-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: The Southern Witch
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Marina, the loan shark.
She was the infamous ‘Southern Witch’ who had once kidnapped my family over the enormous sum Viscount Wedgwood had borrowed, forcing us to work for her for a time.
Adorned with a pearl necklace and earrings—no doubt purchased by sucking someone else dry—Marina stood before me and spoke in a raspy voice.
“You haven’t forgotten my name, have you?”
“…How could I possibly forget…?”
No one who borrowed money from Marina could ever forget her name.
She was the kind of woman who would follow a debtor to the afterlife to collect!
Her crazed, violet eyes gleamed as she shouted.
“After your family knocked out all my men and ran off, I didn't hear a peep. I thought you’d forgotten my name, not to mention the fifty-thousand-gold debt you owe me!”
As she spoke, her hair swayed as if it had a will of its own.
Just looking into those violet eyes made my head spin, and I backed away. She closed the distance between us.
“Have you ever heard the legend? The one that says eating the heart of a red-haired maiden will make your skin beautiful…”
Ugh, I’m so sick of this!
Marina’s long, black fingernails slowly approached my chest, as if targeting my heart.
I’m sick of it, but I’m terrified! That woman looks like she’d actually eat a heart!
I was now pressed flat against the bathroom wall, trembling as I cried out.
“I-I’ll pay you back! I said I’ll pay you back!”
“With what? Your heart?”
“Noooo!”
Leave my heart alone! I eat whatever I can find; I might have parasites or something!
“With money! I’ll pay you back with money!”
Pinned to the wall, I blurted out my family’s estate address.
“My mother has the money ready! I thought you would have gone to her first!”
Marina’s nails, which had been digging toward my chest, froze.
She tilted her head.
“So you really did marry into a rich family? Helena was so desperate to marry you off to a wealthy man, and to think it was the Duke of Orleans…”
“Haha… you must have read the papers…”
I sidestepped away from Marina’s nails, inching toward the sink.
It was a wedding that had the whole capital buzzing. Of course a woman like Marina would know about it.
*It’s a miracle she waited a whole week…*
I shuddered and looked at Marina.
“Exactly. I’ve finally fulfilled my mother’s lifelong wish!”
Even though I ruined my mother’s own wedding!
I muttered, avoiding Marina’s gaze, which watched me like a venomous snake. If our eyes met, I felt like she’d slit my throat…
“…So… now… you can just go collect the money from my mother and return to the South to live a long, wicked life, right?”
I tried to remain calm as I reached for the doorknob. But just then…
*Clack!*
The wooden door of another stall swung open, and this time, men emerged. Two bald men of immense size. They were the witch’s familiar henchmen.
*How did both of them fit in one stall!*
“Hey, what gives! I said I’ll pay you back!”
I tried to quickly open the door and escape, but the witch’s hand slammed it shut.
Her violet eyes flashed as she grabbed me by the collar.
“Your mother didn’t tell you, did she? That when she ran from me, the debt wasn’t the only thing she took.”
“...?”
Th-then…?
“Your mother stole my secret client list! To stop me from chasing her! Damn you, Helena! How dare you double-cross the Southern Witch?!”
M-my mother did?
Feeling the air leaving my lungs, I frantically slapped the back of the witch’s hand.
I-I’m really going to die! Ah, that damn Helena! No wonder she was so confident Marina wouldn’t be able to track us down!
“Do you have any idea whose names are in there?! Until I’m certain that ledger hasn’t been leaked, it’s best if I keep you with me, don’t you think?”
“What are you…! That doesn’t make any sense!”
Though I was suffocating, I fought to keep my wits about me and shouted.
“I told you, I’m married! I’m a daughter-in-law of the Orleans family! If I disappear, the Orleans will come looking for me. Are you sure you’ll be okay with that? You witch!”
Marina’s grip loosened slightly. Oh, oh… is it working?
My mind raced. Does my mother still have that ledger? She didn’t actually leak it somewhere, did she?
If she did, forget Baldeck Orleans; Marina would kill us all first!
“The Duke of Orleans, you say. Of course I won’t be okay.”
Marina was finally letting go of my collar…
“But I’ll just have to be okay.”
Only to grab it again.
“Wh-what is this newfound audacity? You’re up against the Duke of Orleans!”
“From what I read in the papers, you’re the family’s cast-off daughter-in-law. Shaking you down won’t get me any money. And this isn’t about money anymore. If that ledger disappears, my secret clients will have my head. See?”
Damn it, this woman…! Why is she so extreme!
Feeling my oxygen supply dwindle, I desperately shouted.
“Then what about my Rose!”
When you’re desperate, there’s only one way out.
“Rose? What Rose?”
Marina tilted her head. Still in her grasp, I placed a hand on my stomach and smiled sweetly.
“I’m carrying the Orleans’ grandchild in this very belly.”
“...?”
It seemed she hadn’t been in the capital long enough to find that out.
Seeing her expression harden, I quickly bit down on her wrist. Her grip slackened. I threw the door open.
“Agh!”
As Marina screamed, the bald men approached her. Marina grabbed the doorknob I was holding.
“Do you really want to see your heart sold?”
“Ripping out my heart is one thing, but do you think you’ll sleep soundly after killing the Orleans’ grandchild?”
I shouted, clinging to the doorknob.
Slowly, Marina’s hand loosened its grip on the knob.
“Let go, for now.”
“You let go first, ma’am.”
“Ma’am?!”
“Well, I can’t exactly call you sister, can I!”
Sometimes she looked like she was 120 years old!
Marina’s face burned with fury, but then she let out a heavy sigh. She pressed a hand to her forehead, naturally letting go of the doorknob in the process.
“There, I let go. Now, let’s negotiate… I just need that ledger…”
“Negotiate? Go to hell, you old witch hag!”
*SLAM!*
I shoved the door with all my might just as Marina reached for the doorknob again. I heard her scream.
“Aaaah! I’m bleeding! I’m bleeding!”
But by the time her voice reached me, I had already dashed back into the theater.
“The train has emerged into the world!”
In the darkness, I found him with surprising speed.
Eric.
Right there, in a theater filled with the sound of applause.
I grabbed Eric’s hand.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s an emergency.”
“What kind of emergency?”
If it’s an emergency, do I have time to explain?!
I hurried Eric along, tossing the box I was holding carelessly onto the floor. It was a waste, but I had no choice. The moment we were out the theater doors, I heard the witch’s voice echoing from the hallway near the bathroom.
“You go that way, you go this way! I’ll guard the entrance! If I catch you, Imeline, I’m really ripping out your heart this time!”
I clutched my chest in alarm.
Baldeck wants to put a hole in my heart, and this witch wants to rip it out. My heart sure is popular…
Eric frowned.
“Do we need to leave now?”
“Yes. Exactly!”
Eric sighed, then squeezed my hand tighter.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
With that, he exited the theater at a speed I couldn’t hope to match. I could barely keep up with him.
*Y-you don’t have to be this fast!*
✵ ✵ ✵
Thanks to Eric, we were soon in a carriage bearing the ducal crest, heading back home.
I panted, leaning against the carriage wall to catch my breath.
“…A loan shark?”
Eric’s face soured.
“Don’t tell me it’s that person who was forcing you to meet a quota.”
“Yes. That’s her.”
“In that case…”
“What, you’re going to teach her a lesson? She’s a different breed from someone like Anthony. You can’t just mess with her. There’s no telling what she’ll do…”
Especially since she carried all sorts of strange potions. She could slip something into a teacup without anyone ever knowing.
I waved my hands dismissively.
All I could do was hope my mother still had that ledger safe and sound.
But who in the world was on that list…?
Truthfully, in the South, it was rare to find someone who hadn’t borrowed money from the witch. She lent out large sums without caring much for things like credit.
*…Which means she’s confident she’ll get it back, one way or another.*
That’s why the witch was the last person Viscount Wedgwood had turned to when his gambling addiction spiraled. The Mermaids’ Tomb, the debt… you really did it all, even in death, didn’t you, Wedgwood!
I leaned back heavily against the carriage seat and wiped the sweat from my brow.
Ah, damn it… I didn’t know the situation was this bad, and I even gave her our estate address…
“Should I go there…?”
I muttered, but Eric shook his head.
“There’s no need. I’ll send a few knights over.”
I nodded.
Knights. Could men like that really stop the witch’s bizarre schemes?
But I had no other choice. I had to do something. The woman who threatened to rip out my heart—who knew what she might do to Philip and Helena.
I said to Eric.
“Can the knights deliver a message, too?”
“If you wish.”
“Then please have them ask Helena if she still has the thing she stole from the witch.”
“The thing she stole?”
“She’ll know what I mean if you just say that.”
If she says she doesn’t have it…
Then…
*Then we’re just screwed.*
I shuddered.
