Chapter 07
Meanwhile, Penny, who had been deftly deceiving everyone, couldn’t hide her fluster at the sudden remark.
‘Wh-what? What’s wrong with me?’
I need to cry, but that’s not what I meant—I need to fix this!
‘B-but the words won’t come out…’
It felt like an invisible hand was tightly squeezing her throat.
“Euaaagh!”
Despite her panicked state, her body moved immediately to the next action.
Taking advantage of Lucien’s momentary daze, Penny lunged toward Cierra.
Her grip, savagely grabbing Cierra’s shoulders, had already left scratches on Cierra’s neck.
Penny stared straight at Cierra with bloodshot eyes and screamed.
“If you’re going to die soon anyway and can’t take them, what’s wrong with me using them! Die! Hurry up and die!”
*Thud, thud.* Her long nails dug through the thin dress, sinking deeply into Cierra’s shoulder.
The sensation was vivid, yet Cierra remained calm.
No, rather—
*Ssheek.*
‘…She’s smiling?’
Cierra smiled leisurely, enough to make even Penny, who was seething with malice, momentarily dumbfounded.
*Swiish.*
Cierra bowed her head so low her family couldn’t see her face and whispered to Penny.
“Pity. It seems it’s not me who’s going to die now, but you?”
At the voice full of mockery, the sound of Penny gritting her teeth in rage burst out involuntarily.
It was a viciously sharp sound, but Cierra paid no mind and moved even closer to Penny.
The corners of her eyes curved like crescent moons.
Even though Cierra was looking up at Penny because she was bent over, for some reason,
Penny couldn’t shake the feeling that Cierra was watching her from an impossibly high place.
In that moment, *flash*.
Cierra’s pupils glinted with a color other than purple.
“Everyone will listen *very* well to what you say.”
It was a deep, sticky green, reminiscent of a swamp.
“……!”
*Gasp!*
Faced with an unbelievable situation, Penny’s body froze stiff.
It felt like she was submerged up to her neck in an inescapable swamp.
Only now did Penny realize the fact.
***
‘Hehe. My threat must have worked.’
Seeing her unable to speak, her face just turning red, and fuming like that—who knew it could be so satisfying!
But if I stayed like this, I was worried I might look like I’m bullying an innocent person.
“What’s the big deal about stealing a few measly gems! What good are they to you except as mementos anyway!”
Nice timing!
Penny appropriately started pouring out a torrent of words.
Perhaps because they came from a place of genuine belief, her expression and emotions were raw and unfiltered.
‘How nasty her words are, really.’
It wasn’t particularly hurtful. But my family seemed to feel differently.
“Albert! Take Penny Dock away for interrogation at once!”
Father shouted at the guard knight, a rare display of anger.
Seeing the veins bulging on his neck, Penny was out, regardless of the gem theft.
“Euaaagh!”
Meanwhile, the knights rushed over and restrained Penny.
She struggled violently, clutching me tightly, causing more scratches on my shoulder.
“You think my dad would just stand by?! It’s unfair! It’s better for the gems if I have them!!!”
The fact that she genuinely believed that… It was beyond creepy, I was starting to feel sorry for her.
Before I knew it, the knights had peeled Penny off me and were dragging her down the hallway.
“Cierra Eisens!!! I’ll curse you!!!!!!”
Hmph, you think saying that will scare me?
*Ding.*
[Artega claps, saying it was a typical extra’s line.]
[Artega soothes me, saying there is no ‘curse’ in this world, so I can rest easy.]
……Whew, I was actually a little scared, but Artega’s words reassured me.
‘That’s right~ Go ahead and curse all you want, since it doesn’t exist in this world~’
With a generous heart, I saw off Penny as she was dragged away.
After that, the stifling pressure that had been building up inside me subsided.
‘Grrr, now I can finally go to my room!’
Zena, who was fast asleep, would soon be taken by the physician, so there was no need to worry.
‘Lulu, time to roll around with the cat~’
Just thinking about it made me feel all fluffy and happy. It was the moment I hurriedly moved my feet to head to my room.
“……Cierra.”
I heard my father’s voice calling me from behind.
‘Oops.’
I was so caught up in the satisfying moment that I had forgotten about my family.
When I turned to look at them, they were all staring at me with faces full of surprise and guilt.
After hesitating for a while, Mother was the first to speak.
“We should have… listened to you. We’re sorry.”
I actually thought they’d be most curious about the healing ability.
But for them to apologize first…
“Well… It happens. I’m fine.”
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t hurt by my family’s reaction, but I didn’t really mind.
‘I’ve lived as a villainess for 20 years, and my family originally kept their distance from me.’
Perhaps it was because I was born with a predetermined death date. I instinctively never tried to get close to my family.
Unlike Lucien, Mother was also my biological mother.
‘Now that I’ve remembered my past life, it feels even more awkward, to the point of driving me crazy…’
It might have been better if they had just kept their distance from me, the villainess, like typical families in romance novels.
‘But my family was desperate to show me affection but couldn’t.’
Even Lucien, until a year ago, had tried hard to get close to me.
“Cierra, the wound… are you alright?”
After a long silence following my answer, Father cautiously asked.
Thinking this was finally the main point, I continued, looking at Zena.
“Well, when I woke up, I found out I could use divine power…. It’s a good thing, right? Thanks to that, Zena was healed well.”
I considered mentioning Lady Artega but quickly changed my mind.
“Huh, divine power, you say?”
“Cierra, is that true?”
‘They’re already shocked by that; I can’t pour oil on a fire.’
I should tell them about the healing power and Lady Artega slowly, after a little more time has passed.
‘Staying quiet isn’t so bad either.’
Before my family could interrogate me further, I quickly changed the subject.
“Um, rather than that, shouldn’t we take Zena to the physician first, Father?”
Since it’s my first time using divine power, there might be some rough spots.
‘Right. Cross-verification is important.’
I nodded slightly and waited for an answer.
But it was strange.
‘Huh? Why are they making that face again?’
The guilt on their faces, which should have cleared up, had only deepened!
The reason soon became clear.
“Cierra, we’re talking about your wound. Your neck… it’s bleeding.”
“Ah.”
At Father’s words, I quickly and awkwardly wiped my neck.
I had been so proud of perfectly handling both Zena and Penny that I had momentarily forgotten the pain.
‘Mmm. It stings a bit.’
But this is nothing.
I’m a bit worried about the shards in my ankle, but fortunately, I still had the <Surgeon’s Tweezers> item in my hand.
‘Besides, if I go get treated now, it seems like my whole family will follow me.’
With those guilt-ridden faces…
“It’s okay. I’ll handle it myself, Father.”
Everyone must have had a hard time because of me all day; I didn’t want to make them worry about something minor again.
“…Alright. You should do as you wish.”
Fortunately, my family respected my wishes.
Although Lucien was still looking at me with a confused expression…
‘Hmph, whatever.’
My wrist, which he had grabbed, was still throbbing, and I didn’t even want to look at him!
“Then, I’ll head in first.”
I gave my family, who were staring intently at me, a smile as if to say ‘don’t worry,’ and entered my room.
*Click.*
“Urgh.”
As soon as the door closed, pained groans leaked out between my teeth involuntarily.
As the tension eased, the pain I had been suppressing until now came crashing over me like a tidal wave.
*Sliiide.*
I couldn’t even make it to the bed and slid down, leaning against the door.
“Oww, I should have just let them help me.”
What was the big deal about facing their sorry faces!
…Of course, that didn’t mean I wanted to go out right now and go find the physician with my family.
“Grr, first I need to get these shards out.”
I pulled up the hem of my dress, which covered even the top of my foot.
I thought it wouldn’t be a big wound, but there were more embedded fragments than I expected.
“Good thing I have the tweezers.”
I never knew I’d be so grateful for the ‘no additional bleeding’ option!
Although my body stiffened at the sight of the blotchy blood on my ankle, the hand holding the tweezers ignored even that.
*Swish, swish!*
It pulled out all the tiny fragments, even the ones that seemed impossible, in one go.
As if its job was done, the tweezers began to disappear along with the extracted fragments.
“Ughh. Let me just rest a bit……”
Seeing that, all the strength drained from my body!
Once again, I couldn’t even think of making it to the bed and just lay crookedly on the floor like a limp liquid.
“I wish someone would move me……”
It was the moment I was mumbling, my cheek pressed against the cool floor.
“Meow.”
A cute cry sounded, and a black, fluffy paw appeared before my eyes.
