Chapter 142
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 142
Hazel was terrified, on the verge of tears. She tried to yank her hand away, but Rico’s grip didn’t budge. Instead, it tightened, squeezing with enough force to snap her wrist.
“Ugh, it hurts! It hurts!”
Rico was panicking, too. Seeing the maid’s pain, she tried to loosen her grip, tried to move her body, but it wouldn’t obey. It was as if her body had been stolen by someone else, completely out of her control.
‘Someone else?’
As if responding to the worst-case scenario flashing through her mind, the voice spoke again.
“So mean! You’re the one who started it!”
This time, the words spilled directly from her mouth instead of just echoing in her head. They were completely different from what Rico wanted to say, and the sound resonated even though she hadn’t parted her lips.
Rico knew this phenomenon all too well. Hadn’t she met eleven people today alone suffering from these exact symptoms? The names of the dead, starting with Nigella, flashed through her mind.
‘I… I was the host.’
She had no idea when it had started.
Rico recalled the symptoms she had described to the Duke. Those who became hosts to the ‘Rat’ never remembered eating it and, naturally, had no idea they were hosts. On the surface, nothing seemed amiss.
The description fit her perfectly. She couldn't even manage a bitter laugh.
“Butler Rico, please let me go. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.” Hazel begged, tears streaming down her face.
“Liar. You’re carrying holy water just to kill me.”
Rico’s hand clamped down even harder on the maid’s wrist. As the words came out, Rico stared at Hazel, her lips forming silent words of her own. The hosts’ lips never matched the words spoken, creating a jarring dissonance for the listener. That had been the key to identifying them. If so, did that mean the entity didn't control her silent mouthing?
‘Splash it.’
‘Splash the holy water on me.’
If only Hazel could read her lips.
The grip on Hazel's wrist grew more violent as the ‘Rat’ possessing her body became enraged. It felt as if the bone was about to break. In that instant, Rico resisted the voice with all her might.
The moment her grip loosened, Hazel did exactly as Rico had hoped and splashed the holy water. Since the vial was already uncapped, the liquid hit Rico directly. A searing pain erupted across her skin. Tears welled and spilled from her eyes, and she couldn't even swallow as saliva dripped from her open mouth.
Taking advantage of the opening, Hazel scrambled away. Rico could only pray that she would run to Lady Rohanson and report what had happened.
“My body! It’s the only human body I have left, and you damaged it! I won’t let you get away with this next time!”
The voice stomped Rico’s feet in frustration as Hazel fled. Rico’s senses grew hazy. It no longer felt like something had entered her body; it felt like she was the intruder in someone else’s.
Rico’s body continued to burn. However, since she hadn’t ingested the holy water, the damage wasn’t enough to finish her off.
Just then, clones and fragments of the ‘Rat’ that had been hiding somewhere began to crawl down the walls. They moved in an orderly procession, a sight so nauseating Rico couldn’t suppress her disgust. She had no idea where they had been hiding in the mansion, especially after she and Lady Rohanson had searched and found nothing.
The rats swarmed over the burning Rico. They gnawed away at her flesh where it melted from the holy water, then died off one by one. A few of them forced their way into her mouth.
The sensation of her body being eaten away while furry clumps crawled down her throat was grotesque and unbearable, but Rico had no control. Shockingly, as the process continued, her wounds began to mend. By carving out the parts touched by the holy water, they made recovery simple.
The rats even fought among themselves, devouring each other in a chaotic, miniature battle. Rico spoke to the ‘Rat’ in her mind.
‘What do you plan to do with my body?’
“I’m going to be loved. All I need is Mother’s love.”
‘Why me, of all people?’
“The humans said you were going to be Mother’s adopted daughter. That’s why.”
Adopted daughter? Nonsense. To Rico, Lady Agera was merely a benefactor. The rumor about her adoption was false, something that had spread for a short time. It had earned her nothing but a disciplinary action from Duke Hosaquin. Besides… Lady Agera didn’t even remember her. That proved Rico wasn’t that important.
‘You chose the wrong person. You should have chosen Lady Evangeline.’
“You think that’s easy? Evangeline is guarded by a cat!”
While Evangeline would have been the ideal choice, the ‘Rat’ lacked the power to take over her body. It lost its nerve just being in her presence, perhaps because she had killed it so many times. To make matters worse, her guardian was a cat—the natural enemy of rats.
In any case, if the ‘Rat’ couldn’t have Evangeline, it was best to get rid of her. It had wanted to get along, but Evangeline had hurt it too much. She must have killed hundreds of its clones.
Even now, as the ‘rats’ gathered in Rico’s body to merge, their combined mass was less than half of the original volume. The missing portion had all been killed by Evangeline.
As they conversed, Rico’s body continued to swallow the rats. As the entity’s presence grew, Rico’s mind was gradually being overwritten, reshaped into the ‘Rat’s’.
Her body healed so completely it was as if the holy water had been an illusion. While she recovered, the rats ate and were eaten, merging into one. Rico’s hand picked up the tail of the single remaining rat. Once she ate this, all the remaining fragments would be united, even if it was only half the original.
Just before eating it, Rico instinctively knew that her life as ‘Rico’ was ending. Squeezing out her last bit of strength, she asked one final question.
‘Mavka…’
Her voice came out haltingly, a blend of her own and the entity’s. “Why… did you… look for… Mavka…?”
“Mavka? I chose her because she’s your beloved daughter. She’s loved by her mom. My goal is to be loved like that, too.”
Rico’s body gulped down the last rat. It didn’t resist, burrowing deeper inside as if it had been longing to merge.
Now, Rico’s body belonged to the ‘Rat’. She was no longer just a host. The memory that marked her final moments was, of course, Mavka. Recalling her daughter’s tearful face, Rico suddenly knew this couldn’t be the end. She spoke to the ‘Rat’ one more time.
“Hey… are you curious… about how Mavka… is loved…? Then… I’ll tell you… the secret…”
“You?”
“Yes… The Mavka… you mentioned… is my daughter. And besides, I’m… scheduled to become… Lady Agera’s adopted daughter… the one you like so much…? So… I’ll give you… some advice.”
From what Rico could tell, the ‘Rat’ wasn’t very intelligent. Born the moment Lady Agera summoned it, it was bound to be immature. Even its way of speaking sounded like a young child.
And dealing with a child was easy. Rico had a six-year-old daughter—a daughter she had raised with a love so fierce it would make a demon envious. Of course she was good at handling children.
The ‘Rat’ readily agreed.
“Sure, okay. If you’re not helpful later, I can just get rid of you. Oh, right. Just so you know, I’m going to get rid of Mavka, not you. So you’d better help me.”
Rico wanted to smile. Her body wouldn’t move as she wished, but it didn’t matter. Mavka would be safe. The one who would disappear was the ‘Rat’. Lady Rohanson would make sure of that, and Rico would lead the way.
* * *
After rounding up everyone in the Duke’s estate who seemed to be a host, there was nothing left to do.
We’ve caught so many by now. Surely the rat population has thinned out a bit?
I felt a deep sense of accomplishment. I had already maxed out my favorability with the Duke, so if I could just catch the real culprit, my mission would be over.
Of course, how to catch the rats was the real problem. I couldn’t rely solely on Pudding, and while I wanted to exterminate them all at once, the only method that came to mind was arson. This was the tragic result of rote learning. It was all Bishop Marik’s fault. I shifted the blame with all my might.
“A way to get rid of the rats…”
Currently, Canna, Pudding, and I were sitting together, racking our brains. Our previous meeting had basically concluded with, ‘Let’s make Pudding work hard. Go, go, fight!’ so we had no choice but to hold another one.
I had called for Rico, too, but since she hadn’t shown up yet, she was clearly absent. What, no attendance management? This teacher is highly disappointed. This teacher can be an angel or a demon, you know. She’d better prepare to meet a demonic instructor next time.
“I really think the only way is for Lord Pudding to work hard,” Canna said with a bright smile.
Pudding, currently in his human form, ground his teeth. “Even if I catch them like that, they breed so fast their numbers just multiply. It’s not like we’re going to live here forever.”
“I wouldn’t mind,” Canna replied, seeming perfectly content with the idea of spending the rest of her life at the Duke’s estate.
Come to think of it, Canna was technically a runaway after a fight with Hena. Since she’d run into Hena often if she went back to the mansion, she probably wanted to extend her little escape.
Shouldn’t I send her back before their relationship cracks even further? After a moment’s thought, I decided to keep her with me. I couldn’t give up on riding the female lead’s coattails. There would be plenty of time for them to reconcile later. Family is bound by an unbreakable bond, right? Once puberty ends, she’ll probably offer an awkward apology, and they’ll make up just fine.
“Ah, in that case, the one who wants to go back has no choice but to work hard.”
Canna had gotten much better at putting others down. Ever since she found out Pudding was a beastkin, she had become strangely more sarcastic. Pudding looked ready to scratch her, but when I stopped him, he let out a heavy sigh, transformed back into a cat, and vanished, muttering he was going to catch some rats.
“Lord Pudding is really easy to handle.”