#13. Does It Matter If I Die?

I grabbed the blanket they were trying to take away and retorted.

“Yeah. I can’t endure it, and I can’t understand.”

The servants who were about to take away even the blanket and pillow paused momentarily at my resistance, then smiled crookedly.

“Hmph, planning to seduce Lord Taran and escape again?”

“What?”

In the moment I was dumbfounded and lost strength in my hands, the servant quickly snatched my blanket away.

“It won’t work anyway. He won’t fall for your tricks this time.”

“That’s right. Let’s not disturb Lord Taran again, who’s already busy with the ‘Divine Beast’s egg theft case’!”

Hey, I’ve never seduced those guys!

The servants who had rushed in left no room for me to object or grab them as they departed, saying:

“There’s no one left to help you now, Miss.”

Bang! The door closed in my face.

* * *

Upon hearing the news of what happened in the lady’s chamber, Penelope smiled with satisfaction for the first time in a while.

‘According to plan.’

Kalenso, who had cut off her arm by removing her maid Johanna, had suddenly left his post for some reason.

‘And Taran is the type to forget even eating when he’s focused on one thing.’

So while he’s responsible for the investigation, he won’t have time to pay attention to anything else.

Especially since the investigation was linked to the Phoenix Duchy in the Southwest.

It was an undeniable fact that the Phoenix Duchy coveted the Divine Beast’s egg.

Not just them—Penelope frowned as she recalled that even the Griffones imperial family had shown interest.

‘What’s so special about that thing?’

Legendary powers like the Divine Beast had remained in the Old Continent only in ancient times.

Of course, Dragonia still preserved some mysterious powers.

The hereditary “abilities” passed down through Dragonia bloodlines and their superhuman physiques were prime examples.

But even for Dragonia, the Divine Beast had existed only during the previous Grand Duke’s time and no longer existed.

‘Strictly speaking, it’s not much different from a stone, so why is everyone making such a fuss about it?’

The world believed that Dragonia and Phoenix were mortal enemies who couldn’t coexist under the same sky, but the reality was different.

More precisely, people from Sheren Grad, like Penelope, thought differently.

Traveling south from the Blue Brick Castle, the main residence of the Dragonia Grand Duchy, one would find the beautiful Tukenia River.

And the prosperous Dragonia territory along that river was “Sheren Grad.”

Just a few decades ago, the Tukenia River had been the boundary separating Dragonia in the Northwest from Phoenix in the Southwest.

‘But then war broke out.’

In the past, even before the previous Grand Duke of Dragonia was enthroned, a war between the two powers started by Phoenix ultimately ended in Dragonia’s victory.

‘Because at that time, Lady Partilova, known as the Guardian of Dragonia, was there.’

Thus, Dragonia succeeded in absorbing the area around the Tukenia River, which had been Phoenix territory, and that territory is now Sheren Grad.

Since it was originally Phoenix territory, Sheren Grad had many citizens and nobles of Phoenix origin, and exchanges with Phoenix didn’t cease even after it became part of Dragonia.

As someone from Sheren Grad, Penelope naturally had no strong aversion to the Phoenix Duchy.

But unlike Penelope, Taran, despite sharing Barshava blood, despised and scorned Phoenix to his core, just like other Dragonians.

In other words, faced with his most hated enemy, he would inevitably neglect other matters.

Such as the movements of his aunt whom he had persecuted……

‘Partanie, that lowly thing.’

Penelope was certain.

Taran held no affection of any kind for that child.

‘He probably just felt insulted that a descendant of Dragonia was being ridiculed by servants.’

Though she was confident in this, she felt somewhat uneasy.

The last time she saw Taran, the look in his eyes when he watched her insulting Partanie had been strangely ominous……

“……Isn’t this too harsh?”

Penelope’s expression changed at the sudden cold water thrown on her thoughts.

A tactless maid carefully continued.

“If, if something goes wrong and the Miss falls ill…… Eek!”

Already on edge, Penelope immediately slapped the worried maid’s cheek.

Slap!

“Know your place. How dare you speak to me first!”

The fallen maid bowed her head and begged, “Sorry, I’m sorry, my lady!”

“Get that useless thing out of here.”

“M-My lady……!”

“You dare talk back to me without knowing your place? I should tear out your tongue to teach you your station!”

The maid turned pale and clung to Penelope’s ankle.

“My lady, my lady! I was wrong! Please……!”

But Penelope mercilessly stomped on the hand gripping her ankle.

“Argh!”

While the maid clutched her wrist in pain, the subordinates dragged her away without mercy.

The room instantly grew tense after this summary punishment.

Even the maids who had slightly looked down on Penelope after her humiliation by Taran now bowed their heads in fear, trembling.

Fear is power.

Penelope felt ultimate pleasure in wielding power that made others afraid to even look at her.

Why had she decided to marry a widower with three children?

Because that widower was the Grand Duke of Dragonia, the one who would give her the position of mistress of the Grand Duchy.

Although the Grand Duke hadn’t shown particular interest in her, that was surely just his way of showing respect for his deceased wives, not true indifference toward her.

‘That can’t be. How could he not notice how beautiful I am?’

As Penelope gazed at the mirror with a seductive smile, she suddenly recalled how Partanie had looked directly at her.

How the child who used to be nervous and fidgety in her presence had stared at her with indifference, as if she were an insignificant insect.

Penelope gritted her teeth and threw the glass she was holding.

Crash!

‘That girl is suffering?’

That’s what she wanted.

She wouldn’t be satisfied until she saw that clear face contorted in pain.

‘Who would believe a descendant of Dragonia couldn’t withstand a little cold?’

Penelope noticed a maid picking up the pieces of the glass she had thrown and gestured to her.

“You.”

She was one of the servants who had entered Partanie’s bedroom on Penelope’s orders and ransacked the place.

“Did you do it?”

“Y-Yes……”

The maid quickly nodded, afraid she might end up like her colleague who had been dragged away.

Penelope looked at the fireplace and smirked.

“It’s time to find the culprit who stole the Divine Beast’s egg, that precious treasure.”

* * *

And so, the lady of Dragonia, Partanie, had been framed by someone as the thief of the Divine Beast’s egg.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

She shivered, wrapping an old blanket as tightly as possible around her small body.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything better……”

The one who had brought it was Eren, the low-ranking maid whose ankle she had treated previously.

“No, th-thank you, this is, enough……”

“Here, please drink some tea at least!”

As Partanie trembled, another low-ranking maid, Rita, offered her a cup of warm grain tea.

Shivering from the cold, Partanie sipped the tea and slowly warmed her body.

‘Ah, I might really freeze to death at this rate.’

Dragonia’s winters are harsh.

And the Blue Brick Castle is, as the name suggests, a castle built of stone.

It has virtually no insulation, sometimes making it colder inside than outside.

Without the lambris and tapestries with warming enchantments that had been blocking the cold stone walls, it truly felt like being in a freezer.

[Quest Generated! <Survive oppression and cold.>

*Reward……]

The quest appeared at just the right moment, but seeing it only offered useless rewards, Partanie gradually realized.

Survive, it said.

Which means……

‘I really might die.’

The situation had become so close to death that survival itself had become the goal to achieve.

Goosebumps rose all over Partanie’s body as she jumped up.

She was in the midst of gathering anything that might provide warmth. While desperately scraping the fireplace that contained only ashes, trying to light even a small fire, she discovered something like a stone.

“!”

It was round like an egg, but covered in what looked like ash, making it black and mottled.

It wasn’t extremely warm, but she could feel slight heat from it. Just as she was about to hold the stone to her chest.

‘Wait, why shouldn’t I die?’

They say the way to wake up from a dream is through death.

‘If so, does it matter if I die?’

While Partanie hesitated, the two low-ranking maids called out to her with surprised faces, “my lady?”

“……Eren, Rita.”

At that moment, Partanie finished her calculations.

With a serious expression, she held the hands of the two low-ranking maids and said,

“There’s something you need to do for me.”

The sun disappeared behind the snow-covered mountains. Night fell with even the moon hidden behind clouds.

In that darkness.

“Haaah—!”

Taran, son of Dragonia, who had been lying in his luxurious bedroom, suddenly sat up.

His chest, breathing roughly, expanded and contracted repeatedly. His face, unlike his usual self, was severely distorted.

“L-Lord Taran……?”

His subordinate hurriedly asked what was wrong, but Taran, with his mind in disarray, only trembled slightly without answering.

“How.”

No, it seemed no words reached his ears. Taran clutched his chest.

His heart was pounding madly, and cold sweat drenched his entire body.

“Why, Partanie……”

Muttering blankly, Taran gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. The tendons in his jaw stood out clearly, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Like a terrified beast.