The Family's Chaotic Mess
Meanwhile, in the carriage returning to the main estate, Doree Leonhardt felt an unexpected surge of lust.
Her mind was completely filled with Queen Wednesday, who seemed different from usual.
“Hehe, haa… haah. She pulled it off again today, right? No one noticed this time either, did they?”
A smile curved across her sweat-dampened, pale lips.
It was a smile that looked almost sadistic.
The root of that smile was a mad, obsessive affection for Queen.
“I’ve wanted her from the very beginning. I fell for her…! So I’ll keep provoking her, like an enemy. That way she’ll look at me more, right? Despise me even harder and keep thinking about me, right? Hehe♥”
Her half-lidded eyes gradually curved into crescents and began to sparkle.
From those upturned eye corners came a distinctly fox-like air, thick with sticky, craving affection.
Doree’s feelings toward Queen were nothing less than pure, unwavering love.
From the very first day she saw her until now.
The ground was cold where Alonso’s body lay, already growing stiff. The glowing ring of light on his chest flickered.
Flash.
It soon went out cleanly.
The Force Heart—also called the Circle Heart—was a second heart that granted power in this world.
Against monsters, level was everything. Goblins or gnolls became easy prey once your level rose even a little.
But against people, you needed this other kind of level, the Force Heart that approached true mastery.
‘The original Queen had no talent and never awakened her Heart at all.’
Clearing the prologue quest and becoming a Runner Initial had been the key.
Of course, it only made fighting easier; it didn’t grant absolute strength.
Nothing in this world was ever absolute, after all.
‘When Force Hearts are equal, it comes down to who fights better. In crude terms, a fistfight, a pilot’s duel!’
In the end, I won.
After a moment’s thought, I recalled what Alonso had said.
‘This bastard really hated me, huh. He even used my only ally, the head maid, to provoke me. Still, thanks to him I learned something useful!’
A smirk escaped me.
I grabbed a nearby candlestick, lit it, and deliberately scorched his face.
Whoosh, crackle, sizzle.
Then I beat and broke his body in several places, making it look as though some noble had vented their rage on a servant as an example.
“From now on, you were murdered by someone in the family who hated me. I’ll make good use of your corpse, so keep watching even in death!”
I tapped Alonso’s cold cheek. With just this one body, I planned to tear the family apart.
Thud.
A single letter fluttered down in front of me.
I was about to raise my stats when I noticed it.
“Huh…?”
After reading the entire letter, I looked down at Alonso.
I’d thought he was just a passing character.
Yet he had some connection to the world-ending threat that would appear later?
…As you instructed, I possess extraordinary ambition. However, my loyalty is directed solely toward “that person.” I believe the scheme concerning Queen Wednesday will yield favorable results and allow the young master to accept me.
Please monopolize the Life Trees.
Praising the Otherworldly King who will one day descend and grant us new teachings, I conclude here.
The Otherworldly King was the final boss who appeared in the latter half of the story, a demon king-like being from another dimension.
Yet here he was already being mentioned. In the original novel, this event had never happened. Alonso… what the hell was this guy?
‘This is content that never appeared even in the original. Is this real?’
While still flustered, I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him outside.
His corpse felt heavier than expected. Rigor mortis must have set in.
In times like this, raising stats was the answer.
I spent points to push my Strength up to 30. It cost quite a few, but that was what points were for.
The body that had been difficult to lift with both hands now felt manageable with one.
I loosened up, then sprinted toward a tree in front of me.
Tatatat, whoosh!
I launched myself at the tree, kicked off it, and flew toward the main building’s wall. Kicking off the wall, I repeated the motion until I hurled Alonso’s corpse toward the third-floor window of the mansion.
The body smashed through the glass and disappeared inside.
Crash!
The sound was crystal clear.
Chaos erupted immediately.
“Kyaaah! A corpse! A corpse! His face… Alonso? What the—really?!”
I smirked and slipped back into the house. I poured most of the medicine Alonso had brought down the toilet, leaving only a small amount.
Then I lay in bed and pretended to sleep.
‘Someone should be coming soon.’
Footsteps thundered down the hall. The door burst open.
As expected. Under normal circumstances this would be a breach of etiquette, but no one in this family treated me as a noble.
Except Winz.
“My lady, are you all right? Haa, haa. My lady! Alonso is—!”
“Mmm, what’s all the noise about?”
“Alonso has been murdered!”
“What…?!”
I tried my best to look devastated as I looked up at Winz.
She explained everything. I already knew the story, but I acted with genuine-seeming emotion.
“Ugh… my Alonso…!”
While I squeezed out a few tears, heavy footsteps approached from outside.
A man with a burly build and a face that somehow didn’t match appeared, flanked by several others.
‘Finally. My younger brother, the one closest to becoming the next head—Hollan Wednesday.’
He had the body of a Viking chieftain but the face of a handsome noble.
He strode toward me with his entourage, radiating pressure.
“Sister, were you asleep?”
“Yeah. I took my medicine.”
“Medicine?”
“The one Alonso always brought me.”
“Ah, that rumored stuff… Hey. Take that too and get it analyzed.”
One of Hollan’s subordinates immediately confiscated the remaining medicine.
I wasn’t flustered. In fact, I was pleased.
Hollan gave me a cold stare.
“Sister, you’ll have to come with me. You know you don’t have the right to refuse, right?”
“Yeah… I know.”
Feigning weakness, I followed behind Hollan. Winz clenched her fists and glared at him, but I gently wrapped my hand around her wrist.
“It’s fine. Really.”
I gave her a faint smile.
This was the extent of my position in this family.
Following Hollan, we gathered in the main mansion. The family members were in an uproar over Alonso’s corpse.
The moment I appeared, Mirinda pointed at me first.
“That bitch killed her own servant and is putting on a show!”
“She’s gone mad. Murderous whore.”
“But how did she even manage to kill him?”
“Probably drugged him. Pretended to sell her body and killed him. Typical of those foreign bloodlines.”
I was used to them treating me like an idiot and mocking me.
I had expected this cognitive dissonance as well.
Still, it was ugly. These people who only became nobles because they were born to the right parents.
“Hollan, what exactly happened? Why—why did our Alonso have to die?”
“Simple. Someone murdered Alonso and threw him into the mansion. Sister, do you have anything to say?”
“Alonso was a servant I cherished. Why would he have to die? Sob.”
“Because you’re a failure who can barely be called a noble. You know that better than anyone.”
Hollan joined the others in dismissing me.
He would need to be dealt with soon as well.
Mocking laughter spread through the room. They all looked at me like I was an insect.
I spoke only one line.
“Find the culprit.”
“And what if that culprit is you?”
“Say something that makes sense. Why would I kill Alonso? Don’t get swept up in their atmosphere. I was asleep the whole time!”
“Who’s going to believe that?”
People really were despicable and ridiculous.
Even when something made no sense, they believed it and doubted anyway.
Or simply went along with the crowd.
“There’s no way Queen noona committed murder. A pathetic bitch who can’t even sell her body properly wouldn’t be capable of it.”
The one speaking in that idiotic manner was a chubby boy with half-shaved blond hair—Bujil Wednesday, my younger brother who was also labeled a failure.
The only thing he had over me was possessing a single circle. A failure among failures.
One of Hollan’s subordinates approached, saluted, and spoke.
“Young master, we’ve analyzed the medicine.”
“Results?”
“It contained a toxic substance that induces sleep. Even a moderate dose would have knocked someone out cold.”
All eyes turned to the soldier. His words revealed the truth.
I had been asleep at the time.
When Hollan looked surprised, his subordinate tilted his head.
“If she had continued consuming it for a long time, she would have reached the point where movement became difficult. It was dangerous.”
“But that bitch was awake.”
“I woke her. It was something the lady needed to know.”
When Winz stepped forward to answer, Hollan and the others immediately nodded.
They wouldn’t believe me, but they believed the head maid. What a strange family.
Which was exactly why this place needed to fall.
I decided to deliver the finishing blow.
“Hollan, you’re forgetting something.”
“What?”
“I’m not even an Awakener. I never opened my Circle Heart. I can’t handle mana. But Alonso was a full first-circle mage. How exactly would I have killed him?”
An ordinary person without a Circle Heart killing someone who had one?
It was the same as saying an ant could bite a human to death.
Everyone fell silent at my words.
The same people who had insisted I was the culprit and that I had killed him by selling my body now stood mute.
I pointed around the room.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to find the culprit among everyone here instead of me? Maybe someone wanted to get rid of me because I was an eyesore, or perhaps they had their eye on Alonso and got rejected, leading to something dirty.”
As everyone knew, Alonso possessed striking good looks.
He had been popular with the maids and other women alike.
At my words, the family members protested.
“How dare she say that with that filthy mouth!”
“He was far too good a servant for someone like you!”
“We killed him? Where’s your proof?!”
“Internal betrayal? How disgusting, you mongrel bitch.”
Their frantic, over-the-top reactions were exactly what I wanted.
That was how you made it look like the thief protesting too much. Idiots.
“Then tell me. What were all of you doing while I was asleep?”
When I pressed them with logic, the family members fell silent again.
I added one more blow.
“Think rationally! Why would I kill my own servant? Thanks to this, I’m now in a position where I could be assassinated at any moment and no one would find it strange. Sob. If you were going to kill someone, why not just kill me? Why did Alonso have to pay the price? Why?!”
I cried out desperately, like a tragic heroine pleading with a stubborn king.
Tears welled in my eyes. Winz rushed over to comfort me.
Hollan let out a long sigh.
“…Sister has no evidence. As you said, the culprit might be among the others.”
Mirinda reacted immediately.
“Wait, nephew. You’re actually believing that bitch?”
“Oh dear, it’s not me. If it were me, I would have kidnapped her instead…”
“Think of the family’s honor, Hollan! You’re going to believe that kind of woman?!”
“Let’s just cover this up…”
Confused and disgusting reactions poured out.
Yes. People desperate to protect their own positions would react exactly like this. It suited them.
“I’m going to rest.”
“Yes, my lady.”
I naturally slipped away. I had no evidence against me, and there was nothing to pin the crime on me.
They all knew it too. I was a complete failure who couldn’t even kill a mad dog, let alone a person.
That very perception kept me safe.
Walking back with Winz, I smiled inwardly. This was only the beginning.
‘Alright. I’ve created a rift in the family. What’s next?’
Back at the house, I was trying to think when someone came looking for me shortly afterward.
Standing arrogantly in front of the door were Mirinda and a boy with a smug grin.