“What’s going on with the wedding and why are you like this?”

“…What?”

A clueless voice that knew nothing about the situation ignited Miryu’s resentment.

“Stop with your disgusting words! All of this is your doing!”

Miryu, scratching the ground with her fingers while getting up, glared at Estelle as if she were going to strangle her. Miryu seemed on the verge of exploding with hatred and resentment.

“The marriage with the Royum Kingdom was my only wish. So, I asked you to let me see it just once. After all, it wouldn’t be your fault if I got married. But you, you schemed…”

“…”

“Now that things have come to this, do you feel relieved inside?”

“Calm down, Miryu. I don’t know what happened, but…”

As if to comfort Miryu, Estelle approached. Witnessing Miryu’s absurd actions, Estelle looked at her with indifference.
Estelle took something out and placed it in Miryu’s hand. It was a dagger adorned with exquisite jewels.

“We should think about the baby in your belly.”

Estelle murmured softly into Miryu’s ear.

“It’s the blessing of the Royum Kingdom.”

“Shut up!”

Miryu grimaced and pushed Estelle away.

“Your life might have turned out well for once, but what do you know about my efforts for this moment? Nothing!”

Estelle didn’t resist, weakly falling to the ground while looking up at Miryu.

With twisted red lips, Miryu laughed maliciously.

“You misjudged me. Did you think I would end just because I’m called a bastard? Do you know how hard I’ve worked for this moment? No!”

Miryu drew the dagger from its sheath.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Estelle, trembling as if in fear, widened her eyes.

“Well, what are you trying to do?”

Looking at the terrified Estelle, Miryu felt a strange sense of superiority.

‘She probably thinks she has defeated me.’

Come to think of it, it had been like that since they first met. Miryu, who had been sold by her Cortizan parents for money and kept the secret of being a bastard, consoled herself with being the unhappiest person in the world.

But then came Estelle, appearing like the protagonist, too beautiful and seemingly more troubled than her.

Miryu’s misfortunes seemed nothing in front of Estelle. Therefore, Miryu couldn’t tolerate Estelle.

‘She’s deliberately doing this. If I had been adopted, maybe I wouldn’t have suffered abuse in Libertan?’

The words of the saint echoed in her mind.

‘Do what you’ve been doing with fake scars as Miryu.’

Estelle manipulating the Royum royal family was impressive, but it was just a coincidence. Most people still thought of Miryu as a good and pitiable victim.

“Whatever you do is useless. After all, you’re the villain of Libertan, and I’m the poor victim!”

They had seen Miryu as a good person for a long time.

“It’s the same this time. Who would believe you?”

“Miryu. What if you get hurt? Be careful.”

“Now you’re worried about your situation? Right. If I get hurt again, I’ll be a woman who lost a miraculously born child. Then everything will come back to how it used to be!”

Madness overflowed in Miryu’s eyes.

“You’re done now!”

Miryu, squeezing the handle tightly, turned and struck her chest forcefully.

…!

The expected intense pain didn’t come. At first, she thought there was something wrong with the sensation in her hand.

‘Was it a toy?’

The dagger was a toy where the part that looked like the blade automatically retracted into the handle when pressed. Even the part that seemed like a blade was just a toy, and Miryu wasn’t harmed at all.

‘Then what the…’

Clear tears welled up in Estelle’s eyes as she sat there. Miryu threw the dagger aside and contorted her face in disgust.
“Ha! Don’t you know I have no other option if it’s not for this dagger? Since you know I’m pregnant—”

“What other option do you have?”

Suddenly, an absurd voice came from behind.

Miryu, frozen stiff, turned her head sharply.

Diana approached Miryu with a sullen expression, taunting her.

“Planning to nail your head to that tree over there and pretend to miscarry?”

“D-Diana. This is, well—”

“Why? You were talking so well earlier. Haven’t you practiced this skill more than once?”

Diana wasn’t the only one behind. Isabella, leading the wedding guests, was present, too.

“Oh, Mother…”

Meeting Isabella’s cold gaze, Miryu trembled.

‘When did she get here?’

Miryu, gesturing wildly with her head, glared fiercely at Estelle.

“S-Surely you…!”

But it was already too late. Everyone had witnessed Miryu’s shameless display.

All those attending the wedding at the Silver Swan Wedding Hall cast disdainful glances at Miryu.

“Wasn’t lying about being pregnant enough? Now, all those scars you claimed the Marchioness had inflicted were also fake?”

“How can a person do such a thing… Didn’t we just hear her shamelessly shouting about self-harm a moment ago?”

Miryu hurriedly picked up the dagger she had thrown, desperately trying to improve the situation.

“No, this is all a trap set by Estelle!”

As if the dagger were her only hope.

“Look at this dagger!”

“What does that toy have to do with anything?”

When a guest asked, Miryu confidently shouted as if she had been waiting for this.

“Logically, who brings something like this to a wedding venue? Moreover, to the wedding of a close friend! It looks suspicious and planned no matter how you see it.”

Upon hearing this, several guests nodded.

Miryu thought that Estelle had brought this dagger to frame her.

‘Am I going to die alone?’

Now that it had come to this, even if it was Estelle’s cunning scheme, she had to expose it to everyone.

“At first, giving me this dagger was a trap! Intentionally provoking me to create this situation in front of everyone! Even if I lied, Estelle also—”

“Enough nonsense.”

When Diana coldly interrupted, Miryu pleaded.

“I’m telling the truth! Everyone is being fooled by that woman! She’s trying to get revenge on me—”

“That dagger is a baby gift Estelle and I chose to give to you!”

Miryu, squeezing the handle tightly, turned to Isabella, speaking strongly.

…!

The expected intense pain didn’t come. At first, she thought there was something wrong with the sensation in her hand.

‘Was it a toy?’

The dagger was a toy where the part that looked like the blade automatically retracted into the handle when pressed. Even the part that seemed like a blade was just a toy, and Miryu wasn’t harmed at all.

‘Then what the…’

Clear tears welled up in Estelle’s eyes as she sat there. Miryu threw the dagger aside and contorted her face in disgust.
Completely caught off guard, Miryu, feeling as if her stomach had been pierced, slumped back. Among the people who had rushed over to comfort her, Estelle, with a choked voice, spoke.

“I-I didn’t know. I had no idea the wedding would turn out like this, and that there wouldn’t be a child in your womb. If I had known, I wouldn’t have prepared such a gift.”

“Why is that the Marchioness’s fault? If you knew from the beginning that she was lying, criticizing someone trying to find fault without reason is the one at fault.”

Miryu felt like the ground she was standing on crumbled beneath her, like falling off a cliff. She couldn’t think of any way to escape this situation.

‘What do I do now?’

She had never thought that lies could lead to such a disastrous situation.

Diana, with a face full of resentment, grabbed Miryu by the collar and shook her.

“How can a person be like this? How can everything be a lie? And yet you claim to be a human being!”

“Diana, stop it.”

At that moment, Queen Isabella approached Miryu with a frighteningly expressionless face.

“Miryu Juty.”

“Oh, Your Majesty.”

“Do not dare to address me in such a manner.”