Chapter 154
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 154
Let me tell you the story of how I became the crazy arsonist who burned down her own home overnight.
Bishop Marik was demanding Duke Hosaquin hand me over, claiming I was the one who set the fire. The Duke began by explaining the Temple’s version of events.
According to them, ‘Evangeline Rohanson’ had set fire to the Rohanson Mansion, an act witnessed by several servants, including her close maid, Hena. While extinguishing the flames, Bishop Marik supposedly captured a monster under my control. They also ‘rescued’ the missing Paladin, Azazel Astaroth, who they claimed had been imprisoned within the mansion.
The servants of the Rohanson Mansion, having been ‘saved’ by Bishop Marik, had apparently repented and confessed everything about me they had previously ignored. Compiling their testimonies, Bishop Marik had officially branded Evangeline Rohanson a wicked heretic.
The Temple speculated that I had committed arson to sacrifice the mansion’s residents to a demon. Normally, aiding a heretic was a crime punishable by burning at the stake, but the servants were spared this fate. The Temple ruled that they were victims who had not followed me of their own free will—a convenient excuse that served as an extenuating circumstance. I wasn’t sure whether to call it a blessing or a curse.
Meanwhile, Hena Greenwood had accompanied them to the Temple as the star witness and was now under Bishop Marik’s protection…
As the Duke explained, I plucked petals from a flower, one by one. It was a childish superstition to decide whether or not I should storm the Rohanson Mansion.
I’ll go. I won’t. I’ll go. I won’t.
The last petal landed on “I won’t.” Naturally, I’d rejected that outcome every single time. This was already the sixth flower to meet its end.
If I went, I knew I’d be walking right into a trap, straight toward an execution ending. But if I didn’t go, it would look like I was admitting guilt and abandoning the people of the mansion.
At this rate, maybe I should have just drawn straws. But plucking flower petals felt so much more fitting for a noble lady, didn't it?
I tossed the bare stem, stripped clean like a bald scalp, onto the floor. The office was a mess, littered with the carnage of my indecision.
“My Lady…”
Canna hovered in a corner, not daring to stop me. Ever since she heard Hena had stabbed me in the back to side with Bishop Marik, Canna had been acting as if she were the one at fault. No matter how many times I told her I didn’t believe in guilt by association, she persisted.
“Stop that. It’s distracting.”
It was the Duke who stopped me, not Canna.
If the Duke himself was telling me to stop, I’d make this the absolute last one. Coincidentally, the rose in my hand was the seventh flower. Lucky number seven. I continued plucking as the Duke let out a long sigh.
Normally, he would have flown into a fiery rage, but perhaps because I looked like a complete wreck, he was being surprisingly lenient with my obnoxious behavior. It was a relief that he could be flexible at times like these. Or maybe it was just because I’d raised his favorability enough. He did just take my side, after all. Right?
“Why didn’t you hand me over to the Temple just now? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for you to give me to Bishop Marik, Grandfather?”
“Because your usefulness hasn’t ended yet. Furthermore, as long as Agera is in the picture, it isn’t safe to side with Bishop Marik either.”
As expected, his tsundere tag wasn’t just for show.
“If Bishop Marik had come leading her knights, I might have reconsidered. But she sent nothing more than a green priest who doesn’t even know how to bow properly.”
The Duke wasn’t wrong. The priest, sent with full knowledge of my whereabouts, had backed down meekly when the Duke refused to hand me over. That meant they hadn’t come to take me by force.
If a horde of Paladins had marched in, the Duke would have weighed his options, packaged me up nicely, and offered me to Bishop Marik as a tribute.
But all Bishop Marik sent was a lone priest who only knew how to bluster after walking into enemy territory. Naturally, the Duke, who still had a use for me, refused. He sounded genuinely puzzled by her move.
“She wants to play with me a bit more.”
“Play?”
“Because Bishop Marik’s goal isn’t simply to capture me.”
The one thing the Duke overlooked was that Bishop Marik didn’t see me as just any ordinary heretic.
Despite being the true mastermind, she wanted to cast me as the final boss. The news of me burning down my own mansion was sensational, but with so few casualties, it hardly qualified as the grand atrocity of a legendary villain. In comparison, Bishop Marik burning entire families to death under the guise of massacring pagans had a far greater impact.
Besides, the one who set the fire was Rico. Just as she used illusion magic to impersonate Hazel, she must have mimicked my appearance this time.
In other words, this incident wasn’t part of Bishop Marik’s plan. I knew her type well; people like her became incredibly erratic when things didn’t go their way.
And above all, my list of evil deeds was still too short to be treated as the final boss. If I got caught now, there’d be nothing special about it.
Bishop Marik would orchestrate an even bigger incident, something more shocking than her attempt to frame me for the Crown Prince’s assassination. Then, she would point to me as the culprit. At that point, she would tie the mansion’s arson into it, weaving a web of accusations I couldn’t escape.
What on earth was she planning? What could be bigger than assassinating the Crown Prince? Treason? Summoning the Demon King? Eradicating humanity? I didn’t have a clue.
As I was trying to guess what kind of trap Bishop Marik had laid, the petals ran out. The last one left was “I’ll go.” It was a little scary… but I’d trust in lucky number seven. I had to go to the mansion.
Everything I’d heard from the Duke was just the Temple’s narrative. I wanted to find out what really happened last night. Of course, I was just going to take a quick look.
There was no news of ‘Evangeline’ being captured at the scene. And since my impersonator—that rat—would eventually return to the Duke’s estate as long as Agera was here, I’d have to go back to the mansion to catch her anyway.
I had to give a round of applause to the little rat who’d driven the situation this far.
“Pudding, you said there are knights surrounding the mansion, right?”
“Yes. There are quite a few of them.”
Whatever Jeremia had used to block Pudding’s vision must have worn off, because his pseudo-clairvoyance was back. Upon realizing Jeremia had tricked him, Pudding had bared his teeth, calling her an ungrateful wretch and declaring that the Princess, too, had betrayed us.
Because Pudding had lumped Jeremia and Hena together, Canna was reminded of her sister’s betrayal and sank even deeper into her gloom.
Of course, it was a double whammy for me, too. If Jeremia really had backstabbed me, I might just die of frustration. It would be pathetic to be fooled by someone as naive as Jeremia—a girl who had her name stolen by her younger sister and was stabbed by her own guard.
Especially since I’d saved her from the brink of death. But since nothing was certain, I chose to believe in Jeremia. I believed in the redemption arc.
Canna seemed to realize why I was asking about the forces at the mansion. After moping like a sinner all this time, she rushed to stop me.
“You mustn’t go! It’s definitely a trap. They’re trying to capture you, My Lady! Please don’t let them take you away from me, too…”
I knew that all too well. The people of the Rohanson Mansion were blatant hostages meant to lure me out.
But my people were still there. They had been dragged into this mess because of me, and my conscience wouldn’t let me abandon them. Besides, Daisy and her younger siblings were still there… Daisy is still there, right?
“Do you really think those knights pose a threat to me?”
Canna shook her head from side to side. Her curly hair bounced so adorably that I chuckled in spite of myself. Even when my house was burned down and I was betrayed, cute things remained cute. It was an eternal truth.
“They cannot bind me.”
Of course, I had been caught and thrown in prison not too long ago. But that was only because I’d let them.
With Pudding by my side, I wasn’t in any real danger. Well, probably. There was the matter of Azazel, Pudding’s natural counter, who was currently residing in Jeremia. It was still unclear whether Jeremia had completely defected to Bishop Marik’s side or had simply been tricked and used, which was a bit concerning.
“Are you still anxious?”
Canna nodded. Looking closely, I realized that while she was worried about me, her reason for stopping me seemed slightly different.
“Are you afraid to see the mansion?”
“…Yes.”
So that was it. There was a world of difference between hearing about something and seeing it with your own eyes. Canna didn’t want to face the reality that Hena had truly turned her back on her.
She had chosen me over Hena. Even so, blood is thicker than water.
“It’s alright, Canna. If you wish, I will turn a blind eye to Hena’s sins.”
Canna’s eyes widened.
Hena’s actions were detestable, but I had my priorities straight. I wanted to do what I could for the few precious people I’d grown attached to in this world.
“Really? Even though… even though my sister betrayed you, My Lady?”
“Yes.”
I mean, I even took Daisy back and reinstated her after she tried to report me to Gabriel.
“Even though she almost got the people of the mansion killed?”
Well… that part was a bit controversial, but it was none of my business. That was a self-inflicted disaster.
“So, are you ready to go now?”
Persuaded in her own way, Canna, whose tears had been streaming down her face, nodded vigorously. Her resolve was remarkable.
Of course, I had no intention of just walking in. Imagine the three of us, holding hands and making a grand entrance while knights surrounded the place. We wouldn’t be met with cheers and bouquets, but with drawn blades and cries to kill the witch.
“Pudding. Can you conceal us from the knights’ sight?”
Pudding replied as if my words were absolute law, as if he would grant my every desire.
“Yes, Lady Evangeline. Whatever you wish.”
I didn’t forget to warn the Duke to be careful, as Rico might return while I was away. I also asked Pudding to keep a close watch on the Duke’s estate just in case. Since Jeremia wasn’t there, there shouldn’t be any interference.
When I gave him the signal, Pudding snapped his fingers.
* * *
Before my eyes, my charred and blackened home came into view. A sudden surge of rage welled up inside me.
“Since you’ve turned my mansion to ashes, I’ll have to show you what hell looks like.”
That little rat was dead meat.