Ch.2626. Mental Pain Hurts More Than Physical Pain

“…Lord Selden, are we the only ones who fell?”

I reflexively turned my head.

There was Seri Familia, who must have fallen with me, looking at me with a worried expression.

“Y-yes, it seems so. Are you alright, Lady Seri Familia?”

“Yes, fortunately I’m not hurt. But where are we…?”

“I’m not exactly sure either, but it seems we fell down because of the earthquake.”

“An e-earthquake, not a monster attack? So you don’t know how far down we’ve fallen?”

Seri Familia looked around the dark surroundings, her fingers trembling as if frightened.

If someone else were to witness this scene, they would have offered her words of comfort despite the difficult situation.

But.

Well…

Is it because I know Seri Familia too well?

How could someone born with psychopathic tendencies possibly feel an emotion like ‘fear’?

Looking up at the ceiling, I could see it had already collapsed when we fell, not even allowing light to seep through.

Prioritizing assessment of the situation, I brushed the dust off my clothes and stood up.

“It seems only we have fallen, so they’ll likely find a way to rescue us soon from above.”

“That’s a relief, but… it’s so dark around here. I’m scared—could you hold my hand?”

Unable to comprehend her motives, I raised my palm toward the ceiling and raised my voice.

“Fireball!”

A red ball of flame attached itself to the ceiling, and suddenly the surroundings were filled with light.

Seeing this, Seri Familia opened her eyes wide like a rabbit and let out an exclamation.

“Wow… so this is magic.”

“Being from a knight family, I suppose you haven’t seen magic before, Familia?”

“That’s right. But wouldn’t the same be true for the Alphonse family? How can you use magic?”

“I was fortunate enough to have magical power in my body. Besides, the Fireball I just cast is a low-level spell, nothing to be amazed about.”

“It’s still fascinating.”

“Now that it’s bright around us, you’re not scared anymore, right?”

Seri Familia, apparently intrigued by the magic, slowly looked around and nodded.

Then, at some point, her gaze stopped on me.

“Lord Selden, I think your arm is bleeding?”

“B-blood?”

At Seri Familia’s words, I immediately lifted my arm to check.

There was a rather large gash on my forearm, probably scratched when I fell.

No wonder I felt something warm on the outside of my arm…

I thought it was because of the Fireball, but was it due to bleeding?

Riiip!

Before I could stop her, Seri Familia tore her sleeve.

Then she grabbed my bleeding arm and tried to stop the bleeding.

For a moment, I felt grateful for her kindness, but then my entire body froze involuntarily.

“…Lord Selden, the bleeding has stopped a bit now, right?”

She was clearly smiling.

Looking at my arm with blood flowing freely, she was giving off a chilling smile.

“I-I’m fine. So please, my arm…”

“Just a moment, wait!”

Seri Familia stared at the wound with bloodshot eyes.

When I tried to pull away forcefully, her nails dug deep into my flesh as if she didn’t want to let go.

“Aagh!”

“Oh my… I’m sorry.”

“W-what are you doing?”

“I was trying to look closely at the wound, but I got too focused. If it’s not too rude, could I look once more?”

There was quite a sense of dissonance when seeing characters from novels in real life.

Even Rio Sergan, who had silently swung his sword beside the protagonist, turned out to be more careless than expected, and Luna Brillhart seemed much less violent, perhaps because I had prevented her parents’ suicide.

But.

Seri Familia was absolutely ‘real.’

She was so vivid, as if the character I had read about in the novel had just popped out, overflowing with life.

The line she had said to the protagonist, Serion Lykus, echoed in my mind again.

“What am I supposed to do when my heart races at the sight of corpses and blood?”

Why did I keep getting entangled with the crazy woman from the novel when I wasn’t even possessing the protagonist’s body, but was merely the scoundrel Selden Alphonse…

I hastily wrapped my coat around my arm, which Seri Familia was staring at while drooling.

“I’m really fine. Thanks to you, I’ve received first aid, so now we should focus on getting out of—”

“Are you ignoring what I just said? I said I wanted to look at the wound one more time!”

“No, wait. Why are you acting like this?”

“I.said.I.want.to.look.just.once.more.”

Her eyes were already filled with madness.

Her black pupils, now twice their normal size, showed not a hint of wavering and emitted an eerie aura as if they would be swallowed by darkness at any moment.

I can’t really explain it properly.

She was truly a madwoman.

Gulp!

Unlike when Luna activated her Blood Massacre, my body stiffened strangely despite not being in a life-threatening situation.

You know that feeling, right?

Like when you get into an altercation with someone who has nothing to lose on the street.

“L-Lady Seri Familia, please calm down and listen to me.”

“Stay.still.I.said!”

Step!

Step! Step!

For every step I took backward, Seri Familia took two steps forward.

Just as I thought I was about to suffer helplessly…

“Young Master Selden Alphonse!! Can you hear me?”

Like rain during a drought, Federicks’ urgent voice came from the ceiling.

I immediately pushed past Seri Familia, who was blocking my way, and raised both arms toward the source of the sound, crying out:

“H-hallelujah!!!”

*

“Father and brother have already returned to the family estate?”

“Yes, considering your poor health, they left early this morning to spare you from having to see them off.”

“Excellent!!”

As soon as I got out of bed, I heard refreshing news for the first time in a long while.

With light steps, I headed to the study where Federicks narrowed his eyes and spoke.

“Though you’ve changed a lot, Young Master, it seems your filial piety remains intact.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You haven’t left your bedroom until now, but you jumped right up when you heard Baron Byron had departed.”

“I was sick.”

“Judging by your stride to the study, it doesn’t seem like you were sick at all?”

“It wasn’t my body, but my heart.”

“Your heart?”

At Federicks’ question, the harrowing memory from a week ago invaded my mind again, causing what felt like a headache.

“Mental pain is always worse than physical pain.”

“But I rescued you quickly, didn’t I?”

“I’m truly grateful that you rescued me that day, but just know that a lot happened in that short time.”

“It looks like you had a lovely time with Lady Seri Familia, though?”

This bastard…

LOVELY TIME?!?!

If Federicks knew what had actually happened when I was alone with Seri Familia a week ago, would he still talk like that?

No, he probably wouldn’t believe it.

Seri Familia, whose eyes had rolled back at the sight of blood, suddenly collapsed and pretended to be unconscious when she heard Federicks’ rescue call.

I could only stare blankly at the absurd situation.

About an hour after the rescue?

When she slowly opened her eyes and spoke to her father, Baron René, it was even more ridiculous.

She claimed she lost her memory when everything went dark as she fell.

Of course, I, who was quietly listening beside her, mentally shouted “Bravo!” several times at her Oscar-worthy acting skills.

Why didn’t I refute her, when I’m usually the type to jump up even from sleep if I feel wronged?

I simply didn’t want to get involved at all.

It was obvious that speaking up would only create unnecessary trouble.

After meeting Seri Familia, I realized something clearly.

To live a sweet life in this world, it’s not just about enjoying wealth.

I need to become stronger and stronger.

Whether it’s a knight’s aura or magic, I’ll learn everything I can and gather information faster than anyone else.

“Federicks.”

“Yes, Young Master?”

“What is Riden Solis doing?”

“He’s been quietly hiding in the mansion, avoiding Baron Byron’s eyes.”

“Call him here.”

“Understood.”

I’ll build up my skills relentlessly to take actions that only the strong can take.

Namely, ‘refusal.’

This place is strictly structured by social class.

Only by rising high can I flatly refuse plans like the joint monster hunt that Baron Byron proposed last time.

If I had been able to do that, I wouldn’t have encountered Seri Familia in the first place.

As I gritted my teeth and reconsidered my future plans, Riden Solis, who seemed to have just woken up, bowed with a disheveled face.

“Young Master, I heard there was an unfortunate accident during the monster hunt. Are you alright?”

“I’m going to Hongwalu. Stay put.”

“…Pardon?”

Why waste time with explanations?

As soon as I confirmed that Riden Solis had entered the study, I got up and put on my coat.

“I’m going to catch the Poison Woman.”