The Calm Before the Storm
"Damn it, how dare a scrawny little goblin like that humiliate me, Gosek?"
The more I walked down the corridors of the Reinhardt mansion, the more Arwen's mocking face from the main hall crept into my mind like fog on a dreary dawn. That arrogant yet slippery, eel-like expression. My nephew, whom I hadn't seen in ages, felt like an entirely different person from the Arwen I remembered.
"Tch, just like his father. Nose so high in the air it could pierce the sky, huh..."
Cassandra, who had been scurrying after me with quick footsteps, glanced around nervously as if checking for eavesdroppers. The way she acted—like I'd just uttered some forbidden taboo—only made the anger already throbbing in my temples boil hotter.
"Lord Gosek, perhaps we should be careful. Someone in the mansion might overhear—kyaa!"
"Shut your mouth, you useless bitch who's only good for your face! Who gave you the right to order me around?"
I swung my hand at Cassandra. The familiar sting of flesh meeting palm spread through my hand, and the crisp sound of the slap eased my mood somewhat.
"You just come when I call and leave when I tell you to. Got it?"
"I-I'm sorry..."
There was no trace of displeasure on Cassandra's face as she answered in a frightened voice. Considering whose hands held the fate of her family's Pagan territory, her reaction was only natural.
'Yes, this is how it should be. In this empire, no one can insult Gosek except His Imperial Majesty.'
Just as Cassandra's presence helped calm me a little, another insolent voice reached my ears.
"Hmph. You can't even stand up to the head wife, yet you growl at Cassandra, who only married you because she had no choice. You're still the same, Gosek."
I turned my head to see Isabel standing there, chin raised as she snorted in disdain.
"No choice? So you're saying Cassandra was forced to marry me? What do you think, Cassandra?"
"N-No, absolutely not, Lord Gosek..."
I stroked Cassandra's shoulder as she frantically shook her head.
"See, Isabel? Cassandra says otherwise. And show some respect, won't you? I'm your older brother and the future head of the Valeri family."
"Hmph. Five minutes older and you act like you're so much wiser. And don't pretend to be polite—it doesn't suit you at all."
Isabel showed no sign of backing down. She shot me a cold glare before walking past both me and Cassandra. My last thread of patience was about to snap, but—
'No, don't get worked up. That arrogant face and swaying hips of hers will be gone after today anyway.'
Tania, who had been swayed by Sophia, and Gunter, who had personally fed his blade to the informant in Schubern village, were lying in wait near the mansion with a small elite force. Tania was tasked with taking Arwen's head, while Gunter would clean up the mansion's soldiers and servants. The clock in the hallway showed it was well past eleven. The soldiers should be approaching the mansion by now. Of course, I'd already ordered Gunter to grant the Ingrid family eternal rest once the job was done. Poor Tania would shoulder all the blame for the tragedy that would unfold at the Reinhardt mansion tonight and join her beloved Sophia at the side of Elysia's goddess. Then naturally, the Reinhardt family would be mine. Imagining Isabel's face as she sobbed before the blade at her throat made my lower belly stir with heat. Watching Arwen and Isabel's arrogant antics would end today. Lost in that pleasant fantasy, I arrived at Isabel's private room.
Isabel sat in her desk chair and crossed her legs arrogantly, as if she didn't care that her thighs—thighs as plump as a whore's—were fully exposed. The sight of my sister's thighs, which swayed as softly as her breasts, made my rage toward Arwen and Edan surge uncontrollably. That lascivious body had been enjoyed by both father and son.
'Damn it. If she weren't family, I would've taken her long ago. Wait... after today, Isabel will be as good as dead anyway. Why not lock her up somewhere quiet and make her my sex slave instead?'
Just as that thought began to grow, Isabel's icy voice cut through the air. Her expression as she uncrossed her legs was like she was looking at an insect.
"So? What's this important thing you wanted to discuss in a quiet place? Stop ogling me with those lustful eyes and spit it out."
"What? Who... who said I was lusting after someone like you—"
Isabel's direct hit made my tongue twist. She smiled with a nasty, knowing expression, as if she'd caught a child in a lie.
"Really? I thought that bulge at your waist meant you were excited. Then again, with something your size, even if it stood up it wouldn't show through your pants. Was it just your gut?"
"Enough! If you don't stop—"
Isabel cut me off with a playful tone.
"Calm down. It was just a joke."
"Kuh..."
That same arrogant gaze that had always treated me like trash on the ground hadn't changed even after all these years.
'Damn it... why isn't time moving faster? How long do I have to listen to this bitch?'
Irritated and impatient, I glanced at the clock on the wall. In about ten minutes, the day would change. By now, Tania and Gunter's soldiers should have crossed the mansion's perimeter and begun infiltrating the building. With all the interfering nobles gone, the few remaining guards wouldn't be able to stop them. Which meant there was no longer any reason to quietly endure Isabel running her mouth.
"Heh heh... You asked earlier, didn't you? Why I called you here."
Isabel frowned at my laughter.
"Yes. Stop dragging it out. I don't have time to waste playing with you."
Maintaining my smile despite her mockery, I slowly approached my sister. Then I told the foolish woman—who had no idea what was happening in the mansion right now—about her future.
"Hahaha. Originally, I planned to kill you, Arwen, and everyone else in this mansion right here. But I've changed my mind."
The one most shocked by my declaration of massacre wasn't Isabel, but Cassandra. While Cassandra looked back and forth between us with terrified, tear-filled eyes, Isabel calmly asked,
"...What do you mean? Changed your mind?"
"L-Lord Gosek, you're joking because you're in a bad mood, right? Right?"
"Shut up, Cassandra. Do I look like the kind of person who cracks jokes in a situation like this?"
"Aagh... I-It hurts..."
When I shoved the clueless Cassandra's shoulder, the idiot let out a weak whimper and collapsed to the floor. Even so, Isabel didn't so much as blink. Her face was ice-cold—completely different from when she'd been mocking me—and she pressed me again.
"You still haven't answered. What do you mean the plan changed?"
'What is she so confident about? Does she have some kind of backup?'
Sophia's skill was certainly among the top ten knights in the North. Even Arwen, who had reached the finals of the Academy's martial arts tournament despite withdrawing due to poor condition, wasn't to be underestimated. But if she was relying on those two for rescue, it was a miscalculation on Isabel's part. The soldiers led by Gunter were assassins among the Valeri family's retainers who excelled at slaughter. They preferred sudden fights in confined spaces over fair duels in open fields. Gunter's skill ranked among the top three of Valeri's loyal knights. With the elite troops from the Ingrid family joining them, even Sophia and Arwen wouldn't stand a chance.
I spoke to Isabel.
"Originally, I was going to burn you and your children together. But I've changed my mind. I'll violate your body until the day you beg me to kill you. I'll take you, the soldiers who'll kill your children today will take you, the horses we rode here will take you, and even the beggars and thugs on the street will take you."
'Well? How about it, Isabel? Let's see that expression of yours.'
Would she weep in terror? Or would her face twist in rage and screams? Just imagining Isabel screaming as her clothes were torn off made me feel like my long-dormant member might stand at attention. But Isabel—
"Is that it? I thought you were saying you'd given up because you got scared at the last minute."
"What did you just—"
She spoke in a nonchalant tone, as if she'd known my plan all along. No, she looked almost relieved that it was being carried out. My voice rose automatically at her overflowing confidence.
"Don't make me laugh! Start crying in fear right now! Just like when your precious prince Edan had his head cut off!"
"...Shut up."
Isabel's voice wavered for the first time when Edan was mentioned. I didn't miss the crack and curled my lips upward.
"As a final gift, I'll tell you something special. You thought Edan died because of the foreigners, didn't you?"
"What do you mean—"
"Haha. How stupid. Did you really think Edan's guards, who trembled at the mere sight of foreigners in leather armor, could have defeated them with their own strength?"
"D-Don't tell me! You... Tell me right now! What did you do to Lord Edan?!"
Isabel shot to her feet, shouting with both hands clenched into fists. I burst into laughter without bothering to hold it back.
"Haha, it was nothing special. I just spread false information that we'd found the foreigners' base, then lured them into a valley full of traps. The foreigners simply finished off our dying soldiers."
"T-That's impossible... Did you do this alone, Gosek?"
"Of course not. Think about who held real power in the Valeri family back then."
"A-Ah... Father... Why...?"
"He wanted the Reinhardt bloodline. Your role is done. From now on, Cordelia will carry on the Reinhardt line. There will be no more Reinhardt blood born from your womb."
"Aaaah..."
Having learned the truth about her husband's death, my sister repeated short, broken whimpers like someone whose mind had snapped. Tears of despair—the very expression I'd wanted to see—streamed down her face and fell to the floor.
"Don't be too heartbroken. The foreigners who personally took Edan's head were all slaughtered by our Valeri elite troops. Their entire tribe, too."
Isabel didn't answer. She only hung her head and muttered as if possessed.
"I can't hear you, Isabel. If you're going to beg for your children's lives, at least do it louder. Not that I have any intention of listening."
"...It's over."
"What?"
At my question, Isabel raised her head. Her eyes, bloodshot with countless red veins, looked at me with a despairing gaze that stirred something ominous.
"You said it earlier, didn't you? That you'd changed your mind. I've changed mine too."
"What nonsense—"
Isabel cut me off with a sharp voice that was almost a scream.
"Arwen wanted to let you live, but I can't forgive you. For Lord Edan's sake, I'll kill you and Father too!"
At the same time as Isabel's sharp cry, a commotion erupted outside the door. The sound of sharpened blades clashing, the sound of flesh being brutally torn, and the desperate screams of men.
"Stop spouting crazy nonsense, Isabel. Can you hear what's happening outside?"
Gunter must finally be coming this way. His arrival meant Tania and Arwen's side had been dealt with.
"Much faster than expected. I guess your precious Arwen and Sophia weren't as skilled as you thought."
I wondered what kind of scream Isabel would let out when she saw Gunter holding the heads of her beloved nephew and niece.
"Lord Gosek..."
"Get out of the way and stop being a nuisance! You're so slow—ugh..."
I stepped over the twitching Cassandra on the floor and approached the door. When I flung it open, Gunter stood there as expected—his already massive frame made even bulkier by his armor.
"Good work, Gunter. Where's Arwen?"
The blood flowing at Gunter's feet was definitely Arwen and Sophia's. But Gunter gave no answer.
"...Gunter?"
Even at my second question, Gunter's mouth showed no sign of moving. Then—
"Lord Gosek, do you happen to know this knight?"
A familiar, light voice came from behind Gunter. At the same time, blood began to spurt from Gunter's chest, and his enormous body split in half. Like a flower bud blooming, the chunks of flesh that had been Gunter until moments ago collapsed to both sides, gushing bright red blood. The man who appeared in my vision after cutting through Gunter placed his blood-soaked sword against my shoulder. He wore a playful smile, as if he couldn't believe he'd just bisected a living person with his own hands. The owner of that cruel yet innocent smile was none other than Arwen. Wiping Gunter's blood droplets onto my clothes, Arwen spoke.
"My apologies, Lord Gosek. He seemed to be an acquaintance of yours. It's a shame you couldn't say a proper farewell."