I received my terminal diagnosis around the time Maxwell and Lilia had grown considerably close.
For Maxwell, who loved Lilia but could not bring himself to break his engagement to a Roam, this must have been welcome news indeed.
My health diagnosis, which should have been kept in strictest confidence, was leaked in an instant and became the talk of the town.
At the same time, I fell into a lingering illness. As if to prove the rumors true, my body lost its vitality. My skin grew rough and lost its luster, and my stamina seriously declined.
I truly believed I was terminal. I never imagined that everything was Lilia's handiwork.
Because my health had deteriorated, everything around me changed, and I was hard-pressed just to keep up with those changes.
Even then, Maxwell seemed to look at me with pity. Not just him—most people did.
They whispered that the second daughter of Roam, raised her entire life to become empress, had ultimately received a terminal diagnosis because she could not shed her inner malice. What a pitiful woman, they said.
As I withdrew from many social gatherings, Lilia filled those vacancies.
Frisian, my older sister who had always been anxious that Maxwell's and my engagement might break, grew closer to Lilia.
As Lilia began frequenting the Roam household in earnest, my parents started to take notice of her as well.
No one in Roam wanted the engagement to the imperial family to be broken. Outside, there were countless wolves eyeing any opportunity to become the crown prince's fiancée in my stead.
In their eyes, Lilia must have been a new means. It did not take long for Lilia to become my sister.
Lilia captured everyone's hearts with a warmth and kindness not found in Roam.
Her education was somewhat lacking, but with such gentle包容力, she would not be bad as empress material—I remembered my father's voice saying so.
Thus, what I had enjoyed gradually passed to Lilia. Friends who had kept company with me were captivated by Lilia's warmth. And as that happened, my misdeeds grew more intense.
I sought to act as I had been taught. By any means necessary, to keep what belonged to Roam as Roam's.
I merely acted as I had been taught.
But what returned were gazes of revulsion and contempt.
My parents, who had given me such teachings, now invoked humanity and moral duty to criticize my cold-blooded actions. Maxwell despised me, and my friends were disappointed in me.
Left alone and dumbfounded, not knowing the reason, Lilia came to me.
"I wanted to help you."
Lilia.
"I did it to help you."
Ah, Lilia. To help me, you bribed a doctor to give me a terminal diagnosis.
"I have the gift of foresight, Anelli."
Her tearful confession was so pitiful.
"You will have a short life. Alone and lonely."
Looking back now, her foresight was real. I ultimately met my end by beheading, alone and lonely.
Perhaps all the 'fortunate coincidences' that dotted her life were 'inevitable fortunes' based on her foresight.
"In that case, it's better for you to prepare for your end while receiving care from many people. I thought if your body became ill, you would stop your wicked deeds."
How selfish and self-centered this judgment was. Upon realizing that this absurd thinking of Lilia's had brought about all these preposterous situations, I felt only hollow.
In the end, even Lilia's judgment served to aid my fate of 'dying alone and lonely.'
"If my fate is to die alone and lonely, I will accept it."
"But if you leave like that, Lord Maxwell will...!"
"But you. Your speech is impertinent."
At that time, she was Lilia Roam. The adopted daughter of Roam who would become the new crown princess in place of Anelli Roam, soon to die.
Beloved by all in society, monopolizing Roam's beauty, the object of the crown prince's utmost devotion.
But so what?
"Bring the whip."
She smiled gently, saying she would gladly accept this if it would ease my anger, and I sneered at her.
"My, you and I are of different birth."
Even taking your life would not be enough to quell my anger.
"One cannot discuss human dignity based on birth."
"What a pity. In this world, birth determines everything in life."
So a fallen noble like you is skilled at such menial tasks, while I, raised nobly, know nothing of them. I believe I added such mockery as well.
It was around then that Lilia's eyes, which had been meekly shrugging her shoulders, turned fierce in an instant.
Ordinarily, Lilia always looked at me with pity. From the first time we met, she acted as if she stood above me.
That was probably the first time she revealed such malice toward me.
"Life is precious. You've received a terminal diagnosis—why can't you realize that?"
"You, who toyed with my life, say such things?"
When I asked back without inflection, Lilia trembled. She buried the malice she had momentarily revealed deep inside again and put on a sorrowful expression.
"You, who bribed a doctor to ruin my body?"
"Ruin? Because you didn't change, I couldn't stop either."
"...So my terminal diagnosis is also my fault?"
She clasped her hands together as if her heart ached and turned her gaze meekly.
Her trembling eyelashes were delicate, and her huddled form pitiable.
"Are you joking?"
The whip arrived just then. The servants handed me the whip, but they did not seem to think I would actually use it.
But I was serious. How could I not be?
With Lilia before me, brazenly saying everything was my fault.
"Ah, miss..."
The servants grew anxious at my unusual demeanor. Lilia's maid, who had learned of the situation late, rushed in and threw herself forward, begging to be beaten instead.
"Drag her out. Close the door and let no one enter."
"Miss!"
"It's all right. I'll have a good talk with my little sister. Don't worry and wait."
At Lilia's gentle words, the maid was dragged out in tears. And I was enraged.
"...Little sister?"
That my whipping did not claim Lilia's life was solely because my ailing body could not endure it.
The maid who had been dragged out in tears returned with the entire family and even Maxwell, who had happened to be visiting the Roam household to see Lilia. The moment she heard the noise outside the door, Lilia fainted.
The collapsed Lilia and the bloodied whip in my hand— it was self-evident that these enraged those who burst in.
I was ultimately imprisoned for the crime of wounding one who would soon become royalty, and Roam, after weighing me against Lilia, chose one side.
As for Maxwell's choice, there was no need to even ask. I was defeated.
It was right to call it defeat.
I admitted my defeat before the execution platform, and I had no intention of ascending that stage again.
"Resurrected One."
A low call came from behind me as I walked, pushing through the crowd without hesitation. I glanced at Samuel standing behind me, then turned my head forward as if it was of no consequence.
"Why? Afraid I'll run? With your knightly abilities, you could certainly catch me even in this crowd."
The central square was the largest space in this city, where various small-scale events were held daily.
From plays praising the gods to minor sermons by priests. It was also a place where countless people wearing pilgrim cloaks like mine were scattered.
Even with dozens of identical outfits, Samuel somehow never lost sight of me. It was useless even when I deliberately changed my appearance with the temple's treasure. I was now certain that his method of distinguishing me was this temple's treasure itself.
Which meant that if I passed the temple's treasure to someone else, I could divert his gaze for a time. Samuel had never met 'the real Anelli Roam' before.
I had long since untied the necklace and held it in my hand. Once this necklace completely left my body, the magic would break, and I would return to my original form. What remained was timing.
I decided not to hide desperately and flee like a rat. If sneaking away was impossible anyway, what remained was to escape openly.
Everyone would know I was disappearing, but what did I care about the resulting chaos? Whatever they did to manage it was the temple's concern.
I chose today specifically because today's event was particularly popular, drawing large crowds.
Today was the day a high-ranking priest would deliver a sermon blessing the pilgrims. The sermon time was still far off, but the central square was already filled with people.
Many believers meant I could hide my body in the crowd even for a moment. It also meant that the holy knights could not recklessly use force for the citizens' safety, and that everyone would restrain their words and actions, mindful of all eyes and ears. It was an ideal environment for me.
"You could have come at sermon time."
"Then I wouldn't get a good spot."
The moment I answered indifferently, a black dot appeared in the sky. The eagle had said the large bird coming to retrieve me would be red, so I would recognize it at a glance.
Was that thing flying so high its color couldn't be distinguished the bird the eagle spoke of?
I rolled only my eyes to check the sky, then gripped the hand holding the necklace tight. If the large bird suddenly appeared, everyone would be startled and thrown into confusion, and in that moment, I would drop this necklace, and the squirrel would take it and put it in a nearby person's pocket or bag.
I mingled as much as possible among those wearing the same cloak as me.
All the while, I watched the sky. This was why I couldn't be certain if that bird was the right one.
The eagle had confidently claimed it was just a red bird, that since it was a good older sworn brother, he would surely help well, but told me nothing beyond that.
As far as I knew, there was no bird with red feathers and a body large enough to carry a person in flight...
At that moment, the black thing that looked like a dot drew a bit closer. Several people pointed at the sky with their fingers, having discovered the flying creature descending like an arrow toward the square.
At first it appeared only as a black shadow, but now red coloring began to enter my eyes.
But...
"What, what is that!"
I stood dumbfounded, looking at the sky with blank eyes. Eagle! You said he was a good sworn brother!
...You didn't tell me that brother was a wyvern.