The Girl Wants to Be Murdered

TL/Editor: Butter Cat

Status: 4/week mon-thurs

Illustrations: none

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〈 Chapter 15 〉 Chapter 15. Aftermath.

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**

One cold winter day, when thin ice had formed.

A precarious sound, like a candle flame about to flicker out.

"......."

The woman paused for a moment, contemplating, then turned her steps toward the source of the sound.

There, she found a child.

It was a truly horrific sight, one that couldn't be described as anything but terrible, even with euphemisms.

Hoo, a short sigh escaped her lips, forming a puff of air in the cold. Without grimacing, she carefully examined the child's appearance.

Bruises and lacerations, as if from being struck by something sharp, covered its entire body, including its face, and its stomach was like a doll with its stuffing bursting out.

"You are going to die soon."

"......."

Spilled water cannot be retrieved. The wounds were severe, and the child had already lost too much blood. Anyone could see that the child was teetering on the brink of death.

If the intention was simply to kill, there was no need to go this far. These wounds were inflicted to torment and toy with the child, she concluded inwardly.

The arrow wound on its calf.

One hand reduced to shreds.

Multiple stab wounds that avoided vital points.

Seeing that the child bore no signs of resistance despite all this, the woman surmised that the perpetrator of this heinous act must have been someone precious to the child.

‘Were you betrayed too?’ the woman asked softly.

Naturally, there was no answer.

"...The outside world... hasn't changed at all, has it?"

".......ㅡ.."

"Always so cruel and brutal to everyone..."

And so she placed her hand on the child's neck.

A slender neck, so fragile it felt like it would snap with the slightest pressure.

Was it out of mercy? But she couldn't bring herself to exert any more force.

The woman's hand trembled pitifully.

"Haha... Compassion, such a feeling is a luxury for me..."

"....."

"Why, am I feeling this way?"

She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again, her gaze filled with determination. There had been a moment of hesitation, but now a life would be lost by her hand.

The grip on the child's neck tightened.

Slowly.

Little by little.

".....Sisㅡ"

"...Whatㅡ"

Just as the flickering candle flame was about to be extinguished.

The child's mouth opened slightly.

The woman, watching, drew back her hand and looked at the child with surprise.

The child coughed up blood, and with it, a single word.

"—Big.sis.."

"....!!"

A moment later, no one remained there.

Only traces of blood served as evidence that a child had drifted ashore here, but even those traces slowly faded away with the flow of water.

No one knew what would become of the child, a child no doctor could save.

**

"I ended up... bringing you back..."

"I should have killed you..."

"From the moment you came here... and saw me.... I have no choice but to kill you...!"

"I don't want to… be betrayed again....!!"

**

A bloody storm swept through the royal palace.

On that day, which should have been remembered as a joyful festival, everything collapsed.

The beloved princess, Aris Akaia, had disappeared.

No one knew the details.

Why she had crossed the fence and entered the forest.

What had led to her fall from the cliff.

Why the first princess, returning supported by the guards, was covered in blood.

Why the second princess was frantically swinging her sword, trying to kill her older sister.

What urgent message the former knight captain and the librarian had brought.

Nothing was revealed. The knights and servants who held clues to the incident all kept their mouths shut.

A kind of taboo.

A forbidden fruit.

But perhaps because of that, it seemed all the more alluring? There were still those who tried to uncover the truth.

And all of them were buried deep underground, never reaching the truth.

Without exception.

A few weeks after the incident, the official investigation results were announced.

The culprit was revealed to be Duke Bate Aquitaine. Once considered a promising talent, he was now a criminal steeped in greed, who had committed a sin too heinous to mention.

After the incident, the Duke was caught trying to flee the kingdom with his wealth.

He vehemently denied committing such a crime, but his words lost all credibility the moment he was caught trying to escape.

There was no trial.

Everyone involved in the incident was arrested.

The maid who switched the earrings for the Duke's down payment. The shaman who imbued the pearls with the curse. The merchant who regularly supplied him with the materials. The carpenter who built the secret room.

After that, all the torture experts in the kingdom were mobilized.

Their first words from their mouths were pleas for mercy, and soon after, they begged to be killed instead.

But there was no stopping.

The experts silently did their job, driven by their own motives.

Gradually, they began to utter bizarre words that couldn't form sentences, unable to make any sound other than laughter, and only after their vocal cords were torn out, rendering them speechless, did the torture end.

Duke Aquitaine, the mastermind, was then hung alive at the castle gate and is said to have survived in that state for three days and three nights before dying.

People said that at first, they didn't even recognize him as the Duke when they saw him hanging. Except for a few with sharp eyes, most mistook him for a sculpture made of leather.

But the moment they saw his name written beneath him, a shower of filth rained down upon him.

And so, the incident came to an end.

Even deep scars fade with time, so the people of the kingdom firmly believed that they would soon recover and return to their former selves.

Peace returned to the kingdom.

But at the same time, a rumor began to spread throughout the kingdom.

"The first princess, jealous of the third princess' talent, pushed her off a cliff."

At first, people dismissed the rumor as absurd nonsense. But as time passed, credible eyewitness accounts emerged, and it gradually became accepted as an open secret.

Eventually, all the citizens in the kingdom heard the rumor, and it became the unspoken, yet widely accepted truth. The royal palace tried to catch the source of the rumor, but they were unable to find them.

Instead, their actions only added fuel to the fire, and the rumor spread even further to the point where there was no one who didn't know about it.

A rumor without legs travels a thousand miles.

The rumor spread and morphed, taking on different forms.

For example, that the first princess had always disliked the third princess.

That she had a history of secretly abusing the youngest princess.

That the first princess was the one who brutally murdered the youngest princess in front of the second princess.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Princess Anna's reputation was ruined. But she, the subject of the rumor, ignored it all.

Whether it was because she didn't even want to acknowledge such a low-level rumor, or because the rumor was true and she was too consumed by guilt to respond, no one knew.

One day, the rumors about the first princess spread to a certain tavern. The knights, alerted by a tip, came to investigate, but the drunkards who had been spreading the rumors had already vanished.

And so, another day passed in the kingdom.

**

*IF.*

If Remi had caught Aris at the cliff.

"Aaah... Aaaaaah....!! Someone, anyone, please come quickly—!!!!!"

"....ㅡ,ㅡ."

Aris's body, which had always been as warm as her heart, was now as cold as ice.

My hands were desperately trying to stop the bleeding from her stomach, but the blood kept seeping out through the gaps between my fingers.

Drip, drip, the sound of the falling blood drops sounded like the fading of Aris's soul.

The pristine white snow on the ground was stained crimson with Aris's blood.

A red circle, growing larger and larger.

What, what should I do...!!

"—Here!! The princesses are here!!!"

"Hurry!! Quickly!! A doctor, get a doctor!!"

The soldiers soon found us. Their movements, which must have been done with the utmost effort, felt unbearably slow today.

Faster...

Please... Hurry!!

The soldiers gasped when they saw me, and except for a few who remained, the rest rushed off to fetch a doctor.

".....Sis—, guh, Keh, ugh..."

"Aris?! Don't talk!! It's okay, it's okay. It's me, Remi. Everything will be alright, okay?"

Aris's hand slowly reached for my face, fumbling across my body. I forced a smile, trying to reassure her.

The doctor soon arrived.

"It's okay... You'll be fine... Aris, okay? You will be alright, right?"

".........ㅡ."

"Yes... Aris is a good girl... You promised to always be by my side... Didn't you...!"

Aris's eyes turned towards me.

Her jade-green eyes, which I loved, like precious gems, were becoming cloudy.

Her unfocused eyes, not looking at me, staring blankly into the distance.

"—No!"

"......"

"No, Aris... Okay? Aris, just hold on a little longer. They said they'd bring a doctor...! Come on, Aris! Please—!!!!"

I grabbed her hand, which was fumbling across my face, and squeezed it tightly.

Did my prayers reach the heavens? Aris, who had seemed lifeless just moments ago, smiled and looked at me directly.

Yes, you can live...

Aris...!

"Yes, Aris... I haven't finished making the flower crown properly... Right? You promised to teach me...?"

"—Big sis."

"You won't leave, will you, Aris..? You won't go, leaving me alone, right...!?"

"...I lo…ve you."

"Yes, yes! I love you too... Aris."

With those words, Aris closed her eyes and fell asleep, as if all tension had left her body.

Don't sleep, Aris. Open your eyes.

If you sleep in the cold, you'll catch a cold.

You taught me that, Aris.

Right?

"You can't close your eyes, Aris..! You have to open your eyes..! We promised to read books together, to go on adventures, to play hide-and-seek!!"

"......."

Please...

"Open your eyes... Please... Just once... Aris..."

"......."

Please...

"Are you... sleeping...?"

"......."

"Yes... It can't be helped. Aris is..."

Aris didn't open her eyes.

Even as snowflakes fell from the sky, even as the cold wind tickled her ears, Aris slept peacefully with her eyes closed.

The doctors started carrying Aris somewhere.

Ah—

"■■■■■■■■...."

"□□, □□□......"

The knights and maids by my side were talking to me.

Maybe it was because I was sleepy, but I couldn't hear them clearly. What are they saying? I can't hear anything.

Just leave me alone.

Whenever Aris fell asleep, I would always fall asleep beside her. Aris has fallen asleep, so is it time for me to sleep too? It felt like tears were welling up in my eyes.

Sleep?

Yes, maybe this is all just a dream?

Yes, it must be a dream.

A nightmare I never want to have again.

It has to be a dream.

Something this horrible couldn't possibly happen in reality.

I looked down at my waist.

I saw a sharply honed dagger.

It's time to wake up from this dream.

I—

**

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