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Chapter : 7. Chapter 1. You Who Came Like a Dream (7)
The Count Artez, who had been on a business trip, would surely be furious when he returned.
A poisonous tone leaked out of her sweet voice. At that simple threat, the Countess seemed to finally realize the situation and reluctantly shut her mouth.
So she finally quieted down. Aisila tried to cool the heat in her mind. Killing intent was rising in her chest, but she had to hold it back. Unfortunately—though usually it would be fortunate—in the Edherka Empire, murder could not simply be settled with money.
How she suddenly wanted to ignore the law and live freely.
Aisila, who was actually the kind of person who could survive anywhere even without laws, was trying hard to restrain herself for her own safety.
Just then, something on the floor caught her eye. A whip lying there. The very whip stained with a disgusting color.
…Ah. This is insane.
She had barely calmed her anger after it reached its limit, but it instantly broke through again.
Aisila reached out and picked up the red whip. A strong, obvious killing intent wrapped around her entire body. Her head felt blank, as if it had been struck. She thought, strangely calm, that when anger reaches its peak, it can instead become quiet.
Then she slowly asked:
“How many times did you hit her?”
“……”
“Child, how many times were you hit?”
A very small voice mumbled the answer. And Aisila, understanding immediately, gritted her teeth.
“Isn’t that a rather extreme level of violence to use on a child, Madam?”
The Countess’s ears turned red. It was clear evidence she knew exactly what she had done.
Of course she would know. Anyone with even a bit of common sense would know.
Under the eerie red gaze, the Countess lifted her head proudly. It seemed this noble lady had chosen shamelessness over conscience.
“It was just discipline, Lady Aisila Duncan.”
“Discipline?”
“Yes, discipline.”
“Discipline… I see. Very well, Madam. Shall we make a big deal?”
Aisila lightly swung the whip in the air.
“It looks like you also need discipline. I’ll help you. How about 100 gold per strike?”
“What nonsense are you talking about!”
“It’s punishment a child can endure. Why can’t an adult endure it? It sounds like a profitable deal to me.”
A sharp laugh tore through the frozen atmosphere.
“Ah, is the price not enough?”
“You’re insane!”
“Hearing that from a child abuser is quite unfair… Let’s renegotiate. You said 100 isn’t enough. Then how much? How much to hit that precious body? 100? 200? 500?”
“……”
“Thousand? Wow, you’re expensive.”
Aisila gritted her teeth and raised the whip.
At that moment, the butler of the Count’s house rushed in and stood in front of the Countess as if to protect her. Unlike Mitchell, who was calmly watching, he had been extremely nervous the entire time.
“Please restrain yourself, Lady.”
“Move. Think I can’t hit you too? If she is guilty of assault, you are guilty of aiding it. Watching a child suffer like that—did it feel good?”
“There has never been a case of a guest hitting the host.”
“Such a loyal dog protecting a mad one. Bark more.”
Aisila raised the whip higher. The butler shut his eyes tightly, and the Countess began hiccuping in shock.
Just as the thin end of the whip cut through the air—
“Lady. The child is watching.”
At that calm voice, Aisila froze mid-motion, like a broken puppet.
Mitchell had been able to stay calm all this time because he knew exactly how to stop his superior. Having watched enough chaos already, he chose the exact right moment to intervene.
No matter how much the red-eyed woman rolled her eyes in annoyance, Mitchell smoothly extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray.
Aisila Duncan might lose control sometimes, but she never smoked in front of children.
Of course.
Only then did Aisila come back to her senses and lower the whip.
In the corner of her vision, Ronell was trembling violently. Her golden hair shook in small waves, and her small hands convulsed as if she had a tremor.
Aisila sighed, blaming her own recklessness.
What was I thinking, trying to use violence in front of a child who was already abused?
“Child.”
Startled.
Ronell slowly lifted her face. Ruby, seeing her future master trembling, silently cursed with her eyes, and Aisila accepted that silent insult.
Then she knelt down again to meet the child’s eye level.
“I’m sorry.”
“I-it’s okay.”
I mean, you weren’t hitting me anyway. So…
Ronell spoke awkwardly, trying to ease the situation.
She was still afraid—there was no helping that—but she had to be grateful. This was someone who got angry for her. And more than anything, someone who had pulled her out of the closet.
Seeing Aisila press her forehead in frustration, Ronell instinctively shrank back.
But the words that came from those red lips were unbelievably gentle.
“I don’t hit children. I only hit trash.”
“……”
“So… can you give me a chance?”
A chance?
Confused, Ronell blinked.
Then the cat moved its paw.
Tap. A white paw landed on her golden hair, gently stroking her head.
As if saying: good job, it’s over now.
“Do you want to come with me?”
Ronell slowly looked around the room.
The barn. The closet. The Countess. Lloyd. The days she was locked up. The loneliness of crying without anyone hearing her.
It felt like a dream. Maybe she was still asleep in the closet.
Ah. Right. It must be a dream.
She was probably just exhausted and had fallen asleep. Soon Lord Lloyd would kick her awake, or Mary would wake her saying she would treat her. Or the Countess would wake her angrily.
It would be better if she never woke up.
Ronell looked at the worried cat and the apologetic beautiful woman. Even if it was a dream, she didn’t want to make them look like that.
They were too bright to appear in her dream.
“You can hit me.”
“……”
“So… please take me. I don’t want to stay here—”
Before she could finish, the dark-haired woman nodded kindly.
“Okay. Let’s go to my house.”
From now on, it will be your home.
The promise felt unreal again, and Ronell went blank.
She couldn’t believe she could really leave like this.
Meanwhile, Aisila casually dropped the cat and picked the child up instead. The unnaturally light weight made her chest tighten painfully. It proved how badly the child had been abused.
Ronell froze stiff.
Aisila adjusted her hold so the child wouldn’t see the Countess, and the tension in the child slowly eased.
Thin arms carefully wrapped around her neck.
Feeling that small warmth, Aisila looked for her assistant.
“Mitchell.”
“Yes.”
“Clean this up without noise.”
Mitchell nodded briefly and raised three fingers, signaling he would settle it within 30 million gold.
Aisila, who had been about to say they could go up to 100 million, quietly closed her mouth instead.
She wasn’t particularly trying to save money, but this was worth saving on.
Spending too much on a child abuser would only be shameful.
The white cat followed beside them with quick steps as they left the Artez mansion.
＊ ＊ ＊
There was no way the child would ever return here again.
As they left through the Artez mansion gates, Aisila firmly decided that. Unless it was for revenge, the child would never cross this threshold again.
Even now, the child in her arms kept trembling.
I shouldn’t have shown her violence. That was careless.
Aisila sighed again and watched Mitchell approach quickly. The efficient assistant seemed to have handled everything smoothly again. Judging by his relaxed gesture of two fingers, it seemed he had settled it within 20 million gold.
Aisila looked down at the white cat beside her. It was licking its paw with satisfaction.
Saved the future owner, and dealt with that awful woman.
Well, it must have been a fun night for the cat.
Ronell, still in her arms, suddenly whispered.
“It’s strange.”
“Hmm? What is?”
Ronell looked up at the dark night sky, then around at them again. The luxury carriage that had just arrived, and the dark garden.
“It’s cold. Even though it’s a dream.”
Ruby frowned, jumped up, and smacked Ronell’s foot.
Meow!! How dare you call this a dream! I even skipped dinner to save my butler!
…What is this cat even saying?
Ronell couldn’t understand the meowing at all—but fortunately, Aisila could.
She sighed and rescued Ronell’s foot from Ruby.
“Child. It would be an honor if I appeared in your dream, but… this isn’t a dream.”
It can’t be a dream.
Aisila smiled lightly at the confused green eyes.
“Well, if you still think it’s a dream, then think of it like this…”
