Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Becoming a king required a lot of money and people.
"It's okay, Elise. You're doing this for me. I don't think of it that way. You're doing something noble. You're rewriting history. I'm always grateful to you."
Every time Chase took the money Elise had prepared, he embraced her.
Elise couldn't help but fall deeper into his warmth.
"The king's illness is getting worse. I'm worried."
The king, who had lost his queen and exiled his beloved first son, was ailing but managed to hold his position for quite a long time.
Chase seemed concerned, but his true intentions were different.
'Kill my father for me.'
Elise bit her lower lip. She couldn't bring herself to kill someone.
Eventually, while she hesitated, the king died.
"Elise, I thought you would do it for me."
Chase believed Elise had acted. She hadn't, but she smiled awkwardly. She liked his sweet kisses...
Naturally, Chase ascended to the throne.
Now they could marry. Elise was filled with dreams, but a year after becoming king, Chase distanced himself from her.
"Elise, there's so much I need to learn. So much to do. Can you wait a little longer?"
How many years had she already waited?
There was no reason she couldn't wait just one more year.
Instead, Chase gave Elise a room in the palace to stay.
But his visits to Elise noticeably decreased.
As Chase stopped visiting Elise, strange rumors spread.
Chase and Iris enjoyed tea time, Chase and Iris spent intimate moments in the greenhouse, Chase and Iris...
Elise was tormented and deliberately stayed in her room to avoid hearing such talk.
She wanted to ask Chase, but he had become too hard to see.
As these memories flooded back, Elise felt a tightness in her chest. She clutched her heart, gasping for air.
"Are you okay?"
Regina looked after her. Elise smiled awkwardly and straightened her back. She couldn't afford even the slightest fault.
Many in the palace disapproved of Elise.
Regina forced brightness into her voice.
"His Highness is planning to propose in Aubrey Hall, how romantic."
Aubrey Hall was a sacred place, housing portraits of past kings and the Pope.
Only a few select nobles, royal family members, their direct attendants, and high priests could enter Aubrey Hall. Just being invited was an honor.
Before they knew it, they stood in front of Aubrey Hall.
The grand Aubrey Hall seemed to loom over Elise.
"A proposal just two weeks before the ceremony. It's late, but understandable since it's in Aubrey Hall."
Regina spoke as if it was not her place to understand, but Elise quickened her pace instead of pointing this out.
In public, she pretended to be indifferent about the marriage, but Elise wanted to start a family as soon as possible.
She envied others' marriage news.
Though she denied it, she felt slighted that Chase hadn't proposed.
After today, she would no longer envy others or feel disappointed in Chase.
A faint smile lingered on Elise's lips.
The knights guarding Aubrey Hall's door recognized Elise and bowed. One of them stopped Regina.
"Regina is my maid."
"Only Lady Warton may enter."
The knights were unusually strict today. Elise narrowed her eyes.
Elise was kind, but she didn't tolerate anyone mistreating her people.
She had lost too many already.
'Were they never really mine to begin with?'
Elise briefly thought of those who had passed through her life, then dismissed the thought.
"Put away the spear."
Elise's voice chilled, and Regina stepped forward.
"My lady, please don't. It's an important day. I'll wait here. It's not my place to intrude."
Regina stepped back and whispered in Elise's ear.
"It seems like His Majesty needs some private time with his lover. He's quite the romantic, you know."
It was Regina who had been more eager for the proposal than Elise.
"It's His Majesty's wish."
Elise, hesitating, made the decision because of Chase.
"If that is His Majesty's wish."
Elise looked back at Regina. Regina was already standing under the shade of a distant tree.
"Open the door."
The sculptures of a lioness and a lion, symbolizing the king and queen, moved apart as the door opened.
Elise clasped her hands together. She thought she wouldn't be nervous, but she was.
She clutched and then released the hem of her dress as she slowly entered Aubrey Hall.
"Have you arrived, Lady Warton?"
Elise stopped abruptly, startled.
She had expected Chase to be alone. But inside the circular Aubrey Hall, there were more people than expected.
The sages of the Ivory Tower, the commander of the knights, and even Elise's sister Iris.
The most out-of-place person was Iris.
Elise's eyes widened.
"Why is sister... here?"
Iris wore a cool smile on her lips.
She conspicuously placed her hand on Chase's forearm.
"Have you been well, Elise?"
Elise's eyes flickered back and forth.
"Behave properly, as Lady Warton should."
Before Elise could gather her thoughts, she instinctively curtsied. Her ingrained etiquette helped conceal her confusion.
"Elise Warton, in the presence of His Majesty."
Chase barely acknowledged her greeting, avoiding her gaze. Instead, Iris stared at her intently and said,
"Lady Warton, I arrest you on charges of royal assassination and rebellion."
"...!"
Elise raised her head sharply, her eyes filled with horror.
"From this moment, Lady Warton will be stripped of all her titles and rights, her assets will be transferred to the Ivory Tower. The criminal Warton will be imprisoned in the dungeon."
The declaration, akin to a death sentence, drained the color from Elise's face.
"Your... Your Majesty..."
Her lips barely parted, and the sound that escaped was more of a moan than a call.
<This is a time separator.>
Click.
The door to the underground dungeon locked. Elise was thrown inside like a piece of luggage.
Above Elise's head, a drop of water fell. Her eyes blinked slowly.
Only then did her senses start to return.
The sound of water droplets hitting the stone floor, the cold temperature of the stone numbing her seated hips, were now perceived.
"What on earth is going on..."
Her tightly closed lips parted. Her lost voice returned.
"Open the door immediately! I am Lady Elise Warton! The fiancée of His Majesty!"
Elise grabbed and shook the bars, screaming until her voice tore. But there was no response.
She was utterly alone.
In the royal palace's underground dungeon, where only the most heinous criminals were confined, there were no guards.
Elise stepped back from the bars, one step, then another.
Soon, her back hit the cold wall.
Elise slid down the wall, sitting on the floor.
She tried to think rationally, but it was impossible.
Elise wailed all night. It was a cry so desperate that, had anyone heard it, they wouldn't have been able to endure without opening the door.
Thus, Elise, alone in the cold dungeon, slowly withered away.
The bars only opened after three whole days.
Elise's body was emaciated, and she was on the brink of death when the door finally opened.
"Lady Elise Warton, or rather, now just criminal Elise."
Elise barely lifted her head.
Her once pale yellow dress was so dirty that its original color was hardly recognizable, her neatly styled hair was disheveled, and her hands were raw from clutching and shaking the bars.
"What a sight. Have you finally returned to your true self?"
"Who..."
Elise barely managed to utter a word.
"The interrogator for the criminal Elise, Gabriel."
"Gabr... iel?"
Elise's heart skipped a beat. Gabriel was one of Iris's devotees.
A military man, he had resigned and left when Iris departed from the palace. Why was he here?
"Starting now, I will interrogate the criminal Elise. Elise Warton, do you admit to the charge of assassinating the former His Majesty?"
The interrogation began before Elise could grasp the situation.
"...I did no such thing."
Elise barely responded.
"Acknowledged. Next, do you admit to colluding with the Titrisian prince?"
"Wait! I said I didn't do that. How can you say 'acknowledged'?"
Elise's mind cleared as if doused in cold water.
She gathered her last strength, grabbed Gabriel's collar, and shook him.
"Bring His Majesty here right now. His Majesty knows the truth. His Majesty..."
"Don't you grasp the situation?"
Gabriel, with a contemptuous smile, threw Elise's shoulder, flinging her away.
"Ahh!"
Elise hit the wall and collapsed.
"It would be better for you to admit the charges quietly. You're going to die anyway; might as well keep your body intact."
Thud, Gabriel released his hand. His gesture indicating impending violence made Elise tremble.
"Keep mentioning His Majesty. Do you think he is unaware of this situation?"
Elise's muscles stiffened. Gabriel laughed heartily, pleased with her expression.
Something inside Elise that had been holding her together snapped.
"His Majesty knows everything?"
Elise's lips parted in despair.
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