Chapter 56
Survivor’s Testimony
The place Lin led Delphine to was a wooden shack tucked away in the very deepest alley of this labyrinthine red-light district.
Lin rapped lightly on the door. Before long, they heard the sound of someone dragging their feet toward them.
The door opened—but only after the metallic clink of a lock being undone.
Through a gap barely wide enough to fit a finger, a rough voice slipped out.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me… the red rose emblem.”
Lin added the words softly.
It seemed to be some kind of slang referring to La Rouge.
“What the hell! Why’ve you come back? I told you never to come here again!”
The man beyond the door shouted in a voice heavy with unease.
Lin, unfazed, replied evenly.
“…Payment for testimony. You must be running low on drinking money by now.”
“…”
From behind the shabby door came silence.
Then—clank, clank—the man began noisily undoing multiple locks.
It was only after quite some time that they were finally allowed inside.
The man didn’t even bother with greetings; he immediately turned his attention to locking the door again, one bolt after another.
The door looked so flimsy a good kick could knock it down—so why did he need so many locks?
The cramped room could barely hold three people standing, and the air was thick with the stench of alcohol.
Empty bottles lay scattered everywhere.
Could they really trust the testimony of someone like this?
While Delphine’s skeptical gaze roamed the room, the man finished fastening the locks and abruptly spun around to shout:
“You’re here to ask about the blond devil again, aren’t you?”
The question came out of nowhere.
“…Blond devil?” Delphine echoed under her breath.
“That’s right!”
The man’s whole body began trembling violently as he shouted like a madman.
“That devil who killed a thousand people in just one month…!”
What on earth was he talking about?
Suppressing the tremor in her chest, Delphine forced herself to ask calmly:
“Tell me in detail. What exactly did this blond devil do?”
“Just what I said. Must’ve been about a year ago now. One day, that man suddenly showed up in this alley.”
The man began shaking all over.
As if to calm his own nerves, he snatched up a bottle and poured the liquor down his throat before continuing.
“And then… he started killing men who came to the red-light district. Waiting in the shadows—silent as death, strong beyond compare…”
The frightened man’s eyes grew dim, as if reliving the memory.
“It was the same that night. I was in a room, with other customers… and then he appeared! Killed five men in one go that night.”
Only now did Delphine understand why Lin had called him a survivor.
“Then you…”
“I hid in the trash bin in that room and somehow made it out alive. I’m probably the only one…”
The man muttered through chattering teeth.
“They said that devil never lets go once he’s chosen a target.”
For a moment, Delphine was at a loss for words, her expression clouded with confusion.
A “blond devil”? She had never heard the name before.
Could such a horrifying incident really have happened in the Empire?
Perhaps she hadn’t heard of it because it took place in the Third District.
“No one remembers the name now—except this man,” Lin murmured, sensing her doubt.
No one, save one person, remembered Ioann.
The familiarity of the story sent a shiver up Delphine’s spine, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
If that’s the case… then this blond devil is… Ioann?
The man, who had been yelling, suddenly turned anxious again, checking each lock on the door one by one as he muttered:
“That’s right. No one remembers. No one… H-how is that possible?”
He seemed far from sane, as if worn down by years of compulsion and fear.
“That’s enough,” Lin cut off the man’s ramblings in a cold, detached tone.
He tossed him a few gold coins as if flinging them away, then led Delphine back outside.
Just before the door closed, she glanced back.
The man was muttering to himself in the dark room.
“No one remembers… the blond devil… This is wrong… something’s not right…”
The door shut again.
The sound of the many locks sliding into place echoed down the narrow alley.
As they left the alley, Lin spoke quietly.
“Up until now, people remembered Pride as the hero who put down the Third District rebellion a year ago.”
That was—until Delphine appeared and revealed the truth.
“But you said that man, once a slave, fled to the Third District three years ago. Then six months ago, he suddenly returned as a marquis… and demanded you marry him.”
Delphine nodded.
The survivor’s account also pointed to events from a year ago.
“According to him, the blond devil was powerful and tactically brilliant back then, but still within human limits.”
Which meant that at that time, Ioann had not yet used magical power—he had been a fully human man.
In other words, it was only after that that he obtained some vast, inhuman power.
And with that power, he altered the memories of the entire Empire and reappeared as a marquis.
“…That’s the story, right?”
When Delphine summed it up like that, Lin nodded with an expression of admiration.
“That’s right. Belli said the same.”
But there were still many unanswered questions.
Foremost among them—why was she the only one who remembered Ioann’s past?
“Why…?” Delphine asked in bewilderment.
“Could it be related to my ability to recharge Posium?”
Lin hesitated, unable to answer right away.
Look into her origins—especially on her mother’s side.
That was what Belli had secretly ordered.
…Should he tell her?
She was one of them now, wasn’t she?
Belli had said to wait until everything was certain, but surely she had the right to know.
“Delphine.”
“Yes?”
“Well, actually…”
Lin had just made up his mind to tell her when a loud vibration sounded from his coat.
He pulled out the communicator and quickly brought it to his mouth.
“What is it?”
The reply from the other side was brief.
“Emergency. Marquis Pride is returning to the estate.”
Ioann was coming back?
They had left thinking he’d be away for several days—it was why they’d felt safe leaving.
Delphine’s face went pale.
She’d left Lin’s doll in the study; Ioann would notice something amiss in an instant.
“Don’t worry,” Lin said, gripping the Posium tightly and taking her hand without hesitation.
“I’ll get you back there—before he returns.”
Instead of a perfunctory reply, Delphine simply nodded hard.
“Where is the lady?”
The voice was deep, low, and chillingly cold.
Pride’s voice seeped through the gap of the slightly open boudoir door.
“M-milady is in the study right now!” Betty answered quickly, tension written all over her face.
“…Have you not informed her that I’ve returned?”
“O-of course I have! It’s just, um… Milady said she wanted to finish her book today and didn’t wish to be disturbed…”
“Disturbed, you say.”
Pride’s voice dropped another octave.
He had already disliked that maid’s habit of hovering near Delphine.
Betty blanched and hurried to amend her words.
“N-no, I mean—of course, that’s not what I meant, Master—!”
“I’m right here.”
A calm voice spoke from just outside the boudoir door.
Delphine entered gracefully, skirts swaying, hair gleaming like waves.
There was no trace of the frantic rush she’d made to change clothes after hurrying back to the study.
“My lady,” Ioann greeted her warmly, his expression softening at once.
Had the door not been open, no one would have believed he had just been interrogating the maid in an icy tone.
“Milady,” Betty said in a shaky, emotional voice, as if relieved.
Delphine gave her a warm smile, approving her for following instructions so well, and dismissed her from the room.
Betty left in a fluster, as if she’d been waiting for the chance.
“The novel was so good I lost track of time,” Delphine told Ioann with a gentle smile.
“Since you were going to be away for a few days, I told the maid not to let anyone disturb me.”
“The matter ended sooner than expected,” Ioann replied with an equally soft smile.
Seeing his usual demeanor, Delphine quietly exhaled in relief.
…No sign of suspicion.
According to La Rouge’s report, he had suddenly decided to return, and she had worried.
She didn’t know how he had traveled from the Third District to here so quickly, but if she had been even a little later, it would have been disastrous.
Good thing I teleported the moment I heard the transmission.
Thinking this, she slowly turned away from him.
At that moment, his voice came from behind her—casual, yet edged.
“…By the way, my lady. You did come from the study, didn’t you?”
