After I died, Everything Changed - Chapter 67

Though Chloe had been taken away, there was still no concrete evidence that she had poisoned Grandfather.

The only charges we could press for now were for forging the succession document and manipulating the retainers through threats and coercion to name her proxy heir.

She was being held in an unused detention room—isolated from the rest of the estate.

“Irene! Open this door! I’m innocent! You know I only did what I was told!”

I heard Roosevelt’s desperate screams as I passed by the room he was locked in.

So pitiful—reduced to this after only a few hours in confinement.

If he hadn’t had Chloe as a sister, he wouldn’t have been much more than a lowly street rat.

Without stopping, I walked right past Roosevelt’s cell.

My destination was just ahead—Chloe’s cell.

“Open the door.”

The guard on duty removed the lock with a heavy clank.

The iron door creaked as it slowly opened.

Chloe sat on a shabby bed, using it like a chair. Her disheveled hair—once always perfectly styled—fell messily around her face, giving her a haunting appearance.

“Come to gloat?”

Chloe asked the moment she saw me step inside.

She wasn’t wrong.

How could I not see her like this with my own eyes?

I leaned against the now-closed door and crossed my arms.

“I just have a few lingering questions. I figured I’d rather hear the answers from you directly.”

“So, you think you’ve won? Are you here to savor your little moment of glory?”

“I was taught not to celebrate too early. But… judging by how you look now, I think it’s safe to enjoy it a bit.”

Chloe let out a hollow laugh.

“What do you want to know?”

“Why did you suddenly make such a reckless move? That’s not like you.”

“……”

Her gaze dropped.

She stared at the wooden floorboards as if she were counting the grooves—her eyes fixed, unmoving.

I waited.

Patiently.

“Sometimes,” she finally said, “there comes a moment where you just… have to throw everything away. You’ll understand when you’ve lived a little longer.”

“So you were cornered.”

“Yes. You could say that. The more you try to be perfect, the more everything falls apart…”

She raised her head then, and for a moment, a venomous gleam sparked in her eyes.

“Why?! Why is it always me?!”

So, she was angry.

But at whom?

At me? At Grandfather? Or… at herself?

“After that damned Deborah disappeared, you started making waves. I managed to prop Abel up, only for you to kill a monster and steal the spotlight… ha…”

Her lips twisted into something between a smirk and a snarl.

“That’s when I realized… Grandfather never intended to name Abel as heir. He was just playing with us—no, with me!”

So it was Grandfather who ultimately broke her.

I gave a small nod.

“You? You only had to deal with enemies. I had to fight from the start. Everything—everything—was stacked against me. Just because of some ridiculous bloodline!”

So she had issues with Abel, too.

Enemies aren’t always outside the gates.

“You’re not even Deborah. Just you. Irene. And yet… that pathetic Mergen title… he gave it to you!”

Even now, broken as she was, Chloe couldn’t let go of her disdain for Irene.

Maybe she understood it in her mind—but her heart refused to accept it.

I uncrossed my arms.

“Your defeat was inevitable from the beginning. You never truly saw your opponent.”

Chloe blinked, clearly caught off guard.

“Dismissiveness, overconfidence, misplaced pity… Your standards for judging people were flawed from the start. How could you win a fight against someone you didn’t even understand?”

“…Ha. So, it’s my fault—for underestimating what you had. I knew you were born with a sharp blade in your hand, and still, I got careless.”

She laughed bitterly.

She thought I had crushed her by riding on the coattails of privilege—on a bloodline I did nothing to earn.

Well… maybe she wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Mergen’s burden, Irene. Looks like your status has risen quite a bit, hasn’t it?”

“Don’t think you’ve won.”

“I don’t. I’m not living just to fight you.”

“……”

This was only my first real step forward.

There are still things left unresolved between Mergen and me.

“So don’t take it so personally. Even without you, my life would still be hard.”

“Let me make this clear. This isn’t the end.”

“Ah… sure. If you say so.”

I turned and walked away from the room.

Part of me wanted to look back—just once—to see Chloe’s face, probably burning with the desire to stab me in the back. But I didn’t. On purpose.

“Aaaaahhh!”

As I stepped out and the door closed behind me, her scream rang out from inside.

I used to imagine a moment like this would feel amazing—thrilling, even. But now that it’s here… I don’t feel much of anything.

I guess I’ve started to change.

“So… what happens now?”

“We’re just a kite with no string now.”

“But we didn’t even do anything this time!”

“Weren’t some of Mergen’s private soldiers sent from your house?”

“What? That was barely a handful! Just personal guards!”

Several seats around the round table were empty.

Some retainers had packed up and disappeared in the night. Others had fallen ill.

The ones who dared to show their faces today were likely those who thought they still had a chance to survive.

But even they couldn’t hide their unease.

“The Lord has arrived.”

At the announcement, the retainers fell silent.

Tension filled the council chamber like a storm cloud.

“A bloodbath, maybe?”

“Let’s just hope it won’t come to swords.”

The retainers stood to greet the Lord.

“I know you’ve all been through a lot—no need for fuss. Be seated.”

Only after the Lord sat at the head of the table did the others slowly return to their seats, nervously watching his expression.

And then I, Irene, walked in.

Without hesitation, I went to my seat—to the Lord’s right, where I belonged.

Calm and composed, as if none of this chaos had ever touched me.

As I entered, I could feel the glances—quiet, nervous, assessing.

Amazing, how quickly people change overnight.

I know human nature is fickle. But the disappointment always hits me anyway. I guess some part of me is still a child.

“We have things to settle,” Grandfather said.

The air grew even heavier.

This war isn’t over yet.

There’s still more blood to spill.

“We’ll soon decide who will be expelled from the family. Just be aware of that.”

“……”

Not a word.

Anyone who spoke out now would lose their head. Everyone knew that.

“And… it’s time we decided on a successor. Does anyone object?”

“Who… who would dare object?”

“Then the successor… is it Irene?”

The retainers spoke as if bracing for the inevitable.

“Irene,” Grandfather looked at me. “Tell us yourself. Do you think you deserve to be the heir? Do you believe you can lead Mergen?”

I paused for a moment before answering.

“Mergen… Mergen…”

No one here knows how many emotions that name holds for me.

“The Mergen of today… is rotten.”

“……!”

“What did she just say…?”

Some of the retainers flinched at my words.

“If you’re asking whether I’m greedy for this house that only has past glory left—then no. I’m not.”

“Hmph…”

“Quiet. Let her speak,” Grandfather ordered.

“But there is one thing I know for certain.”

I looked slowly around the room, meeting each of their eyes.

“There is no one more suited for this position than I am.”

They probably believed they had the power to choose.

They sat comfortably in their seats, thinking the heir, the next head of the family, was theirs to name—as if it were their privilege.

But they needed to understand something.

You don’t get to choose.

I do.

I’m the one giving this dying house a second chance.

“Do you have anyone better?”

At my question, silence fell like a thick curtain.

They knew it now—no one they offered could stand against me.

“If you ask whether I’m qualified, my answer is clear—absolutely. No one is more capable than I am.”

Whether it’s bringing Mergen back to greatness—or tearing it down completely— I’m the only one who can do it.

“My lady! That was amazing! When you narrowed your eyes and said, ‘There’s no one more suited than I am’—ugh! I got chills!”

“Really?”

Karlin was practically bouncing beside me as we left the council chamber, overflowing with excitement.

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