Chapter 222: Even If Not All Are Shining Gold (2)[R-18]
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 222: Even If Not All Are Shining Gold (2)[R-18]
“Frederica!!! What on earth have you done?!”
“Oh, Lord Jeffrey. You’re being quite loud; would you mind keeping it down?”
Frederica nonchalantly pulled the dagger from my side.
“In the first place, the only reason things turned out like this is because of you, isn’t it?”
“...What, what do you mean by...”
Splatter!
Frederica gave the dagger a light flick, shaking off the blood.
“Sigh... This isn't even funny. If you were lucky enough to survive, you should have just stayed hidden away. But no, you just had to crawl back here... and thanks to that, my precious plan is a total mess.”
Frederica brushed her hair back irritably and gestured with the dagger.
“Fufu... Lord Jeffrey? Do you still not get it?”
As my consciousness began to fade, her cold voice pierced my ears.
“Do you really think the Family Head died in an ‘accident’?”
Jeffrey’s face turned deathly pale.
“Yes! It was me from the very beginning! I was the one who tampered with the carriage the Family Head was in! I was the one who commissioned the murders of your lovely wife and son! It was all me!”
“W-Why! Fre... derica? Why would you do such a horrible thing!! My brother... he cared for you and looked after you like his own daughter!!”
Frederica only sneered at Jeffrey’s near-desperate cry.
“...Well, it’s just not fair, is it?”
Her voice was thick with pure malice and twisted jealousy.
“I was born with nothing, but Estelle had everything. A warm home, a loving family, vast wealth—even a heart so sickeningly kind that she pitied a lowly insect like me!!”
The corners of Frederica’s mouth distorted with a warped sense of pleasure.
“Fufufu!!... That’s not how it’s supposed to be, right? I, who have nothing!! I, who was born with a heart this filthy and hideous!! Why should Estelle be the only one to have everything and be happy?”
“Just... for that? For such a ridiculous reason, you killed my brother... and my wife and son...!!”
Jeffrey’s voice cracked with agony.
“Oh, ‘just’? The world is supposed to be fair, isn’t it? But... it seems Lady Ellis up there is a bit busy, so I decided to just take it all myself. Everything Estelle has. Ahahahaha!”
Frederica’s mad laughter echoed eerily through the reception room.
‘...Frederica really betrayed us?’
That gentle gaze that worried for Estelle more than anyone...
That smile that looked truly happy by Estelle’s side...
All of it, from beginning to end, was an act?
I didn’t want to believe it.
No, I couldn’t believe it.
‘N-No... I have to... stay conscious....’
I struggled to hold onto my senses, but perhaps due to the blood loss, my vision was growing dark.
I felt my body becoming heavy as a stone, turning cold.
My consciousness was slowly sinking into a deep abyss.
—What am I missing?
Somewhere on the boundary between consciousness and the unconscious, the puzzle pieces I had inadvertently overlooked began to float to the surface.
「...Do you have any idea how fucking strong the devil’s scent is on you right now, Senior?」
What Elfriede said in the park.
At the time, I thought it was because I had shared bodily fluids while kissing Estelle...
...But was that really all?
Even when I’d been splattered with far more fluids during exorcisms, I’d never heard her say that.
「I truly hope you can have Estelle’s senses returned to you.」
What Jeffrey said just a moment ago.
I was so moved by the fact that Jeffrey believed in me that I hadn't noticed it then...
But he didn't say he hoped I would ‘recover’ or ‘reclaim’ Estelle’s senses, but that they would be ‘returned’?
As if he already knew that Estelle’s senses had been ‘stolen’ by someone.
「Estelle.」
And Estelle.
In the past, when the ‘Balance Demon’ took revenge on Delphicia of its own accord, Estelle lost sensation from her waist to her navel as the price.
Fortunately, Delphicia was found quickly, so her life wasn't in danger...
Even when it rendered a human unconscious, the price Estelle paid was the loss of sensation in an area less than a span wide.
If that’s the case...
Just what kind of revenge did the ‘Balance Demon’ carry out for it to take both of Estelle’s legs as the price?
‘Ha...’
The puzzle pieces in my head clicked into place, revealing a horrific truth.
In that instant, my sinking consciousness snapped back to reality.
“As for you two... well, I’ll just say you killed each other. You fought over Estelle’s vast wealth and things got heated... I can just frame it as a cliché story like that, right? Estelle is so kind, she’ll believe it easily. Fufu.”
Frederica was speaking to Jeffrey with a look of pure enjoyment.
“...Don’t.”
“Oh my? You still have the energy to talk?”
The moment her gaze turned toward me, I thrust my left leg out and kicked Frederica’s ankle with all my might.
The sharp pain erupting from the wound in my side pierced through my entire body, but I gritted my teeth and endured it.
Thud!
Frederica, clearly not expecting a counterattack in this state, lost her balance.
“...Huh?”
Before Frederica’s short groan could even end—
I braced myself with my left hand on the floor, twisted my body, and slammed my fist into the tip of Frederica’s chin.
Thwack!
That was it.
Frederica lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor.
“Haah... haah... ugh...”
The wound must have opened further from the violent movement; blood gushed out, and my whole body began to tremble.
“I-Ian...! Y-You did well! Quickly, we must tie Frederica up...!”
“...Cut it.”
“...What? What do you... mean?”
I painfully gripped the blood-stained dagger Frederica had dropped.
Staggering, I managed to force myself upright and pointed the blade at Jeffrey.
Shink—
“Cut the bullshit... you piece of trash.”
My voice was small and cracked, and I couldn't even focus my vision properly.
However...
My murderous intent toward Jeffrey was crystal clear.
In that moment, Jeffrey’s expression turned cold, and he spoke in a voice full of contempt.
“...This is why I hate quick-witted brats like you.”
Bubble! Bubble!
‘...Why aren't they coming?’
Estelle, soaking her body in the massive bathtub and blowing bubbles with her mouth, tilted her head.
It was long past the time for Frederica to return, but there was no sign of her.
“Is she... busy?”
Frederica had always stayed by her side like a shadow.
Except for the times she specifically ordered her not to approach...
She had never once left her post without a word like this.
“...I can’t keep waiting forever... Phew...! Hmph!”
Estelle put strength into her arms and laboriously pulled herself out of the tub.
After roughly drying off and changing into the clothes left on the shelf, she settled herself into her wheelchair with practiced ease.
BOOM—!!
Just then, a dull thud echoed from the direction of the reception room.
“...?”
Her heart began to race with anxiety.
An ominous premonition she couldn't identify washed over her entire body.
Creak— creak—
With trembling hands, she rolled the wheels of her chair toward the source of the sound.
CRASH—!!
Another impact rang out.
‘...W-What... what is happening?’
Struggling to suppress her fear, Estelle pushed open the door to the reception room.
And then...
“...Ian?”
Estelle could not comprehend the scene before her eyes.
Ian, covered in blood from head to toe, stood precariously with a dagger in his hand as if he might collapse at any moment.
Facing off against Ian was her uncle, his expression twisted.
And... Frederica lay unconscious on the floor.
Why was Ian bleeding, why was Frederica unconscious, and why was her uncle making such a face?
She couldn't understand any of it.
“Estelle!! Be careful!! It was Frederica! Frederica was the one who plotted everything from the start!”
At that moment, Jeffrey shouted urgently and pulled a small magic tool from his coat, activating it.
Whirrr—!
—Yes! It was me from the very beginning! I was the one who tampered with the carriage the Family Head was in! I was the one who commissioned the murders of Jeffrey’s family! It was all me!
—I decided to just take it all myself. Everything Estelle has. Ahahahaha!
It was the scene of Frederica confessing her crimes in a manic voice.
“Ah...?... Ah... ah...?”
She couldn't breathe properly.
Faced with the horrific truth, it felt as if her heart was being incinerated by black flames.
Jeffrey didn't miss the opening and spoke rapidly.
“Ian was the same!! He was working with Frederica from the start to get close to you! They were after your wealth! But because I returned alive, their plan went awry! When I tried to take you with me, he tried to stop it, and it ended up in this disaster!”
“...Es...!.. Cough!... N-No... Wheeze!...”
I tried to desperately refute him, but each time, blood mixed with my coughs, preventing me from speaking.
“Fre... Frederica... S-Sister?... Why... why... how could you... I... I could have given you... everything...! If you had just... said you wanted it... I really... would have... Ugh!!”
Retching and weeping, Estelle’s entire body shook as if in a seizure.
“Es... telle...”
“...Ian...”
Despair, frustration, fear, regret, anger, remorse, sorrow.
Estelle’s eyes, directed at me, were a swirling mess of every negative emotion imaginable.
Whirrrrr—!!
As Estelle reached out a trembling hand, violent mana began to swirl.
“Ian... even you?.... Ah... hugh!... Gasp!... Ian!.. Why, Ian!... Ah!... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
KABOOM—!!
Estelle screamed my name with a heart-wrenching cry as she unleashed her magic.