I Married the Dragon I Killed
Chapter 94
The source of her ability to act as the mistress of this house had vanished.
-What was that?
-Something’s strange, isn’t it?
The voices of the men shouting outside pierced her ears.
Rather than chasing the intruder, they began to chatter about the phenomenon as if it were more important.
-I feel like my head is clearing. I can feel it.
-Indeed. I suddenly felt something strange.
-What is it? What on earth were we under?
Then, one man asked.
-Come to think of it, didn’t that phantom thief call Tilda a witch?
-Did a witch really use some kind of trickery on us?
-It might be so.
At the same time, she heard footsteps approaching.
‘No!’
Tilda instinctively ran to the door and locked it.
Click, click!
-Open the door, Lady Tilda!
-Are you alright? Please, say something!
Bang, bang!
They pounded on the door, but Tilda did not answer.
The confusion soon turned into rage.
-She really was a witch, just like that thief said!
-That witch must have cast a spell on us!
-Break down the door!
All those who had been loyal to her shouted at the top of their lungs, reacting to the lifting of the magic.
She was like a cornered rat.
‘I have to run.’
However, Tilda had prepared for even this absolute worst-case scenario.
She ran to the bathroom, threw a prepared rope out the window, and climbed down.
She untied and packed the rope so no one would know where she had fled, then escaped the mansion grounds and began to run.
The last sounds she heard from the chaotic mansion were these:
-The Master has passed away!
-That damn witch even killed the Master!
The death of Rico Dandolo.
Tilda had no idea how it happened, but it didn’t matter.
She was the witch who had cast a spell on the mansion, an unforgivable existence.
She had saved her life, but only for a moment.
Her life was now like a candle flickering in the wind.
‘Where should I go?’
How could she survive in such a terrible situation?
She thought and thought, but there was no future.
She was incompetent, just as Jore had said.
She wanted to have everything, but she lacked the merit to possess it.
She had even obtained power, yet she could not protect it.
‘I will survive.’
Nevertheless, she struggled pathetically.
She ran and ran through the dark forest.
‘I will survive!’
But that thought soon scattered like a midsummer night’s dream.
“Ah….”
Veils hidden in the dark night writhed and revealed themselves.
Figures wearing black bandanas approached her.
Tilda Pascal tried to resist, but she eventually lost consciousness.
A road not far from the Dandolo Mansion.
Three carriages disguised as a merchant convoy were waiting there.
A man with a brown ponytail climbed into a carriage, exhaling a heavy breath.
“Phew! That wasn’t as easy as I thought.”
“Did you really have to go through all that trouble?”
Zed replied with a smirk.
“I had to. If I hadn’t, it never would have ended in a single day.”
“Are you sure you didn’t leave a trail?”
Garnet asked with a face that questioned his sincerity.
“Bunny Swallows?”
“It’s a fun name.”
Garnet glared fiercely, but Zed responded with a smile.
She let out a sigh as if admitting defeat.
“I knew you had a silver tongue, but I didn’t know you had a talent like that.”
“It’s a secret technique of my tribe. Disguising ourselves as a circus troupe to scout out marks to fleece.”
“Don’t the troupe leaders usually do that?”
“When your father is the leader, you can’t avoid it.”
“I see how it is.”
Garnet nodded.
Zed felt a presence outside and peeked out.
Men wearing bandanas were loading a large bundle.
“So, what about that lady?”
“She’ll be delivered to the castle. We have to move according to the contract.”
“Hmm, then we’re heading the same way. There shouldn’t be any problems, right?”
“…It’s not that there are none.”
“What is it?”
“Uuuung, Ze-ze?”
He realized the moment he heard the nasal voice.
The pink-haired woman in a bunny girl outfit sitting opposite Garnet was grinning foolishly.
Like someone who was heavily intoxicated.
“What’s wrong, Pe-pe?”
“Uhehe, Ze-ze. Wasn’t I totally awesome? I did great for only practicing for a day, didn’t I? Right? Right?”
“…?”
“Where else in the world is there a phantom thief like this? Even I think I’m freaking sexy. Look at this. Se-xy~.”
“…Did she hit her head?”
Garnet nodded calmly.
When Zed checked the back of her head, an arrowhead was deeply embedded in it.
So that was why she had lost it.
“Ahaha! Arrows went shoo-shook, and I couldn’t dodge them all~. Ah~ who knew one would get stuck in my head!”
“Whoa, don’t shake your head.”
She giggled inanely and grabbed Zed’s arm.
Garnet let out a sigh and said.
“I’ve checked, and it’s likely a temporary shock, so there’s no need to worry. We’ll meet up with a healer on the way, so we’ll remove the arrowhead then.”
“What’s this, young lady? You’re sexy and you say smart things too? Want to set the night on fire with this unnie? I’ll treat you well.”
Penelope growled like a lecherous old man.
Garnet spoke seriously with a straight face.
“She’s injured her head so badly that even her sexual orientation has been twisted. It’ll be dangerous if we don’t treat her quickly.”
She was always like that.
Zed found it hard to bring himself to say those words.
Tilda opened her eyes in the darkness.
She didn’t know where she was, but one thing was certain.
She could not escape her karma.
Who was the one doing this?
Murchit?
Stefan?
Herman?
Or Rico??
All sorts of thoughts raced through her mind, and her breathing grew ragged.
Either way, surviving would be difficult.
Creeeeeak—
After a while, a door opened in the dark space.
Someone entered.
Tap, tap.
Visible by the light of a single candle on the wall were polished black shoes.
“It’s been a while, Tilda Pascal.”
It was the voice of a young man, yet it possessed a strange weight characteristic of middle age.
Tilda knew this voice well.
It was the very voice that had humiliated her.
“Re, Regent Ferda…?”
He leaned back against the chair and then leaned forward.
Gray hair and blue eyes were reflected in her vision.
“Tilda Pascal.”
Ferda called her name again.
“I didn’t like you from our first meeting… but you are beyond imagination.”
There was no emotion in that voice.
Because of that, it was infinitely cold and felt like a chilling blade.
“Did you really think you could harass a merchant supporting the Archduke’s territory and survive?”
Tilda opened her mouth.
“I didn’t do it. Everything was my fiancé….”
Thwack!
Ferda picked up a document and threw it onto the floor.
The contents of that document were the records of Tilda Pascal’s actions.
The information had been provided by Black Bandana.
“Keep talking.”
Tilda had no choice but to shut her mouth like a mute who had eaten honey.
But only for a moment.
“…I had to do it.”
Her mouth trembled as she poured out her words.
“That man I call father only ever intended to hand everything over to that damn Stefan anyway.”
She exploded with the emotions she had suppressed for so long.
“It doesn’t make sense! Why can’t I have it? I’m of the same blood! The same blood…! I’ve contributed to the Pascal Company too, so why only me…!”
The emotion she was feeling.
Ferda could understand it.
The boy Ferda, who had wanted to live as a proper member of a knightly family but was always below the standard.
There was no warmth to be felt from his family.
Ferda had hated such a father.
“Even so, the fact that you dealt a blow to the Archduke’s territory remains unchanged.”
“I am deeply reflecting on that sin. Truly! I will compensate you.”
Tilda struggled while tied to the chair and fell forward.
She slammed her head against the floor and pleaded.
“From today on, I will live a life suited to my station. Please take pity on this girl and show mercy.”
Tilda sobbed and cried.
Ferda looked down at Tilda quietly.
“There is one thing I’m curious about,” Ferda said.
“If you answer that story properly, I will consider letting you go.”
“W-what are you curious about? I will answer anything.”
“Zed mentioned it.”
“Zed…?”
“The one who broke into your house. The one who destroyed the medium for the Garden Contract.”
She clenched her fists, showing a brief flash of anger at that name.
Ferda continued.
“Anyway, he said. That the medium you chose was a family photo.”
What Zed had seen was a family painting depicting everyone.
It was a picture from their childhood where everyone was smiling and happy.
“Why did you choose a family photo as the medium?”
Ferda was curious about the reason.
Why a woman who was so desperate to tear her family apart had chosen a family photo.
He needed the answer to that contradiction.
“That’s because….”
She then replied while shedding tears.
“Because they are my beloved family, of course.”
Ferda lowered his gaze, following the flowing tears.
“So that was it,” Ferda muttered.
“D-did that answer your question? Are you going to spare me?”
“I never intended to kill you anyway. I will let you live.”
She felt something strange at the phrasing “let you live.”
It carried a nuance as if he would take everything else besides her life.
“Didn’t I give you the answer? Why…?”
Ferda looked down at her.
“In the west of the continent, in Mist Valley, there is a monster called the Flurryman. Do you know what that is?”
She didn’t.
There was no way she could know.
“They say it remembers the final words of the beasts it devours. And when it is about to be devoured in turn, it mimics the voice of those beasts. Why do you think that is?”
Ferda replied coldly.
“Because it knows that saying those words will save its life. It doesn’t know what the words mean, but it knows it will be spared.”
Ferda knew why she had chosen the family photo as the medium.
It was to appeal to sympathy and struggle pathetically to survive until the very end.
“Your actions are no different from that.”
The claim that you contributed is a lie.
The claim that you did something terrible is a lie.
Everything is just a lie thrown out so that you might survive.
“Thank you.”
Ferda spoke to her with sincerity.
“For turning yourself into trash that I don’t even need to remember.”
Ferda stood up.
He moved away from the light and disappeared into the darkness.
Creeeeeak—.
Thud.
The door closed.
Once again, she was alone in the space.
The question of whether she could survive lasted only a moment.
She was not alone in this room.
Someone had been there even before Ferda entered.
They had just been invisible until now, waiting in the darkness.
That being walked forward and revealed its identity.
Tilda doubted her own eyes.
The figure her eyes beheld had silver scales and a pair of horns that seemed to pierce the heavens.
A being whose very form commanded dignity, became a wonder, and led to awe.
It was a dragon.
‘That’s….’
Her pupils trembled.
‘It’s a fake.’
There was no way such a dragon could be in such a cramped space.
Common sense and logic dictated it was impossible.
She tried to hypnotize herself into believing that, but it was in vain.
What paralyzed even such reason and logic was the mystery of the immortal.
With every exhale, the hot wind and the growl that vibrated faintly against her eardrums became clearer.
Dragon Fear.
Even if she tried to hypnotize herself that it was a lie, the source of the unknown became truth.
And that truth became a terror that a mere human could not withstand.
“Kyaaaaaaaaak!”
A long scream rang out helplessly.
But there was no one to hear that scream.
Garnet and the agents of Black Bandana wearing black robes waited outside the castle gates.
As the matter was reaching its final stage, she grew anxious.
After a while, a man was seen coming out of the castle gates.
Garnet stepped forward and offered a polite greeting.
“I greet the Regent of Valdrova.”
“I have brought her as you requested.”
Soon after, Tilda Pascal appeared.
She was ruined to such an extent that it was hard to believe she was the beauty who had been courted by many men.
Her hair was disheveled, her face was haggard, and there was no focus in her eyes.
Saliva dripped from her slack jaw.
She could not even resist Ruri’s touch as she stumbled down the stairs.
A living corpse that was alive but not truly living.
Her mind had lost its strength due to overwhelming terror, leaving only her physical body.
Garnet politely expressed her gratitude.
“Thank you for fulfilling the promise.”
“It’s too early to thank me.”
“Is there something else?”
“There is.”
Ferda held a dagger to Tilda Pascal’s throat.
Garnet was startled by the sudden hostage situation.
“What is the meaning of this, Regent-nim?”
“Isabella told me. How a corporate acquisition works.”
Ferda said.
“I mobilized all my knowledge to look through imperial laws and precedents, but no matter how much I searched, she said a normal acquisition would be difficult. Even if Black Bandana were involved.”
“Are you suggesting that we are lying?”
“I’m curious too. It seems one of the two lied to me, but I can’t tell who it was.”
Ferda tilted his head slightly to the side.
“So, would you like to tell me?”
“…I did not lie.”
“Then you’re saying Isabella lied?”
Garnet bit her lip before answering.
“She didn’t lie either.”
“There won’t be a second time. You will have to convince me.”
“That is….”
Garnet could not easily open her mouth.
She had an obligation to keep the secret.
At the same time, she had to complete the mission.
Especially when it had reached the final stage like this, it was not easy to let go.
Garnet knew that, and Ferda knew it as well.
It was an impossible situation, yet Ferda needed an answer.
Who the client was, and for what reason they wanted to drive her mad.
“It is entirely possible.”
What was heard instead of Garnet’s excuse or explanation was a middle-aged voice.
The voice continued.
“If the chief executive is judged incapable of managing the company, they can independently appoint a new manager. That is a rule within the Dandolo Company.”
It was a middle-aged voice.
It was a voice heard from among the men wearing black robes.
The owner of the voice walked out and removed his hood.
“You are….”
However, the person who was truly the client was someone completely unexpected.
The man approached and greeted Ferda.
“Henri Dandolo, the Young Master of House Dandolo, greets the Great Fire’s consort.”
