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Chapter 69 Part 2 – Side Story: The Blood-Sucking Madam of the Abandoned Castle (Part 2)

…… I was foolishly unaware of Hannah’s sad resolve. I failed to see that kindness of hers.

I truly regretted it later on. How can I be a candidate for queen? I couldn’t even understand the feelings of my friend …… I should have talked more to Hannah. She cared so much about me even when we had just met.

I later found out what Hannah prayed for in the chapel and cried over and over again when I remembered it.

But that was after it was all over.

And then I thought.
I wondered if the angels and saints were crying over Hannah’s precious heart at that time. Or were they smiling at Hannah’s noble courage? Or did they have a different expression on their faces?

I wanted to ask them.

They must have witnessed Hannah’s prayers and anguish all along. I wondered what they thought of Hannah’s fleeting life. I wondered why they had not rewarded her for her bravery while she was still alive.

「…… God, I’m terribly sorry, but please allow me to borrow a light.」

After she finished praying, Hannah picked up one of the candlestick in the chapel.

Yet the darkness of the castle as we advanced through it was still deep. I could only faintly see my feet and the walls. The castle is built of solid stone and is completely focused on defense. There were almost no windows and the corridors were extremely narrow. The thick stone walls seemed to crush us. It was like a winding cave. Like a maze.

If Hannah did not lead me by the hand, I would have slipped off the spiral staircase long ago. The warmth of our clasped hands was the only certainty.

「…… We are about to enter the bedroom of the madam. There the girls will be stripped naked and carefully wiped ……」

As we circled the staircase and climbed up the tower, Hannah’s hushed remarks made my hair stand on end.

(※Please be warned that there are some cruel descriptions from this point onward.)

The girls were deprived of their physical freedom by drugs. They were hung upside down from the ceiling. Then their throats were slit like pigs being slaughtered. Elisabeth would be soaking in the bathtub right under them and enjoying the shower of blood. Elisabeth herself is said to be intoxicated by the aphrodisiac and whips the girls, sometimes biting off their tender parts in her excitement, and taking time to appreciate their expressions of anguish and despair.

It’s extremely revolting …… Is that how she learned how to use the whip ……

「And that’s not all. When the madam is going through the ritual, she would embrace a creepy statue with huge horns and fangs, smear it with blood, and then push a piece of flesh into its mouth. …… Then she’d threaten the poor girls and make them straddle the statue ……」

Hannah paled as she recalled the scene.
Hannah muttered that she won’t talk any further about it and fell silent. Then, she made the sign of a cross on her body.

I’m starting to feel nauseous as well.
I recited god’s name in my heart.

Elisabeth was not only a sexual deviant, she was also a worshipper of the devil. This is what happens when a noble who has money, power, and the ability to freely dispose of human lives tries to fulfill their wishes regardless of the means. How horrifying it must have been for the girls who became offerings to the devil while they were still alive.

「…… I’m sure it’s all right. With a young lady as beautiful as Alisa-sama, the madam will put a lot of effort into the sacrifice ritual. It should take some time to prepare …… Until then, Alisa-sama will be safe ……」

Hannah reassured me.
Alisa’s useless beauty, which always caused trouble, came in handy in the strangest of ways.
You really never know what will happen in life.

「…… This is it. Only the lady attendants and female servants are allowed to go inside the madam’s bedroom. Moreover, the madam is not free to wield the long whip here ……」

I nodded at Hannah’s advice in front of Elisabeth’s bedroom.

In other words, this is the best chance to get Alisa back.

I felt relieved.

Because Elisabeth’s skill with the whip was the biggest threat to me. It’s difficult for the human eye to detect the movements of the tip of that whip. Even if I tried to rush toward Elisabeth, I would get hit before I could slip through its long range. I also have a few weapons hidden away, but they are probably not enough to counter her whip.

But the longer the whip is, the more space it needs to exert its power. It has to be swung around to generate centrifugal force. In this bedroom, it would have inadequate acceleration, resulting in weak blows.

…… If we could take control of the situation all at once before the people inside the bedroom could ask for help from the outside, we would have a good chance of success. After that, we can take Elisabeth hostage and escape from the castle.

I put my ear to the door and tried to check on the situation inside.
There was no sound.
It meant that there were very few or no one in the room.
How convenient for us.
But there is also the danger of an ambush.

I instructed Hannah to stay hidden and kicked the door open.

…… There was no one in the bedroom.

Outdated tapestries on the walls. The bed canopy is suspended from the ceiling. A great number of bundled dried herbs dangled from the ceiling. The floor of the room was covered with straw.

In old mansions, when the straw became dirty, it would be replaced with new straw to keep the room clean. The fireplace and candles were still lit and there were signs that people had been here until a while ago.

I was disappointed as much as I had been excited.

I felt sick as I scanned the room in detail to check if Alisa had been hidden away here.

…… The room covered in bloodstains was a slaughterhouse specializing in human slaughter. The dried herbs were to mask the smell of blood and guts.

In the center of the room was a bathtub lined with a new white cloth. An iron birdcage hung directly above it.
The spikes planted inside were sharp as blades and will easily scratch you if you touch them. No, it’s not a birdcage. It was a blood-collecting device that made the girl trapped inside spill her blood and offer it to Elisabeth.
And there were other variations besides the method Hannah told me.

「…… The sturdy iron cage is warped …… How horrible ……」

I groaned.

It was proof of the girls’ struggle to escape death.

I could imagine what the scene must have been like.

On the wall beside the cage was an iron rod that was so long that it almost reached the ceiling. The tip was charred and melted. The iron bar was heated until it turned red, inserted through an opening in the iron cage, and pressed against the naked girls. The scratches on the iron bar showed how mercilessly it was pushed toward the girls.

The iron cage is small and full of thorns. The girls writhed in agony from the burning pain as they were forced to run around the cage and were repeatedly wounded by the spikes of the iron cage. Their soft skin was torn and blood poured out. Then under the cage, Elisabeth would delightfully bask in the blood and smear it on her skin.

While ecstatically listening to the girls’ screams of despair and the smell of their skin being burned ……

There was also a human-sized stone platform with chains and fetters for restraints. The victims must have flailed desperately to escape as it was slightly worn down in the shape of a human being.

The stone platform was sloped and a trench was dug in it. The purpose was so that after slitting the victim’s throat, their blood would be collected efficiently.

On a table next to it were a row of oddly shaped blades.
Those were probably used for dissecting and skinning.

There was a stack of unusually large plates. It looked like a human limb could be placed on it. It would be unnecessary in an ordinary bedroom. The girls were dismembered as they were still alive and were shown their own detached limbs.

There were no human rights and no dignity left for the girls. Here, human beings are nothing more than a plaything to be used for Elisabeth’s pleasure. It is a playground from a nightmare. Hannah was right when she said that she didn’t want me to be killed like a livestock.

I fearfully pulled back the veil in the far end of the room and saw the blood-smeared demon statue that made me swallow back my scream. A piece of flesh was stuck in its fangs. The skin of a woman’s face that was skinned with her hair still attached was stickily stuck from the head to the tip of the demon statue’s nose. It was half-dried. The long blond hair, caked with blood, was painful to look at.

I moved my line of sight downwards and saw the grotesque towering form of the statue. It had a horrifying shape that was reminiscent of a giant reptile.
The scales covering the entire statue were so sharp. Just by being pressed down on it and moving around on top of it, those scales could probably tear human skin. Not to mention ……

A sense of loathing crept up my spine.