My Beloved Oppressor - Chapter 114

You’re at the end of the downfall

Description

Kaela, who was coldly treated by her husband who loved another woman, and died miserably in a war with her husband’s stepfather and uncle, the emperor.

Her death made her happy. She died willingly, but when she opened her eyes, she went back to before she was married again.

She fled desperately, this time avoiding her death, but she ended up marrying her husband again and went back to the cold north.

Let’s just give up.

Now that she had no regrets and was only looking for a chance to die, strangely, her husband started to protect and loved her dearly.

It was useless. Only death would bring her peace, so she decided that this time she must die properly.

For some, it’s a boring life with no regrets, but for others, it’s a miserable penitence.

The couple who should be separated was forced to be together, the wife who wanted death, and the husband who wanted her.

In the end, either side was doomed to madness.

***

Chapter 1.1

At the northeast end of Lussenford, the northernmost part of the Crania Empire, there was an abandoned tower where the criminals were confined at the border crossing with the realm of evil dragons that should never be crossed.

In it lay Grand Duchess of Lussenford. Only twenty-five, she awaited her death, with her hair falling out and only her bones and skin remained.

It was only cold and pain.

When was the last time food came in? It was difficult for her to even think now with her brain weakened by not eating anything. She drank water by melting the snow, but that was no longer enough.

Kaela, traitor of the north, pawn of the imperial faction, cunning sorceress, and so on, nicknamed as such, the Grand Duchess of Lussenford, would end up dying of starvation, locked in a tower where only outside wind could come in and no way out.

Her husband, Grand Duke of Lussenford, he himself imprisoned her in this tower, so it was probably her husband’s order that the food she had been getting was cut off.

‘What did I do wrong?’

Hunger was too terrible a pain, and her head and stomach hurt so much that it was hard to even think, but Kaela kept asking herself.

Because she did not know what she did wrong. Then, it seemed that her very existence itself was wrong. She had come this far as the Grand Duchess of Lussenford, struggling to survive the harsh welcome of the northerners, watching her husband love another woman.

She was accused of stealing information about Lussenford, a military operation area and border post, and sending it to the emperor, separating the Grand duke from the emperor.

Although the Emperor greatly hated Grand Duke of Lussenford, her husband, Kaela had no such memory. So, it seemed that she was inarguably doomed.

By whom?

‘ … There’s someone here who hates me.’

Kaela didn’t know. She was so thoroughly isolated and uninformed that she didn’t even know who had framed her. Throughout her marriage, as a southerner, she was ostracized, being treated as an outsider in the north.

It shouldn’t have mattered that her father, the emperor’s half-brother, died at the hands of the emperor, Kaela was still the emperor’s niece.

The Lussenfords had to fight against the harsh climate, the rampaging evil dragons, and the foreign tribes that invaded frequently, and at such times, they had to rely on the supplies sent by the emperor.

And they hated the emperor, who would harass them in every way possible while withholding those supplies using his power. And Kaela unfortunately had to bear the brunt of hatred that was supposed to be for the emperor when she was chosen to be the Grand Duchess.

The Grand Duke of Lussenford, Hyperion Sabrand Ferraro, the Empress’s illegitimate son, who was hated by the Emperor all his life, driven out to the border, lived a miserable life, and even failed to marry his beloved lover, hated that the name of Kaela de Chassel was inscribed beside his name.

Hyperion Sabrand Ferraro. Even after her consciousness faded after the unbearable pain, Kaela remembered his name vividly. It was hard to forget the name of the man whom she had loved since she was very young.

‘There would be a war.’

The death of Kaela, who was not being treated as the emperor’s niece, would be a good excuse for the emperor who continued to monitor and drive Hyperion with suspicion.

For daring to kill the emperor’s niece and breaking the marriage the emperor had forged. For being ungrateful to the generosity of the emperor who had allowed him, the fatherless bastard, to marry into the royal family.

In this way, several sins could be added at once.

Anyway, the relationship between the emperor and Hyperion, the illegitimate son the empress and an unnamed man, was bad from the start. For the sake of his mother, the empress, who had been imprisoned by the emperor, Hyperion would eventually wage an all-out war against the emperor.

Even in the midst of all this, no other fool could have cared about her husband jumping into the war. He  was helpless, a man who had no power, a man who was too idealistic and proud despite his ridiculous efforts to be anything more than what he was.

‘… ah. One mistake.’

If there was one thing Kaela had done wrong, it was that she never gave up on the man who only had eye for one woman whole his life. He cherished and loved his childhood friend Beatrice Lavalle, the daughter of the Duke of Monde ever since young.

Beatrice, who was held tightly to the emperor just because she was friendly with Hyperion, who loved her dearly and distanced himself from Kaela.

The love was so strange and blind. It’s like, if you compare it, it’s similar to Hyperion’s stepfather, the emperor’s obsession with the empress, and that blindness.

Hyperion could not make it his lifelong creed that he should not betray Beatrice, so he served it as if it were his faith. Such a man, of course, treated Kaela as absentee and ultimately detested her.

Yet, she had always loved him, so wouldn’t it be a sin?

She didn’t know. It was no use now, and everything was so painful that she just wanted it to die as soon as possible. Her mother also died when she was young, and her father was also murdered in vain by his half-brother, the emperor.

It was a miserable and unfortunate life that her father’s title was taken away, she was forced to marry as if she were being sold, and in the end, she was accused of being a traitor and died.

At Lussenford, Kaela tried and tried her best, but she received nothing in return. In the end, death was only natural, only her consolation.

The cold and hunger were so severe, it was rather welcome. She wished she would die soon. She hoped this pain would soon be gone.

Then there was a creaking noise, and the heavy door that had been tightly closed opened.

“Let’s check it out, shall we?”

She heard voices. Lying on her foul stench and accumulated filth, Kaela couldn’t even turn her head in that direction. With only bones and skin, she no longer had the strength to move.

She was the granddaughter of the previous emperor and the niece of the current emperor, and was an honorable member of the royal family, but her end was terribly tragic.

There was the sound of women’s boots hitting the floor.

“Oh. This is troublesome.”

The stench swept through the open door. Kaela’s blurry eyes saw a woman leaning towards her.

‘Beatrice?’

“You’re still alive, Kaela. You see who I am.”

Kaela continued her thoughts blankly as she looked at the woman who spoke sarcastically.

Why is this woman here? Did Hyperion call her? Because his wife became a sinner and she was imprisoned in the tower, their marriage was over. So he must think it was fine to reunite with his long lost lover. They must be very happy.

But, wasn’t Beatrice held hostage by the Emperor? How did she get here?

Oh, I don’t know. Suffering from sickness, starvation, and pain as her death neared, Kaela had no strength to think any longer.

“Poor thing. How can you look like this and still alive?”

Beatrice murmured clearly in a mocking tone. As the daughter of Duke of Monde, she always felt inferior to the fact that she was of a different status from the noble Kaela, daughter of Princess Austen.

“Troublesome.”

It was as if she meant that Kaela shouldn’t be still alive.

“You know, Kaela. The last organ to close before you die is your ears. Can I tell you a funny story? Then you can die.”

Beatrice Lavalle laughed and took out a small bottle from her pocket. Kaela, who was suffering from all kinds of complications due to  severe cold and pain, could not rebel.

“Do you hate dying?”

No. The pain was so great that death was rather liberating. Kaela wanted to die. In fact, she had long wanted to die. Maybe she had wanted to die even before coming to this tower.

“Still, it doesn’t matter. Only when Kaela de Chassel, who is innocent, dies, will the noble and righteous Grand Duke of Lussenford become a criminal.”

Beatrice was overjoyed and chattered wildly.

‘I was tricked.’

Kaela had a hunch. She had been deceived, and so had her husband.

They were all played by Beatrice. But it was too late. Kaela could only watch as Beatrice opened the cap of the vial and dropped the poison into her parched lips.

Far from resenting the thought of having been tricked, she was glad the poison flowed down her throat. She was so hungry that she could even gobble up poison. She would be happy if this pain ended as soon as possible.

Because she could meet her mother and father. She was already insane.

“It’ll be over soon. Until I’m done, I’ll tell you an interesting story.”

Beatrice, the lovely woman, sang ad death flowed down her throat, where nothing had passed for days.

“Very very pitiful and young Kaela. Granddaughter of the former emperor and daughter of illegitimate Princess Austen. You know the one? Duke Austen, your father.”

Did the cold numb the pain? Why was it that she could hear the words of that woman so clearly now, the words of whom she could never catch up despite her short life’s efforts?

“He was killed by my love. His Majesty. Didn’t he shoot your father with a gun?”

The woman called her husband’s stepfather, the emperor, ‘my love’.  She had already lost the functionality to her ears, or maybe she had misheard her? But Beatrice continued to speak in a dreamy voice.

“Do you know why Vincent (the emperor) was fixing his pistol that day when he was with your father?”

The official cause of death of Kaela’s father, Duke Austen, the son out of wedlock that the previous emperor loved, was a gun accident. It was said that the Emperor ‘accidentally’ killed his half-brother, Duke Austen, while tending to his pistol.

Beatrice poured poison into the dying Kaela’s mouth and into her ears. In Kaela’s hazy eyes, she looked very happy.

“That gun, ‘your husband’ Hyperion brought it to him.”

Beatrice, who especially emphasized the word “your husband,” was satisfied to see the shock in Kaela’s lightless eyes.

“Well, it may not be palatable, but only if you play the role of the good daughter in law well, Lussenford is at peace, Her Majesty the Proud Empress is well, and my love is safe.”

Meanwhile, Beatrice spoke as if she were chewing on empress, and when referring to her (Kaela), she spoke as if mocking Hyperion.

“Your husband gave it to Vincent (the emperor) himself even though he knew where he would use it. Surely, where can you get a good pistol? It all comes from this cold place.”

Lussenford was famous for arms production. Elaborate decorative pistols were also popular.

“Because it started like that, well, wouldn’t it end like this? You worked pretty hard all four years, didn’t you? You’re an idiot, and you don’t even know that everyone hates you.”

Beatrice giggled, seemingly unbearably amused. The sound of her laughter was wrathful.

“Sick. It was so easy it wasn’t even fun. The harder you worked as a grand duchess and used your powers, the more you became suspicious, so how did you get caught in such vain?”

Ha. Kaela listened with her brain almost shut down, at least she knew who framed her. Beatrice was behind it. Because of her, she was going to die.

“Surely it can’t be helped that Hyperion is on my side? That man has been my bellwether since I was a little girl. That’s how I brainwashed him. I made sure he would never escape. You and your husband are a pair of fools. Well, I made a fool out of you.”

Beatrice shrugged and looked down at Kaela.

“Poor Kaela. Marrying the man who killed your father, getting no love, and dying unjustly?”

Kaela couldn’t argue with that. Instead, she fell into a pleasant sleep.

Death.

She was greatly happy that the tiredness and pain was finally over.

***