Chapter 49

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Unleashed Fury
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The Argenta intelligence department, led by Rick, vehemently opposed Diello's decision to personally investigate all the servants on the third floor and below.

It was only natural.

After all, it meant he was completely shedding the 'soft-hearted lord' image he had maintained until now.

“Move.”

But once it became clear that mana was gathering in Diello's eyes and he was on the verge of an emotional outburst, they cleanly stepped aside.

There was no way to stop him.

Who could possibly stop a flame raging across a dry field?

However, Diello, who was said to have lost his reason and grown closer to his true nature, was, contrary to expectations, seething with a cold, yet fiery, rage.

“Most of the servants on the third floor and below are likely not traitors. But word will undoubtedly get out.”

He said to the intelligence agents before entering the area where the servants were gathered.

His scabbard was nowhere to be seen; he held only a single sword.

“Then spread this message.”

He whispered as he opened the door with the hand holding his sword.

“That I am that mad for Croire.”

No one else mattered.

The thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. He didn't care what others thought of him anymore.

He'd been seen as weak for long enough, hadn't he?

Just one person.

*'Diello, I'll teach you.'*

He just needed to make sure Croire never saw this side of him.

*You want someone gentle, like a lamb.*

He intended to use this opportunity to change the situation.

He planned to show them that it wasn't just about Diello Argenta being madly in love with his bride; it was that even *that Diello Argenta* would lose his reason and go berserk if anyone touched Croire.

So that if anyone were to provoke Argenta, they would provoke him, not Croire.

—*Creeak... Thud.*

The tip of his sword pushed through the crack in the door first. Diello shoved the large doors open.

At the sight of their lord, who seemed like a completely different person, the people of Argenta began to tremble.

Including, of course, the spies mixed in among them.

* * *

Another dream.

There must be many kinds of poisons, but this one didn't seem too severe.

Otherwise, I wouldn't be dreaming day in and day out like this.

—*Click.*

In the dream, I was looking at an old phone with a cracked screen.

That was the phone my cousin gave me after using it for eight years, I think.

I was transmigrated here before I could even get a new phone to celebrate my independence.

The novel open on the screen was .

…The novel I was transmigrated into.

I should have read it to the end!

Having lived on eggshells at my uncle's house since I was a child, I had dropped this novel for the simple reason of, 'My life is already a tragedy, why do I need to read one in a novel?'

If I'd known I'd end up here, I would've read the whole thing!

But even as regret washed over me, it was only a dream.

「Croire is having another nightmare.」

My dream-self said.

She was clearly talking about the dream the original Croire had, of being trapped in a fire.

That dream… seeing it for myself, the flames were bigger than I'd imagined.

There was even the unsettling creak of the building, as if it were about to collapse.

And the black-haired boy in the middle of it all was filled with even more despair than I'd thought.

「Why is this kid trapped?」

My dream-self clicked her tongue, just as she was reading about that boy.

[The boy was filled with despair.

'I can't do anything.'

'The flames are too strong. The way out is blocked.']

As I glanced at the book's contents, my dream-self spoke.

「He should at least try once.」

Yes, I think I did say something like that.

「If you're about to die anyway, you should try everything you can before you go. It's better than dying without having done anything.」

She was right.

After that, I cheered the boy on some more, but there was no way my words could reach a character in a book.

—*Fwoosh!*

At some point, the dream scene changed.

This time, it was Croire's memory.

*'Useless thing!'*

Faced with Duke Alloje, who never failed to show his true colors, the original Croire Alloje seemed to hold a sliver of hope at first.

*'He's still my father.'*

She thought. She believed he would at least do the bare minimum.

That feeling was so poignant that it made my heart ache.

Because I knew how agonizing it was to be given affection that was always just out of reach.

*'If it weren't for the money your father lent, you wouldn't even be here.'*

I remembered those dreadful words I'd heard right up until I moved out.

*'You should be grateful you have a roof over your head!'*

Words I'd heard my whole life.

For over twenty years, I had never once thought of that roof, under which I had to walk on eggshells, as my home.

I tried to comfort myself, saying it was fine not to have a family.

Just waiting for the day I could be independent.

But Croire seemed to be a little different from me.

Instead of giving up early on the affection that was dangled but never given, she craved it even more.

And so, she waited for her father to see her as his daughter, even for a single moment.

Her desire to be noticed by her father gradually twisted and spread into tormenting others.

Thanks to that, she earned the moniker of a villainess.

*'Lady Croire Alloje, the head of the family summons you.'*

Then, one day, Duke Alloje finally summoned her.

*'Father?'*

Having been summoned, Croire held a sliver of hope.

Hoping to at least be scolded with a 'Why are you doing this?'

She wanted to hear him say, 'Stop.' Because then, she would have been willing to become a good daughter again.

But Duke Alloje, who had summoned her, drove a nail into her heart.

*'You will become the Pero.'*

*'What?'*

Croire had craved her parent's affection in a twisted way, but she was no fool.

*'I will carve the name on your back myself.'*

Every single word clawed sharply at Croire's heart.

In Duke Alloje's eyes, there wasn't a hint of affection for her.

It was merely the look one gives a tool whose use has finally been discovered.

*'Bind Croire.'*

And in the moment the name was carved onto the back of her neck with a blinding pain, she abandoned all affection and any remaining hope for her father.

Feeling the agony of her heart and her world shattering.

The despair and disappointment from that time seemed to consume my mind.

This… is a true nightmare.

The moment I had that thought, I felt my consciousness sharpen.

*'...It seems this will be the critical point.'*

The doctor's voice saying so was clearer now.

*'Croire.'*

Diello's voice calling my name was also clear.

Is that a real voice?

—*Poof!*

I remembered the white smoke that had spread in an instant.

And Diello, who had hastily pulled me into his arms.

…Is he okay?

*'Croire...'*

His voice, trailing off with worry, stabbed at my heart.

This is no time to be wandering through dreams.

The moment I thought that.

In that instant, a strange energy surged through my body.

This was the water manipulation ability I possessed.

*'...!'*

The energy, which had been as faint as a blocked stream, grew stronger and stronger until a cool, refreshing sensation spread throughout my body.

It was as if it were moving to protect its master.

Pushing out the foreign substances mixed in my blood and rapidly spreading the antidote that had entered my body.

In the end, blood is also water.

Meaning that as long as it exists in the medium of water, it cannot escape the control of an Alloje.

If Argenta uses the flames of purification to eliminate poison, it seems Alloje can do something like this.

*'Good.'*

Following my instincts, I began to move the power more precisely, trying to expel the poison.

To eliminate the poison that had stolen my consciousness.

And after exerting myself for some time...

* * *

“Ah.”

I awoke with a short sigh.

“My lady?”

A startled maid immediately approached me. She was one of the Argenta from the fourth floor.

It seemed she had been waiting for me to wake up.

“Liz.”

I think that was her name. At the sound of my voice, Liz nodded.

“Yes, it's Liz, my lady.”

But it seemed Liz was the only one beside me.

“Where is everyone else?”

There should normally be many people around.

Through the crack of the open door, perhaps left ajar for fresh air, I could see the figures of knights.

But there were fewer of them than usual.

“Right now…”

Just as Liz lowered her head with a troubled expression.

Someone approached the door quickly.

A face that had lost its usual smile, belonging to the man nicknamed the 'cheerful psycho'.

It was Rick.

“My lady, you're awake.”

With a grave expression, he knelt on one knee before the door.

If his face is that grim, something is seriously wrong.

My eyes widened.