Chapter 139
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 139
Jace’s flushed face was the very picture of a man in love. At first, he had tried to ignore her, to avoid her simply because she was Lady Rohanson’s maid, but Canna was a woman whose presence was impossible to ignore.
She was bright and radiant. Her attire was neat and elegant. Even her hands were incredibly soft, as if they had never known a day of hard labor. She could have easily passed for a noble lady. Jace blushed just thinking of her touch.
“Please, drink up, Mr. Jace.”
She had even remembered his name, despite only having met him a few days ago.
No, this is impossible unless she’s interested in me. The way their hands had lightly brushed just now, too—could it be that the maid actually fancied him?
Jace briefly imagined a future where, after his retirement, he would move to a quiet countryside with Canna, start a family, and live happily ever after.
“Mr. Jace?”
He was getting ahead of himself. Jace quickly took a sip of the holy water.
Come to think of it, there was no reason for Lady Rohanson to deceive people. The holy water Canna gave him looked so pure that anyone could tell what it was at a glance. Perhaps he had simply been overthinking things.
For some reason, the amount she had poured for him seemed exceptionally generous. This was definitely a special gesture. There was no way others had received this much of such a precious liquid.
Jace gulped down the holy water in one go—a display of masculinity. He even let some of it spill down the corner of his mouth on purpose, mimicking the knights he had seen greedily drinking water while the mansion’s maids watched in admiration.
Stealing a glance, he saw Canna watching him with a bright smile.
She’s looking at me…!
Without once pulling the cup from his lips, Jace drained the holy water and handed the glass back. This time, their hands didn’t touch. Canna was truly skilled at playing hard to get. It was improper of him to think it, but the way she kept smiling at everyone… she seemed just a tiny bit loose.
Still, if he told her he wanted her to smile only for him, she would surely reflect on her lack of modesty and change her ways in an instant.
“Do you feel all right? Any discomfort?”
“Not at all…!”
His voice cracked. Jace was so embarrassed he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. Wait, don’t rats carry the plague? Then maybe somewhere other than a rat hole… Perhaps it was the embarrassment, but he felt a sudden heat rising from deep within his stomach.
Canna’s smile vanished completely. She stared at him, her expression one of genuine concern.
Just as he was about to tell her he was fine and not to worry—
“...Urgh.”
Red blood erupted from his mouth. Canna took a step back. Jace felt a little hurt by her reaction.
“...Blood?”
Did he just vomit blood? Me? Jace covered his mouth. His insides felt like they were on fire. Something was thrashing violently in his stomach.
“We found another one.”
At Canna’s words, the butler standing beside her wrote something on a piece of paper. Jace, 37, Male. Jace had good eyesight, so he could read the writing clearly. Above his name, several others were already listed.
Cade, 22, Male.
Nox, 45, Male.
The list went on and on. Jace’s name was at the very bottom.
Wait, Cade?
It was a name he couldn’t forget. The maid he had once fancied had liked Cade. But hadn’t that young punk run away with the holy water? He couldn’t understand why that bastard’s name was written there.
Before Jace could make sense of it, another torrent of blood surged up his throat, burning. This time, it wasn’t just blood. There was a solid lump…
…Huh?
Jace stumbled as he realized what he had just thrown up. Canna made no move to catch him.
“A-a rat. It’s a rat.”
What he had vomited was a dead rat. Though it was severed in half and drenched in blood, the long tail made it unmistakable.
“Why… Why did I… a rat…?”
Jace gagged. He had no idea why he had thrown up a rat, but his main concern was Canna. If she saw this, wouldn’t she think he was some filthy wretch who ate rats? He stepped closer to explain himself. Canna didn’t back away.
“I—I didn’t eat it…”
“Yes. I know.”
“Really…? You believe me…?”
“Yes, of course. It’s not as if you ate it on purpose, Mr. Jace.”
Jace’s heart swelled. A wave of emotion washed over him. He knew it—Canna really did like him. Even in a situation like this, she believed him and took his side so gently.
Canna poured another cup of holy water and held it out to him.
“Still, since you’ve vomited blood, I’m a bit worried. Would you like another cup?”
There was no way he would refuse. This was special treatment. Without hesitation, he drank the second cup. But this time, before he could even finish the glass, he stumbled and collapsed.
What spilled from his mouth was not saliva, but blood. His throat burned intensely, as if chunks of flesh were tearing away. His stomach churned violently. It felt as though whatever remained inside him was writhing in agony.
Whatever remained?
In that instant, Jace realized that the rat he had thrown up was only half of one.
Then where is the other half?
Was the other half what was currently thrashing inside his stomach? Jace shoved his fingers down his throat and gagged, but nothing more came out.
Having vomited so much blood, his internal organs severely damaged, his mind began to grow hazy.
His breathing grew shallow. A searing heat surged from the depths of his stomach.
“The rat… there’s still a rat inside.”
Logically, the severed upper half of a rat couldn’t possibly be alive and moving. Yet, Jace gasped out exactly what he felt to Canna.
Once again, Canna believed him.
Good. Once I get this remaining half out and recover, I’ll propose to her. Is it too early? But she’s already given me three cups of holy water.
If Canna rejected his proposal, he would report this whole matter to Lady Rohanson. Was that too weak of a threat? He had heard the young lady favored this maid quite a bit, so she might just cast him out instead.
In that case, he would claim that Canna had already shared an intimate relationship with him.
“You can still feel it? Hmm, then we must make sure to kill it.”
Canna grabbed Jace’s chin and forced his head up. Then, she poured the holy water directly down his throat. He choked and coughed, but she didn’t let the cup slip.
Before the cup was even empty, his consciousness began to fade. Surely, the treatment was complete. Jace tried to voice his gratitude.
“Do you really intend to kill all of my clones? I will kill you all. I will slaughter as many of you as the lives I have lost.”
The words that spilled from Jace’s mouth made no sense to him. The voice was his own, but the words were not. They were entirely independent of his will.
Shut up! That’s not what I want to say!
But his body began to move on its own. His knees ached, and his entire body felt as if it were melting, like being burned alive at the stake. He gasped for air, a drowning man on dry land.
His body lunged forward of its own accord, hands reaching out to strangle Canna.
But before he could take more than a few steps, he collapsed again. His insides had liquified, completely destroying his body and leaving him unable to force any movement.
For a fleeting moment, Jace felt a pang of regret. What would it have felt like to touch Canna’s neck? He imagined it would have been quite soft.
The last thing he saw was Canna’s bright smile.
See? I told you she likes me.
Jace blacked out completely.
Canna nudged the corpse with her foot to confirm his death. Normally, she might have felt some sympathy for those unfortunately caught up in this, but Jace’s gaze had been so lecherous that she felt no guilt whatsoever. Thinking of him as the same breed as Donau made her want to bring him back to life just to kill him all over again.
I wish I could do it over and over, just like the young lady did back then.
That was why she had forced three cups down his throat, after all. Shaking off her lingering regrets, Canna turned her gaze to Rico, who flinched when their eyes met. Since the young lady had grown close to Rico while Canna was away, Canna felt a petty urge to tease her a little.
“He lasted quite a while this time. I wonder what causes the difference in how they react. Some people just drink it, throw up the rat, and are perfectly fine.”
Rico shuddered, goosebumps breaking out as she stared at Canna, who hadn’t even blinked after killing a man with her own hands. He may have been a host to a rat, but he was still a human being. To look at a corpse and voice such academic curiosity…
But of course, she was Lady Rohanson’s maid. There was no way anyone favored by that young lady could be normal. Desperate not to get on Canna’s bad side, Rico racked her brain for an answer.
“Um… Maybe it’s because it’s been a long time since he ate the rat?”
Canna nodded, seemingly satisfied. Rico let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“How should we handle this one?”
“Let’s say he stole the holy water and ran away.”
“We’ve already used that excuse several times. I wish we had a wider repertoire…”
It wasn’t as if Rico was in any position to lecture Canna. The very fact that she was a key player in this operation meant she wasn’t entirely sane either. But this was a demon that had thrown Lady Agera into confusion and brought ruin to the Hosaquin estate, which was like a home to her. It had even targeted Mavka. It was only natural for her to fight back.
“Is there any need to overcomplicate things? No one will look into it too deeply, even if we use the same excuse.”
Rico nodded at Canna’s words.
True to her claim, even though Jace vanished overnight, no one came looking for him.
* * *
Clutching the paper, which now had three more lines written below Jace’s name, Rico went to see Duke Hosaquin.
“Your Grace… This is the list of those who passed away this time.”
The Duke took the paper she offered. In total, eleven people had been weeded out. Contrary to their expectations of finding at most two or three hosts, the number of those consumed was far greater.
Duke Hosaquin frowned. Though his face was stern and rugged, it held a deep self-reproach for driving his employees to their deaths, as well as mourning for those who had been tragically caught up in this and died.
“More have died than I expected.”