Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Death is Not the Answer
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Baron Paris Emporus was dead.
Rachel couldn’t quite wrap her head around the fact.
But shortly after they returned to the estate, the news of Baron Paris Emporus’s passing truly arrived. She went with Henri, who had come back to the estate, to Harpa Castle to attend the funeral.
One shouldn’t rejoice at someone’s death, but Rachel inwardly cheered as she watched the coffin bearing his body being buried in the ground.
‘He’s finally dead!’
There was just one unsettling thing.
[Danger Level: 65%]
Even with him dead, the danger level hadn’t budged.
‘The reason I’ve been regressing all this time was because of Baron Emporus! Killing him shouldn’t affect the danger level!’
It had been the same in the 16th and 17th regressions after Paris Emporus died, but she had chalked it up to lingering threats at the time.
Yet even now, with no apparent remaining dangers, the danger level hadn’t changed.
‘Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.’
Rachel stared straight ahead. She could see the family of the deceased baron.
The title would pass to his eldest son, Chris Emporus. His father had ties to demons, but Rachel had no idea if his children were pseudo-contractors as well.
‘Sari Emporus is still around, though…’
Even in front of his dead brother’s grave, his eyes gleamed with greed. His gaze was fixed on Chris.
Had Paris Emporus had no children, the title would have gone to him.
Unlike his youngest brother Henri, he was consumed by avarice. He had been kept in check by his elder brother Paris until now, but things seemed likely to change going forward.
‘He’ll probably target Chris before me.’
Rachel glanced at the backs of her mourning cousins and the baron’s wife.
‘As long as my family and I are safe, that’s all that matters. They’ve enjoyed plenty up until now, haven’t they?’
Rachel turned away resolutely. She was certain Sari Emporus wouldn’t pay her any mind while he was after his cousin.
***
That summer, after the baron’s death, Enoch judged that the threats had vanished and returned to the temple.
Though Paris Emporus was dead, Rachel didn’t let her guard down because of the remaining danger level.
“I should have said something.”
Rachel murmured as she gazed at the downpour outside the window.
She had meant to warn the temple about the flooding that would hit in the summer, but she had grown lax and forgotten.
“Should I tell them now?”
The rainy season had only just begun.
If she warned them early enough, it wouldn’t be as good as advance notice, but they could still prevent some of the damage.
“Ugh, I need to get my head straight…”
Ever since Paris Emporus’s death, bouts of anxiety would occasionally creep into Rachel’s mind. She had no idea what she was supposed to do next.
Rachel simply swung her wooden sword. With nothing else to do, she figured she might as well train.
Then, amid the sound of pouring rain, the thud of hooves rang out. Along with the rumble of carriage wheels came an uproar.
“What’s that?”
Rachel left her room and headed toward the stairs leading to the first floor. She ran into Henri, who happened to be at the estate, in the hallway.
“It’s noisy outside.”
“I see.”
Rachel felt nothing in particular, but it had only been about four months since Henri learned in this regression that she was his real daughter, so he was still awkward around her.
In the 18th regression, she had told him to visit the estate often, which had closed the distance between them. But she hadn’t this time, so things were strained.
‘Dealing with him is such a hassle.’
Rachel tried to run past Henri.
But he quickened his pace too, matching her speed.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Rachel realized Henri had sped up because he didn’t want to fall behind her.
‘Somehow, I don’t want to lose!’
Rachel picked up her pace even more. They raced down the hallway and only stopped at the banister before the stairs.
“You’re fast.”
“You too, Father.”
Henri panted as he spoke, while Rachel pretended to be at ease in her reply.
She had been training her stamina for over two years, after all. Her short legs hadn’t let her win, but she had her pride.
Evelyn had arrived at the entrance hall first. And in front of the door stood a young man, drenched and shivering.
The maids handed him a towel, and he dried his black hair.
“Chris, what brings you here on a day like this?”
“Uncle!”
Rachel was taken aback. Her cousin Chris had never visited until now.
‘No way this guy’s after me too?’
But he looked too pitiful for that. Not some fallen noble, yet soaked to the bone and trembling.
His face resembled the former baroness’s—deer-like, with drooping eyes that made him seem all the more pitiable.
“Please, help me.”
“Help with what?”
“My eldest uncle is trying to kill me!”
He glanced around as if someone might be watching him.
Henri approached, placed a hand on his shoulder, and gently stroked his back as he asked,
“What are you talking about? Calm down and tell me slowly.”
“I don’t know exactly. It seems Father was involved in human trafficking and running an illegal gambling den. I knew nothing about it, but today a summons for trial suddenly arrived…”
“If you didn’t have a hand in it, you’ll be fine. There’s no way your eldest uncle would be involved in that sort of business.”
Henri tried to reassure him, but Chris shook his head in denial.
“No. I didn’t know, but Uncle did, and after I inherited the family assets, he forged documents to make it look like I was the one who did it.”
“That second brother of mine!”
Rachel let out a faint scoff at Henri’s reaction. He trusted the eldest brother so much, yet instantly distrusted the second.
She understood, though. She herself hadn’t known anything until Paris Emporus had come after her directly.
That was why she suspected Chris too.
‘A trap? Or real?’
“I think Uncle’s joined forces with an organization called Daimon to get rid of me!”
It had been ages since she last heard the name. The demon worshippers’ group—she had heard it once in the 6th regression and never again.
‘They operate in the capital, right?’
She’d have to go to the capital to encounter them or hear tales; they had nothing to do with Rachel at the estate.
But Henri reacted.
“Daimon? That intellectual society in the capital?”
“Intellectual society?”
Evelyn questioned Henri’s words. Having stayed at the temple in the past, she vaguely knew what kind of group Daimon was.
To hear her husband refer to that sinister organization by the name of some other gathering was bound to raise questions.
“There’s a society of scholars in the capital seeking truth.”
“Have you ever been?”
“I was invited once but was too busy to go. They gave me a card with papyrus drawn on it as an invitation.”
Rachel recalled a card she had found while cleaning Henri’s room once.
She never would have imagined that the card with the plant—papyrus, apparently—depicted on it was an invitation from the Daimon organization.
‘No, it could just be a different group with the same name.’
“Don’t worry. That group can’t harm you.”
“Father, that’s too complacent. If they’re intellectuals, there could be scholars or judges among them. What if they hand down an unfavorable verdict against Brother Chris in court!”
At Rachel’s point, Chris’s face grew pallid.
“Why would truth-seekers do such a thing?”
“I don’t know how they pursue truth, but it might require vast funds. If they can claim Brother Chris’s fortune by killing him—wouldn’t they side with whoever offers them a cut?”
Henri groaned at Rachel’s words. Chris staggered as if he might faint.
“Let’s not do this here. For now, warm yourself up. Prepare hot bathwater and tea.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
At Evelyn’s order, the maids bustled about. Deyner watched from afar before slipping away to his room.
Chris stamped his feet, at a loss.
“What should I do? I studied business management, but the reality is nothing like what I learned.”
At just seventeen, what he had learned was only a fraction—and only the legitimate parts at that.
The baron was the sort to kill or abandon his own brother, nephews, and those around him for the family’s sake without hesitation. Yet to his own children, he showed only a clean image.
As a result, he and his second brother had handled the shady dealings themselves, leaving Chris in this crisis.
Rachel seethed at Paris Emporus’s duplicity, but it made her all the more determined to help Chris.
‘Unlike him, Chris doesn’t know the Emporus family offers up daughters as sacrifices.’
The reason Sari Emporus hadn’t reached for Rachel was because he had Chris as prey.
‘And once he’s caught Chris, he’ll turn his black hand toward me.’
She’d have to eliminate him too to stay safe.
‘It makes me sound like a villain, but oh well.’
“Brother, if Uncle’s trying to kill you, wouldn’t it be better for you to strike first?”
“What?”
“Uncle’s after your fortune, right? Doesn’t that put Aunt and Brother Mars in danger too?”
At Rachel’s words, he suddenly burst into tears. Rachel panicked, thinking she had made him cry.
“Brother, what’s wrong?”
“Mother—Mother!”
“What about the lady?”
“After the summons arrived, strange knights tried to grab me, so I fled in a hurry, but Mother was stabbed and…”
He sobbed as the truth he had deliberately ignored in his fear resurfaced.
No one would think a mere summons meant they were out for your life. Witnessing Evelyn’s death had filled him with the terror that he was next.
Henri and Evelyn embraced him as he wailed like a beast. Their clothes grew wet too, but they didn’t let go of their newly orphaned nephew.
“Rest for now. We’ll find a way.”
Henri led him to a guest room. Evelyn let out a sigh.
“Phew, the boy’s a good kid.”
She was the one who had killed his father. Evelyn looked at her hands and sighed again.
“You did the right thing, Mother. If you hadn’t acted, Brother Chris would have ended up committing the same evils as his father. Think of it as ensuring he gets to go to Lux God’s side.”
Those who contracted with demons could not go to Lux God’s side after death.
Rachel cited this, and Evelyn nodded.
Regardless of her suspicions toward Chris, Rachel believed a parent’s sins weren’t their child’s.
If the child had lived prosperously off those sins, the assets should be returned to the victims, but still.
“Yes. But do I have to deal with him myself too?”
Evelyn asked her daughter’s opinion on whether she needed to kill Sari Emporus herself.
Since the last incident, she had realized her daughter was extraordinary.
She considered her better at scheming than herself and now consulted Rachel even on matters she used to handle alone.
Rachel shook her head.
“He must realize he’s in danger too. After his brother died, his guard’s probably up. If you’re not careful, Mother, you might get exposed.”
Rachel thought this matter should play out as a showdown between Chris and Sari.
Besides, the situation was ripe for probing Harpa Castle’s structure and the other Emporus family secrets.
A while later, Rachel ran into Chris, who had bathed and come out.
He was wearing Henri’s clothes in place of his wet ones, and his eyes were red—likely from crying in the bath too.
Evelyn looked at Chris in the ill-fitting clothes and parted her lips.
“Have you calmed down?”