Chapter 76: [Chapter 076] The start of something new
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"Arrest the criminal, Noebian Trovica, by order of His Highness, the Crown Prince!"
The loud voices echoed ceaselessly, and finally, the bedroom door burst open. The terrified screams of the servants on the first floor flooded into the bedroom like water from a broken dam. The royal knights, both polite and firm, seized the Grand Duke Noebian Trovica. Ah, it was finally over. A strange, exhilarating feeling washed over me, and my body grew hot. Tears no longer fell from my eyes. If there had been no one else around, I might have laughed until the room shook.
Noebian, who had slowly risen, was now kneeling helplessly. Bound by chains, he looked exactly as I had dreamed he would.
"...Is it really Adrienne?"
Although he was kneeling, his bright blue eyes looked straight up at me. I smiled without replying. Tears streamed down Noebian's cheeks again.
"Is it really Adrienne?"
His trembling voice was a heavy, muffled sound, filled with inexplicable despair. His dark eyes, still confused between reality and fantasy, seemed to retrace all the things he had done to me over the past few months. As time passed, his eyes, once so bright, were losing their light, as if falling into an endless abyss. The knights, though bound, could not drag the Grand Duke away so easily and supported him under his arms. Noebian, who had been backing away weakly, suddenly pushed the two knights beside him and lunged at me.
"Answer me!"
"Your Highness!"
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"Answer me! Answer me, please!!"
Despite being bound, Noebian bent his body and pressed his lips against my neck.
"Adrienne, Adrienne... Adrienne..."
Cold tears touched my neck. His body trembled as if he had a fever.
"Do you really think I killed you? Is that what you think?"
"...I've decided not to believe anything that comes out of your mouth."
More screams and commotion grew louder and louder from below the mansion. Roardnes must have finally come with his knights, unable to tolerate the delay. Noebian, his eyes pitch black, suddenly had a faint look of madness. Sensing his end, he smiled bitterly.
"I didn't betray you because of Blie."
"..."
"Please, please don't misunderstand me like that. Don't think that... don't think that I killed you. Don't even think about such a nonsensical thing, please. Adrienne, Adrienne..."
He kept repeating the same words. I realized, as I had learned over the past two months, that there was almost no truth to be found in the words of this shameless man.
"Just disappear quietly, without disappointing me any further."
Noebian, who had inhaled at my hard voice, rejected the knights trying to pull him away once more and pressed close to me.
"...Why do you think I didn't sleep with you?"
I looked at him strangely at his sudden question. His eyes were bloodshot and red. His entire face seemed to be churning like boiling lava. It was like the last-ditch effort of a man who sensed his end, or perhaps a confession.
"Because I don't want you?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"Have you ever thought about what that means?"
I had never thought about it once. I simply thought he had said so because I had shared my heart with Roardnes first and because my illness prevented us from having a physical relationship. And I thought he had said that I would never have him because I was dead. Finally, screams and shouts echoed loudly in front of the bedroom.
"I didn't kill you. Instead, I was tormented watching you die. If you hadn't died from illness, there's only one person who could have killed you. Please, believe me, Adrienne."
I replied coldly to Noebian, who was desperately trying to clear his name.
"If you killed me in this Grand Duke's mansion while I was away, then surely..."
Just in time, Roardnes and his men burst into the bedroom. I saw Roardnes' shining face as he came to finish everything. His face, which was cold but crumbled as soon as he saw mine. Among the screams erupting everywhere, I clearly heard Noebian's last whisper.
"...Prince Bardeinal."
He said the name of the person Roardnes loved most.
"Only Prince Bardeinal."
Oh, why does this man? Why does he continue to drag me into hell? I blinked slowly, as if time had stopped. As I shifted my gaze from Noebian, who was being immediately taken away by the knights, to Roardnes, my vision blurred. As if answering my words about wanting to be his hell, Noebian Trovica, the man I once loved most, gave me another beginning, not an end.
****
The fireworks in the central plaza had reached their climax. Unlike before, the fireworks, which had begun with red flares, were now filling the sky with blue.
"Are they really this slow?"
"You're being impatient. They would have brought him out if given time. Just wait a little longer."
Originally, we were supposed to wait at the front gate of the Grand Duke's mansion for them to bring Noebian out. When the time dragged on and there was another commotion, Roardnes couldn't bear it anymore and went up himself to seize the Grand Duke and push him into a carriage.
"A carriage for a criminal? That's inappropriate."
"But he's still royalty. Even for an immediate execution without trial, at least..."
"Don't get ahead of the procession. Follow from a distance."
"Yes?"
Ignoring the worried voices of his aides, Roardnes looked up at the Grand Duchess's bedroom for a long time and finally looked away. He had seen Noebian yelling at Adrienne, even at the last moment. While wailing desperately, he had growled like a wounded beast, whispering into her ear. Adrienne, who had been like a perfectly crafted porcelain doll, had suddenly collapsed, her expression crumbling, and she looked at Roardnes with eyes that seemed to sink into the distance. It was a subtle look that made his heart sink as soon as their eyes met.
"If you're worried, why don't you leave it to us and stay in the Grand Duke's mansion?"
"If Your Highness stays with the Duchess, there might be rumors."
Neil's concern and Vincenzo's advice came one after the other. Roardnes nodded heavily, agreeing with Vincenzo. Adrienne had finished her part. If he didn't settle his debt with Noebian, he couldn't start with Adrienne. That was definitely why he had rushed here like a madman, but strangely, a sense of unease crept into him. Adrienne, who had been as hard as stone. Noebian, who had desperately clung to Adrienne, refusing to leave the Grand Duke's mansion. The memories that kept popping up were painful. When he recalled Noebian's desperate cries, his heart raced faster. Adrienne had clearly revealed her identity. He didn't know how she had made Noebian believe her, but the desperate screams she had let out were the cries of someone who had seen the 'real' Adrienne.
"What is going on, Your Highness?"
People from the Eastern region poured out, their eyes sparkling even as they were stopped by the knights near the annex. Roardnes simply nodded slightly without answering and left Neil behind in the Grand Duke's mansion. He couldn't let the people from the East hurt Adrienne any longer until he returned. With reluctant steps, Roardnes took him to the North.
After traveling for quite some time, it was decided that Noebian Trovica would be indefinitely imprisoned and confined to a remote fortress far beyond the northern Trovica territory. It was the harshest punishment that could be inflicted without a trial, using the authority of the Crown Prince. Having barely left the vast capital and crossed only a small territory, Roardnes suddenly ordered the carriage to stop in a secluded forest path. Vincenzo's anxious gaze followed him, but believing that his lord, whose mind was completely focused on the lady in the Grand Duke's mansion, would not do anything foolish, he dismissed the knights as he was told. Both were loyal servants of the Crown Prince, and he thought they might have something last to say. After confirming that the knights were more than a hundred paces away, Roardnes got off the horse and ordered the coachman to stay far away. When he opened the carriage door, he saw Noebian Trovica, his head bowed low, lying like a corpse. Roardnes picked up a lamp from the coachman's seat and, throwing it into the opposite seat, grabbed Noebian by the collar with one hand. Noebian, whose gaze had fallen to the floor of the carriage, looked directly at Roardnes without a trace of remorse. His eyes, gleaming and perfectly matching his disheveled appearance, were those of a madman. Noebian burst into laughter, right after staring at Roardnes for a long time. He laughed so loudly that it echoed through the dark forest path, and he spoke before Roardnes.
"You're still living like a prince in a fairy tale."
A sneer appeared on Roardnes' face, which was usually hard and without mercy.
"...A prince in a fairy tale wouldn't be rolling around on the battlefield."
"Do you think you saved Adrienne? Not at all."
"Don't call that name so casually. I'm only holding back from gagging you."
Roardnes dragged Noebian out of the carriage by the collar and threw him to the ground.
"Don't expect any mercy. I don't have a nephew like you, especially not for my brother."
"Are you trying to kill me here?"
Roardnes silently cut the ropes that bound Noebian with his sword. It was a clean cut, without even brushing against the clothes. Soon after, a long sword fell in front of Noebian, who was lying face down on the ground.
"I'm not in the mood to tie up prey."
"...You're so barbaric."
"I'm used to killing vermin that struggle to survive."
"Why don't you just kill me if that's the case?"
"Don't you know?"
Roardnes slowly drew the sword from his side. The blade shone sharply even in the dim moonlight.
"Did Bardeinal tell you to kill me? Was it your own doing? It's not something a good younger brother would do."
Noebian, who had uttered his rough voice, looked away into the distant void. But Roardnes didn't care much. One of them had to die. And of course, it had to be Noebian Trovica.
"Am I wrong? If you weren't working for him because you love your brother, why would you do something you can't handle?"
"Stop talking nonsense and pick up the sword."
"Is this about your grudge against me for taking Adrienne from you?"
"Get your words straight. You're the one who messed everything up."
My patience had reached its limit. I felt an urge to cut his throat and plunge a sword into his heart, yet at the same time, I wanted to know why. Why did he kill Adrienne? Why did he try to take her away from me? I wanted to tear him apart and force the truth out of him before mercilessly taking his life.
"That's why you're such a naive prince, Roardnes."
Before Noebian could say anything else with his twisted lips.
"Did I really take anything from you?"
Noebian staggered and stood up, leaning on the sword that had fallen to the ground.
"How could I have known about a sickly princess stuck in the East and marked her as my wife? Did I fall in love with her at first sight? Was Noebian Trovica that kind of person?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"Do you think I did it... without anyone's help?"
In the silent forest at night, where even the sound of insects couldn't be heard.
"Your brother, the Crown Prince Bardeinal, whom you protect so much, arranged the marriage between Adrienne and me, you fool."
Noebian's dead eyes shone strangely. They were filled with contempt and anger for life.
"Bardeinal would give Adrienne to you? No way."
"...What?"
"From the moment Adrienne Pireta became a candidate for the Crown Princess, the Crown Prince had no intention of letting go of both Doris Castagna and Adrienne Pireta."
A crack appeared on Roardnes' face, which had been looking down at Noebian like the grim reaper.
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