Previously
Caesar wakes Irenia from a nightmare with a kiss on the cheek, leading to a moment of shared laughter and intimacy. Irenia reflects on her recurring dreams where she sees the murders of previous marriage candidates, realizing they were not suicides or curses but crimes.
I cleared my throat softly, then began reciting that passage from the story, one I had memorized by heart after reading it so many times:
“‘And at last, spring arrived. The ugly duckling looked down at its reflection on the surface of the lake.’”
That was the final chapter of the story. And just as I had committed it entirely to memory, so had Caesar, who replied with a smile:
“Ah, I did not know I was a beautiful swan.”
I added:
“‘The ugly duckling, now turned into a swan, soared high into the sky, overcome with joy.’”
I smiled sorrowfully. That was how the tale ended. He lifted his head slowly, and I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, gazing at him with tenderness.
The next morning, I found myself compelled to ask Delfina when she came to help me dress. I caught her hand as she was wringing out the sponge.
“Delfina, there is something I must know.”
“Yes?”
The sequence of dreams I had experienced could not be dismissed as mere flights of fancy. I had grown certain that they were no passing illusions.
I needed further confirmation, and for that, I needed her help.
“Do you know how the previous candidates to become the Crown Princess died?”
“A—that…”
Delfina grew visibly tense, lowering her head and biting her lip.
To draw the truth out of her, I had to be more direct. I drew upon what I had seen in my dream the night before.
“Did one of them drown in the lake?”
She jerked her head up in terror. No further confirmation was needed.
“H-how did you know that…?”
An unbearable chill ran down my spine.
“I want to know the truth, Delfina.”
“T-that…”
She shook her head several times, then seemed to steel herself to speak.
“As you surmised, one of them passed away by drowning in the lake.”
“Truly…?”
I felt as though the floor were giving way beneath me. My dream had been real.
“Yes, she was the third candidate for the Crown Prince’s hand.”
“Why did she fall into the lake?”
“In truth…”
She hesitated, then closed her eyes and crossed herself in the air as though in prayer before answering:
“It was said that she took her own life.”
“She committed suicide…”
Yet that did not align with my dream. She had contemplated it, but she had turned back before dying.
“Actually, those who were betrothed to the First Prince…”
Delfina trailed off, looking troubled. But I knew what she was trying to say.
Marrying a ‘beast’ prince could drive any young woman to despair and suicide. That was what she believed.
“No, Delfina.”
“Pardon?”
“That girl… did not kill herself.”
Because of that, I felt it was my duty to uncover the truth. Perhaps I was the only one who knew.
“People probably called what happened a curse, didn’t they?”
“Yes…”
It was painful. But then another realization struck me. If my latest dream reflected something that had genuinely occurred in the past…
Then what of the dream I had seen before that?
“And what about the young lady from the Pellegrino family, the fourth candidate?”
“I do not know the details. Only that she was found dead.”
“And who was the first to find the body?”
Delfina hesitated, then answered after a moment:
“The Commander of the Violet Bow Guard.”
“I wish to meet with him.”
I desperately needed to confirm the truth.
Perhaps what I had witnessed in the dream was a summons from wronged souls who had died without justice.
I felt as though I had a duty, and perhaps this duty was tied to unraveling the curse that afflicted Caesar.
Yet, above all, I needed to know for my own sake—so that I could escape this lurking threat of death.
“I know nothing.”
The guard commander was a hulking man in his fifties, his face flushed as though he had just been drinking, reeking of liquor. Even his beard and hair carried a faint reddish gleam, making him resemble a red pillar from afar.
“Please, tell Her Highness the Crown Princess the truth.”
Delfina secretly pressed a silver coin into his palm. I had ordered some of my personal belongings sold specifically for this meeting.
The man faltered for a moment, then fingered the coin in his palm, glancing around before slipping it into an inner pocket.
“People do not like speaking of that incident.”
There was an edge of unease in his voice, but now that he had taken the money, he could no longer back out.
“Tell me everything that took place that morning.”
I pressed him earnestly about the day Lady Pellegrino’s body was discovered. He blinked several times, then said:
“On that day, we entered the room prepared for the worst.”
“Why?”
He sighed, pulled a rosary from around his neck, and crossed himself with it. The contradiction between taking a bribe and clinging to piety was almost laughable.
“Other candidates had already died before her. So talk of a curse was everywhere.”
A curse, then. That was not the answer I sought, so I gestured for him to continue. His body began to tremble as though recounting something horrifying.
“And the corpse was in a dreadful state. Blood was everywhere. It was not a sight one easily forgets…”
He shook his head, as if trying to banish the image from his mind.
“What was the cause of death?”
“A-that…”
When I studied his face closely, I noticed his nervous tension. He was clearly hiding something. Sweat beaded across his flushed cheeks.
“Surely… it was the curse.”
I felt anger flaring within me. I could not suppress the trace of derision that crept into my voice.
“And what exactly is this curse?”
His eyes widened in fright, darting left and right.
“I-I do not know. She was a young woman full of life, and suddenly she was dead… How could we know?”
I sensed he was evading me. So I asked for details in a level tone.
“You said there was a great deal of blood. Were there visible wounds on her body? Was the corpse examined?”
He replied nervously:
“Of course. Every death within the palace is investigated.”
“And yet they found nothing?”
He answered submissively:
“I assure you… there were no visible injuries. The body was completely intact.”
“How can one bleed without a wound?”
“T-that… was the work of the curse…”
He averted his gaze, refusing to go on.
So everything was pinned on what they called a curse.
Yet I knew that was untrue. In my dream, I had seen her ingest a lethal poison. Even so, I could not openly mention poison.
If I acted too hastily, I might be seen as someone raving.
So I changed the question.
“And her family? Did they not object to her dying in such a mysterious manner?”
She had been an only daughter; how could they have stayed silent?
He answered with a cold smile:
“I believe they received compensation to their satisfaction.”
“Compensation…”
I felt my heart constrict with pain. When he noticed the shift in my expression, he rushed to add:
“I… I truly know nothing. Please excuse me, it is time for the shift change, so I must take my leave now.”
Stammering out his words, he hurried away with unsteady strides.
I watched him retreat, standing motionless.
“Compensation, then…”
I murmured with bitter irony.
Had they silenced their mouths with gold?
The very thought left an acrid taste on my tongue.
I did not stop with the guard commander. I also met with several other servants who had witnessed the discovery of the previous candidates’ bodies, or who had at least been present at the time of their deaths.
Yet their answers were all carbon copies of one another:
“I do not know.”
“It is the curse.”
“I had nothing to do with it.”
They all uttered the words with eyes wide as though terrified, repeating them like parrots.
And with each such answer, my expression grew dimmer.
My steps grew heavier, until I ended up dragging my feet.
“Your Majesty, are you all right?”
Delfina asked worriedly after I had spent the entire day wandering the palace grounds.
My legs ached, swollen with exhaustion. I began patting them lightly with a sigh.
“I did not expect to return completely empty-handed.”
I had known the truth would be tightly concealed, but I had never thought it would prove impossible to extract even a single thread.
At that point, Delfina gently placed a cool, damp cloth over my legs and began to massage them.
“It must be difficult for anyone to speak of it. Such matters are considered an ill omen.”
“If only I could at least meet their families…”
Yet I had no legitimate justification for that.
We had no prior acquaintance, and having the current wife of the Crown Prince seek out the families of the deceased candidates would be dreadfully awkward and strange.
“It would likely be near impossible.”
“All this deliberate concealment cannot be without reason.”
Delfina fell silent, merely bowing her head.
A tangle of chaotic thoughts churned in my head, like tangled threads that offered no way to unravel them…
Yet amid that chaos, a single truth was slowly coming into focus.
FADE OUT