Going back in time, around when Bishop Malik had decided, according to his options, that the Emperor would present Tenebrei as the culprit. Conversely, among the people, rumors spread that Jeremiah had killed her father. The source of the rumors was unknown, but speculation ran rampant that it had started because Gabriel suspected Jeremiah.
The story, which began to spread through whispers, eventually reached the ears of the person involved. Jeremiah was so shocked by the bizarre rumor that she had killed her own father that she took to her bed. Her twin sister Tenebrei nursed Jeremiah.
"Tenebrei. Have you heard the rumors? That I killed Father... How, how can anyone say such terrible things?"
Jeremiah sorrowfully crumpled her tear-stained face and tightly gripped her twin sister's hand. Then she turned her eyes toward Tenebrei. Her vision was blurred with tears, so she couldn't see Tenebrei's face clearly.
"It's because Sir Gabriel finds you suspicious."
The rumor that Jeremiah had killed the Crown Prince had started because of Gabriel. Jeremiah, who had once admired the knight, found him utterly detestable at this moment.
"That knight just wants Lady Rohanson to be innocent, so he's trying to pin the crime on you. No one else believes it, so don't worry too much, Jeremiah."
"Really? But the rumor has grown so big."
Tenebrei looked with revulsion at the sight of Jeremiah, who normally told others not to worry about rumors, now being overly swayed by rumors about herself. Jeremiah, unable to see Tenebrei's fierce expression through her tears, continued speaking.
"Tenebrei, you were right beside Father. Didn't you sense Lady Rohanson doing something suspicious? If you testify, everyone would know that Lady Rohanson is the culprit."
"But we swapped necklaces that day, remember? It's a secret, Jeremiah."
"That's right..."
Jeremiah nodded in agreement.
Just before the Crown Prince's birthday celebration, Tenebrei had visited Jeremiah and asked to swap necklaces for just a moment.
That day, Tenebrei had pleaded with Jeremiah with a face far more lively and sparkling than usual. She said she wanted to dance her first dance with Father too, but since the Crown Prince only asked Jeremiah to dance, she wanted to dance even if she had to pretend to be Jeremiah.
That the Crown Prince discriminated between his two daughters was an open fact that couldn't exactly be kept secret. The only one who didn't know this fact was the oblivious Jeremiah. Tenebrei's dancing skills were poor, so Jeremiah completely trusted the Crown Prince's excuse that he couldn't dance with her.
"Father probably thinks your dancing skills are still inadequate. First, let's dance pretending to be me, and then secretly tell only Father that it was you. Then he'll know your skills have improved and will invite you to dance next time."
Ignoring the Emperor's words that Jeremiah must never take off her necklace, saying it would be fine as long as it was kept secret, Jeremiah readily swapped the necklace.
"My beloved daughter, may I ask for one dance to commemorate my birthday?"
Just from swapping the necklace, how terribly different the treatment became. Love? What love, when he couldn't even distinguish between Jeremiah and Tenebrei without the necklace!
Tenebrei patiently endured the urge to strangle the innocent Jeremiah right then and there. There was nothing to be jealous of. The golden moment she had briefly experienced would now belong solely to Tenebrei.
"After you sleep and wake up, everyone will know it's a groundless rumor and quiet down. Jeremiah, you're the princess everyone loves, aren't you?"
Jeremiah nodded as she listened to Tenebrei's comfort and closed her eyes. Exhausted from crying, Jeremiah soon fell asleep. Tenebrei confirmed that Jeremiah was deeply asleep and secretly unclasped the necklace. Then she placed the black necklace she always wore around Jeremiah's neck.
Is being foolish and innocent, unable to suspect others, her nature? Or is it merely arrogance from growing up always loved, believing no one could harm her?
Tenebrei left the room, leaving the sleeping Jeremiah behind. A maid covering her mouth followed behind Tenebrei. Walking toward a secluded area, Tenebrei finally arrived at a room that was terribly shabby for an imperial grandchild to use. Having just come from Jeremiah's room surrounded by every luxury, the contrast felt even greater.
Jeremiah had dismissed Tenebrei's room saying, 'You really like simple things, don't you.' Simple? This was the room the Crown Prince had given her. The furniture couldn't be properly furnished because insufficient funds were provided.
Tenebrei recalled that innocent voice and, unable to contain her anger, began throwing and breaking the furniture in the room. The maid covering her mouth watched without trying to stop her.
Only after the room became a wreck and she was exhausted did Tenebrei stop her rampage and receive help changing clothes. While the maid was removing Tenebrei's dress, she noticed the green necklace with a new owner and asked.
"Lady Tenebrei. The necklace has changed?"
Instead of scolding the maid and silencing her, Tenebrei gently nodded.
"Yes. You said you could heal all the remaining wounds today."
"How admirable. You did well."
Saraka checked Tenebrei's remaining wounds. The only wounds remaining on Tenebrei's body were now the whip marks on her back. The area was large, so it had been postponed and left for last.
Saraka picked up the holy water and knife she had placed in Tenebrei's room beforehand. Then she carved open the scars on Tenebrei's back with the knife.
"Argh...!"
She poured holy water directly into the carved marks. Imperial bloodlines were blessed people, so many had constitutions that responded well to holy water, and Tenebrei was no exception. As soon as the holy water touched, new flesh filled in.
Though Tenebrei looked not much different from Jeremiah on the outside, the places hidden by clothes were full of wounds accumulated over years. Knife cuts, marks from falls, bones that had broken and healed incorrectly, and of course, whip marks and beating marks were abundant. How severely she had been treated by the Crown Prince, missing the time for proper treatment, leaving scars behind.
However, scars did not disappear with holy water. The only option was to make new, larger wounds and then pour in holy water to treat them. Each time she carved through the wounds, tracing them one by one, Tenebrei was filled with murderous intent. Even having killed her father, she wanted to kill him again. Was driving a single knife into his heart perhaps too merciful an act?
Saraka, noticing Tenebrei's anger, stroked her back and comforted her.
"Don't be in pain, please enjoy it. Isn't becoming like someone quite an enjoyable preparation process?"
Just as Saraka had created burn scars on her face and hands to serve as Bishop Malik's substitute, Tenebrei had to treat all her old wounds to create a pristine body to live as Jeremiah. Only then could she replace the twin sister who had grown up receiving only love.
"I think I can understand."
Saraka's words were truly a comfort. Thanks to her, she had been able to completely take revenge on the father who had abused her for so long. Tomorrow, Jeremiah would die as Tenebrei, and she would take that place.
Thinking that way, even the pain of carving her back with a knife felt sweet. Having confirmed at the banquet that if the two simply swapped necklaces, no one could distinguish them, there would be no problem.
"Meeting Bishop Malik was truly the greatest blessing of my life."
Without Bishop Malik, Tenebrei would have been summoned by the Crown Prince again today and become his punching bag to receive punishment. When she returned from punishment, that foolish Jeremiah would probably say something like how envious she was that she got to spend time alone with Father, saying they must have such a good relationship.
Tenebrei's position in the imperial palace was merely that much. That was why Lord Rahel must have taken pity on Tenebrei and sent Bishop Malik, his proxy, to extend a helping hand. Bishop Malik, knowing Tenebrei's circumstances, had willingly become her ally.
Understanding Tenebrei's heart that wished to kill her own bloodline, he not only gave her absolution that she could kill her father and sister but even created a stage for her to actually carry it out.
Saraka poured holy water on Tenebrei's back that she had carved open with the knife and empathized.
"I feel the same way. Bishop Malik changed my life."
Saraka was originally a child of heretics who deserved to die; Bishop Malik had saved her when she should have burned to death with her father.
Bishop Malik saved Saraka because he needed a child with no social standing. At that time, Bishop Malik, whose body was increasingly weakening, realized he would die before long.
However, Bishop Malik was at the height of his power due to the heretic massacre, and he didn't know how great a stir it would cause if it became known that he was dying of illness.
So he thought that even if he died, 'Bishop Malik' must remain as a robust symbol of the temple, and began selecting a child to raise as 'Bishop Malik' - that was Saraka. He deliberately created the same burn scars on Saraka, made her memorize his memories, and taught her his speech patterns and habits.
Bishop Malik collapsed before the education was perfectly completed and was now little different from a vegetable. There was no more teaching, but Saraka lived as Bishop Malik as previously arranged. Stealing someone else's life to live - looking at it this way, Saraka and Tenebrei had much in common.
There were several safer methods as a starting point to incite another heretic massacre, but the reason for deliberately risking the danger of killing the Crown Prince might have been because Saraka saw herself and Tenebrei as similar. Of course, the fact that the Crown Prince had been hostile toward the temple was also surely a factor.
Seeing the flesh all filled in and smooth, Saraka announced that preparation was complete.
"Lady Tenebrei, it's all done."
At Saraka's words, Tenebrei rose. The bedding of the bed she had been lying on was damp with spreading blood. When Tenebrei touched her back herself, she felt smooth skin instead of the bumpy texture.
"My back is really smooth... Now all preparations are complete!"
Tenebrei cried out in ecstasy.
She put on the pajamas she had secretly stolen from Jeremiah, hung the emerald necklace around her neck, and stood before the mirror. When she removed the cloth she had always kept covered because she hated seeing her body full of wounds, it seemed she could see Jeremiah, identical to Tenebrei, beyond the mirror. Tenebrei placed her hand against the mirror.
"From now on, I will live as Jeremiah."
And Jeremiah would become Tenebrei, bear the false accusation, and die after taking on all the humiliation Tenebrei had endured.
Filled with excitement, Tenebrei reached her hand into the empty air and took position, then began dancing the waltz she had danced as the Crown Prince's funeral dirge. This dance was for the lovely Jeremiah.
Who should be next? Oratorio, who was favored by the Emperor, didn't even treat Tenebrei as a sibling, and looked down on and despised her? Or the grandmother who, ignoring the old rumors passed down for generations, had arbitrarily kept Tenebrei alive to establish her own authority, then watched and tacitly approved while her granddaughter lived a life worse than death, abused by her son?
Actually, the order didn't matter. Whoever came first, she would kill all of this lovely family.
"Father died as he always wished, looked up to by all, and Jeremiah will die with her lovely name stolen. Oratorio, I'll cut off that high-and-mighty head of his. Grandmother will have the Emperor's throne she valued more than family cruelly taken away, and die wrapped in all sorts of evil rumors just like I was..."
Tenebrei danced and told Saraka her wishes and plans as if singing.
"Does Lady Tenebrei wish to become Empress?"
Saraka, listening to Tenebrei's wishes, suddenly asked at the mention of killing all the imperial family.
"I don't particularly have that goal. But after I kill everyone I want to kill, I suppose I'll be the only one left to become Empress."
Then suddenly, a person came to mind and Tenebrei hesitated.
"No, that's not right. I heard I have a missing uncle."
"A missing uncle?"
Saraka pretended not to know and asked back. To the public, the youngest prince was said to have died during difficult childbirth as soon as he was born, and the Emperor, who didn't share his inner thoughts even with family, didn't seem likely to have told Tenebrei the truth. She was very curious how Tenebrei knew the truth.
Tenebrei, taking elegant steps, smoothly told her what she knew.
"Yes, I heard it from Father."
The source of Tenebrei's information was an unexpected person.
The Crown Prince had used Tenebrei like an abandoned well. He beat Tenebrei to relieve all kinds of stress, so there was no way Tenebrei wouldn't know things.
"It seems Father happened to be nearby when His Majesty gave birth to the youngest prince."
Saraka, having never heard this story even from Bishop Malik, pretended otherwise and listened intently.
"He went curious about the sibling to be born, but instead overheard His Majesty saying to kill the child. He thought he had heard something he shouldn't have, so he fled right there. But lo and behold, there was no body of his sibling in the funeral casket. And later, seeing His Majesty searching for a young child, he realized someone had smuggled the sibling out."
"Did the Crown Prince know who smuggled him out?"
Tenebrei, from her waltzing posture, only turned her head to look at Saraka, then lowered her hand as her excitement faded.
"Yes. He didn't tell me, but he knew. That's why he was always pathologically afraid that his sibling would appear and take his place."
Unlike moments ago when she had been excitedly dancing the waltz, Tenebrei's face rapidly darkened. Though she had stolen and worn Jeremiah's pajamas and necklace to become Jeremiah, when recalling the past, she seemed to revert to being Tenebrei, bound in the basement.
Tenebrei stroked down her smooth back. Even though she had treated all the wounds, her whipped spine stung.
"Most of the wounds on my back were created because of Father's fear toward the youngest prince."
The Crown Prince knew more truth than expected. If he had heard the Emperor's words, he would have known that Bishop Malik was present there, and naturally would have figured out that Bishop Malik had smuggled the child out.
He was a man with more desire for power and the Emperor's throne than his abilities warranted, so he would have feared that the temple, having smuggled out the youngest prince, would start a rebellion and enthrone the sibling as Emperor. Saraka understood why the Crown Prince had shown hostility toward the temple and Bishop Malik until now.
Added to this was the ominous rumor that twins bring death. Tenebrei's existence accelerated the Crown Prince's anxious delusions, and he abused Tenebrei to relieve his anxiety and anger.
"Does Lady Tenebrei think the missing youngest prince is alive?"
Tenebrei shook her head.
"No. Seeing that he hasn't appeared until now, perhaps His Majesty eventually found and killed him. What a pity. Being in a similarly abandoned situation, perhaps my uncle and I might have gotten along quite well."
"I wonder..."
At those words, Saraka thought of Gabriel and trailed off.