Lady Devil - Chapter 36

#36

To my question of whether it was you, Griselda said nothing. That silence, like the remains of betrayal, I could barely accept, wrapped in unbearable fear only as the sunset approached. No, only then did I begin to convince myself.

That Winfrid was right.

Yes, as he said, there should be a limit to selfishness. If only I leave, if only I disappear, this fortress returns to normal as if nothing happened. Johannes can also go his own way. So, Johannes, so….

My hands clenched. Plop. Drip. I saw the dirty water that fell, rolling down my cheek, staining the back of my trembling hand. Unable to open my mouth, I gritted my molars, and vomited the ruins inside through my eyes with a retch. My body, uncontrollable, bent forward.

Yes, we are ultimately candles without wicks. Flowers with rotten roots. I am fire. It can never be love. No, it must not be love….

That day.

The day I received the thunderbolt ultimatum from Winfrid. I knew nothing. There was nothing I could do. My ankles, which you had tied, felt like a million pounds because of you, and my bound hands trembled. Your curse was my very tower.

“The one who is to be your son… was he to your liking?”

Griselda asked cautiously. It was the first casual conversation she had started since leaving the chapel.

I was about to climb onto the bed when I turned to look at her for a moment. In the dim light, I could see her thin back arranging my clothes. The nape of her neck, stiff from prolonged tension and sunken weakly downward.

“Just…. I was surprised at how young he was. They say he’s just over thirty.”

I sat on the bed, pushing aside the blanket, and replied while gathering my hair forward. The thick strands of clear platinum, just like Johannes’, caught in my hand and felt dry.

That night, I was summoned by my father and went down to the hall. The moment I crossed the threshold with a body frozen stiff from nervousness.

I remember the sting of hundreds of knights’ rough eyes, flickering like torches led by the Grand Duke, all pouring down on me from the center of the dark hall.

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