QOF 03

chapter 03

“Ghk…!”

The count collapsed to the floor with a loud thud.

Ioret looked down coldly at him as he groaned at her feet.

In the past, Catherine had set Ioret’s wedding date to coincide with the kingdom’s founding day.

It was a national event on par with the king’s birthday celebrations—one attended by the largest number of foreign envoys.

Every part of the wedding had been orchestrated by Catherine.

In front of neighboring nations, Ioret had been forced into a lavish yet humiliating ceremony—Catherine’s scheme to make her an object of international ridicule.

I should have suspected her back then. And yet I believed her when she said it was for my dignity. How foolish.

There was no way to defy Catherine, the crown princess.

With Ioret’s current power, she couldn’t stop the wedding.

But what if the groom disappeared?

“Y-Your Highness… do you think you’ll get away with this…?”

The count barely opened his eyes and looked up at her. Blood streamed from his head where she had struck him with all her strength.

Careful not to stain her dress, Ioret bent down.

“You whip young boys every night, don’t you?”

The count had even forced her to hold the whip stained with their blood.

“I can’t even count how many children have died by your hand.”

At dawn, Ioret would secretly go into the forest and make graves for the dead boys. Even her watchers, including Lissy, never stopped her from doing that.

“Among the children you abducted and killed… there was the second son of the Count of Telsia, wasn’t there?”

“W-How…?!”

She had learned that after secretly tending to injured boys in the estate shortly after her marriage.

“There’s a law that anyone marrying into the royal family must be free of crimes for three generations. What you’ve done is clearly murder.”

“D-Do you have proof?!”

“The boys imprisoned in your basement are witnesses. Shall I summon the capital’s magistrate right now to confirm it?”

The count’s face turned pale.

Suppressing her nausea, Ioret spoke sharply.

“If you don’t want to be executed for insulting the royal family, then do exactly as I say. In return, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

The count shrank back involuntarily.

In the eyes of the princess—forty years younger than him—there was a chilling killing intent.

It was more suffocating than even the crown princess Catherine, who was praised as the future ruler of the kingdom.

Could that girl with the eyes of a beast really be Princess Ioret?

The same timid princess who had cried in front of him just a week ago?

Overcome with fear, the count nodded frantically at her next words.

“Y-Yes… I under—”

“Good.”

Ioret swung the silver candlestick again.

The count’s eyes rolled back.

She then threw the candlestick and the tableware over his body.

Leaving the dining room immediately, Ioret slipped behind the curtains.

Her hands were trembling violently.

Though she was accustomed to violence, she also feared it.

Clenching her pale hands tightly, she steadied herself.

It’s okay, Ioret. It’s okay. This is nothing.

A human heart was of no use for revenge.

Catherine and Benedict had committed acts beyond her understanding to achieve victory.

Morality, compassion, empathy, understanding—

If she had to abandon all of it to defeat them, then she would do so a thousand times over.

Besides, striking him was nothing compared to what she had suffered at the count’s hands in the past.

Her shaking pupils gradually settled into cold stillness.

Ioret remained hidden behind the curtain instead of leaving the corridor.

It should be about time.

Before long, Lissy’s scream rang out from the dining room.

* * *

“Who was injured?”

Catherine, the crown princess of Elovis, raised an eyebrow.

Having just finished lunch, she had been enjoying a leisurely tea time.

Wearing a bright beige dress that matched the afternoon sunlight, she sat across from Duke Valer.

Benedict Valer.

A man she had drawn to her side out of necessity—but his handsome appearance made him a pleasing sight.

While casually admiring him, Catherine had been waiting for news of her half-sister’s luncheon with the old count.

But after an hour of silence, she was now hearing that someone had been injured?

The palace steward reported urgently,

“The Count of Castlain suffered a severe head injury during his meal with Princess Ioret. He is currently unconscious and receiving treatment.”

“How does one crack their head open during a meal?”

Catherine asked sharply, making the steward break into a cold sweat.

“W-Well… the princess’s maid accidentally dropped a tray… on the count’s head.”

“Ioret’s maid? You mean Lissy Keese?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Does that even make sense?”

Lissy Keese was a skilled maid personally selected by Catherine. She wouldn’t make such a ridiculous mistake.

Instead of the incredulous Catherine, the duke pressed further.

“Was Princess Ioret there as well? Is she injured?”

“N-No, she is unharmed.”

“Speak clearly. If the count lost consciousness, this wasn’t a minor incident. Where is Ioret now?”

The duke’s expression twisted as he asked about her, seemingly unaware of Catherine glaring at him.

“Calm yourself, Duke. Steward, are you certain this was Lissy’s mistake? Could it be that Ioret shifted the blame…?”

“Princess Ioret is not the kind of person to do that, Your Highness.”

The duke said firmly.

Annoying as it was, he was right.

Her sister was foolishly kind.

Raised in isolation in the tower, she had been made docile and naive.

Even after losing everything, she still clung to Catherine as her sister.

There was no way she could conceive of blaming someone else.

Yet something felt off.

Everything about Ioret had always been under Catherine’s control.

There had never once been an unexpected disturbance.

Not once.

Catherine set down her teacup and stood.

“I should go see Ioret. Where is she? Is she with the count?”

“No… actually…”

The steward hesitated before lowering his head.

“The princess is currently having an audience with His Majesty the King.”

* * *

The King of Elovis had once been a brilliant strategist in his youth.

He expanded the kingdom’s territory greatly, elevating it to a major power.

Though there had been various issues within the royal family, his governance for the people was flawless, earning him praise as a wise ruler.

But with age, his sharpness had faded.

After losing two queens, he spent his days indulging in pleasures, changing companions each month.

With a capable crown princess and loyal ministers, there was little need for him to concern himself with state affairs.

For a king who had already achieved greatness, only a comfortable and idle old age remained.

There was just one thing left—

To successfully arrange his second daughter’s marriage.

When Catherine hurried into the audience chamber, the king was sitting before his second daughter with a troubled expression.

“Please forgive Lissy, Father.”

Behind Ioret, Lissy Keese knelt with her head bowed.

Her wrists were bound behind her back, and her sleeves and dress were soaked in blood.

“It wasn’t intentional. It was just a mistake—could you please show mercy?”

“That’s not true, Your Majesty! When I entered, the count had already collapsed!”

Lissy cried out, her face pale.

“I only went to fetch something the princess asked for! She entered the dining room first!”

The king pressed his aching temples.