Chapter 10: Suspicion

Countess’s room, not long after Chloe left.

There, Maia’s personal maid, holding the contract Chloe had written, asked Maia,

“Madam, what shall I do with this scrap of paper?”

Maia, grinning, didn’t even look at the maid and said firmly,

“Throw it away.”

“Understood.”

The scrap of paper labeled as a contract in the maid’s hand was thrown into the trash can. The torn paper couldn’t even maintain its original shape and simply became trash.

“That expression of thinking she had fooled me was so annoying… I was so irritated that I wrote it without even realizing it.”

“If the Count finds out, it will be a disaster…”

“That’s not something for you to worry about.”

Yes, as long as I don’t get caught.

Honestly, I wasn’t even planning on cleaning up…

The sound of her scheming in front of me was so loud… The way she thought she was above me was so infuriating that I wrote it without even realizing it.

It was the same back then. If Husband hadn’t found out, I could have easily handled that kind of accident. I’m doing everything for Husband, so why doesn’t he understand?

Do I even have to care about commoners who can’t even use Magic? My Husband is too kind, that’s the problem.

The Black magic I improved. This Magic that curses the target and slowly kills them doesn’t end when the cursed person dies, but spreads around.

Like a disease.

This Magic that spreads and spreads, with no way to stop it.

It never stops until I cancel it.

That’s why I was so surprised when the test subject I was experimenting on in the underground prison escaped and hid in a nearby village…

That test subject, unaware that they were cursed, escaped to a nearby village and died there, spreading the curse to the village.

The curse spread in an instant, killing all the villagers in the blink of an eye. It was so hard to clean up.

Just one village, just commoners who can’t even use Magic.

Because of that, I lost Husband’s love.

I’m only using this Magic for harassment now…

There’s no better Magic for getting rid of people I don’t like. Especially when harassing commoners, this Magic is the most suitable.

How funny is it that they die without even knowing what happened to them?

“The effects will start tonight.”

“…Are you really going to kill her?”

“Well… if that annoying b*tch bows her head to the ground in front of me and begs, I might spare her.”

If that haughty bastard daughter bows her head and begs me for forgiveness… I might consider it a little.

---

“Chloe?!”

“Agh…!”

Chloe, unable to bear the pain, clutched her chest and groaned.

Yudith, seeing her crying and vomiting blood, hesitated and stepped back.

Chloe’s face, which always had a smile, was now filled with only pain, and Yudith was so shocked by Chloe’s painful expression that she couldn’t move.

Black Magical power rippled around Chloe’s body.

I didn’t expect it to move this quickly.

No, it was my complacency that made me believe that telling her not to touch me meant not touching anything around me.

Maia ultimately chose to touch Chloe instead of touching me.

Maia’s Black magic began to tear Chloe’s body apart.

Maia’s Black magic, once cast, can only be resolved by using divine power or by the user canceling it…

“Chloe…”

Yudith barely managed to call her name.

Chloe, groaning in pain, didn’t answer.

“Chloe…”

She murmured again at the sight of her suffering. As if telling Chloe, who was writhing in pain, not to hurt anymore.

She called Chloe’s name once more.

Yudith, regaining her senses, finally laid Chloe on the bed and sat down beside her.

Chloe’s face was painted with blood and tears.

Her fingernails, clutching her chest, were bleeding as if they would fall off, showing how much pain she was in.

Her black maid uniform was stained red in patches.

Yudith tried to grab Chloe’s wrist to prevent her from scratching any further, but her small hands couldn’t stop Chloe’s strength.

She could only helplessly watch her painful appearance.

There was nothing I could do for her.

Even more black Magical power began to surge from Chloe’s body, and the black Magical power began to rage even more, as if it didn’t like me touching her.

It was still a small curse, not even a day old.

But… even that small curse seemed too much for Chloe to bear, as she could only repeat tears and groans.

“Yudi…th…?”

Was she losing her mind? For the first time, Chloe called Yudith by her name. Her name, which she always called Milady, came out of her mouth for the first time.

Yudith simply nodded and looked at Chloe at Chloe’s voice calling her with a groan and a cracked voice, pleading for pain.

Perhaps the pain had subsided slightly, Chloe let out a small breath and her powerless lips moved slightly.

“Don’t…worry…I’ll get better…soon…”

Chloe was worried about me even in this situation.

She always worried about me before herself.

---

She wasn’t like this. She was never like this.

That’s why I was suspicious when I first saw her.

“Hello. Milady Yudith.”

I was suspicious. Even if she smiled and greeted me so kindly, I thought her true nature wouldn’t change.

“…Milady. Could you come out for a moment?”

When I couldn’t bear the hunger and ate berries in the bushes,

That’s when I first made eye contact with Chloe.

I could tell that Chloe’s eyes were worried about me.

Even so, I was suspicious of her.

“My name is Chloe Byella. Just call me Chloe.”

I heard her name for the first time this time.

I repeated Chloe’s name, who introduced herself, over and over again.

Because it was the first time someone had introduced themselves to me in a soft voice.

“Go and bring the bug child.”

I thought when Yudel came.

I knew that in this situation, Chloe’s true nature would sell me out, so I didn’t expect anything from Chloe.

I knew from experience that in times like these, it was best to just get beaten and not cry, and it would be over quickly.

“This is all I can do…”

But Chloe didn’t sell me out, she protected me and hugged me.

I remember Chloe’s appearance, embracing me even in the pain of her flesh being torn as she took the whip for me.

It felt like I was being hugged in someone’s sincere embrace for the first time, so tears flowed.

Even so, I didn’t know how to treat Chloe, who was different from before.

I knew her warm touch, but I also knew her painful touch, so I was always lost and wandering.

I couldn’t open my heart completely.

That’s why I wanted to trust Chloe for the first time this time, so I told her that I was going to escape from the Count’s family.

And… I wanted to rely on Chloe’s warm heart, so I selfishly asked her to leave with me.

I was scared.

The suspicion that Chloe would refuse and betray me right away didn’t disappear.

But when I heard Chloe’s sincere voice.

“…Okay. I’ll leave with Milady too.”

The suspicion disappeared, and for the first time, I thought it would be okay to trust Chloe.

I was happy because it felt like the first person who would stay by my side had appeared.

I decided to trust Chloe, who was different from my previous life, this time.

But, before I could repay her with trust, Chloe, who had come to me and opened her heart to me.

Was now disappearing in front of me.

---

Chloe, who had been writhing in pain, was breathing shallowly, panting as if she had run out of energy.

‘Don’t die, please don’t die. I haven’t repaid you for a single favor yet.’

Yudith was still lost in thought. She could move right now, but she wasn’t prepared at all.

Her plan was to wait until winter to build a foundation, but she hadn’t prepared anything yet.

But she couldn’t keep waiting. Maia’s curse would kill her in three days. Chloe was dying even now.

-Tap tap tap

She heard something tapping at the window.

Turning her head to look at the window, she saw a small bird tapping on the window.

‘It’s Maia’s familiar…’

That woman with the damn bad taste.

How much is she laughing while watching this situation? Her teeth were grinding, but now wasn’t the time. She probably doesn’t know that I can use Magical power and doesn’t know about the existence of the familiar.

“The maid looks like she’s in a lot of pain.”

Maia’s voice flowed from the small bird’s beak. Ignoring it as much as possible, she turned her head and looked at Chloe.

She kept putting her hand on her chest, so she added a wet towel.

“Come to me, and I’ll tell you how to heal that child.”

A hollow laugh came out. With Maia’s personality, she would never release Chloe’s curse. I knew that even if I went to Maia right now, I wouldn’t see anything good.

But… there was a glimmer of possibility. If I somehow bowed my head and begged, wouldn’t Maia save Chloe?

To save Chloe, I felt like I could easily bow this head to Maia.

“…I’ll go now.”

She heard Maia trying to hold back her laughter at my answer. From the sound of her smiling bitterly, it wasn’t difficult to predict what would happen after this.

I couldn’t do anything for Chloe right now.

If I wanted to repay her even a little, I felt like I had to act like this.

“…I’ll be back. Chloe.”

She wiped Chloe’s cheek, which was covered in cold sweat, and quietly slipped out.

A cool breeze was blowing outside. Soon autumn would come, and when winter came, Marquis Karian’s wife would die.

The Marquis, driven mad by his wife’s death, would go to the Count’s family, take me, who had manifested Magical power, and conduct human experiments to extract Magical power.

‘I was going to run away before that if I could…’

As the sun was setting, the main building was being engulfed in darkness in the distance.

I couldn’t manage my expression at the unpleasant feeling of going into Maia’s mouth.