IBWCD 19

Chapter 19

A cold, sticky drink with finely crushed ice splashed down Evelyn’s face, drenching her entire body.

“Ha, what the…!”

As Evelyn stood there stunned, a gorgeous blonde woman swooped down and grabbed her by the hair.

“Hey, you tell me straight, it was all planned, wasn’t it, you lowlife bitch?”

The woman with the venomous voice was Erze. She must have followed her out the door.

“Ack! What’s the matter, you’re talking to me!”

A sweat stood on her smooth forehead. She was stunned by the sudden attack.

She rubbed her drink-soaked eyes and fought back, but Erze’s temper flared.

“My mother is dying because of you! What’s so wrong with a little corporal punishment for a girl who doesn’t know what she’s doing?”

Her harsh words stopped Evelyn in her tracks and she looked around, still holding her hair.

One by one, people from the nearby shops came out to watch them.

It was a commercial district populated mostly by commoners, so they were less likely to be noticed by the nobility, but they had to move before they attracted more attention.

Luckily, Erze seemed to be in the same boat. Her face reddened, she caught Evelyn’s scowl.

“You come with me. I’m going to make that pale face of yours look like a big, fat mess today!”

Soon they reached a deserted alley.

Tsk!

Evelyn swatted Erze’s hand away as if she’d been waiting for it.

Erze gritted her teeth and charged like an angry buffalo.

She ducked and dodged, but if she was careless, she was almost crushed by her torso.

When she didn’t get her way, Erze stomped her foot and glared at her as if she would eat her.

“I don’t understand you, no matter how much I think about it. Why would the Grand Duke, who says he doesn’t care about anyone else’s business, meddle in yours!”

Evelyn was shocked that she was being played for a fool after all these years.

But Evelyn didn’t give Erze the answer she wanted.

No wonder, since there was no reason to satisfy her curiosity.

“How would I know that?”

“You don’t know because you seduced the grand duke with your body, just like your mother did, and if not, what’s wrong with him? I’m so much better than you!”

Seeing the jealousy burning in his eyes, Evelyn burst out laughing.

She was so jealous that she was reminded of Erze’s atrocity, when she had run bareback into the grand duke’s bedroom. That had been in a previous life.

“Then you might as well try it.”

“What…?”

“If you’re so confident, seduce him.”

What else could she do but get kicked out naked in front of others.

Erze’s glare grew even more ferocious as she added the dirty word.

Her face, which had been so cheerful a moment ago, now looked like it would burst at the slightest touch.

“Laughing? You look like the daughter of a lowly whore. That filthy mother and her daughter… Ouch! Ouch! Hey, get off me, it hurts, it hurts!”

Finally, impatient, Evelyn snapped Erze’s wrist, which was blocking her way, lightly.

Then, with a look and voice that bordered on indifference, she said, “Don’t swear at my mother.”

“Ouch! You’re going to break it! You’re going to break it! Are you crazy!”

It was ridiculous to see her throwing a fit over a broken wrist.

Evelyn wondered if the woman in front of her was the same woman who had smashed the back of her hand with a rock the size of her fist.

Evelyn released her grip and looked at Erze, who was still clutching her wrist, and spoke calmly.

“You say one more strange thing, and I won’t put up with it. I warned you.”

Erze, dumbfounded by the sullen tone of her voice, mocked her with a sneer.

“You don’t have a clue what you’re doing, do you? You’ve been picking up trash all your life, and now you think you’re going to lose your head because you hooked up with a guy…!”

Pak!

Erze’s head snapped to the left as she rolled up her sleeves.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Erze’s eyes widened.

And then one more time.

“Aaaah!”

As soon as she straightened up, Evelyn slapped her cheek once more.

“What the…”

Erze clutched her reddened cheeks in disbelief.

Her eyes fluttered dangerously, as if she couldn’t accept the fact that she had been insulted like this by a mere bastard.

“How dare you… hit me?”

“I told you, I won’t stand for it.”

Evelyn took a step toward Erze, who was still reeling from the shock.

An indescribable rage coursed through her body as she recalled all the evil things she had done to her.

“Ow! Sis, it hurts, please don’t do this, it’s too hot, okay?”

“What? Sister? Puh-ha-ha-hat! Are you crazy, you little bugger, where did you get the idea that I’m your sister? Hey, you can’t do it, come with me. If you don’t like fire, play in the water. Today we’re learning to swim. Are you happy?”

Bwoosh!

The memory of her pushing Evelyn into the lake and then poking her with a pole to keep her from getting out made her sick.

Her inner thighs still bore the scorch marks of Dane’s burns on the heated stone.

“Sister.”

‘So what, a beast was better than me?’

“Are you angry that I’m with the grand duke?”

Erze took an involuntary step back.

“…what?”

“You’ve been doing whatever you want all your life, and I’m just taking the one chance that came my way… and that’s so mean?”

Two slaps on the wrist.

This is nothing compared to what her mother and she have been through.

Evelyn glanced down at the scars on her wrists, and she looked back up at her with a nonchalant face.

“Well, if you don’t like it, so be it, it’s done.”

As far as being a demon with a pharyngeal mask was concerned, Erze was no different from the Countess.

“But, sis, isn’t this the wrong time to be worrying about such things, when you’re the only one left to marry a murderer?”

“What do you think you crazy bitch is talking about, you think I’m going to leave you alone, what kind of nonsense…!”

Erze screamed through gritted teeth.

She felt like she was talking to an unspeakable beast, but Evelyn was undeterred.

“Why, you’re scared, but don’t worry too much. Why should I kill you? You’re the only eldest daughter of the Holy Family.”

Evelyn merely smirked at her as she stomped away.

* * *

“You crazy bitch!”

Erze shouted back in anger, then sped off down the alley.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of getting hit again.

It’s just that she’s dirty!

Bang!

The carriage door slammed shut, and Erze’s face contorted in shame.

‘What a bitch, how dare she touch my cheeks…!’

If she had known that the monster visiting the spire was the Grand Duke, she wouldn’t have allowed herself to be beaten to a pulp by that wretch.

She would have tended to the sick Grand Duke and won his heart, and her mother would not have been taken away.

‘The union of the Guardian and Paladin Houses, the meeting of the centuries, if only that wench hadn’t interfered!’

From that day forward, Erze did everything she could to meet the grand duke.

She followed him wherever he went, and even threw herself into his carriage in hopes of sparking a spontaneous encounter.

But the grand duke would not meet her.

She tried to convince him that it would be better for him to have her as a firstborn daughter than to have her illegitimate sister.

After repeated letters requesting a meeting fell on deaf ears, Erze paid a personal visit to the Grand Duke’s residence early this morning.

But she was met with no hospitality, not even a shadow within the vast estate.

Finally, as she was grinding her teeth at the insolence of their disregard, she saw Evelyn leaving the house and followed her.

The result was disastrous.

Now she had nothing left.

With her mother branded a criminal, her goal of marrying into an upper-class family of prestige and wealth was completely out of reach.

“You think I’m going to give up? Just you wait. I’ll find a way to make a living somehow, and I’ll repay you for this shame!

* * *

Around that time.

There was an uproar at Count Lawrence’s.

“The Count, the Count, where is the Count!”

Viscount Fairfield, who had rushed excitedly to greet his young bride, began to pace the empty mansion, his face red and flushed.

It was the first guest they had received since the countess had been escorted away by the police following her involvement in an unsavory affair.

“The wench who said she had never set foot outside the estate has disappeared, and the countess is in jail! How dare you play with my money?”

The viscount stopped himself and mercilessly slapped the butler on the cheek.

He was a violent and arrogant man by nature, and his eyes were wide open when the woman he thought was his was gone.

There was no one left in the manor, not even a maid, to subdue the insolent old man.

Riding like a mad horse, breaking everything in his path, the viscount finally found the count’s office and slammed the door.

“You’ve been hiding here! Bring her before me at once! Do you know how much money I’ve spent to get her? A million marks, a million marks!”

The Count, who had been staring out of the window with a noble air, finally turned his back. He was at his wits’ end, trying to deal with this sudden family crisis.

“As you can see, my family is at the crossroads of life and death,” he said, “and I’m going to give you a smokestack, so go back and wait.”

Word of the Lawrence family’s impending bankruptcy spread quickly in the capital.

Nobles, merchants, and relatives of the House of Fang who owed the countess money or debts were swarming like ants in search of something.

BANG!

“You bastard!”

The viscount slammed his fist down on the desk and threw the contract in his hand at the count’s chest.

He slammed his fist down on the desk and slammed the contract in his hand against the Count’s chest.

“Paladin, you’ve earned yourself a worthless title with the High Priestess’s favor, and you’re going to pay dearly for your indiscretions with your purified body!”

It was then.

“Mistress, the Count is now in the presence of guests and…”

“Shut up!”

Thump!

The door flew open.

Erze, her face contorted with malice, burst in, shoving the butler out of the way.

“Father! Make a formal complaint to the grand duke for Evelyn’s return. She belongs to the family! This is outright kidnapping, kidnapping!”