Melissa knew that without being told. She had overheard Erich and Reizen’s conversation at the Glinford Hotel while half-asleep.

“But you’re not His Lordship.”

“No, I’m not. But that means making such a request is truly dangerous. What if I were a spy……”

Erich stopped his nagging mid-sentence.

Tears fell from Melissa’s round eyes, wetting the front of her dress. Erich opened his mouth with a bewildered expression, trying to continue speaking, but only let out a sigh instead of words.

His expression showed he was at his wit’s end.

* * *

Reizen walked heavily down the corridor wearing a robe after finishing his shower. His heavy footsteps were probably due to the evening’s conversation.

“Are you worried about me finding out?”

Those eyes were truly brazen.

She seemed like a completely different person from the woman who had first begged him to kill her. They were eyes full of life. Surprisingly, he didn’t mind how those eyes gleamed red.

Even though her words were almost threatening.

Was this also because of the brand?

Originally, he should have felt threatened about having his secret discovered, but instead he found himself thinking her angry expression was quite pretty.

He wasn’t in his right mind.

Click.

He opened the door. He was planning to explain things to Melissa since they had agreed to meet in the room that evening.

He had thought of several excuses while showering. Having considered every possibility from 1 to 10, he wouldn’t be at a loss for words.

“Melissa.”

But the room was empty.

Thinking she might still be bathing, he sat and waited a while, but there were no sounds of maids and the corridor remained silent.

As he got up to pour some water that the maids had brought earlier on a silver tray, he discovered a note placed on top.

It was a note from Melissa.

[Going for a walk. Don’t worry, I’m not alone. – M.G.]

Reading the simple message about going for a walk made his head throb as heat rose within him.

“Erich.”

He called out the name in a low voice.

But even after waiting a moment, there was no response.

“Ha……”

I assigned him to watch her and he goes on a walk with her?

Reizen licked his dry lips and laughed in disbelief.

* * *

After convincing Erich that it would only take a moment, Melissa, who had gone outside, rode her horse hard.

“Oh, you must come with me!”

Erich followed closely behind Melissa in confusion. Melissa rode straight down the mountainside along the path laid out by the hotel.

Though Erich called out to stop her midway, saying they were going too far, she pretended not to hear and continued riding frantically.

What she needed wasn’t a walking companion but an escort. Though she felt bad about deceiving him, she knew Reizen would certainly have prevented her from going if she had asked for permission.

Rael needed her. Sending someone else would be meaningless.

However, it would be dangerous for Melissa to move alone, so she brought along a trustworthy escort.

“Please, my lady!”

Finally, Melissa’s horse stopped in the entertainment district after descending to the capital’s center. Ignoring Erich, who said he didn’t know she was such a skilled rider and that they should return, she ran into the store of Marita Loge, where the sign had fallen.

“My lady!”

Honestly, she had resolved never to set foot here again in her life.

She had decided she would rather bite her tongue and die than step foot in this place again. But thinking about Rael dying made her so desperate she didn’t even have time to feel fear.

She was out of breath from riding non-stop, worried Erich might catch up. A high-pitched ringing sounded in her ears. Her lips were parched, and her eyes frantically scanned the ruined store.

“Rael!”

She ran around the stage toward the dressing room.

“Rael…!”

She prayed she wasn’t too late.

“Rael!”

She pulled back the curtains hung around the dressing room with tears in her eyes. Dark, dried bloodstains and liquor bottles were scattered on the floor.

Leaving the dressing room, Melissa called out for Rael at the top of her lungs.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone here, we need to go back…!”

As Erich tried to stop her, she ran past him, evading his grasp.

“Please, my lady. You can’t do this!”

Unable to grab Melissa forcefully, Erich’s neck bulged with veins in frustration.

As Melissa looked around for traces, she noticed bloodstains leading to the passageway beside the dressing room. That way led to the small room where Melissa used to stay.

She ran down the narrow passage.

And at the end of the passage, she found Rael being strangled by Marita.

“How dare you betray me? If you want to die, die alone, you f*cking…!”

Marita seemed out of her mind. She pressed down on Rael’s neck with her rough, hoarse voice. Rael’s face was a mess from whatever beating she had received before.

Melissa’s hands trembled.

Marita was nicknamed the witch. Since childhood, the two of them had never been able to resist and always quickly reported everything to Selheim – she was their aunt.

Still, Marita had always survived like a zombie and would appear during social seasons. In the end, when she failed to marry at a marriageable age, the twins became the target of her frustration. It was simply because the twins were young and had no adults looking after them, making them the easiest targets.

“Die!”

Melissa’s vision turned white with learned fear. Her heart had been pounding severely since earlier. Blood rushed to her head so fast she felt she might faint at any moment.

Though it was Rael being strangled, somehow Melissa felt her own throat being squeezed too. Her face turned bright red and she couldn’t breathe.

It was another attack.

“Huh, uh……”

For a brief moment, her eyes met Rael’s. She seemed to have given up, trying to avoid Melissa’s gaze and close her eyes.

That sight made Melissa unbearably angry despite her breathlessness. Wasn’t she a woman with the same face as her? She should be struggling, begging to be saved, telling her to stop – why was she giving up like this?

Melissa quickly rolled her eyes around and picked up a whiskey bottle that had fallen to the floor.

“My lady!”

Just as Erich shouted and Marita turned her head to the side.

Thwack!

The bottle Melissa swung split open Marita’s forehead. Red blood trickled down Marita’s brow. Her wide eyes looked at Melissa and gradually grew larger.

In an instant, Marita’s eyes rolled back and she fell forward.

“Hah.”

Melissa turned pale. The shock of hitting Marita had shattered the bottle, embedding glass shards in her hand as well. Blood dripped down, soaking the floor.

Her vision blurred as she looked at her blood-stained hands.

Her breathing grew increasingly loud. Her gaze darted around, not knowing what to do. She could see Erich shouting something behind her, but couldn’t make out the words.

Hah, hah.

She just looked down while taking labored breaths. She could see Rael crying with her mouth open, face swollen.

“Sis…ter…”

That voice, barely escaping because she couldn’t even cry properly, was the only thing that held onto Melissa’s consciousness.

“Ah, uh, uh……”

Melissa’s expression crumpled as tears fell. She stumbled forward and helped Rael stand up.

“Take her outside!”

Erich shouted urgently.

“Do you really want to go back to Sorbet!”

Ignoring Erich raising his voice in desperation, she tried to drag Rael away. Rael shook her head in refusal.

“Just, go.”

She meant to pretend not to know and just leave.

She acted as if none of this mattered since she had planned to die anyway. She reeked of rot, having drunk who knows how much alcohol.

Melissa felt tears about to burst forth again.

“Mel……”

She forcibly moved forward, dragging the resisting Rael. It was fortunate that Rael, like Melissa, wasn’t particularly large in build, making it somewhat possible to move her.

Erich smashed an oil lamp he had gotten from somewhere onto the floor.

“Please… Mel……”

Just, go…….

A groaning voice was heard, too weak to even cry. Blood dripped from Melissa’s hands, staining Rael’s shoulders and body.

“Sel, heim, will, sis…ter…”

“I know. Don’t speak, please.”

Melissa sobbed as she dragged Rael along.

Just needed to climb the stairs now, but the stairs leading to ground level seemed impossibly high.

“Can you move your legs at all?”

Rael blinked slowly. She was so badly beaten that her eyes were too swollen to open properly.

“Hah-uh.”

Melissa’s heart felt like it was crumbling as she saw that face up close.

Melissa hoisted Rael onto her back while crying and hiccuping. With each step up the stairs, holding onto the wall, an unbearable weight pressed down on Melissa’s shoulders.

“Huu, ugh. Huu……”

Melissa climbed the stairs while crying.

Even if her bones broke, she desperately wanted to get Rael out of this place. Rather than escaping alone, this time she wanted to be liberated together with Rael.

—

T/N: DAMN, I feel bad for both of them 🙁