Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Bad Fate and Fate
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Why did your mother die so quickly? What did that mean? Daphne blinked as she stared at Count Rocania. Her heart pounded fiercely. The throbbing echoed in her head, drowning out his words.
No, perhaps she didn't want to hear them.
The man's droning voice grated on her with unnatural clarity. Daphne wanted to plug her ears.
“When your mother died, didn't her face swell up? Especially her eyes—the blue color must have faded to gray.”
“…….”
“Fever was a given, and her nails must have turned blue.”
Daphne's eyes widened. It was true. How did the count know that? The count smiled as he continued.
“It's the same symptoms as when the former Empress—Asherad's mother, Sabrina—died.”
“…….”
“The Emperor has peculiar tastes, so he didn't kill the wife who murdered the woman he loved so easily.”
“…….”
What... Why was Asherad's mother suddenly being brought up here? As she tried desperately to deny it, Count Rocania spoke.
“The one who killed your mother was Asherad the Emperor's mother.”
It was like a bolt of lightning striking her mind. Every drop of blood in her body froze cold. Her head throbbed as if struck, but the chill in her hands and feet snapped her back. Was this how it felt to plunge into icy water?
Daphne shook her head. As if wishing it were a lie.
No, she wished it were a lie.
Even though she had craved a reason to hate Asherad while drowning in the sweetness of his favors—even then, she wanted to deny it.
“That can't be. It was just a coincidence, the same illness...”
“A coincidence?”
Count Rocania let out a scoff. He seemed incredulous at her naive faith.
“If you can't believe it, look up the medical records yourself.”
“…….”
“Shall I recommend a book? Let's talk about the effects of Blue Poison Grass, which only grows in the Thalassa Kingdom. There were testimonies that the Emperor ordered the medical records suppressed.”
“…….”
“Don't believe it if you don't want to. But you won't have a choice.”
“…….”
“You hate being toyed with more than anyone, don't you?”
Daphne couldn't respond. Her breath caught in her throat. She was right. Daphne wanted to be a person, not a dog. A person had to think for themselves, not just accept things like a dog.
Count Rocania looked at Daphne and said,
“Don't forget Fabian.”
“…….”
“Don't forget my son, who tried to help a fool like you escape that humiliation.”
Daphne said nothing. She simply refused to believe it.
As if anticipating her turmoil and shock, Count Rocania remained calm. But pity and disgust lingered in his eyes.
“You're just going to let this pass as the past? Your mother, whom you loved so much, killed by that monster's dam?”
“…….”
“From the moment she killed your mother, she had no justification to toy with you. He was deceiving you.”
“…….”
“Now, Daphne. Let's talk about something more recent.”
“Please, stop...”
“No, you need to hear this. If you're going to keep believing so foolishly, someone has to tell you.”
In that moment, Count Rocania looked like a cruel devil to Daphne. He was Fabian's father, the man who had shattered her intact world.
“That poison, the one you nearly ingested. Ah, these people here love poison more than swords.”
He chuckled. Looking at Daphne's pale face, he continued.
“The poison the Empress Dowager tried to feed you. Think about it.”
“…….”
“Do you think Emperor Asherad drank from that cup without knowing it was poisoned?”
Daphne's face drained of color, turning ashen. It was a shock of a different kind.
Not the old grudge between their mothers, but Asherad's recent deception.
“There's no proof, of course.”
“…….”
“But anyone who knows the situation can see it plain as day. I'm only telling you because I pity you for not noticing.”
“…….”
“Do you know how much the Emperor gained from ingesting that poison?”
Daphne shook her head. She was still ignorant, lacking the ability to read the palace's power plays. That ignorance had snowballed into a heavy price.
“That devilish bastard drank it on purpose. There's no other explanation for the immense gains he's reaped.”
“…….”
“Thanks to the Thalassa Kingdom's blunder, he has justification to check them and avoid taking a Thalassan as Empress.”
“…….”
“He silenced the real culprit, the Empress Dowager who opposed him, gained a pretext to aid the Pindus Kingdom, and with her agreement, elevated you to nobility.”
“…….”
“Want me to go on?”
“……Yes.”
“Above all, you opened your heart to Emperor Asherad again. He lost nothing from the poison.”
At that assertion, Daphne let out a hollow breath. Yes, it was true. It had seemed odd. They said even a sip of killing poison was lethal—why was he alive? What if he drank the tea after taking the antidote?
Asherad monitored Daphne. Surely he monitored Kalista too. It wasn't impossible he knew the plan in advance.
Did he really not know Kalista planned to kill Daphne?
“No. No, Daphne.”
As if reading her thoughts, Count Rocania said,
“You need to figure out why the Empress Dowager moved to kill you—and who instigated her.”
“…….”
“Do you know Olga, the Emperor's maid, frequented the Empress Dowager's palace?”
Olga. Daphne recalled the woman. The one with the nasty expression who had bullied her. But once Daphne became Asherad's lover, their paths no longer crossed...
Ah.
Daphne had even seen Olga going to Kalista's palace herself. At the time, it hadn't seemed strange. She thought Olga was just currying favor...
But Olga had no reason to flatter Kalista. She was already a setting sun.
Daphne didn't know everything about Olga. But from what she knew, Olga was power-hungry yet loyal to Asherad. If she had incited Kalista on Asherad's orders... what then?
Where did the calculations end and sincerity begin?
Even the kindness he showed her—was it all meticulously calculated?
Daphne feared the man named Asherad.
Before, he had tamed her with ambiguity. This time, with unconditional affection and generosity, he had won her over. He revealed everything, whispering sweetly to shake her.
What if she fully fell for it? Empress, marriage—they were just nominal titles, mere ceremonies.
What if, after becoming Empress, after marrying, Asherad treated her like a dog again?
If she had to live under his whims and deceptions...?
Daphne could never trust that man again.
“I'll give you a few days. Since you won't believe me, investigate on your own.”
“…….”
“You understand this is your last chance from me.”
Daphne nodded.
* * *
The archivists gladly made space for Daphne, who claimed she wanted to study imperial history. They had heard she was to be the next Empress.
With the Empress's seat vacant and her preparing to wed, it was natural for her to study state affairs in advance. Thanks to their lenient—no, sycophantic—cooperation, Daphne could access the materials freely.
Much later, the truth she uncovered from the records was...
Everything was true.
According to the royal archivists' logs and physicians' notes, the Empress had died from symptoms similar to Daphne's mother.
The difference was that the Empress suffered from mania before death. She wept continuously, begged the Emperor for mercy, spat curses, and suddenly ordered the execution of a maidservant for supposedly trying to kill her.
Some medical records had been discarded by Emperor Belenus, as noted in surviving letters.
From those records, Daphne learned one thing: it was all true.
Why the Empress killed her mother was clear without digging deeper.
The Emperor had showered her mother with enough love to threaten the Empress's power, and her mother exploited it to make Daphne an imperial daughter and claim the throne. No one else wanted that...
Was it her mother's fault? The Emperor's? Or the Empress's?
Daphne wasn't mature enough for such moral judgments. She only knew one thing: she and Asherad were bound by bad fate.
Even if her mother was greedy, she hadn't withheld love. A teeth-gritting liar, but her one and only mother. The one who taught her the world's light and whispered love—that was her mother.
Asherad's mother had killed the mother she loved.
It wasn't Asherad's sin.
Yet, at the moment his mother was executed by the Emperor, Asherad had tried to plunge Daphne into utter ruin.
If all his favors were whims... What if one day Asherad suddenly hated her? Daphne knew that end well.
“Daphne, is something wrong?”
Sara asked worriedly, seeing Daphne wipe away tears as she entered. Daphne stared at Sara for a long moment before saying,
“Sara.”
“Yeah?”
“I hate it here.”
Sara looked puzzled. Daphne, as if resolved, continued,
“You said you have no family?”
“Yeah.”
“I'll set you up comfortably.”
Sara's eyes widened.
“You don't mean...”
“I'm really leaving this place.”
Sara glanced around, then nodded with a resolute expression.
* * *
Kalista spent her days in boredom. After Asherad left on inspection, she was shut out of state affairs again. She was already treated like an old woman relegated to the back rooms. It meant the end of her life.
She irritably smashed a teacup.
Asherad had generously allocated funds to the Empress Dowager's palace, almost as recompense. But what use were splendid dresses with no one to admire and praise them?
She couldn't confront Asherad because of her own mistakes.
“...If only that woman weren't around.”
Kalista's habit of blaming others hadn't faded. Daphne had surely played a part in her downfall. Kalista ground her teeth.
“If only that bitch weren't around!”
Screaming alone had become her habit. Then a voice spoke.
“Do you wish for me to disappear?”
That infuriating voice. Kalista turned, gnashing her teeth. Daphne stood there.