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Chapter 6
Miller was one of Kinzard Ebel’s closest aides.
I’d already thought none of the mages I saw yesterday were impressive enough to satisfy the manager, but to think the Orlun Guild had been entrusted with this job.
For someone like me, who wanted nothing to do with the main cast of the original story, it was unwelcome news.
With a displeased look, I slowly looked him up and down.
It was obviously an uncomfortable expression. Usually, when I acted like this, people got the hint and stopped talking to me.
It was my own foolproof method of keeping others at a distance.
But unlike the others I’d met, Miller merely curved his eyes into crescents and continued speaking.
“I heard you inspected the interior yesterday. It was a great honor that the Great Mage herself accompanied our people.”
“……”
The friendly smile on Miller’s face was completely different from the impression I’d gotten from the novel.
The story only described him as highly competent because he worked under the moody and notoriously difficult Kinzard. I’d never imagined he’d have such a lighthearted demeanor.
So despite appearances, his skills must really be exceptional?
Orlun was famous as a guild made up of highly talented individuals, but their reputation was far from good.
They accepted any filthy request as long as it paid, carrying out their duties by any means necessary. They were infamous as a gang of thugs who had long since thrown away a mage’s pride.
The fact that they were providing security for such an inhumane event proved it well enough.
Which meant that smile was almost certainly a mask.
Even though I made no effort to hide my discomfort, Miller either failed to notice or pretended not to as he kept talking.
“As you know, the main event is the friendship auction. Once the open auction ends, we’ll rearrange the formation. Lady Isabella, I assume you’re interested in the friendship auction?”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
When I narrowed my eyes, Miller—who had been smiling all along—paused briefly before lowering his voice conspiratorially.
“You don’t have to keep it a secret from me. This place is crawling with young nobles from prestigious families who are after youthful Ombers.”
The moment he mentioned young Ombers, Noah came to mind.
“Though I suppose the rumors about you collecting Ombers were true after all. Most people break down almost immediately unless they’re exceptionally sturdy.”
“……”
In other words, he was implying that Isabella, blinded by lust, reached not only for men but even for children.
It was true that Isabella, a woman devoted to her desires, dated handsome men indiscriminately—but she wasn’t someone who committed acts that crossed moral boundaries.
Thinking back, by the time the original story began four years later, Isabella’s reputation had become far worse than it was now.
At present, people criticized her for her promiscuous relationships, but there was still more admiration and fascination directed at her than hatred. Four years later, however, she was suffocating beneath countless vicious rumors.
So this was where those baseless rumors had started leaking from.
“…You really know how to dress up something rude and spit it out smoothly.”
Miller wasn’t afraid of me at all. If anything, he looked like he was enjoying my reaction.
“Even if it isn’t an Omber, I know something that would surely interest Lady Isabella.”
His voice slithered out like a snake’s whisper.
“If Lady Isabella is willing, then our Orlun Guild could—”
“Isabella?”
Just then, a voice interrupted Miller by calling my name.
Reflexively, I turned toward the sound.
The moment I recognized the owner of the voice, my eyes widened in surprise.
“Aljuro?”
Wrapped in a black robe, Aljuro had his hood pulled low, but the smooth brown hair peeking out and the gentle tone of his voice unmistakably belonged to him.
At my call, Miller’s brows arched strangely.
“Aljuro…?”
As though the name sounded familiar, he repeated it under his breath.
Unbothered, Aljuro walked straight toward me. I glanced between him and Miller before carefully speaking.
“What brings you here?”
At my question, Aljuro smiled brightly.
“If you come to Midtown, you have to visit the public auction house at least once. But I never imagined I’d find you looking this stunning.”
“If you’re just flattering me, save it.”
As we exchanged words, Miller smoothly inserted himself into the conversation.
“Lady Isabella, if it isn’t too rude, would you introduce this gentleman to me?”
Just moments ago he’d been acting shamelessly rude, and now he looked at me with wide innocent eyes. It suited the image of a guild full of sly rogues perfectly.
I didn’t actually know much about Aljuro myself, but even if I had, I wouldn’t have wanted to tell him anything.
Then I remembered that Aljuro had somehow known about the friendship auction.
I wanted to ask him about it immediately, but I couldn’t figure out why this snake-like bastard was so interested in Aljuro, so the words wouldn’t come easily.
Right then, the sound of trumpets announcing the beginning of the auction echoed out.
It was about time to put my plan into motion.
Grinning, I looked at Aljuro.
“Aljuro, it seems Mr. Horhen has taken quite an interest in you. Perhaps it wouldn’t be bad for the two of you to enjoy the auction together.”
As I said that, I lightly pushed Miller toward Aljuro.
Aljuro’s eyes widened.
“What are you—”
Ignoring him completely, I looked at Miller and continued.
“I’ll handle things inside, so take your time talking before you come in. Well then.”
And with that, I leisurely headed into the auction hall.
***
Noah curled into himself and covered his ears.
Everything was noisier than usual.
The laughter of people outside the tent never stopped. Their shrill voices reminded him of the screams his family had made as they died.
The sights and sounds that wouldn’t fade no matter how many nights passed.
Even when he shut his eyes and blocked his ears, the memories still tore through Noah’s mind.
Sometimes he caused trouble on purpose and got whipped until his entire body felt ripped apart, but the pain only distracted him for a moment. In the end, when he opened his eyes again, he was still trapped inside the cage.
Through the bars, he could see people bustling about.
All of them wore robes, hiding themselves beneath the hoods while staring at him with eyes gleaming with desire.
Just seeing those rustling robes made rage boil inside him.
Then, at that moment, a short dagger slipped from the arms of a man carrying stacked crates and clattered onto the ground.
Noah’s gaze snapped toward it.
The blade was short but looked sharp and well maintained.
And it had landed just within reach.
Slowly, Noah lifted his head from where it rested near his knees.
His heart began pounding.
For months, he hadn’t eaten or rested properly. His whole body ached as though it were falling apart.
But even so, if he could just get a weapon in his hands, he could still fight—even if it meant his body would be torn to pieces.
That was the only will he had inherited from his father.
The dagger filled Noah’s dark eyes.
Lying flat against the floor, he stretched one thin, bony arm through the bars. As he reached out, his fingertips barely brushed the dagger.
Biting his lip, Noah stretched farther, so hard it felt like his arm might come out of its socket.
Then his fingers finally wrapped tightly around the handle.
A faint smile touched his lips—
And then a soft voice spoke.
“Is that enough for you?”
The voice sent a chill racing down his spine.
Noah quickly pulled the hand gripping the dagger back inside the cage and hid it against his chest before looking up.
Standing there was someone wearing a robe, just like the people he hated.
When Noah glared fiercely at them, the figure reached up and pulled back the hood.
Beneath it was a woman with blazing red eyes hotter than the rising morning sun.
“……”
In a small yet unwavering voice, she spoke again.
“Will that really be enough to satisfy your revenge?”
***
The plan I’d come up with last night.
I’d confidently declared that a villainess should use a villainess’s methods, but whether the plan would actually work was another matter entirely.
Getting that wary child out of the cage and keeping him from falling into Duke Rosenberg’s hands was an incredibly difficult problem.
The reason I’d thought of this plan in such a desperate situation was because I remembered what would happen later in the novel.
Aside from Yurie, Noah only had one purpose in life.
Revenge—for his family and his clan.
To achieve it, once he became an adult, Noah slaughtered every slave trader he could find.
But it could never truly be called perfect revenge.
Because Duke Rosenberg was the one backing those slave traders from the shadows.
As long as the Duke remained untouched, new slave traders could always appear over time.
By the time Noah learned the truth, he was already deeply in love with Yurie.
And because of that, he couldn’t bring himself to kill the Duke, nor could he ever fully complete his revenge.
As a result, Noah spent every night tormented between love and vengeance.
The screams of his dead clansmen haunted his dreams nightly, preventing him from ever sleeping peacefully.
Recalling that fact, I smoothed down my messy hair.
A villainess has a villainess’s path.
And his dark future had shown me the way.
A terribly petty and desperate method—one Yurie would never use.
Grabbing hold of someone’s weakness and twisting it to my advantage.
I felt sorry for him, but that was the only key I had.
