Long For Regret Chapter 78

The murmuring noise echoed faintly in Catherine’s numb ears.  

 

Property. Caliburn’s Rediot. Words sharp as razors tore at her chest, and an old memory unfolded before her eyes.  

 

It was a different kind of pain than what she had felt at her father’s tomb or in the palace garden. Back then, it was as if a forgotten memory had been forcibly dragged back. But now, it felt like someone had abruptly yanked away a poorly draped cloth.  

 

– “I have never once not loved you, Catherine.”  

 

It was the night the sky above Caliburn Castle was lit with dazzling fireworks. A grand celebration honoring the birthday of the Lady of Caliburn. The soft symphony played by the orchestra seeped into the worn-out stable. Amid the sweet music, Lancelot suddenly forced a kiss on Catherine.  

 

“……!”  

 

Catherine’s state was a mess. She had struggled so fiercely that her hair was wildly disheveled.  

Dragged there while everyone was preoccupied with the banquet, she wore nothing but a sheer negligee.  

 

As his tongue forcibly pushed through and entangled with hers, Catherine bit down on it.  

Lancelot flinched from the pain and pulled away from her. Seizing the moment, Catherine shoved him aside and dashed toward the stable door.  

 

Just as she was about to escape, a hand reached from behind and touched the door a beat ahead of her.  

 

The door, which had begun to open slightly, slammed shut with a thud. Catherine shook the handle frantically.  

 

“Let go…!”  

 

Tears poured down her face like a downpour.  

 

“How could you do this to me? Of all people, how could you, my brother…!”  

 

“We’re not related, Catherine. You heard it too.”  

 

Her nerves seemed to have snapped; tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.  

Catherine turned away from Lancelot and clung tightly to the door handle.  

 

Her father had said it himself—there was no denying it.  

 

“As long as I have you, that’s enough. I’d even give up the Caliburn name for you.”  

 

At those sorrowful words, Catherine finally turned to face him. He looked as if he might cry. Her one and only brother—always kind, always strong.  

 

“…Lancelot.”  

 

Catherine let go of the doorknob. As she called his name and slowly raised her hand, Lancelot gently closed his eyes.  

 

In that moment, Catherine tore off the necklace she wore around her neck. Pearls scattered across the floor with a soft clatter.  

 

“Gah!”  

 

She branded Lancelot’s cheek with her sunstone. The sizzle of burning flesh and the acrid smell erupted at once. Lancelot staggered back with a groan, clutching his face in agony. In the brief chaos, Catherine escaped and ran across the dark garden. She sprinted aimlessly for a while, then abruptly stopped.  

 

“Find her immediately and capture her! It’s the Duke’s order! She must not be harmed or killed!”  

 

Catherine quickly ducked between the garden trees to hide herself. Several knights passed dangerously close in front of her.  

 

“…I have nowhere to go.”  

 

Yet she couldn’t simply leave the castle on her own. Caliburn was her identity—and her lifeline.  

If she escaped and was caught by chance, the only one who could protect her was Lancelot Caliburn himself.  

 

As she heard the knights shouting and the pounding of hooves against the ground, she lowered her head. Her bare feet stood on the pitch-black earth.  

 

So that’s it. The only freedom I have left… is this.  

 

“…….”

 

Catherine wandered across the garden in a daze. She had been walking for nearly half an hour, and whether the knights not discovering her was fortunate or unfortunate—she couldn’t tell.

 

She began to hear the sound of water. It was the rose maze. As she slowly descended the slope, Catherine thought of him.  

 

Dein, is this the price I must pay for the sin I committed against you?  

 

She recalled the kiss she had secretly placed on the boy as he leaned against the wall. His sleeping figure was so angelically beautiful that she had, without realizing it, committed a reckless act.  

 

Was he still alive? Ever since his mother turned to ashes before the spire, even daring to ask such a question had felt like a sin, so she had never once dared to open that memory.  

 

That the happiest memory of her life over twenty-five years was of the boy she met in prison—how absurd. Of course, the one who had destroyed that precious, dust-covered moment was none other than Catherine herself.

 

She stared vacantly at the spire. After the execution by fire, her father had the spire completely torn down. As if trying to erase every trace of what had happened there.  

 

Catherine walked toward the deep waters and closed her eyes. The sound of water splashed in her ears. The water soaking her ankles was ice-cold—and comforting.  

 

I really wanted… to apologize to you.

 

“I’m sorry. Dein…”

 

Her foot slipped. She plunged into the pitch-black lake. Slowly, peacefully. Twenty-five years. That was the end of a short life.

 

***

 

How long had she wandered through memory? Through blurred vision, the scene of reality returned. A tear fell silently down Catherine’s cheek and struck the floor of the Imperial Palace’s reception room with a dull thud.  

 

I… was never truly your family, not even for a moment.

 

“How do you feel, Catherine?” Dein asked quietly, looking down at her.  

 

“This is the world you believed in.”  

 

“……”

 

Instead of replying, Catherine barely let out a shallow, thread-thin breath. Dein’s expression hardened. Uncharacteristically for the one who had orchestrated all of this, he felt a flicker of unease.  

 

Whether it was a blessing or a curse, Catherine had not lost consciousness. She simply kept taking shallow breaths, staring blankly into space like someone who had forgotten how to even blink.

 

Unconsciously, Dein reached out a hand toward her, but he paused and drew it back.  

 

“The testimony of the Grand Duke Pendragon and the Duke of Caliburn. There seems no need for further evidence.”

 

Arthur gazed indifferently down at Catherine, who sat like a lifeless doll.  

 

“Duke Caliburn, I commend your loyalty in revealing the truth despite your injuries.”  

 

“…I am ashamed, Your Majesty.”  

 

“Let us sort out the details once you have recovered. First, expel the Radiot from House Caliburn, cancel the Grand Duke’s betrothal, and announce the matter to the envoys of each country.”

 

Arthur’s voice was cheerful. The union between Grand Duke Pendragon and House Caliburn had been broken off. Regardless of the actual circumstances, there could be no news more welcome to him.  

 

Under normal circumstances, Caliburn would owe the Grand Duke an apology, but hadn’t the Grand Duke also shot the Duke?  

 

It was a god-given opportunity to keep the Grand Duke in check without giving him anything.

 

Above all, the woman the Grand Duke had fallen for was a Radiot. How utterly disgraceful.  

Of course, that being was far too beautiful to be called a mere Radiot. With noble grace as if sculpted by the breath of God and a mysterious, exotic hair color, she was an enchanting presence.  

 

Arthur could understand the Grand Duke’s heart, but in the end, what mattered was the essence of that being—she was a beast.

 

At this point, Arthur even felt tempted to praise that Radiot.  

 

“Why are we canceling the wedding?”  

 

The air froze once again at Dein’s chilling retort.

 

Neither Arthur, nor the nobles, nor even Lancelot understood his question. Arthur furrowed his brow and tilted his head.  

 

“What do you mean by that, Grand Duke?”  

 

“The wedding will proceed as scheduled, Your Majesty. Three days from now, at 3 PM, in the central garden of the Imperial Palace.”

 

“Grand Duke, didn’t you just hear? Your fiancée is not the Lady of Caliburn…”  

 

“She’s a Radiot. And so what?”

 

Everyone except Dein was seized by overwhelming confusion. Every single person’s mind began to spin. Arthur stammered, unable to find words, and the nobles were rendered speechless by the Grand Duke’s madness, merely exchanging glances.

 

Lancelot shoved aside Morganier’s arm and stepped forward.  

 

“A union between a Radiot and a human is legally forbidden. Furthermore, Catherine is to be returned to House Caliburn, so Your Highness…”  

 

“Then change the law.”

 

He clicked his tongue, as if hearing something utterly trivial.  

 

“When did I ever need a law to kill my father and abdicate to my brother?”

 

Lancelot’s heart dropped. He froze in place. Could it be that all of this had been orchestrated by him?  

 

“Even if Catherine had been born a worm, she would still be my fiancée. Not the property of some noble house.”

 

Dein smiled sweetly at Lancelot, as if to make a point. He reached out as if to caress Catherine’s hair.  

 

“Now you understand, Catherine.”

 

Thud—the moment his fingertips touched her, Catherine’s body collapsed to the floor.  

Her body lay limp on the ground, as if she had exhaled her very last breath.  

 

Dein’s and Lancelot’s shouting of her name evaporated like steam beyond her fading consciousness.