He pressed up against the glass, his face close to Helena’s. Beneath the black eye patch, an empty eye socket was visible.

It was a horrifying sight.

“Uh, ugh!”

“See, madam? Do you know who caused these wounds?”

Helena, frightened, desperately tried to cover the scars on her face.

“It’s that damn Emperor. Kun Freihdra.”

Soon, the wrinkles around the man’s eyes squirmed.

“The only reason I’m helping you is for one thing. It’s for my revenge. If the fact that you died becomes known, it might be useful in various ways. I could continue to make good use of it afterward.”

“That’s…”

“Don’t hesitate. Helena, don’t dwell on the present, think only of the future.”

“…”
“For your child, and for the revenge to start again when things settle down.”

In response to Cedric’s strongly asserted words, her eyes widened one after another. A sigh of admiration escaped through her withered lips.

“Even if you are now restraining yourself to become the mother of the child, don’t you also have a target you want to revenge on?”

Soon someone passed by her face.

Cloé, that damn woman!

At that moment, a fire spread in her previously quiet heart. The spark that she thought had extinguished turned out to be stubbornly alive.

The small spark grew, becoming a large flame.

“Yes, everything happened because of that woman!”

She couldn’t become the duchess from the beginning because of that woman.

“Calis also ended up like that because of her!”

The woman who taunted her, Helena, pushed her into guilt and anxiety. Because of her, Helena acted as a duchess happily but always felt restless.

“I pushed Jane because of that woman!”

And with the help of that woman, a damn commoner went to trial. Helena paid money and got witnesses.

“Because of that woman, Shasha almost got abandoned.”

Helena, unable to endure her anger, twisted her face.

Seeing her in that state, Cedric sensed the success of the plan. Lowering the blindfold, he persuaded her with a somewhat gentle voice.

“I’ll say it for the last time.”

“…”

“Are you going to rot here and send your child to any orphanage? Or will you take my hand, leave this place, and achieve both the child and revenge?”

A dangerously tempting offer approached. The reason that she had temporarily regained was cut off.

Now, Helena only had an obsession left.

The desire to be with her child and the desire to go out and get rid of Cloé.

“Okay. Then I’ll be with His Grace. When will I wake up?”

“I don’t exactly know the efficacy of the medicine. It will probably be quite some time. It would be a big problem if you wake up again before you, who was thought to be dead, leave this place.”

“Understood. By the way, there won’t be any harm to the child, right?”

“Of course not. The child will peacefully fall asleep.”

Receiving the assurance that the medicine wouldn’t harm Shasha, she felt relieved.

Before drinking the medicine, Helena swallowed her saliva.

Afterward, she poured the medicine onto her clear and clean tongue. Soon, a subtle taste wandered through her mouth.

‘I’m getting sleepy…’

Gradually, her eyes closed. She didn’t have the strength to resist the heavy eyelids sinking her into unconsciousness.

‘I have to sleep. With my child.’

She collapsed to the floor, clutching her stomach.

‘Sleep well, my child. When you wake up, happiness will be waiting for you.’

While singing a lullaby for the child with the remaining consciousness.

The limp body of the woman lying on the floor was stiff as a board. The lifeless face hinted at a fate so devoid of vitality that it was hard to believe she was alive.

“Stupid woman.”
It wasn’t faking a corpse. That was truly a dead body.

“Pfft, there can’t be a medicine that simulates death! Even if there is, it would be ridiculously expensive, and I wouldn’t give it to a lowly woman like her!”

The woman, who had dreamed of a new life, looked dumbfounded.

Really, she couldn’t be that dull.

“Well, thanks to this, I can start my revenge. Anyway, what I needed to see was on the other side.”

The situation flowed just as he intended, and Cedric was quite satisfied.

“Well then, sleep well, Helena. Rest peacefully in a sleep that you can’t wake up from for a long, long time.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Cedric left the room. As if telling the guard who was still lost in thought to pull himself together, he gave a refreshing kick.

It went smoothly from the beginning.

It was a rest taken with relief at the end of a long, exhausting fight.

“… Lady Arhen?”

“Yes.”

Winter, who visited in the early dawn, brought surprising news to Cloé.

The Duchess of Arhen, that is, Helena, had reportedly taken her own life.

Considering the small bottle placed next to the cold body, it seemed like she had taken poison.

In the Arhen ducal family, they wouldn’t hold a separate funeral for Helena, the prisoner. They would probably pass it simply, as if imitating a funeral from prison, without the help of the Shagryon couple.

Cloé asked not to tell Jane. Hearing about Helena’s situation wouldn’t be good for the child, who was suffering from the aftermath of the trial.

Winter then swore to inform the chamberlain and the lady-in-waiting sternly.

The palace is a place where rumors spread quickly. However, with Winter being the informant, there was relief that the secret would be kept.

Winter, seeming to have finished his business, loitered around as if there was something else he wanted to say.

“Is everything alright?”

Then, an unexpected question popped up.

Following that, Cloé chuckled as if to ask what he was talking about.

Winter, perhaps gathering courage, fell silent, opened his mouth again, and spoke with difficulty.

“It’s not that good news, is it?”

As if worrying about Jane, just like Cloé, Winter also seemed concerned about her.

“That’s true, but…”

Thanks to that, she found herself pondering over something she hadn’t thought of.

At the moment, her feelings weren’t particularly intense. She wasn’t happy or carefree, but she wasn’t sad either. She wasn’t sympathetic enough to feel sorry for the woman who had tormented her so much.

Pity at that level would be enough.

“If you’re okay, I’m glad. Have a good night.”

Winter left with a greeting that seemed to express relief.

Seating herself on a chair, closing the door to the empty corridor, Cloé became absorbed in contemplation.

‘That she’s dead…’

Silence belatedly plunged her into contemplation.

Whether it was indifferent or not, Cloé was immersed in contemplation, seemingly indifferent.
As a result, she was completely unaware of the fact that a man was approaching.

“Cloé.”

There was no surprise as Kun announced his arrival with his voice.

What truly startled her was the warm heat that touched her shoulders.