Chapter 8
When I carefully went over the memories that had surfaced… it seemed that the medicine they had forcibly made me take contained something strange. They said it was a “medicine to delay the manifestation of power.” That power probably referred to what Saldir mentioned — the “Seomhwa Fist” — and the other abilities passed down in the Sylkar family.
“……”
Maybe all of this had been part of a meticulously orchestrated plan. And if the insider helping them was a doctor, it would’ve been easy to avoid suspicion. Gaining trust by caring for others’ health, while secretly tormenting only me — who would possibly suspect them? No matter how much I cried, they’d have just tried to soothe me and move on. After all, it’s natural for children to be afraid of getting treated by doctors.
“……”
At that moment, I realized I was clenching both of my fists tightly. I’m still not entirely sure if I truly am a Sylkar — everything feels so unreal. But even if this were all just a dream, there’s no way I could forgive this woman. She tormented the weakest, most defenseless one — in secret — and used her position as a personal physician to do it.
Little Verdet probably didn’t even know she was facing such persistent, sinister malice. Even if she had asked adults for help, it wouldn’t have been easy to explain this twisted cruelty… The adults probably dismissed her dislike of the doctor as childish whining.
In that moment, I spoke briefly.
“Let go.”
I said it curtly and raised my right hand to grab the woman’s hand that was pressing down on the back of my neck. Her hand was larger and pressing with force, but somehow, I had this strong conviction that her grip was much weaker than mine. As I applied a bit of strength, Perriot screamed in a shrill voice.
“Miss! What’s going on?! Let go, let me go!”
In the end, Perriot was begging. Her voice sounded pitiful, but the malice glinting in her eyes was far too clear. I glared at her without releasing my grip.
“You’re the one who should let go. How dare you lay hands on a Sylkar.”
I forcefully flung her hand away. Was it really that strong? She staggered backward.
Taking advantage of her stumbling, I quickly slipped out of her grasp. Nearby, I saw the medical bag she had carelessly placed on the floor. It was the same medical bag I had seen briefly in my resurfacing memories.
If I recalled correctly, she took out that strange incense from that very bag. …I wonder if it’s still in there now? She probably would have disposed of it to destroy the evidence, but I wanted to believe that she hadn’t had the chance yet.
After all, my safe return to this mansion must have been an unexpected turn of events. She wouldn’t have had time to dispose of the evidence yet. And if she had to move locations quickly, she might have kept everything in that medical bag just in case.
I hopped down from the bed and dashed toward the bag. As soon as I grabbed it, Perriot shrieked in alarm.
“Don’t touch that bag!”
“Move!”
I don’t know when she had followed me, but she desperately lunged to snatch the bag away. But I was faster. As I yanked on the bag with force, Perriot let out an ugly screech and fell backward.
“You brat! Who said you could touch someone else’s bag like that?!”
Perriot, who had fallen awkwardly on her butt, shouted in irritation. And at that moment, the maids in the room stiffened.
“You might want to be more careful with your words, Doctor.”
“Did you just call her a brat?”
The maids confronted her with even more hardened expressions than mine. Perriot forced a nervous smile.
“Haha… I just misspoke, that’s all…”
Whether she was making excuses or not, I frowned as I looked at the bag. There was a lock.
Was there always a lock on this bag? In my memory, Perriot had just taken things out of it freely.
Why the lock only today? Could it be… there’s something in here that she had to lock away?
“Give me the bag.”
“Wh-What?”
“I said give it to me. I’ll pay you for it.”
With those brief words, I tore the bag apart with both hands.
The tough leather bag, which should have been durable, tore apart like paper in my small hands. The surrounding maids gasped in astonishment. The contents of the bag spilled out onto the floor.
“……”
Among the spilled items, I easily spotted the pouch containing the incense she had used on me. Just as I was about to pick it up, I saw something else next to it — a hornet-shaped brooch.
…Huh?
How could I not recognize it? It was the communication device the man who attacked me and my nanny Hebe had carried. That same device was here. This was the decisive evidence proving this phony physician was one of Nard’s subordinates.
“Well, well. So it’s here too?”
I picked up the hornet-shaped brooch and looked at Perriot. Her face turned ghostly pale as she saw what I had picked up.
“Put that down!”
“As if. Would you, if you were me?”
I scoffed and casually slipped the brooch into my pocket.
“Give it back!”
At that moment, Perriot lunged at me, throwing her entire body forward.
As if I’d let her hit me. I twisted my body and dodged her clumsy tackle.
“Argh!”
Perriot slammed hard into the bed frame. As she collapsed to the floor, I immediately grabbed her by the scruff of her neck — the exact same spot she had grabbed me earlier.
“Kyah! What are you doing?! Let go!”
“Would you let go if you were me? You’re part of the cult, aren’t you?”
She struggled, but I held onto her collar with one hand while glaring at the maids, who were looking back and forth between the two of us with confused expressions. Their faces were full of disbelief and confusion.
Well, I suppose that’s understandable.
Speaking of which… someone is missing from among the maids. That nanny — the one who kindly explained everything to me — Hebe.
Come to think of it, what happened to her? Was she rescued too? Is she being treated properly? Tilting my head, I asked the maids.
“What about the nanny?”
“…Sorry?”
“The nanny who came with me. Hebe.”
But something was strange. I noticed the maids exchanging uneasy glances.
Why?
“Uh… well. The nanny is in the basement… being interrogated…”
“What?”
“Lord Albrecht said he would interrogate her personally.”
Who is Albrecht? But asking that now would be too suspicious. He must be one of my family members — I’ve already met my mother, father, and second brother, so maybe he’s the eldest brother?
Still… why are they interrogating Hebe? I frowned and asked.
“Why?”
“Um… please don’t be too shocked. Nanny Hebe has been accused of orchestrating your kidnapping.”
“Accused?”
Now that was absurd.
“Why? The real accomplice is right here.”
“Wh-What?”
“Aaagh! Let go! Let go of me!”
Just then, Perriot began flailing wildly, trying to scratch me with her hands from behind.
But like that would work. Still gripping her collar, I twisted her arm back and slammed her to the floor. It was a perfect takedown hold.
