So I Was the Persecuted Grand Duchess Destined to Die? Chapter 46

Chapter 46

“Well? So did you really push me?”

Renée asked again, her expression unreadable.

She didn’t look furious, but Katharina, already frightened, lowered her gaze once more and began to tell the truth, slowly.

“…You might think I’m making excuses, but honestly… I don’t remember that moment very well. It’s true that I felt irritated, and for a split second I did think, ‘Should I just shove her?’…”

“Hmm.”

“But after that, I don’t remember anything. When I came to, the boat was overturned, and… well. Everyone was saying I was the culprit.”

Her confession continued in an oddly flat tone.

Even as she spoke, Katharina couldn’t bring herself to lift her head.

She was afraid of what Renée might be looking at her with.

But then an unexpected answer came back.

“I don’t think it’s an excuse.”

“!”

“That’s your truth, right? Okay. That’s enough for me.”

The simplicity of it made her cry.

Renée didn’t sound like she was trying to comfort her, yet comfort was exactly what it felt like.

And before she knew it, Katharina’s mouth spilled sincerity in a rush.

“Renée… I hated you. And at the same time… I think I was jealous. I hated you for having everything.”

“Yeah. I see.”

“But I don’t think I ever wanted you to die. When you were brought into this dungeon… I was actually relieved. I thought, thank goodness you didn’t die… thank you for being alive…”

Her words dissolved into thin sobs.

Renée waited patiently.

Then, again, a voice damp with tears echoed through the dungeon.

“I’m a bad person. I lie all the time. That’s why no one, not even my parents, believed me… So why are you saying you believe me?”

At Katharina’s question, Renée only shrugged.

“Because… back then, you tried to grab my hand. I think that moment was real.”

“Me?”

Katharina’s eyes flew wide.

Renée smiled and nodded.

Something collapsed inside Katharina with a crashing sound.

She kept crying, but strangely, she didn’t feel as powerless as before.

“Don’t you think I’m beyond saving?”

“Not at all. People can change. And you… you’ve already started to. The person you need to apologize to isn’t me.”

“B-But… but I should be punished…”

“Katharina.”

Renée reached through the bars and held her tightly.

Burying her face against the smaller woman’s shoulder, Katharina cried like a child, wailing.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Lady Renée… please forgive me. I’ll accept any punishment, anything…”

“Hmm…”

Patting Katharina’s back, Renée said,

“I don’t agree that you’re a bad person, but… I do think there’s a punishment you need.”

“Y-Yes! Whatever it is, I’ll gladly do it.”

“…Whatever it is?”

“Y-Yes… hngh… waaah…”

“Okay. Got it.”

There was a mischievous lilt in Renée’s voice, but Katharina was too busy crying from sheer emotion to notice.

A little later.

“Her Grace is punishing Katharina Hugo!”

“Really? Right now?”

“Yeah, at the hut she used to stay in. Hurry, hurry! Everyone’s going to watch!”

“Oh my gosh! Let’s go!”

Right after Renée returned from the dungeon, the one line she tossed out casually sent the entire grand duchy into an uproar.

“I have to punish Katharina. Bring her to the annex.”

Overexcited servants abandoned their duties and swarmed toward the annex just to see.

And…

“Punishment?”

When he heard the news from Karl, Xavier asked again, unable to hide his disbelief.

He’d left Katharina’s fate to Renée, since it was what Renée wanted.

But…

She didn’t look like she intended to punish her at all. That’s unexpected.

The moment Renée regained consciousness, she’d been running around as if she’d never coughed up blood in her life.

Honestly, he wished she’d just lie down and recover.

But for some reason, he’d become endlessly soft toward her.

At this point, even the fact that she was turning him inside out didn’t feel like a big deal anymore.

Still, setting that aside, he was curious.

What kind of “punishment” would make people gather like that?

Renée had practically jumped out of bed when she learned what Xavier intended to do with Katharina.

So whatever she had in mind would be completely different from his.

“Your Grace, would you like to go?”

Karl asked quietly, reading his master’s mood.

But Xavier shook his head.

He was still the Grand Duke.

The weight of his every step was enormous.

“Maybe not. It doesn’t seem wise for me to go, too.”

“I thought you’d say that, so I had the top room of the west tower cleaned.”

Behind the monocle, the veteran butler’s eyes curved into a knowing smile.

Xavier let out a short, incredulous laugh and looked at him.

“You’re getting sharper by the day. Am I feeding you too much ‘reading the room’?”

“You flatter me.”

With a faint smirk, the Grand Duke stood.

His shoes carried him without hesitation toward the tower.

When he sat in a chair positioned like a private box seat, one that overlooked Renée’s little hut, he felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

It feels like just yesterday I saw her bouncing around over there.

Not much time had actually passed, but the events in between made it feel far longer.

Leaning into the armrest with an interested expression, Xavier rested his chin in his hand.

His eyesight was still excellent. The modest hut was perfectly clear in his view.

It seemed the main players hadn’t arrived yet, only servants milling about in a crowd.

Xavier clicked his tongue, half exasperated.

“Is the grand duchy really that idle? Looks like nearly every servant is over there.”

“I suppose…” Karl replied, oddly generous for a head butler. “But work can always be done later, can it not?”

Xavier snorted softly.

He hadn’t meant it as a reprimand, anyway.

“Fair enough. One chance like this, and it’s gone forever.”

“To be honest, I also want to join. I heard a bit about it.”

Karl dropped the line with a straight face, yet it was a surprisingly provocative one.

At the butler’s uncharacteristic reaction, interest flickered across Xavier’s face.

“You heard something?”

“Yes. A maid named Betty told me the gist of it. It’s… very much like Her Grace, I’d say.”

It seemed Renée had instructed the maids close to her about something.

Xavier’s curiosity sharpened.

“When you put it like that, I’m even more eager to see.”

“It will exceed your expectations.”

Karl chuckled quietly as he said it.

It was tempting to pry, but there was no need.

If he waited, he’d see soon enough.

And not long after, Renée appeared.

Today her long hair was tied up tightly like a ponytail, and she looked surprisingly lively.

So it wasn’t a lie. She really is recovered.

Xavier scoffed under his breath, but his eyes still wouldn’t leave the window.

Renée tilted her head as if confused, spoke briefly with a small maid,

and then everyone’s attention snapped to one spot.

To his shock, Katharina appeared in an utterly bizarre outfit.

“Huh… what is that?”

Xavier let out an incredulous sigh. He’d never seen anything like it.

Karl looked just as stunned.

“My goodness. I’d heard a hint, but seeing it in person is still… shocking. I’m not so old that I’m hallucinating, am I?”

“Ha, hahaha…!”

Karl, who’d been adjusting his monocle in surprise, suddenly turned toward his master at the bright burst of laughter.

Xavier was covering his mouth with a fist as if trying to hide it,

but he was unmistakably laughing.

It had been more than ten years since Karl last heard his lord laugh like that.

Xavier used to laugh out loud only when he was very young.

After losing his parents, even a light smile had become rare.

“Your Grace…”

For some reason, Karl’s chest tightened. He coughed and turned his head away.

But Xavier, fully absorbed, kept his gaze out the window and spoke on, still amused.

“Kh, kh… I never expected her to ‘punish’ someone like this. Yeah. That’s very Renée of her, isn’t it?”