Chapter 30
— Click, thud.
The sound of the door closing echoed through the room.
Now, in the room with the bathtub, only Dielo, the agents of Arzenta’s intelligence division, and the two traitors remained.
— Drip, drip.
Other than the sound of water dripping from the traitors’ wet hair, the room was silent.
Dielo slowly turned his gaze toward the two traitors.
His mind was still dominated by the lingering trace Crois had left behind.
‘Yes, you’re the head, Dielo.’
That whispering voice. That hand patting his shoulder.
Unconsciously, Dielo smiled.
If he had truly been a “pure” man, perhaps he would have gladly let himself be dyed.
His bride, cute as she was, seemed to think of him as if he were a pure white, untouched snowfield, soft and pristine.
But he wasn’t.
He was the kind of man who blackened anything that came close.
A delightful misconception.
— Clack.
He slowly stepped closer to the bathtub.
“Am I to handle the disposal myself, or…?”
As he neared the tub, the smell of water filled his senses.
Perhaps because Crois had touched it, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
— Splash.
Dielo dipped his hand into the water and flicked it.
Because it was water imbued with Allosé’s magic, there was a sharp tingling resistance at his fingertips.
And yet, the sensation of the rippling water felt strangely pleasant.
Even though, as an Arzenta, he should have found it intolerable.
“Is this because she’s too gentle to end your lives herself?”
He murmured.
As he felt the water, his thoughts turned to Crois.
To him, Crois was the one who was truly white.
Those who had never so easily taken a life carried a certain air.
They could not escape the gaze of one accustomed to blood. Dielo smiled silently.
He was certain of it.
His bride had never killed anyone before.
Compared to him, she was unbearably pure.
“Hoo…”
Meanwhile, the traitors, relieved that the infamous villainess Crois had left, seemed to relax somewhat.
If they had been 4th-floor Arzentas, they would never have made the foolish mistake of being reassured by Dielo’s face.
But unfortunately, they were Arzentas of the 3rd floor or lower, with limited information.
They didn’t know Dielo’s true nature.
They thought of him only as the weak-hearted man he appeared to be in public.
And so, they immediately tried to coax him.
“Spare us, please, Head!”
“If you let us live, we’ll live as though dead!”
They looked up at Dielo with desperate faces.
Dielo smiled faintly.
“I can’t ignore what my bride has taught me.”
The traitors hesitated at his smile.
Was he really going to let them live?
That easily?
“Since Crois spared you, it seems she wanted to teach me mercy.”
His voice was gentle.
Hope flickered on the traitors’ faces.
Dielo patiently waited for that tiny spark of hope to spread across their faces, until it fully consumed their thoughts.
Then, in a soft voice, he continued:
“But unlike my bride’s expectations, I’m nothing but a graceless beast.”
“…!”
The traitors’ faces stiffened.
There was nothing more he needed from them anyway.
They had already spilled thirteen names, revealed where the traitors’ list was kept, and even confessed that this annex was their primary meeting place.
Everything had been extracted.
They were now useless.
“Still, my bride said I don’t need to wield the blade myself.”
Best to follow what I’ve learned, after all. Besides…
“And she’d be frightened if she saw me like this.”
He leaned toward the traitors.
— Whoosh!
Flames sparked in the empty air.
Fire above water — a strange sight.
But Argenta’s flames made it possible.
— Fwoooosh!
The bathtub caught fire. Dielo turned away.
“Whether you drown in the water or burn in the fire, I’ll give you the choice.”
One must uphold the mercy taught by one’s bride, after all.
The fire spread, licking up the walls of the room.
Dielo frowned at the sight.
As an Argenta, the master of fire, he had no reason to fear flames.
But he disliked being surrounded by them.
So he turned quickly.
“W-what is this…!”
Though floating in the water, the traitors’ bound hands and feet prevented them from escaping.
As Dielo turned, he said:
“Call it an accident — a sudden fire in this room. And bring the list they spoke of to my office.”
“Yes, sir.”
The intelligence agents bowed.
“Wh-what is this!”
The traitors, who had only ever seen the gentle face of Dielo Argenta, now thrashed in terror.
But it was already too late.
“Only the 1st-floor knights are left now.”
I stroked my chin.
I was on the first floor of the main building.
Just before discovering Mirta’s betrayal, there had clearly been 4th-floor knights here.
Troop movement was no trivial matter.
And the difference in treatment between Arzentas of the 3rd floor or lower and those stationed on the 4th was stark.
There had to be a reason 4th-floor knights had been assigned here.
“What lies further in?”
At my question, Fielle answered:
“There’s a passage to the underground.”
“The underground?”
What was under the Argenta main house again?
In the original story, it hadn’t been described in detail.
‘It was a restricted space, off-limits to the servants.’
That was all it had said.
If it were truly important, 4th-floor knights would have guarded it at all times — so why only on that day?
Was there something important inside?
What could be so important to Argenta at this time?
Just as I tilted my head—
“Have you heard the tale of the mad count who told his wife she could go anywhere, except the underground?”
A smooth voice interrupted.
I turned. It was Dielo. I blinked.
“Are you saying you’re that mad count?”
In short, was he telling me not to enter the underground?
Dielo lightly corrected me.
“Mad duke.”
So — still mad, then?
I arched an eyebrow.
And turned my steps away.
If there was a place one shouldn’t enter, I wasn’t about to.
I’m the kind of person who hates characters in horror movies yelling “hello?” while walking into an abandoned house.
If you’re told not to go, then don’t go.
That’s when Dielo suddenly spoke again.
“Would you like to see it?”
I turned back at his words.
“In the story, the count wouldn’t open the door for his wife.”
“But I’m a duke.”
Dielo opened his palm.
Unlike the count in the tale, he was saying, as a duke, he wouldn’t stop me from going underground?
A ridiculous bit of logic.
…But I was curious, that was true.
If he wanted to show me, I had no reason to refuse.
“All right.”
When I answered, he extended his hand.
As I took it, he gently brushed my hand and kindly led me forward.
“……”
The knights of the first floor silently bowed as the door opened.
Just as Fielle had said, behind it lay stairs leading downward.
— Fwoosh!
As Dielo stepped inside, the torches in the dark underground lit themselves.
And descending further, what came into view was—
“…A statue?”
A statue?
Dielo smiled faintly.
“A statue of the sea god.”
Why would that be here, under the Argenta mansion’s main house?
Had Argenta really valued sea-god worship that much?
As I pondered that—
“Welcome, madam!”
A cheerful man popped out.
A man with deep green hair bowed deeply before me, one hand over his chest.
“I am Rick, a faithful servant of Argenta.”
Rick? This was him?
I knew his name.
Those who knew him in Argenta called him the “cheerful lunatic.”
Head of Argenta’s intelligence division, he possessed an absolute faith.
But it wasn’t faith in the sea god here…
…it was an absolute devotion to Argenta itself.
“It is truly an honor to meet you, madam!”
“Pleased to meet you.”
I barely managed to pull my hand free from Rick’s overzealous handshake.
Meanwhile, my gaze strayed to the sea-god statue.
Rick smiled brightly.
“I was offering prayers to the god. ‘May you guard Argenta, standing before the sea.’”
He bowed his head.
‘Guard Argenta before the sea.’
But in the original, when Rick said those words, the “god” he meant wasn’t the sea god, but the head of Argenta.
In other words, Rick was lying right now.
Had this altar really been here from the start?
“Since it seems my bride wishes to take a closer look, step outside.”
Dielo gestured.
“Yessir!”
With that, Rick bowed and swiftly disappeared.
“I heard you don’t believe in the sea god, Lord Dielo.”
After all, Argenta’s family tradition valued ability above all else, leaving no room for reliance on gods.
Dielo nodded.
“Yes, so originally this was a dungeon.”
…A dungeon, under the main mansion?
Well, perhaps it made sense. If the strongest person in the house resided here, this was the best place for a prison.
“Then why is there an altar here now?”
“I thought perhaps you might want it. Allosé believes in the sea god, after all.”
Dielo smiled faintly.
Indeed, in the original, Crois Allosé was a believer in the sea god.
Born into a family attuned to the power of water, it was only natural.
So this was a gift, carefully prepared by Dielo in his own way.
“I had planned to show you once everything was ready, but perhaps I, or someone else…”
Dielo narrowed his eyes, glancing up toward the stairs we had descended.
“…may have worried you, Crois.”
In truth, it was only that I’d noticed the change in knights.
I shook my head.
“That wasn’t it.”
“Then I’m glad.”
Dielo smiled sweetly.
That innocent smile weighed oddly on my heart.
In the fairytale, the mad count locked the underground with a key to conceal his secret.
Of course, as he said, Dielo wasn’t the mad count.
But his strongest key was what guarded this place.
A bit excessive, just to hide a “gift.”
Silently, I fixed my gaze once again on the statue.
And that night, I heard the news of the fire in the annex.
