Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Buying at the bottom?
On a roadside near a back alley lined with merchant carriages.
“Everything loaded?”
“Ah, there’s one more here! I’ll move it myself!”
“W-Wait! That one is—!”
A sharp, urgent cry suddenly rang out among the workers.
A rookie, desperate to impress his seniors, tried to quickly lift a small, luxurious wooden box that remained—
and his footing slipped.
“U-Uwaah…!”
As he lost balance midair, despair flashed across his pale face.
Before he could recover, the lid of the finely wrapped box flipped open, and its contents bounced out into the air.
It wasn’t gold.
Nor jewels.
Just a shabby ‘empty potion bottle’ that you could buy for a few coins at the market.
That worthless glass bottle plummeted toward the ground—
about to shatter—
Clink—
With a sharp slicing sound through the air, the surrounding atmosphere froze in an instant.
The moment the rookie squeezed his eyes shut—
the bottle, just before hitting the ground,
came to rest gently upon a radiant blue ice flower blooming in midair.
Like time itself had stopped,
the transparent ice magic glittered under the sunlight—
beautiful enough to send chills down one’s spine.
Soon after, a woman appeared, dragging the hem of an elegant dress.
Every member present froze just like that bottle, holding their breath.
“…Hmm.”
The woman carefully picked up the empty bottle from the ice flower with her fingertips and stepped right in front of the trembling rookie.
“L-Lady Guildmaster…! I-I’m sorry! I dared to make a mistake with the company’s goods…!”
The rookie pressed himself flat against the ground, trembling.
He wasn’t just some ordinary laborer.
He was someone who had clawed his way up in the brutal back alleys, crushing stronger men with his bare fists.
But before the ruler of the underworld—
who controlled both rotten gold and sticky blood—
he was nothing more than a bug that could be crushed at any moment.
Yet the voice that returned was unexpectedly gentle.
“It’s fine.”
The Guildmaster smiled softly at him.
A dazzling, snowflake-like smile blooming in midwinter.
“Anyone can make mistakes.”
“Th-Thank you…! Thank you so much…!”
As the rookie lifted his head in relief, tears streaming down—
his gaze met her crimson eyes.
“…!”
His breath caught.
She was smiling.
But there wasn’t a trace of warmth in her eyes.
A suffocating killing intent gripped the back of his neck.
She leaned down close to his ear and whispered softly—
“But…”
Her pale fingers gently traced the rough surface of the empty bottle,
as if caressing a lover’s lips.
“If this bottle had fallen and shattered…”
Her voice was sweet—
but laced with madness.
“I would’ve shattered your head along with it.”
“H-Hii…?!”
It didn’t sound like a joke.
The pressure she exuded was enough to crush every skull in the area.
“What are you all standing around for? Finish up and move. We’re behind schedule.”
As she turned toward the carriage as if nothing had happened, the suffocating pressure vanished like a lie.
After she left,
a senior smacked the rookie’s back and hissed:
“You insane bastard! You almost died ten times over today, you know that?!”
The rookie leaned against the wall, legs trembling, still gasping in fear.
“S-Senior… what the hell is that? It’s not a relic or a high-grade elixir… just some cheap empty bottle… why would she—”
“Shut your mouth, idiot!”
The senior quickly covered his mouth and glanced around.
“I don’t know the details either. But according to the vice leader, who’s been here since the early days when our guild fought its way up through blood… that bottle is the reason our leader allows herself to stay alive.”
“…What?”
“It’s like a talisman. The only thing that allowed her to survive hell and reach where she is now. She values that empty bottle more than everything this guild owns combined.”
Fear flickered across the senior’s face.
“So the fact your head is still attached today is a miracle. Don’t ever go near her belongings again if you value your life. Got it?”
The rookie nodded frantically, face drained of color.
In front of the massive carriage the Guildmaster approached,
an elderly man stood waiting, posture perfectly straight.
A pristine tailcoat without a speck of dust.
“Good work. It seems everything has been loaded.”
The butler bowed deeply.
“I will now escort you to the estate, my lady.”
“To think I’d return on my own to that damned family that tried to butcher me like livestock…”
Her eyes flashed sharply.
“You’d better keep that ‘promise’ you made. That’s the only reason I came all this way.”
“Of course. The head of the family eagerly awaits your return.”
“Hah. Eagerly awaits me? That man?”
She scoffed.
“And regarding the unfortunate incident from years ago… the family conducted a thorough investigation. However, no evidence was found that any family member was involved.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“No evidence? That doesn’t mean they’re innocent.”
The butler replied calmly.
“We cannot condemn a bloodline based on suspicion alone. We must not create innocent victims.”
She let out a dry laugh.
“Hah. Innocent victims. Of course.”
She stepped closer.
“But you see… the fact that I was traveling with ‘that item’ was only known to the mercenary group escorting me… and our family.”
She paused, then smirked.
“Ah, correction. Only our family knew about ‘that item.’”
A suffocating pressure filled the air.
Yet the butler remained composed.
“We understand the trauma you endured. But you are mistaken. Those who dared harm you… we will pursue them to the ends of hell in the family’s name.”
“…Enough.”
She waved her hand dismissively.
“I’ve heard that bullshit hundreds of times before I ran away. Let’s just leave before that ‘perfect’ head of the family dies for real. I’d like to see his pathetic end with my own eyes.”
She stepped into the carriage.
The door slammed shut with a sharp sound.
“…I shall see you at the estate, Lady Myrtle.”
The butler bowed once more and returned to his own carriage.
Clatter—
The heavy carriage began to move.
Inside, completely sealed off from the outside world,
the moment the wheels started rolling—
Myrtle’s rigid posture collapsed.
“Ugh… haah… haah…”
The cold, domineering presence she had shown outside was gone.
The estate.
The family.
The head.
Just thinking about those words twisted her stomach.
The elegant dress she wore felt like it was dragging her back to a place she had long abandoned.
‘To walk back into that hell with my own feet…’
As suffocating memories began to crawl back—
her trembling hand reached for the faded empty potion bottle beside her.
The moment her fingers touched its rough surface—
“Ah…”
The nausea and stress vanished instantly.
Replaced by an overwhelming ecstasy crawling up her spine.
“Haa… haaa…”
She pulled the bottle close, pressing it against her cheek and nose.
Though it was empty,
to her, it carried the sweetest scent in the world.
That intoxicating scent raced through her senses, making her frozen heart pound wildly.
“Heh… heh…”
A sticky, eerie laughter filled the carriage.
From deep within her memories—
“…Hea… ling… potion… cough… drink it…”
A man lying in a pool of blood.
On the verge of death.
With trembling hands, offering her a single red potion.
Myrtle had never forgotten that day.
When the entire world abandoned her—
and pushed her toward death—
only that foolish man
ran into the burning carriage.
Told her she was “beautiful.”
Helped her up instead of leaving her behind.
Gave her his own potion, even at the cost of his life.
That alone—
was enough.
Because for her,
he was the first.
…
Myrtle’s eyes were now unfocused, like someone burning with fever.
Her pale cheeks flushed red.
Hot breaths escaped her parted lips.
“Haah… ahh… I love it… so much…”
She rubbed her lips against the bottle’s rough rim,
like a beast in heat,
like a fanatic worshipping a god.
Her tongue traced the glass slowly.
Outside, she was a ruthless ruler of the underworld.
But here—
she was nothing more than a woman starved for a single person’s affection.
“Haah… I wonder what that idiot is doing now… probably wasting all the money I gave him helping strangers again…”
She cradled the bottle like a child and whispered softly.
“It’s fine. Spend it all. That way, when you come back… you’ll cling to me again, asking for more… telling me I’m the best… that I’m the only one… heh…”
With clouded eyes, she pressed a lingering kiss to the glass.
“I’ll be back soon. Wait for me, Nasus♡”