This was a side of her that had never been seen before. Richard quite liked the disheveled appearance of the woman who always dressed neatly and stood with her back straight.

The thought of Mercedes begging for forgiveness and lifting her nightgown, falling into his hands like this.

It was an extremely thrilling scene.

His mood improved naturally and he smiled.

“Well, Mercedes. Have you thought about it?”

Mercedes looked at him with a strange gaze and slowly approached.

“Yes, I’ve thought about it.”

“What thoughts?”

“I thought that I should fulfill my duty. I’ve been acting so stupidly all this time, Your Highness.”

Mercedes’ voice sounded somewhat lively.

Richard’s heart began to flutter at this completely different side of the woman who was always emotionless.

“I see. I didn’t want to go this far either… but seeing that you’ve properly reflected, it seems my judgment was correct.”

It seemed he had properly broken her spirit.

Richard admired Mercedes as he marveled at his own wisdom.

Her silhouette was visible through the white nightgown. Though thin, she was sufficiently beautiful. This situation where this woman, like a work of art, had clearly come to become his, filled him with renewed delight.

“Yes, Your Highness… You were absolutely right. Your judgment.”

Mercedes staggered towards Richard. With her arms outstretched, as if asking to be embraced.

In fact, if someone other than Richard had seen it, they might have felt that her appearance and tone, as if entranced by something, was strange.

But Richard, elated by each of her approaching footsteps, didn’t pay any attention to such things.

Richard’s heart pounded.

Mercedes, now at arm’s length, said:

“I plan to act smartly now.”

A faint red light began to flow from Mercedes’ fingertips. And her hand slowly touched Richard, beginning to ensnare him.

Only then did Richard realize that something was amiss.

“Ugh…”

As Richard’s windpipe slowly constricted, strength drained from his body. He felt as if all his blood was being drained.

By the time he realized his body was stiffening, Mercedes in his vision had already become blurry. He wanted to resist, but it felt like his life was extinguishing in an instant.

“Huh, ugh, huk…!”

Within that vortex, Richard’s breathing grew faint, as if about to be cut off.

Mercedes removed her hand from him and drew out the dagger he had given her.

“For the finale.”

“Me, huk, kuh… r…!”

“I’ll return the gift you gave me.”

The dagger Richard had given glinted in the moonlight.

Mercedes unhesitatingly plunged the dagger into Richard’s neck, which had already lost its vitality and turned pale.

Blood spurted like a fountain from the neck where the blade was embedded.

“If my husband is going mad, it’s my duty to help him regain his senses… Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Mercedes smiled faintly.

Richard died under her hand.

* * *

“Kyaaaaaah!”

A scream echoed through the peaceful palace. What those who ran to the source of the sound in surprise witnessed was:

“Y-Your Highness…?!”

The Crown Prince with his eyes closed, stabbed by a knife, and the blood-covered Crown Princess sitting calmly in front of him.

“What on earth…!”

Among the bewildered servants, some fainted at the sight of blood, and more screams were added.

“Qui-quickly, check! His Highness is injured!”

Amidst this, someone who had come to their senses shouted, and finally people rushed into the room.

Mercedes sat motionless on the sofa during this chaos, wearing her usual expressionless face.

* * *

“How can this be? The Crown Princess killing the Crown Prince!”

“Such an atrocious act!”

“She must be executed immediately!”

The Crown Princess had killed the Crown Prince.

However, since the Crown Princess also had a status, she couldn’t be executed right away and had to go through a trial.

Of course, even after a trial, the result would be execution, but still.

They said it would take time to prepare for the trial.

Exactly one week.

It was a moment when Mercedes’ lifespan was extended.

“How amusing.”

Mercedes, locked up in the underground prison, muttered upon hearing this news.

The time given to choose to take her own life was also a week, and now a week remained until the trial where an obvious sentence would be handed down.

Her life seemed strangely tenacious. It kept getting extended by short periods of a week.

Still, the thought that now everything would truly end brought peace to her mind.

Since childhood, from the moment she came to the Count’s house, she had always lived like a dead person.

Though she lacked the courage to die and struggled to live on. She had never thought her life had any meaning.

She learned to give up on life and endure, but paradoxically, when the knife aimed at her heart was held before her eyes, a spark ignited in her heart.

And the flower meaning of endurance engraved on the sword, the betrayal of those closest to her, fueled that spark.

For the first time, she was curious.

What exactly was her life? Why did she have to endure like this?

If it was a life for endurance, why was she born into this world in the first place? Did Mercedes’ life have any value in this world?

From the moment the Crown Prince held out the dagger, there was no way to survive anyway.

She had apologized in her own way, but Richard had never once been pleased with her attitude.

This time would be no different.

So for the first time in her life, she looked back on herself and made a decision for herself.

A way to use the suicide the Crown Prince recommended to her differently.

‘Perhaps I was born to kill them.’

It was a way to make all those who had hurt her companions on the road to hell.

Since she had killed the Crown Prince, the Count’s family wouldn’t be safe either. Not only the Crown Prince’s death, but also their downfall could be brought about. This was satisfying enough as the price for her death.

There was only one thing that bothered her.

‘Mother told me never to use it.’

Mercedes smiled bitterly.

The ability to absorb life force and use that accumulated power for a one-time spell.

It was a power that her mother and she possessed from birth.

Richard was said to be much bigger than her and well-versed in martial arts.

So to kill him, there was no choice.

It was an ability she had never used even once, but when she instinctively grabbed Gertrude to suck out her life force and heal her body after eating poison and having her emotions boil over, she naturally learned how.

Like the laws of nature.

‘Still… my ability wasn’t discovered.’

As her mother had emphasized, Mercedes had to keep her ability hidden from everyone. She had to keep it to herself alone.

So after nearly draining Richard’s life, she deliberately picked up the knife.

The act of stabbing Richard’s breath with emotion on the blade, even while stabbing a corpse, gave her a sense of liberation.

Thus, Mercedes’ ability to absorb life force was covered by Richard’s blood.

Anger, pain.

The moment she killed him.

All the emotions she had suppressed until then burst forth.

As she killed Richard, she felt alive for the first time.

It was truly an immoral act.

She knew she shouldn’t do this.

But seeing Richard’s arrogant face turn pale like hers, she even felt joy at the fact that she could now die.

‘…I wish I could die soon.’

Mercedes closed her eyes, hoping the week would pass quickly.

Among the public, questions were arising like “How could the frail Crown Princess kill the Crown Prince who was well-versed in martial arts?”, but Mercedes, locked in prison, had no way of hearing this.

* * *

“To think such an incident would occur while we’re staying in Shaim! She’ll be given the death penalty as a historically insane villainess, it’ll be an interesting spectacle.”

“That’s true. But isn’t it a bit much to attend the trial? The King of Shaim will be excited that His Majesty is paying attention.”

“That’s right. But isn’t it a bit much for you to attend the trial too? The King of Shaim will be thrilled that His Majesty is showing such concern.”

Though the two chatty adjutants addressed him, Carlos didn’t bother to respond.

All the neighboring countries of the Kingdom of Shaim were in an uproar.

The Crown Princess had taken the Crown Prince’s life. Could there be more sensational news than this?

Fortunately, the Queen and concubines of Shaim were fertile and there were many princes. Thanks to this, the royal line of Shaim would not be cut off… but it was the murder of royalty, and the Crown Prince who was to inherit the throne at that.

It was a grave crime that even the daughter of a powerful Count’s family could not escape execution for.

As far as Carlos knew, it wouldn’t have been strange if the King had dragged the Crown Princess away and personally beheaded her right then and there.

But the King had called for a grand trial.

Perhaps beheading alone was not enough to quell his anger.

The extermination of the Count’s family and extreme punishments like quartering for all members of the Count’s family would probably be the minimum.

‘−Or, perhaps after the trial, only the Crown Princess will die and the Count’s family will be unscathed.’

For someone so angry, the time until the trial was too long. As if time had been given for the Count’s family to resolve everything.

So this trial held many possibilities.

Carlos mentally organized the internal information he roughly grasped about the Kingdom of Shaim.

The adjutants sitting beside the silent emperor chattered on, seemingly unbothered by him.

“That’s true. Since you’re staying here, it wouldn’t be strange to go to the trial, but… the kings of other small kingdoms aren’t coming! If Your Majesty goes, it seems a bit…”

“Oh my. It’s what His Majesty decided… You’re being disloyal, Logan.”

“I’m saying this out of loyalty.”

“I don’t like it either, but we’re already here, so can’t you stop?”

Abigail, also an adjutant, expressed annoyance at Logan, who was particularly grumbling.

Carlos didn’t bother to reprimand his adjutant. After all, he hadn’t even told them the purpose of attending today’s trial.

The courthouse came into view. It was an infinitely modest building compared to that of the Empire.

“We’re about to enter, so be quiet.”

“Yes.”

After lightly cautioning his adjutants, he entered the courthouse with a cold gaze.

As soon as he entered, a beautiful woman who seemed even thinner caught his eye. It was the woman he had viewed the moon with.

Carlos did not take his eyes off her.