RAMHM Chapter 73

Bianca's Cry

I'd stayed awake all night—through the darkness before dawn, through the first gray light creeping across the windowsill.

Novian had spent the previous day in the annex, and from there he'd gone directly to the cemetery with the coffin containing my body. I wore mourning clothes but couldn't bring myself to follow. I couldn't bear to watch myself—my own self—being lowered into the earth.

Gaspar, who'd been left to guard the estate alongside me, delivered the emergency key bundle Novian always carried. Permission, then. Permission to use the Grand Duchess's study. Her bedroom. Everything.

I stood at the Grand Duchess's bedroom window and watched the funeral procession leave—the flower-draped carriage bearing Adrienne's corpse, Novian as chief mourner leading the procession away from the estate.

How long I remained there after they'd passed through the gates, I couldn't say. Long enough that the world seemed to stop. Gaspar lingered, hesitating as if he had something to say, but when my gaze refused to leave the window, he sighed deeply and withdrew.

The moment he left, I pulled the torn newspaper page from my bodice.

My sleeplessness wasn't only because of the funeral. This morning—just as dawn broke—I'd been tossing restlessly when Yona slipped in, placed a newspaper at my bedside, and vanished.

I'd unfolded it immediately. An article about the eve celebrations planned across the capital for His Imperial Majesty's birthday, and pinned to it, a brief note:

[When red fireworks embroider the sky, a blue star will fall.]

Ronteaux's symbol was blue. Protocol dictated that celebrations for the Emperor's birthday would feature blue fireworks, prayers for the Empire's prosperity. But red fireworks? When would those be fired? And a blue star...

'Novian Trovika.'

The Empire's only blue star Rhodness might reference was Novian.

I pressed my hand against my racing heart, looking at the white camellia branch that had been left with the newspaper. A signal. Rhodness wouldn't act independently without the Crown Prince's consultation. This had to be something the Crown Prince had agreed to.

"My lady! My lady!"

I snapped out of my daze.

"The—the late Grand Duchess's family—mourners from Pirreta—!"

I shot up from where I'd been sitting and looked out the window. A massive carriage thundered through the front gate, the Pirreta ducal crest blazoned unmistakably on its side.

"Shouldn't you hide?" Marge was practically hopping with anxiety.

If I received them here in the Grand Duchess's bedroom, it would certainly stoke their fury—but the shock to Bianca would be considerable. To provoke them while minimizing Bianca's distress, the best course was to leave Adrienne's room and meet them outside.

The moment Bianca and Gregory entered the estate, I couldn't breathe.

My death had felt like something from the distant past—but their faces, thinner now, worn with grief, screamed that it had been barely a hundred days. The reality jolted through me like lightning.

I wasn't the only one jolted awake. Gregory and Bianca—who'd been practically dragged here—stopped dead when I approached the entrance as if to welcome them. Their faces when they saw me were honest. Gregory's twisted with shock. Bianca's with contempt.

"My lady, my lady..."

"Madam?"

Marge and Yona's attempts to stop me sounded distant.

"Welcome to Trovika Grand Ducal Estate, Young Duke and Duchess of Pirreta—"

Crack!

I'd barely steadied my pounding heart and taken a step toward them when my head whipped to the side. The sound of the slap cutting through the air was sharp, vicious. A powerful blow—strong enough to stop Gregory in his tracks as he'd been advancing as if to grab me by the throat.

Smack!

My head, which had snapped right so hard my neck ached, whipped back the other way. Both cheeks burned as if set aflame. My mouth tasted of blood where it had split inside. Even after striking both my cheeks, Bianca's fury wasn't spent—her shoulders heaved with ragged breathing.

"...Are you finished?"

I forced the words out, clutching desperately at my crumbling composure. At my question, the gathered servants and the knights who'd brought my brother and his wife fell into heavy silence. I glanced at Head Maid Sophie, who was watching from a distance. The veteran maid quickly dispersed the servants, sending them away or stationing them elsewhere.

Even that sight seemed to infuriate Bianca. Her face contorted, and she advanced on me.

"I already investigated everything before coming, so answer me properly. I'm not asking to confirm anything—I want to hear what that shameless mouth of yours will say!"

"...Bianca."

"Stay out of this."

Gregory tried to intervene—he'd been staring at my face, then seemed to collect himself—but I knew all too well that no one could stop Bianca when she was this enraged.

"How long? How long have you been scheming with that bastard behind everyone's backs? How long—!"

Bianca's words kept breaking off as she looked at my face and gulped down gasping breaths. She clutched at the frills on my sleeves and shoulders as if she wanted to tear me apart, but every time our eyes met, her trembling lower lip clenched between her teeth.

"About a year, I suppose, since I met him. Perhaps longer. I understand your feelings, but His Grace and I... we love each other."

Bianca's small, firm hand immediately seized my carefully arranged hair. I bit down hard to keep from screaming.

"Bianca!"

"My lady! Stop it! Stop!"

The moment I finished saying I'd been with Novian for over a year, Bianca's eyes—which had been gleaming jet-black—looked ready to roll back in her head. I'd anticipated this level of reaction from the moment we'd sent word to Pirreta. I'd even half-expected them to arrive with eastern troops. But if that had been possible, Bianca wouldn't have resorted to this desperate violence.

"Stop it, my lady!"

"Bianca!"

Marge, Yona, and Gregory all grabbed at Bianca, trying to pull her off. Terrible pain shot through my scalp as if it would be torn away. A relief, almost. It gave me an excuse for the tears surging up at the sight of Bianca and Gregory's faces.

"Damn you. You vulgar wretch! You dare insult the eastern pride and think you'll walk away unscathed! You killed Adrienne too, didn't you? Bring Rien back! Bring her back and you die instead!"

Bianca's voice—nearly a shriek—struck my heart like a blow. I'd missed hearing her call me by my pet name so much.

"How dare—how dare a mistress covet the Grand Duchess's position! How dare you covet our Rienne's place! How dare you conspire with that dog Novian while Rienne was suffering! Do you know who she was! Do you know how precious that child was!!"

My hair ornaments had already been torn off and scattered across the floor. Yona and Marge practically hung from Bianca's arms. Then the entrance door opened nearby, and a massive figure stepped between Bianca and me just as they'd finally pried her off.

"That's enough."

Rhodness.

The situation resolved faster than I'd expected. At the prince's sudden appearance, everyone from the east dropped to one knee in deference—Gregory included. Even Bianca, her chest heaving, glared and gnashed her teeth until they bled before finally bowing her head in despair.

"Today is the day the Grand Duchess's funeral ends, is it not? This commotion can wait until afterward."

I must have looked a mess too—makeup smeared from tears I'd shed in secret. Hidden behind Rhodness's broad back, I clutched at my bursting heart while listening to Bianca's low, broken sobs.

"Just one thing. Let me ask just one thing."

Perhaps realizing she couldn't disgrace herself further before a prince, Bianca forced her words into formal speech. Rhodness's hands, clasped behind his back, caught my trembling arm—a signal not to speak. I pressed my forehead against his solid, broad back and caught my breath.

I couldn't bear to see Bianca's crumbling face either, so I could only stand there and listen. Bianca's voice, swallowing down hiccuping breaths, settled low across the estate floor.

"Did... did our Rienne know about you when she died?"

I gripped Rhodness's clothes so tightly the fabric strained. I wanted to scream.

"Did our Rienne—did Rienne know you existed when she died?"

I collapsed. If Rhodness hadn't immediately turned to support me, I might have fainted. The glimpse I caught of Bianca's face—so full of sorrowful fury—made it impossible to breathe.

...Sister.

Foolish Adrienne died without knowing. That made it even more unbearable. My face buried in Rhodness's solid embrace, I wept soundlessly. Bianca's voice grew louder as she took the long silence for confirmation.

"What's this commotion?"

The entrance door opened again. This time Novian stepped into the lobby. My appearance—disheveled in Rhodness's arms, my hair wild—and Bianca's shrieks. Novian stopped dead, clearly grasping the situation. My face soaked with tears, I met Novian's eyes directly. His eyes weren't normal either.

"No. The Grand Duchess... she didn't know about my existence. Truly, she never dreamed of it."

From Rhodness's embrace, I stared at Novian and spoke. My voice was full of tears and screams I'd shoved deep into my chest.

"Uhhh—uhhhhhhh—!"

"But now she knows."

"Uhhhhh! Sob! Uhhh!"

"Throughout the funeral, she was underground while I was here, sharing the same space."

Bianca's throat released a sound of boiling rage along with her shriek.

But Novian's half-mad eyes remained fixed on me without a flicker of wavering. Bianca collapsed onto the cold lobby floor. Gregory's furious shouts faded and approached in waves.

Rhodness's body shook violently—several people must have rushed at him as he protected me. But in that moment, for me—there was no Bianca. No Gregory. No Rhodness.

Only Novian's gleaming, eerie gaze bearing down on me.

Novian's private soldiers escorted the eastern people to the annex. Gregory couldn't lose his composure before Rhodness—he glared at us with a promise to settle this tomorrow before disappearing.

Rhodness had to leave the estate when Vincento urgently summoned him. Before departing, Rhodness's flashing eyes glinted sharp enough to cut Novian down, but I shook my head firmly. Barely suppressing his boiling rage, Rhodness furrowed his brow and signaled he'd return soon before taking heavy steps away.

The moment the situation was resolved, I was helplessly seized by Novian's hand and practically dragged up the stairs.

"Don't move. Wait here."

With that cold command, Novian slammed the bedroom door hard enough to break it and stalked away. Nearly thrown into the Grand Duchess's bedroom, I sank to the floor and sobbed for a long time.

Gregory's sighs and Bianca's shrieks wouldn't leave my head. It was more agonizing than I'd expected. I'd only meant to provoke their anger so they'd feel no sympathy for Novian. But I felt like I'd caused even more pain to people already suffering, all because of my greed.

I glared at the bedroom door Novian had exited through. In this space where I'd died, Novian clearly intended to take his mistress. Just recalling those eyes—full of twisted desires, utterly mad—sent cold sweat down my spine. It was that vivid. What he wanted.

The last day of my funeral. With my grief-stricken family nearby, after shoving Adrienne into cold earth—he intended to possess Bliea.

The moment I realized it, I felt something inside me snap too. Even while thinking it was fine, that everything was going according to plan—I couldn't dispel the rage and injustice churning inside me.

Like a madwoman, I burst out of the bedroom again and ran toward Adrienne's dressing room. The unlocked door opened easily. The moment I entered, I grabbed the most eye-catching dress.

"My lady!"

The maids who'd followed me from the bedroom stared with shocked expressions.

"Yona, leave."

"M-my lady?"

"Annie, Marge. Come here and dress me up."

"What?"

I hurled the dress at Annie, who stood there stupidly. Annie caught it reflexively, and Marge beside her flinched.

"Make me look exactly like dead Adrienne. Right now."

The real fight was just beginning.