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Chapter 4…
Caught the Mouse (2)
The scar-faced man shouted in panic.
“There’s… there’s more. A month ago, when he was drunk, I heard him say he stole this house’s mistress’s keepsakes and hid them in the cellar of his own house.”
“You traitor! Ugh—!”
Samuel shouted at the scar-faced man, but immediately doubled over. Jonathan had viciously kicked him hard in the stomach.
How dare he lay hands on Madam’s keepsakes.
If the late mistress had not existed, he and his mother would have starved to death long ago.
Stopping the enraged Jonathan, Ophelia said,
“Jonathan. Go bring Bisha and Tina.”
“Yes, Miss.”
After Jonathan left, Ophelia handed the antidote to Bella and told her to give it to Samuel’s group.
Once they swallowed the antidote and barely managed to survive, the men burst into tears like children.
“Samuel. This ledger was entrusted to you by Father after Mother passed away.”
Kneeling on the floor, Samuel stared up at the ledger in Ophelia’s hand.
“Our family’s monthly living expenses are two hundred as. But over five years, you embezzled two thousand as. I intend to recover every coin. But no matter how I look at it… you don’t seem capable of paying two thousand as all at once.”
Her lips curved slightly.
“Should I sell you to slave traders?”
Samuel couldn’t answer.
Ophelia smiled as if amused.
“I heard witches in the east offer human organs as sacrifices these days. So I looked into the prices.”
She rose from her chair, walked over to the bound Samuel, and lowered herself until their eyes were level.
Then she pressed a finger lightly against his chest.
“A heart—the symbol of strong vitality—is worth six hundred as. My, rather expensive for a worm’s life. What do you think? Shall I sell your heart? That alone would erase a quarter of your debt.”
She smiled brightly.
This time, her finger slowly moved upward and tapped Samuel’s forehead, whose face twitched uncontrollably with fear.
“And a soft white brain… a little cheap. Was it three hundred as?”
Her finger slid down and gently stroked the eyelid covering his brown eyes.
“Eyes that behold the world—four hundred fifty as for the pair. More valuable than your useless brain. Amazing.”
Then she placed her finger over the artery in his neck. Life pulsed wildly beneath the trembling skin.
“And this hot red blood flowing through your veins… ten as per hundred milliliters. If I drained every drop from your body and sold it in that jar, it should fetch about four hundred eighty as.”
As Ophelia’s hand finally left his neck, Samuel let out a choked breath.
But Ophelia still looked over him like a predator stalking prey.
He lowered his gaze, unable to look at her.
“And if we add the rest of your organs… it should exceed seven hundred as. That makes about two thousand altogether.”
Suddenly, Ophelia grabbed his faded gray hair and yanked his head up so he had no choice but to meet her eyes.
“Hii—!”
Samuel whimpered.
Her eyes were still smiling, but there was madness in them that was hard to face directly.
“Well? How about offering your whole body to repay the debt you owe my family? Oh, and for old times’ sake, I won’t even charge interest. So you may rest easy.”
Samuel trembled like a beast caught by the throat.
Forcing open lips that would barely move, he managed to stammer,
“Miss… I was wrong. Please forgive me. I don’t ask for forgiveness—just spare my life… I’ll return it all. A-all of it.”
“You? How?”
Ophelia cut him off coldly.
“Enough nonsense. Put your thumbprint on this document.”
She handed the prepared paper to Bella.
Bella walked over to Samuel and loosened his bonds so he could sign.
At that moment, Samuel suddenly sprang up and lunged at Bella.
He had mistaken the Crown Prince’s closest knight for an ordinary woman.
Bang!
Samuel was instantly sent flying into the wall.
Ophelia clicked her tongue in pity.
Samuel rolled on the ground groaning, while the thieves quickly lowered their heads and tried their best to pretend they did not exist.
Expressionless, Bella walked up to Samuel, seized one of his hands, smeared the blood from his mouth onto it, and pressed his thumbprint onto the document.
Taking the paper back, Ophelia clapped like a delighted child and smiled brightly.
“Thanks to you, Sir Bella, this went much more smoothly. Thank you. Now please send these men to the guards.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Ophelia called in Jonathan, Tina, and Bisha, who had been waiting outside.
“Tina, check the goods in this cellar and make a new ledger.”
“Yes, Miss. I’ll organize everything and report back right away.”
“And Jonathan, go with Bisha to Samuel’s house and bring back Mother’s keepsakes and the two thousand as.”
She handed one ledger to Bisha and added,
“Find as many of the items on this list as possible. If anything is missing, convert it into money and collect it without fail.”
Seeing Ophelia issue orders so decisively, Bisha smiled proudly.
“Yes, Miss. I’ll make sure to bring back Madam’s keepsakes safely.”
Back in her bedroom on the second floor, Ophelia threw herself onto the bed.
The tension that had gripped her until now melted away, and strength drained from her whole body.
I can’t believe it was this easy.
She pressed down hard on her trembling hands.
“Well done, Ophelia. You really did well.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and murmured softly.
She didn’t think she was sad, but tears were already running down her cheeks.
Her past life had been one long string of failures.
Love, happiness, freedom—she had achieved none of them.
She had feared that this life, too, might end in failure.
But this time was clearly different.
Things had gone far better than she expected.
Everything she used today… she had learned by watching Albus.
Albus…
Her heart throbbed painfully again.
“Haa…”
Taking several deep breaths, Ophelia slowly erased the traces of him from her heart.
Then she wiped away the remaining tears.
Knock, knock.
“Miss, it’s Tina.”
“Yes, come in.”
Tina entered carrying a new ledger.
“Here’s the new ledger. After organizing the inventory and converting the valuables in the cellar into money, it comes to about eighteen thousand five hundred as.”
“Good work, Tina.”
“And Jonathan and Bisha have returned too. They recovered the two thousand as Samuel stole, along with Madam’s keepsakes. But one ring, two necklaces, and two pairs of earrings from the list were missing. They received five hundred as in compensation.”
Tina handed Ophelia a small wooden box decorated with a blue sapphire.
“Miss. These are Madam’s keepsakes.”
Ophelia gently stroked the box as though it were her mother herself.
“Thank you. Could you call Sir Bella for me?”
She wanted to give Bella a small gift for helping today.
She had already chosen one of her own ornaments.
“Miss, you were looking for me?”
“Sir Bella. Thank you for everything you did today. Thanks to you, the plan succeeded.”
Smiling, Ophelia took Bella’s hand.
“This is a small token of my gratitude.”
She fastened a bracelet with a red ruby cross around Bella’s wrist.
“I merely carried out my master’s orders. This gift is too much.”
Bella looked flustered, clearly not expecting to receive anything.
“Please don’t refuse. I received this protective bracelet after completing a hundred-day prayer for safety at the temple. I think you need it more than I do. What do you think? It suits you, doesn’t it?”
Looking at Ophelia smiling like a gentle, innocent noble lady who knew nothing of the world, Bella felt a chill run down her spine.
Just moments ago, this woman had been like a ruthless predator.
The saying of her grandfather came to mind:
The deeper madness burrows into the bones, the more ordinary one appears on the surface.
Bella looked down at the bracelet Ophelia had put on her.
It was neither flashy nor cumbersome.
More than anything, she liked the blood-red ruby.
“Thank you.”
When Bella accepted it, a satisfied smile spread across Ophelia’s lips.
“Please tell Count Dace and Nea that I’m grateful for their help.”
“Yes, understood.”
Back at Count Dace’s residence, Bella went straight to the Crown Prince and gave a detailed report of everything that had happened at Baron Jont’s house.
Myr listened with interest to the unusual things Ophelia had done—so unlike an ordinary noble lady.
“Hm. So she truly is a daughter of the Lareses family?”
At that moment, an unfamiliar ornament caught Myr’s eye.
Bella, who usually hated accessories, had a sparkling ruby bracelet around her wrist.
Sensing her lord’s gaze, Bella spoke first.
“Ah, Miss Ophelia gave this to me as a gift.”
“It suits you. And that herb.”
“You mean gasiyeonpul?”
“Yes. Look into it more.”
“Yes, understood.”
The next morning, Ophelia gathered Jonathan, Bisha, and Tina on the first floor.
“Jonathan, meet a property broker today and sell this house.”
“What?”
With Baron Jont absent, everyone looked shocked by Ophelia’s sudden decision.
“Listen carefully. We’re leaving this place. Judging by the political situation, riots will definitely break out. Isn’t it better to sell this house now than to keep a ruined mansion reduced to rubble in the middle of chaos?”
This year would bring famine to all three western kingdoms—Astra, the Apollos Empire, and Batous.
In her past life, grain prices had soared to the heavens, and countless people died of starvation.
Then war broke out between Batous and the Apollos Empire, and riots erupted all across Astra.
Ophelia’s face was grave as she spoke.
The three of them looked confused.
How could she be so certain?
“We probably won’t be able to come back here for a very long time… Jonathan, tell the broker it’s fine to sell below market price, but I want all procedures completed today.”
“Yes, Miss.”
“And Tina and Bisha, convert every valuable in the house into grain. Oh, and Jonathan—after meeting the broker, hire wagons and drivers to transport the grain.”
She paused and looked at the three people staring at her.
Then, meeting their eyes, she said firmly,
“You may not believe me… but this year will be a famine. A food crisis is coming.”
They still did not understand.
But even if Ophelia said the world would end tomorrow, these three would have believed her.
“No one must know that we’re buying grain and loading it onto wagons. Do it as discreetly and quickly as possible. Understood, Bisha? Tina?”
She looked straight at the faces of her people.
“Of course, Miss. Don’t worry.”
“As you all know, Father is an illegitimate son of the Lareses family. When we go to the main house, they won’t welcome us. And if we have no money, we’ll be treated worse than servants. We need money in hand if we want to survive.”
Hearing their mistress’s honest thoughts, the three grew solemn.
Jonathan was the first to break the silence.
“We’ll follow your orders, Miss.”
Bisha and Tina nodded firmly.
Ophelia kept only a few of her mother’s keepsakes as mementos.
Everything else in the house was used to buy grain.
By afternoon, Jonathan returned with a buyer and broker, and all the procedures for selling the baron’s residence were completed.
The house, worth twenty-three thousand as, was sold for twenty thousand.
They agreed the move would be finished by tomorrow.
After everything was settled, Ophelia wandered through the house alone, taking in every corner.
“Mother… I’m afraid. I can do this, right? Please protect our family.”
Her violet eyes trembled slightly, then slowly steadied.
She whispered softly into the empty air.
“There’s nowhere left to retreat. This is where it begins.”
