Chapter 36
36
Samantha stood before Gunther in her underwear. She approached him with a seductive gaze and sat alluringly on his lap. Samantha gently cupped Gunther's face and slowly kissed him. Even during the kiss, she subtly moved her hips, stimulating him between his legs. He would probably become aroused before even hearing the reading. Samantha raised her hand to Gunther's shoulder, intending to remove his cumbersome clothes. At that moment, Gunther broke the kiss and stopped her hand.
"Why?"
"Let's hear the reading first."
"Ah, I forgot the important thing. I was so eager to please the Great King that I overlooked it."
Samantha laughed coquettishly, rose from his lap, and sat in the opposite seat. Gunther watched her intently. Samantha was definitely a woman who stimulated the desire for sex. Even just a year ago, he himself would have taken her body before hearing the reading.
But why was he so distracted today? His mind was filled with the image of Maria, who had rejected him. Even with a captivating woman right in front of him, the thought of Maria made his blood boil. He even wished that the woman before him was Maria instead of Samantha. Very desperately.
"Helland will continue to prosper greatly, as it has until now. In particular, many talented people needed by the country will gather, so the Great King must take good care of them."
"Is that so?"
Aiden came to mind. Regardless of Maria, he was definitely a talented person. In the past, most of the immigrants were runaway tenant farmers or criminals who couldn't pay their taxes. Compared to that, the quality of this year's immigrants was very good.
"But there is also misfortune."
"Misfortune?"
He had received only good readings for ten years, so he wondered why this time, good fortune and misfortune were given together. Samantha soon looked at Gunther with a very serious expression.
"There is a woman who is hindering the development of Helland."
"!?!"
"I see a woman with gray hair and a mournful look."
It seemed Samantha had seen Maria in the reading. But was Maria the misfortune of Helland? He hadn't suffered any damage because of her yet...
"That woman harbors sinister intentions."
Samantha shuddered as she read the cards.
"She has another man in her heart and is trying to use the Great King."
"!?!"
Gunther was silent for a while. Stone had said that Maria's heart was filled only with revenge. He had once mistakenly thought that she missed her ex-husband, Henry, even for a moment, but that was his mistake. But another man?
"The Great King is trying to show her favor, but it will be useless."
Samantha told Gunther that no matter how much he wanted Maria, he could never have her. The woman Maria's ambition was too great for that. At that, Gunther tilted his head slightly. If Maria's heart was seething with ambition or was secular, she would have already been in his arms.
"She has in her heart a very lowly and useless man, not a great man chosen by God like the Great King."
So, all Maria wanted from Gunther was wealth. However, Gunther was more curious about the identity of the man she had in her heart than the fact that Maria wanted wealth.
"What kind of man does she like?"
"You will be very disappointed to hear it. He is not even worth the Great King feeling pity for that woman."
"Tell me. I'll judge."
It wasn't because he was a fool that he had blindly believed the readings for ten years. Why wouldn't he know that there were falsehoods among the Witch's words? But he was a foolish human being who pricked up his ears when it came to Maria.
Before answering, Samantha closed her eyes and chanted a Spell. It seemed to be an act to obtain a reading.
"She is a very ungrateful woman. Misfortune is stuck all over her body. She has terrible taste in men."
Samantha spewed out harsh words with her eyes closed. She had to somehow imprint that woman as misfortune on Gunther and make him give up.
"Terrible taste in men?"
That was somewhat true. Maria's life had been ruined by a husband like Henry.
"So, what kind of man is he?"
Gunther was getting annoyed. His patience was running out, and anger surged.
"Number 44."
"What?"
Gunther doubted his ears. It was a number he had forgotten for a long time, no, a nightmare.
"I see the number 44. A slave who is less than vermin. He is beaten as often as he eats, and his body is covered in whip marks. His appearance is also truly hideous. A human trash who makes a living by killing people, a man who is less than a sewer rat."
Gunther's eyes widened. No, he stopped breathing for a moment and listened to Samantha's words.
"That woman is just as lowly as this man. If you keep her by your side, misfortune will never end."
"Is... is that so?"
His head, his intestines, his bones, and his soul shook wildly as if there had been an earthquake. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and his mind went blank for a moment.
"The reading is telling me."
"No, the man that woman has in her heart... I mean. Are you sure it's number 44?"
"That's right."
Gunther realized for the first time that his heart was beating so loudly. No, his heart was beating so painfully that it felt like it would break through his chest. Soon, his face was filled with joy. Then, seeing Samantha closing her eyes and chanting Spells, a sense of futility washed over him. So, he asked one last time.
"So, what should I do now?"
"You have to get rid of her."
"Get rid of her? Maria?"
"Is that woman Maria? Why does she have the name of a Saintess? How unlucky... Don't worry. I've cast a Spell so that she will die without a sound."
"You cast what?"
"Now that woman will die."
* * *
Maria regained consciousness in a secluded forest.
"Mmph."
The men who had kidnapped her were three in total. They had gagged her mouth and bound her hands and ankles with ropes.
"I never thought I would be paying respects to the Empress like this."
Although his face was covered, his pronunciation was familiar.
'He's from Landes.'
Maria tried not to resist. Even if she struggled and shouted, they would never release her.
"We are sorry for treating such a precious person like an animal."
Judging by the fact that he was being polite...
'It seems they won't kill me right away. They want something else.'
But why was this situation so familiar? Maria felt a strange sense of déjà vu. It felt like she had experienced something like this before.
"We came because we heard that our former Empress has hidden assets."
'Hidden assets? Is he talking about the land my grandfather gave me?'
Only her parents and Nancy knew that fact. Then, the person who ordered her to be harmed must be Nancy. But the man was speaking in Landes language. Somehow, the situation didn't add up.
"If you just sign the waiver, we will let you go nicely. We don't want to make it difficult for such a precious person on your way."
Maria racked her brain to sort out this complicated situation. Nancy wanted the assets and hired someone?
'Did Nancy deliberately hire someone from Landes to make it look like Laurent killed me?'
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to be a little quieter."
Allan firmly blocked her mouth and nose and threw a small pouch at Maria again. Thud—the pouch burst, and the smoke she had smelled before enveloped her in a haze.
"Ugh!"
First, she had to see the faces of those Landes men who had kidnapped her... It was then. Suddenly, she felt nauseous and a strong pain arose in her head. Whether the smoke was poisonous or not, it was so painful that it was difficult to even breathe. Her vision blurred, and strange chanting sounds echoed in her mind. A flash of light appeared before her eyes, and her body ached as if it were being torn in two. No, the smoke she inhaled seemed to be burning her insides and melting her bones.
"Ugh... ugh."
It was as if someone was wildly rummaging through her head with a sharp knife. Tinnitus rang in her ears, her vision became dizzy, and she heard people's voices echoing from afar. Not only that, but things from a long time ago came to mind.
It was a warm spring day when she was fifteen years old. She saw herself holding a megaphone, and there was a red beast-like man in the yard. He made strange noises and threatened people.
[Krrr...!]
She had never seen such a creature before in her life. The red beast, no, the man lying in the yard, writhing, was dirty and covered in wounds as if he had fallen into a swamp. Moreover, he had a gag in his mouth.
[A gag in a person's mouth! Take him away immediately, wash him clean, and treat him.]
[Young lady, he is not a person. He is very violent.]
[He clearly looks like a person to me? Release the gag immediately.]
Maria firmly ordered the servants who were afraid of the man and couldn't even go near him.
[Yes, young lady.]
Maria was relieved to see the boy lying in bed. And she was very surprised. The cleanly washed boy was not the beast that had been writhing in the yard.
Red hair and tanned skin, he had the body of a typical warrior, but he didn't seem to be from the Lastonia Empire like her. Then, the boy tossed and turned, showing his back while lying face down.
[He must be a slave.]
Nancy said, looking at the boy's back with a surprised face. Soon, Maria felt goosebumps at the whip marks on the boy's back.
[Oh, God! How can a person's body be like this?]
Whether he had been whipped many times for a long time, the long, deep wounds had become scars covering his entire back. Suddenly, Maria saw a brand imprinted in the middle of his back.
[44?]
She didn't know why, but Maria unknowingly stroked his brand with her index finger. At that moment, the boy reflexively jumped up.
[Krrr...!]
[It's... it's okay. I'm trying to help you. I won't do anything dangerous.]
She could see the boy's face clearly as he glared at Maria. But his jewel-like turquoise eyes were impressive.
"Huh... cough!"
Maria tried to exhale roughly, but inhaled again because of the gag in her mouth. It was the moment when the fragments of memories she had forgotten for a while were pieced together one by one. No, as they suddenly rushed in like a whirlwind, she realized who the red beast-like man was.
'I remember.'