It Turned Out She Wasn't a Favored Concubine - Episode 80

“Isn’t that your wish? For the Edelheit bloodline to be completely extinguished.”

A chill ran down my neck from his breath. I couldn’t understand Erich’s words at all.

“You’re saying I want my brother, Giscal, to die?”

“You’re not even real siblings, are you? Or have you changed your mind?”

“……”

Even the muscles around my mouth froze. Erich knew. Just like Giscal.

The secret of Arne’s birth—one she tried to erase by eliminating the orphanage she came from—was known to them.

Who else knows? Could it be that everyone knows, and I’m the only one struggling to protect her secret?

I swallowed the foolish question of “since when did you know?” before it escaped my throat.

Finally, I came to my senses.

Arne’s absurd wish to erase the Edelheit family entirely—and Erich’s willingness to fulfill it.

Their relationship might not be just a political game of deception.

I remembered Erich kneeling and crying at Arne’s palace.

His lips, cracked and dry, pleaded as if I were the only god who could save him. Could he truly see Arne as just a tool? Was he only pretending to care?

All the assumptions I had laid down long ago were now trembling.

Erich, mistaking my silence for agreement, pressed on.

“If the Marquis of Edelheit disappears, the family will naturally fall into ruin. I’ll quietly take care of the few remaining collateral relatives. Then, just as you wished, the Edelheit family will vanish.”

Why would Arne, who grew up spoiled and arrogant, want to destroy the family that raised her? Was it because of her birth secret? Because the former marquis, whom she thought was her father, only brought her from the orphanage for the sake of his wife?

But the former marquis had long passed, and the current head was Giscal.

If she was truly close to Giscal, why would she direct her resentment toward him?

Suddenly, Rosdel’s words flashed through my mind.

— Since when were you two such loving siblings?

And Xenia had screamed:

— Rumor has it he kept going to war just to avoid seeing your face!

If Arne and Giscal were worse than strangers, then her wish made sense.

Revenge against the Edelheit family that deceived her.

“Now is the perfect time. With the fall of Marquis Parmati, the collapse of the high noble faction is inevitable. The Marquis of Edelheit has served his purpose. I don’t want to keep you waiting any longer.”

Erich whispered softly in my ear. His sweet voice was like a devil’s temptation. I wanted to empty my mind and follow wherever he led. I didn’t want to think anymore.

I didn’t want to wonder why Louis lied to me, or why Giscal was acting so differently. I didn’t want to doubt the people I had finally opened my heart to in this unfamiliar world. I didn’t want to hate them.

“When your wish comes true, I’ll burn down the Edelheit mansion you despised. So you can throw your unwanted past into the flames and forget it.”

In my imagination, the beautiful Edelheit mansion was engulfed in flames. Louis was crying in the red inferno. Giscal stood beneath the burning sky. Everyone I had met in that mansion was being consumed by fire.

“No!”

I stepped away from Erich, who clung to me like a devil’s temptation. I forgot Louis’s lies and Giscal’s suspicious behavior.

I couldn’t bear to see the peaceful Edelheit mansion reduced to ashes. To prevent that, I had to save Giscal first.

“There’s still the western front, right? You said you’d send Giscal to subdue the Western Kingdom Alliance?”

“The situation has changed. With the high noble faction collapsed, there’s no need to give Giscal more credit. We can send a capable knight as commander instead.”

“No! I don’t want my wish to lower the Empire’s chances of victory. Send Giscal as originally planned. He’ll guarantee the Empire’s success.”

I knew Giscal didn’t want to go to war. But this was the only way. Sending him back to a battlefield filled with blood and corpses was the only way to save him.

I bit my lower lip and looked at Erich. He stared into my eyes for a long time, then smiled brightly.

It was a smile close to awe.

“I didn’t expect Arne to care for me so deeply.”

Thankfully, Erich interpreted my anxious gaze in his own way. I gave a vague smile.

“Then please release Giscal from prison. We have more pressing matters now.”

“As Arne wishes.”

Erich immediately ordered his royal guards to bring Marquis Parmati.

There was no trial like before. Just a declaration of the decision.

The nobles who followed Marquis Parmati shouted in protest, but Erich didn’t flinch. He ordered Marian and Lean to testify, and the tide turned. No one doubted Marian’s testimony.

Everything ended just as Marian had planned.

Rosdel’s crimes became Marquis Parmati’s. Before punishing Parmati, Erich ordered the immediate execution of the remaining Reten family.

Dragged in by imperial decree, Count Reten and his children were beheaded without even a moment to prepare.

Erich didn’t blink as he watched his former concubine Xenia’s execution.

The nobles watching swallowed hard. The fear kept anyone from opposing Parmati’s punishment.

With perfect testimony and the emperor’s complete rejection, no one dared speak up. They’d only be dragged down with him.

Marquis Parmati, once the leader of the high noble faction, was taken to the underground prison where Count Reten had been held. Everyone knew his fate would be the same.

As the room fell silent, Erich selected a few more nobles from the faction. Everyone knew it was a purge to dismantle the group completely, but no one dared resist.

Of course, Perlo and Marian were punished too. But the nobles didn’t care about them. As I had hoped, their punishments were light.

Perlo was bound to serve as a Motus artisan in the palace, and Marian was restricted from leaving Maron Palace.

It was a day like a storm. Unbelievable that all this happened in just one day.

While Erich sorted out the assets and authority of the doomed Marquis Parmati and the high noble faction, I took his decree and headed to Giscal. Thankfully, Giscal had already been moved to a small palace at my request.

My steps toward him were both light and heavy. The decree I carried pardoned his crimes from the trial and appointed him commander of the western front.

As soon as his wounds healed, Giscal would have to leave the capital for the battlefield.

“Giscal?”

The figure standing in front of the palace where he was staying was none other than Giscal. I took a deep breath and hurried toward him.

“Why are you outside? What about your wound? How is it?”

Giscal stood alone without support. I quickly checked the leg bitten by the wolf. The bandaged leg didn’t look good at all.

“Why are you standing like this? What if something goes wrong?”

“…I wanted to make sure you were safe.”

His low voice echoed in my ears. I stopped calling for the maids.

“I was worried you’d get hurt in all that chaos. But… I couldn’t do anything.”

“Don’t say that. It’s all resolved now. Even Marquis Parmati.”

Resolved—through someone’s downfall.

I remembered the river of blood at the guillotine and felt nauseous. But I couldn’t show weakness in front of Giscal. I swallowed it down with all my strength.

“I heard what happened. The princess of Zaren testified for you.”

His voice hinted at wanting more explanation, but I stayed silent.

Giscal’s eyes darkened. I looked away. The decree in my hand caught my eye.

“This is a decree from His Majesty. He’s pardoned your crime of challenging the throne. So go back to the mansion and get proper treatment.”

Giscal silently took the decree and read it.

“He wants me to go to the western front.”

I couldn’t bear to look at his face. As I lowered my head, Giscal suddenly spoke.

“Do you want to leave the palace?”

“What?”

“Parsen is here. You can use Motus and leave right away.”

Leave the palace?

Of course I did. The more I faced the truth, the more tangled everything became. I hated the fearful stares, the bloody power struggles. I couldn’t even tell who was pretending anymore.

I wanted to leave.

But where to?

The Edelheit mansion was the only place. A temporary refuge before returning to the palace. But now, even Giscal confused me. Both his present and past selves were a maze.

Why was he saying this to me…?

“What are you talking about? I’m too tired today. I’m going straight to Arlin Palace. You should go back to the mansion too and get proper treatment.”

I dodged the question. I had no energy left to think. Giscal sighed.

“You can leave anytime.”

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