Chapter 28 …

She was certainly a charming prima donna. But she must not become so captivated by her co-star that she forgot her own role. She, too, had to protect her own stage.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Marielle spoke.

“…You are truly shameless.”

She slowly shook her head as she continued.

“But insisting won’t create a seat that doesn’t exist. It seems something quite serious has happened inside the castle just now, yet I do not have the courage to step in there. I suppose I have no choice but to accept Countess Ishpern’s proposal.”

“Thank you for your generosity, Duchess Lucelle.”

“But.”

Marielle added, fixing Helena with her vivid blue eyes,

“I will not forget what happened today.”

After saying that, she glanced sideways at the other ladies’ faces.

‘This should satisfy them as well.’

At that moment, Helena spoke again.

“Of course. Although we have no choice but to send such distinguished guests back today, we cannot allow your memories of Burwood to remain merely unpleasant.”

Countess Bryce seized the opportunity and quickly interjected.

“And what exactly do you intend to do about that?”

“We will complete our preparations soon and invite you all back to Burwood.”

“Oh ho ho, ‘soon,’ you say? Is that even possible?”

“Of course.”

Helena nodded confidently and then turned to Marielle.

“May I ask about Your Grace’s schedule?”

“…I had planned to remain in Lilo until the end of this month.”

“In that case, please visit the House of Ishpern again on the last day of this month.”

Helena smiled.

“We will turn your visit to Burwood into a memory you will never forget.”

As soon as the splendid carriage carrying the duchess’s party passed through the castle’s main gate, the bright smiles on Wesley and Joe’s faces vanished.

Wesley spoke hollowly.

“We’re finished.”

Joe’s face was pale as well.

“Countess Bryce is a leading figure in southern high society. And Duchess Lucelle…!”

Helena looked back at them calmly.

“Finished? Not at all. We still have one more chance.”

Wesley’s expression was grim.

“My lady, this is worse. If we disappoint Duchess Lucelle twice, there will truly be no way out.”

“We still have ten days.”

“My lady, even if we turn the castle upside down day and night, it’s impossible to refurbish it enough to host a banquet in ten days.”

Wesley pointed toward the garden.

“And the garden, in particular, is impossible. Those trees may look like old trunks that can be cut down at once, but each and every one is a precious ornamental tree that must be handled with great care. We can’t recklessly touch them just because we’re in a hurry.”

Helena waved her hand dismissively.

“Our new gardener will take care of the garden, so don’t worry about that. It’s already being managed well—just keep things as they are.”

Joe asked in a pale voice,

“My lady… will it truly be all right?”

“It will be fine.”

Just then, a loud crashing sound came from inside the banquet hall.

Without a word, they all rushed inside.

The banquet hall, where the massive chandelier had collapsed, was in uproar over yet another problem.

One of the workers approached Helena with an apologetic expression.

“My lady, the chandelier’s pulley has broken.”

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Hogg, the supervisor of the construction site, came running and handed over a letter.

“Your Excellency, it was left at the inn.”

Benjamin’s face showed no particular emotion.

Yet the way he snatched the grimy envelope from Hogg’s hand carried a sense of urgency.

He tore the envelope open almost violently and sat down on a stack of timber at the edge of the construction site. From the tightly sealed envelope slipped out a sheet of yellowed parchment.

With trembling eyes, he scanned the words written upon it.

[My dear Benji,

As always, my answer is the same. We cannot meet again.

I hope you forget me and live your own life.

You must find your own happiness.

—Isabella.]

“……”

He clenched the parchment tightly.

‘Why?’

There had only ever been one thing he wished for: that his beloved Isabella might live a more comfortable and peaceful life.

He was now a count. The vast territory of Burwood belonged to him.

If Isabella did not wish to draw others’ attention, he could make an even quieter and broader land for her. He had been striving for precisely that.

“……”

After sitting motionless for a moment, Benjamin rose.

He walked to the bonfire and threw what he held into the flames.

The blazing red fire seized the parchment and reduced it to ashes in an instant.

It was only parchment that burned, yet he felt as though everything he had worked for had turned to ash and scattered in the wind.

‘Why? Isabella, you said you wanted to live under the bright sun. Do you still not think Burwood is safe? Or…?’

Within the fiercely blazing fire, like an illusion, he heard the voice of his dead mother.

‘You are cursed! In the end, you will ruin everything. Who could ever love someone like you?’

‘…Do you never wish to see me again?’

A sudden stinging sensation along his back snapped Benjamin to his senses.

He looked around. Not far away, the shouts of workers rang out.

Benjamin immediately ran toward the noise.

Hogg, hammer in hand, was pushing the laborers back.

“A monster! Anyone without armor, fall back!”

Grotesque creatures were rampaging as they smashed through the fence at the perimeter of the construction site.

The monsters’ massive bodies resembled boulders. Atop each sat a head with a sharp beak, and beneath the rocky bulk protruded thick bird-like legs.

With those legs, they were violently tearing apart the fence.

A soldier with a spear shouted,

“You damn beasts, what do you think you’re doing?!”

With a roar, he thrust his spear into a monster’s body.

“Fall back!” Benjamin thundered.

Startled by the command, the soldier dropped his spear and retreated.

In the next instant, the monster’s neck shot forward, its sharp beak piercing the space where the soldier had just stood.

The soldier screamed at the sight of the neck stretched nearly two meters long.

“What is that—?!”

Cunningly, the monster had concealed a snake-like long neck within its body.

A streak of white light cleaved the extended neck. It was Benjamin’s greatsword.

He shouted,

“It’s a cockatrice! Watch out for its venomous bite!”

The creatures were cockatrices, camouflaged in mud and stone, hiding their most powerful weapon—their long necks.

Chaos briefly erupted.

But the soldiers at the construction site were well accustomed to such situations.

They worked in pairs: one confronting the monster with a long spear, while the other struck down the extended neck with a blade.

The monsters were quickly subdued. And as always, the one who felled the most was Benjamin.

“……”

After every monster lay dead, Benjamin steadied his slightly ragged breathing and looked around.

The site was in ruins.

The massive monsters’ intrusion had destroyed a large portion of the painstakingly erected fence.

Worse still, during the rampage the bonfire had been knocked over, and the flames had spread to the collapsed fence. The well-dried wood was burning vigorously.

Hogg was shouting at the top of his lungs in front of it.

“Fire! Put out the fire!”

Dousing it with water would have been best, but at a construction site where even water for people had to be conserved, there was no surplus large enough to extinguish such flames.

Without hesitation, the men stripped off their outer garments and began smothering the fire with them. Benjamin tore off his own cloak and joined in.

Fortunately, the flames were quickly put out.

Hogg, his face smeared with soot, grinned.

“It’s a relief, Your Excellency! At least half the fence remains.”

But Benjamin did not feel relieved like Hogg.

With a drained expression, he surveyed the surroundings.

The blood of the monsters emitted a noxious poison, so the soldiers were dragging the carcasses away without even pausing to rest.

Benjamin said,

“Extract the mana stones and gather them in one place to be burned.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The injured?”

“One seriously wounded, two lightly injured.”