Chapter 3

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: There Is No Mercy - Chapter 3

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She hurriedly touched her cheek and checked the silver chain around her neck.

The necklace was intact.

She flung open the curtain covering the carriage window.

Outside, lush green forests stretched endlessly, captivating her eyes.

"......Summer?"

"What's wrong with you, seriously? Are you sick? Should I tell them to turn the carriage around if you're not feeling well?"

She stared blankly up at Bellieta's face, which was creased with worry as she even placed a hand on her forehead, then jerked her body back roughly.

Glaring at Bellieta, who pulled her hand away in surprise, she said curtly.

"Bellieta."

"What's up all of a sudden? Did you have a nightmare or something? Your face looks scary, Sierra."

"How old are you right now?"

"Me?"

"You."

Bellieta didn't answer right away and just stared into her eyes.

Her expression practically screamed, Why is she asking something like this?

After a brief pause, Bellieta calmly opened her mouth.

"I'm eighteen."

"Eighteen......"

That meant her coming-of-age ceremony had already passed.

Her own birthday came before Bellieta's, so she'd had hers first.

Which meant she was the same age.

Compared to the twenty-five she'd been before, it was an utterly absurd number.

Mentioning an age from a full seven years ago.

Unless Bellieta was trying to mock her or losing her mind, it was impossible to accept easily.

But considering the sudden shift from winter to summer, her clothes, and even Bellieta's changed appearance.

When she factored it all in, eighteen gained some realistic weight as her current age.

In other words, this was seven years ago.

She bit her lip and peered out the carriage window.

Thanks to the carriage racing along, the scenery whipped by in an instant.

Suddenly, she recalled what Bellieta had first said to her.

Truth be told, she wanted desperately to curse Bellieta out, slap her across the face right then and there.

Daring to pull that stunt on her and then casually letting her name slip from those lips? She ached to unleash it all, but grasping the current situation took priority.

Forcing her voice to stay even as she regarded Bellieta's nauseating face, she spoke.

"More importantly, Bellieta. You said it earlier."

"Huh? What?"

"That it wasn't too late."

"Oh, that? You kept mumbling in your sleep about being late, so I just repeated it to reassure you."

Just then, the carriage jolted.

Since it was heading backward relative to her position, her body lurched forward.

Her hair naturally tousled and fell over her face.

She brushed back the stray locks with her hand, then looked at Bellieta again and opened her mouth.

But no words came out.

Bellieta's hair hadn't been disheveled at all.

Yet as she swept her hair back, Bellieta mirrored her exactly, like a reflection in a mirror.

Uncomfortably identical.

The shape of her fingers, the expression as she brushed it, even the way she looked back at her afterward.

From these tiniest details, she'd been copying and stealing from her, Bellieta.

Suppressing a sneer, she slowly parted her lips.

"Right, that. Where are we headed, exactly?"

She knew asking where they were going while dressed up in a carriage was absurd, but she needed information.

If this truly was seven years ago, pinpointing the exact moment mattered.

As expected, Bellieta looked flustered, furrowed her brow slightly, then cautiously spoke.

"You're really not feeling well somewhere?"

"It's not that. I just woke up and my head's all foggy."

She wasn't sure if the excuse would fly, but she spat it out anyway.

"Ah, yeah, that makes sense."

Fortunately, it seemed to work on Bellieta.

She nodded as if it was perfectly understandable, then continued right away.

"I told you we were going to the Zaksion Marquis's banquet, but not why. Well, I only heard when we got in the carriage myself, so maybe it's natural."

Zaksion Marquis?

The veteran general guarding the western front?

Seven years ago, Zaksion Marquis...

He was one of the fervent supporters backed by the Bozbon family.

"I guess the barbarians united their tribes and tried to breach the western front this time. His forces led by the Zaksion Marquis repelled them safely and held the line, so it's a banquet to commend him."

Ah, that banquet? She vaguely remembered it.

Nothing special or unusual about it.

It was literally just a banquet to honor the Zaksion Marquis's achievements, attended by many nobles.

That was all.

But judging by their current appearances, she strongly suspected Bellieta had mimicked her even at that unremarkable event.

The dresses were similar, the hairstyles too.

The only difference from her own hair, lightly tied to the right and cascading down, was that Bellieta's fell to the left.

If her dress used delightful blue fabric, Bellieta's was green.

The colors differed, but the texture, buttons, and embedded gems were strikingly alike.

Similar enough that you'd believe the same designer made them.

Anyone could see it was blatant imitation.

She clicked her tongue softly and turned her gaze to the window.

"Sierra."

She rolled her eyes back to look at Bellieta.

Bellieta hesitated as if it was hard to say, then smiled brightly and spoke calmly.

"So, when were you planning to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"About that necklace."

Necklace? She narrowed her brow slightly.

"You said you'd tell me where you got it."

"......"

Her face instinctively twisted.

The first thing she'd heard upon waking was about the necklace.

Frowning, she stared at Bellieta before slowly opening her mouth.

"Did I say that? I don't remember."

"You definitely did last time. You said you'd tell me later."

Her expression brimmed with certainty, her eyes gleaming with it.

Bellieta made no effort to hide her burning desire to have it.

Gazing at the brazenly demanding Bellieta, she let a faint smile play on her lips.

"Did I? Then I should tell you."

"For real? You said it was hard to share before—what's up?"

At Bellieta's mix of joy and suspicion, she smirked inwardly.

Smiling at Bellieta, who already looked thrilled at the prospect of theft, she said.

"It's a gem from Depoxy Island. So rare that nobles go there themselves and beg to get one. If you want it, you'll have to go yourself."

"Depoxy?"

"Yeah."

It was a remote island requiring four straight days by carriage.

Moreover, summer there meant swarms of mosquitoes and bugs that even plagued the locals.

Bellieta looked reluctant at the thought of going, but she found it quite amusing.

Because it was a lie.

A simple play on words, but this was just the beginning.

All the countless things Bellieta had shown her.

All the things she'd trampled and stolen from her.

Family, men, and ultimately her very sense of self.

Bellieta's hands, once filled with what was hers, would soon hold nothing.

All she could grasp now was desire, greed, and sand.

For Bellieta, only utter despair and death remained.

There was no mercy whatsoever.

The banquet hall was already packed with people.

As if proving the Zaksion Marquis's authority and power, crowds flocked without discrimination, showering him with praise and flattery for his deeds.

He was known for his usual humility, but this time he responded to their voices with a hearty laugh.

Tilting her glass, she scanned beside the Zaksion Marquis.

Soldiers and knights rubbed shoulders with merchants and power brokers, even those with ulterior motives swarming around him.

They clung to him like ants hauling food—it was almost amusing.

It wasn't incomprehensible.

The Zaksion Marquis was a great noble, and a single word from him could silence even the imperial family.

At the very least, on the western front, he was indispensable.

Moreover, the western front included the master of the infamous Harmonia region under Riplton family rule.

Aden Riplton.

The so-called Ghost Archduke.

Harmonia had long been seen as barren land.

High in the mountains with treacherous paths.

Situated at the heart of the range, magical beasts frequently appeared.

The imperial family had tried subjugating it to protect civilians, but it wasn't easy.

Far from the capital, dispatching troops was tough, and even when they did, the sheer number of beasts caused heavier losses.

So they'd dumped all authority over the region onto the Riplton family and washed their hands of it.

Even seeing the imperial efforts fail repeatedly, the Ripltons mobilized for subjugation themselves.

Everyone else tsked it as futile, but far from it.

The Ripltons drove out the beasts from the surrounding mountains and stabilized the area.

The imperial family acknowledged their feat unofficially by granting a title.

Thus, they designated the vast Riplton territory as a duchy and handed it over.

A land independent from the empire, free of any interference.

The only self-governing region in the empire.

As a result, though without an official title, the ruler of the designated duchy, Riplton, was called the Ghost Archduke.

I wonder if he'll show up today.

He was a man who rarely appeared in public.

How old was he again...

Early to mid-twenties now, by her reckoning.

She'd never even seen his face.

Even at a previous Zaksion Marquis party he'd supposedly attended, she'd only heard rumors, never laid eyes on him.

Back then, Bellieta had clung to her obsessively, making it impossible to enjoy the event properly.

Just like now.