If one falls too deeply into a vivid dream, there are times when it feels like reality.
Could it be that all those experiences were just a dream?
Even though she thought it couldn’t be true, Yuria felt a bit of relief in the completely transformed reality.
There was no basement where blood flowed.
Looking around, all she saw was the room she always woke up in.
Robert, who had approached with a sword, and the dead attendant were nowhere to be found.
If it were a dream, the sensations wouldn’t be so vivid. Her body, without a single pain,
As she slowly got up from the bed, she realized that cold sweat had gathered on her forehead.
Perhaps it was a nightmare. However, she didn’t like the fact that the attendant hadn’t come until she woke up like this.
What time could it be that he’s not here?
It seemed like the sun had risen ages ago, yet why hadn’t he come even at this hour?
She heard that Robert was coming to the ducal residence today. Was he busy preparing for him?
Even after a considerable amount of time had passed since she woke up, the attendant didn’t enter, and in the end, unable to bear it anymore, Yuria walked out and opened the door.
“…Is nobody here?”
There was no sound in the empty hallway.
Though it was the hallway she usually walked, the increasing sense of discomfort at the absence of people grew stronger as she moved forward.
Even when she occasionally saw the faces of passing attendants, they were all unfamiliar.
It was natural, after all; she had executed all those who couldn’t work.
The demeanor of those who lowered their heads to her was calm.
They weren’t trembling in fear like before; they just walked to fulfill their duties.
Something was definitely different. It was not what she knew, or remembered.
Stumbling as if wandering through a dream, Yuria leaned against the wall and spotted someone.
“Oh, you’ve finally woken up.”
Was it Renold? Remembering he had been the butler, Yuria narrowed her eyes.
Though he was bowing, didn’t his tone imply he was looking down on her?
It wasn’t just Renold.
In the glances and gestures of the attendants passing through the hall, she could read their insincere intentions.
Having mastered reading others’ emotions, Yuria let out a hollow laugh while touching her forehead, twisting her lips.
What on earth had happened in just a day?
Just yesterday, they were trembling, and now they acted so brazenly.
Seeing the faint smile on Renold’s lips twisted her emotions.
How could someone who had originally sided with Robert stroll around so shamelessly?
“Have you finally lost your mind? I really don’t know why you’re here.”
“Hmm, I’m not quite sure what you mean, but the reason I’m here is that I am the head butler, aren’t I?”
“Don’t talk nonsense about being the head butler. It’s not you—”
Yuria’s hand froze in mid-air, about to say someone else’s name.
Who was the head butler again? Despite having appointed them herself, she couldn’t remember. It was as if that person never existed.
Renold had left with Robert, and afterward, she had appointed the head butler herself.
Having already received a certain degree of authority from her father, it was possible.
“Was there someone else besides me? This is the first I’ve heard of such a thing.”
To Yuria, who hesitated, Renold replied.
Renold replied to her.
The smile that bloomed on her lips was clearly mocking, yet Yuria couldn’t refute it.
The attendants passing by chuckled and laughed.
Yuria, her tightly clenched fist trembling, finally regained her composure and exhaled softly.
If she got angry in a place like this, it would only reveal her impatience.
She would rather see their hands when she became the head of the family. Remembering the faces of the chuckling attendants, she slowly moved her lips toward Renold.
“I must have been mistaken. So, why are you here?”
“Well, it’s something from when the young lady was a child. I don’t know why you’re acting like someone who just arrived.”
“…I remember you were indeed with Robert. You were a butler, right? Yes, I think you became the head butler. Then where is Robert now?”
At that question, Renold tilted his head and answered with a strange expression, as if genuinely puzzled.
“Lady of the House is certainly in her office. If you wish to speak with her, I can escort you, but it seems you haven’t fully woken up yet.”
“…What?”
Yuria, stunned by the words that reached her ears, let out a small laugh and shook her head.
The Lady of the House is me. No, it was me. Is it because I’m now the temporary head of the family that Robert is referred to as the Lady of the House?
Then she bit her lips again and quietly voiced her thoughts.
“That’s impossible.”
There was no way Robert could be called the Lady of the House.
Even if she became the head of the family, only the children of the head could be the Lady of the House, and there was no way so much could change overnight.
In that moment, a pain shot through her head, causing her legs to wobble. She leaned against the wall and pondered.
She couldn’t understand what Renold said, and she couldn’t fully accept this situation.
The Lady of the House… is still me. The temporary head of the family could not be recognized as a position.
Robert was hiding under the skirts of the Saint, and the head butler wasn’t Renold but someone else.
Yet everyone was accepting this situation as if it were natural.
As if all the life she had lived was a lie.
“It hurts…”
When she pinched her arm, she felt the pain. Cold sweat flowed, and the chill creeping up her spine was also real.
So this is reality? That can’t be true.
She was a temporary head who had taken most of the authority from her father, and today she was supposed to welcome Robert and kill—
But didn’t they say Robert was already here?
She couldn’t tell what was true. Was it real that Robert came to the ducal residence and slaughtered all the attendants, or was what she was seeing right now reality?
This is an illusion. If that’s the case, then she should wake up.
The expressions of the attendants watching Yuria, who was scratching her whole body like crazy, began to twist grotesquely.
Their mouths stretched as if they were going to tear, blood dripping from the corners of their lips, yet they laughed hysterically.
“You’re acting quite strange today. Would you like us to ask the Lady of the House for help?”
“The Lady of the House is me. Don’t say useless things.”
“What delusion are you under? Didn’t you give up being the head long ago? With all the nobles supporting the Lady of the House now, do you perhaps entertain other thoughts?”
“Didn’t you just say that? With all the nobles already supporting the Lady of the House, is there any chance you have other thoughts?”
Renold’s mouth twisted oddly as he spoke, causing Yuria, who had stopped scratching her body, to frown slightly.
She wiped her bloodied arm with a handkerchief. It was time to think a little more calmly.
Perhaps this was an illusion. The faces of the attendants surrounding her felt eerily familiar.
Of course, they were the attendants she had killed before.
There was no way the dead could come back to life, right?
While they still chuckled and laughed, Yuria’s expression gradually became serene.
There was no need to be shaken by this.
Regardless of what tricks Robert had played on her, she could easily shake off such illusions.
“Step aside. I need to go see that so-called Lady of the House you’re talking about.”
“Well, if you say so.”
She didn’t like his sarcastic tone, but if she could escape this dream, everything would be resolved.
She planned to catch and kill Renold before she dealt with Robert.
She was going to skin him alive and sprinkle salt on him, leaving him for the bugs to feast on.
That way, perhaps her temper would calm down a bit; she pushed past Renold’s shoulder roughly as she walked.
She didn’t want to see the faces of the attendants following her.
They had merely died due to their lack of ability; could they blame her for that?
When an attendant who had died defending Robert followed her, Yuria waved her hand to shove it away.
She had once killed the butler who raised Robert like his own son.
The butler stood motionless in the middle of the hallway, causing Yuria to frown and walk on.
There was no need even to spare a glance. What would change, even if they blamed her now?
“I’m sick of this.”
Even hating or blaming herself wouldn’t change a thing. She died due to a lack of ability.
It was merely because she couldn’t do her job and was bothersome that she had died.
She had killed those who shouted for revenge. And she had also killed those who swore to avenge their family one day.
Once dead, everything ends there.
If all these dead were just illusions, Yuria smiled faintly as she stood before the office where the Lady of the House resided.
Would Robert be in the room where she was supposed to be working?
It was ridiculous. There was no way Robert could shake her resolve like this.
Sure, she was angry, but ultimately, it was just an illusion. Once she got out of here, only her victorious future would remain.
Without knocking, she flung the door open. What she saw beyond the door was Robert sitting in her place.
His blue eyes stared at her with no emotion whatsoever.
As he brushed back his ash-gray hair, Robert smiled faintly and spoke.
“So you’ve come this far. Do you have some understanding of this illusion now?”
“I definitely know that killing you will let me escape this hallucination. Looks like you’ll just have to die peacefully.”
Taking out a dagger from her cloak, Yuria stepped forward. There was no sword visible on Robert’s body.
The dagger was coated with a deadly poison, so even if she couldn’t stab him, she believed she could still kill him.
While Robert stood there defenseless, looking a little weird, Yuria thought that was just part of his confidence.
If she strayed from here, she would surely regret that confidence.
“Are you going to kill me?” Robert said. A subtle smile was still on his lips as he sat there.
It was amusing to see him show no resistance at all. Just a few steps closer, and he could stab the dagger right in.
Even as the hand gripping the dagger trembled, calmness was maintained.
He seemed to have no doubts at all as he approached casually and peacefully.
One step forward.
And just as he was about to move in closer to stab, Robert’s voice whispered in his ear.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be the one to die.”
The voice came from behind. The Robert sitting in front of him had vanished.
The view of the office had also completely disappeared.
The body that was about to reach out was completely bound, tied somewhere.
His arms were tied behind him, and he sat on a cold chair, staring blankly into the void.
The basement. The cold room where he had bound and trained Robert.
“What the… ugh!”
Before he could even understand why he was here, blood started trickling from his lips.
His chest was pounding and aching, as if his heart was about to explode.
Though his back was arched, he was bound and unable to move.
A silent scream erupted from his mouth, which was blocked by something.
He was no stranger to inflicting pain on others, but the woman who had never experienced such pain in her life writhed at the unbearable sensation.
Still, nothing changed. Even as she vomited blood from her mouth and screamed in agony, there was no one to hear her cries.
“You’ll die soon. Well, it seems like this much pain is enough to kill someone. How is it? Does it hurt a lot?”
It felt as if Robert’s words echoed in his ears. But he couldn’t respond.
There were surely no visible wounds on his body, yet he couldn’t react properly to the pain relayed through his brain.
He just wished for this pain to end, but he couldn’t even know when this endless suffering would cease.
If dying would mean the end, wouldn’t that be better? Because there was no way he could endure this pain.
As a person, who could withstand such agony?
There was a word that shattered that hope. Robert quietly approached Yuria, who was writhing, tied to the chair, and then smirked as he parted his lips.
“Well then, see you next time.”
Her consciousness blurred in the midst of the pain, but that line felt distinctly clear.
It was a sentence she didn’t want to hear and didn’t want to believe.
For the first time, she realized how loathsome the word “next” could be, and just like that, Yuria’s awareness faded.
But it wasn’t the end.
This was merely the first death.
The bad ending of a woman would continue on.
Memories long forgotten would revive, along with visions that resonated with them.
Thus, she was headed towards the 101st encounter.
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