Although it was early morning, not a single servant could be seen passing by. Even the guard at the door leading to the west wing was nowhere to be found. The eerie silence was likely due to that.
She squinted her eyes and looked around as she took a step forward.
At that moment, sounds began to filter in from somewhere.
A mix of muffled laughter, groans, and heavy breathing… As she got closer to Lizzy’s room, the sounds grew louder and clearer.
Ariella stood before the door with a cold, stiff face.
A familiar voice slipped through the slightly ajar door, tickling her ears.
“Ah, that tickles. Ah! Please stop, Your Highness.”
“How could you sneak in here and already want me to stop? No way.”
Half-naked, lying on the bed were a man and a woman.
Lizzy and Aaron.
Seeing the two whispering sweet nothings while their skin touched, Ariella hurriedly covered her mouth. She almost let out a sound.
Thump, thump, thump.
My vision swam, and my heart pounded. Lowering my gaze, I saw my dress pooling on the floor beneath the bed.
The golden dress Lizzy had particularly loved. I wouldn’t even know when it had been stolen.
“My, my… You were so demure in front of the young lady, like a priest. Why are you always so unrestrained in front of me? You’ve already had enough, haven’t you?”
“Well, it’s because you’re so beautiful. How dare you compare yourself? A scrawny beggar woman from the streets, tasteless and unfulfilling. Unlike her, you’re soft, supple, and lovely.”
“That’s too much! Calling Ariella a beggar!”
Lizzy burst into laughter. She pretended to scold him, saying how could he say such things, but her expression was overwhelmingly delighted.
“Too much? You’re the one who wants to chase me away after only a few days. And stop calling me ‘young lady’.”
“Kyaat, you tickle me! Your Majesty!”
“Now, ‘young lady’ is you, Lizzy. Isn’t that right?”
“Uh-huh, aah… Yes, that’s right.”
“So don’t hold back. Just one more time, okay?”
My beautiful Ariella. Aaron whispered, his fingers tracing her body.
Thump!
My heart plummeted.
‘Taken.’
The moment I thought that, our eyes met.
Lizzy, nestled in Aaron’s arms, whimpering softly, turned her head and looked directly at Ariella.
And she smiled. A wide, radiant smile of utter happiness.
Bang!
“Wh-what is it?”
Ariella, violently slamming the door shut, immediately turned and ran down the hallway. She didn’t even notice Aaron shouting from the room.
‘Everything is taken.’
My breath grew increasingly shallow, my lips, hidden beneath my hand, trembled incessantly.
‘My dress, my fiancé, even the name Bedford.’
I have to endure it. The vow I had muttered for days was completely erased by the smile I had just witnessed.
I can’t endure it anymore. I don’t need to endure it anymore.
‘She took all my misfortunes!’
The moment I thought that, the emotions I had been suppressing finally erupted.
“Puhahaht!”
It was ecstasy.
A powerful joy that shook my entire being, setting my heart racing a hundred, a thousand times over, filling my chest to overflowing.
How long had I waited? How many nights had I prayed and begged for this opportunity? I had wished and wished countless times for a chance like this.
‘Thank you, Lizzy. Thank you so much!’
Ariella laughed until she gasped for breath, calling out Lizzy’s name as if she were possessed by love, then burst into loud, unrestrained laughter again. Even so, her legs continued to move rapidly.
It was truly the behavior of a madwoman.
And it wasn’t entirely wrong. Even I thought I was half-mad with overwhelming joy.
“Haha! Ahahahaha!”
I couldn’t stop laughing.
The magnificent dress. The fiancé I had been with for years. The noble name of Bedford.
All of these were nothing but unbearable misfortune to Ariella.
Or was it just those things?
Even the family members who shared the same surname, the servants working in the mansion… the entire Bedford was nothing but deep despair to her. A terrible despair so awful that she hesitated to even give it to the one who betrayed her.
But the hesitation was gone, and now only anticipation remained.
The anticipation that she could shift all her misfortunes onto Lizzy, and thus finally become free, lifted Ariella’s body and soul.
‘Finally.’
Lost in the excitement that surged through her with every step, she ran until she reached the terrace.
She knelt on the cold floor, clutching the white railing. She tilted her head back to look at the sky, and saw the full moon.
“Finally, I’m escaping this hell!”
Her voice, hoarse from excessive laughter, whispered fervently.
“Ariella Bedford has everything.”
The people of the Bedford territory and the nobles of the city of Waveland often said this in unison.
The only princess of the Waveland Empire, the heir of Alcestis, the woman who would one day become the moon of the empire…
All the words that described her were noble and beautiful, so her future was surely brighter than anyone else’s. Ariella Bedford would undoubtedly be happier than anyone else.
