I watched, powerless, as my efforts crumbled into nothing around me.
For so long, I had believed I was doing the right thing — protecting the family name, attending events Elladan had no time for. Yet that afternoon, I was forced to face the truth: my selfish desire to be useful had become a heavy, unseen chain. I had simply refused to see it.
My arrogance had blinded me, shrouding my vision and keeping me from recognizing my own faults. I had never wished to add to my master's burdens — he meant more to me than my own life.
And yet… indignation simmered beneath my skin.
A whisper — then another — rippled through the corrupted minds of the nobles. Their inner voices hissed like grotesque static, and after years of hearing them, I could feel their poison seeping into me too.
"A witch," they thought.
"We must not meet her eyes."
In my presence, the nobles bowed, unwilling to catch my gaze. They sensed the power I carried, the force behind my calm exterior. But it was not only fear that controlled them — it was envy, twisted and rooted deep within their hearts, fed by the madness that ran in their veins. As the dark haze of their malice spread across the royal hall, I alone saw its true, rotten core.
Their voices echoed inside me, whispering curses I could feel in my bones, while my eyes fell on faces of false serenity. Peace and happiness — all illusions. Inside, they were rotting.
"It won't be long before he abandons her…" they whispered in their minds.
"His fate is loneliness."
Such thoughts were impossible to ignore. My gaze swept the hall and landed on the young noblewoman, sipping her champagne and smiling as if she were unaware of the poison she carried. She was not far. Anger surged, a storm I could not contain, and I moved toward her.
Emotion took the reins, and my vision darkened. I could not see clearly as I stopped before her. Knees buckling, blood tracing her face, I turned the very drink she had been enjoying against her, washing away the flush of her arrogance. The dark fog followed me, visible now to all. Faces that had smiled moments before twisted into horror and disbelief.
"I heard you," I said, meeting her shocked eyes.
"I—I didn't say anything," she stammered.
"I can confirm it, Your Highness," another noblewoman interjected, stepping to her defense. "I tried to speak with her all evening, but the Countess did not utter a word."
"She thought enough for all of you!"
Finally, I stripped her of thought itself, leaving her oblivious to the world around her — a punishment fitting for someone so ungrateful and audacious.
Useless protests fluttered through the hall, born of fear at a possible rebellion. Rumors would soon spread beyond the palace, painting me as a demon. Yet all I had sought was justice with my own hands.
As I descended the palace stairs, a cold dread gripped me. Would the guards stop me, punish me for the scandal I had caused? But no one approached. And then I understood.
All along, it had been him who had supported me — not the other way around. I had only been too blind to see it.