Good Morning, Duchess
A throbbing pain pierced her skull.
"Saintess! Are you conscious?!"
"Call the medics! Hurry!"
Amid the murmurs of unrest, her awareness surfaced like a bubble breaking the water.
As Lilliana opened her eyes, her blurry vision gradually sharpened.
The first thing that came into view was the armor of the Imperial Guard.
Imperial Guards, academy professors, and even priests in white robes.
The hospital room was packed to the brim with people worried about her well-being—no room to step.
Treatment she never would have received before.
Lilliana furrowed her brow and sat up. The back of her neck throbbed.
"Ugh…"
"Please don't push yourself! You still need rest."
The academy's hospital room.
The ceiling was pierced open, but the debris had already been cleared away neatly.
Through the gaping hole, the night sky was visible.
Even though she'd blacked out, fragments of memory lingered.
Elise de Bellaph's arms embracing her.
The hot breath against her ear.
And then the dull impact that struck the back of her head.
The voice whispering, "Sorry."
"Ah…"
Lilliana stared blankly at her hands.
The Duchess hit me.
Knocked me out, tied me up, took me hostage.
A situation that would normally fill anyone with rage and betrayal.
But…
ERROR OCCURRED
For some reason, Lilliana's train of thought turned eerily rational, veering in a bizarre direction.
Why didn't she kill me…?
The Duchess was a black magician. If she'd wanted to, she could have ended Lilliana in an instant.
But she stopped at knocking her out, without inflicting any serious wounds.
Then, to escape?
No, that wasn't it either. If it was for escape, she should have taken Lilliana as a hostage.
Lilliana fiddled with the back of her neck.
"It hurts…"
The back of her neck throbbed.
But sharper than the pain was the memory of the Duchess's trembling arms wrapped around her.
At that moment, the Duchess had clearly worn a sad expression.
Even as she struck, her face showed more pain than Lilliana's own.
There was only one conclusion.
Yes… The Duchess had no choice.
Lilliana was convinced.
That fragile Duchess couldn't have done such a thing in her right mind.
Which left only one cause.
Leoness von Austria.
That wicked princess must have seized the Duchess's weakness and blackmailed her.
Once her thoughts reached that point, the headache gripping her skull instantly morphed into fury.
"Duchess… where are you now?"
A knight cautiously answered her question.
"She's been imprisoned in the underground dungeon. On His Highness the Crown Prince's orders, surveillance has been intensified."
"…Is she alone?"
"No. She's imprisoned together with Leoness von Austria, who conspired in the jailbreak."
Grind.
It was her after all.
The moment she heard that name, Lilliana's eyes turned icy cold.
"Wait… leave me alone."
"But Saintess, your body is still…"
"Get out."
At her firm tone, the knights hesitated before finally withdrawing from the room.
The now-empty hospital room.
Lilliana hugged her knees and curled up on the bed.
The back of her neck throbbed. But her heart hurt even more.
Liar.
She bit her lip.
You said you wanted to be friends. Said you'd atone for life.
Then why did you abandon me and leave?
Why knock me out and return to her?
"Hic…"
The tears she'd held back burst forth.
"That's so mean…"
Tears splashed onto the floor.
"Abandoning me… going to that woman after all…"
Lilliana buried her face in the pillow and sobbed quietly.
It was miserable.
No matter how much she reached out, the Duchess slipped away.
The more she stretched, the farther, deeper she seemed to flee.
"Sob… Duchess… you're bad… so bad…"
She cried like that for a long while.
Until her eyes were raw and her throat hoarse.
She lifted her tear-streaked face and gazed out the window.
Dawn had passed; the morning sun was rising.
In Lilliana's exhausted eyes, a venomous glint slowly crept in.
Still… I have to check.
Whether she'd truly abandoned her.
Or if there was some unavoidable circumstance.
And what they were doing in that cell right now, with that woman.
I have to see it with my own eyes.
Lilliana rose on unsteady legs.
Her reflection in the mirror was a mess—eyes swollen, nose red.
She bit her lower lip hard to force some color into it.
She smoothed her disheveled hair, then picked up the fruit basket from the bedside table.
She filled a thermos with warm soup, packed freshly baked bread.
Worried the bread might cool, she nestled it close to the thermos; she polished the shiniest fruits with her sleeve until they squeaked.
With preparations perfect, she opened the hospital room door.
Click.
The knights guarding the hallway immediately blocked her path.
"Saintess! Where are you going?"
One knight asked in alarm.
"You need to rest. His Highness will be here soon…"
"Move."
"But…"
"Are you going to block my way?"
Her voice was low, laced with sharp menace.
The knights exchanged glances before stepping aside.
As she passed down the hall, countless eyes turned her way.
Academy students, professors, nobles.
"That's the one who awakened as the saintess this time…"
"Attacked twice by that vicious duchess—poor thing…"
The whispers reached her ears.
Revolting.
She wanted to sew shut every one of those pitying mouths badmouthing the Duchess.
Lilliana bit her lip hard and quickened her pace.
///
The path to the underground prison.
Sudden as her visit was, no one dared stop her.
Lilliana's mind swirled with tangled emotions.
With each step down the stairs, anxiety and hope warred within her.
What if she's shivering from the cold?
What if that woman is tormenting her?
What if she dared lay hands on the Duchess's body?
No, the Duchess is waiting for me.
Yet horrific scenarios had already played out in her head dozens of times.
Finally, the deepest level.
She arrived before the cell holding the Duchess.
She crept to the bars, holding her breath.
"Duchess…"
Her voice trembled with sobs as she started to call out.
But her gaze froze on the scene inside.
"…"
On the cold stone floor.
The Duchess lay sleeping.
And nestled in her arms was a strange woman.
That woman had her legs wrapped tightly around the Duchess's waist, arms around her neck, clinging like a cicada.
And the Duchess… wasn't rejecting it.
On the contrary, she was holding the woman's back.
The two, sharing body heat, slept peacefully.
A scene utterly unlike what Lilliana had imagined.
Her mind went blank.
While she'd been in the hospital room, choking down heart-wrenching pain and sobbing.
Thinking she'd been abandoned by the Duchess, her chest tearing apart.
The Duchess was sleeping so serenely with that woman.
Even more relaxed than when she'd held Lilliana.
It was such a peaceful, intimate sight.
While Lilliana rationalized the situation upon waking.
While she rushed here in trepidation.
The Duchess had given her warmth, that narrow space at her side, to that woman.
Crack.
The basket handle screamed in her grip.
Lilliana stared at Leoness with cold, dead eyes.
As I thought.
That woman was a parasite.
Burrowing into the Duchess's guilt, stealing even that warm embrace.
The Duchess couldn't refuse.
That woman must have whined about being cold, scared.
So she had no choice but to hold her.
I have to pry her off.
But… was it entirely that woman's fault?
Her gaze lingered on the Duchess's hands.
Not just failing to push away, but embracing back. Stroking her back. Rage boiled up.
The Duchess is bad too.
Abandoning me for another woman.
Simply removing that woman wouldn't suffice.
She had to teach the Duchess too.
How grave a mistake this was.
But first.
Forcing—really forcing—a sweet voice.
"Good morning, Duchess."