Published: August 15, 2025
There is no prison in this marquis's villa.
Therefore, Ella was confined in the mansion’s basement, her ankles shackled with horse fetters.
Though it barely shielded her from rain and wind, her bed was a crude arrangement of straw covered by a simple sheet. It was nothing but a prison... After spending two full days in such a place, Ella was exhausted and filthy.
Marquis Dario sat quite far from her, curled up in a corner of the basement. Unaware that we had come down, he buried his face in his knees and whispered, as if speaking to no one in particular, questioning her.
"...Why did you do such a thing, Ella...?"
Ella lowered her gaze, offering no reply. Dario continued muttering to himself.
"You were never the kind of child who could do something so terrible. If we had made one wrong move, three people would have died. People born into noble families who married and had children—completely innocent—along with that tiny baby..."
Ella said nothing.
Dario dug his nails into his own legs, clenching his fists.
"...Why...!"
"I want to know that too," Lord Cyrus spoke as he descended the stairs. Only then did Dario notice our presence and lift his face—lifeless, drained of tears—looking decades older than when we first met.
Following Lord Cyrus, I stepped forward to stand before them.
"Tell us your motive."
"Lady Marie, please don't blame Ella...!"
It was Dario who answered my question.
"Ella was simply desperate to gain my favor. She had no ill will toward Lord Cyrus or his lady."
"So, was it your order to push Marie and Lisa into the river? Did you tell Ella to kill my wife and child?"
"That... I never expected her to go this far..."
He slumped, his voice dropping.
Dario’s excuse was selfish and unconvincing, but I believed it was the truth.
—Dario Alfonso aimed for the Duke Granado title and tried to trap Lord Cyrus.
He sent Ella to Granado Castle to seduce him, hoping she would conceive his child and create a rift between him and his family. When that failed, he pressured Lord Cyrus himself, attempting to wear him down mentally so he would lose control of the duchy or even renounce his title.
Such a convoluted, utterly ineffective, almost laughably childish plan—that was all Dario had ever devised.
Dario Alfonso was a small-time man, for better or worse. It was fitting to call him a petty villain who could never fully become a true villain. That was the kind of man he was.
But Ella was different.
Ella was far more innocent, cunning, and vicious than Dario. Only Dario himself here was blind to that fact.
"...Lord Dario."
Ella finally found her voice.
"Why are you saying such things? Lord Dario... you said you absolutely wanted to obtain the ducal title. You told me to do whatever I could for that."
Facing Ella's interrogation, Dario shook his exhausted face.
"I never wanted any of this. I never thought you could go this far."
"...You said I should use any means necessary. I was just following your orders..."
"I never told you to kill the lady or the baby. I never considered such a terrible thing... Why would I?"
Tears welled up again in Dario’s lined eyes.
"I never knew you could be such a bad child—"
At that moment, Ella’s expression changed.
Her face, now exposed after fixing her hair, was marked by deep wrinkles like cracks. Her thin eyebrows knitted together as her face twisted into an asymmetric sneer. With that fierce look, she glared at Dario.
"...Hah?"
"Who said I'm a bad child? That I did something wrong? Hah?"
"Ella..."
"What are you saying? That makes it sound like I did all this willingly and wanted to! That’s not true, right? You gave the orders! I was the one being abused! The poor child, right!?"
"Poor child"—Ella’s words were like a curse, binding her more tightly and sturdily than the horse fetters. Words of a curse that had clung to my own feet not long ago.
Dario shook his head vehemently.
"No, Ella. Lady Marie has done nothing wrong..."
"Hah? She’s the worst! Blessed with family, friends, and servants who dote on her. And she abused me!"