ADLQ Chapter 1

Drip, drip…

Heavy rain poured down on the black umbrellas. People under dozens of black umbrellas kept their expressions blank, stifling yawns.

A coffin, covered in cloth, was lowered into a pit in the well-maintained lawn and was soon buried under the soil again.

“We offer her to the gods of the sun and moon.”

Next to the grave, an elderly man in a white priest’s robe offered a prayer. Unlike the words of blessing and peace he spoke, his expression was just as empty.

“It’s over.”

“Thank you for your work, Father.”

A man in the front of the group, dressed in black mourning clothes, stepped forward. He was Jonas Nürenbern, the father of the deceased woman in the coffin.

Despite just having lost his daughter, he appeared perfectly composed. His light brown hair was neatly swept back, and his face showed no change in expression.

“Let’s go.”

Turning his head, Jonas motioned to his wife, Lea.

“…Yes.”

As she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, her vibrant red hair stood out even in the colorless setting of the funeral. Her neatly pinned-up hair and small hat made her even more noticeable. Her light makeup showed how much care she had put into her appearance for this occasion.

Sway.

As she followed Jonas, the woman staggered.

“Mother!”

A young man beside her quickly caught her.

Meanwhile, Jonas, walking ahead and leaving them behind, recalled the benefits he had gained from his daughter’s marriage.

‘For the life of something useless, it wasn’t a bad deal.’

He convinced himself that his daughter had done her duty. Her marriage, and the annoying son-in-law who flaunted his noble connections—he had been rid of both. With her death, it was all neatly resolved. He had gained what he could and discarded the rest.

At that moment, a black umbrella approached Jonas. The wide brim of the umbrella obscured the person beneath it.

“Who’s there?”

A knight of House Nürenbern stepped forward to block the way.

“……”

“You’re in the way.”

Jonas gave a short remark as he stepped into the carriage.

“Lady Ponedo!”

The knight’s shocked voice rang out.

“…You piece of trash.”

Thud.

The person who dropped the umbrella onto the wet, soggy grass was none other than Ludiana Ponedo—Jonas Nürenbern’s eldest daughter and sister of the deceased woman. She had always been the obedient daughter, bowing her head politely to Jonas and her stepmother, Lea.

The harsh words from her mouth were drowned out by the sound of rain—only the knight heard them.

‘What did she just say…?’

The idea that Ludiana would utter such vulgarity was unimaginable to him. His mind froze.

“Tsk, how pathetic.”

Jonas scolded her for dropping the umbrella as he placed his other foot into the carriage.

“Die… Die!!”

At that moment, Ludiana pulled a dagger hidden in her skirt and lunged at Jonas.

Because she had been standing so close, and since no one suspected her, the guards had let their guard down.

“Guh, guh…”

The sharp blade pierced Jonas’s right side. The dagger happened to stab into his lung, and Jonas collapsed into the carriage, gasping for breath.

“Kyaaaah!”

The faces of the gentlemen and ladies behind them turned pale with horror—so different from their emotionless expressions moments earlier as the coffin was buried.

“Dear!”

Lea rushed to the carriage in panic.

“Master!!”

The knight commander jumped into the carriage to pull Ludiana away.

“Aaaaah!”

But Ludiana’s rage would not stop. She continued to stab the already-dead Jonas.

‘W-What strength is this?!’

From her bony shoulders and frail frame—one that looked like it might collapse at a touch—where was this strength coming from? She even threw off the knight, then turned her sights on Lea.

“Aaaah!”

Lea, who had been running toward the carriage, backed away in fear and fell to the ground. Just before Ludiana reached her, the knight commander regained his senses and restrained her.

“Aaaaaaah!! Nürenbern!!”

Her heart-wrenching scream flowed with the falling rain.

***

“We sentence Ludiana Ponedo to death.”

A few days after she killed Jonas with her own hands, a noble court convened. She was sentenced to death for the crime of patricide.

“Do you have any final words?”

Ludiana looked around. Tearfully, she fixed her gaze on her stepmother, Lea, who was glaring at her.

‘What a disgusting woman.’

When their eyes met, Lea slowly lowered her fan and curled her lips into a strange smile. With Jonas dead, her son would naturally inherit the family title.

That was the most bitter and regretful part. But having killed Jonas was enough of a satisfaction.

‘What more could a mere woman, the discarded wife of a lowly baron, do?’

Still… it was painful.

“I regret it.”

Ludiana turned her eyes to the judge.

“Do you mean you regret your crime? The sentence stands regardless.”

She lowered her head, then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Pfft, haha! Don’t be ridiculous! I regret not killing that disgusting woman too!”

“What—! Guards, take that woman away!”

“My goodness…”

“She’s clearly mad.”

“No wonder the baron disowned her.”

As the crowd murmured, the doors opened and knights entered. These were specially selected knights to guard the worst kind of criminal.

Their white uniforms, majestic and dignified, stood in stark contrast to Ludiana’s ragged appearance.

“Ludiana, come with us.”

The large man in front roughly yanked the rope binding her.

‘Ugh.’

The rope scraped her skin, causing pain, but she didn’t let out a sound. Instead, she glared at Lea and her son with a twisted smile.

As Ludiana was being dragged out of the courtroom by the knights, she encountered someone approaching quickly—Allen Pianus.

“You…!”

His shoes and trouser cuffs were covered in mud, as if he had rushed here. Allen’s blue eyes shook violently.

“What have you done?!”

Coming to his senses, he roared in anger.

“Duke Pianus, this is the criminal Ludiana. Please step aside.”

“Damn it! Tch…”

Allen Pianus, lord of the East, clenched his fists tightly, biting his lips.

“Please let me go.”

Ludiana raised her head and looked at him. Her hair was messy, her lips cracked, her voice dry, but she gave him the kindest smile she could manage.

“……”

Allen’s wrinkled eyes twisted in pain. He couldn’t say a word.

He had been the only one to cry at his mother’s funeral years ago. Young Ludiana, introduced to him as her friend’s daughter, had sobbed in his arms, comforted by the sadness in his eyes.

“Let’s go.”

Seeing the same eyes now gave Ludiana a small sense of peace.

“Damn it! If only I had…!”

“Duke!”

Unable to stop Ludiana from being taken, Allen slammed his fist against the wall. His knight, Kalos of the Pianus family, tried to calm him. Watching this, Ludiana curved her dry, cracked lips into a bitter smile.

Golden hair shining in the sunlight, gray-blue eyes of immeasurable depth, a handsome face that always looked gently at her even behind a cold expression—a man who achieved everything on his own was even blessed with perfect looks.

‘We were both abandoned children.’

He had been born out of wedlock and abandoned by his father, but eventually became the Empire’s greatest swordsman. His fame was so great that even Ludiana, isolated in a countryside barony, had heard of him.

‘If I had carved my own path too, would my ending have been different?’

At one point, she had looked to him for solace. If an abandoned child could succeed, maybe she could too. But of course, she had dismissed that idea. He was filled with talent. She was just an ordinary woman. As Ludiana was dragged away, her face twisted in despair.

‘Not that it matters now anyway.’

***

“Thus, the criminal is judged.”

The next day, at the moment Ludiana was executed by guillotine as a “heinous criminal,” Allen watched her final moments with a tormented expression.

Kalos, too, paid a final silent tribute with sorrowful eyes. Seeing him, Ludiana closed her eyes with a faint, aching smile.