episode_0024

[I did it. I am the Duchess of Arkaden. If there is a price to pay for turning your life around, it is this body.]

The introduction of the diary was full of self-display. The crumpled handwriting was filled with joy. It was as if he was so filled with joy that he couldn’t control his hand trembling.

[Everyone looks up to me. Those who thought I was their equal just a day or two ago can’t even raise their heads in front of me. That guy has been seeing this view for a long time. How wonderful…]

It vividly conveys how joyful it was to go from being a mere servant to a duchess.

Asher felt uneasy for some reason.

[Should I completely redecorate the room? Let’s get rid of all traces of the past. I’ll tie gold thread to the curtains, and put a chandelier carved with crystal on the ceiling. The desk should be made of the best ebony from the Demon Realm. The mirror on the dressing table should be framed with emeralds.]

I turn my gaze and observe the room. Sure enough, the diary’s descriptions are written everywhere.

In the past, Ashe had been very luxuriant as she had been greatly favored by the Emperor. However, the Duchess’s room made Ashe look like a small dwarf.

[Ha, right. Should I start with that girl who always picks a fight? She doesn’t even realize that our perspectives have changed and just keeps staring at me with her eyes wide open. It wouldn’t be bad to roughly frame her, beat her up, and kick her out. I have enough hands and feet now.]

It was a peculiar phrase. A woman who should never have been given power had become a duchess.

[My husband is not interested in the duchess’s residence and is just stuck in the workshop… This large mansion is my world. Ah, there were so many things I wanted to do when I became a duchess, but I forgot about them once I actually became one. Well, I have plenty of time, so let’s think about it slowly. Rather than that, I should focus on getting rid of the things that annoy me…]

If it’s my husband, I would say Hereis Arkaden.

Asher recalled the Herreis he had met in the world of painting. He didn’t seem to be indifferent to the Duke’s household, let alone being stuck in the workshop.

I wonder if it was due to some kind of trigger.

Later, she grumbled in pages of her diary from a long time ago.

[Damn it, even if I become a duchess, he won’t do as I wish. How dare you threaten me as a servant? Even when I tell my husband, he won’t budge. Did he find a weakness or something? It’s obvious that he hates me too… How on earth do I deal with this…?]

It was about half a year later when the Duchess found the answer.

[… Aha. I found it, the bastard’s weakness! I’ve been pretending not to care about ‘it’ all this time.]

Next, a period was put on the diary with a handwriting that said, “Sal-sa-li-dae.”

[I’ll destroy everything. You and everything precious to you. I’ll smash everything into pieces and make this mansion completely mine.]

Asher closed the last page of his diary.

She kept her diary in a leather pouch and stared blankly at the ceiling with its crystal chandelier.

“Something like that… Duchess…?”

I can’t believe it.

People’s perceptions are not reliable, but this time the gap was too big.

I have never seen anyone spend all day thinking about burying a person like that, except for my eldest brother.

It was an evil that could only come about if one’s nature was not cruel.

“Ugh… I get chills thinking about sleeping in a place like this. I should have just given up the room. It’s perfect for my sister.”

I want to run to Bernacien’s portrait right now and confront him. It wouldn’t be enough to tell him not to use his face like that.

Ashe left Arsent behind and walked out of the Duchess’s room. Then, a butler standing upright nearby greeted her.

“Did you cough, Asher?”

“Yeah.”

“You look so clear headed today.”

“I woke up with a start. Thanks to who.”

She grumbled. The butler gave her a general answer to her complaint.

“It seems like Arsent has been tossing and turning a lot.”

“No, that’s not it… Wait a minute.”

“Huh?”

Asher placed his hands on his waist and leaned closer to the butler.

“Hey! Why is it that you’re ‘nim’ to me and I’m just ‘Ashe’?!”

“Um…”

How old is Arsent? He looks to be in his late 20s.

Considering that she is a noble and takes care of her appearance every day, she might be in her 30s.

Anyone who looked at it could tell that he was very different from Asher, who was a teenager.

So the butler tried to make his argument as clear and logical as possible.

“…… Asher is Jammin.”

“Wow… Mini? What’s that?”

“… No, no. It’s nothing.”

The butler sighs secretly.

I have many memories that came to life from briefly capturing the Korean scenery.

From sexual preferences to all sorts of buzzwords, a lot of really useless things have come back to life.

“How old are you, Asher?”

“Me? I’m seventeen.”

“I see. Does the Empire lump together children born in the same year and treat them as the same age?”

“Huh? Oh, right. It’s not another country… Isn’t it strange? The butler is a foreigner, so he won’t be used to it.”

…as familiar as you are.

The butler swallowed the slip of the tongue that was about to burst out. Instead, he responded with a conventional exclamation.

“I see…”

I’m seventeen years old.

The last time I set foot on my homeland was in the winter when I was seventeen.

That’s fortunate, by the way.

‘If I had felt love for Asher… I would have become more trash than I could have imagined.’

I got a chill when I realized that Arsent had tried to kill me.

He used to criticize her, saying that she was more sexually aroused by Asher than him.

“But Butler, why are you asking my age? Are you interested in me by any chance?”

Suddenly, the hair on your arms starts to stand out.

“Even if the heavens and the earth turn upside down, it won’t happen!”

“Shock! Don’t raise your voice so much, butler.”

“… I’m sorry.”

Asher was surprised that the butler raised his voice. He was always calm, unless he was in a desperate situation like being chased by hounds…

This kind of butler was also secretly fun.

While enjoying the twist of fate, Asher suddenly remembered the main point that he had forgotten.

“Oh, I didn’t come out to chat like this. Butler, I found another diary in my room.”

“That’s good news. Would you mind taking a look at it together?”

“I’ve already seen it, so read it comfortably.”

Ashe handed the Duchess’ diary to the butler.

The butler handled the diary he was given carefully. It was a valuable document, so it would be a problem if it was damaged.

But even the delicate butler often had his eyes slanted as he turned the pages of the diary.

When Ash finally got his diary back, his gaze was unconsciously turned towards the stairs.

“Is this a diary that doesn’t have a face value?”

“… Honestly, yes. That’s right.”

“Butler, when you first saw the Duchess’ portrait last time, you were dizzy and staggered, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I wonder if the author Bernacien had any trauma?”

I thought it was a joke.

But Asher was not secretly serious, but openly serious.

“Where did Asher, who used to call me a lecher who was obsessed with maid B, go?”

“Hey… Shut up! This is going to be a mess even if you worry about it!”

Asher stomped away with a sullen face. The butler followed quickly, worried that Asher might be kidnapped by the painting.

At that moment, the door to the Duchess’ room slowly opened.

Arsent appeared, rubbing his eyes, perhaps because the conversation outside was noisy.

“What are you two doing? This early in the morning…”

“It’s not early in the morning.”

Just looking at the angle at which the sun was rising, it was time for the world to wake up from its deep sleep.

Immediately afterwards, Arsent opened his mouth to Ashe, who was standing far away. It seemed as if he was about to say something, but he stopped abruptly.

The butler easily interpreted Arsent’s intentions.

“Do you need a market?”

You probably wanted to ask Asher like yesterday. But since your relationship with Asher had completely soured, it would have been awkward to ask him.

“… That’s right.”

Arsent admitted with difficulty.

“Then I…”

Just as the butler was about to offer himself as a servant, Ashe nimbly crossed in front of the butler.

“I’ll help you, sis!”

“What, what did you say?”

“I’m helping you. Or what, are you lonely and want to show your bare skin to the immigrant butler?”

“Stop talking nonsense that’s not even funny!”

Ashe’s sarcastic remark immediately awakened Arsent’s consciousness.

By the way, was Ashe also a racist like Arsent? The butler decided to take note of the warning.

“… Hmm.”

I really hate imperialists.

That is the true intention he chose.

◇

The time when the sun is at its zenith.

The war of nerves between the two sisters continued for a long time. Still, what needs to be done must be done.

The butler summarized the Duchess’s diary on Ashe’s behalf.

As for the contents of the diary, Arsent only said that she was a woman who was very inconsistent. He did not say anything more than that.

Only then did the sisters’ war of nerves subside, and conditions were created for inspecting the mansion.

“Let’s see…”

Asher put his finger on one of the landscape paintings.

The surface of the painting rippled under her fingers.

Asher shared his findings as he retrieved his half-inserted finger.

“It seems like all the paintings in the mansion are structured so that people can enter.”

“Ugh… Creepy. What kind of mansion is this?”

Asher ignored Arsent’s complaints and opened his mouth.

“Maybe the condition for going up to the 3rd floor is to find a suitable painting and go in?”

“As of now, that seems to be the case. Let’s look for a picture that might be related to the main story of history.”

“Okay, then.”

While Asher’s eyes sparkled with confidence, Arsent looked somewhat dejected.

Unlike Ashe, who had a wealth of historical and artistic knowledge, Arsent had little background knowledge.

I had no choice but to just quietly go with the flow.

“Oh…”

In the midst of all this, Arsent let out a sudden exclamation.

“Is this the exact same painting that was in the palace?”

Arsent approached landscape painting in dark tones.

It was an impressive painting of bushes spread out ominously under a black sky.

[Magic Mirror]

Arsent briefly looked down to read the title of the landscape he had discovered.

Just a moment to read two letters. That was exactly the amount of time…

Thud!

Title of the work – From the devil’s realm, small black hands stretched out their claws towards Arsent.