Chapter 8
No wonder the kid was so kind-hearted! So gutsy! Suddenly, the whole situation made perfect sense. From my romance-fantasy experience, I could predict how the original story unfolded.
Here we have the villainess Evangeline, her loyal servant Donau the villainess's henchwoman, and Kanna—the heroine and younger sister of the maid who serves the villainess.
Evangeline must have bullied the count's servants regularly, especially targeting Hena. The bullying crossed a line, so Donau kidnapped Hena's only sister, Kanna, on her orders. Then, while rescuing the endangered Kanna, the first meeting event with the male lead occurs!
Even though I possessed Evangeline's body, the original story's plot force probably made Donau kidnap Kanna anyway?
That explained Donau's rambling too. She kept muttering that she only did as I commanded. Wow... the original story's plot force is terrifying.
Does that mean I stole the male lead's debut scene? Should I have just left it alone? No, but how could I watch that happen to anyone, even if they're just novel characters?
"Do you have any more questions? The Lady looks tired, so we'll be going now."
Kanna ended the conversation after explaining. Her attitude toward the male lead was too cold for that.
This must be because I rescued Kanna instead of the male lead? The original heroine clinging to the villainess—this is totally a villainess possession story! Classic romance-fantasy!
"If any issues arise, come to the Rohanson Mansion."
Impressed inwardly, I bid the male lead farewell and turned to leave. Since the criminal, victim, and rescuer were all from Rohanson Mansion, I told him to visit if he got stuck on the report. Nice, earned some kindness points.
He offered to escort us to where Hena had parked the carriage and took the lead. As I followed Hena, my nape prickled. Glancing back, the male lead was glaring fiercely at me.
I didn't do anything villainess-like—why the glare? Is he jealous because Kanna took my side? Big trouble. Feels like I veered into the rival route instead of the villainess one....
***
"Commander, the fire's out."
"Good work, Raphaella."
Gabriel, still staring at the alley where the snow-white doll had vanished, finally snapped out of it at his subordinate's call. He'd been so distracted that the fire was extinguished in the meantime. The building ravaged by flames was now a crumpled mess unfit to be called a house.
Unlike the pristine white lady who claimed to have fled the fire without a smudge, everyone else's uniforms were covered in soot from clearing the debris.
"Sorry. I couldn't help while investigating the Lady."
"No problem. The fire put itself out."
"What?"
Raphaella scratched her head and explained as Gabriel asked.
"Really. It was blazing, then suddenly died down. It was weird from the start—burning only this house without spreading...."
Gabriel eyed the debris suspiciously.
He'd thought he'd been bewitched by a demon at first sight. In such a cramped, dense slum, a fire should've spread to the whole block. That's why he'd rushed with knights to evacuate people.
Expecting devastation, he arrived to find people not evacuating but gawking at the house burning alone, as if walled by an invisible firewall.
But what stole Gabriel's gaze wasn't the anomaly—it was the woman standing before the fire.
At first, he thought a statue stood amid the crowd. Unlikely in a slum to have such delicately carved marble.
He hadn't recognized her as human because she lacked anything resembling vitality. A broken twig would seem more human by comparison.
So when he witnessed the bizarre sight of crimson eyes—from something that should be dead—fixed on him, and red lips uttering human speech, he nearly lost his words in horror.
Gabriel feigned composure and spoke to her. As expected, she was far from human.
No warmth when speaking of her dead servant or looking at him. Like ignoring ants scurrying by, Gabriel was no more than an ant to her.
She showed some interest in the maid named Kanna beside her. Though receiving attention from something inhuman, the maid didn't seem normal either. Her blind, fervent demeanor resembled a zealot.
"Commander! Found the body!"
A subordinate shouted. Gabriel checked the corpse. Donau, was it? Even postmortem, charred and dismembered, it resembled a sculpture.
"This is...."
"Weird, huh? Coincidence, right?"
Behind the limbless corpse, floor scorch marks spread like wings, and behind the head, a halo-like glow circled as in saintly paintings—fit for angels or gods in masterpieces.
"Looks just like an angel."
Gabriel wasn't alone in thinking so. He clicked his tongue. An angel.... Wings of ash would shatter before flapping, plummeting to the abyss. That halo too—round glow seemed to blink at him.
***
"Shall I give you a room at the mansion?"
Lady Evangeline spoke in the returning carriage. Hena doubted her ears but couldn't ask again.
"Must be scary going home. I'll look after you."
Not a mishearing. Hena, about to decline politely, shut her mouth seeing the Lady's gaze on her sister, not her.
She was asking Kanna's opinion, not Hena's. Hena gripped Kanna's hand tightly. She wanted to tell her to refuse. But signaling might upset the Lady?
The gruesome death of Donau, who offended her, was still vivid. Even more baffling: Kanna's satisfaction with that nauseating end.
The Lady didn't rush an answer.
Such uncharacteristic consideration chilled Hena's spine. Like a devil in saintly garb mimicking mercy—odd not to fear it.
Lady Evangeline was relatively lenient with Hena, but seemed especially predatory toward Kanna. Like rescuing a trapped animal to claim it.
"Can Sis stay with me too?"
"Of course."
"I want to pick the room myself."
"Whatever you like."
And Kanna matched her. Chattering excitedly to the Lady—Hena nearly choked.
Kanna had always been unusually fearless as a child, but Hena never imagined she'd act so boldly before the Lady. In Kanna's satisfied smile, Hena glimpsed her past self.
Back when Father lived, adorable Kanna would spill food and throw tantrums for affection. After his death, she'd matured with age.
Did the Lady's rescue win her heart?
Hena had claimed the Holy Water was stolen while saying it was from Lady Evangeline—so twice saved? Not wrong. Without the Lady's cat, Kanna would still be bedridden; without the Lady today, her wound wouldn't end at the throat.
"Then, is the room right below yours okay, Lady?"
The Lady had said pick anywhere except her fourth-floor residence; Kanna chose the room directly below on the third—former residence of the late Countess Rohanson.
Kanna, never worked at the mansion, just picked randomly, but the third floor was the late Countess's. That specific room hers? Of course, Lady Evangeline wouldn't care for dead kin in her shell.
"Lady. That was the Countess's room."
"She's dead, so no owner now. Furniture's there too—easy to move in."
Hena explained cautiously, but the Lady dismissed it: empty, ownerless floor—fine. She'd inform Count Rohanson and the Butler.
Hena couldn't object even to giving the Countess's room to a maid's sister, nodding unconsciously before freezing.
The Butler knew of Kanna's illness. Seeing her suddenly cured and mobile would raise suspicions—maybe link to the stolen Holy Water.
'That can't happen....'
"Lady. I'll tell the Butler."
"Good. Then I'll just tell the Count."
Keep it from the Butler as much as possible. Hena recalled his routines: second floor, never up. He avoided Lady Evangeline, so Kanna near her should be safe.
Just endure a bit. Count Rohanson wouldn't allow a maid's sister the Countess's room—eviction soon. Stay quiet till then.
With arrangements set, they detoured to Hena's home. She and Kanna packed for a few days—mostly clothes, done quickly with few possessions.
Loaded, they rode long to Rohanson Mansion.
Usually maids exit first for escort, but Evangeline stepped down unhesitatingly.
"Pudding! Came to greet me."
Spotting the cat draped over the gate bars, her impassive face bloomed into a smile.
Lady Evangeline adored that bizarre creature. Seeing the monster reduced to a pet in her arms was always strange.
The cat's three eyes gleamed at Hena and Kanna before lazily closing. Kanna murmured softly.
"The eyes disappeared?"
