Chapter 70
“Heuh, heuh… Hoo….”
Calm down, Aisha.
Calm down. You’re still inside the Royal Palace.
You have to be.
I was barely managing to control my hyperventilation with ragged breaths when a voice reached me.
“I shall handle it personally this time, Duke of Pose.”
It was a thick, gravelly voice, nothing like Ariena’s.
It sounded familiar.
I searched my memory and it suddenly clicked. This was one of the voices I had overheard from the ceiling during my last visit to the Royal Palace.
It was the voice of King Arzen.
“Of course. If you take care of this child, I will handle the rest.”
Arzen clicked his tongue at the Duke of Pose’s fawning and let out a sigh. Then, I felt a massive palm press down on my small stomach.
“What are you doing to me…”
It happened then.
“O God of Ebela, slumbering in the abyss. I release the shackles that bind You; reach out Your forbidden hand to me upon this earth…”
The God of Ebela….
No way. Is he using Black Magic on me right now?
Black Magic was a forbidden art, outlawed by the Magic Association Grace belonged to, as it was deemed a threat to human life.
The Queen Consort was the one who enacted that law, yet the King of this very kingdom was using that forbidden magic on me.
“Let go! Let me go! You’ll regret this!”
I thrashed and struggled, but King Arzen only pressed his palm harder against my stomach.
“Ack—.”
Unable to even breathe under the pressure, I flailed like a dying frog.
Regardless of my struggle, he continued.
“Your touch is now my touch. In the name of Ebela, I command that all I touch…”
No.
“Shall become dolls bound by thread, to be played with in our puppet show.”
Just as Arzen exhaled, seemingly finishing the incantation—
“Aargh!”
A sudden scream from Arzen erupted beyond my blocked vision.
Now.
Seizing the moment, I broke free from his grip and rubbed the back of my head against the floor. The cloth covering my eyes shifted and began to slide down.
As my vision cleared—
“Ugh…!”
I saw King Arzen clutching his shoulder, which was marked with teeth indentations.
Beside him lay Kyle, collapsed on the ground.
And on top of him sat Ariena, pinning him down.
I turned pale and screamed.
“Kyle!”
“Kh… Ugh….”
Ariena was trying to force something into the mouth of the pinned Kyle.
It was a potion.
“…That smells weird. Drink it yourself.”
Did he instinctively realize the potion was dangerous? Kyle grimaced and shook his head violently.
However.
“If you don’t want to drink it, then take a shower.”
Splash—
With her usual expressionless face, she poured the liquid over Kyle’s head.
The black fluid drenched his white hair.
As the viscous liquid dripped down over his eyes, nose, and rounded cheeks—
“…Kh… Haa.”
Did he accidentally swallow some while trying to breathe?
“…Aisha….”
His trembling fists suddenly went limp, and his purple eyes, which had been fixed on me, slipped shut.
No. Don’t tell me… Kyle….
I tried to lunge forward, my body jerking, but my hands and feet were bound.
I couldn’t do anything.
Kyle had collapsed right in front of me, and I…
“What did you do to Kyle!”
The scream tore out of me along with a burst of tears. The cold gold eyes looking down at Kyle flicked up toward me.
“I didn’t kill him. His body is just paralyzed.”
“You didn’t kill him? Do you even know what you’ve done?”
“I am performing my duties faithfully, unlike you.”
“That’s not it! You fed poison to a child. And if you really are the Duke of Pose’s spy… did you play the role of the Duchess for four years just to kill Calips?!”
How could she?
How could she steal the family away from that kind man who taught me what a family was?
“You’ve just destroyed a person’s entire life!”
I screamed like a madwoman, but Ariena simply sighed and stood up.
“I suppose he let things slide because you’re young. Calips always did have a soft spot for children.”
Then—
Thud.
She used the tip of her flat servant’s shoe to nudge Kyle’s cheek.
As if he were a mere insect.
“A spy who loses themselves in their role and turns their back on their house… such a creature has no value.”
Tap, tap.
The leisurely sound of her footsteps approached me, neither fast nor slow.
“You’ve been cast out by the House of Pose. And in the role you were assigned, you’ll eventually be exposed as a fake. Besides, you’re the one who betrayed someone. You betrayed the Duke of Pose, who trusted you.”
As Ariena drew closer, the back of my neck began to ache from tilting my head up.
But.
“You’re right. Spies aren’t supposed to betray.”
I refused to lower my head.
At my words, Ariena’s iron-clad expression flickered with a hint of confusion.
“A spy isn’t a person, they’re a tool, right? How can a tool betray like a human?”
“…What?”
I desperately wanted to see that stoic face crumble.
“Someone who can’t tell right from wrong and only follows orders is just a tool, not a person!”
“…Shut your mouth, brat.”
“You shut yours! Living like a spy only to die unremembered by anyone… that’s your fate…”
Slap!
A sharp pain flared as my face was whipped to the right.
The spot where she struck me burned as if seared by fire. My eyes flew wide in shock.
“…For a five-year-old, you are remarkably wicked.”
Ariena’s voice trembled, a rare occurrence.
“You were a mistake from the start.”
“……?”
Then, her confession pierced me like a dagger.
I slowly turned my head back toward her.
What was she saying…?
“You weren’t a planned pregnancy. You only exist because of a momentary mistake…!”
Ariena was shaking.
Just like me, with my stinging cheek. Just like Kyle, who had tried to hold on until the very end before collapsing.
More importantly, this woman.
“That’s why, even when I escaped to the Duke’s Castle, someone like you….”
Is she… is she saying I’m her daughter?
It was then.
“Ariena. That is enough.”
A greasy voice filled with amusement drifted in as the door swung open.
“Your Excellency.”
In an instant, her crumbling voice and expression snapped back to normal.
By the time I realized what was happening, she was already bowing to the Duke of Pose.
‘What was that? She was clearly agitated just a second ago.’
Something was wrong.
Usually, knights or spies salute or give a simple nod to their masters.
But Ariena was bowing so deeply that the crown of her head was visible.
‘…….’
No, she was bowing deeply while gritting her teeth.
‘…Why?’
“I’ve placed the Black Magic on the child, so our work here is done. Bring her.”
I knew something was off, but my thoughts were scattered by the storm of events.
At the Duke of Pose’s command, a nearby knight picked me up like a sack of grain.
“Let go! I said let go!”
Thump, thump.
I pounded on the knight’s arm with my small fists, but I already knew.
No matter how much spy training I had received, a five-year-old’s body was no match for an adult.
‘No. I can’t let them take me like this.’
I had to use my head.
If that door opened and we left the palace, it would truly be the end.
“What’s the situation outside?”
“His Majesty the King has informed us of a secret passage. It’s a secluded area, so we should be able to pass through safely.”
It happened then.
‘…Secret… passage?’
They say that in moments of crisis, people find unbelievable strength.
In my case, it wasn’t strength, but a memory of a past conversation.
‘I’m not the only one. Other nobles have the same hobby. What’s the harm in keeping a monster or two as a pet?’
The time I had followed Kyle. The conversation between the Duke of Pose and King Arzen.
‘There’s a monster here.’
My fading eyes snapped wide open.