Chapter 3

Half a year after her parents' death, Robiana married the crown prince.

Her belly was already quite swollen, and I heard that the design of her dress caused some trouble, but the wedding ceremony was completed without any issues.

However, as she was about to give birth, Robiana began to send frequent letters.

"Brother, the prince is so annoying, always telling me to study. Please tell him to take care of a pregnant woman. Also, please provide funds for the tea party for your dear sister."

The letters from Robiana were all about begging for money and complaining about her education as a princess.

It seems that Prince Lemuel finally realized Robiana's ignorance and is now frantically trying to educate her.

However, Robiana, who hasn't even learned the neighboring country's language, which any noble can speak, has made the educators give up.

As a result, the princess education is not progressing at all.

It seems that the king and queen have also noticed the situation with Remia and are now focusing on the education of the second prince.

"I only have one dear sister, and that is Remia..."

I tore up the shameless letter in frustration.

Of course, I had no intention of sending money to Robiana, and I ignored every letter she sent.

Despite this, Robiana continued to send letters without giving up.

It seems that Robiana is in quite a financial bind.

The foolish sister, who thought the national budget was her own money, used up the princess budget provided to her in one month.

This budget was supposed to be used for social events like tea parties, not for dresses and jewelry.

She had already used up the clothing budget and even dipped into the social budget.

Her reckless spending has become a hot topic in the current royal palace.

Robiana laments that she can't even host a tea party, but no one sympathizes with her.

Naturally, I don't send her any money either.

I didn't even provide the usual dowry for a princess.

I gave the minimum wedding gift, citing the mourning period.

Prince Lemuel scolded me severely, but no matter how much he threatened me, I didn't give him any money.

In the end, I heard that the funds were taken from the crown prince's budget.

"It's about time to retreat to my territory."

I had just finished handing over my duties at the royal palace.

I plan to move to my territory before Robiana gives birth.

I have been sending people and supplies to the territory for some time now and will put this mansion up for sale.

I don't think the vast mansion of the Duke's family will sell easily, but the fact that the princess's family is selling it is important.

Prince Lemuel is starting to realize that the House of Ackerson is abandoning Robiana.

The fact that not only Robiana but also the prince is trying to contact me is proof of this.

For him, losing the support of the Duke's family is very disadvantageous.

However, it's too late.

Not only the House of Ackerson but also the House of Heinberg, Julian's family, is starting to distance itself from the prince.

He probably never imagined that the House of Heinberg would withdraw.

The prince believed that Julian had stepped aside for the sake of the two people he loved.

As a result, the various families that supported the Crown Prince are beginning to hesitate.

Rumors of the second prince becoming the Crown Prince are spreading.

On the other hand, several families are approaching the prince.

They see the opportunity to send a concubine to the prince now that Robiana's family has abandoned her.

Thanks to this, Robiana is having a stressful time.

She probably spent money on dresses and jewelry to win the prince's favor.

In the midst of this, a letter suddenly arrived for me.

The sender was the second son of a baron's family who had worked in the castle and served as the prince's attendant for many years.

He sent a letter stating that he was retiring to his territory, but the content was something I never expected.

"The prince ordered me to prepare a certain poison. It looks like just an herb."

My fingers trembled unconsciously at the sentence that followed the seasonal greeting.

"The prince ordered me to give it to the late Duke of Ackerson. He told me to let Remia choose whether to drink it or sign it... The prince thought that if I said that much, she would sign it, but it ended up as you know."

"Then, Remia... did it herself..."

I couldn't breathe from the shock.

I never thought Remia would take her own life.

"No, but, Father didn't do anything..."

If Remia had really taken the poison herself, Father would have used it as an excuse.

But Father admitted to using the poison.

This means that due to a misunderstanding, or rather, a wrong interpretation of the prince's words, Remia was poisoned.

It was indeed strange for the timid Father to choose such a method.

But if he had the prince's backing, it would be different.

Father must have chosen to abandon Remia because he thought he had the prince's support.

"But, even if Father was shallow, would he have made such a mistake...?"

As if answering my question, the letter continued.

"However, I could not directly tell the Duke about it. When I met Robiana at the entrance, she said she would listen to the story and told it to the Duke before I could. I initially refused, saying it was not something to be told to a young lady, but Robiana said it concerned her as well. When I refused, she hinted at pressure on my sister at home.

If the next princess was targeted, my sister would have no future. I had no choice but to give the prince's message and the poison to Robiana.

But now I regret it.

Prince Lemuel believes that Remia took the poison herself, but I can't think that about the Robiana I knew. She was very angry that Remia wouldn't sign it. She was very concerned about the size of her wedding dress, wanting to get married before her belly grew. I don't think she would have told the Duke the prince's message as it was.

...I am afraid of Robiana.

I can't help but think that she doesn't understand that her words and actions could lead to someone's death."

Therefore, he wrote that he retired from his position as an attendant and retreated to his territory.

Sending the letter to me, who is rumored to be at odds with Robiana, was his last job, or rather, his confession.

"Robiana...!"

The one who directly acted was undoubtedly Father.

So I thought Robiana knew nothing.

I always thought Father did it on his own, out of affection for Robiana.

But what if Robiana had changed the prince's message?

Even if she didn't mean to, if she said, "The prince said to use this," without proper explanation, Father would have misunderstood.

He would have thought it was an order to use the poison, not a threat.

"Robiana...! Was it you? Was it you...!"

I can't forgive the prince for using the poison as a threat.

I can't forgive Father for poisoning her.

But if Robiana was the root of all evil, leading both of them to such foolish actions?

"If you weren't there, Remia wouldn't have been engaged to be broken...! If you hadn't said anything, Remia wouldn't have died!"

Even in this situation, Robiana was the only family I had left.

That's why I didn't do anything to her.

I knew that doing nothing was the best punishment for her.

In fact, without the support of the Duke's family, she was in a very difficult situation.

The family's wealth was related to her qualifications as a queen.

So, as agreed with the deceased Father, I did nothing for Robiana.

Until I received this letter, I was willing to forgive Robiana for this.

But now, I have no such feelings left.

The fact that we share the same blood is just painful.

I want to drain every drop of this blood from my body.

"Oh, right... I'll drain this blood... Every last drop... Yes, I'll use it all..."

And so, I disposed of everything the Duke's family owned in the capital and headed to the villa where Julian was.