Translator: Khan
Editor Group: Liber Reverie
"Mielle, you can stay in the mansion and persuade your father. I'm sure he'll forgive you soon if you show remorse. You'd better see your father as soon as you get to the mansion."
Cain whispered quietly to Mielle. For the nobles, house arrest was not a bad ruling. In any case, the detention in the house was not only allowed outside the mansion, but it was possible to stay free inside. She could invite guests to have tea time in the garden. It meant that she could not just go out, but she was free inside.
Besides, didn't the sentence decrease from twenty to five years? It was clear that if he applied for bail consistently, she would be released before serving her sentence. Before that, the Count might have forgiven her. At Cain's words, Mielle nodded reassuringly.
"... I understand. By the way, did Miss Isis send me a reply? What did she say?"
"That's..."
As Cain hesitated to answer, Mielle realized that Isis had rejected her.
Frey added an exception, without giving her to be caught in the shock that followed.
"However, since you have to stay in the mansion with two victims, detention is limited to the room used by Lady Mielle until now."
"... What do you mean?"
"It means that you can't come out of your room. In addition, a request has been made from the imperial family—you have not been questioned about the hallucinogen yet, so you need special care."
'What's this? That's a crazily unfair sentence! With all the servants and guests of the mansion watching, am I supposed to be questioned about the hallucinogen I didn't take? Should I get stuck in the room and hear that wicked woman laughing? Do I have to watch the guards and the investigators go in and out of the room, and see the servants look askance at me?'
Mielle fell flat on the floor because of the unprecedented ruling. She got dizzy. Unconsciously, her tears drenched the floor. She would rather die than suffer such shame and humiliation. Even though she had done everything by herself, she felt unjust and unfair because the cause was Aria.
'I'll never let her go...!'
As soon as the sentence fell, Mielle was soon able to move on. When they saw an old carriage, surrounded by six guards, headed for the mansion of Count Roscent, each of them was talking, imagining a figure in the wagon.
"She said she was going to appeal, but it must have been decided by house arrest."
"My God. How can a victim and an offender stay in one place?"
"My acquaintance worked at the court, and she said that she will be detained in her room and not the typical house arrest."
"In her room? That's a terrible punishment as well."
"I heard there's a charge about hallucinogen, and they're going to investigate it in the mansion. That's why they will lock her in her room."
"Oh, my God... That's the worst. I can't believe that that graceful lady would do such a thing... I feel like I've been cheated."
"The rumors were all the opposite. The rumors of a saint and a wicked woman... There have been rumors that it's been a little strange, but this case has definitely turned out to be true. The wicked woman was Lady Mielle, and she had overlaid all her sins against the benevolent Aria. It's a common story in novels, isn't it?"
The wagon was old and Mielle could hear all their gossip. Her fists trembled as she wanted to tear up their mouths which made rumors. Her slightly grown nails dug into the palms of her hands and tore her flesh.
'How dare...!'
However, after arriving at the mansion, Mielle's condition did not improve.
"Please, please let me see my father!"
She cried and wanted to ask for forgiveness from the Count because this was her only chance. However, she only heard the Countess's cold answer.
"Unfortunately, he doesn't want to see you."
"... What? I want to hear that directly from my father!"
Aria suddenly appeared and shrugged her body before Mielle, who was about to rush to the Countess.
"Oh, my God, I'm scared. Mom, stay away."
"... You, you! How dare you!"
As Mielle screamed at the gaze of Aria, who looked at her as if she was a bug, the guards, who had arrived at the mansion with the carriage, hurried to shut Mielle's mouth and overpowered her.
"The hallucinogen is really scary. It has made a person change that much... They have to start investigating and treating her as soon as possible. Isn't that right, brother?"
Of all occasions, Aria stood beside Cain and said so, Cain, who would save Mielle, closed his mouth and looked at the situation with his arms folded. He seemed quite embarrassed because Aria rarely clung to him.
'How can this happen?' Blood was likely to pour out from her eyes filled with sorrow and anger. Mielle was caught in her room as if she had been dragged away, and she had to receive the cold eyes of the servants and maids.
"You'd better not think useless, lady, because the investigation is about to begin."
With the cold voice of a guard, there was a chain-winding sound outside the closed door. Seeing no sound of distant footsteps, the guards, who had just warned, seemed to be guarding the room outside.
'Why, why! All this was to put the ugly girl back in her original place! In addition, it was to have what she originally had to have a little faster in return. But what is the situation like now?' She lost everything and was stigmatized and was stuck in her room. Isis and Cain, who she had believed would help her, acted like they didn't know her.
Trapped in a clean room, as if all the dangerous goods had been put away, she screamed for a while and squeezed out her tears. It was because there was no place to relieve her bitterness.
After squeezing tears all day long until she was hoarse, Mielle suddenly opened her own secret space as if something had come up. Like Aria, she also had a secret space in her room for one person.
There, Mielle, who took out a box, wiped away her tears from her eyes. The contents of this box were the only thing that could save her.
* * *
"Ms. Isis. The letter has arrived."
"Really? Who sent it?"
"That's..."
The butler was speechless at Isis's question. Isis also sighed when she noticed that the uncomfortable opponent had sent the letter. 'Why does she keep bothering me when I had already thrown her away?'
Furthermore, rumors about Mielle were terrible, if she got involved with her for nothing, there would be useless rumors even to herself. It was not long before going to the Kingdom of Croa, and she pretended not to know her as much as she could, but she had a headache as Mielle sent a letter every day.
"If she keeps sending these letters, why don't you just send her a reply?"
At the careful advice from the butler, Isis put down the document that she was reviewing. She thought it would be better to refuse at a single stroke than to continue this troublesome connection.
"Read it roughly and give me a summary."
"All right."
So Isis, who ordered it, took the document back into her hands. It was the document sent from the Kingdom of Croa, so she had to carefully examine it and proceed to strike the Crown Prince who had made herself, the Duke, and the Aristocratic Party this way.
After Isis squeezed her temples again, she picked up the document again and began to concentrate. She examined it carefully so that there were no omissions or mistakes. No matter how much he had the same purpose of attacking the empire, her opponent was the king of a country.
However, the face of the butler, who opened the letter next to Isis and reviewed the contents, began to turn pale.
"Ms... Ms. Isis. I think you should see the letter for yourself...!"
Isis furrowed her forehead and asked why, because the man, who was always dignified and had the appearance of being a butler of the Duke family, stuttered.
"What's going on? What does it say?"
"That's..."
Despite Isis's urging, the butler could not give a quick answer. Eventually, Isis, who could not overcome her frustration, took the letter from him and began to read for herself what had surprised the butler so much.