The Immortal Queen Cannot Escape the Lies and Obsession of the Demon — Not That She Wants To - Chapter 16

“Your Majesty was so quiet I almost misjudged the situation. You startled me, you know.”

“…I believe that’s my line.”

Fols had entered the room without making a sound from outside, and Ariana found herself responding in her usual tone almost reflexively.

Given the circumstances, Fols must have broken the metal fittings, pushed the door itself aside to enter, and closed the distance in the brief moment when the unsupported single panel fell, shattering the drill. It was utterly ridiculous.

“You’re just too superhuman. I can’t even come up with a single compliment.”

“Please think of me as reliable. —So, does this count as catching her in the act?”

Mary, now the focus of both their gazes, felt her chest filled with hatred and frustration. Overwhelmed by an even greater sense of relief.

“————”

Ah, she had been stopped before she could kill.

Looking down at the shattered magic stone, overwhelmed by the difference in combat power, Mary finally became aware of her true feelings buried deep beneath her murderous intent, and tears began to pour down her face.

“…Yes. You may deal with me however you see fit. Sir Knight, I offer you my gratitude. Thank you for stopping me.”

Fols looked down at Mary, who was kneeling and bowing deeply, with what seemed like genuine disinterest, offering a casual “Hah” in response.

Ariana, exasperated by his indifferent attitude, knelt as well to meet Mary’s gaze.

“Lady Mary of House Lyrical, is it correct that you were the one who requested that the maid Gracie be poisoned?”

Wiping her ceaselessly flowing tears, Mary shook her head hesitantly.

“…I don’t know anyone named Gracie. A male sorcerer my father is devoted to told me that if I offered him my mother’s jewels, I could kill the Queen before the marriage. At that time, I asked that if I were to kill her, I wanted him to use the vile blood of the Lizard Balfa.”

“Whoa… Your Majesty, this is pure malice. Wishing for you to die as horribly as possible.”

“Fols, that commentary isn’t necessary.”

Ariana once again felt the intensity of the murderous intent. It felt like a miracle that they could even hold a conversation now. She was truly relieved that Mary had regained her composure.

(But the situation might still be unfavorable.)

If Mary’s testimony was correct, there was another person involved in this assassination attempt.

Self-proclaimed sorcerers who engage in antisocial behavior are usually of unknown origin or use false identities. Their true identities often follow the pattern of smooth-talking illegal immigrants, and by the time solid evidence is gathered to identify them, they’ve often already fled the country.

They had used the royal carriage to pick up Mary from the Viscount’s estate. There was a strong possibility that the sorcerer, through Mary’s father, would grasp the current situation and attempt to escape.

Ariana stood up and offered her hand to Mary.

“I understand. First, I’ll send knights to the Viscount’s estate to capture that sorcerer. We might still be in time.”

“In time for what?”

“You’ve already handed over your mother’s memento, haven’t you? If the sorcerer escapes now, he’ll take it with him.”

“————”

Mary was a criminal. She would be punished. But Ariana, the victim, thought that it didn’t have to end with her losing everything.

Even if it was already too late, it was still worth hurrying.

Addressing the dazed Mary, Queen Ariana issued a strong, commanding order.

“Lady Mary of House Lyrical, I will not permit you any more time for tears. We will prepare a warrant immediately, so cooperate with the sketch artist. We’ll have it ready by tomorrow and stop him at the border.”

Mary slowly rose to her feet, gripping Ariana’s outstretched hand.

“…I wish I could have hated you from the bottom of my heart.”

This younger girl was facing her with such sincerity. A complaint slipped out unintentionally, but she couldn’t afford to be any more disgraceful.

A single tear traced the edge of her eye. Wiping it from her cheek one last time, she raised her eyebrows as if steeling her resolve, the earlier distortion gone.

“Please use this criminal’s body in any way you see fit, Your Majesty.”

“Of course,”

Bang, bang!

Suddenly, the door—the outer door connecting the parlor to the hallway, the one Fols hadn’t broken was struck with violent knocking, accompanied by a calling voice.

“—Your Majesty! Are you all right!? Pardon the intrusion!”

It was Valerio, entering with several knights. Both Ariana and Mary stared wide-eyed in shock, but Ariana quickly moved to readjust Mary’s veil, while Mary did the same with Ariana’s stole.

The knights, entering in a fluster, saw the broken inner door and muttered among themselves with relief, “Ah, this is it,” “So the noise earlier was this,” “So it was Fols’s doing after all.”

Seeing the knights calm down and confirming that Ariana was unharmed, Valerio also let out a sigh of relief.

“I saw them searching, saying ‘there was a terrible noise from one of the rooms,’ and since I heard Your Majesty was entertaining a guest in the parlor, I thought something might have happened. Well, clearly something did happen.”

“Well… the room will need repairs, but as you can see, there’s no problem. More importantly, your timing is perfect. Valerio, there’s something I need you to handle urgently.”

“Yes, what is—”

Ariana pushed Mary forward, presenting her to Valerio, who had agreed without hesitation. After casting a curious glance at the veiled woman, his eyes widened.

“Mary, why are you—”

“Lady Mary of House Lyrical has confessed to the crime of requesting my assassination.”

At Ariana’s declaration, both Valerio and the knights instantly tensed up.

However, the Queen’s stance—remaining close to the criminal without moving away. Mixed their wariness with confusion.

“She also revealed that there was an intermediary between her and the perpetrator, Gracie. I will go directly to the knights’ headquarters to sort things out. In the meantime, Valerio, I entrust her questioning to you.”

“—Your Majesty! Please wait—”

“She confessed to me directly and has shown cooperation in the investigation. That is all for now. Judgment will follow later, so treat her with respect.”

Above all, preventing the unidentified sorcerer from escaping was the priority. Briefly ignoring Valerio’s attempt to stop her, Ariana left the room with Fols in tow.

Following her statement about going to the knights’ headquarters, the knights also exited the room, trailing after her.

Left in the room were Valerio, his guards, and Mary.

“…Is it true? Mary, did you try to kill Her Majesty?”

In a tone mixed with disbelief and disappointment, Mary, slightly bowing her head beneath the veil, let a smile escape unintentionally.

“…It’s true. Because I couldn’t forgive her.”

“Couldn’t forgive her for what—”

“But it’s fine now. It’s already too late, but whether I forgive or not, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

After speaking directly with Ariana, after baring her sadness and hatred, after directing her murderous intent and being rejected, even though she couldn’t erase her foolishness, her sin, or her regret, there was a strange sense of liberation.

Feeling unburdened, Mary spun the right words.

“So, Valerio. You can forget about a criminal like me and go ahead and fall for that girl.”

“—Huh,”

“We’ve been together for years. If you make a face like you’re that attracted to someone, of course I’d notice.”

“Th-that—”

His princely, cool demeanor began to tinge with a faint red.

The image of his childhood self, embarrassed when she hit a nerve, overlapped with the present, and Mary’s heart began to storm once again. She hid it beneath her smile.

“You don’t have to apologize. Now that things have turned out like this, marriage is impossible, right?”

She couldn’t forgive his change of heart. She couldn’t forgive the miserable self she would become, left all alone. That’s why, even though somewhere inside she knew it was wrong, she hated Ariana.

A convenient do-over wasn’t possible, but since she had managed to choose words that blessed the future of the person she loved, rather than complaints or ugly screams, Mary was satisfied.

“But, in exchange, I’ll resent you for the rest of my life.”

“—……”

Valerio had indeed loved Mary.

She had been like an older sister to him since birth, a member of the family.

Dealing with a family member’s illness was a given for Valerio, and while he knew Mary was technically an outsider from another house, as long as they were working toward a cure, he didn’t have to think about anything else.

That’s precisely why, even after the effective medicine was completed, he thought he should help ensure that her medical history and the remaining scars didn’t darken Mary’s future. Because she was family. If no one else would help her, he never doubted that he should be the one to do it again.

Even without romantic love, there was affection. Even if she wasn’t capable, it was enough if she was a family member he could feel at ease with. Noble marriages were like that to begin with. As long as there was a solid trust between them, there would be no problems.

But the love Mary held was entirely different.

Somewhere in his heart, he knew, but the situation of being admired felt good, and he thought things would settle down if they became family, so he turned a blind eye to her dependency as a minor issue.

However, getting engaged changed the situation.

The healthy trust he built with Ariana felt comfortable, somehow rewarding, making him feel alive again.

He had been made aware that he had been forcing himself all along.

“…You may resent me as much as you like. I’ve committed that much of a wrong against you.”

Seeing Valerio bow his head with an expression of guilt before a criminal, Mary felt a fresh surprise and a dim joy.

It was a face she had never seen in over ten years of being together.

Different from the one he directed at Ariana, this was aimed solely at Mary. That alone made her happy enough to be sad.

Meanwhile, after leaving the room, Ariana hurriedly issued orders to the knights to search for the sorcerer, but as expected, his origins were unknown. The house the Viscount knew of him seemed to be already empty, and by the time those reports reached Ariana, the night had grown late.

Watching the warrant created with Mary’s cooperation being sent to various borders, she finally took a breather.

She had done all she could. Now, all that was left was to pray to the heavens.

“…Hm? Fols, did you find something?”

Calling out to Fols, who was staring intently out the window into the spreading darkness of night, he turned his gaze from the window and shook his head lightly.

“Nope, just a bug flying by.”