So I Was the Persecuted Grand Duchess Destined to Die? Chapter 115

Chapter 115

The girl tilted her head and answered innocently.

“Um, the priest uncles said they’d take us somewhere safe, so Mommy and Daddy and Jimmy and I all followed them! Oh! Jimmy is my little brother! I’m Sally. Jimmy cries a lot—he was super scared of the monster—but I didn’t cry!”

I forced a gentle smile.

“Good job, Sally. Then… where are your parents now?”

“Over there! Down underground, in a really, really big open place. Everyone’s gathered there!”

So that was it.

There must be another hidden space near these cells—some large underground chamber where civilians were being kept.

On the surface, it might look like evacuation.

But the fact that priests were the ones guiding them—

That was the problem.

“The priest uncle said God would protect us! So Sally’s not scared at all!”

She grinned, showing the gap where a tooth was missing.

My chest tightened.

If the priests moved them… it was under the High Priest’s orders.

And Raphael Blanche was not someone who protected out of kindness.

The image of the young priest being drained flashed in my mind.

My teeth clenched.

How can someone wearing a human face do something so monstrous…?

But I couldn’t show that in front of a child.

I smiled instead.

“Thank you, Sally. You helped me a lot.”

“I’m glad!”

Just then—

Step. Step. Step.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Both Sally and I went pale.

I raised a finger to my lips.

“Shh.”

Her eyes filled with tears, but she bravely covered her own mouth and nodded.

Too late to pretend.

A figure in priest robes appeared.

And then—

“Renée, are you alright?”

A familiar voice.

My eyes widened.

The hood slipped back.

“Your Highness!”

Felix Rembrandt stood there, face drained of color.

He hurried over and knelt in front of the bars.

Up close, his eyes gleamed gold again—even in the dark.

My heart sank.

“Your eyes…”

He quickly raised his arm to hide them.

But I understood.

He knows.

He knows where that power came from.

I turned to Sally with a reassuring smile.

“Sally, thank you. I need to talk with the priest about something important. Can you go back to your family first? I’ll follow soon.”

“Really? Hurry! Just turn the corner down that hallway!”

She scampered off.

Only when her footsteps faded completely did Felix lift his head.

“Your Highness.”

His wandering gaze finally met mine.

“…Turn around. I’ll untie your wrists first.”

Through the bars, he skillfully loosened the ropes.

I rubbed my sore wrists.

“Thank you. But what happened? The monster—how much time has passed? And Xavier—”

The name caught in my throat.

Felix looked away.

My stomach dropped.

“Did something happen to Xavier?”

“No. The Grand Duke is alive. …For now.”

“For now?”

“The Emperor… has passed away.”

“…What?”

The words hit like a physical blow.

“The monster attacked the palace. The Grand Duke fought it, but in the middle of the battle it suddenly turned and flew straight for the imperial residence. By the time my brother and the Grand Duke arrived… it was too late.”

Tears streamed down his face.

His voice trembled.

“But… there’s something else.”

He swallowed hard.

“I think… Mother did this.”

“What? The Empress?”

The truth spilled out in fragments.

Felix was not the Emperor’s blood.

His real parents—

The Empress and the High Priest.

They intended to place him on the throne.

To overturn the empire entirely.

The plan revolved around black magic.

Monsters hidden throughout the capital.

Anyone who opposed them would be eliminated.

The civilians gathered underground—

Fuel.

Sacrifices.

To move a large-scale monster army required human lives.

My blood ran cold.

This dungeon was only the beginning.

They weren’t just seeking power.

They were turning the empire itself into a massive altar.

Felix collapsed forward, sobbing.

“Renée… what am I supposed to do? What can I even do?”

I swallowed.

“Your Highness…”

“I want to stop this madness! But what can I do?! Look at my eyes! I know now! I know how they changed! This power—it came from those people down there, didn’t it? I’ve become a monster too! I never wanted this!”

He lifted his head.

His golden eyes shone brilliantly—unnaturally.

Pain.

Self-loathing.

Despair.

He doesn’t know what to do. That’s all.

Felix had never been malicious.

Just clumsy. Lost.

“Your Highness.”

I reached through the bars and gently wiped his tears.

“Don’t call yourself a monster. If you truly were one, you wouldn’t feel this pain. You wouldn’t know it’s wrong. But you do. That means you can still choose differently.”

He stared at me as if struck.

“…How? How do I fix this?”

I hesitated.

Alone, I couldn’t.

“Take me to Xavier. Together, we’ll find a way.”

Felix shook his head bitterly.

“You can’t. Mother ordered his arrest.”

“What?! Is he imprisoned?”

“No. My brother stopped that. But the situation is dire. Mother and several nobles are calling him a traitor. They’re watching House Celeste closely. One misstep and they’ll cut him down.”

Felix’s expression darkened.

Then, slowly—

He began recounting what had happened at the palace.