Chapter 88: The Prisoner’s Dilemma
Those were the words Enzhe had said to Sue when she had been a child, crying in front of the mirror.
‘Why don’t you try braiding your hair?’
Sue had started braiding her hair ever since that day, because of Enzhe’s casual suggestion. There was no other reason. Just because Enzhe had said she liked it.
And then, the infirmary door opened with a bang. Sue’s heart, which had been calm, started to race as she saw the figure standing in the doorway.
“Noel.”
Sue called his name calmly. His blue eyes, clear and bright like the sky, looked at her with concern.
“Byron.”
He called her name, his gaze fixed on her, as always. But it wasn’t Sue who answered.
“You’re… Ah, you’re the one who’s in cahoots with that insect.”
Enzhe said sharply, looking at Noel.
“Sue, is he your friend?”
Sue felt Enzhe’s warm hand on hers.
She hesitated. It didn’t really matter what she answered. Enzhe would forget about it soon enough. But Noel’s blue eyes were still on her, that familiar, intense gaze. So she had to answer.
After a long silence, she finally spoke, meeting his gaze.
“No, he’s… not my friend.”
Anxiety turned into guilt, and it decapitated her.
Their relationship had become clear today.
Sue Byron was a headless cockroach, and Raines Noel was a boy who should never be associated with such a creature.
And so, to survive the remaining week, the headless cockroach would run away.
***
Sue spent the entire winter break recuperating at her family’s main residence. Eren had forcibly brought her back from her townhouse. She had been touched for a moment, thinking that he was finally acting like a father, since he had insisted on her staying at the main residence. But that feeling hadn’t lasted even five minutes.
‘Peter and Elizabeth are coming to visit! I can’t let my siblings know that the head of the Byron family is estranged from his own daughter!’
Figures.
Sue was actually relieved by Eren’s consistency.
Her doctor had ordered two weeks of bed rest, so no one visited her except for Peter and Elizabeth.
“Sue, how did this even…”
Elizabeth wiped away tears as she looked at her bruised niece. Her husband, Dr. Perlman, who had also come to the capital after a long time, gave her a special medicine he had made for her.
Two weeks later, after her bed rest was over, Sue started eating porridge instead of just clear broth. And around that time, a stream of families began visiting the Byron residence, expressing their condolences.
On the first day, an Imperial messenger arrived. They apologized profusely for failing to apprehend the dangerous individual who had infiltrated the capital and for causing harm to a member of the Skias, offering a large sum of money as compensation.
On the second day, Grand Duke Antique Fritz himself visited the Byron residence. He apologized profusely for failing to protect his student and for the incident occurring at the academy, offering a large sum of money as compensation.
And so, someone visited the Byron residence every day. It was the busiest the residence had been since they had moved to the capital.
On the last day, before returning to her townhouse, Marquess Yuna Vava visited. Sue had assumed that she would express her condolences and leave, just like the other visitors. But Yuna’s words were quite different.
“Our Imperial Knights Division, and the Damon Keron Capture Unit, used Lady Sue Byron, a member of the esteemed Skias, as bait.”
Sue’s eyes widened as she sat beside Eren. She wasn’t surprised by the unexpected revelation. She was just surprised that Yuna would confess it directly.
“We were aware of the presence of the dangerous individual thanks to the report from Sir Raines Noel, the count’s son.”
But Damon had already burned down the Noel count residence and escaped, so they had had to track him down first.
They couldn’t openly issue a warrant for his arrest because of the threat his power posed, and there was also the political problem of the capital’s reputation being tarnished if the public learned about a ‘criminal infiltrating the capital’.
“So you used me as bait.”
Sue said calmly. But she couldn’t deny the humiliation she felt. If his target had been Enzhe Lopetrefer, they wouldn’t have even considered such a plan.
Even to those who knew everything, Sue was nothing but someone who should have been easily trapped.
She finally understood Melaine’s pitying gaze and Enzhe’s strangely gentle demeanor.
‘There’s no such thing as kindness without a reason.’
Melaine must have subtly warned her about Leo Noel. But did she realize that those words applied to her as well?
“We placed people near you and started monitoring you, Lady Sue. The plan was successful, but… the barrier Damon Keron had set up was stronger than we expected, so we couldn’t get there in time. We apologize for that.”
“Barrier…? Marquess Yuna, come to think of it, what was that black fog Damon Keron released before he died?”
Sue suddenly remembered Damon’s final moments. Yuna had been there too, so she might know something.
“The Magic Division is investigating, but they haven’t been able to identify the black fog yet. His body even disappeared… It’s difficult to investigate properly. They’re currently assuming it’s something related to monsters, but I haven’t heard the details.”
Damon’s body had turned to dust and disappeared the moment he died. He had been using power given to him by someone else, not his own magical energy. But the Imperial Family hadn’t been able to identify the source of that power.
“What about the Snake’s mark?”
Sue asked, her voice tense. Yuna was one of the few people who knew about the curse on her, so she understood what Sue was trying to say.
“It’s hard to explain it any other way… but it seems like he received power from the same person.”
As she thought.
Sue nodded, her face shadowed. Yuna watched her for a moment, then spoke reluctantly,
“…Lady Sue, as someone who knows your secret, I can tell you that Vava, Lopetrefer, and Byron have no idea who the caster of that curse is.”
Eren clicked his tongue, displeased. He didn’t want his daughter to know that there was someone out there who was more skilled at curse magic than the Byron family.
Yuna continued,
“The caster erases their memories after casting the curse. That was one of the conditions of the contract.”
“Is it even possible to completely erase someone’s existence from memory?”
“Well, I’m no expert on magic. But that person did erase their memories. And this time, they gave power to Damon Keron.”
“……”
“But you can rest assured. The Imperial Family doesn’t seem interested in finding the source of that power.”
Yuna assumed that Sue was worried that the Imperial investigation would reach her. Sue was grateful that she thought that way. But it seemed like it would be difficult to find the original caster.
‘Finding the caster is the fastest way, either way.’
Sue thought for a moment, then swallowed her disappointment and changed the subject.
***
Back at her townhouse, Sue stretched out on her bed for the first time in a while. She had never stayed at her family’s main residence for more than a month since moving out, and she hadn’t expected to be there for so long.
She picked up a hand mirror from the table. Her body hadn’t fully recovered, but the bruises on her face had mostly faded. She had been self-conscious about them during her stay at the main residence, with the constant stream of visitors.
Sue tossed the hand mirror aside, her strength draining away. She felt a wave of drowsiness.
‘I can finally rest now…’
“Miss! Young Master Shina Fritz and Young Master Woo Acrea are here!”
It had only been a week since she had sighed in relief. And now, she watched in disbelief as two luxurious carriages stopped in front of her townhouse.
As Ten had announced, Fritz and Acrea had come to see her, dressed impeccably.
“We sincerely apologize for causing you harm, Lady Sue Byron Chiqmefriar.”
Shina Fritz, his messy black hair slicked back, wearing a sword with the golden lion emblem of the Fritz grand duke family on his waist, a navy blue uniform adorned with gold ornaments, and a black cloak draped over his shoulders.
He looked dashing as he apologized to her.
“The unfortunate incidents in Löhn and Full Bloom are entirely Fritz’s responsibility. We have nothing but apologies for Lady Byron.”
Grand Duke Antique had visited the Byron residence on behalf of the Fritz family while she was staying there.
But Shina Fritz had come to Sue’s townhouse to personally apologize to her, and it was his own decision. And he was the first person, among the many who had visited the Byron residence, to apologize to her personally.