Chapter – 12
“What?”
“It means you’d better be prepared for the consequences before you let your mouth run like that.”
Luciena stepped away from the well and folded her arms.
“Was your name Chellin? Tell me… are you willing to stake your life on what you just said?”
Luciena’s voice had dropped so low that both Reshuna and Chellin flinched.
“You’re daring to accuse the Count’s daughter—the very young lady you serve—of being a criminal. Ah, perhaps staking your life is too much. Then at the very least, you’re prepared to lose your job in this estate over those words, aren’t you? Right?”
“T-That’s…”
Chellin looked thoroughly shaken.
After all, no one present had ever imagined that such words would come from the gentle and kind-hearted Luciena they all knew.
“Luciena… So you’re trying to use your status to threaten those beneath you and sweep this under the rug? That trick won’t work. Are you saying my Chellin is lying?”
“No. I’m saying you shouldn’t accuse someone based on mere suspicion. Besides, what would I gain from ruining your vegetable garden?”
“There are plenty of reasons! You’ve hated me ever since we were children!”
For a moment, Reshuna’s words stole Luciena’s breath.
After letting out a quiet sigh, she continued.
“…We’ll talk about that later, Sister. But getting back to the main issue—I know who the culprit is. I saw them with my own eyes. That’s undeniable proof that I wasn’t the one who destroyed your garden.”
“You’re the one who did it, and now you have the nerve to say that? How shameless!”
“If there’s another witness besides me… would you believe it then?”
The moment the word witness was spoken, Chellin visibly panicked.
Luciena calmly called out,
“…Fioda, come out.”
At her words, Fioda emerged from behind one of the building’s pillars, where she had been hiding.
Luciena had asked her earlier to secretly watch if any commotion broke out in the corridor, and Fioda had done exactly as instructed.
“Your own maid is your witness? The two of you could’ve planned your story beforehand! How can anyone believe that?”
“And yet you brought your own personal maid as your witness first. You’re hardly in a position to criticize.”
Reshuna’s face flushed with embarrassment.
She had never once in her life seen Luciena stand her ground like this.
No matter how much she struggles, the sister standing before me is still only a seventeen-year-old girl.
Luciena had died and returned over a hundred times.
Compared to the seventeen-year-old standing before her, her soul had become incomparably stronger.
“Fioda, tell them what you saw.”
“Yes, Miss. We were taking a walk through the garden this morning when we happened to come this way… and there it was! A deer was completely wrecking the garden!”
“A deer…? That’s a lie! You two did it yourselves, and now you’re blaming some innocent animal? Besides, how could a deer possibly get into this estate? That’s ridiculous!”
Luciena had expected from the very beginning that Reshuna wouldn’t believe Fioda.
Smiling faintly, she replied,
“If you don’t believe us, then there’s nothing I can do. Shall we go meet some other witnesses?”
Leading Reshuna and Chellin behind her, Luciena headed toward the servants’ quarters.
It was where the male servants who had gathered that morning to catch the deer were staying.
“Miss Luciena called us to catch it, but it slipped away right before our eyes! Look here—see this wound from its antlers?”
“With winter leaving little food in the mountains, it must’ve wandered all the way down here looking for something to eat.”
“You see all these marks on the ground? Those are clearly deer tracks. It came through that gap in the wall hidden behind the large tree and escaped the same way. We’ll have that hole repaired before the end of today.”
A conflict with Reshuna over the secret vegetable garden had been unavoidable from the start.
So even if the garden ended up destroyed, Luciena had needed a plan that could prove she wasn’t responsible.
She had already instructed the servants to keep quiet about the deer.
If word spread among the staff, it would quickly reach Chellin’s ears, and Reshuna would never have come to accuse Luciena of destroying the garden in the first place.
Fortunately, everything unfolded exactly as Luciena had calculated.
“I-I refuse to accept this! You’re all working together with Luciena!”
Reshuna’s voice trembled uncontrollably with anger.
“Unlike you and your maid, who accused me based only on suspicion, I have actual evidence and multiple witnesses. You still don’t believe me? Do you still insist that I’m the one who ruined your garden?”
As Luciena stepped forward, Reshuna instinctively took a step back.
“Why won’t you admit it? Is it because you were secretly delighted, thinking you’d finally found an excuse to blame me, and now you’re disappointed that I wasn’t the culprit?”
It struck Reshuna right where it hurt.
She couldn’t say a single word.
“…I’m sorry, Miss. It’s all my fault…”
Standing behind Reshuna, Chellin lowered her head and stepped forward.
“You know… is saying you’re sorry enough after falsely accusing an innocent person without a shred of evidence?”
The servants quietly swallowed.
None of them had ever seen Luciena wearing such a cold expression before.
“…I’m truly sorry.”
“It’s too late for that. When I told you I was innocent, you should’ve backed down. Instead, you and my sister insisted until the very end that I was guilty. Why should I forgive either of you?”
Neither Reshuna nor Chellin could answer.
“You both remember the condition you agreed to if I turned out not to be the culprit, don’t you?”
Luciena turned back with a smile.
Reshuna lowered her head and muttered,
“…P-Please… if only for my sake as your older sister… spare her.”
“And if I do? What exactly do I gain? Can you guarantee you’ll never insult me like this again? I don’t feel a single ounce of sincerity in your apology.”
“……”
Reshuna bit down hard on her lip, unable to answer.
Then—
“Yes, Miss! I swear I’ll never be so disrespectful to you again. Please…!”
Chellin lowered her head and dropped to her knees.
Tears streamed from the proud maid’s eyes.
Watching beside her, Reshuna’s face instantly flushed bright red.
This is getting dangerously close.
Luciena instinctively felt that if she pushed any further…
Reshuna’s rage—and her curse—might prevent Luciena from surviving the night.
“Are those tears of yours really worth believing?”
“Yes, Miss Luciena! I promise it will never happen again!”
Chellin eagerly seized upon the opportunity.
“Very well. I’ll let it go this time. But if anything like this ever happens again, I won’t forgive you, Chellin.”
It was a thoroughly satisfying victory.
*
Before returning to her room, Luciena found herself unconsciously walking toward Reshuna’s secret vegetable garden.
Reshuna and Chellin had arrived before her and were standing in the ruined field.
Hiding herself, Luciena quietly watched the two.
“These poor plants… Is there really no way to save them?”
“Unfortunately… I don’t think most of them can be saved. We’ll probably have to plant everything again in the spring.”
“We worked so hard raising them… Sigh… Damn those stupid deer. Look what they’ve done.”
Leaving the heartbroken pair behind, Luciena returned to her room.
Yet something strange happened.
Reshuna’s disappointed voice lingered in Luciena’s mind long after she’d left.
Perhaps…
This was an opportunity.
A chance to earn Reshuna’s goodwill.
A chance to avoid another meaningless death…
And perhaps even break the curse.
Simply choosing not to drive Chellin away after getting revenge wouldn’t be enough to win Reshuna over.
But if she could restore even part of the ruined garden…
Wouldn’t Reshuna’s attitude soften, even a little?
The problem is… how do I restore it?
Just then, Luciena’s gaze landed on a small glass bottle.
Inside were the star candies Erteo had given her.
Didn’t he say these also have healing properties?
Feeling uncertain, Luciena swallowed one.
Despite its unusual appearance, it had no taste whatsoever.
Since she wasn’t injured or in poor condition, there didn’t seem to be any noticeable effect.
Then…
She noticed a tiny scratch on the back of her hand.
It was only a shallow wound she had gotten while chasing the deer.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let’s give it a try.”
She placed one of the star candies on the floor and repeatedly smashed it against the leg of a chair.
The candy crumbled into sparkling powder.
Luciena carefully applied the powder evenly over the scratch.
But contrary to her expectations…
Nothing happened.
“What…? I wasted all that effort for nothing.”
Disappointed, she flopped back onto the bed.
The moment her head touched the pillow, drowsiness washed over her.
She had stayed awake all night waiting to catch whoever ruined the garden, leaving her exhausted.
I’ll just sleep for a little while…
Within moments, Luciena drifted into a deep sleep.
“Miss, please wake up. It’s time for lunch.”
“…It’s already lunchtime?”
She had apparently slept much longer than she realized.
Fioda, who had brought her lunch, was placing the dishes on the table.
Meanwhile, Luciena stretched before getting out of bed.
“Miss, I heard you forgave Chellin. How can you be so kind? If it were me, I would’ve had her thrown out just for suspecting me!”
Ignoring Fioda’s remark, Luciena sat down at the table and picked up her fork and knife.
“Let’s eat—… Huh?”
Her eyes suddenly widened.
The scratch on the back of the hand holding her fork…
Had disappeared completely.
Just as Luciena had suspected, the star candy possessed remarkable healing properties.
It simply took some time before the healing effect activated.
“This is it! If I use this…!”
Fioda looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing! Oh, Fioda… could you send word to Erteo tomorrow and ask if he’s available to meet?”
Luciena’s face was brighter than it had been in a very long time.
