CHAPTER 13………………………………………….
Elexena pressed down on Seto’s head. Because his face was stuck to the floor, only suppressed groans leaked from him.
“I really don’t understand why no one appreciates my desire to end this mercifully, just like my mother would want.”
She spoke as if lamenting, but there was laughter woven between her words. Elexena grabbed Seto’s hair again and slammed his head back into the floor.
Calisto sucked in a breath, and the other two servants shook uncontrollably without even being able to breathe. Only Elexena and Panake were smiling.
“A few years ago, someone tripped me on the stairs. I even heard them laughing as I fell. And yet you’re telling me you did nothing at all?”
Of course, Elexena had only heard that story from Cardia. Cardia hadn’t even revealed everything that had happened to her, so there was no way to confirm the truth if the servants lied.
That was why Elexena had deliberately chosen the first servant Cardia had mentioned.
To appear as the real Cardia—and to seem like someone who remembered everything.
“If you refuse to answer properly, I have no way of knowing.”
Elexena threw Seto to the floor. He collapsed, groaning in pain.
Crouching down, she met his eyes. Her own curved gently into a smile.
“Then I’ll take this as your crime.”
“N-no…! It wasn’t me!”
“Too late.”
Elexena stood up.
The reason she had stirred up the servants was simple.
Originally, it was to compensate for her lack of information. She knew very little about Cardia, and even less about this household, so she needed a natural opportunity to extract information.
Of course, she had also intended to expel one or two servants in the process to make it look natural.
But her mother assigning knights changed things. Now there was an additional purpose: to use them as a means of contacting the outside world.
“Stay still.”
At her words, Elexena stepped on Seto’s right knee and crushed it beneath her foot. Seto, who had been trying to crawl away, froze completely.
The other servants lowered their heads, refusing to look anywhere but the floor. Servants of the ducal household were used to staying silent—they avoided even the possibility of meeting Seto’s eyes.
Seto, who had been screaming moments ago, now only gasped for breath. His face—mucus, tears, and blood all mixed together—was a disgusting mess.
Thud.
Elexena kicked him away. Seto curled around his destroyed knee, groaning. It was likely completely shattered.
She turned to Panake.
“Well, Panake?”
“‘Well’ what?”
“You said you were bored earlier. This isn’t entertaining either?”
She grumbled at him. The others swallowed hard at her tone. Was this truly just entertainment for her?
They had heard the young lady had regained her sanity—but they had not heard she had become this cruel. The old and current versions of her felt like completely different people.
If that so-called legendary bird said he was bored, the next victim might be them.
“Of course it’s not fun. I haven’t done anything.”
“Then I have nothing to say. What do you want to do?”
“Let me taste his blood a little.”
Panake bared his fangs. At that absurd request, Elexena burst into laughter.
“Fine.”
She agreed without hesitation. Panake had expected nothing less.
This had all been part of Elexena’s plan anyway.
—We need two kinds of power: internal support and external assistance.
Just before dawn, Elexena had explained everything in detail. They lacked information, money, and manpower—so this was the best strategy available.
—The inside is already under Mother’s control. So we focus on drawing power from outside.
Tap, tap. Elexena had idly tapped her fingers on the table—her habit when deep in thought.
—If I were Mother, I’d assign knights and block any secret movement. She’d try to trap my movements within her sight.
That prediction had come true.
—So we need a way to communicate outside her gaze.
—So I act as the messenger?
Panake had tilted his head. As the son of the god of death, he could travel unseen along paths of death itself. Moving secretly and quickly would have been easy for him.
But Elexena shook her head.
—No. There’s something better.
She had smiled.
—We spread rumors.
—Rumors?
Panake had been confused. How could that bring external allies? Was she planning to build influence through good rumors?
—Of course not. Bad rumors spread better.
Elexena had seen through his thoughts immediately.
—Your job is simple. Make me look like a young lady who abuses her subordinates using Panake.
“Please… spare me… please…”
Seto crawled weakly, dragging himself by his elbows like a dying insect.
Snap.
Panake pinned him down with his hooked claw. Seto’s resistance stopped instantly. The sharp talons hovered dangerously close to his skin.
“If you’re lucky, you might not die.”
Panake said as his teeth neared Seto’s shoulder. It was not mercy. It was amusement—like gambling over whether a bug would live or die.
CRUNCH.
“AAAAAAGH!!”
His teeth—capable of chewing metal—tore into Seto’s shoulder. The more Seto struggled, the deeper Panake’s claws dug into him, worsening the injuries.
“Haa… hhh…”
Even when Seto could no longer scream, Panake showed no mercy. Only after enough time had passed for poison to spread did he finally release him.
Seto foamed at the mouth and collapsed unconscious.
“This is getting a little fun.”
Panake chuckled. Elexena shrugged.
“Throw him out.”
She tossed Seto toward the knight guarding the door. The knights stared in shock. Before they could ask anything, Elexena shut the door again with a loud slam.
She turned her gaze to the remaining two servants. They were drenched in cold sweat.
Fear of visible brutality outweighed even unseen authority. Without their lives, nothing else mattered.
“Next, Jonathan. Tell me everything you have done—down to the smallest detail.”
At those words, like a death sentence, Jonathan dropped to his knees.
“L-Lady… please! Just kill me instead!”
If cowardice had a shape, it would have looked exactly like this.
After begging for death, he began spilling everything Elexena wanted to hear. Eventually, she mercifully “forgave” him.
Just by making one of them an example, everything had gone smoothly. Now she could extract the information she originally wanted from the remaining servants.
Before dawn, Panake had continued questioning her plan.
—You said “first” earlier.
Her friend was sometimes frighteningly sharp. He wanted to know what would happen after the rumors spread.
—So what happens after the rumors spread?
—Well… I’ll leave that to chance.
Elexena smiled faintly.
She was not the type to move with a perfect long-term plan. She adapted as things came.
Even this plan was only short-term. If it worked, good. If not, she would adjust.
But so far, everything was proceeding smoothly. So she would continue as planned.
At that time, she had told Panake:
—If things go well, I’ll use a dog I’ve already broken.
Everything was going according to plan.
Now it was time to put meat in the mouth of the dog she had already subdued.
