During the week that passed while I packed my belongings and moved to stay at Marquis Rowe’s residence, I mostly spent my time helping Jade.

When I read him the reports that came up from the vassal meetings, he would sign them.

This also included organizing documents necessary for business.

He said it would be difficult to handle things without me, and Jade truly experienced many inconveniences in his daily life.

It wasn’t like he had been blind from the beginning, but suddenly losing his sight made it hard for him to adapt.

Every time I saw Jade like this, my sense of guilt grew larger until one day.

Sharlin, who was recovering after giving birth to a son, was brought to trial on charges of kidnapping Blanche.

After discussing with Jade, I submitted a request for severe punishment in the names of Rowe and Boston.

On top of that, Count Winst clearly expressed his desire to distance himself from this incident.

In other words, he had removed Sharlin from the family. So she was tried as a commoner, not a noble.

Whether they had negotiated with Jade in advance, even the Countess Winst did not stand up for or protect her.

With no backing to protect her, and the Emperor who was angered by the news of Blanche’s kidnapping also stepped in.

The Emperor made the decision to send Sharlin to Retan Prison.

And that too, for life imprisonment.

The courtroom was not a place to have a proper conversation with Sharlin.

So, after she left for Retan Prison, I visited her alone.

Retan Prison. What kind of place is this?

Shaped like a tower, it made people wither away to the point where they’d rather die.

Befitting its infamous reputation, it was filled with cold air from the entrance, and cobwebs hung everywhere.

It was visibly a harsh environment.

Jade was reluctant for me to go there. Saying it would never be a good place to visit.

‘I understand why Jade told me not to go.’

Nevertheless, there was only one reason why I wanted to meet Sharlin.

Blanche had almost been in danger. Honestly, she had created a situation where she could have died.

When I caressed Blanche’s small hand as she feared even while sleeping, my chest felt tight.

How scared she must have been.

Even as I suppressed my feelings towards Sharlin over and over, I couldn’t endure it.

‘I need to see Sharlin in person. To see her in a place where she can never meet Blanche again.’

I followed the knights down to the underground where Sharlin was imprisoned.

“This is the place, Countess Boston.”

“…Thank you. It won’t take long, could you give me a moment alone?”

Sharlin, locked inside, had her eyes closed and was leaning weakly against the wall.

“Understood. If anything happens, please shout.”

The knights hesitated for a moment before withdrawing.

‘Pretending to sleep, are we.’

I saw Sharlin’s eyelashes trembling.

“Sharlin Winst. No, I guess you’re not even a Winst anymore.”

“…”

“Get up. I know you’re not sleeping.”

I stood still, looking down at Sharlin for a long time.

“Diane Boston!”

Sharlin suddenly got up, rushed forward, grabbed the iron bars, and shook them frantically. The clanging sound echoed loudly.

“What a shame. If I had known it would come to this, I should have just killed your daughter. I’m the only one who lost everything. You didn’t lose anything, only I…”

She went on about how unfair it was. Endlessly.

‘I didn’t lose anything?’

Just this morning, I had spent a long time comforting Blanche who woke up from a nightmare.

‘My daughter might have to live in fear for the rest of her life because of you.’

Seeing her calm and brazen attitude, the anger I had been suppressing boiled over and erupted.

“What makes you so confident. You.”

“Why am I confident? Because it’s really all over now! You came to mock me too, didn’t you!”

She shouted in anger, but her voice lowered as if her throat hurt, and she continued speaking.

“…It’s life imprisonment. They say I’ll rot here for life. Yes! It’s because I kidnapped your daughter. But what did I do? Did I hit her, did I starve her? Or did I try to sell her off somewhere?”

“What?”

“I know I did wrong, but this is too much…”

Soon, Sharlin’s palms covering her face were wet with tears.

‘So, she feels wronged because the consequences are unexpectedly severe compared to what she did?’

It was absurd.

Was this simply a matter of paying compensation or being under house arrest?

“Diane, you ruined everything. If only you hadn’t been by Marquis Rowe’s side and interfered with me in the first place, none of this would have happened…”

Sharlin still blamed everything on me and felt wronged.

“Because father disowned me, mother didn’t even come to the trial. Not only that! The Sorority also expelled me… Everyone came and rubbed salt in my wounds like you…”

Then she glared at me fiercely with her eyes wide open.

“Why should only I be in this state! Diane, you too should be living in hell like me! You took what was mine first!”

Sharlin turned her head sharply and spat in front of my shoes.

“What did I do so wrong? Huh? Answer me. Are you completely innocent? That’s ridiculous.”

“Sharlin. You really haven’t changed till the end.”

Because she was once Jade’s fiancée, she might have hated and disliked me.

After all, Jade and her engagement was forced by Grand Duke Usith, and even that had a set expiration date.

‘What exactly did I take from her?’

But her confident attitude erased even the slightest sympathy.

“I haven’t changed?”

Sharlin, who had been quiet, lashed out again.

“Who are you to judge me! You were always just trying to please others without even being able to say a word or give an answer when we were young!”

Sharlin had always looked down on ‘Diane’, so she couldn’t bear this situation now.

‘She thinks she’s risen above me.’

There was never any such thing to begin with.

Sharlin and Diane were both earl’s daughters. Winst and Boston. The power of the two families wasn’t much different either.

It was just that she had placed herself above the timid Diane on her own.

“The place by Marquis Rowe’s side was originally mine. How hard I tried to become Marquis Rowe’s wife, to become the mistress of Rowe…”

As she spoke, tears welled up in Sharlin’s eyes as if her emotions were overwhelming her.

“This is all because of your damn cousin in the first place! That vicious woman! Even in death she blocked my path, and now you too!”

The blood vessels stood out between her wide-open whites.

‘I should go back now. It would be a waste of my time to stay any longer.’

There was no value in dealing with her anymore. I had seen her fallen state, ensuring she could never approach Blanche again, and that was enough.

“Diane. I wish you could know how it feels to lose everything in an instant. To be abandoned by your parents, to lose what’s yours-!”

Sharlin began to spew curses freely, as if she had nothing to fear now.

A laugh burst out. It wasn’t intentional mockery, it just came out naturally.

“How unfortunate. I don’t have parents who would abandon me.”

Because her curse couldn’t even be established in the first place.

‘Uncle has passed away, and Duke Belaste…’

He was never my parent to begin with.

Because I abandoned him first, he can’t abandon me.

“You fool.”

That’s why Sharlin’s words could only be laughable.

“…F-fool?”

Her dumbfounded expression made it even more so.

“The time spent dealing with you is really a waste. Pathetic.”

“Who are you calling a fool! Hey! You, come here!”

Sharlin jumped up, glaring at me as if she wanted to kill me, breathing heavily.

Her pride seemed to have been greatly hurt.

“Sharlin. You don’t know why Countess Winst didn’t appear at the trial.”

“That’s because father disowned me…”

I heard from Jade. Countess Winst had said she would give up Sharlin first.

“That’s why I’m saying you’re foolish and pathetic. They gave you up. They had enough time. To help you escape, to exile you to another country.”

Perhaps more frightening than Count Winst, who avoided potential harm to himself, was Countess Winst.

‘She chose her grandson over a daughter with no future. To minimize the loss as much as possible.’

Sharlin’s eyes clouded over as she heard my words.

With a dull gaze, she kept muttering “no” like a madwoman.

She pulled at her hair and shook her head, clearly confused.

Though her earlier words had erased any sympathy I might have felt.

‘Just like how Blanche was scared while I was away, exactly that much and no more.’

That much suffering while alive was enough.

“Your mother, who has already abandoned you, won’t be getting you out of here. So, don’t hold onto false hope.”

That was also why I left Sharlin alive here instead of killing her. Because there was no one who would save her.

“You kept Blanche locked in an attic room she couldn’t leave. Only giving her unsightly food… Well, this place isn’t much different from that attic room.”

“Don’t you feel sorry for me like this? We were in the same Sorority! Can’t you speak to His Majesty the Emperor for me now!”

Wanting to get out of here, Sharlin prostrated herself flat on the ground.

‘Why should I feel sorry for her? More than that, does she think I’ll get her out?’

…Truly foolish beyond compare.

“Diane! Please! I was wrong. I won’t do it again!”

Just then, the knights were coming this way, saying the visiting time was over.

Ignoring Sharlin’s shouts, I went up from the underground with the knights and left the tower.

In the process, I bumped shoulders with a middle-aged man wearing a robe.

The man passed by without any apology and entered the tower.

I felt an eerie sensation, as if all the hair on my body was standing on end.

“Are you alright, Countess? Your complexion…”

The knight who was seeing me off outside glanced slightly at the man.

“Do you… know who that person is?”

“Ah. That’s Grand Duke Usith. He must have been busy and in a hurry. Let me apologize on his behalf.”