***

There was a strange tension flowing through the main building of the Blanche estate.

This was because their master, Sybel Blanche, had been in a very foul mood lately.

Since returning from the royal ball and trashing his office, Sybel had been showing hysterical reactions more frequently.

He was particularly sensitive to birds, to the point where the chef didn’t even serve chicken in his meals for a while.

Just as everyone was getting used to the unexplained changes in the head of the household.

“While I was away, this place has completely turned into a mongrel’s den.”

The disaster that was slowly being forgotten by people had returned to the mansion.

“Be-Be-Belinda, my lady!”

“Butler, you’ve gone senile in my absence. Since when has my name been Be-be-belinda?”

At her cold mockery, neither the butler nor anyone else present dared to open their mouths.

“There’s a guest, so everyone should welcome them grandly.”

“A guest……?”

The butler, who had barely regained his senses, lost them again at the sight of the four-legged beasts entering the mansion behind Belinda.

Woof! Woof woof!

Grrrrrr.

Whine.

It was unclear when she had tamed such ferocious beasts, but three Dobermans, baring their fangs as if ready to pounce, surrounded Belinda protectively.

Belinda, like a knight tending to her squires, stroked the head of each one as she introduced her guests.

“This one is good at biting, that one is good at tearing, and this one is good at chewing.”

“Eek!”

One of the employees let out a choked gasp at the terrifying growl of the large dogs without leashes.

“You don’t need to hide in mouse holes just yet. As long as you don’t bother me, these kids won’t bite, tear, or chew you.”

It was hard to tell if this was meant to be reassuring or threatening.

“I’m here to check if things are running well without me, so there’s no need to be so tense, butler. You must have cleared out my room, so guide me to the guest room.”

“Bu-but……”

“It would be best to think carefully about what the right answer is.”

“……I’ll guide you, my lady.”

Throughout guiding Belinda to the guest room, the butler trembled in fear, worried that Belinda’s beasts might pounce on him from behind.

Fortunately, no attack occurred, but soon all the employees of the mansion had to suffer Belinda’s tyranny to the point where they thought being bitten by the dogs might be preferable.

Crash!

“You call this a meal? Do you think I wouldn’t notice if you put poison in my food?”

Throwing away meals, claiming non-existent poison, was just the beginning.

“You vermin! You must be planning to spy on me and report my every move to that mongrel.”

“N-no, my lady! I-I was just wondering if you needed anything……”

She drove away the maids attending to her with unreasonable accusations.

At this point, even the dogs Belinda brought seemed more well-behaved.

Sybel, who had entered the palace to meet the prince and heard about this situation in advance, returned home with firm resolve.

For the past month or so, he had lived feeling as if his blood was drying up.

Belinda’s warning always wriggled in his ear like a bug.

If she had awakened her ability to control monsters, there was no way she would leave it buried.

Unable to let his guard down even for a moment, his nerves, on edge every night, became increasingly frayed, as if sanded down, and he lost his composure day by day.

Therefore, Sybel was almost relieved at Belinda’s visit this time, despite her obvious intentions.

Whatever her scheme was, he had to dissect and uncover it this time.

To confirm that that damned thing was still in the palm of his hand.

“It’s been a while, brother.”

He needed to confirm……

On the landing of the stairs leading from the central hall to the second floor.

At that very place where it was ‘known’ that Blanche’s precious child had pushed her brother, Sybel, encountering Belinda, stiffened with a strange sense of discomfort.

The face that once looked up at him helplessly, filled with fear, now gazed at him with an arrogant smile.

The young Belinda had whispered to him desperately with an expression stained with betrayal.

“……Did you kill her? Did you kill Jenny, brother?”

That voice, as fragile as a rain-soaked flower petal, was still so vivid, and yet.

With a voice as composed as if she were a completely different person from back then, Belinda opened her mouth.

“Sybel, why did you kill Father?”

Sybel was not one to show being stabbed by a knife.

However, the moment a fragment of sin that he had locked away tightly, confident that no one would ever discover it, was thrust before his eyes.

“What…… nonsense are you talking about? Belinda, you’ve truly gone mad.”

Sybel’s gentle smile, which had been like skin, tore apart, revealing his ominous true nature through the cracks.

There was no confession more certain than that twisted smile.

Belinda sighed exaggeratedly, as if she had just witnessed a horrific crime.

“My goodness, you really did kill your father.”

“Shut that mouth of yours!”

Sybel roughly grabbed Belinda by the collar.

Despite being Belinda, she couldn’t overcome the difference in physique, and she was helplessly dragged by his strong grip.

The Dobermans guarding her side opened their mouths in excitement, as if they were about to tear into Sybel’s nape, but with a single gesture from Belinda, they remained motionless.

Sybel growled low enough for only Belinda to hear, spitting out his words.

“Yes, I killed that senile old man. Belinda, you stupid wench. What do you think you can do now that you know this fact? The only evidence has already turned into a rotten corpse.”

As he continued speaking, his sadistic tendencies bubbled up.

A person’s essence doesn’t change easily.

Belinda’s core was a weak woman starved for affection, and Sybel had an exceptional talent for inducing that child to give up and throw herself off a cliff of her own accord.

“All you can do is wallow in your powerlessness, mourning that damned father and whining as you’ve always done. So…!”

“For the first time, you’re being honest with me, Sybel.”

At those words, which at first glance seemed to be nothing, Sybel was struck speechless.

Belinda was smiling.

As if truly relieved.

“That one statement is enough.”

He thought Belinda had her back to a thousand-foot cliff.

But when he came to his senses, he realized it was Sybel himself who was precariously standing at the edge of the stairs.

Belinda dug her nails into the back of Sybel’s hand that was gripping her collar, prying his hand off.

“Sybel, I don’t believe in God.”

The massive shadow stretching behind her was engulfing the spot where the current head of the family’s portrait hung.

Sybel blinked as he watched Belinda’s shadow, gradually becoming more grotesque, completely cover his portrait, casting a dark shade.

And then, thud.

“So I won’t entrust our fate to someone called God.”

Belinda’s hand lightly pushed his shoulder.

Unlike in the past when he had entrusted his fate to God, Sybel desperately flailed his arms trying to grasp onto something.

Crash!

Falling back first, his breath was knocked out, and for a moment, the world looked blurry.

Amidst the screams of the employees who had rushed over hearing the commotion, the sound of heels slowly descending the stairs seemed particularly clear.

“Master!”

“Oh my, young lady! What is this……”

A pair of bright red shoes stood before Sybel’s eyes.

Sybel gasped and choked.

“You’re not as badly hurt as back then. No bleeding or broken bones. I suppose when you have a lot, you don’t get hurt so easily.”

Belinda looked down at Sybel with a calm face.

Even in this situation, no one could approach Belinda.

It was because three Dobermans were guarding her side.

“Kugh, kugh. You, damn wench……”

“Yes, that’s right. Squirm like a worm.”

Only then did something resembling a smile form on Belinda’s face.

“Butler, prepare the carriage. I’m returning to the annex. This place reeks of mongrels, I can’t stand to be here anymore.”

Not a single person there could stop Belinda as she turned away without hesitation, or questioned her wrongdoing.

***

As soon as I got into the carriage, I let out the breath I had been holding.

The hand that had pushed Sybel was trembling, but I forcefully clenched my fist to hide the shaking.

‘So Sybel really did kill Uncle.’

It felt like I was standing on a swamp rather than solid ground.

[Synchronization 100% complete.]

[Receive ‘Quest Reward: Fragment of Belinda’s Memory (Fourth)’ as a reward.]

[Special rewards are given when you acquire memory fragments.]

[When you acquire ‘Quest Reward: Fragment of Belinda’s Memory (Fourth)’, you can use ‘Quest Reward: Deactivation of Belinda Translator’.]

I barely swallowed the rising nausea and dismissed the system window that appeared before my eyes.

The joy of completing synchronization and the excitement of being able to deactivate the translator soon were issues for later.

I was mentally exhausted from the sense of isolation I felt as Belinda in the main building and the weight of the truth I had learned from Sybel.

Right now, I just wanted to go home and rest.

Fortunately, the carriage soon came to a stop, and I belatedly realized that a light rain was falling.

It was when I forcefully steadied my wobbling legs and got out of the carriage.

“Lady Be-Belinda!”

Something rushed towards me and threw itself into my arms.

“I heard from Terry that you went to the main building! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“……”

Forgetting my fatigue, I stared blankly at Leo, who was wearing a large red ribbon on his head like a gift box ribbon.

‘What is this?’

As I reached out to touch Leo’s ribbon, the door of the annex opened slightly, and Vivian called out urgently.

“Seedo! You, you shouldn’t go out now!”

“Ah! Please pretend you didn’t see that just now!”

Leo quickly detached himself from me and scurried away into the mansion.

I turned to look at Sir Penadel, who was holding an umbrella over me.

“…What was that just now?”

“You’ll understand if you go inside and see for yourself.”

Sir Penadel answered in an uncharacteristic manner, as if hiding something.

With a dazed expression, as if I had just seen a mythical creature from legend, I opened the door of the annex.

“Happy birthday, Belinda!”

The gray world was dyed in a warm shade of scarlet.