Please Kill Me - Chapter 76
When Yekaterina said that sugar cubes were the only things she could secretly acquire, Leonid couldn’t help but grimace with a sense of disbelief.
– “If only words were enough.”
He then opened his pocket, took out a cube, popped it into his own mouth, and offered another to Yekaterina.
– “Ah.”
Side by side, they both sucked on the sugar cubes, cheeks bulging. Though it was not a particularly humorous memory, Leonid’s expression from that time kept circling in Yekaterina’s mind.
His face was steeped in his characteristic cynicism, with a gaze full of misunderstanding and a sense of dissonance.
‘Dissonance?’
This last thought startled Yekaterina, making her face as if she’d been cut by her own fingernails.
It wasn’t just the fact that she felt dissonance that disturbed her. It was that she’d unconsciously used the word ‘dissonance,’ meaning that she deeply felt its presence.
Why couldn’t her rational mind grasp the cause of it?
‘Am I missing something?’
Yekaterina retraced her memories. The forest where she had talked with Leonid, the illusions shown by the monsters, and Leonid smiling.
The whispers from the hallucinations resurfaced.
“Come here.”
Then, suddenly—
Bang!
The door swung open violently, the corridor light streaming in and partially obscuring Yekaterina as it flooded the room.
Standing at the door, turning her back to the light, was a woman with lifeless, ash-colored hair, whose age was hard to guess.
Her initial appearance showed the youthfulness of any young lady, but as their eyes met, that youthfulness shattered like scattered snowflakes.
Left behind was only a middle-aged woman.
‘Could it be the Queen?’
The ash-colored hair, the features of a middle-aged woman—there was only one person Yekaterina could deduce. The unfortunate Queen Larisa Oleg, rumored to have lost her sanity.
If Yekaterina, usually so detached from external affairs, knew of her, the rumors must have been widespread.
‘They say she’s mad, but she looks perfectly sane.’
She looked as fine as a young noblewoman. Yet, appearances can be deceptive, and one should not judge merely by them.
Not wanting to cause a fuss unnecessarily, Yekaterina decided to stay in the corner.
As Yekaterina turned around, or at least intended to, she paused when the Queen suddenly spoke.
“…Sister Marina?”
If the Queen had not uttered those words with such longing in her face and voice, Yekaterina might have continued turning.
* * *
Larisa Oleg, the Queen of the current Emperor Evgeny IV was mad.
Yekaterina decided then not to doubt the widespread rumors any longer because a sane person would not firmly believe a total stranger to be their sister.
“So, Sister. Remember you said that? You were going to marry a noble in a land where flowers and butterflies can be seen all year round. You told me you’d go ahead and prepare a place for me to follow. Remember?”
“No.”
There was no way for her to remember.
Yekaterina had indeed had a sister once, but that memory was now faded, and the middle-aged Queen before her could not have been that sister. Thus, Yekaterina’s answer was without hesitation.
However, despite Yekaterina’s detached answer, Larisa who was sitting beside her seemed utterly unaffected. Rather than taking offense, she continued cheerfully clapping her hands and laughing.
“Yes, yes! We agreed to go flower viewing. And since mother and father would miss us, we promised to return to Ethiel during the offseason…”
Larisa burst into laughter again, launching into memories of a past that Yekaterina didn’t recognize.
Whatever was amusing her, her face was beaming with smiles, lively enough that no one would think her mad upon seeing her.
‘Did she call me ‘sister Marina’?’
Yekaterina reflected on the encounter a moment ago, specifically the moment she had faced Larisa.
What had predominantly filled Larisa’s expression before seeing Yekaterina was a void similar to her own.
But the moment Larisa saw Yekaterina, her face quickly filled with joy.
– “Sister Marina! It really is you…!”
– “…I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
– “I thought I was seeing things again. Everyone keeps telling me Sister is gone. It’s nonsense, right? You’re right here!”
Despite Queen Larisa’s evident joy, as if she could hug Yekaterina and jump around at any moment, Yekaterina did not share the sentiment.
– “I’m sorry, but I’m not your sister.”
At that, Larisa seemed to malfunction, as if her brain could not process what she had just heard, staring blankly at Yekaterina.
– “…Your Highness?”
– “Ah, right! Sister, you were going to tell me about how you’ve been living in the estate, weren’t you? Come here! I need to ask someone to bring some tea. Oh, and light some candles, and, uh, set up a new table, yes, this one was placed here yesterday. Isn’t the finish lovely? Yes…”
Larisa rambled as if she didn’t understand her own words. Eventually, she started crying suddenly, then just as quickly forgot why she was crying and laughed.
It was the behavior of a typical madwoman.
Throughout this, she repeatedly muttered one name.
Marina.
By now, even Yekaterina, who knew nothing of the context, could understand that Larisa had been longing for someone named Marina for a long time.
