“You are a child who brings misfortune,” said Count Katana, Riv’s adoptive father.
Riv’s mother died after giving birth to her. Riv wasn’t as beautiful as her mother, who was a beauty. She was an ugly child with dull, dark hair, pale skin like a corpse, and had a flat body with no curves. She was a tall girl who was not cute or shy.
When Riv was 14 years old, there was a request from the royal family to send her as a maid. Her adoptive father was happy to sell her off for money.
Time flies. Seven years had passed by.
At the age of 21, Riv was about to die. She looked around the old rusted dungeon where she was locked up. It seemed that no one would care if she died here.
‘What went wrong in my life?’ Riv breathed heavily.
How long has it been since she was imprisoned?
It was the middle of winter, her hands and feet froze due to the severe cold that had seeped underground and froze the whole place.
It had been a long time since she last felt hungry.
“I don’t want to die…”
Riv had lived desperately, hoping to be free from this place. She had covered her eyes, ears and closed her mouth in case she knew the secret of the royal family. She has been disguised herself as ugly, so she forgot how she looked.
“Marianne… Marianne.” Riv recited the name of the person she hated the most.
Marianne.
She was brought and locked up here because she knew Princess Marianne’s secret.
“Maybe I will really die here…”
Marianne.
The current Duchess of Sentoren, Duchess Marianne, married the Duke of Sentoren. She is the only princess of the royal family, who married the best groom in the country. No one in the palace knew that the young, angelic-looking princess was actually promiscuous and prodigal.
“Why should I be locked up? Why?!” Her eyes were bloodstained as she pulled her hair. She raised her head, looking at the walls of the dungeon. Only her senses had become sensitive to the depths of this underground dungeon.
“Here she comes…” She heard footsteps approaching in the distance.
After a long time, the maid, Elle, appeared holding a torch. Behind Elle, Princess Marianne was standing in a white fur.
Riv couldn’t open her eyes as she was blinded by the torch glowing in front of her eyes. It was because her eyes got used to the darkness of the dungeon for a while now.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, Marianne’s expression became visible in front of her. Marianne was frowning as she feared her coat might get dirty. She stared at Riv and said, “Did you reflect on yourself while you were stuck here?”
“…Princess Marianne.”
“Why don’t you pray as usual?” Riv choked on Marianne’s words.
“If I do so then will you save me?”
“I can think about it.” Marianne’s lips curled into an angelic smile, but Riv wasn’t fooled by the smile.
“Where did I go wrong, Princess Marianne?”
“I didn’t know the princess was pregnant.”
Marianne’s white coat covered her body, so her body curves were not visible. Come to think of it, Marianne recently wore high waist dresses with no waistlines and no corsets.
‘The Princess must be pregnant for a while now.’
“Okay, so this ugly Katana is the only one who didn’t know about this.”
“You are a fool.” Marianne brought her face close to the bars of the prison’s grid. Her lips quivered as she spoke, “Riv, even if everyone in the world knew my secret, you shouldn’t have. I can’t stand it.”
“Why?”
Marianne did not answer. Riv asked another question.
“Is it because the child’s father is not the Duke of Sentoren?”
Marianne’s face distorted by hearing the name.
“You knew it, Riv.”
Princess Marianne, who was standing in front of her, was the Duchess of Sentoren. But Marianne hated her husband and didn’t sleep with him. She had many lovers.
“Riv, if you know everything, you must die. You know that right?”
Many maids were killed by the mother and daughter; Queen Selina and Princess Marianne. And now it was Riv’s turn.
“Riv, even if you survive anyway, you will live a miserable life without anyone’s love. So it won’t be bad to die now.”
“Does he know about Princess’ pregnancy?”
“Maybe.” Riv looked at the torch, which roared ominously behind Marianne’s back. Marianne’s maid, Elle, seemed to be holding an oil can.
“Will she burn me to death? If I were to die, I don’t want to die this way.”
When she was about to turn her back, Riv asked Marianne, “Princess, do you know who’s the father of the child? You don’t know exactly who it is, do you?” Marianne, humiliated, looked back at her. Riv realized that what she said was true.
“Does the Duke of Sentoren know about Princess’ pregnancy?”
“Why do you ask that?” Marianne got quickly excited.
“It is all because of you! It’s all because of you that I married this terrible Duke of Sentoren, broke up with my lovers, and got pregnant!”
Marianne’s tearful eyes were filled with madness.
“Without you, I can be happy.”
Marianne took a ring out of her pocket and threw it at Riv. A ring thrown across the prison bars fell on Riv’s skirt.
“…?”
Riv picked up the ring. The ring was thick, rugged, and rusted all over. The gemstone stuck in the center also stood out, so it seemed worthless as a jewel.
“What’s this?”
“It is Duke’s Sentoren’s heirloom and Duchess’ ring.”
Marianne seemed extremely disgusted by the ring. Riv grabbed the ring without knowing it.
Marianne declared, “Riv, take that ugly ring with you when you die. I’ll kill you and be free from the Duke of Sentoren.”
“Princess!” Riv desperately called Marianne, but she backed away.
“Riv, just die there.” Riv realized that she was really going to die. It was the end of her.
It was Marianne’s true intention to kill her. She was doing what she wanted to do a long time ago.
“Princess, sa…save me! Why me?!”
“If you save me, I will do anything.”
“Cut off my tongue if you’re afraid of rumors. If I can’t talk, I won’t be able to spread rumors.”
“You can write.”
“Well, chop off my hands.”
“It’s annoying. It’s comfortable and safe by just killing you.”
“Princess!!” Riv begged because she didn’t want to die, but Marianne seemed to be tired of the conversation itself. She stepped back, holding her fur coat, “Just die, Riv.”
“Princess!” As Marianne stepped back, her maid, Elle, poured oil inside and outside Riv’s prison. Dry hay was piled up in the prison and oil was sprayed on Riv’s dress. She tried to avoid her frozen body, hands and legs by desperately moving away from the oil.
“Don’t! Please don’t!”
Elle threw away the barrel of oil after emptying it, lit a match, and threw it on the oil spread on the ground. Flames covered the dry hay quickly. Flames soon exploded the prison cell.
“Sa…Save me! Please! Save me!”
Before she knew it, Marianne and the maid were running away as fast as she could.
“Save me! Please!!!”
Riv’s cry spread dizzily and no one came to save her from the burning dungeon. Riv shook the bars of the prison hoping to free herself out. The fast-spreading flames quickly engulfed Riv and everything present inside the cell. The door of the prison was still closed and no one came to rescue her. Her skirt caught fire, too. It was a bulky skirt. It burnt and dug into her skin. Her lungs were filled with the terrible smoky air.
Riv’s whole body was burning in the fluttering red flame. The pain of being burned alive was terrible. She died very slowly in the flames.
Time passed very slowly…
By the time the fire that burned the underground prison dies down, Riv’s body will be burned to ashes. There won’t be any trace left. That’s when she realized her death.
“Why did I have to suffer such a painful ending?” Her body was burnt and only her soul remained, but Riv felt the touch of the old ring, which she held in her hand. The stone and the rough surface of the ring felt real. Riv became more distressed.
“Why? Why?! Why?! Why did I have to die? What did I do to deserve this in my life?”
“What went wrong in my life?!”
No one could hear her cry even though she cried and kept crying. She couldn’t even reverse her death. It was long after Riv found an uninvited guest standing next to her. As she turned her head, she saw a man in white bones in a ragged black robe. The uninvited guest, who emitted a strong spirit of death, held a huge black sickle with the crescent moon’s seal.
He was the messenger of death, a reaper.
“I am really dead.”
Riv was desperate, grabbing the ring in her hand and tolerating the pain. She was frustrated when she realized that she wouldn’t be able to feel this cold sensation anymore.
Riv only waited for the messenger of death to declare her death. The reaper seldom spoke anything. After a long time, he opened his mouth, “If you could make a wish, what would you wish for?”
Riv didn’t understand what the reaper said. He repeated himself, “Do you want to survive or die and go to heaven?”
Is she given an opportunity here?
No.
This must be her illusion.
Riv thought of Princess Marianne. Even if she went to heaven, it seemed that the pain that she had been murdered by that bitch would not disappear.
She was dead and she had no guarantee that she would be able to go to heaven. Even if she dies, nothing will happen to Marianne. Even if Marianne had an illegitimate child and was criticized, no one would ever point at her precious lineage.
She died a horrible death, but why would Marianne continue to live?
Riv resented everything.
“I want to live.”
She wanted to live like crazy!