Chapter 90
Translator: uly
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Original Sin
For the sin of conversing with Daphne, Sara's brother lost his life. Upon hearing those words, Daphne let go of any lingering attachment to life. Only then did she realize how naive her past self had been.
She had thought she wanted to die, but in truth, she didn't want to. Seeing the dagger Asherad offered her, she realized she wanted to live happily.
But now, she no longer desired such a life. And so, for the first time, Daphne took action.
She picked up the necklace and removed the gem. Hidden within the necklace's ornament was a lid. The green necklace had been a gift from Calista.
"This necklace holds a special secret."
Calista had held out the necklace and removed the gem. As Calista shook it, Daphne realized it wasn't a gem but a glass vial containing liquid.
"If you take this, you'll fall into an eternal slumber."
With those words, Calista handed it to her. Daphne wondered why she was giving her this poison, but Calista smiled gently.
"Every woman should have at least one such poison."
Daphne didn't understand what that meant. But she grasped one fact: this was a trap. If Daphne used the poison on someone else, Calista would ensure she died immediately. Of course, if Daphne took it herself, it would be Calista's greatest fortune.
In any case, Daphne had kept the necklace in her jewelry box. And now, the time had finally come to use it. Opening the lid, she swallowed the poison in one gulp.
A burning sensation flowed down her throat.
"The person who takes it won't show any symptoms at first. Then, after some time, they'll vomit blood and die."
How much time did she have left? Daphne smiled inwardly. If her life continued to cause others' deaths, if she was loved by the god of death, then it was right not to cling to it.
Before dying, Daphne gazed at the beautiful sky.
Freed from everything, she wanted to go outside. She saw a tree with budding leaves and flowers blooming in the garden. Her steps led her to a familiar place.
The place where foolish Daphne had occasionally found happiness.
The place where she had seen young Asherad.
Freed from all troubles, her heart was at peace. Gazing at the empty Crown Prince Palace, Daphne smiled brightly. Her footsteps turned toward another place.
A large tree. From the time young Daphne had come to the Imperial Palace.
And then Daphne returned to her room, ready to quietly embrace death.
But just as she tried to die, Yohannis came to her room. There was no reason to refuse him.
"Asherad hated you. But he also loved you."
"……."
"That's why his way of expressing it was twisted. Or perhaps he never properly learned how to give or receive love."
Facing death, Daphne felt no emotions toward Asherad anymore. She thought it might be fine to hear his story before dying.
"Asherad's life was hell."
* * *
Eight-year-old Asherad witnessed the scene before his eyes. His father was pouring alcohol over his mother's head. Sabrina, the first princess of the Thalassa Kingdom, endured the emperor's humiliation.
"Empress, you must fulfill your duties as a wife."
"……."
"You should know what your husband likes, what he desires, and strive to satisfy those to properly perform your role as a wife and as a subject."
"……."
"How could you insult my lover like that?"
Seeing his wife tremble with shame, Belenus smiled.
"Remember that she can replace you."
An emperor who loved another. And Sabrina, who had come here to bolster the Thalassa Kingdom's national power. With no love between them, their ruin was inevitable.
After the emperor left, Sabrina seethed alone. Turning her gaze to Asherad, who had watched it all, she slapped his cheek. Asherad tumbled to the ground. He was only an eight-year-old boy and couldn't withstand an adult's strength. Sabrina seethed.
"If you were truly exceptional, you wouldn't have been humiliated by talk of being replaced!"
Asherad looked at Sabrina not with a child's frightened face, but with emotionless eyes. Enraged by this, Sabrina grabbed the liquor bottle from the table and poured it over him.
Cough! Cough!
Asherad coughed violently. Liquor was like a harsh poison to a child.
"Remember the humiliation your mother endured."
Even as Asherad shook his head, the alcohol drenched him completely. Seeing this, Sabrina pulled him to his feet and tugged the bell cord.
"Did you call for me? Oh!"
Sabrina gave an awkward smile to the maid, who gasped at the sight of the alcohol-soaked hat. It was a kind face, different from the one she showed Asherad.
"Emily, Asherad was just playing around. Could you bring him fresh clothes?"
Empress Sabrina was outwardly virtuous and kind to those beneath her. She knew the power of rumors. The kinder she appeared, the more Beatrice, the emperor's lover, was vilified as venomous.
But the problem was that Sabrina never showed that kindness to her son.
Wearing the mask of an angel, Sabrina abused Asherad.
The existence that could be replaced by that woman's daughter.
That was what diminished Asherad's value, her only hope. She wanted her son to become an irreplaceable perfection.
"You'll lose the crown to that little wench."
That little wench. That girl. The lovable one who could replace him. The one the emperor doted on. No matter how mature Asherad was, he was still a child, and instead of hating his parents, he hated that girl, Daphne. How hateful was the emperor's illegitimate child.
Asherad had to endure Sabrina's harsh discipline while wearing a kind mask like hers.
"What is this?!"
One day, the Turbul Duke was shocked to see the bruises on Asherad's body. He realized this was not normal. Though the duke took notice of Asherad, Sabrina did not stop the abuse.
Time passed like that.
"P-Please... spare me."
Sabrina strangled him. Asherad's face turned bright red. If Asherad made even a small mistake or fell behind in his lessons, the emperor would mock him, and Sabrina would choke him.
Occasionally, the emperor would offer Asherad poison. Die quickly and yield your place to his daughter. Unable to publicly depose the pitiful crown prince, he hoped Asherad would remove himself.
As he grew, Asherad was kind to everyone. He was deferential to his father and comforted his grieving mother. But it was all a meticulously planned mask. A mask like his mother's. The more he did so, the more the palace people pitied the empress and Asherad, treating them with respect and kindness.
Asherad hated Daphne. Upon meeting the young Daphne, he recognized the twist within himself, beyond his mask.
The girl with golden hair and freckles was lovable to anyone who saw her. For a moment, even he felt his heart weaken.
But realizing that innocence stemmed from loving parents, Asherad ground his teeth. The girl looked at him with tears in her eyes, widening them and blushing.
The loathsome expression as she clung to his hand. The arrogance assuming everyone would shower her with affection. Asherad never forgot that sight.
He wanted to shatter that innocent face filled with love so different from his own.
For the first time, the twist within him—not his mask—pointed at one person. He thought of Daphne, again and again.
Sabrina visited the palace and harbored malice toward Daphne and Beatrice, who threatened her position. She succeeded in slowly poisoning Beatrice to death. And she made the emperor realize Daphne was a fake.
The matter caused a huge uproar in the nation. Asherad moved his feet. He had heard the girl had entered as a maid.
Asherad looked at the girl with a bucket over her head. Removing it revealed the familiar girl.
Pale cheeks, flushed face. Eyes clear despite the fear. Only then did Asherad's eyes gleam as he smiled.
He would never let this girl be.
Asherad made the fallen girl his own.
* * *
Daphne listened to Yohannis's words. She didn't even cry. Her only thought was one.
'I did well to take the poison.'
She had a blissfully happy childhood. Unlike Asherad. She had no mother choking her or father urging her to drink poison.
Asherad hadn't tormented her merely over the near loss of his throne. His hatred was all too natural.
Knowing that brought her relief. She resented Asherad, but that was the end of it.
"In the end, that man and I could never be..."
"……."
"It's too much of a fated enmity."
Her mere existence had plunged Asherad's childhood into hell, and their mothers had killed each other. Asherad tormented Daphne, and Daphne hated Asherad in return.
To be sinful simply by being born—this was her original sin. Daphne realized her choice was right.
Death would end everything. This was the way to atone for that sin. As she vomited blood, Daphne thought.
"Daphne!"
Daphne closed her eyes.
* * *
"What?"
"……."
"Repeat what you said."
At the funeral, Asherad turned pale as he looked at Yohannis's face.
"Why did she die?"
"……."
"Why did she die?!"
Ignoring the eyes on him, he grabbed Yohannis by the collar. As Yohannis nodded quietly, Asherad released him and ran off. Watching his retreating figure, Yohannis's face darkened.