Chapter 94 - Downfall

The source that allowed her to act as the master of this house had vanished.

"What the?"

"Isn't something strange?"

The voices of the men chattering outside pierced her ears.

They began to chatter about it as if it were more important than chasing the mansion's intruder.

"I feel like my head has cleared up."

"You said it. I suddenly got this weird feeling."

"What is this? Were we under some kind of spell?"

Then, one of them asked.

"Come to think of it, didn't that phantom thief call Tilda, that wench, a witch?"

"Did a witch really use some sort of trick on us?"

"Maybe so."

At the same time, she heard footsteps approaching her location.

'No!'

Tilda instinctively ran to the door and locked it.

CLICK-CLACK!

"Please open the door, Lady Tilda!"

"Are you alright? Please say something!"

BANG BANG!

They pounded on the door, but Tilda did not answer.

The confusion soon turned into anger.

"She really was a witch, just like that phantom thief said!"

"That witch definitely cast a spell on us!"

"Break the door down!"

Everyone who had been loyal to her shouted at the top of their lungs as a backlash from the magic being undone.

She was like a rat cornered in a trap.

'I have to escape.'

However, Tilda had already prepared for even this absolute worst-case scenario.

She ran to the bathroom, threw a prepared rope out the window, and climbed down.

She untied and packed the rope so no one would know where she had fled, then slipped out of the mansion and began to run.

The last voices she heard from the chaotic mansion were these.

"The master has passed away!"

"That damn witch killed the master too!"

The death of Rico Dandolo.

Tilda had no idea why it happened, but it didn't matter either way.

She was the witch who had cast a spell on the mansion, an unforgivable existence.

She had spared her life, but only for a moment.

Her life was now like a candle in the wind.

'Where should I go?'

How could she survive in this worst of all situations?

She thought and thought, but there was no future.

She was incompetent, just as Yor had said.

She wanted to have everything, but she lacked the qualifications to possess it.

She had even obtained power, but she had failed to protect it.

'I will survive.'

Even so, she struggled pathetically.

She ran and ran through the dark forest.

'I am going to survive!'

However, that thought, too, scattered like a midsummer's dream before long.

"Ah..."

The veils hiding in the dark night wriggled and revealed themselves.

Figures wearing black masks approached her.

Tilda Pascal tried to resist, but in the end, she lost consciousness.

* * *

A road not far from the Dandolo mansion.

Three carriages disguised as a merchant caravan were waiting there.

The man with the brown ponytail let out a heavy breath as he climbed into the carriage.

"Phew! That wasn't as easy as I thought."

"Did you really have to go to such troublesome lengths?"

Zed grinned and answered.

"I had to. Otherwise, it absolutely wouldn't have ended in a single day."

"Didn't you leave a trail?"

Garnet asked with a face that seemed to say, 'Are you serious?'

"Bunny Swallows?"

"It's a fun name, isn't it?"

Garnet glared fiercely, but Zed responded with a smile.

She let out a sigh as if admitting defeat.

"I knew you had a uselessly slick tongue, but I didn't know you had that kind of skill too."

"It's our clan's secret art. Disguising ourselves as a circus troupe to scout out marks to scam, that is."

"Don't the troupe leaders usually do that?"

"You can't avoid it when your father is the leader."

"I see how it is."

Garnet nodded in understanding.

Sensing a presence outside, Zed took a quick peek.

Masked men were loading a large sack into the carriage.

"So, what about that lady?"

"She's going to be delivered to the castle. We have to act according to the contract."

"Hmm, then we're heading the same way. There won't be any problems, right?"

"... It's not like there are absolutely none."

"What is it?"

"Uuuung, Zeze?"

He realized it the moment he heard that nasally voice.

The pink-haired woman in the bunny girl outfit sitting opposite Garnet was giggling blankly.

Like someone heavily intoxicated on alcohol.

"What's wrong, Pepe?"

"Uhehe, Zeze. I was totally badass, right? For one day of practice, I did fucking amazing, right? Hmm? Hmm?"

"...?"

"Where in the world could you find a phantom thief like me? Even I think I was fucking sexy. Look at this. Sexy~."

"... Did she hurt her head?"

Garnet nodded calmly.

When Zed carefully checked the back of her head, an arrowhead was lodged deep inside it.

So that's why she had lost it.

"Ahaha! Arrows were flying SWOOSH SWOOSH, and I couldn't dodge them all~. Ah~ who would've thought one would get stuck in my head!"

"Whoa, don't shake your head."

She clung to Zed's arm with a foolish laugh.

Garnet sighed and spoke.

"I checked, and it's highly likely to be a temporary shock, so there's no need to worry. We'll rendezvous with a healer midway, so we'll have the arrowhead removed there."

"What's this, missy. You're talking smart even though you're sexy? Wanna spend a passionate night with this unnie? I'll treat you right."

Penelope growled like a sleazy middle-aged man.

Garnet put on a straight face and spoke seriously.

"She's injured her head so severely that even her sexual preferences have been warped. It'll be dangerous if we don't treat her quickly."

That's how she always was.

He couldn't quite bring himself to say it.

* * *

Tilda opened her eyes in the darkness.

She didn't know where she was, but one thing was certain.

She couldn't escape from her own karma.

Who was the one doing this?

Muchit?

Stephan?

Herman?

Or Rico??

Her breathing grew rapid as all sorts of thoughts raced through her mind.

Whichever one it was, it would be difficult to survive.

CREAAAK.

A moment later, a door opened in the dark space.

Someone entered.

CLICK, CLACK.

All that could be seen by the single candle hanging on the wall were neat black dress shoes.

"We meet again. Tilda Pascal."

The voice of a young man, but with a bizarre feeling carrying the weight of middle age.

Tilda knew this voice very well.

Because it was the voice that had humiliated her.

"R-Regent Ferda...?"

He leaned back against the backrest before leaning forward.

Gray hair and blue eyes were reflected in her eyes.

"Tilda Pascal."

Ferda called her name once again.

"I didn't like you from our first meeting... but you are beyond imagination."

There was not a single trace of emotion in his voice.

Because of that, it was boundlessly cold, feeling like a chilling blade.

"Did you think you could survive after daring to torment the merchants who support the Grand Duchy's territory?"

Tilda opened her mouth.

"I didn't do it. Everything was my fiancé..."

SLAP!

Ferda picked up a document and threw it onto the floor.

The contents written in that document detailed Tilda Pascal's past actions.

The ones who had provided that information were from Black Bandana.

"Keep talking."

Tilda was forced to shut her mouth, completely speechless.

However, that only lasted for a moment,

"... I had to do it."

Her lips trembled as she poured out her words.

"That man calling himself a father only ever intended to pass everything down to that damn Stephan from the start."

She burst out with the emotions she had bottled up for a long time.

"It doesn't make any sense! Why can't I have it? I'm his own flesh and blood too! His flesh and blood...! I also contributed to the Pascal trading company, so why am I the only one...!"

That emotion she was feeling.

Ferda could understand it.

The boy Ferda, who had wanted to live as a proper member of a knightly family but had always fallen short of the standard.

There was no warmth of the sort one should feel from a family.

Ferda hated a father like that.

"Even so, the fact that you dealt a blow to the Grand Duchy's territory remains unchanged."

"I am deeply reflecting on that crime. Really! I will compensate you."

Tilda struggled while tied to the chair, then pitched forward onto the floor.

She smashed her head against the floor and pleaded.

"From today onward, I will live a life that fits my station. Please take pity on this girl and show mercy."

Tilda sobbed and cried.

Ferda quietly looked down at Tilda.

"I have one thing I'm curious about."

Ferda said.

"If you answer it properly, I'll consider letting you go."

"Wh-What are you curious about? I will answer anything."

"Zed told me."

"Zed...?"

"The guy who broke into your house. And the one who smashed your garden contract medium."

She clenched her fists tightly, showing a brief flash of anger at the name.

Ferda continued his words.

"Anyway, he said it. That the medium you chose was a family portrait."

What Zed had seen was a family painting depicting everyone.

It was a picture from their childhood where everyone was smiling happily.

"Why did you choose a family picture as your medium?"

Ferda was curious about the reason.

Why a woman who was so eager to devour her own family had chosen a family picture.

He needed the answer to that contradiction.

"That's..."

Then, she answered with tears streaming down her face.

"Because they are my beloved family, of course."

Ferda lowered his gaze, following those flowing tears.

"So that was it."

Ferda muttered.

"W-Was that a good answer? Are you going to let me live?"

"I had no intention of killing you anyway. I will let you live."

She felt something strange the moment he emphasized the word 'live'.

It carried the nuance that he would take away everything except her life.

"Didn't I give you an answer? Why...?"

Ferda looked down at her.

"In the western part of the continent, in Mist Valley, there is a monster called the Flurryman. Do you know what that is?"

She didn't.

There was no way she would know.

"They say it remembers the last words spoken by the beasts it devours. And when it is being devoured in return, it lets out the voice of that beast. Why do you think it does that?"

Ferda coldly gave the answer.

"Because it knows it will be spared if it speaks like that. It doesn't understand the meaning, but it knows it will be kept alive."

Ferda knew the reason she chose the family picture as her medium.

It was to appeal to empathy so she could survive until the very, very end, struggling pathetically.

"Your actions are no different from exactly that."

Her claim of contributing was a lie.

Her claim of regretting her terrible deeds was a lie.

Everything was simply a lie thrown out for her own survival.

"Thank you."

Ferda spoke to her with utter sincerity.

"For turning yourself into trash that I don't even need to remember."

Ferda rose from his seat.

He moved away from the light and vanished into the darkness.

CREAAAK.

THUD.

The door closed.

A space left alone once again.

The question of whether she could survive was fleeting.

She was not alone in this room.

Someone had been here even before Ferda entered.

They had just been waiting in the dark, unseen until now.

It walked forward and revealed its identity.

Tilda doubted her own eyes.

The figure visible to her two eyes possessed silver scales and a pair of horns that seemed to pierce the sky.

A being whose mere form inspired majesty, became a marvel, and led to awe.

It was a dragon.

'That is...'

Her pupils trembled.

'It's a fake.'

There was no way a dragon like this could be in such a narrow space.

By common sense and logic, it was obvious.

She tried hard to hypnotize herself into believing that, but it was in vain.

Paralyzing even such reason and logic was the mystery of immortality.

With every exhale, the hot wind and the growl that faintly vibrated her eardrums grew increasingly distinct.

Dragon Fear.

No matter how hard she hypnotized herself into thinking it was a lie, the source of the unknown became the truth.

And that truth became a terror an insignificant human could never withstand.

"AAAAAAAH!"

The long scream echoed out helplessly.

However, there was no one around to hear that scream.

* * *

Garnet and the black-robed agents of Black Bandana waited outside the castle gates.

As things were in the final stages of wrapping up, they grew anxious.

A moment later, they saw a man stepping out of the castle gates.

Garnet stepped forward and offered a polite greeting.

"I greet Regent Valdrova."

"I have prepared her exactly as you requested."

Soon after, Tilda Pascal made an appearance.

She was so broken that it was impossible to believe she was the beauty who had received the courtship of so many men.

Her hair was a mess, her face was haggard, and her eyes were completely unfocused.

Drool leaked from her vacantly open mouth.

She stumbled down the stairs, unable to even resist Luri's guiding hand.

A living corpse, alive but not truly living.

Under the overwhelming terror, her mind had lost all strength, leaving only a husk of a body.

Garnet expressed her gratitude politely.

"Thank you for fulfilling the promise."

"It's too early to be thanking me."

"Is there something else?"

"There is."

Ferda aimed a dagger at Tilda Pascal's neck.

Garnet was taken aback by the sudden hostage situation.

"What is the meaning of this, Regent?"

"Isabella told me. About how corporate acquisitions work."

Ferda said.

"She said she mobilized all her knowledge to look into imperial laws and precedents, but no matter how much she searched, an acquisition through normal means would be difficult. Even with Black Bandana involved."

"Are you saying we are lying?"

"I am curious about that as well. It seems someone between the two of you lied to me, but I can't figure out who it is."

Ferda slightly tilted his head to the side.

"So, why don't you tell me?"

"... I did not lie."

"Then you're saying Isabella lied?"

Garnet bit her lip before answering.

"She hasn't lied either."

"There won't be a second chance. You will have to convince me."

"That's..."

Garnet could not easily open her mouth.

She had an obligation to keep secrets.

At the same time, she also had to complete her mission.

It was especially difficult to let it go now that they had reached the very final stage.

That was a fact Garnet knew, and Ferda knew as well.

It was an impossible situation, but Ferda needed an answer.

Namely, who the client was and for what reason they wanted to drive her mad.

"It is entirely possible."

Instead of Garnet's excuse or explanation, what rang out was a middle-aged voice.

That voice continued speaking.

"If the chief executive determines that managing the company is impossible, they can appoint a new executive on their own. That is a rule within the Dandolo trading company."

It was the voice of a middle-aged man.

It was a voice that came from among the black-robed men.

The owner of the voice stepped out from their midst and removed his hood.

"You are..."

But the identity of that client was truly unexpected.

The man approached and greeted Ferda like this.

"The young master of the Dandolo family, Henri Dandolo, greets the great Consort of Fire."