Chapter 32. Why

 “So who did you say sent this?”

 Despite the sender being clearly written at the end of the letter, Elina asked Matilda.

 She asked who had sent the letter she was currently reading.

 To Elina’s question, the head maid, Matilda, answered without a moment’s hesitation.

 “It was sent by His Majesty the Emperor, who is in the capital.”

 “So it really was sent by him.”

 There was no need to confirm who had sent it in the first place.

 With the imperial seal stamped on it, proving it came from the master of the imperial palace, it was obvious who it was from.

 Elina knew this too, so after examining the contents of the letter, she said.

 “I need to return to the imperial palace immediately.”

 “But Your Majesty, you still have about a week left before your scheduled return date.”

 It was a long vacation she had been looking forward to for years.

 Matilda was surprised by Elina’s sudden declaration that she would return to the imperial palace.

 It was difficult to understand why someone who had always wanted to enjoy rest outside the imperial palace would voluntarily return.

 “Has something happened at the imperial palace?”

 At Matilda’s question, she examined the letter once more and raised the corners of her mouth.

 “Something has indeed happened.”

 Until just now, she had been annoyed at having her opera viewing interrupted.

 But now something had come up that Elina found even more exciting than plans she had made over several years.

 “It seems I’ll soon have a daughter-in-law.”

 “Cough!”

 Matilda, who had been drinking tea, suddenly spat it out and immediately shifted her gaze to Elina.

 But Elina didn’t even glance at what was happening beside her, showing no interest whatsoever.

 Matilda swallowed as she looked at the happy Elina.

 “You’re joking, right?”

 “Does he seem like someone who would joke about such things?”

 “What on earth is happening at the imperial palace?”

 Matilda found it difficult to understand the situation.

 Elina had only one child, Edmund.

 When she spoke of a daughter-in-law, it naturally meant that Edmund would have a wife.

 ‘Even though he never seemed to listen no matter how much he was pressed to marry.’

 Edmund was twenty-two years old.

 While still a good age to be in one’s prime,

 In a society where people of higher status married earlier, there had been talk that he was getting too old.

 But Odin didn’t want to interfere much with Edmund’s marriage.

 In fact, Odin himself hadn’t cared at all about others’ reactions.

 However, Elina had prayed with both hands that her son would marry quickly.

 Others thought it was because she, as empress, felt obligated to preserve the imperial line, but that was a huge misunderstanding.

 “I wonder what kind of girl my daughter-in-law will be? I want to go to the imperial palace quickly and have a conversation with her.”

 Since Odin and Edmund were busy with state affairs day after day, she often felt the imperial palace was lonely.

 Although Elina was also busy, she still wished for someone she could talk to comfortably at the imperial palace.

 Despite strange rumors circulating in public, Elina didn’t care.

 She believed reality was more important than rumors.

 In that sense, Matilda smiled congratulatorily and asked her.

 “The Crown Prince’s consort will be Lady Aria, as we’ve all heard, right?”

 Matilda was certain.

 Aria was the only woman with whom Edmund had maintained a good relationship during his days at the academy.

 Since he had virtually no romantic relationships even after graduating from the academy, she guessed it must be Aria.

 “Aria?”

 “Yes, the lady of Duke Hersher’s family.”

 But the answer was completely different from Matilda’s expectation.

 “It says here my daughter-in-law will be Clea Odoi.”

 “Not Lady Aria? Perhaps you should check the letter again……”

 Matilda looked at Elina with disbelieving eyes.

 In response to Matilda’s reaction, Elina tore the letter in half and said.

 “It says Clea Odoi.”

 Seeing Elina tear up the letter from Odin as if there was no need to check again, Matilda was confused.

 Until they left their positions, Clea Odoi had been engaged to Lloyd Persi.

 Certain that something had happened during their brief absence from the imperial palace, Matilda felt a headache coming on.

 Meanwhile, Elina was delighted as she mulled over the contents of the letter.

 ‘I wonder how she stole that child’s heart. I’d like to invite her separately later for tea and conversation.’

 The rumors about Clea Odoi were not good.

 Elina had heard ladies gossiping about her wherever she went in the imperial palace.

 But Elina had decided not to believe any of it.

 When she first married Odin and entered the imperial palace, she too had been at the center of rumors.

 Thinking that one couldn’t know until meeting in person, she looked forward to her return to the imperial palace.

 * * *

 “Did you sleep well?”

 “Mm.”

 “I’ve prepared water for washing your face.”

 Clea was becoming increasingly uncomfortable at the Crown Prince’s palace.

 When she first started living there at Edmund’s behest, no one had paid any attention to her.

 Until then, she had been merely a guest who might leave at any time.

 But as time passed, people’s attitudes toward her changed significantly.

 ‘Was meeting Oberon earlier a mistake?’

 She had intended to sternly warn Oberon.

 To never disclose what he had seen to anyone else.

 But far from warning him, his gaze had become even stranger since that day.

 He began treating her with extreme care, as if she were a precious porcelain that might break at the slightest touch.

 At first, Clea mistakenly thought he was being so deferential because he found her intimidating.

 But for someone supposedly intimidated, he interfered throughout meals.

 Because of this, Clea soon realized.

 That he wasn’t intimidated by her at all.

 Having finished washing her face perfunctorily, she sat down at her desk.

 ‘I need to find a way to break the curse.’

 Having only waited for her day of death, she hadn’t particularly considered time important.

 In that pitch-black place, she had always been alone. Facing her gradually approaching death, there was nothing to fear except for her life itself.

 But now things were different.

 She now had a reason to break the curse.

 She who had nothing precious in this place had come to have something.

 Something precious.

 “I should first write down what I know.”

 She began writing down everything she remembered about the curse.

The pain intensifies as time passes.

 Breathing becomes difficult intermittently, and rejection reactions occur when she’s around people she hates to face.

 Rejection reaction.

 ‘Aria didn’t seem to have any rejection reactions though.’

 She recalled the red blood that had burst from her own mouth.

 She couldn’t remember anything in the original story about Aria coughing up blood.

 Even when bullied by Clea or forcibly kidnapped by Lloyd, she only turned pale and breathed rapidly.

 ‘Come to think of it, Edmund was always by her side during those times.’

 Even when meeting people she hated enough to die, there was always someone protecting her.

 And that person was Edmund.

 “How on earth did you break this curse?”

 If the curse could simply be broken by someone who loves you…

 She wondered how the current Aria had broken the curse.

 When they last met, Edmund clearly didn’t love Aria.

 Far from love, she could tell he found her annoying.

 Yet the Aria she had observed seemed to have already broken the curse. Anyone could see she looked healthy without any shadow of someone suffering from chronic pain.

 That made it even more puzzling.

 How on earth had she broken it?

 ‘I can’t exactly go and ask her directly.’

 By the time she possessed this body, her relationship with Aria was already completely ruined.

 It was after she had become jealous of Aria’s closeness with Lloyd and used every means to torment her.

 Since she had no intention of mending the situation, it didn’t particularly matter. But now she felt a bit regretful.

 If they had been on somewhat better terms, she would have taken the opportunity to ask.

 She looked at the paper knife resting on the desk for a moment.

 “If I cut it out, would this suffocation disappear?”

 Clea suddenly recalled a scene from the original story.

 It was the scene where Edmund misunderstood Aria as she contemplated whether to cut it out, the same dilemma Clea faced now.

 Clea slowly moved the blade from her wrist to the back of her hand.

 But only briefly, before she put down the knife, abandoning the thought.

 Believing that finding a way to break the curse should be her priority, she refocused.

 Unfortunately, there was something she hadn’t considered.

 ‘Clea.’

 She didn’t notice that Edmund was watching her actions through the crack in the door.

 * * *

 There was no response when he knocked.

 Edmund had intended to just check what she was doing and leave.

 And Edmund saw.

 ‘Why are you…’

 When she picked up the paper knife, Edmund didn’t think much of it.

 He vaguely thought she might be trying to open an unopened letter.

 But thinking about it, who would send her a letter?

 Few people even knew that Clea Odoi was in the Crown Prince’s palace.

 With that thought in mind, when Clea moved the knife to her wrist, Edmund felt his entire body freeze.

 When her eyes became completely unfocused as she stared at her wrist, Edmund was about to rush in.

 But at her single sentence, Edmund’s feet wouldn’t move.

 ‘”If I cut it out, would this suffocation disappear?” 

Why would you say such a thing?’

 Edmund realized.

 That there was clearly something about her that he didn’t know.