Chap 51-The Girl’s Past 4

 

Darkness.

In the endless expanse of ashen darkness, she was a bound puppet.

Her body moved on its own, completely against her will.

Her hands and feet traced eerie, unnatural paths, as if obeying someone else’s commands.

Familiar faces appeared before her.

The maids who had cared for her all her life, the retainers who had devoted their loyalty to the family’s glory.

Their faces were a mixture of fear, betrayal, and despair.

Her hand drew a sword on its own.

And without hesitation, she pierced the heart of the loyal knight who was looking at her with worried eyes.

A choked sound escaped, and hot blood splattered.

Next was a young maid who was trying to run away in terror.

She mercilessly slashed the maid’s back.

A scream tore at her ears.

‘No… no…!’

She cried out in her heart, but her body did not stop.

Like the lead actress in a cruel play, she cut down one precious person after another with her own hands.

The stench of blood and the acrid odor of Contamination, like burning flesh, assaulted her nose.

And finally, only one person remained before her.

Marie.

The head maid who had practically taken on the role of her mother after her mother passed away.

She was always nagging, but she was the one who cared for and worried about her more than anyone else.

A presence like family. Marie stood in Serena’s path, tears streaming down her face, but without running away.

“Lady, please… please come to your senses…”

Despite the pitiful voice, the sword in Serena’s hand moved without hesitation.

In that fleeting moment when the tip of the sword flew towards Marie’s chest, Serena’s time flowed as slowly as eternity.

The moment she met Marie’s sad eyes, a despair that felt like the world was collapsing washed over her.

‘…Marie!!!’

At that very moment, Serena Bennet jolted upright!

“Hah! Hah! Ha…”

Her heart was racing madly, and her whole body was drenched in cold sweat.

She gasped for breath and looked around. A familiar but unfamiliar room.

It wasn’t the Duke Bennett’s room where she should be. Where was she?

And…

“Lady? Are you alright?”

Along with a worried voice, a maid with an unfamiliar face approached to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

It wasn’t Marie. The moment she recognized that fact, the terrible sensation from the nightmare washed over Serena again.

“Marie…!”

Serena cried out, grabbing the maid’s arm without realizing it.

Her voice was cracked and trembling.

“Where’s Marie! Bring Marie here right now!”

She desperately hoped that Marie’s sad eyes, the sight of her collapsing under her sword, had been a nightmare.

Praying that it wasn’t reality, Serena pressed the maid.

But the maid couldn’t answer Serena’s urgent question.

She simply shook her head slowly with a look full of pity and sorrow.

“…….”

…

…

The Bennett Dukedom’s mansion, which once boasted its grandeur, now remained only as a scarred ruin.

The remains of the burnt walls, the collapsed pillars, and the fragments scattered everywhere silently testified to the terrible tragedy that had taken place here not long ago.

And in front of the ruined mansion, inspectors wearing uniforms indicating their affiliation with the Council stood with stern expressions.

Their mission was singular.

To safely escort the culprit of this terrible incident that had rocked all of Terra, the criminal who had to stand trial.

Behind the inspectors, a specially made prison carriage was waiting, and other security forces were guarding the perimeter tightly.

And inside the prison, beyond the cold iron bars, a black-haired girl sat quietly, bound by thick magic shackles.

Her face revealed no emotion, but her empty eyes were indifferently gazing at the ruins of the burnt mansion.

“Tsk tsk, she vehemently denied the charges last time, but this time she readily admitted it.”

One inspector glanced at the prison carriage and whispered to his colleague next to him.

“That’s what I’m saying. Did she judge that she couldn’t get out of it because the evidence is so clear?”

“Surely she won’t be released without any punishment again like last time, right? This incident is so big that even the Council will have a hard time just letting it go.”

“Well… there are already widespread rumors that Duke Bennett has moved. To defend that woman.”

“Huh, are they out of their minds? Defending the criminal who turned their family upside down? And someone who even summoned Contamination?”

The girl, even while hearing all those voices, was still only looking at the ruined mansion without any reaction.

As if she were an island cut off from everything in the world, she was simply immersed alone in deep silence.

It was then.

Suddenly, a commotion was heard from the entrance of the mansion.

Shouts and urgent voices trying to restrain something were mixed together, gradually getting closer to this side.

“You can’t do this, Lady! You can’t approach now…”

“Get out of my way!”

The inspectors looked towards the source of the sound with puzzled expressions.

There, amidst several inspectors who were blocking her with all their might, was Serena Bennet, her ashen hair flying, trying to get to the prison carriage by any means possible.

Her face was pale, and her eyes were blazing with anger and sorrow, as if she had lost her reason.

“Lady, please calm down! Now is not the time…”

“She’s my sister! I said I’m going to see her! Get out of my way!!! I said get out of my way!”

Serena shouted recklessly and tried to shake off the inspectors.

In the end, the inspectors had no choice but to clear the way due to Serena’s stubborn and desperate attitude.

They couldn’t forcibly stop the Duke’s daughter, who was also another victim of this incident.

As soon as the path was opened, Serena staggered towards the prison carriage. And grabbing the cold iron bars with both hands, she shook them violently, directing a face full of anger at the girl trapped inside, Yeon.

“You… you…!”

Serena couldn’t even continue her words, as if she couldn’t control the surging emotions.

Her voice was trembling severely with tremendous anger, betrayal, and sorrow.

“How could you… how could you do this to us!”

Hot tears streamed down her face incessantly.

“Because of you… because of you…!”

As if she couldn’t bear it any longer, Serena collapsed onto the ground in front of the carriage with her strengthless body.

In a state as miserable as the ruins of the collapsed mansion, she looked up at Yeon beyond the iron bars with resentment.

“Because of you, Marie… Marie…!!! Waaah…”

In the end, Serena burst into tears like a child, resenting Yeon.

Her desperate cries echoed sadly in front of the ruined mansion.

She sat down on the ground, resenting Yeon beyond the iron bars and shedding tears.

The surrounding inspectors, and even the other retainers, were silent, unable to speak at the sight of her grief.

While everyone was immersed in Serena’s sorrow, Yeon, the object of that resentment, was still looking down at her with empty eyes and no expression.

And after a while, the girl turned her head and opened her mouth towards the inspectors standing outside the carriage.

Her voice contained blatant annoyance.

“Aren’t we leaving?”

“…!”

The inspectors were momentarily taken aback by the girl’s unexpected words.

“How long are we going to stay here like this? Just leave quickly.”

The girl urged the inspectors as if nothing had happened, as if they were the ones being slow.

The inspectors clicked their tongues inwardly at her unbelievably brazen attitude.

Even though they weren’t blood-related…

Her sister was wailing like that, but she didn’t even bat an eye and instead urged them to leave.

It was questionable whether she was even a being with a human heart.

But they had to carry out their mission, so they reluctantly began to move.

Clatter-

The prison carriage began to move.

Leaving behind the sound of Serena’s crying as she sat on the ground, the carriage slowly left the ruined mansion.

As soon as the carriage completely left the mansion grounds, a strange sound began to leak from the girl inside the prison.

“Heuh… haah…”

A lewd moan that sounded as if she was enduring pain, yet also sounded somewhat pleasurable.

A strange heat flickered in her eyes, which had been empty until just now, and her face was slightly flushed.

But at the same time, deep in her eyes, there was a colder and more alien light than ever before, a light that had cooled down frigidly.

…

After that, the girl’s life was never smooth.

The false misdeeds that Isaac Bennett and she herself had fabricated and created were spread far and wide throughout Terra through the media, as if they had been waiting for it.

‘A villainess who summoned Contamination’

‘A traitor who destroyed the family’

‘A magical beast in human skin’

All sorts of sensational and terrible labels were attached to her name.

Without knowing the truth, the people of the world only looked at the illusion created by the media and pointed fingers at her, showering her with curses.

The trial somehow ended in acquittal.

Thanks to Isaac Bennett’s influence and cleverly manipulated evidence.

But that was only a legal exoneration.

When she returned to the family after that, what awaited her was cold indifference and secret harassment.

Secretly putting foreign substances in her meals, messing up her room, or deliberately bumping into her shoulder when passing through the hallway.

The servants and retainers showed their hostility towards her in subtle ways.

But no one, not even Isaac Bennett, protected the girl within the family.

She was completely alone.

Serena, who was once the girl’s only family, had completely changed after that incident.

She blamed Yeon for all the resentment over Marie’s death and the family’s downfall.

Every time she encountered Yeon, she glared at her with a look full of deep hatred, and sometimes even spewed out abusive language close to curses.

The time and promises they had shared in the past had already disappeared like ashes.

When she happened to meet those who had served on the front lines, she was even openly threatened with murder.

To them, Yeon was no different from a magical beast who had driven their comrades to their deaths, and there were even those who couldn’t contain their anger and drew their swords.

Every time, Yeon had to run away, barely managing to save her life.

The world had abandoned her, her family hated her, and the threat of death followed her everywhere.

It was a hopeless situation with no hope in sight.

Even so…

Even so…

She never once…

Stopped saving people.

Author’s note:

I’m sorry. I didn’t originally intend to drag out the past story this long…

The next chapter is the end…

I’ll come back tomorrow and try to finish it!