Episode 48
If the owner of this palace was a woman, with the exception of the tenants, and if there was only Liatris residing here, I took a deep breath at the thought to ease my nerves.
‘I’ll be in huge trouble if I get caught.’
I didn’t have any knowledge about Liatris since she was an extra whose name was only mentioned in the novel.
However, if anyone came to Lagrange to aim for the seat of the Grand Duchess of the North—
‘Then that person wouldn’t be someone who harbors good intentions.’
She was someone who seduced Derek in order to push Alphonse to become the heir of the grand duchy. I tried to calm my hands and feet that were trembling in fear.
‘It’s alright. I won’t get caught. Aren’t I hidden perfectly?’
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“Uwaaaa, uwaaaaa!”
‘I’m tired of your crying.’
Liatris had many children for her age, but she had always hated babies. The newborns were always crying, and they demanded affection as if they had run out like a dried up well.
‘You’ll only be gone even if I love you.’
Half of the children born in Lagrange died before they even reached a year old.
Commoner children born in the winter usually died easily because they had nothing to eat, but in Lagrange insufficient food was not a problem.
The weak children were eliminated by their siblings or half siblings who shared the same fate as them unless they were born with strong abilities.
If a mother tried to protect her weak child, that child would be marked as a child of “a woman who failed to be cold-hearted” and all the other children were judged to be useless.
In the cold northern lands, uselessness means death.
“Stop crying.”
The baby didn’t have a name yet. Even naming a baby had become bothersome for her.
Seducing Derek and competing against other women in Lagrange for Alphonse’s sake also became boring.
‘I’m tired.’
Liatris sighed and looked at the baby, pressing a hand against her temples.
From the moment she married Derek Lagrange, she had been experiencing terrible headaches.
She felt better when she left the estate for a vacation sometimes, but the moment she came back and entered Lagrange Castle, she would start suffering from the headaches again.
‘I am being punished.’
When the pain weighed on her like a rock, Liatris would remember the dead children.
‘This is to pay for the milk. I must endure it.’
It was her original sin to choose a demon-rooted great house as her refuge. She recalled her hometown as it had been almost twenty years since she left.
‘If Alphonse becomes the Grand Duke—‘
Her father, Marquis Euler, would accept her again if Liatris’ eldest son, Alphonse Lagrange, would become the owner of the vast Northern state and the master of the grand duchy, which was basically the power behind the Bernoulli Empire.
Liatris bit her lips and breastfed the baby, one of the many seeds that she scattered.
‘If you survive, I don’t know if I can take you home with me.’
She smiled helplessly at the baby holding her finger. Her eyes narrowed for a moment when she placed the plump baby back to the cradle.
‘What’s that?’
The red Mary Jane[1] shoes sticking out of the sofa definitely belonged to a child. One of the girls residing in Liatris was Veronica, but Veronica’s feet were much bigger than that.
Liatris slowly walked towards the sofa. The red shoes that were similar to a child’s palm in size were trembling. A rabbit was drawn on the white socks that reached the ankles.
“Hmmm.”
‘How should I handle this?’
Liatris fell into rumination as she regarded the rabbit in front of her like a predator.
Judging by the wear and tear of the shoes as though she had only one pair, the child cannot be Catherine’s as she held the same wealth as Liatris.
The child breathed out a sigh of relief, believing that she had not yet been caught.
‘Then, you must be the child of the late Camille.’
Liatris recalled Camille, who was as greedy and vindictive as she was, but was particularly violent.
‘No, was she daring instead?’
She was the only woman in Lagrange to show hostility towards Derek.
No one liked Derek among the countless women whose names she can’t even remember, but Camille was the only one vocal enough to bring those feelings out.
Love was impossible on the icy land of Lagrange. So Liatris laughed so hard that her stomach hurt when Derek poured out words of love from his lips for her.
‘Did you love me so much that you had my first child killed?’
She managed to swallow the sharp question that crept up from time to time. The only thing that mattered was whose family would survive and iit didn’t matter what kind of person the dead child would grow up to be.
The women of Lagrange were all eager to make their child the heir, and they became just as ugly as their desire.
To the point where it would be impossible to remember who they were before.
‘You must be Dietrich’s sister that I saw at the banquet.’
Liatris knew that Dietrich was Alphonse’s only rival. If she doesn’t lend a hand, she’s sure that her son will lose.
“Acho!”
It was at that moment, when she was trying to bend to get the child out, a small sneeze could be heard from the child as she had inhaled the dust that had risen from her movement.
Trembling shoes stopped moving. Liatris bent her knees and looked under the sofa.
“. . . . .”
The child was hiding her face under her small arm.
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‘If only I hadn’t sneezed!’
I closed my eyes tightly from the gaze I felt above. I wouldn’t have been caught if I hadn’t sneezed because of the sudden dust that came into my nose.
‘What should I do . . . . .”
Worried of what to do, I buried my head in my arms. The back of my head seemed to be stinging from the sharp gaze of Liatris.
‘If I pretend not to know anything, maybe she’ll go away.’
It was an absurd idea. Although somehow, I wondered what she was thinking as she didn’t force me out or talk to me.
‘Huh? Maybe I didn’t get caught?’
Her footsteps sounded as if she was moving away.
‘Maybe she left.’
I raised my face just in case and was met with fierce eyes like a tiger.
‘Ack!’
It’s all useless now. Still, I tried to cover my mouth to avoid a sound from leaking out.
“Achoo!”
As a result, the mobile broke and some of the fragments that turned to powder in my hands came into contact with my nose, making me sneeze.
My body shook as I sneezed repeatedly.
“Ha-a-achooo!”
‘Ah, I’m screwed.’
Goodbye to the days when I eagerly carried a bottle of milk to Dietrich to save myself.
All the struggles I’ve been through so far were like bubbles floating in front of my eyes. It’s sad, but let’s not cry. I guess I was destined to end here today.
“It seems like you haven’t learned from your brother on how to hide.”
Liatris came up to where I was when I stumbled back to avoid the aura that rose from the broken mobile fragments.
Mysteriously, her feet didn’t make a sound when she walked.
“Weak animals aren’t supposed to make noises. . . . . “
Liatris continued calmly.
“Basically, you will have to hide your feet.”
At what she said, I looked back and noticed my feet protruding out of the sofa. She let out a small laugh when I brought my knees in to hide it.
“If you had hidden like this earlier, then maybe I wouldn’t have seen you.”
“. . . . .”
“What do you have there in your hand?”
She asked in a relaxed tone as though the situation was nothing serious. It’s as if I will never be able to escape from this place no matter how much I struggle.
‘Is this how Dietrich’s prey felt?’
I closed my eyes as I remembered the wild animals that were roasted golden brown over a bonfire.
“It’s not like I don’t have patience, but I don’t like to waste my time unnecessarily either.”
Liatris urged me again. I tried to avoid her gaze and looked down at the white powder that fell from my fisted hand.
‘It looks like I’ve destroyed all the unpleasant statues in Liatris Palace though.’
There was really no way to make sure that my assumptions were right. To confirm that there is a change of attitude like Lancel, I have to read Liatris’ aura but I couldn’t read it properly because I overused my abilities.
“It’sh nothing.”
“Isn’t that the mobile attached to the cradle?”
“. . . . . “
“Hmm? Are you stealing?”
I swallowed my saliva at what Liatris said. This woman’s eyes were purple just like the flower named after her.
Although she looked younger with her tressy blonde hair tied together, she was the eldest in Lagrange, even older than Derek.
‘She and Yuric don't look alike at all.’
Yuric’s eyes were a little droopy so he looked like a gentle puppy when he’s not doing anything, but Liatris’ eyes were . . . . .
‘Like a tiger?’
At a glance, her slanted eyes and thin pupils like that of a cat reminds you of a wild beast.
“That . . . . . “
If I say that I deliberately broke the mobile, I feel like she’s going to throw me out of the window.
For a minute there, I almost spat out my inner thoughts, so I held onto one of the sofa’s legs. If she tries to force me out, I have to hang on to it dearly.
But instead of grabbing my leg, Liatris bent all the way down to meet my eye level.
“I don’t feel a headache when I’m looking at you.”
“What?”
“Is it a coincidence or is it your ability?”
I belatedly realized her question as I searched through her aura. Although there were scorched holes like burn marks in her purple aura, there weren’t any particular corners left to purify.
‘Did Asmodeus really hid and left cursed statues?’
“Come on out. My neck hurts.”
I sluggishly crawled out from under the sofa at the urging of Liatris. She was so tall, as tall as an adult man, which was why her neck started to hurt when she looked down too long.
“Hello.”
I lowered my head briefly and hid the broken mobile behind me. But she grabbed me and took the mobile as if I didn’t stand a chance right from the beginning.
“This mobile, I think Derek said it was a memento from the first Grand Duke of Lagrange.”
“I’m shorry.”
“Why did you break this?”
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