Sin
The oppressive weight of the Merdelia Ducal House’s name always cloaked the office in silence. The martial might of one who had mastered the ultimate heights of the sword, and the authority that matched it. People always held it in awe even as they feared it.
In the quiet office where no sound could be heard save for the rustle of turning pages, Viviana set down her pen with a smile playing on her lips.
To think I would smile this often.
She had always been a woman far removed from laughter. Even the smiles she wore in high society had been carefully manufactured, and her memories of laughing from the heart were faint at best. If she ever felt intense emotion, it was probably only in the moment she severed an enemy commander’s head.
But everything had changed after she met Tina. More and more often, as the night deepened, she would think of the girl and feel a smile bloom at the corners of her mouth. The emptiness she had so frequently felt was nowhere to be found now. The mere fact that Tina was at her side seemed to fill the hollow places in her heart.
Yes. Just as she had expected.
Tina was clearly a being who brought happiness to those around her.
“I’m suffering too. So stop holding on and just break already.”
She had resolved to shatter Tina’s sturdy mask and draw out the true self hidden deep within. Only then would she finally be able to pour her whole heart into restoring the girl’s self-esteem.
The ultimate reason she was going this far was simple. She would make Tina realize that she could live in this world as her original, lovable self—without needing to wear a mask at all.
If she kept elevating Tina’s self-worth without rest, the day would surely come when the girl could face people as her true self rather than through that artificial façade.
And after that, she would go to Mother again. Once she had transformed the lazy-natured Tina into someone diligent who pulled her own weight, she would show Mother the changed, industrious daughter—and surely win her favor.
That would be the moment to persuade her. She would propose that Tina continue living at the Merdelia Ducal House from then on.
Aside from the Imperial Family itself, few places rivaled the Merdelia Ducal House in renown. Even the most arrogant nobles scrambled desperately for any connection to it. Simply remaining here brought considerable benefits. So long as she earned Mother’s trust, she was certain she could keep Tina here indefinitely.
Tina believed she could leave in a month… but regrettably, Viviana had no intention of letting her go so easily.
Just as she would reveal Tina’s true self to the world, it was also her responsibility to manage things thoroughly so that other women would not flock to that addictive loveliness.
“When will you cry for me, Tina?”
It felt as though they were almost there.
Viviana hid a sly smile as she thought to herself.
The sight of Tina shedding beautiful tears from the corners of her eyes.
At that forbidden spectacle, for some reason, her body seemed to grow a little warmer.
How else should I torment you so that you’ll weep so pitifully?
When would she finally break just once—
“My Lady!!!”
A great noise accompanied the door as it burst open. The one who appeared was Alphonse, the steward of the Merdelia Ducal House, his bearing that of a seasoned veteran.
Viviana frowned at the disturbance, one eyebrow rising, but she folded her arms and waited for him to speak. For a man who always carried himself with such upright dignity to be this agitated, something urgent must have happened.
After catching his breath for a long moment, Alphonse looked at Viviana with eyes that had gone pale and sunken. At his ominous expression, she felt a flicker of inner alarm.
“My Lady… the young lady of House Bland…”
“What?”
At the unexpected mention, Viviana’s eyes flew wide and she rose from her seat.
Why was Tina’s name coming up all of a sudden?
Had something happened to her?
…Don’t tell me she’s been kidnapped?
Impossible.
Iris would have been guarding her. Cold as her personality was, in her own domain she was a monster of ability. Subduing someone that powerful would not be easy—who could possibly neutralize Iris and put Tina in danger?
A cold sweat she could not explain began to flow.
Was this instinct? Intuition? Or foresight?
She felt that something had gone terribly wrong.
“The young lady of House Bland… in the bath…”
“Her wrists…—”
With Alphonse’s final words, her reason snapped cleanly in two.
All she could remember after that was her heart pounding as if it would burst, and her desperate body racing toward wherever Tina was.
“Her life is not in danger.”
At the doctor’s words, Viviana collapsed straight to the floor.
That a woman who had stood like a mountain amid enemy ranks, swinging her sword, should crumple over a single diagnosis—the unexpected sight left the doctor thoroughly flustered.
Yet Viviana herself could not even register that her knees had hit the ground. She simply wiped the cold sweat from her brow and tried to still her trembling body.
“Ah… thank goodness…”
The sensation of terror still lingered vividly in her mind.
Had she ever been this afraid in her life? If the wrong words had come from the doctor’s mouth, she did not know what she might have done.
Simply because Tina had not died, Viviana wanted to pray to a god she did not even believe in. Clutching her shaking hands, she gazed at Tina, who lay on the bed with her eyes peacefully closed.
Even in sleep she radiated a beauty that stole one’s breath, but there was no room to think of such things now.
…When did her face grow so pale?
The state of the girl lying there could not be called good by any stretch.
Her lips were quite blue, and she seemed strangely thinner.
If only I had paid a little more attention.
Deep regret circled through her mind again and again. But the irreversible mistake had already been made. Viviana squeezed her eyes shut and shifted her gaze to the doctor.
“Is her life truly out of danger?”
“It is a stroke of fortune that the wound did not reach an artery. However, because a vein was damaged, she lost a great deal of blood.”
At those words, Viviana’s mind burned white. She had never intended to let even a single drop of blood fall from Tina’s fingertips; she could not accept this situation at all.
“…Her condition?”
“I have administered emergency treatment, but the transfusion was delayed, so I cannot say precisely when she will regain consciousness.”
“She won’t… die, will she?”
“No.”
At the doctor’s certainty, Viviana managed to calm her chest, if only a little. That it had been a vein rather than an artery was something to be grateful for; the absolute worst had been avoided.
“There is… one more thing, however.”
The doctor spoke carefully, and Viviana fixed him with wide eyes.
“Speak. Now.”
“Even setting aside the wound on her wrist, the patient’s physical condition was poor to begin with. It appears she has not been eating properly.”
“…”
“From what I was told, meals were provided in abundance. In that case, I believe there may also be a psychological issue.”
Viviana bit down hard on her own lip. A metallic taste of blood spread across her tongue, but far more bitter was the pain that constricted her chest.
The only reason a child who had once eaten well had skipped meals to the point of affecting her body was herself.
She had done this.
“…I understand. Anything else?”
“Nothing more. For the time being, the best course is to continue the IV fluids and wait until she wakes.”
With the arrangement that the doctor would visit every morning, the examination ended.
In the endlessly chaotic aftermath, the doctor departed, leaving only Viviana, Iris, and the gracefully sleeping Tina in the room.
“…Iris.”
Viviana’s quiet voice filled the chamber. Iris closed her eyes in resignation, as if she had known this was coming, and bowed her head.
“Yes.”
“I distinctly ordered you to ensure that Tina did not so much as scratch a fingertip.”
“…I am sorry.”
Given how psychologically cornered the girl had been, it was a situation that should have been anticipated. Iris had no room for excuses, yet she had no intention of simply apologizing and leaving it at that.
“…But My Lady, is this not because of you?”
“…What?”
“You know it as well, do you not, My Lord?”
“…You.”
A true retainer must know how to offer bitter counsel to the one she serves. Despite the fierce killing intent that poured from Viviana, Iris continued steadily.
“If My Lord had not declared that she would break the young lady, this would never have happened. I have sinned, but so have you—”
In a single instant Viviana closed the distance and seized Iris by the collar, hauling her up. A choking sensation made Iris’s eyes tighten.
“Ugh.”
“….”
Viviana stared at her with eyes seething with rage. Her grip writhed as if ready to crush Iris’s throat on the spot, yet in the end she squeezed her eyes shut and released her.
“…The crime of failing to protect Tina—you will accept the consequences later.”
“…As you command.”
It was not that she felt no injustice, but a guilt hundreds of times greater crushed Iris. The words she had once spoken—calling Tina a whore—kept circling through her mind, stabbing her like a sharp dagger.
Every time she recalled Tina’s face, so deeply wounded then, she felt as though a keen blade were carving out her own heart.
In the quiet bedroom thick with silence, Viviana and Iris clenched their fists amid heavy regret and despair.
Knock, knock—
A brief knock sounded. Alphonse opened the door and carefully surveyed the atmosphere.
“My Lord… a guest has arrived.”
“…Does this look like a time for receiving guests?”
“However—”
Alphonse’s words never finished. Someone shoved him hard aside and rushed into the room.
For a split second Iris thought it an ambush and instinctively drew a dagger, stepping in front of Viviana.
But the moment Viviana saw who was charging toward them, she shoved Iris roughly aside.
Thrown to the floor, Iris stared at the intruder in bewilderment.
Skin as pale as that of the unconscious Tina on the bed.
Beneath eyes swollen red, deep shadows had settled, and those once-bright blue irises had lost their light, trembling with worry and anxiety.
And yet she was still a beautiful woman.
That woman ran straight to Viviana and, with every ounce of her strength, struck her across the cheek with an open palm.
Crack—!
A sharp sound rang out as Viviana’s head snapped to the side. Alphonse’s mouth fell open in pure shock, and Iris was no less stunned.
“You… you… you bitch who deserves to die!!!!!”
The woman who spoke in a voice so despairingly haggard was a beauty who looked exactly like Tina lying on the bed.
