Chapter 12 Part 1

“That was my seat. Right, Roland? The seat I believed was mine from the very beginning.”

“A-ah, my lady. I—I was wrong….”

“Why is that? Roland, I can’t understand why some insignificant bug would dare to hinder me.”

Daisy Queenie, speaking in a calm tone and smiling sweetly, tilted her head. If not for the whip she held in her hand, Roland too would have been captivated by that sweet smile.

However, from the moment Daisy Queenie—who had seemed in a foul mood since morning—lost her temper, up until now when she knelt before her, Rolang had clearly realized whose hands her life depended on. She could only sob and beg for her life.

There had been more than a few servants who lost their lives by staying near Daisy Queenie when she was this furious. She had barely survived until now, but there was no guarantee it would be the same today.

“Why would that bug—which couldn’t even resist when I stepped on it and simply died—do this?”

Her eyes were filled with malice, completely at odds with that bright smile. In such moments, her master would unleash her worst temper, lashing out at servants with the whip as a way to vent. Even as she prostrated herself and pleaded, Roland trembled uncontrollably in fear of when that whip would strike her.

“I have to have everything! I can’t let that worthless wench take it from me!”

Unable to contain her rage, Daisy Queenie struck with the whip while breathing heavily. Without any particular technique, just raw strength, the whip shattered a nearby vase and tumbled to the floor. Broken shards flew, grazing their bodies, but neither Roland nor Daisy Queenie paid any attention to it. 

“I worked so hard all this time, went through so much…! After ruining my life, how can she smile so brazenly! What right does she have now to take what’s mine!!”

The studs attached to the whip’s tip sliced through the air. As the whip grazed her arm, Roland writhed in pain, begging for mercy, but her pleas did not reach Daisy Queenie’s ears.

Roland had managed to avoid violence until now because she was one of the few maids Daisy Queenie had barely managed to buy out in the ducal estate, which was filled with people placed by the Duchess, Remia. However, since no one had recently applied to be Daisy Queenie’s maid or servant, Roland was the only one left at her side.

Thus, when Daisy Queenie’s anger exploded today, Roland, who happened to make a mistake as usual, ended up becoming the target of her wrath.

“It was all mine! It was mine from the very beginning!!”

She shrieked as though seized by a fit and swung the whip in all directions. Roland, as well as Daisy Queenie’s hands and arms, ended up covered in wounds, but Daisy Queenie remained utterly indifferent. She had experienced multiple times that no matter how wildly she raged and injured herself in the process, her father, knowing her worth, would call in a priest to heal her without leaving a trace.

“Please spare me… Please, my lady! I was wrong. I beg you….”

The sound of Roland’s sobbing was nearly drowned out by her own screams when Locus stepped out from the corner of the room. Without sparing a glance at the shards strewn across the room, he bowed to Daisy Queenie, drawing her attention away from her outburst.

“Ah, Locus. You’ve come at just the right time.”

“For what purpose did you summon me, my lady?”

“There’s something I need you to do.”

Relaxed upon seeing Locus, Daisy Queenie casually tossed aside her whip and perched on the bed. Locus, who usually would have taken a seat on the sofa, noticed glass fragments scattered across it and awkwardly stood up again.

“That medicine I mentioned before.”

“If you mean the one that makes a person’s face melt away…?”

“That’s right. You said that if I just got the ingredients, you could make it.”

“They’re somewhat expensive ingredients, but I can make it. It won’t take long. Shall I bring the recipe?”

Daisy Queenie, satisfied by Locus’s reply, nodded. She seemed even happier than she’d been all day swinging her whip to relieve her anger.

Though a deep-seated sense of revulsion rose within him as he watched her, Locus suppressed it by recalling his nieces, who were under Daisy Queenie’s care. Bowing his head low, he departed.

Daisy Queenie burst into laughter as though in high spirits and lay down on the bed. Roland, who had been prostrating herself all this time while keeping an eye on her, stood up hesitantly and went to stand by the door.

“Once I get my hands on that poison, I’ll give it straight to Rose Knight. Let her live the rest of her life ridiculed, scorned by everyone’s disgusted eyes. The moment she falls into despair will be the happiest moment for me.”

Muttering hazily as though in a dream, Daisy Queenie hummed a tune and was about to head to her dressing room to change into new clothes, when Locus appeared again from that same corner as before.

“My lady, I’ve brought the recipe. The top part lists the necessary ingredients, and the bottom part explains how to make it.”

“How much can you make right away?”

“There are many ingredients I don’t have, so it’s impossible to produce it immediately. Most of them are expensive medicinal items, and I couldn’t afford them with my own money.”

“Hm, Roland, bring me the jewelry box.”

Startled upon hearing her name, Rolang quickly fetched the jewelry box and presented it before her. Daisy Queenie, utterly indifferent to whether Rolang was frightened of her or not, rummaged through the box as though searching for something.

“Have I used too many jewels lately? It looks like there aren’t any I can use right now… Ah, right. I’ve already paid in jewels at the information guild, so go and request the ingredients from there. Just take this seal with you, and they’ll take care of it.”

“Understood, my lady.”

Once Locus, holding the recipe, disappeared from the room again, Daisy Queenie turned back from changing her clothes and instead flung herself onto the bed.

“Roland.”

“Y-yes? Yes, my lady.”

“Tell Father to call for a priest—tonight.”

Evening had passed and darkness had already fallen outside. Summoning a priest at this hour wasn’t easy, even for a noble, but Daisy Queenie had no reservations. She had already received treatment like that several times, and she believed it would naturally continue. She had watched her father indulge her for years, knowing her worth to him.

Wanting desperately to leave that place, Roland hurried out of Daisy Queenie’s room. She felt so weak from terror that walking itself was difficult, but fearing another outburst if she were late, Roland forced her legs to move quickly.

Because Daisy Queenie had visited the information guild a few times with him acting as her escort, finding the guild building wasn’t difficult for Locus.

After handing over the seal and the ingredient list to the guild member in charge of guidance, Locus took a brief moment to catch his breath—only for the guild member to present him with a sheet of paper.

When Locus, who had accepted it absentmindedly, turned back with a puzzled look, the guild member gave a small shrug and offered a short explanation.

“It’s the request that was left here last time. We managed to finish organizing it earlier than expected. I was wondering when someone would come for it, but since you’re already here, I’m handing it over. Make sure to give it to that noble young lady.”

“All I have to do is deliver it to her?”

“Everything you need is in that paper, so I doubt there’s anything else.”

Delivering a single piece of paper was as simple as breathing compared to his current tasks. As Locus slipped the paper into his coat, the guild member nudged him with a suggestive look.

“So, why’s that noble young lady looking for kids? Are the kids she’s searching for her daughters? Maybe they’re illegitimate?”

At the mention of “daughters,” a chill ran down Locus’s spine. As far as he knew, there were no children anywhere near Daisy Queenie’s circle who could be called her daughters—let alone children she’d go to the trouble of hiring an information guild to find.

As an unthinkable possibility flashed through his mind, he retrieved the paper he had tucked away and began reading frantically. Skimming through the report, which detailed information about the two sisters who had gone missing after disembarking from the ship—organized at regular intervals—Locus felt his legs give way the moment he read that the two children might have become victims of human trafficking.

Collapsed on the spot, reading the paper in a daze, Locus must have looked terribly shaken, for the guild member who had handed him the information peered down at him in alarm.

“Hey, man. Something wrong?”

“Where did you get this information about these kids?”

“Two little girls, sisters at that, who stick together like that—it’s rare. Since it was a VIP client, we dug a bit deeper. I just mentioned the human trafficking angle on a hunch, and it turned out to be spot on.”

“Tornado… Clover?”