pitiful heroine betrayed by the sister she trusted.

“The court physician says that miraculously, the baby is safe and sound. God must have protected it.”

“Oh my… Thank goodness. I was so worried something might have gone wrong, but I’m truly relieved.”

Rose let out a trembling sigh and dropped a single tear.

She had jumped, half on impulse, thinking it was the only way to erase the tiresome existence of Sister Katharine from her life.

Of course, she had made her final decision after confirming that there was a thick pile of hay right below the balcony.

For a moment as she fell, she regretted it terribly, but now that she had opened her eyes, she couldn’t be more satisfied.

It was because of Charlen’s reaction, his eyes full of guilt.

“My Queen. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t want to lie to you, but I had no choice. I feared that if you knew about Katharine’s worsening mental illness and that we had to isolate her in the tower as a last resort, it would shock your tender heart.”

“No, it’s alright. I was the one who couldn’t resist my curiosity and insisted on visiting Sister Katharine.”

Whether his explanation was true or just another lie no longer mattered.

What really mattered was that Charlen was sincerely sorry to her at this moment, and that he regretted turning his attention to Katharine.

By overcoming that brief moment of terror, Rose had gained everyone’s worry and sympathy, as well as her husband’s affection and apology.

Even she thought herself quite the tough cookie.

‘By the way, what will happen to Sister Katharine now?’

Attempted assassination of the Queen.

She couldn’t possibly be safe.

Would she really be executed?

“By the way, my Queen. To be honest, I still can’t believe that you are with child.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I wanted to surprise you.”

“No, it’s alright. Everything is fine now. As long as the child is safe, nothing else matters.”

Charlen, unable to contain his joy stemming from his heart, embraced Rose tightly.

Just the fact that he had a child continuing his bloodline made the world seem bright and beautiful.

He couldn’t understand why he had acted so abnormally, bewitched by that woman Katharine all this time.

Charlen made a vow.

From now on, he would never look elsewhere, but be devoted to the royal family and his home, becoming an excellent father.

After Rose’s fall incident, Katharine was imprisoned in the underground dungeon on charges of attempted regicide.

It was an unpleasant place reeking of dried blood and rotting flesh.

Even so, Katharine, being a royal relative, received minimal courtesy and was confined to a room with a thin blanket, but it was far from enough to ward off the damp chill characteristic of the underground.

“Meal time.”

The guards watching the prison pushed a tray through a small door at the bottom of the bars.

It was a simple meal consisting of just a loaf of bread and some soup.

As she stared at it blankly, the guards spoke.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“Why do you ask the obvious? She’s a lady raised in luxury. Just wait a bit. She’ll say, ‘Can people actually eat this food waste? How dreadful!’ while shuddering.”

Katharine looked at them giggling for a while, then brought the tray to her lap.

The guards, who had been chattering among themselves, fell silent, seemingly surprised when she started eating.

Of course, it wasn’t easy to swallow such low-quality bread that she had never eaten in her life, as they had said.

She felt like choking and vomiting, but she endured it.

There are countless poor people in this world who die unable to eat even oatmeal, let alone bread.

Complaining about food while bemoaning one’s fate would be shameful for a noble.

“I’m finished.”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to take the dishes?”

“Ah, yes.”

The guards exchanged silent glances and retrieved the dishes without a word.

After that time, they never again mocked or gossiped maliciously in front of Katharine’s room.

“Are you alright?”

Around the time she had become somewhat accustomed to the chilling cold rising from the floor.

A familiar man’s voice flowed through the bars.

It was Astor.

“As you can see, I’m not alright.”

Astor rolled his eyes, examining Katharine’s complexion.

She had become noticeably gaunt, as if she had been under a lot of stress lately.

Astor could not take his eyes off her fragile figure leaning weakly against the wall, looking as if she might collapse at any moment.

“It’s already an old matter, long past, and above all, I was young and foolish then.”

She must have been hurt. Very much so.

But why doesn’t she cry?

Astor was curious about why she always seemed to be desperately holding back tears with that strange expression.

“Um, Lady Katharine.”

“I’m sorry, but I have nothing to say to you. Please leave.”

“I know. I know that Lady Katharine resents me a lot. After all, if we look closely, I was the one who most actively participated in Lady Katharine’s misfortune.”

At that moment, a deflating laugh escaped from between Katharine’s teeth.

Astor looked at her, perplexed.

“You’re incredibly arrogant. I don’t have the time or luxury to resent someone like you. So don’t be mistaken.”

“But I kidnapped Lady Katharine.”

“Yes, you committed a horrible and petty evil act without any room for excuse. But whether there was your will in it or not, I’ve decided not to resent you.”

Just as he was about to ask why, unable to understand at all.

Katharine opened her eyes, which shone brightly through the dark bars, as if she had no intention of sinking helplessly while being held captive and falsely accused.

She said meaningfully.

“Because from now on, I’m thinking of using you once.”