Your Regrets Are Late

Author: alyalia

“Your Highness.”

“…”

“I guess… I should have just accepted the duchess offer that day.”

“…My mother?”

“She told me to take Lillian from Principality of Moden and go study elsewhere.”

Iris’s words sounded like her mother had known of Lillian’s existence from the start.

“What do you mean?”

“…Didn’t you know? It was the duchess who hid Siael and Lillian. That’s why His Grace couldn’t find them.” Iris covered her mouth with her hands and looked surprised.

“Your Highness is such a great person in many ways. Lillian is not your enemy… No, she’s too stupid to go that far.”

“…”

“Still, don’t let your guard down completely. Although she’s annoying like Siael, she’s a good deal. The problem is that she thinks a little bit shorter when she’s cornered. It’s not like I never felt sorry for her.”

Even though she cared for Lillian, it didn’t seem like she was just using her thoroughly.

“My mother—”

“Little Duchess, the time has come for Iris Tessa von Luxen’s execution.”

“…I get it. Take the sinner.”

When Charelize was about to ask about what she had talked about with her mother, the knight waiting next to her informed her that the execution time had come.

“Lillian… She’s a child who can even drink poison on her own in order to bring down Your Highness.”

Iris, who was being dragged away by knights, didn’t keep her mouth shut even at that moment.

“Ever since I was little, my wish was to die on a rainy day. But… It’s so sunny today that I don’t want to die.” Iris, who was on the guillotine, looked at the sky without a single dark cloud and said calmly.

“Tsk.” The executioner looked at her very pitifully and clicked his tongue.

“It’s not my will to be born or die… Am I so pathetic to just wish for some rain?”

“You killed Princess Lari Isla von Marsetta and tried to kill a semi-imperial family, Princess Charelize Elze Roxana von Marsetta.”

The executioner didn’t respond to Iris’s question. He was simply reciting a text written by Harbert IV himself.

“Hmm…”

“Therefore, Your Majesty deprives Marchioness title of Iris Tessa von Luxen in accordance with Article 8, Paragraph 12 of the Elioter Imperial Law.”

“Deprive?”

“He also demotes your states to a commoner?”

“Demote?”

“Lastly… Your Majesty ordered you to be executed.”

“Ah… really crazy. Harbert, you son of a b*tch. He’s worse than I thought…?”

“How dare you to call His Majesty like that!”

“You acted as if you’d kneel down if I cured Royal Princess Veloche’s illness… I should have known from the moment you grabbed me by the collar… I can’t help it if His Majesty comes to me like this, little Duchess.”

Because of her murder, Iris was unable to attend the noble trial to discuss her punishment. Perhaps that’s why she didn’t seem to know that Harbert IV was trying to exile her as punishment instead of execution.

“Originally, ex—”

“For a moment.”

The executioner, angry by her insulting comments, tried to tell her the truth. But noticing that she had more to say, Charelize quickly stopped it.

“What do you want to say?”

“I gave the emperor something poisonous but not poisonous. And it will go to the little Duchess. It would be nice if you could send someone together with me so I won’t be lonely on the way. As soon as possible.”

“You’re smart, so you’ll figure it out the right way. Unlike Lillian, you’re not stupid, right? I’ll be waiting for you to give me what I want.”

“You…”

“Iris. At the moment of my death, all that was left of me… was this name my mother had given me. If I knew it would be like this… I shouldn’t have done anything like that,” said Iris with a bitter smile. Those were the last words she left to the world.

* * *

Charelize, who left the execution site and returned to the Marsetta Duchy, was looking at her unfinished papers. But she couldn’t concentrate because what Iris said had bothered her. She wondered what the ‘poisonous but not poisonous’ Iris had given to Harbert IV was.

“My mother… hid them?”

Only then did she realize why Duke Marsetta hadn’t been able to find Lillian for quite some time. After hearing about her death from Lari, her mother called Iris, and in the process, it seemed that her mother told them to go abroad to study. Contrary to what Iris, who had rejected it, knew, Lillian had revealed herself directly.

In fact, Lillian was just as stupid as Iris said. Although she could poison herself, she couldn’t do something without someone guiding her along the way.

If so, who on earth had helped Lillian in her previous life? As Charelize thought about that, she bit my nails, and it became dawn before she knew it.

“Lize, may I go inside?”

“…Your Royal Highness? Come in.”

Then, Arensis knocked on the door of her office. Charelize, who allowed him to visit, stood up and greeted Arensis.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I asked you to stay here first and until now…”

Realizing that she had completely forgotten Arensis, Charelize could not forget her words until the end.

“It’s okay. If you focus on one thing, you’ve always been that way. I’m used to it.”

“By the way… May I ask what brings you here?”

“Ah, someone is hanging out at the back door now. Their physique seems to be female, but I can’t confirm it because they covered their face.”

“Back door… should be guarded by the knights.”

Charelize was puzzled and shook her head slightly.

“It seems they used sleeping incense to put the knights to sleep.”

“Sleeping incense…?”

“Irenda, Robiel, Kate…rias. I think those were mixed.” Arensis continued, slightly lowering his voice’s voice.

A sleeping incense is made by mixing three ingredients. Among them, one that caught Charelize’s ear right away was Katerias. It was a herb that was so dangerous that merely having it to the extent of having it by law could put one’s life at risk. It was also one of the biggest reasons why the bloody tragedy occurred.  Harbert IV had beheaded his sister after accusing her of smuggling Katerias.

“How could… Your Royal Highness knows those were mixed for the sleeping incense?”

“That…”

Arensis was very embarrassed and avoided Charelize’s gaze.

“Your Royal Highness?”

“Rather than that, that person politely requested to meet Your Highness before using the sleeping incense, but the knights refused, so it seemed like they had no choice but to use it.”

“Who on earth—”

“But they just hang around and don’t come in… It seems like that person didn’t have the intention to kill.”

Charelize agreed with his words that they had no intention to kill. So she called Hailey, who was outside.

“Hailey.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Immediately take the heavy-mouthed servants and go to the back door. Move the fallen knights to their quarters… and tell that person I want to meet them right now.”

“I understand, Your Highness.”

“…Lize.”

When Hailey went out, Arensis called her in a worried voice.

“If someone tried to kill me, wouldn’t Your Royal Highness have informed me? You should know that I have a personality that wouldn’t just let such words pass by.”

“…But.”

“I’m going to believe in Your Royal Highness and meet that person.”

Arensis’ face quickly blushed when she told him that she believed him. Seeing this, Charelize smiled at his blushed face.

“…Don’t laugh.”

“I didn’t laugh.”

“…Lize.”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t laugh. It’s just that my eyes are itchy.”

“You’re still the same. When you make fun of me and pretend you didn’t know, saying that your eyes feel itchy. And as I always say, itchy eyes have nothing to do with laughing.”

“It’s funny. And… I’m curious. If I haven’t lost my memory… I wonder what my relationship with Your Royal Highness will become.”

“Back then… I should try to be a little greedier. I was so scared that this happened.”

“…Why were you scared?”

“I thought you were going to die. That… I am so scared of that.”

“…”

“Lize, if you die too, I will be really alone.”

Arensis trembled all over his body. Soon tears fell from his eyes. She knew from his past how afraid he was of being left alone. But she never imagined he would react like this just by talking about it. Just the thought of her dying seemed like a terrible thing to Arensis.

“When I… died, you smiled, so I could go at ease. It was a lonely life, but to be with someone at the end of my life…”

“Lize…”

“Your Royal Highness must have cried a lot before you showed me that smile.” Charelize raised her hand and stroked Arensis’s hair.

“It was very… very hard, Lize. Living alone in a world without you. I’m not dead, but I’m the only one who is alive and breathing…”

Just looking at the letter he left at the villa showed how hard it must have been.

“Finding my memories… So if I remember you… Do you want to paint the rest of the colors on the day we can’t finish?”

Charelize naturally lowered her hand down and put it on his cheek.

The distance between them diminished again. This time, both Arensis and Charelize called each other using ‘you’. However, Arensis called her by her nickname so much without him realizing it. Charelize pondered a few times before finally speaking. It was Charelize who narrowed the gap today. Not Arensis, but Charelize approached first.

“Paint the rest of the colors on the day we couldn’t finish…”

“…”

“Is that the answer to my words… that I want my surname to be Marsetta, not Peschte?”

Charelize nodded her head slightly. A smile soon spread across Arensis’s lips.

Blue and light purple. Each color met each other and was slowly permeating.