Chapter 156
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 156
If you want to get technical, I’m a transmigrator myself, I thought. None of this is my fault—it’s because of that rat and Bishop Marik. Still, the servants were swept up in this mess without knowing the full story, so I could understand their resentment. In fact, quite a few of them seemed to agree with Kochia.
“Gabriel? That paladin bastard acted like he was going to save us, but he just stood by and watched people get their throats slit…”
I was startled by the sudden mention of Gabriel. I hadn’t even heard that he’d come here.
“What did you just say? A paladin ‘bastard’?” a familiar voice retorted, sharp with irritation.
I looked over and saw none other than Raphaella. What was he doing here?
He had been nowhere to be seen until a moment ago, but it seemed he’d gone into the burnt mansion to salvage anything still usable. Raphaella emerged with his arms full of bedding and clothes.
“Didn’t you see the Commander get hurt trying to protect you?”
It was surprising enough to hear Gabriel had come, but now they were saying he was injured, too.
“Oh, we saw it perfectly well,” one of the knights snickered. “He claimed he was ‘protecting’ us, but he just hesitated, weighing us against that devilish wench. He ended up with his ankle shattered, unable to even move.”
“Serves him right,” another chimed in, keeping a wary eye on Raphaella. “Honestly, I never liked him. Just some orphan of unknown origin, putting on airs like he’s a big shot.”
The knights continued to trade insults, smirking amongst themselves. Why couldn’t they just shut up? Were they only here to spectate? Raphaella gritted his teeth and glared at them, but they only shrugged shamelessly.
It was a good thing I came here myself. The information the Temple had passed to the Duke was clearly limited and distorted. I never would have known Gabriel had been injured at the Rohanson mansion.
So, they wanted me to get angry at Gabriel, demanding to know what he was doing while the mansion burned and people died? It was a classic attempt to drive a wedge between me and the male lead. I guess Bishop Marik really was a textbook RoFan villain, after all.
“Didn’t you hear what the Bishop—no, Bishop Marik said?” Kochia hastily corrected himself, glancing at the knights. “He said your Commander will be completely healed with holy water! But what about us? What are people like us supposed to do? What about the children who died?”
“The Commander’s treatment…!” Raphaella started to argue but then clamped his mouth shut.
Thinking he had won the exchange, Kochia grew bolder.
“I’m about to die here! I need to prove I have nothing to do with Rohanson, that I’m innocent… Hey, you over there! Evangeline Rohanson’s lackey!”
Kochia pointed a finger at Daisy, who had been standing quietly. Frightened by his sudden shouting, Yulma and Mary huddled closer into Daisy’s arms.
“And those brats, too. Evangeline Rohanson favored you, didn’t she? Don’t you know anything? I mean, whatever that Hena girl snitched about, the Bishop is treating her incredibly well. She’s the only one who got out of this place.”
“Sister…” Canna murmured, swallowing a pained groan at the mention of Hena.
Being invisible had the advantage of safety, but it came with the downside of having to listen to people slander me right to my face. Since they thought I wasn't here, they felt free to say whatever they wanted.
“Is there really nothing?! The Bishop isn’t satisfied with just the story of Evangeline Rohanson coming back to life at her funeral. He wants more shocking news, doesn't he? You must know something! Isn’t it true that Evangeline Rohanson bathes in children’s blood and eats human flesh? Right?!”
“Lady Rohanson would never do such a thing!” Mary, still clinging to Daisy, shouted back in protest.
“Didn’t you hear the Bishop? He said Evangeline Rohanson tried to use us as sacrifices! Didn’t you see her cackling as she set the fire? And you still want to take her side? Are you out of your mind?” Kochia shrieked at Daisy and Mary like a madman. The others, seemingly cowed by his hysteria, couldn’t bring themselves to say a word.
Me, using the mansion’s people as sacrifices? How utterly ridiculous. Bishop Marik must have found out Rico set the fire and twisted the narrative to his advantage. Why don’t the two of them just team up? They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but in their case, they’re just perfectly in sync.
“Can’t I just kill them…?”
Pudding’s eyes had gone completely wild. He was already fiercely devoted to me; hearing people badmouth me like this was more than he could bear.
I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn’t just stand here and listen. My original plan was to use Pudding’s perception-blocking ability to assess the situation and leave unnoticed, but this was too much to ignore.
“Pudding.”
He turned to me, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.
“Make me visible only to the people of the mansion.”
“…Yes.”
Pudding’s shoulders slumped in a pout. Did he seriously think I’d give him permission to kill them?
Though displeased that I was handling it myself, he was an obedient teenager at heart. He quietly snapped his fingers.
Instantly, every eye from the mansion staff shifted toward me. The perception block was lifted. Kochia, however, was still completely absorbed in his tirade, oblivious.
“I am absolutely not dying like this! I refuse to die such an unfair death! If what the Bishop wants is testimony that Evangeline Rohanson is a devil, I’ll commit perjury if that’s what it takes to survive—!”
“Kochia… Be-Behind you…!” someone stammered.
“What?”
“Look behind you, you idiot!” another shouted.
When he failed to notice me, someone finally took the initiative. Shivering at the sudden, icy atmosphere, Kochia slowly turned around.
And our eyes met.
His pupils dilated in sheer panic. Of course. Getting caught badmouthing your employer right behind her back must be absolutely terrifying.
* * *
When had the world become so dark? The surroundings had grown so dim that one might have thought night had suddenly fallen. Looking up, he saw that insignificant clouds had dared to obscure the almighty sun. The scorching heat was gone.
A sudden chill assaulted his entire body. It was freezing. Goosebumps broke out all over his skin, and his hands and feet curled inward. It felt as though his breath would turn to mist if he exhaled. If his frozen body were to crack, it would shatter into a thousand pieces.
Kochia couldn’t believe his eyes. His pupils trembled, darting aimlessly.
How… on earth… was she here?
A person of pure white. Was it even human? No, that was wrong. It was Death itself, wearing a pitiful guise to deceive humanity. Her inorganic, pale skin was unnervingly similar to a corpse’s.
Soon, Kochia’s eyes met the gaze of the thing that should not exist. Crimson eyes. That infinitely cold stare choked him, stealing the very breath from his lungs. Confronted with this disaster, Kochia was so paralyzed by overwhelming terror that he couldn’t move. It was a miracle he hadn’t fainted on the spot.
“L-L-L-Lady Rohanson…”
The sound that squeezed out of his throat was pathetic. The bravery with which he had boldly proclaimed Evangeline Rohanson a devil had vanished without a trace. Kochia could do nothing but tremble like a mouse cornered by a predator. Feeling as though his neck might snap at any moment, he held his breath, as if that could somehow hide him.
“So I still look like the young lady you serve?”
“Since—since when? No, how are you here…?”
Losing his mind, Kochia could only babble questions. How had Evangeline entered the Rohanson mansion? The gates were sealed, and the outer walls were surrounded by paladins. As if his question were a great joke, Evangeline asked back.
“Why? Did you think a devil would arrive in a carriage?”
“Heugh…”
“Kochia.”
Her voice rang out like a death knell. The name she spoke echoed inside his head.
“How… do you know my name…?”
“You are my servant. Of course I know your name.”
He felt he might go mad from the overwhelming awe of Evangeline knowing his name. Even if the Emperor himself were to chant it, it would not have been this shocking.
“If you need testimony for Bishop Marik, I can create some for you. Shall I use you as proof?”
Evangeline Rohanson listed the insolence Kochia had just committed. As his sins were spoken aloud by her, he felt his breath catch. It felt as though she was weighing his sins on a scale, ready to pass judgment the moment the balance tipped. Just as he had suggested, she would skin him alive, bathe in his blood, and cook his flesh.
Kochia collapsed under the weight of his terror. Before he knew it, his legs had given out, and he was slumped on the ground.
“No, no… I was talking nonsense.”
He began to beg. Kneeling and pleading, he bowed his head, desperate for mercy.
“…I’m sorry. I… I spoke out of turn.”
Kochia rubbed his hands together frantically as he apologized. When Evangeline didn’t respond, he slammed his forehead against the ground. It was a form of self-harm, but it was better than doing nothing. If he didn’t apologize, if he didn’t do something, he knew he would suffer an even greater pain.
“What’s wrong with him all of a sudden?”
“Is he seeing things…?”
Just then, the voices of the knights reached his ears. They were whispering about how bizarre it was for him to suddenly collapse and start slamming his head on the ground.
He snapped back to reality. Yes, they were the ones he could hide behind. Kochia’s attention shifted to the knights. Seeing an escape, he scrambled toward them, filled with a desperate hope.
“H-Help me!”
He stumbled and tripped over his own feet several times. He grabbed onto a knight just before falling, crying out, but the knight shoved him away in disgust, vigorously brushing off the spot he had touched.
“Filthy piece of… damn it…”
“Pfft, hey. You might get infected by her evil energy and get your head chopped off.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Infected? As if. My faith is too strong for that.”
Kochia turned back and saw Evangeline walking toward him. Driven by desperation, he clung to the knight even more fiercely.
“Save me, please, Sir Knight! Evangeline Rohanson has appeared right there! Arrest her this instant!”
A mix of formal pleas and frantic demands spilled from his mouth. He only wanted to be safe, to be protected from her. But the knight shoved his head away in horror.
“What do you mean, she’s there?! What’s wrong with you? Have you actually gone mad?”
“Would a devil’s minion be sane? We should have killed him sooner… The Bishop showed useless mercy…”
Kochia couldn’t understand. Why couldn’t they see her? Her overwhelming presence was so vivid, a bizarre sensation etched into his very skin. It proved beyond any doubt that Evangeline was right there.
The knight shook his leg violently, trying to kick him off.
“You… you can’t see Evangeline Rohanson?”