Chapter 2
“One year. With luck, you might live longer… but you only have one year left.”
“…”
“My lady, what did the physician say?”
“…”
“My lady?”
After Piril left the room, Letricia sat quietly with her eyes closed while Allen’s hands worked on styling her hair.
“I should have noticed earlier. Since it’s such a rare disease with few documented cases… the discovery was delayed.”
She kept turning Piril’s words over in her mind.
“Your vision might suddenly blur, and you might experience nausea.”
According to Piril, something like a time bomb was growing inside Letricia’s head.
And unfortunately, it was located in a particularly bad position.
He said there was nothing that could be done with current medical knowledge.
In simple terms, it was an incurable disease. Moreover, it was an unknown illness—one whose cause remained unknown and didn’t even have a name yet, as research hadn’t even begun.
How unlucky, she thought.
In this empire where magic flourished, where most illnesses could be cured if you had the money.
Why did she have to contract a disease that even this useful magic couldn’t remedy?
“You’ll gradually lose strength, and it will become increasingly difficult to move your body as you wish. And eventually…”
“Eventually?”
“You should be able to… hold on for about a year.”
‘…In other words, I’ll die in a year.’
After simplifying Piril’s roundabout explanation, Letricia looked at the mirror before her.
The pale face reflected in the mirror looked remarkably calm for someone who had just received a terminal diagnosis.
As she studied her composed expression, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
Perhaps she had instinctively known her life wouldn’t last much longer, even if she hadn’t consciously realized it until now.
As her fainting spells became more frequent and the time it took to regain consciousness grew longer, she had vaguely wondered if someday she might never open her eyes again.
“I just didn’t expect these thoughts would actually become reality…”
At her inadvertent muttering, Allen’s leaf-like eyes reflected in the mirror grew wide.
“Pardon? What do you mean, my lady?”
Looking into Allen’s innocently blinking eyes, Letricia quietly shook her head.
“…Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
“…?”
Finding Letricia’s response rather dubious, Allen tilted her head.
Though Allen should rightfully know about her condition…
Letricia had asked Piril not to tell others about the illness for now, as she needed time to organize her thoughts.
Allen, who hadn’t been told anything about Letricia’s condition, could only wear a puzzled expression.
Of course, Allen would eventually learn everything.
The “for now” she’d asked of Piril would only last until Count Esta returned from his business trip.
“I cannot do more than that, my lady. As the family physician, I must inform the Count about your condition.”
Brushing away the memory of Piril’s voice—sympathetic yet firm in drawing the line—Letricia sank into her chair.
“By the way, my lady, how was the examination?”
“…Same as usual, nothing particularly wrong. That’s why I said there was no need to call Piril. I would have woken up eventually anyway.”
“My lady!”
Allen’s face crumpled at Letricia’s words, which showed such disregard for her own health.
She gripped the brush in her hand tightly.
“I’m relieved there’s nothing seriously wrong, but my lady… shouldn’t you skip today’s banquet? You’ve only just regained consciousness…”
“I’m fine, Allen. Besides, this isn’t a banquet I can simply decline to attend.”
“But…”
“Allen. Please hurry and finish. We’ll truly be late for the banquet at this rate.”
“Yes… understood, my lady.”
Allen’s eyes drooped dejectedly at Letricia’s firm words.
Allen was as peculiar as Piril.
Why did she care so much about Letricia when it would be easier to ignore her like the other servants did?
‘She’s just too kind.’
Feeling Allen’s careful hands placing fresh flowers in her hair, Letricia called out to her again.
“Allen, you’re quite talented, aren’t you?”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve heard you’re good at sewing and cooking, with such capable hands.”
“My lady, you’re making me blush with such sudden praise.”
Allen’s freckled face turned red, apparently embarrassed by the unexpected compliment.
Letricia’s lips curved slightly at her lively response.
“Being diligent too, you’d be welcomed anywhere. Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”
“Ah, my lady, why do you say such things? It sounds as if you’re planning to send me somewhere else.”
“That’s right.”
“W-why so suddenly? Did I make some mistake? If so, please tell me and I’ll fix it…”
“It’s not like that, Allen. Just…”
Leaving behind a shocked Allen, Letricia stood up.
“As you know, when my brother inherits the position of family head, I’ll have to leave this mansion. So I thought you should start thinking about where you might go next.”
Well, it wasn’t exactly untrue.
In fact, ever since Letricia first set foot in this mansion, Isis had constantly said, “Once I become the family head, you’ll be the first one I throw out of this mansion.”
Although the day he would take the position was still far in the future…
‘Well, I was going to say this eventually anyway, just moved it up a bit.’
After pressing her throbbing temple once, Letricia left Allen with instructions to think about it occasionally, then secretly picked up the medicine bottles Piril had left.
The bottles in her hand differed in color, shape, and purpose.
One was a painkiller for the increasingly severe headaches she would face, and the other was a sedative that Piril had reluctantly prescribed at Letricia’s request.
“Take the painkiller when you experience unbearable headaches. It will reduce the pain temporarily. As for the sedative… though I’m giving it to you because you asked… you must strictly follow the dosage. Never take a large amount at once. Do you understand?”
With Piril’s breathless instructions still ringing in her ears, Letricia brushed her earlobe once before taking one sedative.
After storing the painkiller deep in her drawer, she slipped only the sedative into her sleeve cuff and left the room.
To head toward the carriage where Isis would be waiting, likely furious from the long wait.
* * *
“You’ve never been helpful, have you? Of all days to collapse, you had to choose today. Couldn’t you at least be more mindful of timing? Tsk.”
In the carriage heading to the Imperial Palace, Isis sat opposite her with his long legs stretched out, clicking his tongue irritably.
Though Isis was generally always irritated, judging by how high his dark pink eyebrows had risen, today seemed worse than usual.
The cause of such agitation was obvious. It was probably due to the banquet they would soon attend.
Tonight’s victory banquet at the Imperial Palace was being held for Grand Duke Heberus, who had returned triumphant from the Kashar War.
That was their current destination.
Normally, attending an Imperial Palace banquet would be considered an honor. But not today.
Not with Grand Duke Heberus as the banquet’s guest of honor.
The cursed prince. The exiled royal. The war demon obsessed with blood. These were the epithets that described the Grand Duke.
And as if to prove these bizarre descriptions, terrifying rumors circulated in the capital. They said that in the mountains behind the Grand Duke’s northern duchy, there stood a tower built from the heads of those who had displeased him.
Of course, since the Grand Duke never left the north except for war, and outsiders couldn’t cross the northern boundary without his permission, there was no way to verify if such rumors were true.
But perhaps this very mysteriousness only fueled curiosity, as the rumors continued to grow by the day.
Moreover, since the Imperial family had always ostracized Grand Duke Heberus, it was natural that most people felt uneasy about today’s victory banquet.
Perhaps if not for the Emperor’s command that all noble heirs must attend, no one would have come to today’s banquet.
“Damn it. What was His Majesty thinking with such an order… Hey.”
Thump.
After a brief moment of quiet, Isis kicked the tip of Letricia’s shoe to provoke her.
“By the way, how busy must your fiancé be to leave your escort to me?”
“…”
“Don’t tell me you actually mentioned wanting to break off the engagement to Petrick, like you were saying to Father?”
“…I haven’t yet.”
“Really? Well, good. Since you haven’t, don’t ever bring it up.”
Raising his eyebrows—which seemed like they couldn’t go any higher—once more, Isis leaned back.
“I don’t know what suddenly made you bring up breaking the engagement, but that’s just the complaint of someone too well-fed. Where else do you think you could find a proper fiancé like Petrick?”
Isis added mockingly as he drew back the curtain with a sharp sound.
The sky was still gloomy, perhaps due to the heavy rain from the previous night.
“I wonder if we’ll even arrive on time with weather like this. Hey, if we’re late, I’m telling Father it was all your fault, okay?”
“…Fine. Do as you please.”
Despite Isis’s continued provocations, Letricia responded impassively—or at least appeared to—with her head half-lowered.
After all, this treatment was as natural and familiar to her as breathing.
Because…
“By the way, you look quite fine despite being in a carriage. I guess you’ve forgotten all about our mother now?”
“…”
“How pitiful for our mother. She died trying to save someone as heartless as you.”
Because Isis’s birth mother, the Countess Esta, had lost her life because of Letricia.
On a day with gloomy skies just like today, over a decade ago, while protecting Letricia in an overturned carriage on their way back after finalizing the adoption.
Letricia still couldn’t forget.
When she first entered the mansion after the Countess’s funeral.
The expressions of Isis and Count Esta as they looked at her—someone who had become an awkward presence they could neither drive out nor fully accept, all because of the Countess’s words asking them to take care of the child, words they never imagined would become her last…
“Hah…”
As memories that kept feeling as vivid as if they’d happened yesterday surfaced, Letricia’s head drooped even lower.
Then Isis’s voice came from above her head.
However he interpreted Letricia’s silence, there was a hint of anger in his voice.
“Ha. My heart still pounds when I think about that time, but you’re really something, aren’t you? Must be nice to be so composed.”
No, that wasn’t it. It was quite the opposite.
From the moment she’d stepped into the carriage, Letricia had barely been able to breathe properly.
‘I thought I’d be fine after taking the sedative…’
Swallowing her labored breathing, Letricia gripped her skirt tightly to hide her condition.
But despite her efforts, the guilt and fear made vivid by Isis’s words continued to consume her.
But then. Suddenly, with a large jolt, the carriage came to a stop, and a troubled voice came from the driver’s seat.
“Young master! You’ll need to get out of the carriage. The road is completely blocked and we cannot pass!”
