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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: I Will Never Be Loved Again.
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Ariana agonized and agonized in the darkness where not a single ray of light could penetrate.
What did I do wrong?
Where did I make a mistake?
She hadn't wanted much. She had never wished for anything excessive.
She had merely wanted to be loved.
Her mother. Her sisters. Her husband and his family. And Harold Blenwith.
She hadn't even wished for deep love.
Just a little affection and recognition, that much would have been enough. A smile when she did well, concern when she was sick, just that much.
She had merely wanted something that ordinary people received as naturally as breathing.
Was that too great a desire for her?
Was she, of all people, not supposed to wish for such things?
A year had passed since she was imprisoned in the deepest part of Rosen Castle's dungeon, located within the Imperial Palace of the Camellia Empire. Not one of the people Ariana had trusted and loved had come to visit her.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, surely tomorrow.
Such hopes had long since crumbled in vain.
The meager meals, which used to arrive every other day, now came only once every few days.
More unbearable than the terrible hunger and thirst was the solitude.
The Great Camellia Empire was surrounded by four vassal states: Dongnyeong, Seoryeong, Namnyeong, and Buknyeong.
Ariana was born to Russell, the Eastern Duke, who was the ruler of Dongnyeong, and Rachel, the daughter of the Western Duke of Seoryeong.
Immediately after giving birth to Ariana with the Eastern Duke, Rachel divorced him and fled back to Seoryeong, remarrying Duke Jacob Bronte.
Ariana vividly remembered her days at the Bronte Ducal Estate in Seoryeong.
Her mother, Rachel, who always seemed cheerful; her stepfather, Jacob, who was upright but kind; her older sister, Helena, who was immature but laughed easily; her younger sister, Victoria, who was mature and elegant beyond her years; and her youngest sibling, Joyson.
The Bronte Estate was warm and peaceful, but there was no place for Ariana there.
Ariana also remembered her days at Count Albrecht's estate.
Her husband, Ingou Albrecht, her mother-in-law, Laone, and her sister-in-law, Elise, who was the same age.
They were close, but that place also offered no space for Ariana.
The Third Prince, now Emperor, Harold Blenwith, was the only warmth Ariana had known. She had found the affection and trust that even her family had not given her in Harold.
"I like clever women like you."
"I prefer useful women like you to those who sell their smiles and lean on men."
"If I ascend the throne, I will cherish you. My imperial court will be your sanctuary."
She believed those words.
And so, she acted as his secret blade until he sat on the emperor's throne.
She helped conquer Dongnyeong, one of the wealthiest vassal states, and assisted in drawing out the reclusive Southern Duke to behead him.
She did not hesitate to help conquer Dongnyeong. The kindness of someone close to her was more precious than a father she had never even exchanged a word with.
She also brought information to keep the Northern Duke, who had gained the complete trust of the Emperor and Crown Prince, in check, nearly dying several times in the process.
She was even caught and tortured while operating as a spy, but she endured even that torture gladly.
Becoming a useful existence to someone was so important to Ariana that even harsh torture felt sweet.
The Third Prince Harold was the cleverest among the many princes, but as long as the Crown Prince enjoyed the Emperor's love and trust, his chances of ascending the throne were almost nil.
But for Harold, Ariana walked through a field of filth to create that possibility, and Harold succeeded in ascending the throne after killing the Crown Prince and the Emperor.
Now the imperial court belonged to Harold, yet Ariana was not even allowed a small corner of the palace.
Ariana could not understand.
She had merely been born. She had merely lived.
So why was the world so cruel to her?
"What did I even do...?"
Her cracked, hoarse voice didn't sound like her own.
"What more was I supposed to do?"
Ariana covered her face with both hands.
She felt her damaged, cracked skin on her parched fingers. Her hair fell out in clumps with the slightest touch due to malnutrition.
Because of the prolonged hunger and thirst, tears no longer came.
*Creak-*
The heavy iron door of the dungeon echoed open.
*Rustle, rustle-*
The light footsteps were different from those of the jailer who usually brought her meals.
Even in this situation, a small hope began to sprout.
Had she finally been allowed to leave this place?
She lowered her hands and raised her head, seeing a noblewoman holding a lantern standing outside the iron bars.
She wasn't strikingly beautiful, but a smile brimming with happiness made her glow.
"Sister..."
"Not 'Sister.' Call me Duchess Deccan."
Helena sang, smiling brightly.
"But you, what a state you're in. All your boasted hair is gone. People would think you're a monster if they saw you."
Even facing her sister's pitiful state, Helena seemed delighted.
Ariana crawled on her knees, gripped the iron bars, and raised her head. Her remaining light blue hair flowed over her roughened cheeks and shoulders.
"Sister, when can I leave this place?"
Helena slightly furrowed her brows, then kicked Ariana with her foot.
"I said 'Duchess' not 'Sister,' didn't I?"
Her body, weakened by hunger, easily fell back from the noblewoman's kick.
Helena looked down at Ariana, who lay sprawling on the floor, and smiled coldly.
"Anyway, you'll be able to leave soon."
Color returned to Ariana's face.
But the light of hope, which had appeared after so long, was tragically shattered by the words that followed.
"If leaving by dying counts as leaving."
"D-Dying?"
"Well, it's like this, isn't it? His Imperial Majesty, the former Emperor, died because of you. And His Royal Highness, the former Crown Prince, also met that fate."
Ariana's eyes trembled.
While it was true that Ariana had done whatever they asked out of a desperate desire for affection, she wasn't foolish.
"There are factions raising questions about the former Emperor's death. And you're going to make me a scapegoat, aren't you?"
"A scapegoat? This was all your doing. You snuck into the former Crown Prince's bedchamber and stabbed him in the heart, and you poisoned the former Emperor's medicine, didn't you?"
While it was true she provided the opportunities and information, Ariana herself didn't kill them.
But knowing that such an excuse wouldn't work, Ariana clutched at the last straw.
"Harold... Does His Majesty have nothing to say?"
At Ariana's desperate gaze, Helena smiled cruelly.
Helena looked as if she couldn't bear the pleasure of this moment.
"His Majesty is busy enjoying his time with Victoria... Oh, no, she's Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress, now. Anyway, he's busy. He probably doesn't have time to think about the likes of you."
"Lies... Does His Majesty know I'm imprisoned like this?"
"Of course he does. His Majesty was the one who ordered you to be locked up here."
*CRASH-!*
A sound of something collapsing was heard.
Ariana slowly raised her head and looked up at the ceiling.
But there was nothing wrong with the ceiling, and Ariana knew that the sound was merely her own world collapsing.
Ariana's world, which no one cared about.
As Ariana crumbled into despair, Helena's smile grew brighter and brighter.
"Why... Why are you so cruel to me? What did I do?"
"What did you do, you ask?"
Helena frowned for a moment, then bent down to meet Ariana's gaze. The lantern light flickered in Helena's jet-black eyes.
"Your very birth was a mistake, Ariana."
"..."
"Mother says she wants to vomit every time she sees you because you remind her of the Eastern Duke. And so do I. Every time I see you, I feel sick to my stomach, pitying Mother. She had to enter an unwanted marriage, and an unwanted pregnancy, with that horrible Eastern Duke, didn't she?"
Tears, which she thought had dried up, streamed down Ariana's cheeks.
"You shouldn't have been born, Ariana. But since you were, you might as well be useful, right?"
Helena motioned, and guards, who had been hidden in the darkness, appeared. Ariana hadn't even known Helena had brought them.
Helena smiled sweetly at Ariana and said,
"Don't worry, Ariana. I won't make your death terrible. You will have taken your own life, regretting your crimes of assassinating His Royal Highness, the former Crown Prince, and His Imperial Majesty, the former Emperor. Of course, you'll be slandered a bit, but if His Majesty the Emperor showcases excellent governance, the criticism against you will lessen somewhat."
Ariana watched blankly as the iron dungeon door opened and the guards entered.
She did not resist even when they placed the rope they held around her neck.
She only thought.
Wishing for love was a mistake.
Desiring affection was an error.
Trusting was a sin.
She was receiving this punishment because she, an unwanted existence, wished to live, and furthermore, wished for love.
The rough rope tightened around her neck, but Ariana did not struggle.
She merely resolved.
If she were given another chance, she would never try to be loved again. She would never give trust to anyone. She would simply live bearing the sin of her birth on her shoulders.
'But such a chance won't come.'
In the moment of death, Ariana let out a self-deprecating laugh at her futile wish.
A smile spread across her beautiful face, even though her skin was cracked and all her hair had fallen out.
Helena was unnerved, but it was over quickly.
Ariana's small body stopped moving, and her pained gasps and moans ceased.
On April 20th, Rathan 222, Ariana's birthday, which no one remembered.
Ariana, the wife of Count Albrecht of Seoryeong, took her own life in a dark dungeon, repenting for the crimes of assassinating the former Crown Prince and the former Emperor.
September, Rathan 222.
Cyrus Karrha, the Northern Duke, declared Buknyeong's independence and proclaimed himself emperor, marking the beginning of the Arcana Empire. At the same time, he raised an army against the Camellia Empire.
April 20th, Rathan 224.
The Camellia Empire, which had fallen from Dongnyeong to Seoryeong, was conquered, and the heads of Emperor Harold and Empress Victoria were hung on the walls of the Camellia Imperial Palace.
Their crime was the assassination of the former Emperor and former Crown Prince, exactly two years after Ariana's death.
