The Princess Imprint A Traitor - Chapter 30: The One Awakened from the Dream within a Dream (9)

“With so few hands available, I had no choice but to handle this myself,” Brigitte said, smiling with satisfaction as she watched Eve’s face go slack.

“People say that too much of a good thing is harmful. You’ve gained too much honor from your achievements, sister, so I had to trim some of it. But luckily for you, I’m a loving older sister. I’ve gone through a lot of trouble to avoid harming you directly.”

“…”

“And now, since you’ve been so kind to always come out and greet me, I thought it’s only fair to repay you.”

Brigitte’s voice dripped with mock affection as she revealed her scheme.

“I heard Sir Millard visited your tent every night before the poisoning incident. That gave me an idea. A scandal about how, while your own knights were wiped out, you took solace in the arms of your personal knight? I think it’s perfect.”

“…!”

Eve wasn’t focused on the gossip or the scandal. One detail struck her with icy clarity.

“Wiped out”…?

She was talking about Mikael.

She’s targeting Mikael again. The thought made Eve feel as if ice water were flowing through her veins.

“You’ve been starved for two weeks now, haven’t you? Consider this a gift from your older sister. Enjoy it as much as you like.”

“…”

“Now then, I’ll take my leave. Be a good little princess and play your role for my greater purpose.”

Brigitte stood, satisfied, and walked out of the room. The door clicked shut behind her, and Eve listened intently as her sister’s footsteps echoed down the hall and faded into the distance.

“…”

Eve’s eyes, once foggy, suddenly snapped back to life, sharp and clear. She sat up without a trace of the sluggishness she had shown moments before. Her expression was filled with rage as she stared at the door.

“Hah, Brigitte at it again,” she muttered, her voice filled with barely restrained fury.

“Y-Your Highness…? How are you…?” Silvestian, still groggy from the drug, was clearly shocked by Eve’s sudden recovery.

His presence seemed to temper her anger slightly. Eve glanced at him, the concern in her eyes softening her tone.

“I’m fine. Thanks to this.” She reached into her robes and pulled out a small branch of the World Tree, Yggdrasil.

“That’s…”

“This branch connects me to Yggdrasil. My mana core grew explosively thanks to the power of growth it shared with me. Now, it seems I’m also benefiting from its purifying powers.”

“I… I see. Thank… goodness…”

Relieved, Silvestian let out a labored breath. As their eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze, clearly embarrassed. He even tried to pull his body away from her, as though trying to escape her presence.

“Sir Millard?” Eve asked, puzzled.

“I… fear I might do something inappropriate… to Your Highness.”

“…”

The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Eve, but now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. They had bigger problems to solve.

“Where did you put the World Tree tea leaves meant for Rosie?” Eve asked.

“In the… right wall, first drawer…”

“Stay still. I’ll get it.”

Eve hurried to the drawer and searched it, only to discover that Brigitte had already anticipated this.

“They’ve been swapped with conifer leaves.”

“This is… my fault. I should have… left it alone…”

Eve didn’t blame him.

“It’s fine. Just rest for a bit.”

“Your Highness…?”

Eve crossed the room to Rosie’s bed.

“Rosie,” she murmured softly.

Rosie lay peacefully, her slow, steady breathing reminiscent of a cursed princess from a fairy tale. Eve looked at her younger sister with a mixture of affection and sadness. Gently, she lifted Rosie’s head, supporting it with her hand, as if she were about to try a traditional method of waking someone from a deep sleep.

“Y-Your Highness?” Silvestian asked, flustered.

“I’m just borrowing the pillow,” Eve replied casually.

She pulled the pillow from beneath Rosie’s head, cut it open with a swift motion, and revealed the true stash of World Tree tea leaves hidden inside.

“Here it is.”

“Why is this here…?” Silvestian asked, clearly confused.

“Rosie’s been out of sorts for a while, so I tried a few different folk remedies,” Eve confessed, slightly embarrassed.

She grabbed a handful of the World Tree tea leaves and handed them to Silvestian, then carefully placed some into Peony’s and Rosie’s mouths. With the necessary precautions taken, Eve turned her attention back to the sealed door. The magical binding had locked it tight, a result of Brigitte’s restraining barrier. Normally, Eve might have calmly dismantled the barrier, but right now, she wasn’t feeling particularly graceful. Imagining the door as Brigitte, she infused her kick with magic and struck it hard.

Crash!

The door shattered under the force of her blow.

“Take it easy and rest. I’ll be back.”

It was time for a counterattack. Eve strode purposefully down the corridor.

Whoosh! The rain outside had turned into a full-blown storm, lashing against the windows. Thunder and lightning alternated in the sky as Eve advanced, the dark atmosphere framing her like a vengeful queen. The air seemed to crackle with energy as she made her way toward Brigitte’s quarters, her expression cold and determined, as if a storm was following her every step.

***

Elijah clenched his fists repeatedly and ground his teeth. He couldn’t just stand there like an emotionless doll, maintaining his usual blank expression.

He lifted his head. Right in front of him, sitting like a queen on the sofa, was Brigitte. She was savoring the scent of the Yggdrasil tea she had smuggled out from Rosenite’s room. The leisurely flow of time was a cruel torture for Elijah. Unable to bear it any longer, he opened his mouth in agony.

“Did you really have to do this?”

Brigitte, who had seemed quite pleased just moments before, shot him a cold glance.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Your Highness, you possess both exceptional ability and talent. You didn’t need to resort to these methods…”

“These methods?”

Her eyebrow arched, and her question alone intensified the mental pressure on Elijah, a branded homunculus.

Thud.

“Your Highness…”

Elijah immediately dropped to one knee, bowing his head. Brigitte, who had been looking down at him for a long while, suddenly chuckled, shifting the mood.

“Yes, as you said, I could settle things honorably by competing in terms of talent. The throne is practically destined for me, so there’s no way I would lose to Yvienne Rose. But.”

“…”

“If I did that, wouldn’t it take too long? The empire, without a proper ruler, would suffer a significant loss of time. I merely wish for everything to proceed efficiently. A wise ruler must be able to set aside personal justice for the greater good of the world. It’s the mindset of a fool to sacrifice the greater for the lesser, all for the sake of clinging to trivial rules.”

Once again, Brigitte was delivering her lessons under the guise of righteous reasoning. It made no sense to Elijah, but he had no other recourse but to offer his counsel. There was no time to carefully flatter her either. He lifted his head immediately and protested.

“But…!”

“Elijah Halsten.”

As if she had been tolerating him until now, Brigitte’s voice suddenly turned ice-cold, like a frozen breath from the northern sea.

“Are you still not in your right mind, daring to defy me? It seems last night’s lesson wasn’t enough punishment for you.”

“…!”

Brigitte raised her right hand. Her wide-open palm loomed over Elijah’s view, resembling the hand gesture used for imperial loyalty rituals that bordered on brainwashing. But what Brigitte was about to do now was far more violent.

Elijah had been tortured the entire night by mental magic Brigitte cast on him, causing excruciating headaches. As her hand approached him again, defenseless, he instinctively ground his teeth. Just then—

BAM! The door burst open as if it would shatter, and an intruder barged in. It was a situation Brigitte, in her life as a princess, had never experienced before.

“What is this?! Who dares to…!”

Her furious shout trailed off when she turned and locked eyes with someone who shouldn’t have been there.

“Sister…”

It was Eve, her face as pale as death, her expression drained of all emotion.

“E-Eve? How…?”

“Your Highness…!”

While Brigitte was utterly flustered, Elijah couldn’t hide his joy as though he had found a savior. Eve wasted no time and immediately interrogated her.

“What did you do to Mikael?”

Her voice was as cold as her face, especially her eyes, which had lost all warmth and now gleamed sharply, staring at Brigitte with an unfamiliar intensity. Brigitte adjusted her posture, trying to regain her composure.

“How dare you barge into your elder sister’s room without warning! Is that the behavior of a princess? Where is your grace and dignity as royalty…?”

“Oh, I forgot. I’m just a reckless princess.”

Cutting her off mid-sentence, Eve threw Brigitte’s own words back at her. Brigitte flinched.

‘She heard everything? Even with the strong drugs and paralyzing agents? How is this possible?’

As Brigitte grappled with her confusion, Eve took control of the conversation once more.

“As you predicted, it seems I’ve reached the point where I’d storm into your room out of anger. Today must be the day.”

“Yes, I did say that when the time came, I would let it slide.”

“No need. I don’t plan on letting you off either.”

“What?”

Flash! With a single gesture from Eve, a powerful white light filled the room. The complex flow of mana, which Brigitte couldn’t quite comprehend, startled her greatly.

“What are you doing?!”

“Your Highness, don’t move.”

A tense Elijah, drenched in cold sweat, warned her.

“This… What is this?!”

Brigitte finally looked around and saw countless silver threads occupying every corner of the room. Her cheek, which brushed against one of them as she moved, began to bleed.

Each thread was as sharp as a masterfully forged sword. Now, thousands upon thousands of these threads were aimed at Brigitte’s neck and body from all directions.

Brigitte widened her eyes and glared at Eve, who calmly returned her gaze while manipulating the silver threads, which surrounded her even more intricately.

“You… You can control magic like this?”

“Yes. What’s the point in hiding it now? How do you think I managed to gain the people’s trust when Dandelion was under attack by the demon army?”

“Are you saying you defeated the demon army?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s impossible. There’s no way you could wield such powerful attack magic. Ah, I get it! This vile magic must be the result of making a deal with the drago—”

“In case you forgot, my mentor is the Sage of the Spruce Forest. Picking a fight over this will only show how poor your judgment is.”

Her attempt to frame Eve as using dark magic had failed miserably. All Brigitte could do was let out a bitter laugh and a sigh. Eve parted the silver threads and sat down on the sofa across from Brigitte.

“Now, tell me. What kind of schemes have you been plotting behind the scenes?”

“…”

“What did you do to Mikael?”

“Their noble sacrifice to protect the seal of the Dragon Lord will be remembered in history.”

Eve struggled to suppress her rising fury.

“Tell me everything.”

Just as Eve was about to tighten the web of silver threads around Brigitte, Elijah spoke up, even though the threads were cutting into his throat.

“He was lured in to reactivate the broken seal stone. Most likely, he’s been sacrificed to extract the mana required for reactivation.”

“Elijah Halsten…!”

“I apologize, Your Highness. I couldn’t stand by and ignore my lord’s crisis any longer.”

Under the guise of loyalty, Elijah had betrayed Brigitte. Though Brigitte burned with anger, she maintained a calm facade in front of Eve.

“Well, it’s too late for that now.”

“Tell me where Mikael is.”

“Even if I told you, would you be able to find him? You have no homunculus to guide you, and there’s a storm raging outside.”

“…”

“You know it too, don’t you? You’re already too late.”

There was no provocation worse than that for Eve.

“Do you mean to say that nothing else matters as long as you get the throne?”

“That’s the greater good.”

“Your claim to the throne has nothing to do with the greater good!”

Eve spoke without bothering to hide her disdain.

“It’s just your greed, nothing more. Stop deluding yourself into thinking you’re the embodiment of order and righteousness. Idealism and justice weren’t made for tyrants like you to use.”

“What? You insolent—”

“Shut up. I’m not in the mood to listen to your self-righteous nonsense. If even a single hair on Mikael’s head is harmed, I have no idea what I might do.”

“Hah, and what will you do? Harm me? The rightful heir to the throne?”