Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

It turned out that as early as the age when she was chasing after her brothers with her skirts lifted, her brothers had taught her the most perfect swallowing technique - swallowing the steam locomotives in the blizzards in the north, swallowing the caramel puddings that were usually served to her, and now even the broken ice of her heart could be swallowed properly into the wrinkles of her Victorian smile.

He had changed...become a stranger.

No, he didn't feel unfamiliar. Of course he had seen that posture before. It was so similar to that of his father, the previous king.

Until it was time to leave, she walked through the corridor where they once chased each other in a trance. The two children passed by her, went away, and turned into ashes at the end.

There were no surprises, no miracles.

She became the wife of the old Duke of Caster, but the old duke could not even attend the wedding. She could only wear her wedding dress and go through the ceremony in a daze.

Her brother also came, dressed in luxurious clothes, holding her hand as he walked towards the wedding venue. If others didn't know, they might have thought it was her and her brother's wedding. He led her through a short, red-carpeted path, and they didn't say a word until they reached the door of the venue, where he stopped.

"Forgive me," he said. "The old Duke won't touch you. He doesn't have much time left to live. You married him only because you want to inherit the title of Duke of Caister. We must hold the power firmly in our hands. Sister, I know you are smart. I know you will understand me and do well. Go and become the Duke of Caister... in the near future..."

The gift of fate has already been secretly marked with a price...

The moment she became a member of the royal family, she knew that her destiny would never belong to her.

He opened the door for her and released her hand. She looked bewilderedly at the venue, which was decorated like a dream. Her favorite roses were scattered all over the place, and the bells were ringing, blessing her marriage. Everyone wore false smiles, waiting for her arrival. On the table where the contract was to be signed, there was no old duke, only a marriage seeker.

She stood there, surrounded by people, yet she had never felt so alone.

And her girlhood came to an end.

-

"This is the relationship between the Duke of Caister and the executed late emperor. Isn't it complicated?" After recounting this brief story, the faceless man shrugged. "There's a lot of evidence proving that the Duke of Caister may have had special feelings for the late emperor. Of course, I'm not saying they were having an affair, but you understand that twisted royal secrets like this are always somewhat problematic. Let's not talk about these two, there were similar scandals among previous generations of royal family members."

"It sounds like wild history... Is your Victorian royal family really that chaotic?" Noah frowned. To be honest, she couldn't quite accept such a thing. If she had been there, she would have definitely run away with the Duke of Caister. However, hindsight was obviously inappropriate here, so she sighed, "I even feel a little sympathy for her."

"Married to a bedridden old duke in her prime, the once proud princess naturally harbored a great deal of resentment... However, this resentment wasn't enough to justify her joining forces with the other dukes to execute the late emperor. Something else must have driven her to such a resolution... But even if MI6 had similar confidential files, let alone me, they would surely have been destroyed by now."

The faceless man explained, "After all, the one who controls the entire department now is Duke Caister himself."

"Could it really be because of that proposal in the Londinium Council that was passed first and then reported? The proposal to revoke the nobles' right to privately employ soldiers?" Noa offered her own thoughts. "Could it really be that she's just been stripped of her power, coupled with her existing resentment, that's why she's acting this way?"

"Unfortunately, the intelligence I know doesn't support this view." The faceless man shook his head. "According to the intelligence, Duke Caster should have been the most die-hard royalist. Or rather, it was all planned from the beginning. A Grand Duke and an Emperor, these siblings' original plan was to control Victoria... That makes sense. Besides, the late Emperor was no fool. He would have definitely informed Duke Caster in advance."

"So, before that, what did the late emperor do...that made Duke Caister decide to betray?"

"It's very likely." The Faceless Man thought so too, "But we need evidence. Or rather, if we want to deal with our enemies, we naturally need to understand them first."

"I understand... Actually, I can get some evidence..." Noah whispered, "But... I need to be close enough."

"Are you talking about the ability to play images of the starry sky in my mind?" The faceless man blinked. "Besides playing movies, do you have other functions?"

"…Is this some kind of Victorian humor?"

"Isn't it funny?"

The two were silent for a while, then tacitly ignored this unfunny joke.

"My ability allows me to penetrate a person's mind and extract the memories they're most reluctant to face. Generally speaking, I wouldn't use this ability on others... But now I've figured it out. We can't get bogged down in the same formalities as before."

"I'm glad you can figure it out." The faceless man also felt that Noah was too martial. Since the other party said so, he felt relieved.

"I'll arrange for you to stay in the reception room. As for your identity... I'll let Ensiodis arrange it for you. You have to disguise yourself well enough. I'll create opportunities for you to get close to Duke Caister."

"Okay." This was a simple matter. Noya brushed her cheek, and in an instant, her white hair was dyed black again, and her face became completely different from before. Through the control of gray matter, her ability to disguise had greatly improved. Not to mention the Duke of Caister, even an acquaintance would probably not be recognized for a while. "As for your identity... How about a musician? I can play the piano."

"How's the level?"

"I know a little bit, but it's enough to hold the scene."

"Okay, I'll contact your CEO friend, and you should prepare first. It's best to communicate all the components of the plan. It must be foolproof." The faceless man nodded. Of course, he didn't know what level Noah's so-called "slightly understanding" was. In today's Terra, there should be no one who can play better than Noah.

She carried the Witch King's complete ZIP in her mind, encompassing not only his Originium skills but also his understanding of music and his research into the Warp. As the Witch King's legacy, she truly inherited everything he had. If she so desired, she could be the next Witch King at any time. This was an unconditional inheritance.

And also inherited... the playing skills. Now Noah can really proudly call himself the only king of Terra music.

However, she had always kept a low profile, so she didn't say any of this. Furthermore, she actually had a piano in Kjerag, which Enthiotis had given her to practice using the Nameless Harp. Although she was about to throw the Nameless Harp into the garbage heap of her inner space... that thing was essentially a manifestation of her own abilities.

In other words, it is the power of Zero, or the incomplete Star Child.

It is the ability to distort the world through one's inner thoughts, except that its form of expression is a piano.

Back then, I was immature and my abilities were incomplete, so using the Nameless Harp required strong emotions as an aid. As Chai Xin, I even had to consume my own vitality and mental strength to distort reality. But now it's completely different. I have understood that the essence of this thing is power, a force that distorts reality, something like the innate ability possessed by those behemoths.

Of course... even now, she cannot distort reality at will. The scene in the subspace where she is like the creator god shaping people is only because she is in the subspace with chaotic rules at that time. If she can shape people like this in the physical universe, it is probably something that only the true Star Child in his heyday can do.

I am just a half-baked person at best...

Soon, Noah changed into a black dress and transformed into a black-haired musician and came to the reception room. Her identity had already been arranged. She was a top pianist from Letania and was specially invited. The clothes she wore were also prepared for her by Enthyotis.

It was a very expensive gown—a minimalist satin gown that flowed like the night. Its high-waisted mermaid design outlined her slender figure, and the slightly flared cuffs allowed for the undulation of her wrists during piano playing. The neckline was embroidered with traditional Leithanian embroidery—a faint glimpse of silver staves winding along her collarbone to her shoulder blades, a frozen melody in the light. An obsidian brooch at her waist held the pleats in place, its facets cut into the abstract outline of musical notes. From any angle, the dress was striking, drawing many curious glances at Noa.

Noah's disguised face was somewhat based on Arturo's, and she even put a teardrop mole on the corner of her eye. After noticing everyone's gaze, she turned her head and showed a peaceful smile, but this smile seemed to have won the hearts of several people. Noah, who had no idea how charming she was now, did not take these to heart. Her eyes were always following the Duke of Caster, who was holding a wine glass and chatting with Latatos, the leader of one of the three major local families.

That was her goal today. She wanted to use her ability to spy on the other party's memory... to find out her true purpose, and to help Vina overthrow the powerful Grand Duke.

However, the art of telepathic Originium transmission was a delicate job, and it was impossible to start like that. She first went to her piano and played a few times to make sure the pitch was correct. Then she lifted her skirt and sat down. Her slender fingers landed on the black and white keys, and the next moment, a string of smooth notes flowed out from her.

——Music is the carrier of Originium skills.

Noah's eyes were faintly golden, and she had already closed them, pretending to be immersed in the performance.

Her attention had long been focused on Duke Caister, who was attracted by the music.

——Get started!

Chapter 41: Victoria's Sin

She never thought that she would become a powerful duke.

However, as a member of the royal family, she should have been sent to the gambling table as a bargaining chip for political marriage. Victoria, this seemingly glamorous country, is like a big casino, and the royal family is just one of the participants with slightly richer capital. In the gambling game, there is naturally only one gambler, and the others are just his chips, which can be pressed on the gambling table at any time.

The gambler of this generation is naturally her brother who has the style of the previous king, so... is she really resentful?

Maybe it's not because of this action, but because I blame him for not giving me the power to choose.

The heavy rain moistened the sky, and a gray mist filled the air. She, who had become the Duchess, stood in the pavilion in the garden of the Duke's Mansion, her clothes soaked. The rain probably did not know the value of the clothes, so it treated the luxurious clothes and the cheap clothes of passers-by equally. The wife of the Duke of Caster, that's how she was called at the tea party that just ended.

——Even though they were not actually husband and wife, in the eyes of everyone, he had been branded as the Duke of Caister.

Not many people remember her name anymore...

Raindrops pierced the pavilion's draped wisteria curtains, weaving a fine web of beads through the Duke of Caster's silver hair. She reached out to catch the raindrops falling from the eaves, and in a trance, she felt that what she held in her palm was not raindrops, but the apple blossoms that her brother had brushed off that year—the dewy white blossoms he had personally picked from the greenhouse and pinned to her hair on her sixteenth birthday.

The dew on the flower showed that it was picked at the first moment. Despite his busy schedule, his brother still took care of himself. He did not despise a little girl who could not help him in any way. She grew up with her brother. They had the same tutor and received the same education. But she knew... her thoughts could never be hidden from her brother.

Whether she's sad or happy, he can always tell.

Her brother has been extremely intelligent since childhood and is favored by everyone. But she seems to have never been noticed. She is also a step behind in learning and needs her brother's help with homework. But in fact... she is not as stupid as everyone imagines. Of course, she understood what the teacher said, but she did not show it.

She just cherished every moment with her brother. She knew that her brother would not always be able to stay by her side. He had his own responsibilities and he had to become the king of this country.

Unlike himself, he could not indulge in poetry like himself, nor could he pretend to be confused like himself. He was too smart, too sharp, and too... bad at concealing his sharpness.

There is always a gleam in his eyes. Such a person is so easy to understand. Just by looking into his eyes, it seems that you can see that this person is transparent, like clear crystal.

If he was just a smart commoner, it wouldn't matter, but he was born in an imperial family, so showing off like this is not a good thing.

And I, who was completely opposite to him, had always been hiding myself, hiding my talents... and also hiding the faint, twisted and complicated feelings I had for my brother, which had been born at some unknown time.

Being smart since childhood, she soon realized that this was not a relationship between brother and sister.

...Probably when she was still young, she saw her elder brother falling asleep due to heavy study. She seemed to be half controlled by something, leaned over and kissed his lips, and she realized it.

Girls always mature earlier than boys. During the period when her brother didn't mind sleeping and taking a bath with her, she understood shame early on. She didn't dare let her brother see her body, and was even more ashamed to hug her brother in public. She even made her brother sad at one point.

But... frankly, that's not my own emotion.

My emotions are so fragile, twisted, and humble. They should never exist. It is my fault.

Like thorns entwined within my heart... sin.

"You shouldn't have come." She counted the cracks in the bluestone tiles, raindrops falling down her eyelashes and merging into the stream flowing freely across the stone slabs. "The servants in the Duke's Mansion will gossip about you."

"I won't stay long... I asked the royal chef to make caramel pudding." His fingertips hovered over the back of her trembling hand, as if touching antique porcelain behind museum glass, "You used to..."

Maybe she wanted to say that you used to love eating this the most... In fact, even this was not true. She just wanted to show her childish and cute side in front of him.

She actually doesn't like sweets. She's been drinking coffee for a long time. Her favorite kind is the particularly bitter kind...

"Your Majesty." This title cut through the rain curtain, and she finally looked up at her brother's face. Compared to the past, he was less energetic, and his eyes as clear as crystal were gone. There were also a few more wrinkles around his eyes. He looked more mature and more like their father. He was still in his prime, but she seemed to have seen what he would look like in his old age.

"Why crème brûlée?" she asked, smiling. "Why did you come to me? Don't you trust me?"

"..."

No, that's not what she wanted to say. This was not the question she wanted to ask now.

But the mouth may be the most difficult organ to tame in the world. It always says insincere words. Even if there are thousands of twists and turns in the heart, it dare not reveal them through the mouth.

She carefully restrained herself and put on a flattering smile.

"You're my sister. What's wrong with me coming to see you?" He shook his head. "I know you blame me. This is indeed my fault. No matter how many times I apologize to you, it won't erase my sins, sister... But, this is all I can do... I must send a proton... within the royal bloodline."

...Indeed, the late emperor was a rare, infatuated man, devoting his entire life to only one woman, who passed away after giving birth to him and his sister. The emperor, wounded by love, never remarried. Perhaps as a human, he fulfilled his duties as a partner, but as a king, such behavior was profoundly irresponsible.

Although the decline of the royal bloodline made his brother's path to the throne smooth, it also left him with no choice.

When he had to sacrifice a royal blood to appease the dissatisfaction of the grand dukes, he could only give up his sister.

"…Give me some time…sister…I will bring you home."

"...I don't want to know this." She looked around. This was the Duke of Caister's residence, the enemy's base camp. Why was her brother so stupid! Stupid enough to discuss these things in a place like this?

Besides, this wasn't what she wanted to know...

She wanted to ask, she wanted to know if her feelings were exposed, if he realized her twisted emotions and that was why she was pushed away from him.

These words lingered on my lips, but I never said them out loud.

What finally came out of his mouth was another sentence.

"Why not now?"

"..."

Her expression was cold. She approached the man in front of her step by step, forcing him to fall on the chair in the pavilion. She must have looked terrible at this moment, because her brother was obviously frightened by her. The reflection of herself in his eyes was so strange, almost like another person.

Oh, yes, she is not the eldest princess, but the Duchess of Caister.

The brother who was pushed down on the chair had dilated pupils, and the hem of the water-soaked royal dress was entangled around her naked ankles. Both of them were soaked, and their hair stuck to their skin, which was very uncomfortable.

She spread her legs and climbed onto her brother's chest, from top to bottom——

The sound of rain swallowed all answers. Wisteria flowers slurred through the tangled strands of hair, power and lust undone within the damp folds of lace. As muffled thunder rumbled in the distance, she entwined strands of her blood-stained silver hair around his fingers—much like the cat's-neck game they played as children, except this time... it wasn't the realm of children.

She shook her body and peeled off her wet clothes, as if removing the outer layer of a marble sculpture layer by layer, revealing the astonishingly white skin underneath. However, this white was soon stained with a lifelike red. She looked at the confused brother in front of her, and suddenly felt a sense of conquest.

It turns out... my brother is not so invincible... It turns out... my brother also has something to hold against him.

She raised her head and subconsciously looked towards Duke Caister's bedroom. The bedroom window was ajar at this time. Duke Caister should not be able to get out of bed now... In theory, this is the case, but she still has a taboo desire.

The sense of freedom after breaking free from the shackles of morality, and the self-abandonment of doing something irreparable in such a place, made the birth of this sin seem more fatalistic. In the end, she broke the bottom line.

Even in the house of her nominal husband...

"Brother... take me away..."

-

Damn it...

Noah didn't expect to see this scene, but even if she closed her eyes, the picture would not end with her closing her eyes. This was a transmission of information, a 6D movie experience. If Noah wanted, she could even connect with the other person's feelings, but forget it. Just seeing this picture was enough to shock her three views.

If these things were told to Vina, Duke Caister would have evidence against him... but Vina might not be able to accept it.

No... How could Vina's father have an affair with his own sister? Although it seems that Duke Kaster forced himself on her, this is the Duke's Mansion... How could she do such a thing with her brother in a place like this? Noya's brain cells really burned this time. Logically, she has basically seen all kinds of outrageous things.

But this... I've never seen this before.

Noah is often incompatible with the feudal monarchy because he is not perverted enough...

However, it seems that the Duke of Caister's feelings towards the late emperor were not hatred, but rather a desire. Why did the Duke of Caister betray his brother, whom he even raped, and become the Duke of Caister today?

Judging from the current situation, although it's a bit abnormal, the Duke of Caister is clearly on the side of the late emperor. It's not an exaggeration to say that he is the most staunch royalist. However, the facts that followed don't match up at all. Something must have happened that caused these two siblings to turn against each other...

It's already infiltrated to this extent... Let's just go all out and get things straightened out first.

Noah took another quick look into the courtyard, and then he realized that the eldest princess had raised her head several times and looked at the half-open window while doing that thing.

That was the bedroom of the old Duke of Caster...