So I Was the Persecuted Grand Duchess Destined to Die? Chapter 132

Chapter 132

The mood shifted so abruptly that I swallowed without thinking.

Truthfully, a corner of my heart still felt heavy.

Because on that day—beneath the griffin’s corpse in the underground shelter—
it wasn’t only the High Priest and the Empress who were crushed.

That day…

Xavier had pulled me away so urgently that I never saw Felix’s end.

I’d simply assumed he, too, had been buried under the cold stone with his parents—
and for several nights afterward, I could only lie awake, quietly praying for his soul.

‘…Could their bodies be kept here?’

With that uneasy premonition, I followed where Xavier led.

The heavy sound of his boots cut through the damp underground air, echoing with every step.

And then, the place we arrived at was—

“…Xavier. This is…?”

“The official imperial underground prison.”

Xavier answered evenly.

It resembled the place I’d been locked up when Raphael captured me—
but this one was different. Knights stood guard in organized positions, and there were resident wardens.
Everything looked systematically maintained.

Then Xavier stopped before a set of iron bars.

And the moment I saw the person inside, I sucked in a sharp breath.

“…Your Highness, the Second Prince…?”

“R-Renée?”

Felix stared back at me with the same disbelief.

I’d thought he was dead—

Yet there he was, undeniably alive.

His complexion was ghostly pale, and dried blood stained the bandages wrapped around his body…
but he was breathing.

Propped against the wall, he began to crawl—slowly, awkwardly—toward the bars.

I knelt too, studying his condition as he drew nearer.

“How… are you alive? I truly believed you’d died—I—”

My voice shook.

Felix clutched the bars and forced the words out.

“I… don’t know how I’m alive either. I just woke up… and I was here. I can’t remember much from right before.”

“Just before the griffin’s corpse fell, your mother shoved you aside and saved you.”

Xavier’s low voice rang through the cold prison.

“…What?”

Felix looked up at Xavier, stunned.

“More precisely—right before the carcass landed on your parents, she forced you into a small gap between a pillar and the ground.”

“T-Then Mother…?”

“With the High Priest, she died there.”

“…I see. Haha. In the end… I knew it would be like that.”

The strength drained from Felix’s hands.

Moisture welled in his turquoise eyes.

It seemed he hadn’t received any information at all while he’d been here.

A thin, trembling sound—almost a sob—escaped him.

I bit my lip as I watched him.

I was relieved he’d survived—truly.

But at the same time, the brutal reality of his situation made it hard to speak.

As an accomplice’s son—left behind as a criminal—Felix would never escape calls for execution.

And yes, Felix’s help had been decisive in bringing everything to an end…

But the nobles who’d witnessed the rebellion with their own eyes would never leave him alone.

Even Callian and Xavier couldn’t simply ignore the aristocracy’s fury.

“Haha… so now I just wait to be executed, is that it?”

Felix laughed bitterly.

His voice was dry, as if he’d already surrendered.

Then Xavier asked a question that seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Felix. Do you know how long you’ve been here?”

“That… I don’t. I don’t think it’s been that long since I woke up, but…”

“That sense is correct. Your life was still in danger as recently as yesterday morning.”

“What? How would the Duke even—?”

“It may help you to know this: His Highness the Crown Prince spared no effort to keep you alive—medicine, and even healing magic requested from a dragon. You were hidden from the nobles in the deepest chamber of the Crown Prince’s residence, treated by the palace physician… and a dragon, under strict secrecy.”

“…My brother… did that?”

Felix’s eyes shook violently.

“Why? I’m… a traitor’s son. I shouldn’t be allowed to live.”

“Outside, it has already been publicly announced that the Second Prince Felix died in the underground shelter along with his parents.”

Xavier shrugged.

“In other words, the life you desired as a prince is already gone.”

Then he pulled a thick document stamped with the imperial seal from inside his coat and slid it through the bars.

In a low voice, he delivered Callian’s decision.

“This is a travel pass to a small village beyond the western border. Live there as a dead man, Felix.”

“….”

“Abandon your royal status. Abandon the name Rembrandt. Wander and live out your life in anonymity. That is the harshest punishment His Highness has given you—and his final mercy.”

A thick tear dropped from Felix’s eye.

To a man prepared to atone through death, Callian had handed down something heavier than an execution:

a life of his own.

Tears poured from Felix’s blue-green eyes without end.

His golden eyes—so like Callian’s—were gone now…

Yet the bond between them felt even more undeniable, more visible than before.

It was painfully clear:

They were family.

I slipped my hand through the bars and lightly covered the back of Felix’s thin, dry hand.

“Your Highness… no—Felix. You’re free now. The you who lived as someone’s tool died in that shelter. From now on, go where you want to go. See what you want to see. Live.”

“Renée… Is it really okay? Someone like me…”

“Yes.”

I smiled—steady, even as my throat tightened.

“That kindness you showed at the end, and the conviction you chose—that’s what saved you. So instead of thanking me… promise me you’ll become happy.”

“H-hic… y-yeah. I will. Th-thank you…”

Felix sobbed for a long time.

The sound of a lifetime’s worth of suppressed emotion flooding out filled the underground prison.

With trembling hands, he held the document to his chest as if it were sacred.

Then Xavier unlocked the cell door.

Click.

The metallic sound didn’t feel like restraint.

It sounded like release.

“Once you’re out, follow the knight’s guidance. Change clothes, then leave the palace. And never set foot in this capital again.”

Felix nodded and stood, wavering.

Then he bowed deeply to Xavier and me.

Not as royalty following court etiquette—

but as one human being offering genuine gratitude and farewell.

“…Be happy, Renée.”

With a faint smile, Felix left those final words behind and stepped through the door Xavier had opened.

His back was straight, his steps determined—
as if he’d never look back again.

And soon, his figure vanished completely into the darkness beyond.

After Felix departed—

We, too, returned to the carriage without delay.

The air of the imperial palace was clearer than it had ever been.

The remnants of dark magic that had poisoned the capital only days ago were gone,
and sunlight poured in through the shattered outer walls like a blessing.

Of course, debris still littered corners of the palace, and the gardens remained torn up—

But…

‘Still… maybe this mess isn’t entirely a bad thing.’

Workers were already patching holes in the walls. Gardeners hurried past carrying new sod.

Everything was moving—busy, living motion—
as if the empire itself was trying to make its heart beat again.

‘If it’s Callian… he’ll restore everything soon.’

With that thought, I looped my arm through Xavier’s and headed toward the palace’s central banquet hall.

Inside, countless nobles had already filled the room.

As I scanned the faces while walking toward where Lady Diana sat—

I suddenly noticed something.

Someone’s seat was missing.