A gentle voice that seemed sweet at first, but the repeated words pushed Cayena to the extreme.

No, no……

Cayena muttered softly.

The one who should have been in trouble was that woman. Natasha Charliee, who was cutting her food as if nothing was wrong, sitting with her back straight!

She was also the one who should have been looked at with contempt. She should have been branded as an unfaithful duchess who knew no shame.

“Why….. Why are you saying that? Are you saying I fabricated the fact of your pregnancy? Wh-why would I do such a thing? Wh-why would I? What good would it do me?”

The hand gripping her dress trembled like an aspen leaf. Cayena’s chin quivered as she painfully uttered each word.

“You say you’re not pregnant because we didn’t have relations. I, I don’t know about such things….. But if you received two pregnancy results, doesn’t that mean you are pregnant? It, it could be someone else’s child. Are you making me the culprit to avoid suspicion? Ra-rather, beg His Grace for forgiveness.”

A moment later, the sound of cutlery falling to the floor was heard. It was the fork and knife Natasha had been holding until just now.

Creeak, the sound of a chair being lifted rang out. The expected action of picking up the dropped cutlery was unexpectedly rejected. Natasha, who had fully stood up from her seat, ignored what had fallen to the floor and moved. When her shoe heel touched it, she kicked it to the corner as if it bothered her.

Click, click. She who usually sought silent steps now advanced, forcefully stamping her heel sounds on the floor.

“Yes, Cayena. Go on, say more if you like.”

The successive steps stopped in front of Cayena.

“After you answer my question first.”

“……”

“You shouldn’t interrupt your master’s words. Even friends have boundaries, don’t they?”

Subsequently, Cayena looked up at the other with her chin raised. The woman who always responded with a kind smile now glared at Natasha with an icy expression. Hostility surged over the dull, faded green eyes.

Natasha finally faced a friend who was treating her sincerely.

“Why did you spill blood on my bed that day? Why did you make strange marks on my body and claim they were made by His Grace? Why did you suddenly hand me a flowerpot telling me to check for pregnancy! Why is only that flowerpot’s result different!”

“……”

“Moreover, why did you hire a doctor to spread false news about the pregnancy! Spill it all.”

“……”

“Rather than believing in my sudden and unproven infidelity, it makes more sense that you framed me, doesn’t it?”

The sharp voice listed evidence and cornered Cayena. It was a meticulous argument leaving no room for rebuttal.

Hurried breaths panted between delicate lips. Cayena, who had been choking and clutching her throat as if it was painful to breathe, finally collapsed to the floor.

“No, no. No….. It’s all that woman’s fault……”

And she cried most pitifully. Her anguished voice echoed repeatedly in the dining room.

A moment later, the duke nodded. The knights guarding the surroundings surrounded Cayena in a circle, then lifted her by both arms and dragged her away.

“Confine her to solitary until her sentence is decided.”

“Yes, understood.”

“No, no! It’s that woman’s lie. I never lied! Your Grace! It’s that woman’s infidelity! Please, please believe me……”

The pleading voice gradually faded away. The knights covered her mouth as if telling her to be quiet and dragged the criminal outside.

The anguished voice finally left Natasha’s ears completely.

It had been two days since the maid who framed the duchess was confined to solitary. Everyone clicked their tongues at the stubborn woman who refused all water and food while remaining silent.

Ten years, the criminal had spent a whole ten years with the duchess, they say.

Wasn’t she taken in by the imperial palace when young and served as a playmate for the youngest princess? Everyone thought she had a different kind of friendship while working as the duchess’s dedicated maid at the duke’s residence, but to think she had such dark intentions!

Everyone worried about the duchess.

So when she said she would go see that wretched Cayena Ten, they all tried to dissuade her in one voice.

But the stubborn duchess in this regard seemed not to have heard their dissuasion even with the backs of her ears.

Natasha, who entered the solitary cell guided by a knight, sent them away.

At first, the knights refused, saying it wasn’t allowed, but after repeated orders, they reluctantly vacated their positions. This happened only after searching the criminal’s body three times.

“Hello, Cayena.”

Natasha looked ahead with an expressionless face.

Cayena, locked in the iron cage, opened her eyes as if reacting to her voice. Her eyes were red with burst blood vessels.

As soon as she saw Natasha, she raised her curled-up body and approached. Then she stretched her hands out of the iron cage towards where the other was standing and tried her hardest to grab the woman. If not for the handcuffs firmly binding both hands, her skin would have been torn.

She was so vicious it was hard to believe the person before her was a friend.

Natasha, who scanned Cayena with empty eyes, asked slowly.

“Why did you do it?”

It was a single question containing many things.

Cayena did not answer, only glaring at Natasha with bloodshot eyes raised.

Her fingers moved constantly, trying to reach outside the iron cage. As she applied more force, the handcuffs seemed to tighten, and her fingers eventually writhed as if in agony.

Natasha turned her eyes away from the ferocious sight.

“Why did you do it.”

And she opened her mouth again. It was a reproach, not a question.

Why did you hate me so much this time too?

Why didn’t you change like Sieghart? Why do you keep tormenting me, unchanged in the past life and this life too?

A bitter sneer was heard from across. Cayena, who had given up on putting her hands out of the iron cage, now pressed her face against it. Her dirty face, unwashed, came right up to Natasha’s.

“You ask why I did it?”

There was a foul odor on her lips from not eating or drinking. It was the smell of hunger and anger.

“Even pretending not to know is deception!”

Cayena, who had been panting, gnawed at the iron cage with her teeth. Crunch, crunch. An eerie sound like bones being chewed filled the silence.

“What humiliation did I suffer because of you!”

“……”

“How afraid of death was I that day!”

Eventually, the woman recalled the tragedy of that day.

The horrific incident that occurred after the youngest princess of Charliee went to town to buy a birthday gift for Prince Alex Ludrio.

The Letius Imperial Knights burst into the palace without warning. Dozens of necks were cut off every time they drew and swung their swords. Blood spurted like a fountain, soaking the luxurious palace walls, and the helplessly rolling bodies of the members filled the floor.

‘Bring all the royalty!’

The most splendidly dressed man among the knights, mounted on the sturdiest horse. Kyle Letius ordered the knights to gather the Charliee royalty.

Yes! After the knights’ strong reply, the sound of determined hoofbeats followed.

It was in the midst of getting scolded by the queen for letting the princess go out on her own. Cayena, who was staying in the room right next to them, trembled in fear.

‘Y-Your Majesty….. Wh-what should we do?’

‘Damn those Letius bastards!’

The queen couldn’t respond calmly to the sudden incident either. She ran to the window, saw the group monitoring outside, and collapsed. Neither inside nor outside was safe.

The queen’s face turned pale as she thought of her child. The knights wouldn’t be able to protect the royalty from the sudden invasion.

‘What about Princess Natasha? She’ll be back soon….. Those bastards will keep waiting until they find the princess!’

If what they wanted was the kingdom, they would slaughter all the royalty. Those who needed to find all the pure bloodlines would eagerly wait until Natasha reached the palace.

She wouldn’t be caught immediately since she was with Sir Dante, but if they pursued the princess to the end, her location would eventually be discovered.

Cayena didn’t know what to do. Even though she might die at any moment, she was worried about Natasha who was left alone.

Meanwhile, the queen’s eyes flashed as she leaned against the wall muttering something as if she had fainted. After uttering her beloved daughter’s nickname, Tisha, one last time, she sprang up from her seat.

‘Cayena, you die instead. Then the knights won’t suspect Tisha’s absence.’

‘Y-Your Majesty?’

The queen who had muttered incomprehensible words soon searched the room. Among the thoroughly ransacked items, a splendid dress and accessories were found.

The queen stripped off Cayena’s dress with rough hands. Even amid the confusion, the queen’s grip was so strong that she couldn’t shake off her touch.

‘You must die! You lived a luxurious life thanks to our daughter, so you must repay the favor. Was it fitting for a commoner girl to be a princess’s playmate? Everything was thanks to Tisha. So die in that child’s place.’

Cayena Ten, a girl without status. A commoner who couldn’t even protest if executed by the imperial family.

The queen intended to disguise Cayena as Natasha and sacrifice her.

When she was dazed by the shocking request, various accessories were put on her as she stood blankly. In the past, she had been accused of being a wicked thief for possessing royal accessories, but now she voluntarily brought them to her body.

Afterwards, Cayena was captured by the knights along with the queen. She was made to kneel before the great ruler of Letius, waiting for the sentence to be handed down.

She should have opened her mouth to reveal that she was not the princess. She should have confessed that it was unfair.

But then, what about the princess? My beloved Tisha Charliee?

In the end, Cayena couldn’t open her mouth. Although betrayal welled up, she couldn’t kill the innocent princess because of that betrayal.