Chapter 3

Oleander was highly toxic. However, because Caelum fancied them, Calista made sure it blossomed all year round in Talbot Manor. I was afraid someone might accidentally ingest the poisonous leaves, so I opposed planting them.

Caelum became so depressed that he could barely eat a thing. "Kieran, is it because you don't like me that you refuse to let Calista plant oleanders for me?"

Calista shielded Caelum behind her and sneered at me. "If you want to target Caelum, you should at least find a better excuse. Oleander leaves are so bitter. Who would ever accidentally ingest it? The moment you put it in your mouth, you'd spit it right back out!"

Little did I know it would become the very means of my escape from this world.

In no time, an intense bitterness coated my mouth. Suppressing the urge to throw up, I forced myself to swallow it down. At long last, I could return home!

Calista tossed the gift box aside, rushed up to me, and repeatedly slapped my back. She pried my mouth open and gouged around inside with her fingers. "Spit it out! Do you have a death wish?"

I thrashed with all my might. Half my body had gone numb, but I gritted my teeth and refused to let go. I bit down so hard that I drew blood from Calista's fingers.

Calista sucked in a sharp breath and slapped me across the face. "I can't believe you're attempting suicide just because Her Majesty doesn't want you anymore! Have you no pride as a member of this family? Caelum and Phoebe are a match made in heaven. Have you still not figured that out after spending four years in the abandoned palace?"

Ignoring her bleeding fingers, she ordered her attendants to bring an emetic pill and forced it down my throat.

I puked until my head spun and collapsed onto the ground like a lifeless rag. I couldn't help but let out a derisive chuckle. "You didn't even bother to uncover the truth when you decided I was the one who harmed Caelum. Then, you kicked your own brother out onto the streets! Is that what you call pride?"

The color drained from Calista's face as she was completely at a loss for words.

Just then, the hurried clatter of hooves echoed from outside the door. A page boy barged in, flustered. "My Lady! Her Majesty has ordered you to bring Kieran to the palace for interrogation. Lord Caelum's… missing!"

Esmeralda and Calista exchanged a look before shooting daggers at me. "No wonder you've repeatedly tried to kill yourself and put on such a show for us! Turns out, it was all a ploy to cover up your crime. Where have you hidden Caelum this time? What are you planning to do to him now?"

I had no idea where Caelum had run off to. However, this was the perfect opportunity for me to leave.

The three of them loved Caelum more than life itself. They might just lose their minds and... kill me.

When I remained silent, Calista and Esmeralda dragged me back to the palace, despite my disheveled state.

When Phoebe saw me, she wasted no time on pleasantries. She seized my chin in a vise-like grip and demanded, "Where's Caelum?"

I lifted my head and looked straight into the eyes of the woman who had once been my wife. In an instant, regret surged inside me.

I first encountered Phoebe at the bottom of a ravine. At the time, she was being hunted down by assassins. I'd hidden her injured self in a cave and lured her pursuers away.

Caelum had just stolen my fiancée from me then. My childhood sweetheart, who was also the Lady Commander, Gwen Montgomery, had called off our engagement, turning me into the laughingstock of the entire capital.

When Phoebe learned about what had happened, she offered to marry me and make me her Imperial Consort. She told me that her feelings for me went beyond mere gratitude; she had fallen for me.

Yet, after Caelum entered the picture, her gaze would inevitably drift toward him. The two of them would gaze at the moon, play chess, and talk about everything under the sun until it felt as if there were no longer any room left for me in her world.

Back when Caelum went missing, Phoebe—who had always been gentle and considerate toward me—lost her temper with me for the first time. She had even secretly taken an abortifacient behind my back, bleeding profusely all over the floor. Our baby, who had not yet reached full term, was lost just like that.

When I remained silent, murderous intent flashed through Phoebe's eyes. "It seems you won't talk unless I give you a taste of hardship."

Phoebe ordered her attendants to bring forth an assortment of torture instruments, intending to force a confession out of me. Esmeralda would administer the torture, while Calista made me swallow a pill that would keep me conscious and amplify my pain.

Panic seized me. I wanted to die, but I didn't want to suffer before I did. Even as I thrashed with all my might, the first whip cracked across my back.

Blinding pain shot through every fiber of my body. My lips quivered, and I could barely summon the strength to scream. "...Kill me!"

Phoebe curled her lips in disdain when she saw that I had no remorse. "Do you think I'll take pity on you? I'll ask you this one last time. Where's Caelum?"

I raised my ghastly pale face and flashed her a triumphant smirk. "Caelum? I killed him! Don't you all love him? Come on then! Kill me and avenge him!"

Phoebe's eyes blazed with rage. She abruptly unsheathed her sword and drove it straight through my chest.

Before my consciousness faded, Caelum's voice sounded from outside. "I see that everyone's here! Now, we can all spend a wonderful evening together. Goodness gracious… Why is there so much blood?"