I sighed at how her words seemed to mirror what that brute, Lanzo said to me in the carriage. If this was their way of telling me that I would not be leaving this manor unharmed, then it was rather laughable.

　　“Why did you kill my father?” I ignored her statement and asked instead.

　　“Why? Hm…you are a smart girl, surely you can figure that out yourself.”

　　It was true then. She was not even denying it at this point. “He told you about wanting to make me the next heir?”

　　“That’s right. Good job.” She smiled. “I suppose we are at the point where I should tell you everything that ever happened. Truthfully, I have been dying to talk about this to someone, and who better than the person who has been giving me the most problems as of late.”

　　“I believe that is your own doing, Lady Marie.”

　　“Be quiet, Cordelia.” she snapped, and I remained silent. I patiently waited for her to start her story but for a long moment all she did was stare at the oil lamp. “Believe it or not, I never was the type who wanted power but through the pressure of my family and the people around me, I was forced to be with Byron. Everyone said that we were a match made in heaven, that we would rule the Southern Kingdom together. That idea was weaved into my brain that it was not just casual talk anymore, it was something that I needed to turn into reality.”

　　“The Renaldi name has been talked about and praised for centuries, and the family has been ruling over the Southern Kingdom for the longest time. To think that I, just a normal girl from a noble family, would have the opportunity to enter such a phenomenal family was something out of a book, out of a dream.” She continued.

　　This was my first time seeing her talk like this, full of life and excitement. She truly wanted to become a Renaldi and all because the people around her were feeding her such ideas. It reminded me of how the people around me kept reminding me of my future as an alpha. I have the blood of an alpha, I was going to be a strong alpha, alpha this, alpha that, constantly echoing in my mind.

　　That was the only reason my world turned upside down when it was revealed that I was not an alpha. It was not because I hated the idea of being an omega, it was just because the expectations people had…the expectations I had crumbled apart. I silently wondered if Lady Marie experienced it as well, when her promised future turned out to be a ruse so my father could remain by Rosaline’s side.

　　“But could you imagine…after getting married to him only to find out that he already had someone he loved? Do not get me wrong, I never expected him to fall in love with me since it was a marriage of convenience from the start but the betrayal I felt was real. And things got worse when I found out that she was an omega.” She spat.

　　“If Rosaline was an alpha, you would not have killed her?” I questioned her, wondering if she was just biased against omegas or if she just hated Rosaline for being with my father.

　　Lady Marie gave me a strange look, as though I had asked her a stupid question. “I had to get rid of Rosaline no matter what or who she was, because if I allowed her to be a part of Bryon’s life, then that dream I wanted would never become reality. He would have picked her first, he was in love with her after all and I was just there. It truly is strange now that I am saying this aloud.” She said, followed by a light chuckle.

　　“I thought that getting rid of Rosaline was going to secure that perfect future for me and my children but of course Byron was never one to let me enjoy the simpler things in life. He just had to marry your mother and just had to have you.” She snarled. I remained silent, waiting for her to continue. “I didn’t bother to get rid of Isabella or her children, because by tradition, the oldest child would inherit the throne, and that was my Frederick. But naturally, Bryon had to make things hard for me.”

　　“It sounds to me that you were just jealous that your father never saw you romantically.” I dared to say, knowing that this would displease her greatly.

　　“What?” she snapped, just as I expected.

　　“You can sit there and tell me that your ambition was to hold onto a powerful position and yet you already had it when you first married him. You said that keeping Rosaline alive would make that dream of yours never come true, but that’s not the case. She could never be revealed to the public, she would have stayed hidden where only a handful of people knew her existence, but you just could not fathom the fact that father loved her and not you.” I could not hold myself back anymore.

　　Lady Marie’s eyes fell on me, meeting my gaze before she broke into laughter. “Jealous? Love? Haha! And here I thought so highly of you, Cordelia and yet you spew nonsense to my face?”

　　“You are only denying it because it is the truth. There is no shame in admitting that you too crave for such emotions as love.”

　　“I deny it because love is meaningless! You know this, do you not? You were willing to throw away your youth and innocence to marry three different alphas just to gain an advantage on the throne. I have to admit and give credit when it is due, you were smart by using your position to gain benefits from these alphas but surely, you of all people should know how irrelevant love really is.”

　　“That’s true. I always thought that in the situation that I was in, I did not need love or affection from them but… Lady Marie, both you and I… we are still human after all. No matter what you say, I know that deep down you just wanted Bryon to look at you. But he never had an ounce of affection for you. Even after his love, Rosaline was killed, he still did not choose you.”

　　“Silence!” she yelled, the space echoed with her voice. “My purpose in this world was to gain power. Love was never on the agenda. Everything would have been fine if Bryon did not choose to make you his heir to the throne! If only he stuck to tradition, if only he chose Frederick, then he would still be alive today.”

　　“Why did he pick me then?” I asked.

　　“How would I know what a dead man was thinking?” she scoffed.

　　“You have known him for the longest time, surely you must have an idea.”

　　“Perhaps you reminded him of Rosaline. Both of you are useless omegas after all.” She snarled.

　　I smiled, hoping that she would mention my second gender. “And yet, we would still best you.”

　　“Excuse me?”

　　“Rosaline was chosen by my father, I was chosen by him. Never once did he look at you, did he pick you and for that, you loathed him,” I said. “You can sit there and tell me the only reason you killed my father was because he did not pick Frederick to be the next emperor but truthfully, I believe you just wanted to get rid of him. You just hated how he never, ever, picked you!” I furiously spat, the anger that built up inside of me the moment she started telling me her story could not be contained anymore.

　　Lady Marie stood up and for a second I was expecting her to walk out of the room but instead, she walked up towards me and raised her hand. I closed my eyes and braced for impact. Her hand connected with my cheek, a piercing sound could be heard in my left ear, the numbing and aching sensation was quick to flood my nerves.

　　“You are going to wish you were never born, Cordelia.” She whispered.

　　I leaned my head back onto the wall, trying my hardest to ignore the pain on my left cheek as I watched her grab the oil lamp and pulled the door open. She walked out, bringing the light with her. I listened as her footsteps faded and only then did I realise that the dim light from the small oil lamp that was in the room with me had gone out. Alone in this dark and cold room, I wanted to cry, wanted to feel sorry for myself but strangely enough, all I felt was sorry for the forlorn Lady Marie.