Chapter 1

My younger sister is dead.

It was a mercy killing, as my parents called it.

What kind of mercy is this?

I still resent this day to this day.

My younger sister, Remia Ackerson, was chosen as the prince's fiancée when she was eight years old.

For ten years, she studied hard to become the future queen.

The content of her studies was extensive and even more rigorous than mine, who was to inherit the next Ackerson Duke's title.

In contrast, my youngest sister, Robiana, received all the affection from our parents, as if she was taking the place of the two of us who could not be pampered.

While Remia and I were struggling with our studies, Robiana was busy with tea parties and theater performances.

Every time, I felt jealous, but I had to endure it when I thought about my own future position.

Besides, I wasn't alone.

The days of studying together with Remia were hard, but they were also fulfilling.

However, such a daily routine suddenly disappeared from my life one day.

In the study where I was called by my parents, my mother told me something I never expected.

"Robiana is pregnant?!"

"Yes, it's with the prince... "

"The prince? Prince Lemuel?!"

"Yes, they fell in love while deepening their relationship as future in-laws."

Every time the prince visited Remia, he would invite Robiana and me to join in the conversation.

This was also to foster a relationship with me, who was to be one of the prince's close aides in the future.

In other words, Robiana was just an extra.

It was because they thought it would be sad for her to be the only one not invited among the three of us.

"I heard they've been getting close at school recently..."

Remia had complained about this just the other day.

"The prince doesn't have time to have tea with me, but he has tea with Robiana... Why is that? I've been inviting him, but he keeps turning me down..."

"Calm down, Remia. It's probably just a coincidence that the prince happened to meet her during his free time."

"But... the prince looked so happy... When I called out to him, he looked so bored..."

"Remia... It's okay. The prince's fiancée is you. Have confidence, Remia."

"Brother..."

I tried to reassure the sad Remia, but I never imagined that her worries would lead to this.

"Can't it be aborted?"

"Abortion is out of the question! It's the prince's child!"

"But the fiancée is Remia!"

My parents looked at me with a troubled expression as I shouted in anger.

"The prince is... asking to change the fiancée."

"What is this?! What will happen to Remia?! If the engagement is broken now, there won't be a decent marriage for her!"

There was no reason for Remia, who had done nothing wrong, to bear the scandal.

However, unlike me, who was furious, my parents seemed to be in favor of this idea.

"But since she's already pregnant, there's no choice, right?"

"It's not a big problem for us to just change the fiancée. Besides, the prince will find a suitable match for Remia..."

"Suitable? After all the effort Remia has put in for ten years to become a queen?!"

"That's just a figure of speech. The prince will surely find someone suitable."

"But!"

"Felix, this is already decided."

"Father, are you serious...?"

"Of course. We're getting Robiana, so it's something to be happy about, right?"

"But Robiana is not fit to be a queen! If you insist, make her a concubine."

"Studies can be caught up with from now. The most important thing for someone marrying into the royal family is to bear the next generation. Robiana is fully capable of that."

Indeed, bearing the next generation is a very important role.

However, the knowledge Remia had cultivated over ten years was not something that could be acquired by studying from now.

Anger welled up inside me at my parents, who didn't understand this.

But before I could raise my voice, my parents said something even more outrageous.

"That's why I called you here today. I want you to persuade Remia."

"Persuade...?"

"Yes. The prince needs Remia's signature to break the engagement, but she's locked herself in her room and refuses to sign."

"Of course she would..."

In a marriage between families, the consent of the heads of the families is usually sufficient.

However, when the children are already adults, their consent is required.

It seems that Remia is refusing to give it.

"I won't persuade her. Her refusal is her right."

"Felix, please! If we don't hurry, Robiana's pregnancy will show!"

"So what? I don't care if the belly of my promiscuous sister shows."

Saying that, I ignored my parents, who were still shouting, and left the room.

I headed for my sister Remia's room.

"Remia, it's Felix. Can I come in?"

"...Brother?"

After a moment's hesitation, Remia, looking terribly haggard, let me in.

She seemed to be in a very bad state mentally, with a terrible complexion.

"Brother, did you come to persuade me too?"

"No, you don't need to listen to such nonsense. That's what I came to tell you."

"Brother..."

"They don't understand how despicable what they're saying is. Not only did they fall in love with you after ten years of hard work, but they're also talking about changing the fiancée..."

"You're the only one who says that, Brother..."

"Remia, it's okay. The king will definitely stop this ridiculous situation."

"Is that so..."

"Of course. Just look at her academic performance at school. There's no way Robiana can be a queen. You just need to wait for our parents to give up."

"Brother..."

The next day, I visited Prince Lemuel to ask why this was happening.

"Good to see you, Felix. I was just about to call you."

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Can you also persuade Remia? The king said he won't recognize the marriage with Robiana unless she agrees."

"Of course, that's only natural."

The king is indeed against this.

So Remia just needs to wait for the situation to improve.

"By the way, why did you approach Robiana? She's not fit to be a princess, let alone a future queen."

"If you're talking about studies, it's not a problem. She can catch up from now."

"Are you serious? It took Remia ten years."

"That's because Remia is incompetent. It shows how bad her head is that she took ten years for something so simple."

"...What are you saying?"

The education for a queen is not something that can be handled with something as simple as "that."

It requires knowledge of not only one's own country but also the languages of at least eight neighboring countries, as well as a deep understanding of their geography and culture. It's not something that can be learned with ordinary studies.

However...

"Learning foreign languages can be done in three months. Remia, on the other hand..."

Interrupting my attempt to argue, the prince began to complain about Remia.

But his words were far from acceptable, and I could only stare at him in shock.

Then I suddenly remembered.

The prince is very talented.

That's why he has been judging Remia by his own standards and looking down on her as an idiot all along.

"If she's stupid, she should at least be charming. She just sits there drinking tea with a composed face. Compared to her, Robiana is a comfort to me."

What's your point?

I swallowed my retort, but my hands shook with anger at the prince's words.

"So, Felix, can you also persuade Remia? I'll find a suitable match for her, so that's fine, right?"

The prince also used the word "suitable," just like my father.

I bit my lip to stop myself from shouting.

Even if I said something, I would get the same answer as from my father.

I even considered the possibility that the prince had a deeper reason, but his words made me realize how naive that thought was.

"I can't understand why that's fine, so I'll take my leave."

"Hey, Felix?!"

I couldn't bear to listen to the prince any longer.

Now, I could only hope that the king would stop this.

But the situation took a sudden turn, mocking my naive hope.

"Remia... Remia is dead..."

"Yes, we just received the news by messenger."

Breathless, I received the news of my sister's death while I was away on a week-long inspection of the territory.

Suicide...?

I tried to dismiss the thought, and the messenger whispered that it was due to an epidemic.

I rushed back to the capital, taking whatever I could find.

I prayed it was a false alarm many times on the way, but when I finally arrived, the mansion was silent with grief.

"Remia...?"

"Welcome back, Master Felix. Remia is in her room."

I handed my coat to the butler who greeted me and went straight to Remia's room.

I knocked as a precaution and entered, but the room was empty except for Remia, who was lying quietly on the bed.

"Remia...?"

I reached out to touch her cheek.

She looked as if she were sleeping, but her pale face had no life, and the only sensation I felt was the coldness of her cheek.

"...Master Felix?"

"Anna?"

"Yes..."

Anna, Remia's maid, entered the room with a dark expression.

She had been Remia's maid since childhood and was very close to my sister.

Her eyes were bloodshot and clearly swollen from crying.

"Remia's illness?"

"It's just a cold... officially."

"Officially...?"

"...Master Felix, this is..."

Anna gently loosened Remia's collar, revealing scratch marks like welts.

"This is...!"

"...These are the marks where Lady Remia scratched her neck before she died..."

That statement meant one thing.

Remia was not killed by a cold but was poisoned by someone.

"Who... who killed Remia...?"

"One of the maids...?"

"Maids...?!"

"Yes... On the day the engagement was to be broken, Father called Remia and had her drink herbal tea prepared by the maid."

"Herbal tea...?"

"The maid said she didn't know it was poisonous..."

There was one herb I suspected.

Carolina Jasmine, a flower with a sweet scent.

Despite its name, it is not related to the jasmine used in jasmine tea but is highly toxic, affecting the central nervous system.

It is famous for causing deaths every few years when people drink homemade herbal tea.

"Where is that maid now?"

"Father immediately dismissed her."

"What do you mean?! Why didn't he hand her over to the military police?!"

"The maid insisted she didn't know it was poisonous, and Father said there was nothing he could do about it."

"That's ridiculous..."

"Father said such a scandal was not befitting the Duke's family..."

"So that's why it was made to look like an epidemic?!"

"Most likely, but it's also possible that the maid was acting on Father's orders..."

According to Anna, the maid who was dismissed was planning to leave soon anyway.

Moreover, only Remia drank the herbal tea, even though my parents were in the same room and did not drink it.

It was clear that there was an intention to make Remia drink the tea from the beginning.

It was highly likely that they resorted to violence out of frustration with Remia's refusal to break the engagement.

"Since Lady Remia's death, no one in the family has come to see her! They keep making excuses about the disease spreading, and today they went to the castle with Robiana to finalize the change of engagement!"

"Anna..."

"Felix! What did Lady Remia do?! She worked so hard to become a queen since she was a child...!"

Anna, who had been supporting Remia since Robiana's pregnancy was discovered, clung to Remia's body and broke down in tears.

For her, this was something she could never accept.

And I felt the same way.

Why did Remia have to accept such a humiliating death?

Was this the result of ten years of hard work?

If they had wanted Robiana to be the fiancée from the beginning, she wouldn't have had to endure such hardship.

She wouldn't have been poisoned.

"Poison... Yes... Poison..."

"...Master Felix?"

"Remia was trained to build up resistance to poison from a young age to marry into the royal family..."

"Oh, that's right..."

Carolina Jasmine is indeed a highly toxic herb.

But Remia, who had undergone training, should not have died immediately.

If a doctor had been called immediately and given an antidote, she might have been saved.

In other words...

"...They... They left Remia to suffer...!"

Anger clouded my vision.

I grabbed a cushion nearby and threw it at the wall.

I knew it wouldn't change anything, but I couldn't suppress the anger that was rising inside me.

"Why?! Why do you hate your own daughter so much?!"

"...Master Felix..."

"Why...?!"

I pounded the wall with my fists, over and over again.

But no matter how much I did, I couldn't suppress the anger that was rising inside me.

"Remia..."

I don't know how long I did that.

When the anger finally subsided, what was left was deep sorrow.

I clung to my sister's body and cried.

I cried and cried...

Even when my tears dried up, I stayed by her side, looking at her face and calling her name.

But no matter how much I called, Remia's eyes would never open again.

"Master Felix"

"Robert...?"

The butler Robert came to fetch me after I spent the night in Remia's room.

He had come to prepare for Remia's funeral, which was to take place in a few hours.

"Fill the coffin with flowers..."

"Understood."

Robert had arranged all the funeral preparations.

My father had left everything to Robert and did nothing for his own daughter's funeral.

As a result, the funeral was a very simple affair.

To make it look like she died of an epidemic, no friends were invited, and the only attendees were my parents, my sister Robiana, and Prince Lemuel, the former fiancé.

He seemed to be there out of courtesy, but he was always by Robiana's side, and I wanted to criticize whether he had come as Remia's fiancé.

But it was too late now.

No matter how much I complained to him, Remia wouldn't come back.

"What a farce..."

"Yes, indeed..."

Robert, the butler, bowed his head and said that.

A few days later, Robert left the Duke's family.

After that, several other servants, including Anna, also resigned.

None of them wanted to stay in a house filled with memories of Remia.

Some left immediately, but a few agreed to my persuasion and went to the territory to support me instead of my father.

From now on, they would support me, not my father.

After seeing off the last person to the territory, I visited my father's study with a letter in hand.

To give him his final judgment.

"Felix, what is this about?"

"First, this..."

"What is this?"

"It's a letter I wrote."

The letter I gave to my father detailed the poisoning of Remia.

It started with the prince's misconduct with Robiana and the engagement break.

And the brutal act of poisoning Remia, who refused to break the engagement.

"You, how dare you write such nonsense!"

"Nonsense? If you think so, that's fine."

"What? Don't joke, Felix!"

I stared coldly at my father, who was raging, and gave him my final ultimatum.

"I have written fifty-three copies of this letter, sealed with the Ackerson Duke's wax, and entrusted them to trusted friends."

"Did you send them?!"

"No, I haven't sent them yet."

My father, who had fallen silent, was trembling as he considered my words.

He was not so foolish as to not understand the meaning of my words.

"If you send this, you will destroy yourself..."

"So what?"

I didn't care about a life without Remia.

My parents would probably kill me if it became inconvenient for them.

I had come to understand that through this incident.

"No noble would believe such a ridiculous letter without evidence."

"True, there is no evidence. But many nobles are already suspicious about Remia's suspicious death."

"What do you mean...?"

"The prince and Robiana tried to keep it a secret, but they were the subject of rumors at school. They were always affectionate and didn't care about the people around them, so it's only natural..."

"I can't believe it..."

"Some women even warned them, but Robiana always said, 'We're just deepening our relationship as future in-laws.' It's a sick relationship for in-laws to have a child together."

I laughed, and my father turned pale and fell silent.

"Everyone must have thought, 'Probably suicide...' And when my letter arrives at such a time..."

"Felix..."

Even without evidence, they would be exposed to curious eyes wherever they went.

At balls, tea parties, hunting parties... How would it feel to be whispered about as a child killer?

You might think they could just avoid such events, but they couldn't.

With Robiana as the prince's fiancée, there were already more than ten official events scheduled.

"...Robert?"

"What about him?"

"He's the one you entrusted the letter to! I know you hired him in the territory!"

"Yes, that's right. I hired Robert because he's too excellent a butler to let go. By the way, the nobles I entrusted the letter to are supporters of the second prince."

"Supporters of the second prince...?"

"Do you understand what I mean, Father?"

My father, who had lost his words and stared at me in a daze, returned a sly smile.

"If my letter circulates, the prince's scandal is inevitable."

"You, you're betraying the family?!"

"I'm not betraying anyone. You and the prince were the ones who abandoned Remia first."

"So what! It's just a change of fiancée. Remia was being stubborn. If you had persuaded her properly, this wouldn't have happened!"

"...Yes, you