Chapter 30. If You Don’t Want to See a Miserable Sight

2023.10.30.

“…….”

“Answer me. Answer me! Do these people know about your ability?”

Her uncle raged, eyes wild with fury.

Yuan stared at him in silence, then finally shoved him away roughly.

“Am I insane? Why would I expose my ability and invite suffering? How could I survive in the Pelliese household?”

The uncle, who had flinched as if about to raise a hand, stiffened like someone nearly falling off a cliff, then exhaled in relief.

“Oh, my Lord…” he suddenly prayed, and only then quickly surveyed the chaotic surroundings, made disorderly by the injured Clade, lowering his voice further.

“Don’t recklessly expose your power just to be used. Fulfill your duty for your family, you ungrateful child!”

His mood changed as swiftly as flipping a palm, speaking now as if scolding her with feigned affection of a well-meaning elder.

“Don’t bother me. Don’t contact me again, don’t come looking for me.”

Ignoring Yuan’s words as if they were never heard, the uncle flicked her pale cheek with his finger.

“I’ll be off for now. When I return home, this time I’ll listen to whatever you say.”

As Yuan wiped her cheek with a frightened expression, her uncle smiled kindly, just as he had ten years ago when first arriving at the Pelliese estate. His thick jaw jiggled in three folds as it trembled.

“Were your aunt and cousins treating you poorly?”

Only after nearly all the unwelcome guests from the palace had exited through the iron fence did the uncle bid her farewell, heading toward his carriage.

“When I return this time, I’ll make sure such a thing never happens again.”

***

“Gerret Pelliese seems to have firmly warned my niece. We should probably investigate what scheme he’s plotting now.”

Marquis Companni slammed the carriage window shut with a loud noise, his expression sour and displeased.

“I’m not sure we should trust that slippery merchant again.”

“You don’t need to trust him.”

Bollonico scattered feed into a small golden dish, the one he reserved for his beloved parrot, Lorenzo.

As Lorenzo opened his beak to speak, Bollonico gently patted the bird’s flamboyant feathers, silencing him.

“There’s no need to discard him. Sometimes, even trash must be carried along.”

“What?”

“Bollonico, how fascinating.”

Prince Bollonico crossed his arms and gazed out the window.

“This party has been productive, Marquis Companni.”

“The Emperor wanted to observe how the Pelliese family would behave, didn’t he? Yet he’s returning to the palace earlier than scheduled, without even taking time to notice.”

“This isn’t just about today. But I did witness something entertaining.”

Bollonico chuckled softly as he recalled the cousin, once hailed as the treasure of the Euphris family, suddenly transforming into a crow and writhing in agony.

It had been a rare and exquisite spectacle.

Meanwhile, Marquis Companni, observing Bollonico’s doll-like face, immediately recalled the horrifying accident that had occurred at the hunting grounds that morning.

It was gruesome.

Three arrows meant for hunting monsters.

Even a well-trained man could have died from the shock.

Because they had deliberately avoided vital points, the Crown Prince wouldn’t die—but would scream in agony instead.

It was an excessively cruel fate for someone who already lived in constant suffering.

Marquis Companni suppressed his discomfort and listened attentively to Bollonico, maintaining a composed expression.

“And for some unknown reason, His Majesty has taken an interest in the Pelliese woman. Isn’t that right?”

“Well… yes. Although, to be honest, that’s not particularly unusual.”

It was well known that Emperor Igor would pursue any woman who wore a skirt—be she a minister’s wife or a commoner.

No wonder the Empress’s heart had turned upside down countless times.

If anyone else had shown such lust toward a subordinate’s wife, they would have been executed on the spot. But since it was the Emperor, it was merely “disappointing, but not surprising.”

Strictly speaking, nothing improper had actually occurred beyond uncomfortable advances, and the backlash had fallen solely on her husband, the Crown Prince.

But to Bollonico, something seemed different.

“No one can deceive Bollonico’s eyes.”

“We are still investigating the Pelliese Count as instructed. However, though he talks incessantly about everything, he clams up completely whenever the topic turns to his family.”

“Hmm—?”

Bollonico’s finely shaped eyebrows arched softly.

“What should we do? Should we resort to torture?”

“Bollonico. Such uncouth methods are utterly distasteful.”

“Then—”

“There’s another daughter in that household.”

Bollonico nuzzled his cheek against the parrot Lorenzo, humming to himself.

Marquis Companni jumped in shock, clenching his gnarled fist and shaking it furiously.

“What? Are you saying Gerret Pelliese, that shameless man, has deceived the Crown Prince again?”

“I mean the fat count’s daughter—aside from the late Count and Countess.”

“Oh.”

“Her eyes… exactly to my liking.”

Prince Bollonico, who had lavished enough affection on Lorenzo, tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, eyes gleaming.

His smooth lips, devoid of any pale spots, twisted into a smirk.

“Presumptuous eyes.”

“E-eyes?”

“People with eyes like that… Bollonico likes.”

Marquis Companni bit his tongue, suppressing the urge to ask whether this ill-omened prince even had preferences, and waited for the next order.

As if responding to his anticipation, Bollonico smiled brightly.

“That daughter seems more useful than the fat count himself.”

***

Clade’s bedroom was crowded with people, despite the untimely hour.

The spacious room was packed with servants carrying dry cloths, ropes, and warm water, bustling in chaos.

Most servants, agitated by Clade’s screams, stole nervous glances as they entered his bedroom for the first time.

In the far corner of the bed, Hire crouched beside Clade, who lay in the appearance of a man on the brink of death, groveling with a face pierced by arrows.

“Get out!”

“Your Highness, let me see! You mustn’t move—it’ll get worse!”

“I said get out!”

Intimidated by his ferocious demeanor, the servants left their items and fled, leaving only Hire stubbornly behind.

Yuan stood by the doorway, tightly gripping the hem of her skirt with trembling hands.

Clade’s condition was pitiful.

The vicious monster-hunting arrows burrowed deeper into flesh and bone with every twitch.

Yuan gasped for breath, recalling the patient who had lost his shoulder to such an arrow, and her own childhood screams as she absorbed that patient’s agony.

“What happened?”

A man’s voice, even more breathless than Yuan’s, came from behind. Turning, she saw Lancelot, who had apparently just arrived upon hearing the news, his face deathly pale.

Since he had planned to attend only on the second day of the party, he seemed shocked by the sudden chaos.

“What happened? Please!”

Unable to enter before the lady of the house, Lancelot urgently asked.

Yuan opened her mouth as if choked, then, seeing Hire begin to extract the arrow, closed the bedroom door.

The groans spilling from beyond the door sounded ominous.

“…It’s my fault.”

To the bewildered Lancelot, Yuan recounted everything that had happened since last night.

As the man’s ashen face grew paler still, Yuan finally voiced a question that had haunted her mind.

“Have you ever met Louise Pelliese?”

The reason for Clade’s injury seemed clear.

The shame of revealing his transformed state to others, this very accident—none of it would have happened if he had simply ignored her in the hallway last night.

“Did Your Highness kill my sister, Louise Pelliese?”

“Now, in this situation, why would you ask such a thing…?!”

The only person she could ask was the man standing before her.

He couldn’t drive her away, belonged to a family famed for integrity, and had no reason to deceive her. Among everyone in this mansion, he was one of the most trustworthy.

Overwhelmed by rising anguish, Yuan poured out her trembling voice.

“Tell me!”

Tears welled up in her large eyes.

The tip of her delicate chin trembled, unable to contain her anxiety.

Surprised by her uncharacteristic intensity, Lancelot shifted his feet restlessly, wanting to look into the bedroom, yet unable to tear his eyes from her.

“Where did you hear such strange rumors? Don’t you already know the answer?”

Lancelot slowly scanned Yuan’s face, streaked with cold sweat and tears, then clenched his teeth before replying.

“Was Clade Euphris such a man?”

Tears, swollen in his dark eyes, finally spilled down his white cheeks.

Without realizing it, Yuan shook her head.

She still didn’t know much about her husband.

But she understood how much pain he lived with—and how desperately he wished to keep it from others.

“Did he seem like the kind of villain who would mercilessly chase down and kill an innocent person, as people say? And worse—his own wife?”

Lancelot’s face twisted as if someone were choking him.

“If you’ve ever harbored even the slightest suspicion, please let it end here with me.”

His sweet caramel-colored eyes stared straight into hers.

“Because if Clade ever heard such words, it would wound him far deeper than any physical pain.”

***

“M-Madam?”

“I’ll help.”

Ignoring Hire’s hopeful expression at her offer, Yuan looked down at Clade. His eyes, glaring at her with labored, gasping breaths, were surprisingly fierce.

One arrow had been somehow removed, but two more remained.

His jaw and collarbone were swollen with strained blood vessels from clenching his teeth, and his entire body burned red with fever.

“Get out.”

A merciless eviction order was issued toward Yuan.

Hire, who wished he could borrow a cat’s paws, gave a pitiful look.

But Clade’s eyes showed no mercy, clearly rejecting him.

“Get out. You. If you don’t want to see a miserable sight.”

A warning hissed through clenched teeth, mixed with a pained groan, freezing Hire in place.

But Yuan deliberately moved to the opposite side of the bed and firmly grasped his hand, crusted with dried blood.

Conveniently, it was the side where the arrow had struck, leaving Clade unable to shake her off as he growled.

“Didn’t you hear me say get out?”

“Lancelot.”

Ignoring the refusal, Yuan called to Lancelot, who stood by the door.

Lancelot instantly understood and sat beside Hire, pinning down Clade’s thrashing body as they prepared to remove the arrow from his shoulder.

Clade twisted violently.

“What are you doing? I said get out!”

“Your Highness, when the pain is unbearable, having someone hold your hand can halve the suffering.”

“Don’t spout nonsense. Ugh!”

Encouraged, Hire carefully began pulling the arrow.

Using a small medical knife, he dug into the flesh, slowly twisting the grotesquely barbed arrowhead free. Clade gritted his teeth.

Yuan tightly held his calloused hand, absorbing his agony.

‘One year ago, Clade, overwhelmed by pain, once ingested a lethal dose of sleeping pills. During that near-death period, your sister, Lady Louise Pelliese, came into this house.’

‘Of course, Clade was unaware of her presence. She stayed here for several months, living as if dead, then suddenly fled one day. Later, news came that she had passed away. When I confirmed it, she was indeed deceased. According to the attending physician at the time, there were no signs of foul play.’

‘Might she have had any chronic illness?’