Chapter 126
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 126
Unaware of this, Father kept trying to kill the ‘Rat’. The day after he cut it in half, the ‘Rat’ became two. He cut it in half again, then divided and minced the pieces until the ‘Rat’ had lost its original form.
But Father didn’t stop there; he tried to get rid of the ‘Rat’ by feeding it to other rats. And that was how the ‘Rat’ of today was born.
Though Father tried to kill it, his efforts were meaningless. Because Mother wished for it to live, the ‘Rat’ would simply revive every time it died.
If its body was split, it revived as two. If it was eaten by another rat, it used that rat as a host to survive. The ‘Rat’ died and was reborn, ate and was eaten, all while hovering by Mother’s side to grant her wish.
If only Mother’s other daughter had never come to the house, they could have lived happily ever after.
Therefore, the one who had come to the mansion was an enemy.
The daughter named Evangeline Rohanson was brought here by Father, who hated the ‘Rat’. To the ‘Rats’, Evangeline Rohanson was a rival competing for Amaranth’s place. To its displeasure, Mother also took a great liking to Evangeline.
Furthermore, Evangeline was superior to the ‘Rat’ in many ways.
First, her appearance closely resembled Amaranth’s. Because Father had divided its body so completely, the ‘Rat’ could never look as whole as Evangeline.
Still, the ‘Rat’ wanted to show that it, too, resembled Amaranth. Fortunately, there was a place where the ‘Rats’ were piled up in heaps. Out of consideration for the ‘Rat’s’ feelings, Mother would often sit nearby.
The ‘Rat’ decided it had to appear even more like a daughter than Evangeline. So, it coaxed Mother’s maid into pulling back the tarp covering the water tank. It transformed its appearance and showed itself to the people in the greenhouse.
It had mimicked Amaranth’s appearance, hoping to look like the perfect daughter, but the reaction was poor. Moreover, the strange water in which the rats were submerged interfered, making it impossible to hold the imitation for long.
Even so, Mother recognized that the ‘Rat’ was more like Amaranth. Enduring the stinging pain of the water had been worth it. The maid named Nigella had recognized it, too. The ‘Rat’ took a great liking to Nigella.
In its own way, the ‘Rat’ had wanted to get along with Evangeline. It thought that even if Father had brought her here to usurp its position, they could still get along as fellow daughters.
However, Evangeline was thoroughly on Father’s side. The moment Evangeline declared to Father that she would exterminate the ‘Rats’, the ones eavesdropping became desperately anxious.
Could the ‘Rat’ defeat Evangeline? Would Mother choose Evangeline instead? Its biggest disadvantage was that the ‘Rat’ did not have a human form.
Evangeline’s form was perfect. The ‘Rat’ could never replicate Amaranth as perfectly as she did. Since it couldn't satisfy Mother as it was, it had to become human first. It needed a human form.
The ‘Rat’ chose Nigella, whom it liked, to become the new ‘Rat’. The ones in the water tank were unusable, but the other ‘Rats’ were fine. Nigella devoured the remaining ‘Rats’. Fearing she might get indigestion, the ‘Rat’ even made itself taste incredibly delicious for her.
The ‘Rat’ worked even harder, studying how to be a proper daughter. Its chance came when a young child ran into Nigella—a child loved by her mother. The child’s name was Mavka. The ‘Rat’ watched Mavka. It observed everything—how she behaved, and how she was loved.
The ‘Rat’ liked Mavka. Since the ‘Rat’ liked her, Mother would surely like her too. The ‘Rat’ decided to feed a rat to Mavka as well. The rat called out to Mavka, searching for her diligently, but in the end, Evangeline snatched the girl away.
Constantly stealing what belonged to the ‘Rat’—as expected, Evangeline was a wicked enemy.
Still, the ‘Rat’ did not give up. It found another daughter. This daughter was brushing her hair before bed. Sensing the ‘Rat’s’ gaze, she looked around in fear.
“A-A ghost?”
Though she wasn't as well-formed as Evangeline, her deathly pale complexion was similar, a feature the ‘Rat’ liked.
The ‘Rat’ sent a rat to the daughter. The daughter would think of the rat as a delicious fruit. The ‘Rat’s’ words possessed such power.
The daughter looked at the rat as if it were incredibly appetizing, then grabbed it by the tail and swallowed it in one gulp. The swallowed fruit crawled down her throat on its own, digging deeper and deeper inside. The daughter then spat out a grape stem. The severed tail of the rat was discarded, rolling across the floor.
“I was eating grapes, but instead of individual berries, it felt like one whole bunch.”
That was the daughter’s impression after devouring the rat.
While the ‘Rat’ was analyzing the daughter, Evangeline attacked. The parts of the ‘Rat’ that had died and revived in the holy water over and over were burned to ash. Though no one had ever told her, Evangeline knew how to kill the ‘Rat’.
The ‘Rat’ became a little afraid of Evangeline. Father, who merely tried to kill the rats, was nothing. Evangeline, who actually could kill them, was far more terrifying. It felt like it couldn't win. But for the ‘Rat’ to become Amaranth, Evangeline had to be eliminated.
Ah! A brilliant idea occurred to the ‘Rat’.
If Evangeline ate the ‘Rat’, then the ‘Rat’ would become Evangeline! It tried hard to send rats to Evangeline, but the cat protecting her caught and destroyed every single one.
The ‘Rat’ vowed to take revenge on that cat.
* * *
I went to report to the Duke that I had cleared all the rat corpses from the water tank. He was incredibly surprised, saying he hadn't expected me to handle it in a single day.
“Then I’ll see you after luncheon.”
The thought of eating a meal with him was enough to give me indigestion. Besides, after hearing rumors that rats had appeared in the kitchen, I decided to fast while I was at the Duke's estate. Both Mavka and Rico said they saw people eating rats in there.
I had no desire to eat food prepared in a place like that. If I got hungry, Pudding and Jelly could always quick-deliver food from the Rohanson Mansion anyway.
I was waiting and searching through Amaranth’s room when Rico came to fetch me.
It seemed the Duke intended to converse with me while he processed his paperwork. Seriously, everything he does feels like it's just building up to his future regret.
“I didn't expect you to be able to dispose of something that even holy water couldn't affect. How did you do it?”
I just burned them.
Honestly, I wanted to ask why they hadn't just burned them in the first place. Why waste precious holy water keeping them submerged in a tank when they were just bulky, dead weight? But of course, I couldn't give him an honest answer.
I had to exaggerate and make it sound like some grand, secret method—even if it was simple once you knew how—to raise my standing.
“Using a method that you, Your Grace, could never possibly use.”
“…Is that so?”
The Duke looked highly displeased, but he seemed to find value in the fact that a disposal method now existed. Since he was going to make me do all the work anyway, I guess he wasn't even curious about the method. Hmph!
“A promise is a promise, so I shall spare some time for you. However, I do not have much time to give. As you can see, I have a lot of work.”
The Duke didn’t spare me a single glance as he spoke.
“And I have no desire to share memories of Amaranth with the likes of you.”
Congratulations on earning your second regret stack. Hmph. You won't talk about Amaranth? Fine, then I'll just ask about something else.
“Did you know, Your Grace, that the Temple is spying on the Duke's estate?”
“What?”
Don't tell me he didn't know. I took it for granted that he would, but I guess the Duke's information network isn't all that great.
Annoyed, the Duke crumpled the document he was working on. Why does this man have no middle ground? He acts like his paperwork is the most important thing in the world, telling me not to disturb him, yet he crumples it over a single sentence.
“I heard a priest approached Mavka, the butler's daughter, to pry into the estate's internal affairs. Since they even approached a child, wouldn't they have made offers to the other servants as well?”
“To put it another way, it means all the other servants refused, which is why they resorted to clinging to a child's coattails.”
Duke Hosaquin sneered, dismissing my opinion, but his words actually made a lot of sense. Usually, a child's input is treated as insignificant.
Did the other servants tactfully reject the priests, forcing them to approach Mavka? Their security is top-notch. No wonder Gabriel opposed my staying at the Rohanson Mansion and sent me here.
“Do you think they approached because they knew sorcery was used on the Hosaquin estate?”
“Who knows. Even without that, your mere existence is reason enough.”
I had spoken out of genuine concern, but the Duke just growled at me. Seriously, what a jerk. Look at him treating me like a criminal after he was the one who pardoned me! I suppressed the anger boiling up inside me.
Patience, patience. I have a mission to fulfill in this family regret story. I shouldn't needle the Duke like I did at the banquet. Whew. I took a deep breath and barely managed to calm myself.
The next question was what I truly wanted to know.
“Your Grace. Who summoned the ‘Rats’? Rico said you would explain it to me.”
“Rico did…”
I had asked Rico yesterday, but she said she didn't have the right to speak of it and told me to either wait for the Duke's permission or hear it directly from him. Since I had managed to get some private time with him, it was better to have the Duke explain it himself.
At the mention of Rico's name, the Duke closed his eyes, lost in sentiment. The favoritism was truly spectacular. Anyone watching would think Rico was the Hosaquin granddaughter, not me. Just when it seemed he would remain silent forever, the Duke spoke quietly.
“Agera did it.”
Excuse me? For a moment, I thought my ears were playing tricks on me.
“It was Agera who cast the sorcery.”
It wasn't a mistake. The Duke, a man who had never done such a thing in his life, kindly repeated himself. After uttering Agera's name, the Duke rubbed his face roughly. He looked full of regret and lingering attachment.
“Lady Agera…?”
The Duke kicked me out, telling me to hear the rest of the details from Rico. I left his office with nothing but ‘Agera’ and ‘sorcery’ floating around in my head.
I thought some other faction was trying to slander the Hosaquin ducal family; I never dreamed it would be an inside job. The Duchess herself? Evangeline's grandmother was the culprit?
Is this for real?
If Bishop Marik finds out, the Hosaquin family and I will be tied to the stake and burned together.
Gabriel, save me! I don't think I belong here