“Lady Cecilia Valentia! You are a serious criminal who targeted the life of His Highness the Crown Prince! Normally, you would deserve death ten thousand times over. However, by the decree of His Majesty the King, drink this poison and pay for your crimes with your life!”
The executioner stepped forward and held out a glass in silence. The plaza was packed with people, and countless eyes were turned toward me. There was nowhere to run. At the tip of my trembling fingers, the red liquid inside the glass swayed gently. Even though it looked like wine, it was a poison made only to kill criminals without fail.
“Drink it quickly!”
“Hurry up, get it over with!”
Shouts of anger and mocking laughter mixed together. They were waiting for the moment I died as a form of entertainment. Their eyes hurt to feel. Even though they were looking at me, not a single person was seeing me as a “human.” To them, they only wanted to see how a duke’s daughter would die.
Someone threw a stone, and a burst of laughter rang out somewhere. The stone hit my forehead, and a little blood trickled down. I looked around to ask for help, but my parents and my younger sister, Liliana, were just watching me with cold eyes. My fiancé, Lord Lucien, did not even look at me. He was staring at Liliana, as if she were dazzling.
(Lord Lucien cares about Liliana more than me. There are no allies here.)
I clearly understood that I was going to die here without anyone feeling sad for me. My hands trembled so much that I almost dropped the glass. I closed my eyes, built up my courage, and gulped it down all at once. In the next second, my body collapsed as if it had been hit.
“…Gasp, ah…!”
My throat burned. I could not breathe. My view twisted, and I fell onto the ground.
(Die in an instant? The words Lord Lucien said were a big lie.)
Inside the intense pain that felt like my organs were being torn apart, my memories right before the execution came back clearly. Before the execution took place, my family and my fiancé—Lord Lucien—came to see me. I was chained up in a dungeon. My crime was poisoning the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince had been unconscious for a whole month.
“Father, Mother. Please prove my innocence.”
“What is needed right here and now is someone to take responsibility. It does not matter whether you did it or not, Cecilia.”
Mother was not looking at me. She was constantly worrying about the hem of her dress getting wet. That was because the dungeon was filled with a damp stone floor and a moldy smell that hit the nose.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
When I tried to touch Mother’s arm, she frowned and stepped half a step back.
“Do not touch me because you will dirty my dress.”
Mother’s face twisted.
“Anyway, do not make a scene and accept your punishment by drinking the poison gracefully. Do not bring shame upon the House of Duke Valentia.”
Father was also worrying about the hem of his trousers getting dirty.
“I am sorry, Sister… But do not worry. I will be happy for your share too. …However, it is strange. What we made the Crown Prince drink was supposed to be an aphrodisiac, so why will he not wake up?”
Only Liliana talked while looking straight at my face, but what she was saying was completely strange.
(A-An aphrodisiac?)
Father turned his eyes away in awkwardness, and Mother fanned her face with a folding fan. It was cool inside the dungeon, so there was no way it was hot. And Lord Lucien’s eyes were turned not toward me, but toward Liliana.
(What does this mean?)
“Liliana, you. Did you make His Highness drink an aphrodisiac?”
“Yes, that’s right. Everyone helped me. The one who bought it at the black market was Lord Lucien. Also, the ones who looked up the shop selling it were Father and Mother. Father provided the money.”
Without showing any guilt, Liliana told me the shocking truth. Right now inside the dungeon, it was only our family and Lord Lucien. Since it was the final farewell, all the guards were outside to let us spend time as a family alone.
“Since it was a good chance to bring Liliana and His Highness together, the black market merchant who sold that aphrodisiac is to blame. Well, I heard the poison works quickly and ends in no time, so do not be scared. I am sure you won’t even have time to feel pain. It will be an instant.”
Just as I thought Lord Lucien finally turned his eyes toward me, he gave a bright smile.
(Even though you are my fiancé, is that all you can say? Ah, I was betrayed by my family and my fiancé… forced to carry the blame, and now I am dying… How cruel, this is far too cruel…)
◆◇◆
After that, I was covered in darkness and when I came to, I frowned at the bright morning sunlight. I was lying on a canopy bed. This was my room.
The sound of a knock on the door. Liliana’s voice coming from the hallway.
“Sister, are you still sleeping? The weather is very nice today. I am really looking forward to having lunch with the Crown Prince. I am thinking of taking Father’s special champagne.”
I remembered these words from Liliana. There was no mistake that this was the morning of the day His Highness collapsed.
(Then, everything up until now was a dream? Even so, what a terrible dream… Huh?)
When I happened to look at my own fingers, I saw dirt stuck under my nails.
This could not be possible.
I am the daughter of a duke.
I have never touched dirt in my life.
In that moment, I remembered.
The feeling of drinking the poison, collapsing, and scratching the ground in desperation.
(…It wasn’t a dream. That actually happened.)
And then, I was hit by a splitting headache—and in the next second, I saw a strange sight.