Episode 32 – Nice to Meet You.

*

What do people think about the undead’s body?

There must be people who envy the immortal body that doesn’t need to eat or sleep.

Moreover, there might be some weirdos who want to become an undead like me (probably the only one in the world) who doesn’t lose their self-awareness.

But even if I don’t need to eat, the fact that I can’t sleep at night is definitely close to a curse.

Thanks to that, my mind can’t get any rest.

My mind is being eaten away before my body.

Every day, each day ends with the relentlessly quiet night.

Even Lara and Lily, who stay up as late as possible to keep me company while I resist the pouring sleep, can’t hold on and fall asleep, I’m left all alone in this hideous and vast silence.

I thought that meditating with my eyes closed in the quiet night might help me rest,

But when I close my eyes, only the things I want to avoid the most come to mind.

Betrayal and death.

Them spending happy times without me.

A family enjoying a warm meal in a large mansion.

My grave, with nothing buried beneath it.

Robin.

And Mella.

The two of them sharing love.

Fucking hell.

Whenever I couldn’t stand it anymore, I would snap my fingers, stab my eyeballs, or stab my stomach with a knife, even though I couldn’t feel any pain, to scatter those thoughts.

There’s no pain, but the dry, rustling tactile sensation of rummaging through my body was very unfamiliar and creepy, so it was somewhat effective.

The problem is that even that sensation is gradually becoming familiar.

Ironically, my soul, which needs rest, feels a little better when I do something.

If I have something to focus on, I can shake off those painful thoughts.

Besides, if I have something to do at night, I don’t have to pretend to be okay in front of Lara and Lily.

I put down the mask of Salvie Baron and put on a mask that completely covered my face.

It was the outfit I wore a few weeks ago when I got on Hobeba’s carriage and sneaked into Rose’s room at Aureo Academy.

The moment I put on this outfit, I could shed the role of Salvie Baron and get a little closer to Edward.

To be exact, I could become an assassin and a thief.

I opened the window of the top floor room of the White Glass Tower and looked down.

It’s so late that I can’t see any staff.

,Haha, this is fun.

From today, I’ll have busy nights for a while.

I didn’t hesitate and threw myself out the window.

Peok-

As I collided with the ground pulling me down, my whole body shattered.

My vision split in two and rolled on the ground.

It looks like my face is split in half vertically.

Hahaha,

[Hey… Ed? Can’t you come down in a more normal way? I don’t like that ominous chain, but if you use it, you can come out more gently…? Instead of this self-destructive method.]

‘This is my own way of refreshing, so it’s okay.’

[This thief is more twisted than me, so just leave him alone.]

Golden mist wrapped around my body fragments, and in that mist, the limbs that sprouted from the largest fragment staggered and stood up.

Some fragments and flesh came back to my body and stuck, and small fragments remained on the floor and regenerated from my body on their own.

It was more fun than I thought to have my whole body broken.

Is it because it satisfies my destructive urges?

I feel like the stress I got from seeing Robin today is relieved a little.

,Hehe, I should do it again next time.

[Ed…]

After controlling the remaining mist with a gesture and erasing the blood stains and flesh fragments, I hid in the darkness and left the hotel.

*

Mena woke up to the sound coming from the living room.

No, she couldn’t sleep deeply in the first place.

She put on her clothes to check the source of the sound and came out to the living room, but there was no one in the living room.

The sound of the crackling fireplace and the wind blowing through the wide-open window echoed in the living room.

Salvie Baron, no, it looks like Edward went out.

She closed the window without saying a word.

As the sound of the wind blowing into the room subsided, Mena walked to the fireplace and picked up the poker.

It was dangerous to have a fireplace burning without anyone watching, so she had to put out the fire.

She was about to cover the ashes with the poker when she suddenly stopped moving and stared blankly at the burning fire.

Looking at the flames swaying back and forth, it felt like her dizzy head was clearing up.

Mena leaned the poker against the fireplace and sat on the sofa next to it to warm herself by the fire.

,I thought I’d be the best at being treated badly by that damn count.

Mena recited to herself indifferently.

A voice full of pity echoed quietly in a low tone.

Really, it was a day when emotions were very busy.

She was desperately praying that her missing daughter would be safe, but her old master appeared after 15 years, and her current master is Edward, a member of the famous hero party.

And even the fact that the hero betrayed and killed the thief.

Dangerous stories that seem like you’d be in danger even if you had ten lives just knowing them.

When I thought about it again, cold sweat was pouring down.

But anyway, now that I know this story, I can’t go back.

Mena took out a crumpled paper bag from her arms.

It was the last letter from Banata.

Mena opened the envelope again and took out the letter inside.

The letter, which she had already read dozens of times and knew the contents by heart, was so worn out at the folds that it was almost torn.

The contents of the letter were full of stories about Salvie Baron.

I received help from Salvie Baron.

I caused trouble for Salvie Baron.

Things got bigger because of me.

The academy became chaotic.

I want to follow Salvie Baron, who is not yet familiar with this country, and help him.

That was all the contents of the letter summarized.

Salvie Baron,

Mena turned her head and looked at the closed window.

She felt so sorry for the unfortunate story of the man named Edward and the absurd scale of the fate he faced.

But Mena wasn’t a kind woman who would open her heart simply because she felt sorry for the other person.

She had lived through harsh times to have such a soft heart.

Ed must have gone out in the middle of the night to get a clue about Banata.

He felt sorry for what I and Banata went through, but.

The motive for him to move so quickly wouldn’t be just because he felt sorry for Mena.

Now Ed and Mena needed each other.

Mena had to find even a small trace of her missing daughter,

Ed needed someone who could be his right-hand man besides Lara or Lily, who had to hide their identities.

In fact, Mena was bound to Ed under the pretext of Banata’s whereabouts.

Mena trembled at the thought that she might have made a deal with the devil.

Ed’s purpose was clear.

To take thorough revenge on Robin and his family.

Perhaps countless blood will flow, and terrible chaos will engulf the city.

But Mena accepted his offer without hesitation.

She was concerned about Mella and some other people who had been kind to her, but she also desperately wanted Robin’s downfall.

It’s been 17 years, but the terrible memories of that day still haunt her as nightmares.

Robin’s dirty hands that raped her were still as vivid and creepy as if they were engraved on her skin.

She tried to reveal the humiliation she suffered and accuse Robin in many ways, but the difference in status between the hero who saved the world and Mena, a mere beastman maid, forced her to shut her mouth.

Besides, there were so many crazy women in the world who wanted to be held by Robin,

Friends and colleagues dissuaded me, saying that it would be useless to accuse him.

Mena, unable to bear it, eventually told Jennifer, her closest master, the truth, but all she got in return was cold indifference and harsh bullying.

After being forced to take a vacation and giving birth, Banata was forcibly separated from her by Jennifer and left in an orphanage.

Honestly, I thought it was better that way.

If Mena had lived with Banata, Mena might have killed that dirty hero’s seed with her own hands.

Mena, who returned after giving birth, was very dark and fierce.

Robin, perhaps feeling guilty, assigned her to Lara.

Lara, who always smiled and spoke kindly to Mena, who always had a blank expression and was silent.

It took time, but Mena also gradually opened her heart and followed Lara, calling her Madam.

But less than two years later, Lara suddenly disappeared from the mansion.

After Lara disappeared from the mansion without saying a word, Mena was left alone in the mansion with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

When the news spread that Robin was sending monthly support to Banata’s orphanage, even the fellow maids distanced themselves from Mena, saying that she was receiving special treatment.

For three years, Mena was just a person standing in the mansion.

No one talked to her, no one cared about her,

A person who just existed in a warehouse room in the corner of the mansion that no one used.

That was until Mella found Mena.

Mella, who felt sorry for Mena being alienated from the mansion, took her as her maid without asking any questions.

But perhaps because of the precedent of Lara suddenly disappearing, Mena never opened her heart to Mella.

She just did what she was told and didn’t have any personal conversations, but Mella didn’t show any discomfort and treated Mena as a maid without complaining.

Mella’s consideration was appreciated, but regardless, Mena was gradually collapsing.

The nightmares she had every day only got worse over time, and she couldn’t sleep unless she stole alcohol from the kitchen.

Should I just cut my wrists and write down Robin’s sins on the mansion wall with the blood that flows out and die?

She worried about it several times, and several more years passed.

It was probably around the time Banata turned 10.

Around that time, Mena started exchanging letters with Banata.

The letter that I shamelessly sent to my daughter, whom I had sent away without even breastfeeding her once and had been trying to erase from my mind, surprisingly received a reply quickly.

Banata was a kind child who comforted me instead.

She was like the fruit of the nightmare that had tormented me for over 10 years, but ironically, Banata was the only one who listened to my story.

,Banata…

Mena finished thinking and raised her head.

She got up from the sofa, picked up the poker, and skillfully covered the ashes, leaving only a few embers to put out the fire.

Edward, who started the conversation a few hours ago with a greeting saying it was nice to meet you.

After sharing each other’s stories, Mena also replied to him.

“Nice to meet you too, Baron-nim.”

It didn’t matter whether Edward was an undead, a demon, or a resurrected Demon King.

It was okay even if he told me to become a maid or offer my body.

If I could get Banata back and make Robin pay for his sins, I would do anything.

Mena made a deep vow, shining her eyes more fiercely than the fire in the fireplace.

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