Beneath the Surviving Princess's Joyful Facade - Chapter 127

“When Vermel grew to a certain age, the Salachez family had already started making moves on Your Majesty’s father. They poisoned the king’s bowstring so that the poison would seep into his wounds little by little every time he drew it.”

“What does that have to do with that inappropriate desire?” Miesa asked.

Namirea replied, her eyes wide with intensity, “Lady Amie, Your Majesty’s mother, was clearly going to become a widow. Count Sellas used her status within the palace to relentlessly threaten her. But your mother resisted him to the end.”

“Wait, wait. I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.”

Realizing Miesa still didn’t understand what this inappropriate desire was, Namirea cautiously chose her words.

“In Count Sellas’s twisted mind, he believed that you, Your Majesty, should have been his child.”

“What are you saying?”

“How can we understand the logic of a madman? But because you were born as the king’s child, and because your mother refused Count Sellas’s vile intentions…”

Understanding the meaning of her words, Miesa’s body stiffened. Count Sellas wanted to have a relationship with her mother.

“Count Sellas gave young Vermel violence and all sorts of provocations to tame him. You may know that he encouraged Vermel to try new execution methods, but you might not know that it was his idea to drag you there as well.”

Namirea, glancing at Miesa’s face, saw her chance and spoke louder. “Do you know why your mother was devoured by the birds?”

“……”

“Before your father passed, your mother often said she would take you to the greenhouse to see the birds when your health improved.”

Miesa closed her eyes.

She remembered how her mother had given her seeds to feed the birds when she was young. Her mother loved the sound of birds chirping, and that ultimately led to her being devoured by them.

Namirea continued her story. She explained that while her father passed away and her mother was recovering, Count Sellas was too busy turning Vermel into his puppet to make any advances.

Eventually, as Vermel grew and falsely accused the Salachez family of treason, Count Sellas, thinking it was his world now, reached out to her mother again but was deeply resented for it.

Namirea recounted how Count Sellas first accused and killed two other princes and princesses of defamation before turning his attention to Celia Palace. As Miesa listened, her ears buzzed with shock.

“Well, it sounds plausible, but do you have any evidence?”

Duke Salachez’s cheerful voice came from behind Miesa, snapping her back to reality.

“There is some evidence remaining. If you wish, I can tell you where it is.”

“All right, but…”

Duke Salachez let out a deliberately sarcastic laugh on behalf of Miesa, who still hadn’t spoken.

“Isn’t it all in the past anyway? Count Sellas is already in Her Majesty’s grasp.”

“……”

Namirea’s face hardened instantly.

Namirea had calculated that if the enraged queen killed Sellas first, she might find a way to save herself. But that red-haired Salachez had seen right through her plan.

“Your Majesty, if you have no further questions for Namirea, you should summon Sellas now.”

Miesa stiffly turned her head to look at Duke Salachez. Though he usually had a grumpy demeanor, he was infinitely gentle and polite toward Miesa.

“There must be a reason she wants Sellas dead first. I have a rough idea of why.”

“……”

Miesa nodded vacantly, and Tilberg put the gag back on Namirea and dragged her back into the secret chamber.

Meanwhile, Duke Salachez quietly whispered to Miesa, “Count Sellas probably knows about the drugs you’ve been given as well, Your Majesty. If he dies, Namirea will be the only one left with information valuable enough to trade for her life. That’s why she brought up those stories.”

“……”

“If you don’t mind, let me handle this interrogation. Whatever is said here won’t reach inside that chamber, so we can ask properly.”

While Duke Salachez whispered in her ear, the captain of the guard dragged Count Sellas out. Tilberg roughly threw the small-framed Count Sellas to one side of the office and removed his gag with a harsh hand.

“Here is the guilty Count Sellas.”

Despite Duke Salachez’s words, Count Sellas was trembling like an idiot. Miesa, still in shock, merely stared down at him blankly.

“Aah, aah…”

“Oh dear, has the count gone stupid?”

Duke Salachez chuckled and lit a candle. The reason he lit a candle in broad daylight was to burn the tips of Count Sellas’s hair. Of course, because his hair was cropped short as a criminal, he must have felt the heat directly.

“Ah, ah…! Your, Your Majesty!”

“It seems the count is coming to his senses now.”

Duke Salachez still held the candle close to Sellas’s hair. As the hair sizzled and burned, Sellas shrank back further, letting out a frightened sound.

“I will tell you everything.”

“What could the count possibly know?”

As Duke Salachez murmured in a nonchalant voice, the terrified Sellas tried to plead but was stopped.

“I know about the drugs Namirea gave Your Majesty.”

“That doesn’t matter. I can ask Namirea directly.”

“Na-Namirea is cunning. She’ll surely tell you lies, Your Majesty.”

“What could you possibly know, Count?”

“When you reached menarche, you were given a drug to induce infertility. I know the antidote.”

Duke Salachez glanced at Miesa at those words. But he could glean nothing from her expressionless face.

“Among all the drugs Her Majesty has taken, that’s the only one you know? The count doesn’t seem very useful,” Duke Salachez said slyly, prompting Sellas to speak more desperately.

“Three days before the royal wedding, Her Majesty took Finime before leaving the palace.”

“What does that mean?”

“Her Majesty won’t live past three years. I know the antidote for that as well.”

At that, Duke Salachez paused, causing hot candle wax to drip onto Sellas’s face, eliciting a scream.

As the shriek of agony pierced her ears, Miesa found herself laughing before she regained her composure. Her giggles turned into loud laughter, and even Duke Salachez watched her cautiously.

Now fully present, Miesa slowly rose from her chair.

“So you’re saying I have just over two years left to live?”

Miesa took the candleholder and, without hesitation, burned Sellas’s ear, uttering just one sentence.

“We only have two years left to enjoy each other’s company, then?”

The memories that followed were blurry. As Sellas writhed and screamed from the burns, Miesa struck his head with the candlestick. Duke Salachez said something as he tried to stop her, but her buzzing ears could only catch a few words. She vaguely heard that Gella was being called to treat Sellas.

Miesa staggered as she turned. Even as she walked down the carpeted corridor of the central palace, she had no idea where she was going.

She still remembers the first day when the bright and glorious memories of her childhood began to fade.

The chief lady-in-waiting was whispering with a stern face to her mother about the lack of supplies, and the curious young Miesa pretended to sleep, nestled in her mother’s arms, while she listened to everything.

“The Salachez family is a great noble family and the largest pillar of the palace, so they wouldn’t resort to such petty methods. There must be some mistake somewhere.”

But her mother’s hopeful words grew weaker with each passing day. News came that the head of the great noble Salachez family had been executed for treason, but of course, her mother kept young Miesa from knowing that.

And then one night a few months later, Miesa lost everything. The memory of that day is still vivid.

“Miesa, it seems Mommy made a mistake somehow.”

Her mother tried to smile gently, but her smiling lips seemed somehow unnatural.

“If Mommy did something wrong, Mommy should be scolded, right?”

“I don’t want Mommy to be scolded.”

“Even if you don’t like it, there’s nothing we can do. So, Mommy will probably… be punished. But that’s only natural, so don’t be too surprised.”

Her mother hugged young Miesa. Her mother’s fierce heartbeat pounded against her ears.

At the time, Miesa just joked about hearing her mother’s heart, but now she understands what it meant. The fear of impending death.

“No matter what happens to Mommy, you must survive, Miesa. It won’t take long.”

Her mother repeated it over and over. Then she hid her under the bed.

“Remember. Survive. No matter what it takes, survive. Whether by hiding under corpses or pretending to be mad. It will surely be over soon…”