Chapter 61 — Good News
"Hee-hee-hee-hee!"
"Whoa, hold on a second... stay right there, Tia..."
Listening to Tia's happy laughter never failed to bring a fond smile to my face. She was sprinting around with the leftover ribbon ends clutched in both hands, and the way the ribbons fluttered behind her made it look exactly like a rhythmic gymnastics performance. Adorable, honestly.
Of course, the maid trailing after her the entire time in an attempt to play with her was probably dying inside.
"Do you think it's okay for her to burn all that energy during break time?"
"She'll be fine. She's the type who recovers energy by playing with other kids."
"Such a type actually exists...?"
Recharging energy by playing with children.
It was unbelievable. A miracle on the level of entropy reversal. I supposed it was a world with magic in it, so strange things happened all the time.
"It's only possible because she's not your own kid."
"Right? No matter how cute a child is, actually raising one yourself..."
"Hey there! Enough chattering—get back to hanging that laundry, now!"
"..."
The thunderous bellow made my whole body flinch. I turned around to find the Butler, wearing a sour expression, tapping the ground with his cane.
Why did that man never once look like he was in a good mood?
"Miss Yulia, what exactly are you doing over there?"
"Just helping out with some work, since I had a free moment."
"If you have a free moment, spend it cleaning my office. Come out here, now."
"Yessir..."
Would it kill him to go one day without running his mouth?
I finished pinning up the laundry in my hands, then exchanged a silent glance with the maids. A small, quietly smiling look of understanding came back to me. Back in the old days, all I would've gotten was a glare full of venom. These days, even the Butler's interference campaigns couldn't put a wedge between us anymore.
I took the hand of Tia—who had somehow appeared at my side again, panting and wheezing—and turned to go.
"So what was the Marquis doing that he suddenly found time to spare?"
"He said he was going to rest his eyes for about thirty minutes."
"At this hour?"
"Yes. Doesn't he usually take a nap around this time?"
"No. That's news to me."
"...?"
A napping habit formed recently, huh?
I wasn't naive enough to buy that. It must have been a habit that sprang up after I arrived. Judging by it, the man was sneaking off to do something else in secret for thirty minutes after dropping me off somewhere.
"Oh, by the way, Butler."
"What is it."
"Have you been at this villa since before the extension was built?"
"No. I came from the Marquis's domain after the expansion. I was told they needed staff to manage the villa, so I was assigned here. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you see—there's a basement in the back garden. It looks quite old, so I believe it predates the construction. I was hoping to give the inside a good cleaning. Could you lend me the key?"
The entrance to the basement, sitting right in the middle of the back garden. The ivy-covered steps leading down into it had been a constant topic of gossip among the maids whenever the chance arose. Rumor had it that the villa's former owner had hidden a secret down there. Or that it was a dungeon where the Marquis indulged his supposedly suppressed, depraved tastes.
Given that I knew full well the Marquis never suppressed any such tastes, the latter rumor struck me as utterly ridiculous. In any case, the basement was locked up tight enough that not a single maid had ever set foot inside.
"Cleaning that place is not part of your duties. Don't concern yourself with it."
"Have you ever been inside, Butler?"
"..."
The Butler stopped dead in his tracks. Then he just stared down at me in silence, and somehow his height seemed all the more imposing for it. It was a little frightening.
"I do not concern myself with useless curiosities. I simply do the work I am given, diligently. Understood?"
"Yessir..."
Insufferable bastard.
I sneaked a raspberry at the back of the Butler's head as he turned and walked away. Well, I'd been ordered to clean the office, so I supposed I should at least go through the motions. I figured I should drop Tia off at our quarters first, and I was strolling down the corridor, her hand clutched tightly in mine, when—
"Oh."
"Did you rest well, my lord? Tia, you need to greet him too."
"Mmhh..."
We'd run straight into the Marquis at the corner, and I quickly bowed my head, pressing down on Tia's head to make her bow as well.
I hadn't expected him to wake up in less than ten minutes. More than anything, the real problem was running into him while Tia was with me. Whenever the Marquis so much as laid eyes on Tia, everything else—work included—got shoved aside so he could play with her...
I needed to come up with a plausible excuse to send Tia back. With that single-minded determination, I racked my brain hard.
"I would like to speak with Miss Yulia alone. May I borrow your mother for a moment, Tia?"
"That's okay!"
"...?"
Unexpected. I told Tia to go to our quarters or go play with the maids, then followed behind the Marquis.
The whole way there, he offered no explanation whatsoever, just strode briskly toward the office.
Something urgent, then? If it were something urgent that the two of us alone had to resolve, then what on earth...
God. Don't tell me—again?
I wanted to believe not. I desperately wanted to believe his lust-relief cooldown hadn't come back around and he was planning to use me again.
Totally unable to relax, I followed the Marquis into the office. The moment I stepped inside, there was a click as the lock engaged on its own. And that wasn't all. A faint tingling sensation washed over me—the same feeling I always got whenever a barrier went up. The office was now sealed so that no sound from within could ever escape outside.
"What did you want to talk about, my lord?"
"..."
Stone silence. The Marquis didn't even turn to look at me. He simply stood at the desk, pen in hand, scribbling something onto a sheet of paper.
Was that why he'd summoned me? Peering curiously past his broad back, I drifted closer, slowly. And then the Marquis abruptly whirled around to face me.
"Uh—huh? My lord?"
"..."
And then he began striding straight toward me. Even after I recoiled a step in shock, his footsteps didn't stop. The Marquis simply kept coming, lips sealed, with the force of a man intent on pinning me down. In an instant I was backed up against the wall with nowhere left to run. He planted a hand against it with a thud, cutting off my escape entirely.
"Ah. Ahh..."
It wasn't that I hadn't anticipated a situation like this. Of course I'd thought this day might come eventually. And when it did, my plan was simple: kick him square in the groin and bolt. I'd been so sure I'd resolved to do exactly that.
But now that it had become reality, my body simply froze up. One hard kick was all it would take. And there I stood, frozen like an idiot. Slowly, the Marquis's face drew closer.
"Hhk..."
His knee wedged itself between my legs, and I couldn't squirm so much as an inch. The instant his knee pressed against my thigh, a faint moan escaped me.
I was being violated. Again. Paralyzed with fear, unable to put up even the slightest resistance... Pathetic bastard.
Eyes squeezed shut, I held my breath.
"Miss Yulia. You're hiding something from me."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
"That was not a question. Speak. Now."
"..."
My mind went blank. When I opened my eyes again, the Marquis was studying me with a remarkably serious expression.
"Hiding something? I'm afraid I don't know what you mean..."
"You know. Tell me."
What on earth could I possibly be hiding? The fact that I was the Saintess had already been dragged into the open by the Hero. The fact that I'd lost my memories and was a different person entirely had come out. The fact that Tia was a dragon-human hybrid had been revealed as well. I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
"That's the look of someone with nothing to hide. Excellent. The best way to keep a secret is to forget it yourself. So then—allow me to help you remember."
"No. I really have nothing to hide at all..."
"The divine oracle. The one naming Tia the Seed of Calamity. No matter how I turn it over, I cannot fathom how that darling child could possibly become a calamity. But you, Miss Yulia—you seem to have an idea, don't you?"
"..."
Ah.
Come to think of it, there was one thing the Marquis didn't know. The fact that Tia's bodily fluids were a deadly poison. I had once wondered, briefly, whether that poison might be the very source of the "calamity" the oracle spoke of.
"Ah. There it is. You remembered."
"...Ah."
I noticed it the moment a smile began spreading across the Marquis's face. Maintaining a poker face while wound tight with tension—and pinned that close at that—was all but impossible. With that one flicker of expression, I might as well have confessed everything to him outright.
"That's it. Exactly that. Now that we're in the same boat, wouldn't it be wise to share information?"
"A-and if I said no?"
Best to keep as few of my cards face-up as possible. In a game where I had to disguise worthless cards as jokers, I certainly couldn't go flipping an actual joker over for him to see. I wasn't about to tell this scheming, perverted bastard something I hadn't even told Irina.
"What happens if you refuse? Well, then, a misfortune might occur. The Church's Hunting Dogs might, through some clever trick, manage to locate the Saintess after all."
"Are you threatening me right now?"
"Who can say. That rather depends on your interpretation."
"..."
Madman.
He was threatening to hand me over to the Church if I didn't talk. I did my best to look unafraid—forcing my voice steady, answering firmly—but I couldn't suppress the tremor in my voice or the wobble in my knees. A single tear slipped down my cheek.
I knew it. This bastard was never to be trusted.
It was my own stupidity for daring to hope he might be trustworthy. No matter how kind he seemed to Tia, in the end he was a man with other motives lurking underneath. Sweet-talking people when it suited him, then threatening and blackmailing them when it didn't—a garbage human being who used people like tools. The Marquis was exactly that kind of scum.
Terrified as I was, shaking as I was, I somehow managed to lift my head and meet the Marquis's eyes, lips parting.
"You won't get what you want from me that way. Threaten me, rape me—do whatever you like. I will never break. And the more you try, the tighter I'll shut my mouth."
That's not it.
Only after the words left my mouth did I realize my mistake. My defiance had done nothing but provoke him further. This was the kind of thing that only inflamed a man's desire to conquer. Just as I was thinking, well, I'm screwed now—the Marquis suddenly broke into an impish grin and brought a handkerchief to my eyes, wiping the tear away in one smooth motion. Then he took a step back and released me.
"Nnh..."
"It was a joke. If Miss Yulia does not wish to speak, naturally I would never force her."
A joke?
This son of a—
Shoving a person against a wall until they nearly relived their trauma, and calling it a prank? He spouted his shameless nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
"That... was a joke?"
"Of course. We have an agreement, don't we, Miss Yulia? No physical contact without your consent. I intend to honor that agreement until the day it is dissolved."
"Then what was touching my face just now?"
"You let out such a sweet moan, I took it for consent. Was I mistaken?"
"..."
Deranged bastard.
The sheer nerve of it—no apology, not a shred of remorse, just brazen cheek. I couldn't even muster a comeback.
Enough.
This man was too dangerous. He was a completely different animal from the Hero, whose behavior was eccentric but at least predictable. The Marquis was unreadable, unpredictable, and intelligent. In other words, there was not one single trustworthy bone in his body.
I have to kill him and run...
I would have to assassinate the Marquis and flee. Using Tia's poison, anything—whatever it took. The conclusion crystallized in my mind: I had to do it before I landed in real danger.
"Oh, right. I nearly forgot to show you this."
"...?"
Just then, the Marquis—who had been carefully studying my expression—handed me a folded sheet of paper. I accepted it gingerly and opened it up.
- Certificate of Admission — Saint Sophia Academy
- Certificate of Tuition Payment — Saint Sophia Academy
Both documents bore the words written out in large, unmistakable letters. The payment certificate even had the Marquis's signature already scrawled across it.
"Tia's school enrollment date has been set."
"Ah..."
"The tuition is entirely my responsibility. I find myself looking forward to the day Tia starts school. Don't you?"
"..."
When I lifted my head, the Marquis was wearing a revolting smile.
Tia, going to school...
She absolutely had to go. And that was the problem.
Now I couldn't kill the Marquis anymore.