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Chapter 64 Part 3 – Why do people turn hostile over small conflicts? Countess Rosenthal recounts the night my mother became ill at heart. There was a hidden, sad reason for it.

Countess Rosenthal hated Marquis Vygod and his wife.
She thought of them as nothing more than wasteful, poisonous insects.
Because they had abused Wendell, whom she loved, when he was a boy.

And yet, Cornelia was so pressured by those poisonous insects that she gave in.
If a person retreats when confronted against gangsters, that person would only be further taken advantage of.
And yet, she not only did that, she even smiled ingratiatingly toward them.
Even though Cornelia is the one who is supposed to protect Wendell more than anyone else.
Her actions were intolerable for the countess.

…… The truth is that it was because Cornelia is so kind that she chose to remain silent.
She wanted to protect her mother-in-law’s honor, even if she herself was hurt.
She did that only because she loved her husband Wendell.
Marquis Vygod and his wife knew full well about Cornelia’s good nature and took advantage of that.

If Countess Rosenthal had been more personally close to Cornelia, if she had known her personality, she would have seen things differently.
Then she could have formed a good relationship with Cornelia as a reliable helper and as someone who loves the same person.
A happy future for both of them was, in fact, surprisingly close.

Besides, Countess Rosenthal still had her doubts.
She knew how vicious Marquis Vygod and his wife were.
If only Cornelia had raised even the slightest objection to Marquis Vygod and his wife, it would have been enough to get her legs moving again.

However, the button of fate was cruelly pushed in the wrong direction.

In the end, Cornelia did not raise an objection to Marquis Vygod and his wife.

Cornelia still believed that her beloved Wendell’s parents welcomed her.
She did not expect that they were aiming for the opportunity to get rid of her, the daughter of a poor noble.

As she was loved by her parents, she did not quite understand why Wendell warned her to stay away from Marquis Vygod and his wife. She was pure and unaware of ill will.
She wished she could be the bridge between their disagreements.
She dreamed of having Wendell’s child one day and having a happy family gathering with everyone laughing together.
She failed to see the cruelty of those two people who later on beat up her pregnant self with a cane.
Cornelia’s love for Wendell clouded her eyes.

The same was true for Countess Rosenthal.
She worshiped Wendell so much that she could no longer forgive Cornelia, who could only be seen to be flattering the couple who had harmed Wendell.

Countess Rosenthal sees Marquis Vygod and his wife as Wendell’s enemies.
Cornelia believes them to be allies.

Their values ​​were diametrically opposed.

The villainous Marquis Vygod and his wife were like pebbles stuck in a cogwheel.
They have made it their vocation to play the role of making other people stumble.
They have upset the fate of two women who could have got along well if given a little more time together.

Countess Rosenthal turned her back on Cornelia.
She felt unpleasant even looking at her face anymore.
To compose herself, she left to another room at a quick pace.
That was the beginning of Cornelia’s tragedy.

The 「red nobles」 took the Countess Rosenthal’s departure as a sign that they could do as they pleased with Cornelia.
The 「red nobles」 began to act even worse.
They exposed their true nature and began to ridicule Cornelia.
Marquis Vygod and his wife started the subject and everyone else followed their lead.
The topics of conversation ranged widely, but music was not mentioned even once.

By the time Cornelia turned petrified and realized the true nature of her in-laws, it was already too late.
She got kicked from behind and fell over.
The merciless bullying had frightened the waiters and serving staff who were glancing at the scene from a distance with frightened eyes.
Some of the parlor maids felt sorry for Cornelia and had tears in their eyes.
The musicians on the mezzanine were confused, unsure whether they should continue playing or not.
They had feelings of sympathy, but they knew how harsh and cruel the 「red nobles」 are.
They wanted to go and help Cornelia, but they knew that if they made a rash move, they would be punished.

「The clever duchess must be thirsty from all the talking. Would you like a drink?」

After saying so, she poured on Cornelia the wine that someone else had left behind.
Then, like a champagne shower, everyone else around her followed suit.

Meanwhile, having regained her composure after taking a break in another room, the countess remembered that there is a famous bow in the mansion.

Cornelia is an incredible archer.
If she brought that out, it might become a trigger to bring up a subject that Cornelia will be more confident about when talking.
Honestly, she no longer cares about Cornelia, but it would make Wendell’s heart ache if he learns about that terrible situation.
With that thought in mind, the countess brought out the bow and arrow and swiftly walked back to the ballroom. But what she saw there made her almost faint.

The 「red nobles」 were dancing.
However, it was not a graceful waltz.
They were dancing in pairs, but it was a primitive dance in which they were overjoyed to have captured their prey.
The bounds of reason had been lifted and they were laughing in an eerie way.
The orange glow of the candelabra shone down on the shadowy figures.
Marquis Vygod and his wife were also in that circle.
Cornelia was surrounded by all of them and at the center of it all.
She was curled up on the floor like a fetus. She did not move an inch.

A pig’s head was placed on top of her. Probably to make her look like a prey.
Guts were splattered all around Cornelia and she was covered in blood.
It was just like the sabbats she had heard about.
Countess Rosenthal nearly screamed.
She thought the 「red nobles」 had dragged Cornelia’s organs out of her and killed her.

She felt relieved to see that Cornelia’s whole body was trembling.
Cornelia had the complexion and expression of a dead person, but she was still alive.
It was only that the flickering light from the candelabras lined up on the floor made it difficult to see that her body was trembling.
The blood, too, seemed to have been from an animal.
The bullying was terrible, but at least her body was unharmed.
She felt relieved and angry at the same time.

Because she realized that what Cornelia was trying to protect by curling herself up was not her own body, but the dress she was wearing.

「…… Stop it ……!! Please don’t ……!! The dress …… only this dress is ……」

Cornelia pleaded incoherently.

Countess Rosenthal did not know that this was a meaningful dress to Cornelia and Wendell. That dress was what she wore when they kissed for the first time. It is an irreplaceable treasure for Cornelia.

So, when Countess Rosenthal saw that Cornelia could afford to worry about her dress, she judged that she was just a coward who’d accept being bullied.

「…… How disgraceful …… Even though you’re supposed to be a woman that can fight by his side ……」

A voice of resentment leaked out.

Cornelia is loved by Wendell and can fight alongside him.
She is not a woman who is merely protected by others.
In this place where there’s no other warriors, she is an incredible archer who is capable of conquering and suppressing the people in this place all by herself.
Tears of vexation welled up in Countess Rosenthal’s eyes.

‘You have the two things I would be willing to sell my soul to the devil in order to obtain. And yet, why ……!!’

It would make her seem too miserable if Cornelia acted like that.
Cornelia, the person that was chosen by the hero Wendell, should be a special woman.
If it has to be expressed in words, that’s how she was feeling.

Countess Rosenthal was about to give Cornelia the bow in her hand in order to encourage her.
She hoped that Cornelia would remember her pride, rise up, and crush those foolish oppressors.

But Cornelia was frightened.
She was a hunter and has never forgotten her respect for her prey.
When it came time to finish the prey off, she did so with solemnity.
She has never enjoyed the act of killing, not even a bit.
That was a natural rule in the mountains.
To her, these sophisticated ladies and gentlemen who torment others as if it were a game were like demons she could not understand.
She was more shocked by the malice than by the oppression itself.
She was stupefied by the betrayal of her parents-in-law, whom she thought were on her side.

In this respect, Countess Rosenthal, who had been forced into prostitution at an early age by her own parent, had far more resistance to it. For the countess, whose purity was forcibly torn apart from her while being held down on the cold floor and beaten, the malice of others was common knowledge.

However, Cornelia’s brilliance at the ceremony was etched in her memory and the countess thought that Cornelia was superior to her in every way. Which is why she felt contempt for her immobility.

…… If you prefer to stay silent and be bullied by those fools, then go ahead.
How can a human who has fangs but can’t even protect herself protect Wendell-sama?
You are not qualified to stand next to Wendell-sama.

She sighed.

The cruel feast of the 「red nobles」 continued unceasingly.