Chapter 3
“…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Cedric. Hic… really… I… truly… I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Muttering like a madwoman, Ines instinctively wrapped her arms around her belly.
If she could, she would have followed her husband into death this very moment.
Had she known things would end like this, she would have chosen to be dragged to the execution ground with him, hand in hand, and die together.
No—perhaps even now it wasn’t too late. There were many ways to end a life that no longer hesitated.
There was not a single soul who pitied the wicked woman who betrayed her husband. But there were countless people who hated her.
The long cord that had secretly been delivered to her on the first day she entered the northern tower still lay hidden beneath her bed.
It had come with a chilling message: Do not cling to your filthy life—depart cleanly for the afterworld.
It wasn’t that she had been unable to die until now because there had been no means.
And yet, just like the many days before, today as well—
Ines still could not bring herself to die.
“You… you’re with child, aren’t you? My eyes are not so easily deceived. I was the one who first noticed when the Empress Consort was pregnant, after all.”
Even in this world where Cedric no longer existed, she still had to breathe, eat, wash her body, and sleep.
And somehow, she had to do all of those things well.
With all her strength.
With everything she had left.
Ines’s sobs slowly quieted. Crying always left her hungry. Hunger was bad for the child.
Cedric’s child.
The one last remaining Angel.
“Don’t you want to protect your baby? If you listen to me, I’ll reward you in a way you won’t find disappointing. Yes, something like… a peaceful life where both your husband and your child live. I can’t do anything about stripping your family of its title, but that much is unavoidable.”
Only now did she realize that everything the Empress had said was a blatant lie.
But even recognizing that changed nothing. Today was the same as yesterday, and tomorrow would be the same again.
Staggering, Ines made her way toward the table. Pieces of bread were scattered all over the floor.
Silently, she brushed them off and brought them to her mouth to chew. There was no guarantee she would be given food again tomorrow. She had to eat whenever food appeared.
He must have resented me.
If she had never been entangled with Greenwood, Cedric would have lived a life wholly unrelated to treason.
He might have married a woman from a good family and spent today completely indifferent to whatever was unfolding on the execution ground—living out a peaceful day.
He would not have ended his life miserably on a day like this. Instead, he would have lain beneath a warm goose-feather quilt and greeted the morning sun tomorrow—together with a loving wife and child.
“This isn’t your fault, Ines. Don’t think that way.”
She could almost hear Cedric’s gentle voice at her ear.
But Cedric was wrong.
This was her fault.
The sin of a woman who dared to covet a man who shone so brightly when she knew she didn’t deserve him—what a tremendous sin it was.
She knew that good men belonged beside good partners, and yet she had taken a place at his side.
Now, her brilliant father-in-law, her aunt, and even her young cousin—all of them were dead.
Only she and Cedric’s child remained.
A tear fell onto the bread she held. Even with her expression blank and her tears streaming, Ines chewed and swallowed the bread with forced determination.
What had Cedric thought in that moment when the blade took his head?
Did he regret ever meeting her?
Being born a Greenwood was a sin worthy of death.
The filthy things she had done to survive—people hated those even more than her father’s treason.
The Greenwood witch.
The temptress.
The wicked woman of all wicked women.
These names had been coined to condemn her, yet Ines truly believed them herself.
Then—
She heard footsteps climbing the tower once more.
Not the coarse boots of guards, but the sharp click of a woman’s heels.
Ines’s dulled eyes regained their focus. She sprang to her feet and glared at the door.
Soon, with a harsh creak, the heavy iron door began to open. Through the widening gap stepped a splendidly dressed woman wearing a crown.
Seeing tear-soaked, bedraggled Ines standing there with a piece of bread still in her hand, the woman smothered a burst of laughter.
Then, in a sweet voice, she greeted her—as though nothing at all stood between them.
“You look better than I expected. Is strong, useless vitality also a trait of those with Greenwood blood?”
“…Your Majesty the Empress!”
Her rude glare, without so much as a proper title, made the maids beside the Empress bristle, stepping forward as if ready to strike her.
But the Empress lifted a hand and stopped them.
“That look on your face reminds me of someone dear to me. You really do resemble the late Empress Consort. Enough to convince someone you were sisters. No—since you’re aunt and niece, I suppose it makes perfect sense.”
“Why didn’t you keep your promise? You promised! You promised you would spare Cedric!”
“Did I, now?”
Her slight smile was as elegant and gentle as always. The Empress gestured to her maids.
“Wait outside for a moment. I have something to discuss with the woman of the Greenwood family.”
Not the Duchess Angel.
The woman of the Greenwood family.
Ines’s eyes trembled at the way the Empress addressed her.
The maids obeyed at once and filed out. Ines fought to steady her trembling voice as she spoke.
“Why… why did you…? You said the matter would end with stripping our title… you clearly promised me.”
“No, I did not.”
“What…?”
“I said I would reward you in a way you wouldn’t find disappointing. So tell me—now that your husband is dead, does that mean nothing else matters? That can’t be. You still have one more thing to protect, don’t you?”
The Empress’s eyes curved with amusement as her gaze slid down to Ines’s belly. Realizing what that gaze meant, Ines’s face drained of all color.
“So no one knows yet, it seems. That you’re pregnant, I mean. I’ll ask again—your husband is dead, so do you truly intend to claim I broke a promise?”
“I… I…”
Ines opened and closed her lips several times before finally shaking her head.
The balance of power in this conversation had already collapsed. Even if the Empress broke every promise she had ever made, Ines had no means to force her to honor anything.
All she could do was plead wretchedly, praying the Empress might be merciful.
Her pitiful appearance must have amused the Empress, for laughter burst from her lips.
When startled Ines lifted her gaze, the Empress was still laughing, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
“I apologize. It’s simply delightful to tease you—you resemble her even in that. Even in this situation, you cling to hope. It’s almost grotesque.”
At those words, Ines’s eyes widened.
“The drug is taking effect slowly. I heard it was quite strong.”
“W-what are you talking about…?”
“Did you really think I’d let even one remnant of the Greenwood family live? I don’t like planting seeds of future trouble.”
With a gentle smile, the Empress bent down so their eyes met. She grasped Ines’s chin and spoke in a tender voice.
“If I kill you, everything is neatly resolved. Why on earth would I leave you and your child alive?”
The Empress recalled something from a few days prior.
“Your husband truly believed I would spare you. Quite cunning of him until the very end. Thanks to that, I noticed the flaw in my plan.”
If she hadn’t suspected something was wrong when Cedric so easily offered his life, she would have made a grave mistake.
He had the mind of a genius, even rotten by misfortune. His calm judgment and gambler’s instinct to seize what he wanted, even in desperation—had he lived a little longer, he would have become someone remarkable.
But this time, fortune favored the Empress rather than the Angels or Greenwoods.
“The northern tower is a place where only criminals may be imprisoned. If I hadn’t realized that loophole, things would have become troublesome.”
This place was infamous—once a criminal entered, they never left. But to put it another way, those who were not criminals could not be confined here.
All humans are born innocent. This teaching of the temples was absolute in Laitenia.
Even if born from the womb of a criminal—even if the father had died on the execution ground—a newborn child was innocent. Thus, the moment Ines’s baby was born, it would be taken out of the northern tower immediately.
Understanding the Empress’s implication, Ines turned deathly pale. Much like her aunt, she was quick to catch on.
The Empress nodded with a gracious smile.
“Yes. Your husband seemed to hope that your child would live and leave the tower. But a child who knows the story of its parent’s downfall would, of course, be nothing but a nuisance.”
The Empress tapped Ines’s cheek lightly. Ines shuddered violently and stumbled backward to escape her.
But she quickly clenched her trembling fists. She could not be afraid. She had to protect her child from the Empress.
On her thin, starved fingers spun a loose ring. The simple silver band with three tiny diamonds looked far too humble to be an heirloom of the Angel family.
But that was exactly why Ines loved it. Her feelings for her husband were small and frail on the surface, yet precious beyond measure—just like this ring.
Since becoming the Duchess Angel, she had never once removed it.
That had not changed even after entering the northern tower.
A guard had tried to take it from her, scoffing that a criminal had no right to a ring.
Ines, who had always been quiet and obedient, had fought like a madwoman to keep it. After that, no one dared touch it again.
Seeing the ring, the Empress let out a soft laugh.
“Wearing the Angel family ring doesn’t make you a duchess. I heard you caused a scene when they tried to take it. What was it for? Planning to pass it on to your child?”
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By Anna 💓
