“Identify yourself and your reason for coming to Castle Wishus at this late hour.”

Then there was a shout from inside the carriage. The coachman spoke in a nervous voice.

“Ah, inside……. Her ladyship is on board.”

At the same time, the carriage door opened. It was Christa who stepped out of the door.

“Christa!”

Recognizing her, Ragnar dismounted and approached.

“Ah, the…….”

She staggered out of the carriage, looking rather pale.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

Even as he said that, his face was somehow mesmerized, as if he had seen a ghost. Eventually, she stumbled into his arms.

“For now, let’s…… go inside.”

And with that, the midnight commotion ceased. The rain that had been pounding down was now a steady downpour. The group hurried to the inner castle.

Once back in the castle, they slowly made their way to the bedroom. To get to the bedroom, they had to climb an endless flight of stairs, and neither of them said a word the entire time.

The castle was damp from a steady rain. The dampness clung to their clothing in an unpleasant way, as if someone were reaching out and tugging at them.

Ragnar didn’t ask why she’d suddenly disappeared, or who she’d gone out with, or what she’d been doing, so Christa kept her mouth shut, waiting for him to say something first.

The door slowly closed and the two remained silent.

It was Ragnar who made the first move, running his hands up and down her body, slowly checking for signs of injury. His touch was warm against her fingertips.

“……I’m fine.”

Her words were a little muddled through the moisture in her throat. But he didn’t answer. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just watched her, gently stroking every inch of her body. Somehow, it made her more uncomfortable.

It would have been easier if he had been angry, if he had reprimanded her for leaving the castle so casually, or if he had accused her of deceiving him, of lying to him.

But Ragnar acted as if he had no interest in such things. He glanced to her up and down, and when he was satisfied that everything was in order, he let out a small sigh.

“I just want you to get back safely.”

For a moment, She cringed and her emotions boiled over. She shouldn’t feel this way, but she couldn’t help but ask him.

“……Why don’t you ask me anything?”

Ragnar twisted the corner of his mouth.

“What am I supposed to ask, I know where you’ve been and who you’ve met.”

She was surprised to hear that he already knew.

“Don’t you want to know why I met with the crown prince?”

“…….”

The moment the words left her mouth, his touch stopped. Silence fell between them. In the bedroom, where the conversation had died down, the only sounds were the crackle and pop of the stove, the hiss of incense, and the pounding of the rain against the window.

Something had been simmering in the pit of Christa’s stomach since earlier. It was a heat she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but now it was boiling over and spilling out everywhere.

After a long moment of silence, Ragnar finally spoke.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll ask. What on earth were you talking about with the crown prince?”

There was a hint of anger in his voice. But this time, Christa didn’t lose. In fact, one thought had been running through her head the entire time.

“You once told me that your sister was doing well in a faraway place.”

She was talking about Ragnar’s sister, Yudina.

“……Ah, I see.”

At that moment, she heard the slight tremor in his voice, and she could tell by the heat in his eyes that his emotions were running high.

Christa’s heart sank. She realized she had unwittingly stirred him up.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Ragnar’s expression. She lowered her head. She regretted what she had said. But there was no turning back now. It was too late to turn back.

“His Highness the Crown Prince…….”

Just as she couldn’t pick up the spilled water, she couldn’t take back the words she spat.

“Yeah. What did he say?”

Christa’s voice trembled. At the same time, she felt dizzy and could barely breathe. There was a snap, a crack, a sound of something breaking; the thin line of trust between them.

With those words, their relationship would cross the river of no return. But she couldn’t help but check.

Could you, who’s so sweet and loving, really have done such a terrible thing? She couldn’t help but ask.

“That you  killed your sister.”

She closed her eyes as she said the words. It was nothing when she spat it out, and now it was time to wait to see how Ragnar would take this vomit-like question.

Then he laughed. His raspy laugh now filled the room. What was so funny, she wondered, is he laughing at her own foolishness for daring to doubt him?

But no matter how she thought about it, it was strange to hear him laugh in this situation. So she had to ask, her voice trembling, to confirm the truth she never wanted to believe.

“Did…… Ragnar…….really…”

The corner of his mouth curled up. Despite smiling, his face seemed contorted with pain. His golden eyes had an eerie glow.

She’s afraid, she’s afraid she’s going to lose his heart, the heart that was so sweet to her, in a moment’s mistake. That she would be abandoned for daring to doubt him, or that he would not be able to bear her any longer. The ominous pounding of the rain against the window grew louder and louder.

At that moment, a flash of light flashed through the window. A silver glow fills the room, followed by a loud boom. The rumbling noise assaulted her eardrums.

“Yes, that’s right, I—”

In an instant, Christa’s mouth was covered. A strange voice threatened to burst from her vocal cords. What had he said now?

“I killed my sister.”

Ragnar spat out the words once more, chewing on each one.

There is a crashing noise and the world crumbles around her. With the thunder, her heart crumbles with it.

* * *

Yudina has fallen ill. It was an incurable disease known as mania. At first, everyone brushed it under the rug; her status was too high. The Crown Princess was slowly withering away.

The symptoms began with her wandering barefoot through the castle at night. Her finely combed hair was loose and unruly, and her silk slippers had fallen off her feet, leaving her clad only in a thin nightgown.

Gradually, more and more servants saw her wandering the castle grounds like this. It was rumored that the palace was haunted by ghosts at night.

However, even though she could wander the castle at night, she had to return to being a noble princess by day. And so she withered away.

Her appearance, once hailed as the beauty of the century, gradually lost its luster. Her eyes, which held a distinct fire, grew dull and cloudy. Her memory deteriorated, and she became restless. Sometimes she would lie in bed for days on end and not get out.

Her mania intensified as the day of their reunion approached. With each reunion, her spirit was mercilessly ravaged.

It was true that she had to be insane to endure his harassment. Perhaps she had too much to forget.

Ragnar realized at some point that his sister was becoming increasingly insane, but Tienat, Kalandi, and Varric, the conflicts between the three kingdoms, were already underway.

He could not stay by his sister’s side forever. He could barely manage his own knighthood. To keep it going, he needed a steady stream of majors, and he needed to travel the battlefield, racking up countless exploits.

All for the sake of his sister, Yudina, the only one he could call family. If he could prove himself worthy of northern independence, he would have reason to overthrow the regent and return to the north with his sister. Until then, he could only hope to hold out a little longer.

Ragnar’s time to see his sister was short indeed. But every time he returned to the capital, he took a moment to see her. Each time I saw her, she was transformed, but always with the words, “It’s okay,” and “Don’t worry,” in her mouth.

How he wish she had really been okay, but contrary to her words, Yudina gradually withered away.

Then she started laughing again. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Her eyes were dry from tears. She looked so happy, just letting go of everything.

There were rumors among the courtiers that the Crown Princess had gone publicly insane and was wandering the streets at night. There was an outcry that she should be excommunicated for being unworthy of the crown princess position. It was no longer possible to hide the matter from Ragnar.

By the time he found out, the situation had gotten out of hand.

Something is wrong with the Crown Princess and she needs to be taken care of.

That was all the telegram he had received from the battlefield. He tried to return to the capital immediately, but the situation did not allow it. Things were moving quickly, and Yudina was already preparing to head north.

Ragnar had little choice. However, it was easy to guess what was wrong with her.

There was no shortage of unsavory rumors about Elio Cassidenia, some of them so scandalous and colorful that it was hard to tell how much was true and how much was false.

When they had grown up together in the royal palace, Ragnar had never known the man behind the mask that Eilio wore. In front of Ragnar, Eilio had always been a loving and kind family man.

But as he grew older, he naturally realized the cause of it all: Eilio Cassidenia.  He was the problem.

At first it was a small animal. His sister’s small bird kept dying while she was looking away. The cage, with its sturdy lock, was repeatedly broken open by wild animals. After the deaths of her cats and horses, Yudina no longer cared for anything.

After the animals, her entourage of handmaidens, whom she had brought with her from the north, grew weaker and weaker, and then died of fever.

Then came her escort, the servant who spoke to her that day, the gardener who tended her garden……. Gradually, Yudina became isolated.

Ragnar found it difficult to decide whether to send her back to the north or leave her in the capital.

The north was then reeling under the tyranny of Regent Tristan, and it was unsettling to send his sister there. But he couldn’t leave her in the palace, where she would be directly preyed upon.

He wondered where he should place her.

He followed the doctor’s advice that she would be better off in the north. It was better for her to return to the familiarity of Castle Wishus.

So Yudina returned to the North. Upon returning to her familiar home, a letter arrived stating that her condition had improved. He didn’t suspect much. It was foolish.

But Ragnar had been working to unify the empire ever since the beginning of the War of the Three Kingdoms, so he didn’t mind that the letters from his sister became fewer and fewer.

Eventually, at some point, the letters stopped. The reason for this was the betrayal of the regent, Tristan Markel. He had gone beyond proxy rule and claimed to be King of the North.

It was a year before Ragnar’s coming of age, when he was rising to prominence in the center of the Three Kingdoms War, and Tristan, who had been keeping him in check, declared that he would rule the North himself.

Vicious rumors swirled everywhere. Tristan had crushed all the forces that had followed the previous duke. The north was already suffering from a decade of tyranny through proxy purges. Many commoners had died of cold and hunger.

Eventually, not long after Yudina’s departure, Ragnar was forced to gather his forces and head for Wishus. A siege ensued with Tristan’s men occupying the castle.

Ragnar, who had a good understanding of the castle’s layout, sent an advance party through the cliffs of the northern citadel.

The siege was short-lived. The inhabitants of the castle were all on Ragnar’s side. Tristan, his remnants, and all of his men were imprisoned in the dungeons.

Before he explored the recaptured castle of Wishus, he sought out Yudina. Their correspondence had been cut off, and he wondered if she was safe.

“Where is my sister?”

“T, that…….”

The attending physician at Wishus Castle was not easily dissuaded. Ragnar was waiting for him to say something, that he was barely managing to keep his temper in check.

He hesitated for a moment, then let out what sounded like a sigh.

“You’ll see for yourself…….”

Yudina’s quarters were not in the main hall, but in the west tower. Cursing Tristan for imprisoning her in a place that had long been reserved for sinners, he pushed open the heavy wooden door and was met with an unbelievable sight.

On a bed lay Judith, bound and chained. She was humming a soft song as she stared into space, not even bothering to turn around when Ragnar entered.

With trembling steps, he approached his sister. Up close, she was so emaciated that it would be no exaggeration to say she was barely breathing.

Her protruding belly looked foreign against her skinny limbs. Only then did Ragnar realize what had happened.

“Yudina…….”

[T/N: no……..]