Chapter 100: [Chapter 100] The Crown Prince's Secret Chamber
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The underground was surprisingly beautiful, filled with a cold, refreshing air.
Ornate chandeliers sparkled, exotic tapestries adorned the walls, and fresh flowers, the kind that could only be kept so vibrant with constant care, were arranged in grand vases on every pillar.
In the center, a small fountain, like one you might find in a quaint village square, spouted water. The droplets, reflecting the chandelier's light, shimmered like tiny golden coins at the edge.
For a moment, I thought I was in the Crown Prince's real bedroom, it was so fragrant and lovely.
That is, if it weren't for the countless coffins before me.
Yes, coffins.
Dozens of glass coffins, similar to the one my body was in, were 'displayed' around the room.
Arranged at regular intervals, they lined the walls of the vast chamber in a way that could only be described as an 'exhibition'.
I had felt countless chills and tremors since entering this body, but never had I been so petrified.
And my terror reached its peak when I saw another coffin near mine.
"Countess Kuroseda... Countess Kuroseda."
I recognized her immediately, having studied her portrait countless times while searching for Roardnes.
Every hair on my body stood on end.
"Countess Kuroseda, my father's mistress."
The Crown Prince stumbled towards the coffin, his touch on the glass as gentle as if he were caressing a cherished antique. A wave of nausea washed over me.
"Father betrayed my mother and begged me to cherish his mistress. Can you believe that? As if I could love anything alive. There's nothing I love."
Shoulders shaking, Bardenaldo laughed maniacally, spreading his sweat-soaked arms wide.
"It's so peaceful. In this quiet room... surrounded by things that don't breathe, I finally feel free. I can truly love them."
"You're crazy, you're insane..."
I barely managed to whisper through my clenched teeth, desperate to stifle a scream.
"What is all this, Your Highness? I can't believe you're telling me this is all your doing. Are you telling me you're behind the disappearances of women? Why is the Grand Duchess's body here, why...?"
The enclosed space amplified the smell of alcohol on the Crown Prince. But his flushed face was too intense to be attributed solely to drink.
I found it hard to speak. It was as if someone had stuffed my throat with a fist.
"Why... why is her body here?"
After biting my tongue several times, I finally managed to speak.
The Crown Prince, now back in my body, leaned against the coffin, his body swaying. He turned a nearby handle and stood the coffin upright.
"This? Ha. Why? Curious?"
It was my body. Not a doll. It was my body, adorned with flowers, lying there as if asleep.
My mind went blank.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
I shook my head, unable to respond.
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"... I killed her."
His voice was muffled, as if disappointed by my lack of appreciation.
"... You killed her."
"It's much more beautiful this way, dead and quiet."
Bardenaldo smiled proudly, like an artist admiring his creation. His smile was so pure and innocent, it left me speechless.
I had been searching for the person who killed me.
If I had been killed in some plot, I wanted to know why.
"I thought it was the least I could do for the dead. I thought it was something I had to step over to reach a happy future."
"But now that I'm seeing this truth, seeing you smile right in front of me while openly admitting to killing me... I can't move."
Unknowingly, my feet were rooted to the spot, unable to move forward or backward.
Bardenaldo's white, flawless upper body was drenched in sweat for some inexplicable reason. When I glanced down, I saw that his groin was swollen.
The way he caressed the glass coffin with loving eyes sent shivers down my spine, as if he were stroking my back.
I felt like I was about to vomit.
Crown Prince Bardenaldo was insane.
"You're insane, you're mad."
Bardenaldo's composed expression twisted into a sneer.
"The mad one is Roardnes, my beautiful brother."
"You're the mad one."
"Save those words for Roardnes, my dear wife. Poor, pitiful wife."
"Why are you doing this? Why are you displaying the corpses of other people like this? Why did you kill the Grand Duchess? What did Adrien ever do to you?"
I averted my gaze from his bulging crotch as I struggled to speak. He smiled nonchalantly.
"What can I say? I can only love the dead."
"!"
Bardenaldo lowered his eyes in a self-pitying manner, but then suddenly, he slammed his fist against Adrien's glass coffin, filled with rage. He was truly mad.
"Damn it, why won't this damn necklace open!"
"The necklace... why do you have that necklace? Why are you... why are you in love with corpses?"
"Damn it, it won't open. No matter what I do, it won't open. How dare you... how dare you..."
Ignoring my question, the Crown Prince's rage turned towards Adrien's coffin. I watched helplessly as he tried to force it open.
"...Trying to escape?"
Before I could take another step back, the Crown Prince's eyes turned to me.
"You're going to leave after seeing all this?"
I could feel his anger, directed at me now, because the coffin wouldn't open.
"You would have been better off dying quietly at Doris's hands."
Oh my god.
"Those assassins... you sent them..."
"Doris did. How could she not try to get rid of you when I started taking an interest in you?"
The Crown Prince knew Doris would make a move.
"It's so convenient. Getting rid of a woman like you is no trouble at all."
Bardenaldo approached me, his movements stiff.
His cold hand grabbed my neck. With the strength of a ruthless man, he squeezed.
"Die."
Bardenaldo, with a twisted smile, tightened his grip around my neck.
"Cough!"
"Die quietly."
His strength, honed from repeated practice, pressed down on my windpipe.
No. No.
Not with my corpse right there. If I lost this body too...
I used both hands to try and pry his fingers off, but the harder I struggled, the tighter his grip became.
Just as my vision began to blur, there was a thud as the door burst open, and a rush of cold air filled my lungs.
Coughing and sputtering, I collapsed onto the cold floor.
In the room illuminated by the ornate chandelier, two dark figures were locked in combat.
Thud! Thud!
With trembling hands, I pushed myself up onto my elbows.
"Again..."
Thud!
"...Say it..."
Thud!
It was Noevian. The same Noevian who had been dragged away by the guards just moments ago. He was standing before me, his eyes wild as he pummeled the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince, his lip split, looked up at his uncle and grinned.
"Well, well. Uncle."
How Noevian had managed to muster such strength, I didn't know. The taller Crown Prince was sent flying backwards and crashed into the wall.
Noevian stared blankly at Adrien's upright coffin, speechless for a moment.
"You heard. How inconvenient."
"...Bardenaldo, explain yourself."
"Explain what? That what's mine is mine? That I, your lord, gave you a gift? You gave me the corpse."
He said Noevian had given him the corpse? And that I was originally his?
I was at my limit.
"You explain to me."
My whole body was trembling, but I managed to push myself up against the wall and stand straight.
Noevian turned his gaze from the Crown Prince to me.
"Tell me what kind of scheme you two were up to."
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Noevian Lonta was the 27th prince of the old emperor. His mother, a concubine whose number was unknown, had died giving birth to him, as if she had been sold to the aging emperor.
His position in the line of succession was so low that even a tiny fief would have been a blessing. No matter how brilliant he was as a potential emperor, no one would have cared. He had no backing, no one to ensure his safety.
Fortunately, the current emperor, Julius, who was the crown prince at the time, was much older than Noevian and didn't see him as a threat.
Those were times of fierce competition for the throne. The princes were so suspicious of each other that they didn't hesitate to resort to poison.
Noevian, who had barely managed to survive his childhood as a neglected prince, had initially felt insulted by the fact that no one saw him as a threat.
Since no one had told him how much power and backing was needed to ascend the throne, he had envied the crown prince, who always lived in the spotlight.
That's why he had strived to be top of his class at the royal academy. He wanted to prove that he was a useful member of the royal family.
He had seen foreign princes, some of whom were middle-aged, still studying at the royal academy, where there was no concept of graduation.
At first, he had looked down on them, but as he grew older and became the top student and representative of the academy several times, he realized something.
Despite his achievements, he had no place among his powerful brothers. He realized that he too might end up living the life of a prince who would never inherit anything more than a tiny fief and would simply spend his days consuming the royal treasury.
Moreover, his position, which had been relatively safe, began to be threatened when he excelled in his studies. When he first identified a poison, a chill ran down his spine. He suddenly realized that he had no one to turn to if he were to be killed.
In his lonely palace, he pondered his future.
He decided not to be upfront.
He decided not to covet what he couldn't have. He decided to focus on what he could get.
Since he was far from the line of succession and was good at his work, he naturally gained the trust of Julius.
Looking back, it wasn't simply that Julius needed a trustworthy brother. He needed a brother who would do his dirty work, someone desperate for power.
Sometimes, he would wonder why he was the one doing all the work while someone else became emperor.
He had the same deep blue eyes, a symbol of the royal family. He excelled in every field. So why was he ignored by everyone?
But he supported Julius to survive. Since he didn't have the power to build his own faction, he attached himself to the powerful. He did all the dirty work so that Julius could bask in the glory.
By then, Noevian had a clear understanding of what he could achieve.
He could be a high-ranking noble who remained in the capital, rather than a prince who would either die or be exiled to a remote province.
That was the maximum he could get.
Since he didn't covet what he couldn't have, he achieved satisfactory results.
His brothers, who had fiercely competed for the throne, were all dead.
The lower-ranking princes were either exiled to other countries through arranged marriages or sent to remote provinces, unable to stay in the capital. Some of them remained students at the royal academy forever.
However, Noevian, the prince who had been ignored by everyone, was given a new title, "Trovika," and a vast northern territory, allowing him to remain in the capital as the emperor's advisor.
From then on, he was convinced of his decision.
'It's better to focus on what you can get rather than wasting time on what you can't have.'
He should have realized that sooner.
He should have realized earlier that he couldn't have the throne or his own power.
Although he didn't serve the emperor with pure intentions, he was satisfied because his future depended on the emperor's ascension to the throne.
He sneered at those who dared to covet what they couldn't have. They were foolish and stupid.
But his entire worldview was shaken when his nephew, the new emperor whom he had decided to serve as his second lord, made that request.
"I want Adrien Pireta, Uncle."
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