RTT-02

Chapter 2

“One year. If you’re fortunate, you may live a little longer… but the time you have left is only one year.”

“…”

“My lady, what did the physician say?”

“…”

“My lady?”

After Piril left the room, Litricia sat quietly with her eyes closed, allowing Allen to arrange her hair.

“I should have noticed sooner. It’s such a rare disease, with so few documented cases… that I discovered it too late.”

Piril’s words repeated themselves endlessly in her mind.

“Your vision may suddenly blur, and you may begin experiencing nausea.”

According to Piril, something resembling a ticking time bomb was growing inside Litricia’s head.

Worse still, it had taken root in a particularly dangerous location.

With the medical knowledge currently available, there was nothing that could be done.

Simply put, it was incurable.

Research into the disease had not even properly begun. Its cause was unknown, and it did not even have a name.

It was an illness about which virtually nothing was known.

What terrible luck.

That was all Litricia could think.

This was an empire where magic flourished, where enough money could cure almost any ordinary illness.

So why did she, of all people, have to contract a disease that even that miraculous magic could do nothing about?

“Gradually, you’ll find it harder to put strength into your body. There will be more and more occasions when your body refuses to move as you wish. And eventually…”

“Eventually?”

“You should be able to… hold on for about a year.”

…So I’ll die. A year from now.

Having reduced Piril’s carefully softened explanation to its simplest meaning, Litricia stared into the mirror before her.

The pale face reflected there looked remarkably calm for someone who had just been told she had only a year left to live.

As she studied her own composed expression, a thought suddenly occurred to her.

Perhaps she simply hadn’t realized it before.

Perhaps, instinctively, she had already known that she did not have much time left.

As the number of times she collapsed increased day by day, and as it took longer and longer for her to wake each time, she had occasionally wondered whether one day she simply wouldn’t open her eyes again.

“Still… I never thought it would actually come true.”

At the words that slipped unconsciously from her lips, Allen’s leaf-green eyes widened in the mirror.

“What? What came true, my lady?”

Litricia looked into Allen’s innocently blinking eyes for a moment before quietly shaking her head.

“…Nothing. I was just talking to myself.”

“…?”

Allen tilted her head, clearly unconvinced.

Ordinarily, Allen ought to have been informed of Litricia’s condition as well.

But Litricia needed time to organize her thoughts, so she had asked Piril not to tell anyone about her illness for the time being.

Knowing nothing of Litricia’s diagnosis, Allen could only look puzzled.

Of course, she would learn the truth eventually.

The “for the time being” Litricia had requested would last only until Count Esta, who was currently away on business, returned to the estate.

“No longer than that, my lady. As the family physician, I have no choice but to inform the Count of your condition.”

Remembering how Piril had looked at her with pity while nevertheless drawing a firm line, Litricia sank deeper into her chair.

“By the way, my lady, what were the examination results?”

“…The same as always. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong. That’s why I told you there was no need to call Piril. I always wake up eventually.”

“My lady!”

Allen looked ready to cry at Litricia’s complete disregard for her own health.

Her fingers tightened around the comb in her hand.

“Still, I’m relieved there’s nothing seriously wrong. But, my lady… wouldn’t it be better not to attend tonight’s banquet? You’ve only just woken up…”

“I’m fine, Allen. Besides, it isn’t a banquet I can simply choose not to attend.”

“But…”

“Allen. Please hurry and finish. At this rate, I really will be late.”

“Yes… I understand, my lady.”

At Litricia’s firm response, Allen’s eyes drooped dejectedly.

Allen was every bit as strange as Piril.

It would have been far easier for her to simply treat Litricia as though she didn’t exist, just as the other servants did.

Why did she insist on caring so much?

She really is too kind.

Feeling Allen carefully place fresh flowers in her hair, Litricia called to her again.

“Allen, you’re quite talented, aren’t you?”

“Pardon?”

“You’re excellent at sewing, and I’ve heard you’re good at cooking because you’re so skillful with your hands.”

“My lady, why are you suddenly saying such embarrassing things?”

Uncomfortable with the unexpected praise, Allen’s freckled face flushed.

Seeing her lively expression, Litricia smiled faintly.

“You’re diligent too, so I’m sure you’d be welcomed wherever you went. Is there somewhere else you’d like to work?”

“M-My lady, why would you say something like that? It sounds as though you’re planning to send me away.”

“I am.”

“W-Why all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong? If I did, please tell me. I’ll fix it, so…”

“That’s not it, Allen. It’s just…”

Leaving the visibly shocked Allen behind, Litricia rose from her seat.

“As you know, once my brother inherits the position of family head, I’ll have to leave this mansion. So I thought we should start considering where you might go afterward.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

Ever since Litricia first set foot in this mansion, Isis had practically made a habit of telling her:

The moment I become head of the family, Litricia, you’ll be the first person I throw out of this house.

Granted, the day he inherited the title was still far in the future…

I was going to talk to her about it someday anyway. I’ll just consider this a little earlier than planned.

Litricia pressed a finger against her aching temple.

After telling Allen to think about it whenever she had time, Litricia secretly picked up the medicine bottles Piril had left behind.

The two bottles differed in color, shape, and purpose.

One contained painkillers for the headaches that would grow increasingly severe.

The other contained sedatives that Piril had reluctantly prescribed at Litricia’s request.

“Take the painkiller only when the headache becomes unbearable. It should lessen the pain temporarily. As for the sedative… I’m giving it to you because you insisted, but you absolutely must follow the prescribed dosage. Never take a large amount at once. Do you understand?”

Piril’s breathless warning still rang in her ears.

Litricia rubbed one ear before placing a sedative tablet in her mouth.

Then she hid the painkillers deep inside a drawer and slipped only the sedatives into her sleeve before leaving the room.

She headed toward the carriage where Isis was undoubtedly waiting, furious after being kept waiting for so long.

“Seriously, have you ever been useful even once in your life? Of all days, you had to collapse today. Couldn’t you at least have the sense to choose a better day? Tch.”

Inside the carriage bound for the Imperial Palace, Isis sat opposite Litricia with his long legs stretched out, clicking his tongue irritably.

Isis always seemed annoyed by default, but judging by how high his dark-pink brows were raised, he was particularly irritable today.

The reason was obvious.

It was probably because of the banquet they were about to attend.

Tonight, the Imperial Palace would host a victory banquet for the Grand Duke of Heberus, who had returned after achieving a decisive victory in the Kashar War.

That was where their carriage was headed.

Normally, being invited to an imperial banquet would be considered a great honor.

But tonight was different.

If for no other reason than because the guest of honor was the Grand Duke of Heberus.

The Cursed Prince.

The Banished Imperial.

The Blood-Crazed Demon of War.

Those were the names by which the Grand Duke was known.

And as though to lend credibility to those grotesque titles, terrifying rumors circulated throughout the capital.

It was said that on the mountain behind the Grand Duke’s northern castle stood a tower built from the severed heads of those who had displeased him.

Of course, the Grand Duke never left the North except to go to war, and outsiders could not cross the northern border without his permission.

So there was no way to determine whether such rumors were true.

But perhaps that very secrecy only fueled people’s curiosity, because the stories grew more outrageous by the day.

Moreover, the Imperial Family had long ostracized the Grand Duke of Heberus.

Naturally, most people found tonight’s sudden victory banquet unsettling.

Had the Emperor not personally ordered every young noble to attend, perhaps no one would have come at all.

“Damn it. What in the world was His Majesty thinking when he gave an order like that…? Hey.”

Tap.

Just when he had finally gone quiet, Isis kicked the tip of Litricia’s shoe.

“By the way, just how busy is that fiancé of yours that he left me to escort you?”

“…”

“Don’t tell me… Last time, I heard you saying something to Father about wanting to break off your engagement. You didn’t actually bring that up with Petrick too, did you?”

“…Not yet.”

“Really? Fine, then. If you haven’t, keep it that way.”

Isis flicked one brow—which somehow managed to rise even higher—before leaning back again.

“I don’t know what suddenly possessed you to start talking about breaking off your engagement, but that’s just spoiled whining. Where else do you think someone like you is going to find a respectable fiancé like Petrick?”

After adding the words in a mocking tone, Isis yanked the curtain aside.

Perhaps because of the heavy rain the previous night, the sky remained gloomy.

“With weather like this, who knows if we’ll even arrive on time. Hey, if we’re late, I’m telling Father it was all your fault.”

“…Fine. Do whatever you want.”

Anyone else might have been hurt by Isis’s relentless provocation.

But Litricia kept her head slightly lowered and answered indifferently.

Or at least, she made herself appear indifferent.

After all, this treatment was as familiar and natural to her as breathing.

Because—

“Still, you look surprisingly fine for someone riding in a carriage. I guess you’ve completely forgotten what happened to my mother by now.”

“…”

“Poor Mother. She died trying to save someone as coldhearted as you.”

Because Isis’s biological mother, Countess Esta, had lost her life because of Litricia.

More than a decade ago, on the journey home after completing Litricia’s adoption, their carriage had overturned beneath a gloomy sky much like today’s.

The Countess had died protecting Litricia inside that carriage.

Litricia could still remember it vividly.

After the Countess’s funeral, when Litricia had first entered the mansion—

the expressions on Isis’s and Count Esta’s faces as they looked at her.

Because of the Countess’s final request—words she had never imagined would become her dying wish, asking them to take good care of the child—they could neither throw Litricia out nor truly accept her.

And so she had become an uncomfortable presence they were forced to tolerate.

“Hng…”

As those memories resurfaced as vividly as though they had happened yesterday, Litricia lowered her head even further.

Then Isis’s voice came from above her.

Whatever he interpreted her silence to mean, faint anger colored his words.

“Ha. My heart still races whenever I remember what happened back then, but look at you. Amazing, isn’t it? Must be nice to be perfectly fine.”

No.

That wasn’t true.

It was exactly the opposite.

From the moment Litricia had stepped into the carriage, she had barely been able to breathe.

I thought I’d be all right after taking the sedative…

Suppressing her shallow, trembling breaths, Litricia clenched her skirt tightly to keep Isis from noticing her condition.

But her efforts were futile.

His words only sharpened the guilt and fear inside her, allowing them to eat away at her more and more.

Then, suddenly—

Rattle!

The carriage lurched violently before coming to an abrupt stop.

A troubled voice called out from the driver’s seat.

“Young Master! I’m afraid you’ll have to get out of the carriage! The road is completely blocked—we can’t get through!”