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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: 0002_56
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Those waiting outside the courtroom, unable to secure spectator tickets, watched Ariana emerge alongside Rachel. A reporter, who had fortunately gained entry, had periodically relayed news to the outside, so most people already had a rough understanding of Rachel's claims.
Rachel's victory, as she had claimed, solidified Ariana's image as a villainess of unprecedented infamy. The public's gaze, directed at Ariana—the one who had tormented her mother and sisters—was anything but kind.
People pointed fingers and hurled condemnations at Ariana, yet she walked with her head held high, her posture unyielding. Contrary to her defiant exterior, her heart felt on the verge of shattering.
‘The Western Duke... he's figured something out.’
Neither the Eastern Duke nor his predecessor could ever best the Western Duke in strategy. Had they been able to, they wouldn't have fallen into his schemes in the past and turned against His Imperial Majesty.
The Eastern Duke might be a kind man, but kindness offered no refuge in moments like these.
‘What if the Western Duke makes his move first?’
Ariana had two options.
Either defy them here and now, escape to cling to the Eastern Duke, or meekly follow Rachel back to the Western Territory and pray for another chance.
But she knew the second option was impossible.
She'd realized it when she saw the Western Duke's gaze fixed upon her earlier. He had no intention of letting Ariana live.
‘The Western Duke is a cautious man. He'll never trust me again, not after I escaped once. No matter where he locks me away or to whom he marries me off, he'll believe I'll try to escape again.’
The moment she returned to the Western Territory, she'd be thrown into the dungeon of Rosen Castle, and he would make his move once people's memories of this trial began to fade.
The moment of her death flashed vividly before her eyes.
The memory of being imprisoned, her entire body festering and decaying, was still horrifyingly vivid.
Her body trembled, but she managed to suppress it. To keep her fear from showing, she bit the inside of her cheek and held firm.
Rachel led Ariana into the waiting carriage. The Western Duke followed, entering the same one.
Rachel and the Western Duke sat side-by-side, leaving Ariana to sit alone opposite them, subjected to both their stares.
A suffocating silence pressed down on Ariana until the courtroom was no longer visible. Her days in the Eastern Territory faded like a distant dream, while the memory of death grew ever more vivid.
No one uttered a word until they arrived at the Western Duke's villa in the Capital, yet a maelstrom of emotions swirled within the carriage.
The moment they disembarked from the carriage and stepped into the villa, Rachel spun around to Ariana, raising her hand. The Western Duke spoke quietly.
“Rachel. Do not leave marks on her body. Exercise caution until we depart the Capital.”
“...Yes, Father.”
Rachel lowered her hand, a look of resentment on her face.
Ariana almost wished Rachel would strike her a few times. That way, if she managed to escape, she could use the resulting bruises as evidence.
But as long as the Western Duke was by her side, Rachel wouldn't dare act rashly.
The Western Duke instructed his knights to guard Ariana's room diligently and assigned her no less than three maids.
The Western Duke looked down at Ariana, his eyes filled with contempt, and commanded mockingly:
“Ensure she is properly fed, lest she accuse us of starvation. And see to it that her clothes are changed.”
Ariana, surrounded as if besieged by the maids, was escorted to her room. The maids followed her inside without even requesting permission.
One maid brought forth a wine-colored dress, the formal attire of the Western Territory, and spoke:
“It would be wise not to contemplate escape. There are knights guarding outside the windows as well.”
Ariana knew such an escape would be impossible.
Ariana sank onto the sofa. The room was spacious and clean, yet to Ariana, it felt no different than the underground dungeon where she had been confined for so long in the past.
+++
The Western Duke gave Rachel firm instructions.
“We will depart the Empire within two or three days. Until then, you are absolutely not to act rashly. Conduct yourself as if there are eyes watching your every move.”
“Yes, Father.”
“The Eastern Duke may not be a master schemer, but he is the sort of man who would do anything for his daughter, so we must exercise extreme caution.”
Rachel gazed thoughtfully at the Western Duke, who had repeated his admonitions several times over.
His hair was streaked with gray, his face lined with wrinkles. At sixty-five years old, the Western Duke was the eldest among the rulers of all nations, yet his blue eyes shone with the piercing intensity of a young man's.
Normally, a duke would step down from his position once his children had grown and reached marriageable age. However, the Western Duke continued to cling to his title, using the pretext that he had no son to inherit.
If he truly had no son, he could have adopted a child worthy of being an heir, taken a second wife to bear one, or even passed his title to a daughter. Yet, the Western Duke did none of these things.
‘Greedy old man.’
Rachel knew her father would never relinquish his ducal seat until he drew his last breath.
Though she had won this trial with the Western Duke's assistance, he had only intervened because it was ultimately tied to his own honor.
‘He must think Ariana might have uncovered some family secrets while she was under my roof. As if that young girl could have learned anything significant.’
The Western Duke was concerned that Rachel had failed to keep her mouth shut and might have divulged information to Ariana that she shouldn't have. Otherwise, he never would have involved himself in this trial, even if it meant disowning Rachel.
Still, thanks to his overly cautious nature, she had received his assistance. But she had no idea how long this protection would last.
‘If Ariana causes trouble again, Father will undoubtedly sever ties with me. It's far more convenient for him to disown me than to continuously resolve troublesome issues.’
She detested the Western Duke, but being his daughter afforded her many privileges. Even if she were disowned, she wouldn't be completely free of his influence.
‘I must never be disowned.’
Rachel recalled Ariana, who had sat so pitifully throughout the trial.
Recalling Ariana, who had striven so hard to bring her down, Rachel felt an immediate urge to throttle her, but she had to restrain herself for now.
She had to play the part of the perfect mother, ensuring Ariana had no means of escape, no matter what methods she tried.
+++
Ariana stared into the void, passing the night wide awake.
No matter how much she racked her brain, no ingenious solution to her current predicament came to mind.
At least the Bronte Family Manor had offered some semblance of freedom. But under the Western Duke's strict surveillance, there was no opportunity for her to make a move.
‘What would the Northern Duke have done?’
She couldn't understand why he came to mind in such a situation.
But it felt as if Cyrus would know how to resolve even such a moment with ease.
‘Had the Northern Duke ever found himself in such a blind situation?’
After the former Northern Duke and his consort passed away, the Northern Territory plunged into chaos. To escape the faction attempting to depose the young Cyrus and seize the Northern Duke's position, Cyrus was forced to abandon the Northern Territory.
Suddenly, the conversation she'd had with him in the cave resurfaced in her mind.
“Your eyes always possess a desperate glint. I've seen someone with such a gaze before.”
When she asked who possessed such a gaze, he pointed to himself.
Ariana had acquired such a gaze because she had been thoroughly exploited, abandoned, and left to die. This implied that Cyrus, too, had lived a life as desperate as her own.
The noble Northern Duke he was now had not come to be by chance.
‘The Northern Duke overcame that desperation and splendidly reclaimed the Northern Territory. He must have faced situations even more arduous than what I'm experiencing now.’
A flicker of light returned to her clouded eyes.
‘I can find a way too. I cannot afford to break down like this.’
Ariana glared at the food that had been sitting on the table. The same food the maids had brought last night. She pushed the cold, dried-up remnants into her mouth and chewed them mechanically.
‘Think, Ariana. Don't let your mind go blank just because you're in the dark.’
Ariana stared at the fork and knife she held. Upon her arrival here, the Western Duke had ordered the maids to conduct a thorough search of her person. As a result, all the daggers she had been carrying were confiscated.
The fork and knife were blunt, but not so dull that they couldn't inflict wounds.
‘I am not afraid of wounds on my body. What I fear more is being dragged to the Western Territory without being able to do anything at all.’
Ariana, seizing a moment when the maids' attention wavered, slipped the fork and knife between the sofa cushions. Then, with both arms, she swept everything off the table.
Crash!
The dishes that had been on the table crashed to the floor, shattering with a loud clamor. The maids, startled, rushed over.
“Let me out!”
Ariana shrieked.
“Let me out, I said! I want to go back! I don't belong here! Let me go! Send me away!”
The maids were flustered by Ariana's sudden outburst, as she had behaved like a docile doll until now. They seized both of Ariana's arms and called for a housemaid to clear away the broken tableware.
The housemaids, preoccupied with cleaning amidst the commotion, didn't even notice that the fork and knife had vanished.
‘It's done.’
Even after the housemaids had left the room, she couldn't fully relax, so Ariana continued to thrash and shriek.
Just then, the door opened, and the Western Duke entered.
The Western Duke frowned in displeasure and glared at Ariana.
“What in the blazes is this ruckus?”
“Let me go. Please. I beg you. I will never utter a word against Your Grace, the Western Duke. My lips will never part with anything unfavorable. So please... please let me go. Please?”
“Hmm...”
“Save me. Please, save me, Your Grace.”
Ariana pleaded, tears welling in her eyes, but the Western Duke merely observed her calmly, his expression unchanged. While his cool gaze remained fixed on her face, Ariana continued to wail and implore.
The Western Duke's eyes narrowed.
“Why are you suddenly behaving like a child? What scheme are you concealing?”
The Western Duke tore his gaze from the profusely weeping Ariana, surveyed the room, then gestured to his knights. As the knights guarding the door entered and meticulously searched the room, the Western Duke also instructed the maids to conduct a body search on Ariana.
Ariana was dragged into the bedroom and subjected to a rough body search, clenching her teeth and glaring at the door throughout the ordeal.
‘The knights mustn't find it.’
When the body search concluded and she was led out of the bedroom, the knights had already exited the room.
‘Did they find it?’
She couldn't discern anything from the Western Duke's expression as he silently observed her. The Western Duke slowly advanced towards Ariana.
As the Western Duke drew closer, she felt as though she were being crushed by a colossal mountain. Third Prince Harold and the Western Duke—the two massive pillars Ariana had to overcome in this life.
The Western Duke stopped before Ariana, bending down to meet her gaze. Fixing his gleaming blue eyes upon her, he spoke.
“You wish to escape, don't you, Ariana? You believe a good opportunity will present itself. Am I not correct?”
