Inside the Mutual Death Prison (1)

The weather kept threatening to snow. Dark clouds cast shadows on the ground, turning the day increasingly ashen, and the air grew colder. Flurries of snow fell from the sky, transforming the palace into a pure white wonderland. Though one had to dress warmly and fasten their collars tight, the bodeudeuk sound of walking on the pristine snow was delightful.

Just a few days ago, officials from Changwei (Information Bureau) and the Ministry of Justice had gathered to interrogate the Rose Palace’s palace maids about their alleged crimes. Many were dragged from the Rose Palace and tortured, but with the Ministry of Justice officials glaring, the Changwei (Information Bureau) agents couldn’t dare ‘create’ testimonies as they wished. Conscious of the Ministry of Justice’s gaze, they couldn’t even properly use the branding iron, except on Serina. In the end, they had to withdraw from the Rose Palace without any significant gains. Changwei (Information Bureau) trembled with humiliation they had never felt in their careers, but the game was already out of their hands.

Mirabilis-nim regarded the palace maids being dragged to the prison and interrogated as a disgrace and moved about restlessly. Even as the released maids recovered, she used her private funds to assist them. When Mirabilis-nim graced the maids who were recuperating in a corner of the Rose Palace, they shed tears mixed with resentment and sorrow. Seeing the pus flowing from the maids’ burn wounds and their sobbing faces, the Princess-nim also shed thick tears, forcing herself to swallow them back. Only on this day could the mistress of the Rose Palace and her maids wash away their past grudges and reconcile completely.

Changwei (Information Bureau) refused to release only Serina. Serina was their last hope. While Mirabilis-nim was running around meeting the Emperor, Empress, and high-ranking nobles to save him, the Winter Solstice arrived.

The palace was a bit noisier than usual, preparing for the seasonal festival in its own way. From midday, the scent of herbs being chopped and cooked hung in the air. To forget the unpleasant memories of being investigated by Changwei (Information Bureau), the Rose Palace maids deliberately worked harder to prepare for the Winter Solstice customs. They tried to melt their frozen bodies and soothe their wounded hearts by drinking tea made with boiled herbs and mixed with honey, and eating sandwiches. Mullaba-nim allowed more honey to be used than last year.

However, the Ministry of Justice didn’t have the luxury. Even on this day, when the night was longest and the day shortest, they were busy in various ways. Minister of Justice Achilles-nim was deeply contemplating whether he should tell Mirabilis-nim the truth he had heard.

Being on bad terms with any of the royal family-though he wouldn’t hesitate if the situation were truly critical-was something he wanted to avoid if possible. If he revealed this fact now, he would likely become an enemy of Padrentia-nim instead of siding with Mirabilis-nim.

‘Padrentia-nim already has many allies. Helping Mirabilis-nim would increase my value more.’

Even after hardening his heart to this point, he hesitated again. Among those in the know, Mirabilis-nim had long been famous for her inability to control her anger, and he was also ‘one of those in the know.’ Although Mirabilis-nim had suddenly changed her personality recently, becoming gentle and calm, he doubted whether she could remain calm even if he told her the information he had just received.

If Mirabilis-nim were to rage because of anger, there was a possibility that he would not receive any reward for his help and might even suffer a loss. That would be like going to get rid of a wart and coming back with another one. Achilles-nim entered a period of deep thought, not even realizing that the tea his subordinate had brought was cooling down.

‘Having come this far, it’s better to tell her anyway.’

Having made up his mind, he waited for Mirabilis-nim to visit as promised. The day before, Mirabilis-nim had notified him that she would visit the next day. As scheduled, the Princess-nim visited him around the 5th si (one hour before noon). However, unlike yesterday, when she had been visibly agitated with a mixture of anger and worry, her face was now darkened with deep contemplation, making her appear somber. Though slightly puzzled, Achilles-nim cautiously broached the subject as he had decided.

“There is a possibility that the recent incident in which the Princess-nim’s maid was dragged to Changwei (Information Bureau) was a plot orchestrated by the Chrysanthemum Palace. It is not certain, however.”

If the Princess Older Sister really had schemed to limit her Princess Younger Sister’s political influence, there was a high probability that the Emperor would not investigate the truth of the incident and would settle it at an appropriate level. In any case, the Princesses-nim were unharmed, and the authority of the Imperial family was also at stake, so handling it discreetly was better in many ways.

Achilles-nim’s biggest worry was that Mirabilis-nim would become enraged and storm into the Chrysanthemum Palace, yelling at Padrentia-nim. If that happened, it would be difficult to keep it quiet. If he saw any signs of that, he was prepared to rush out barefoot to stop the Princess-nim.

“Is that so? I didn’t expect Padrentia-nim to do such a thing to my maid. She must have been targeting me.”

To Achilles-nim’s dismay, Mirabilis-nim, upon hearing the words, was slightly surprised but brushed it off as if it were nothing. The Princess-nim looked a bit more haggard than usual, as if she hadn’t slept well the night before. Although she was still wearing a black dress and golden earrings to adorn her appearance, she felt less beautiful compared to the previous day. Mirabilis-nim paused, her green eyes blinking with a somber expression.

Although she wasn’t greatly surprised when Achilles-nim spoke just now, he strongly felt that she had more important matters to attend to, setting aside minor issues. He was puzzled as to what had happened to Mirabilis-nim overnight, but he considered it a great relief that he didn’t need to step in and stop her.

‘Has the Princess-nim really changed that much…?’

Achilles-nim felt even more strongly that it was okay to side with Mirabilis-nim.

“Princess-nim, we investigated with Changwei (Information Bureau), but we couldn’t find any evidence that anyone in the Rose Palace had performed forbidden magic. There was no evidence that Serina had learned magic. All we have is the intelligence Changwei (Information Bureau) received and the cursed doll from the first day.”

Mirabilis-nim tilted her head and spoke. As the Princess-nim’s melancholic green eyes turned towards him, Achilles-nim forgot his dignity and felt his heart flutter for no reason.

“I heard there was a strand of blonde hair on that doll. Is that my hair?”

The Minister of Justice frowned and grumbled in a low voice.

“I was going to check that while you were here. We should have checked it first, but I think they postponed it because they were intimidated by the fact that you are the Princess-nim, the incompetent fools.”

Mirabilis-nim chuckled. It was a dry laugh that seemed somewhat empty, but since her expression had been consistently stiff since meeting Achilles-nim today, it seemed to lighten the atmosphere.

Achilles-nim shouted towards the door, “Hey, Sorcerer!” As the undignified shout, unbefitting the title of Minister of Justice, echoed, a man with a pale complexion opened the door and entered the office, holding a brown sack. It was the magician Pallas, who had cast the counter-spell on Mirabilis-nim the day before.

“You went all the way to the Rose Palace to cast a counter-spell, but you couldn’t do any other investigation because the other party was the Princess-nim…”

As Achilles-nim openly clicked his tongue, Pallas shrank like a turtle. The blood slowly drained from his face, turning it even whiter.

“It must be because he doesn’t have much experience yet. Don’t blame him too much, Minister of Justice.”

Achilles-nim frowned, furrowing his thick eyebrows, but soon sighed.

“Did you hear the Princess-nim well? Be grateful for this opportunity that the Princess-nim is taking your side, as it is rare.”

“I am grateful.”

The young magician’s tone was still stiff, as if he was very nervous, but his facial muscles softened a little, as if he felt a bit more at ease. He opened the sack and placed the cursed doll, which was the evidence, in front of Mirabilis-nim.

The doll’s face and limbs were covered with needles, and the phrase “Corpos Mirabileis Lucsimias (Mirabilis Lucsimia’s Body)” was written in clumsy handwriting on its chest. It seemed to have been deliberately written clumsily to hide the handwriting. Seeing the phrase, Mirabilis-nim frowned slightly but didn’t bother to open her mouth.

“What was once a part of something remains connected to the original even after being separated. If this hair really belongs to the Princess-nim, when the magician stimulates the connection between the Princess-nim and this, it will definitely stiffen and try to fly towards the Princess-nim. If it were someone else, it would not react because there is no magical connection.”

Mirabilis-nim turned to look at the young magician’s face. The Princess-nim tried to brighten her expression, but her green eyes were dark and sunken, holding a strange sadness. Even that appearance felt like the dignity and charm of royalty, making Pallas flustered. Achilles-nim clicked his tongue, thinking that the young man was captivated by the Princess-nim, but he couldn’t bring himself to blame him.

“I see, Magician. If I were to assume that I have a twin sister, would you still be able to distinguish us?”

Pallas couldn’t control his startled heart and stammered.

“Ah… yes, well, um, if, hypothetically speaking, the Princess-nim had an identical twin sister, it would react. Blood relatives share a slight magical connection. Children inherit half of their magical connection from their parents. But identical twins have a very deep connection. Even deeper than the relationship between parents and children, magically speaking.”

At first, he couldn’t speak properly and rambled, but once the explanation got on track, Pallas’s tone gradually became more natural. He was also an unavoidable magician, with the affliction of enjoying explaining in front of those who lacked magical knowledge.

“Even so, because they live differently and build different personalities after being born, it will never react like the person themselves. The degree of reaction is clearly different, so magicians never make mistakes. If they are infants who have not been born for long, their personalities have not been properly established, and they have not lived very different lives, so even experienced magicians can make mistakes at this time, but it is rare.”

Thanks to Mirabilis-nim speaking to him, Pallas was able to calm down. He took out the wand he always carried, which had a ring attached to it like when he used a counter-spell. As he infused the wand with magical power and moved it between the cursed doll and Mirabilis-nim, the hair on the cursed doll suddenly lifted slightly, pointing towards the Princess-nim, and then lost its strength and drooped again after a moment.

“It is the Princess-nim’s hair. However, it has been denatured for some reason, making it difficult to become a magical material. It seems to have been left over from being burned. If it were fresh, undenatured hair, it would have immediately detached from the doll and stuck to the Princess-nim’s body because the connection with the original is strong.”

The reason why burning is preferred as a method of disposing of hair or nails is precisely this. Even if some residue remains, the heat of the fire changes its properties, causing it to lose its magical connection. Flame is special among the four elements that make up the world, strongly affecting not only visible forms but also magical properties.

Achilles-nim nodded.

“This is also one indirect piece of evidence that Serina did not try to play tricks on the Princess-nim with this cursed doll. If she were a maid who is always close to the Princess-nim, there would be no reason to use denatured hair instead of fresh hair.”

Mirabilis-nim tilted her head and spoke to Pallas.

“I have something to ask, Magician.”

“My name is Pallas. I am the second son of the Asinai family.”

Seeing the young man wanting to tell the Princess-nim his name, Achilles-nim was annoyed inside, but he didn’t stop him or intervene yet.

“Yes, Pallas of Asinai. Can there be no magical connection with others?”

The magician had a dazed look on his face, and tilted his head for a moment after receiving the unexpected question.

“If that other person turns out to be a distant relative that I didn’t even know about when tracing the family tree, there would be a slight connection, but it is almost meaningless. Unless they are close blood relatives. Since you have come this far, I would like to do one more test.”

If Pallas had only talked about his personal details to Mirabilis-nim and hadn’t done this test, Achilles-nim would have immediately issued a stern order. He had been waiting to see if he would do this. He narrowly averted the crisis, but Pallas, unaware of such circumstances, opened his mouth calmly and rummaged through the sack. It was full of magical paraphernalia, so it took time to find what he was looking for.

“It’s almost a formality, but to ensure that there is no connection between the evidence and the suspect, I will also check the connection with the suspect. Since the connection between the evidence and Mirabilis-nim matched, I will test the connection between the Princess-nim and the suspect.”

Pallas took out Serina’s black hair from a small wooden box with tweezers. He held his breath and took it out very carefully so that his breath or sweat would not contaminate it and cause unnecessary errors in the connection test. He placed the hair in front of Mirabilis-nim and stirred the wand with the ring attached, putting in magical power as he had done before, but there was no reaction from the hair.

“Minister, there is no reaction at all.”

As Pallas turned his head and reported, Achilles-nim nodded slightly. It was a matter of course and almost a formality, so he didn’t expect much from the beginning. It was only because Pallas had gone to the Rose Palace and done the pointless act of casting a counter-spell that he was doing everything by the book here as much as possible.

While he was turning his back and reporting to Achilles-nim, the mistress of the Rose Palace witnessed Serina’s hair moving slightly towards her, albeit belatedly, with her emerald eyes. It was a late reaction, but it was certain. However, she didn’t bother to say that fact and swallowed it along with her saliva.

Achilles-nim opened his mouth.

“Princess-nim, at this rate, Serina will soon be acquitted. Since there is a possibility that Padrentia-nim was involved, His Majesty will issue a royal decree to conclude the case on the grounds that the culprit is unknown but Serina is not the culprit.”

He chuckled, seemingly truly pleased, in a manner unbefitting his dignity.

“Thinking about how Witog, that bastard, is racking his brains right now makes me laugh. It’s like I’ve landed a solid punch in the solar plexus of that guy who’s always been on a winning streak. The maid that the Princess-nim cherishes will be released in three days, or at the latest, a week. Her body will probably be battered, but she will probably be the most intact among the suspects who were dragged to Changwei (Information Bureau).”

Then, as if doing another favor, he asked Mirabilis-nim.

“Would you like to meet Serina today? We need to give her hope that she will be released soon. A meeting with a suspect imprisoned in Changok is unprecedented since the establishment of Changwei (Information Bureau), but I can probably negotiate with Witog if I visit him. The situation is what it is now.”

Mirabilis-nim nodded.

“Thank you, Minister of Justice.”