Chapter:1
Thud.
Heavy rain pounded down, streaming along the surface of black umbrellas. Dozens of people stood beneath them, faces expressionless, each struggling to suppress a yawn.
A coffin, wrapped in white cloth, was lowered into a hollow dug into the neatly trimmed grass. Soon after, earth was shoveled back over it.
“May she be delivered to the gods of the sun and the moon.”
Beside the grave, an elderly man dressed in white priestly robes offered his prayer. Despite the words of blessing and peace leaving his lips, his face was just as empty as the rest.
“It is finished.”
“Thank you for your efforts, Father.”
A man clad in black mourning clothes stepped forward from the front of the group. He was Jonas Nürnberg, the biological father of the woman lying in the coffin.
For someone who had just lost his daughter, he was unnervingly composed. His light-brown hair was neatly combed back, his expression unmoving, without the slightest hint of grief.
“Let’s go.”
Jonas gestured over his shoulder to his wife, Lea.
“…Yes.”
Lea dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. Even amid the colorless funeral, her vivid red hair stood out. Her hair was pulled up neatly, topped with a small hat that only accentuated her presence. From her carefully applied makeup, it was clear how much effort she had put into today’s appearance.
Stagger.
As she followed after Jonas, her body swayed unsteadily.
“Mother!”
A young man standing beside her caught her just in time.
Meanwhile, Jonas, who had already begun to walk ahead, recalled the benefits he had gained from his dead daughter’s marriage.
‘Not a bad deal, trading the life of something useless.’
By his standards, she had fulfilled her duty as a daughter.
He had found his son-in-law’s arrogance irritating ever since the marriage—yet her death had conveniently severed that connection as well. He had taken only the profits and disposed of the rest cleanly. That was how Jonas saw it.
Just then, a single black umbrella approached him. Its wide brim concealed the face of whoever stood beneath it.
“Who goes there?!”
The captain of the Nürnberg knights stepped forward, blocking the umbrella’s path.
“…….”
“You’re in the way.”
As Jonas uttered the curt remark and lifted his foot to step into the carriage—
“Lady Ponedo!”
The knight captain cried out in shock.
“…You trash.”
Thud.
The umbrella fell onto the rain-soaked grass.
The person standing there was none other than Rudiana Ponedo—Jonas Nürnberg’s eldest daughter, and the elder sister of the woman who had just been buried.
She had always been the obedient, gentle daughter, bowing her head submissively to both her father and her new stepmother, Lea.
The coarse words that spilled from her lips were swallowed by the sound of rain, unheard by everyone present.
Everyone except the knight captain.
‘Just now… what did she say?’
The thought that Rudiana could curse never even crossed his mind. For a moment, his thoughts froze.
“Tsk. Useless girl.”
Jonas scolded her and placed his other foot into the carriage.
“Die… die!!”
In that instant, Rudiana drew a dagger she had hidden within the folds of her skirt and lunged at Jonas.
She had been standing too close to him, and the fact that the mysterious figure had turned out to be her had caused everyone’s guard to drop.
“Ghk—!”
The sharp blade pierced into Jonas’s right side.
By sheer chance, the dagger punctured his lung. Gasping, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly, Jonas collapsed into the carriage.
“Kyaaaah!”
The faces of the gathered gentlemen and ladies twisted in horror—so different from their expressions moments ago as the coffin had been buried.
“H-Husband!”
Lea rushed toward the carriage in panic.
“My lord!”
The knight captain leapt in after her, trying to pull Rudiana away.
“Aaaargh!!”
But Rudiana’s fury knew no bounds, and it was unleashed upon Jonas’s already lifeless body.
‘Damn it… where is this strength coming from?!’
Her shoulders were bony, her frame so emaciated she looked as if a single tap would knock her over—yet she flung the knight captain aside and turned her gaze toward Lea, charging at her.
“Aaaah!”
Seeing her approach, Lea stumbled backward and collapsed onto the ground. Just before Rudiana could reach her, the knight captain, having regained his senses, restrained her.
“Aaaah! Nürnberg!!”
Her voice—torn, despairing—flowed away with the rain.
“We hereby sentence Rudiana Ponedo to death.”
Several days after Jonas’s murder at her own hands, a noble tribunal was convened. For the crime of killing her biological father, she was given the harshest possible punishment.
“Do you have any final words?”
Rudiana slowly looked around the courtroom.
Her gaze landed on her stepmother Lea, who glared at her through tear-filled eyes.
‘Disgusting woman.’
When their eyes met, Lea lowered the fan covering her mouth and subtly curled her lips upward. With Jonas dead, the position of family head would naturally pass to her son.
That was what hurt the most—and what she regretted most deeply.
Still, she had no choice but to be satisfied with killing Jonas.
‘I’m just a woman. Just a discarded viscountess locked away in the back chambers. What more could I have done?’
And yet… it was still bitter.
“I regret it.”
Rudiana lifted her head and stared straight at the judge.
“Do you mean to say you repent your crime? Regardless, the verdict stands.”
She lowered her head—and then burst into loud laughter.
“Pfft—hahahaha! What nonsense! I regret that I couldn’t kill that disgusting woman too!”
“Th-That woman—take her away at once!”
“My goodness…”
“She’s clearly insane.”
“No wonder even the Ponedo family abandoned her.”
Amid the murmuring crowd, the doors opened and knights entered.
They were specially selected to guard the most heinous of criminals.
Clad in pristine white uniforms, they stood tall and imposing—their dignified presence sharply contrasting with Rudiana’s disheveled appearance.
“Rudiana. Move.”
The massive man at the front grabbed the rope binding her wrists and dragged her forward roughly.
‘Tch.’
The rope scraped painfully against her skin, but she made no sound. Instead, she bared a blood-tinged smile at Lea and her son.
As Rudiana was led out of the courtroom by the knights, she came face-to-face with Allen Pianus, who was rushing toward her.
“You…!”
As if he had arrived in haste, mud clung to his shoes and the hems of his trousers. His blue eyes shook violently.
“What have you done?!”
Regaining his composure, he strode forward, roaring with anger.
“Duke Pianus, this is Rudiana, a criminal guilty of filial impiety. Please step back.”
“Damn it…!”
The conqueror of the East, Allen Pianus, clenched his fists until they trembled and bit down hard on his lip.
“…Please let me go.”
Rudiana lifted her bowed head and looked at him.
Her hair was tangled, her lips swollen and split, her voice hoarse—but she forced the gentlest smile she could for him.
“…….”
Allen’s deeply set eyes twisted in pain. He could not bring himself to say a single word.
Years ago, at her mother’s funeral, he had been the only one to shed tears.
Introducing himself as her mother’s friend, the sorrow in his eyes had been so deep that young Rudiana had clung to him and wept uncontrollably.
“…Go.”
Seeing the same look in his eyes now, Rudiana found a small measure of comfort even today.
“Damn it! If I’d known it would come to this—!”
“Your Grace!”
Unable to grasp Rudiana as she was taken away, Allen slammed his fist into the wall. Calos, his sword and closest aide, hurried to restrain him.
Watching the scene, Rudiana curled her cracked, dry lips into a self-mocking smile.
Golden hair glowing in the sunlight. Eyes of unfathomable blue-gray depth. A handsome face that looked upon her with quiet gentleness despite its stoic expression.
A man who had achieved everything through his own strength—even his appearance was flawless.
‘We were both abandoned children.’
Born a bastard and cast aside by his father, yet he had risen to become the Empire’s greatest sword.
His fame was so great that even Rudiana, secluded within a viscount’s estate, had heard of him.
‘If I had carved my own path through life… would things have turned out differently?’
Once, she had drawn comfort from his existence—from the idea that even abandoned children could succeed.
But she had always believed it was impossible for herself.
He was gifted. She was merely ordinary.
Rudiana’s face twisted miserably as she was dragged away.
‘Still… what’s the point of thinking about that now?’
“With this, judgment upon the criminal is carried out.”
Until the very moment Rudiana was executed at the guillotine the following day, condemned as a criminal guilty of the gravest sin, Allen watched her final moments with a tormented expression.
Calos, too, offered her a silent prayer, his gaze filled with pity.
Rudiana returned it with a faint, aching smile—and gently closed her eyes.
