TUSM 2

Chapter 02

“Don’t you dare take a single step out of that room, you verminous bitch!”

With the count’s belated, rage-filled order ringing out, I was locked inside the room. Outside the door, dozens of knights had formed a tight cordon.

…Where did it all go wrong?

“This is driving me insane.”

My vision went dark.

I let out a deep sigh and looked down at my hands. Shackles were fastened around my pale, slender wrists.

They were magic suppression devices the count forced onto Charlotte every time she angered him. They forcibly absorbed magic, and every time I moved my wrists, a sharp, tingling pain shot through them.

“He’s perfectly happy to use me when it suits him, but the moment something like this happens, he slaps on the suppressors.”

Even if she was just an adopted daughter meant to be used like a pair of hands and feet, wasn’t this a bit much? Putting suppression devices on her at the slightest provocation—wasn’t that a human rights violation?

“Damn bastard of a count.”

Honestly, eighty percent of the reason Charlotte became a villainess crazed with inferiority was the count and countess themselves.

If they hadn’t so blatantly favored their real daughter, Leonie, this girl would have just grown up to be a somewhat prickly but highly capable mage.

How often do you find a genius equally proficient in white magic and black magic? There was exactly one such talent on the entire continent—and this was how they treated her?

I trembled with anger for a moment, then stopped.

What good would getting angry do now?

This was all my own karma.

“Ugh, my wrists hurt.”

They already ached from the magic suppression, and on top of that, the tight shackles cut off circulation, making my wrists throb.

“At this rate, I can’t even escape….”

Leonie had fainted from shock, and the count and countess were furious beyond measure. If things continued like this, I’d remain locked up until the emperor sensed something was off, interrogated me, dragged things out in a sluggish trial, and then I’d be executed.

Even if it was all for the sake of the protagonist, I didn’t want that.

“I should turn myself in.”

The conclusion came quickly.

Once a full investigation began under the emperor’s command, I’d be sentenced to death without mercy. But if I confessed, there was room for leniency. If I was lucky, I might even be spared with exile.

“All right, let’s go.”

Clank.

“Oh, right. With this on, I can’t use magic right away….”

I tried to jump up, then awkwardly stopped, conscious of the suppressors.

I’d planned to use teleportation magic, but it couldn’t be helped.

I quietly moved away from the door where the knights were stationed and opened the window. Fortunately, there were no guards positioned directly below it.

The problem was that this was the second floor.

I wouldn’t die if I fell, right?

If I landed in the bushes, I should be fine.

“Hup.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and threw myself down.

“Charlotte Schmidt.”

A chilling voice poured down from above.

I swallowed dryly and bowed my head without realizing it.

I could feel the emperor’s cold gaze rake down my spine.

“Is what you just said true?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Hah.”

The emperor looked as though he couldn’t believe it.

I understood.

If a crazed, rampaging mage suddenly appeared one day later, claiming she’d realized her mistakes and was now kneeling in repentance, I’d doubt my ears too.

But this was my only option.

“As you’ve probably already guessed, I used black magic to brainwash His Highness the Crown Prince. I intended to steal my sister Leonie Schmidt’s place and become the crown princess.”

“You impudent wretch. So it was your doing after all.”

In the original story, the emperor had suspected Charlotte’s crime and agonized over it for quite some time.

Unlike white magic, black magic left no trace.

Especially since the potion given to the crown prince had been developed personally by Charlotte, and the spellwork itself was exquisitely subtle and precise—it was virtually impossible to find evidence.

Charlotte had brazenly mocked the emperor and the count couple, saying, “If His Highness’s heart simply changed, what can I do about it?” and playing dumb.

When the emperor finally uncovered the truth and summarily sentenced Charlotte to death, it was likely because the drawn-out investigation had thoroughly worn down his patience.

I couldn’t let it come to that.

I bowed my head obediently.

“I committed a crime deserving of death. I have nothing to say in my defense. Moreover, I deeply repent for the chaos I caused in the capital and for tormenting the nobles and spreading fear through various forms of magic.”

“Hah. What a poor performance. You don’t think words like that can wipe away the countless evils you’ve committed, do you?”

The emperor growled.

“Why are you saying this? Are you trying to spin some new deceit with that wicked tongue of yours?”

He was terrifying.

It seemed Charlotte truly frightened him, if he was still so suspicious even now.

Then again, considering that in the original story he executed Charlotte and even burned her corpse to ashes, it wasn’t surprising.

I thought for a moment, then answered.

“Because I want to live.”

“What did you say?”

“Everyone wants me dead. If not for the House of Schmidt, my life would have been taken long ago.”

The villainess Charlotte.

Charlotte who deserved to die.

That was how people spoke of her. When she was executed on the guillotine and her body burned, everyone cheered in unison.

No one mourned her death.

Not a single person.

“I got tired of living like that.”

Of course, the biggest reason was Leonie and Fabian’s love line—but it was also true that I didn’t want to repeat Charlotte’s miserable death, the sore spot that haunted me throughout the writing process.

So banish me already.

You go on and be happy in your way.

I’ll find my own way to live.

“You brazen thing. You run before the emperor to confess your crimes, and now you beg for your life—how utterly ridiculous.”

“It’s not only to beg for my life. If I die before the brainwashing on His Highness the Crown Prince is undone, there’s no telling what side effects might occur. This magic slowly fades as I grow distant from His Highness. So please, allow me—”

That was when it happened.

“Let me go! I’m going to Charlotte!”

A commotion erupted beyond the door, and Fabian appeared, dragging a line of knights behind him. When he saw me kneeling before the emperor, his face crumpled in anguish.

“Charlotte…!”

Oh no.

Why is he here?

“Why are you here? This is all a conspiracy. Others may not know, but I do. These feelings aren’t fake. I love you!”

“Your Highness, you mustn’t do this. Your mind and body are not yet stable!”

“Silence!”

At Fabian’s shout, I squeezed my eyes shut.

This is bad. Really bad.

Charlotte, why are you so strong?

Is it even okay for the brainwashing to be this severe?

“I told you, the only one I truly love is you. Then why are you destroying yourself like this? What does a mere political marriage even matter—!”

He was saying something incredibly dangerous.

I hurriedly glanced at the emperor. The anger that had eased just a little was flaring up again.

No!

I’d been persuading him so well until now. At this rate, I’d lose everything!

“Crown Prince, what on earth is this disgraceful behavior—”

“No, Your Majesty!”

“Charlotte?”

“Yes, I did brainwash him. You became strange after drinking tea with me, didn’t you? I mixed the potion. If it wasn’t me, who else could it be? I’m very good at brainwashing magic. Once you wake up properly, you’ll regret what you’re doing right now.”

So please, just go away.

“Lies!”

“What will you do if the brainwashing really is undone….”

“Then answer me this. Why did you turn yourself in? If your brainwashing is real, you could have simply taken me for yourself!”

So he wasn’t going to leave quietly.

I really didn’t want to say this much.

But there was no helping it.

“…Why did I turn myself in, you ask?”

“Yes! Why, exactly—!”

“Because you feel like my child.”

Fabian froze.

The knights trying to restrain him, and even the emperor gripping his fist on the throne, all fell silent and stared at me.