DLRV 6

I was diagnosed with a terminal illness around the time Maxell and Lilia grew close. It must have been a relief for Maxell, who loved Lilia but couldn’t bring himself to break off his engagement with the Roam family. My confidential medical records were leaked in no time, becoming the talk of the town.

At the same time, I began to deteriorate rapidly, as if to confirm the rumors. My vitality faded, my skin became dry and dull, and my energy plummeted. I truly believed I was dying. I could never have imagined that it was all a scheme orchestrated by Lilia.

As my health declined, everything around me changed. I was too overwhelmed to keep up. Even Maxell seemed to pity me, as did most others. They whispered about the second daughter of the Roam family, raised to be an empress, who had received a terminal diagnosis due to her inability to let go of her malice. What a pitiful woman, they said.

As I withdrew from social events, Lilia took my place. My sister, Frizian, who was always worried about my engagement with Maxell breaking off, grew closer to Lilia. With Lilia frequently visiting the Roam family, my parents began to take notice of her.

No one in the Roam family wanted the engagement with the imperial family to break off. There were countless others outside, eager to take my place as the crown prince’s fiancée. In their eyes, Lilia was a new tool. It didn’t take long for Lilia to become my stepsister.

Lilia captivated everyone with a warmth and kindness absent from the Roam family. My father said that while she lacked formal education, her gentle nature made her a suitable candidate for empress.

Gradually, everything I had was given to Lilia. My friends were captivated by her kindness. The more they were, the more malicious I became. I acted as I had been taught, using any means necessary to reclaim what was mine.

But all I received in return was hatred and contempt.

The parents who had taught me such things now criticized my cold-hearted actions, citing morality and righteousness. Maxell despised me, and my friends were disappointed.

Lilia came to me, alone and confused.

“I wanted to help you,” Lilia said. “That’s why I did it.”

Oh, Lilia. She had bribed a doctor to give me a terminal diagnosis.

“I have the ability to foresee the future, Annelie,” she sobbed.

Her confession was so pitiful.

“You were going to die alone. A lonely death.”

Looking back now, her foresight was real. I was eventually executed alone. Perhaps all the ‘fortunate coincidences’ in her life were actually ‘inevitable luck’ based on her foresight.

“I thought it would be better for you to be surrounded by people who cared about you as you prepared for the end. I thought you would give up your wicked ways once you were sick.”

How selfish and self-centered that was. Realizing that all this absurdity was due to Lilia’s ridiculous scheme, I felt utterly defeated. In the end, even Lilia’s judgment had contributed to my lonely, short-lived fate.

“If it’s my fate to die a lonely death, then I’ll accept it.”

“But if you leave like that, what about His Highness?!”

“Your manners are quite rude,” I replied.

At that moment, she was Lilia Roam, the adopted daughter of the Roam family, soon to become the crown princess instead of the dying Annelie Roam. She would receive the love of everyone in society, monopolize the beauty of the Roam family, and enjoy the devoted affection of the crown prince.

But what of it?

“Bring me a whip.”

She smiled sweetly, saying it would be fine as long as I calmed down. I sneered at her.

“Oh, you and I are fundamentally different.”

Even if I took your life, it wouldn’t be enough to quell my anger.

“You can’t judge a person’s worth by their birth.”

“Oh dear, in this world, your birth determines everything in life.”

So, you, a fallen noble, are so skilled at menial tasks, and I, raised nobly, know nothing of them. I think I added such a taunt.

It was around then that Lilia’s eyes, which had been meekly drooping, suddenly turned fierce. Lilia had always looked at me with pity. Ever since we first met, she had acted as if she were superior to me.

I think that was the first time she had shown me such malice.

“Life is precious. Why can’t you realize that, even though you’ve been given a terminal diagnosis?”

“You’re telling me that, after playing with my life?”

When I asked back monotonously, Lilia trembled. She buried the malice she had briefly revealed deep inside and wore a sorrowful expression.

“You, who bribed a doctor to ruin my body?”

“Ruin? You didn’t change, so I couldn’t stop.”

“…So it’s my fault that I’m terminally ill?”

Lilia, who had clasped her hands together as if in pain, gently averted her gaze.

Her trembling eyelashes looked fragile, and her huddled figure seemed pitiful.

“Are you joking?”

Just in time, the whip arrived. The servant who gave me the whip didn’t seem to think I would actually swing it.

But I was serious. How could I not be?

How could I possibly stand before Lilia, who so brazenly claimed it was all my fault?

My servants were visibly nervous at my menacing demeanor. Lilia’s maid, who had belatedly learned of the situation, rushed in and threw herself at me, begging me to strike her instead.

“Drag her out. Lock the door and don’t let anyone in.”

“My lady!”

“It’s alright. I’ll have a good talk with my little sister. Don’t worry and wait for me.”

Moved by Lilia’s kind words, the maid was dragged out, weeping. And I was filled with rage.

“…Little sister?”

The reason my whip hadn’t claimed Lilia’s life was purely because my frail body couldn’t endure. The maid who had been dragged out returned with the entire family, including Maxell, who happened to be visiting the Roam family to see Lilia. As soon as she heard the noise outside, Lilia fainted.

The fallen Lilia and the blood-stained whip in my hand were enough to enrage those who had barged in. I was eventually imprisoned for injuring someone who would soon become royalty, and Roam, after weighing his options between me and Lilia, made his choice.

I didn’t need to ask about Maxell’s choice. I had lost. It was right to call it a defeat.

As I stood before the executioner’s block, I acknowledged my defeat and had no intention of returning to that stage.

“Resurrected One.”

A low voice called out from behind me as I walked confidently through the crowd. I glanced at Samuel, who was standing behind me, and then casually turned my head forward.

“Why, are you afraid I’ll run away? With your abilities, you could easily catch me in a crowd this size.”

The central plaza was the largest space in the city and was the site of various small-scale events every day. From plays praising the gods to minor sermons by priests, it was also a place filled with countless people wearing pilgrim cloaks like mine.

Despite having dozens of identical outfits, Samuel never seemed to lose sight of me. 

Even when I purposely altered my appearance with the temple’s treasure, it was useless. I was now certain that he was identifying me using this temple treasure.

That meant that if I handed the temple treasure to someone else, I could temporarily divert his attention. Samuel had never met the real Annelie Roam.

I had already loosened the necklace and was clutching it in my hand. Once this necklace was completely detached from my body, the magic would be broken, and I would return to my original form. All that was left was the timing.

I decided against trying to sneak away like a rat. If escaping secretly was impossible, all that was left was to escape openly.

Everyone would know I had disappeared, but I didn’t care about the ensuing chaos. Whatever mess it caused was the temple’s problem.

I had chosen today specifically because today’s event was a popular one that drew a large crowd. Today was the day a high priest gave a sermon to bless the pilgrims. Although the sermon was still a long way off, the central plaza was already filled with people.

A large crowd meant that I could briefly hide myself, and it also meant that the holy knights would be hesitant to use force for the safety of the citizens, and that everyone would be more cautious about their words and actions, conscious of the eyes and ears of all. It was the perfect environment for me.

“You could have come just in time for the sermon, but you didn’t have to.”

“Then I wouldn’t have gotten a good seat.”

As I replied indifferently, a black dot appeared in the sky. The eagle said that the large bird that would come to pick me up was red, so I would be able to recognize it at a glance. Was that high-flying bird, too high to distinguish its color, the bird the eagle had mentioned?

I kept my eyes on the sky, my hand tightening around the necklace. If a large bird suddenly appeared, everyone would be startled and confused, and in the meantime, if I dropped this necklace, I would make a squirrel take it and put it in someone else’s pocket or bag. I blended in as much as possible among those wearing cloaks like mine.

Even so, I kept scanning the sky. I wasn’t sure if that bird was the right one. The eagle had simply boasted that it was a red bird and a good friend who would help me well, but it hadn’t told me anything more.

“As far as I know, there are no birds with red feathers and a large enough body to carry a person…”

At that moment, the black dot that had seemed so far away grew a little closer. A few people pointed their fingers at the flying creature as it descended towards the plaza. At first, it was only visible as a black silhouette, but now a reddish hue was beginning to show.

But…

“Wh-what is that?!”

I was speechless, staring up at the sky with dumbfounded eyes. An eagle, a good friend, you said…

…You didn’t say that friend of yours was a wyvern.