Chapter 1 - Prologue
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Seria didn’t have a good personality, but it didn’t mean that she wanted them to die, and it would be rather silly and mean of her to keep quiet when she knew the answer to the problem.
It wasn’t something to worry about for long. Seria quickly made a decision.
“Your Highness. I think I’ve found a way to purify it.”
Lesche, who was poking the burning woods with a fire poker, halted. He turned to Seria, still holding the poker in his hand.
“Did you find a way to purify it?”
“Yes, I’m sure the Saintess can….”
“That’s enough.”
“What?”
“Not a Saint. How about Young Lady? Can you purify it?”
Seria looked at Lesche blankly, thinking she must have misheard him just now, but a beat later, she jumped up.
“I can’t. Your Highness. No, but …….”
She gulped and asked again.
“Your Highness, do you not believe me? I’m sure the Saintess can purify these shadows.”
“I’m not going to let that woman who is not from the Berg family into the Laurel Manor. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t hire a saint, does it?”
“If Your Highness wishes, you can hire a temporary employee in Stern’s escort office. I have a full-time guard, so I haven’t used that authority yet.”
“You’ll have to be more specific than that.”
“What?”
“I have absolutely no intention of bringing any woman other than the Grand Duchess to this manor or to the mansion.”
“…”
Seria was speechless. She was confused, she didn’t know that Lesche had such a stubborn personality. Besides, he said he didn’t like it… Could she offer more? Seria didn’t have the confidence to do that. As she looked away, she suddenly saw the woolen flowers that Susan had made for her.
She also brought her slippers, bedding, and, of course, warm milk.
“I know that’s a big deal, but I want people here to be well.”
“That’s why you want me to bring the Saintess?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you have any pride, Young Lady?”
“Pride?”
Seria chuckled.
“Tell me, what do you want me to say now?”
Lesche stared at her with cold eyes. She tried to read his expression, but it was hard to do so.
“You seem to have some sympathy for the people in this house.”
His voice was rather rough.
“Why don’t you look at the past, Young Lady? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll end up like Marquis Haneton?”
‘Aren’t I afraid that Lesche might go to Lina?’
It was a stabbing remark. Was he teasing her? Seria raised her head and glared at Lesche.
“No. Marquis Haneton was the man of my choice. Not like His Highness.”
“Oh, I see. I’m not the one Young Lady chose.”
“You know very well, Your Highness. Please don’t put me in a tricky situation.”
“You are misunderstanding the meaning of ‘the Grand Duchess.’”
Seria glared at Lesche.
“I dare not to make a mistake of my position.”
Lesche did not answer. He averted his gaze and quickly turned away. Holding the woolen flowers and a glass of warm milk in her hands, Seria pushed the door of the Grand Duke’s bedroom roughly with her shoulder and walked out.
‘I’m annoyed.’
Seria’s feelings quickly bottomed out. Did Lesche think she really wanted to call Lina? It was easy for him to say. But he didn’t know how hurt she was when she remembered her bloody fiancé who couldn’t stay away from Lina.
It was this beautiful, idyllic, quiet mansion.
She was actually worried that if Lina was invited to this manor, somewhere far away from the world, this place would soon become the world of the female protagonist. To be honest, she was jealous. But she knew that these nice people, who were kind to her, would die at once.
How can the people, who know how to save lives, pretend not to know? Why did he look at her with such an expression when it was him who was heartless and brutal?
“I have absolutely no intention of bringing any woman other than the Grand Duchess to this manor or to the mansion.”
Lesche’s explanation was unkind. But didn’t Linon tell him? The reason why Martha was bound to this manor was because the previous Grand Duke, who unfairly favored his illegitimate child, and Lesche’s mother, the previous Grand Duchess, must not have had a good time either.
This was what he must have meant. He wasn’t against other women but this was what happened by bringing them into the Laurel Manor, and he didn’t have the slightest intention of following the suit.
Seria somehow understood him, but that wasn’t a legitimate reason for him to ridicule her like that. It was like he was saying, ‘I’m the only one who thinks of Seria, the rare villain in this original world, so I have to take care of her.’
Seria pursed her lips and sipped the milk, the steam was still rising slightly. Her throat was hot. Holding the empty cup, she stared at the Grand Duchess’s bedroom for a while. If she slept here out of anger, she could freeze to death in a bedroom that didn’t even have a working fireplace.
Would Martha, Ben, Linon, and the others notice that she fought with Lesche and came to this room?
‘It would be nice if they pretend not to know.’
It was said that not much firewood was allowed in the green manor because the hardened Magi would dry up the wood quickly. So after dinner and bathing, all the lights would be turned off except in the bedrooms where each of the people would stay to save firewood. The servants stayed on the fourth floor, as did the sorcerers.
The empty first floor was indeed dimly lit. It was just bright enough to identify things. It was always warm in the kitchen and dining room. Seria thought of the soft chairs and the fireplace in the dining room and decided to sleep there.
With that decision, Seria walked carefully towards the dining hall, but…
“…?”
With a dull thud, she suddenly tripped over something strange and almost fell over. Seria frowned and looked down, and in the sparse light on the wall, she saw…
“Martha…?”
Martha was lying on the floor.
“Martha!”
Seria hurriedly sat down in front of the unconscious Martha.
“Martha! Martha! Wake up!”
Seria shook her arm and suddenly felt a warmth on her hand. Her eyes went wide.
“Blood?”
Why was there blood pouring out of her stomach? Someone must have hurt her. And the outsiders in this manor…..!
“Ahhhh…!”
Her scream didn’t last long. It was because her mouth was covered. Her body stiffened. She tried to see who had caught her from behind, but she didn’t have to look.
There was a faint smell of burning imprints, the kind of imprints that would knock out people with divine powers.
“Lady, a good star for the gods at the last minute…..”
It was a familiar voice. It was the strange looking, cocky sorcerer who had rushed her to reply to him a while ago. He held a handkerchief over her face, which smelled like burnt imprints. At that moment a sound of unpleasant laughter came to her ears.
Then, suddenly the sorcerer flew to the side. Seria put both hands on the floor and started coughing.
“Lady Seria! Are you okay?”
Holding a light in one hand, Susan helped her up with tremendous force of her other hand. Ben, who came with Susan, hurriedly looked at Martha’s wound.
“Martha!”
Seria turned and stared at the sorcerer on the wall.
“Please help me.” He begged.
The sorcerer struggled to escape as Susan grabbed him by the neck. She glared at him and took a step or two. Seria glared at him and took a step closer. The sorcerer shivered as if he had a nightmare.
“Where did you people come from, and what do you want?”
“Ack…ack..” (choking sound.)
Veins swelled in the forehead of the sorcerer, whose neck was strangled.
It was strange. It didn’t make sense that the sorcerer didn’t know Seria was Stern.
“Lady, who are you?”
Seria’s green hair was definitely not common. To be honest, she was also incredibly beautiful, and more importantly, she remembered reading about her in the original story. “Rumors have spread to other continents about how vicious the green-haired Stern is.”
Of course, it could be an exaggeration. But if they were sorcerers who feared the High Priest, they would certainly have obtained this level of rumor beforehand, but they obviously pretended not to know her, who apparently seemed to be a Stern.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Seria suddenly pulled out a handkerchief and shoved it into the sorcerer’s mouth. Susan said in an admiring voice.
“You’ve tried a little torture, haven’t you, Young Lady?”
“No, I just read it in a book.”
She was embarrassed to answer, but she wasn’t lying. Because this cruel and elaborate method of preventing suicide before torture was the method that Seria used in the original story. Why did she use it then?
Oh, yes. She used it on a knight of Berg, who protected and hid Lina. (*The original Seria was torturing the knight to know about Lina’s whereabouts, because in the original story, Seria wanted Lina dead.)
The original Seria was really insane. What was more disturbing was that each movement synced perfectly to her body (the new Seria), probably because it was already Seria’s preferred method in the original story. She couldn’t help but stare at Susan, who was glaring at the sorcerer with a ferocious look on her face.
She was a knight after all. Seria was glad that she asked Susan to patrol at night.
“Hey, Susan, this evening….”
Earlier today, when Susan held Seria by the hand and escorted her down stairs, Seria somehow knew Susan was a knight as her hand was as hard as Abigail’s.
Seria was suddenly scared…
“Why didn’t Joanna and Linon come with you? The fourth floor is still dangerous….”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine. Joanna…..My Lady!”
Susan shouted, looking behind Seria. Seria turned around. Her eyes went wide because in the dark, another sorcerer with a dagger was rushing at her from behind.
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