Chapter 001
Rosetta Coco Bennetra (1)
A noble lady, it was said, must keep her back straight and her posture perfect even if her toes were twisting inside the tips of her shoes.
Even if there was someone she utterly despised, she was never to badmouth them openly. Instead, she had to master the art of delivering an elegant “screw you,” as refined and winding as a path through the Priscan Mountains.
“That dog-like Odette! That goddamn Chesia…!”
My name is Rosetta Coco Bennetra.
Once called the “Mad Villainess” of social circles, I was currently busy pouring out a relentless stream of curses at my only younger sister and my husband.
At the same time, I was frantically crawling through the backyard using my elbows.
If anyone were to ask why the sole direct descendant of the Ducal House of Bennetra was suffering such humiliation…
I could answer that it was because my sister, Odette, and my husband, Chesia—the future Marquis—had not only carried out an affair but had also shoved poison down my throat.
Right now, I was using all my wits to bolt toward the back gate of the Marquis’s estate.
“Cough, blegh…!”
My heart hammered insanely.
A searing, twisting pain rose from my solar plexus, as if someone had poured magma inside me.
Unable to hold it back, I retched violently; a mixture of gastric juice and several blood clots spilled out, soaking the grass.
It was infuriating.
Unlike me, who at some point began to be called the “Ruffian Lady,” my younger sister, Bonita Odette, was praised as a benevolent and beautiful lady.
Even until yesterday, she was so lovely—like a bright spring flower—that I felt she deserved such praise, feeling no envy at all.
Though she was a stepsister brought into the family through our parents’ remarriage, how could I leave her behind at the main house when she pleaded to look after her only older sister?
Moved by Odette’s tearful, desperate entreaties, I brought her with me to the Montague Marquisate as soon as I got married.
– “If I don’t look after you, Sister, who will?”
She had been adorable.
She would have remained adorable, if only I hadn’t seen her playing around in the nude with my husband in such a vulgar manner.
“Those filthy things, how dare they. If I ever get out of here…”
The moment I left this mansion, I intended to visit the guard post immediately.
To reveal their true natures in full detail, I crawled and crawled with my elbows.
Yet, for some reason, the back gate seemed to be getting further away.
My head felt like it was being squeezed, and my jaw trembled uncontrollably.
I wasn’t sure if what was dripping from my mouth was saliva or blood, but I found myself hoping it was blood.
It would be a rather embarrassing sight for a nineteen-year-old adult to be crawling around drooling, wouldn’t it?
【 And what will you do once you get out? 】
“Obviously, I’ll tell my father and have them beheaded…”
Wait, Father passed away a while ago.
And who the hell are you?
Forcing my ragged breath into some semblance of order, I barely managed to turn my head toward the source of the voice.
In the Arcanis Empire, those I had to look up to could be counted on one hand. Thinking this person was incredibly rude, I looked up, only to find myself struck dumb.
【 Ah! Beheading is great. I’ve seen it often myself. 】
He had… no face.
No, I mean he literally had no face.
As if his features had been painted over with white powder, there was no sign of eyes, a nose, or a mouth.
The figure in the shape of a man spoke to me again, his voice fluttering with excitement.
【 But darling, you look like you’re going to die before you even get out. Shall I help you? 】
“Are… are… are you a ghost?”
【 Yep. Is this your first time seeing a ghost? 】
“It is my first time, gaack! Blegh…!”
I vomited again.
The clots were smaller than before, but there were more of them.
My stomach didn’t even burn anymore. For some reason, I had a feeling I was going to die soon.
I mean, wasn’t I seeing a ghost now?
Clutching the blood-matted grass, I chewed over the ghost’s (?) words.
I had no idea why a mere insignificant creature with an indistinct form wanted to help me, but one thing was certain.
‘I want revenge!’
I wanted to ruin the reputations of those bastards who acted so shamelessly after doing the unforgivable to me, torture them to my heart’s content, and then [Bleep] [Bleep] and kill them!
Having quickly clarified what I wanted, I found it too burdensome to even hold my head up, so I simply lay flat and asked:
“The reason you want to help me?”
【 Your speech is a bit blunt. 】
“I’m sorry, Ghost… sir.”
I wasn’t intimidated.
It was just that, looking at the current situation, I seemed to be the underdog, so I was merely yielding a point.
At my question that pierced through the essence of the matter, the spirit nodded with his arms crossed.
He still had no features, which was grotesque.
【 Good question. I didn’t expect much since you’re the daughter of Duke Bennetra, but you have a fairly sharp side to you. 】
“Don’t insult my father. That’s defamation of the deceased.”
Since he was a ghost who could wander around everywhere, I suppose he knew my father.
I didn’t much like the attitude of a fellow who would bring up my father who had passed away just days ago, but that wasn’t the important part right now.
The ghost kept his arms crossed, tapping the grass with the tip of his toe, before eventually crouching down to look at me.
Encountering him up close, I got the feeling that this faceless being was somehow smiling.
【 You want revenge on them, right? I can help you. On the condition that you carry out my revenge along with yours. 】
“…Do you have a lingering grudge?”
【 Something like that. It won’t be a losing deal for you, darling. 】
I had no idea why he was calling me “Honey” or “Darling” like some loose man frequenting taverns.
However, I decided to push that aside as well.
Every deal has its proper procedures, right?
Listening to his story—who the target of his revenge was, and what his specific plan for helping me was—should have come first.
Unfortunately, I had to answer immediately upon hearing the voices of knights searching the vicinity of the mansion—shouting that I couldn’t have gone far—and seeing the flickering light of their lanterns.
“Fine, let’s do it! Revenge is best served as a pair!”
【 Are you sure you don’t want to think about it a bit more? 】
“Right now, quickly, help!”
“I found her!” a nameless knight shouted, his voice ringing through the air.
In the midst of that, I vomited one more time.
Seeing the peridot-colored liquid, it seemed there was nothing left to come out.
【 Wow, I’ve never seen bile before. 】
The ghost, spitting out salt-rubbing words as if he were watching a curious spectacle, covered my eyes with his large hands.
A light so bright it felt blinding blocked my vision, and then everything went black in an instant.
I lamented that I shouldn’t have hoped for a fluke; there was no way a ghost jabbering about bile would actually help.
Father, your cute Coco is coming to see you now.
I thought the life of Rosetta Coco Bennetra was ending like this.
It was the final, utterly hollow moment of my nineteen years.
* * *
< Observation Log of the Eldest Daughter of Bennetra >
Hysterical.
Merciless.
Spiteful.
These were all modifiers used to describe Lady Rosetta, the eldest daughter of the Ducal House of Bennetra whom I served.
Now, while one might consider such expressions a bit harsh for a lady who had just turned sixteen, our Lady was truly the pinnacle of senselessness.
– “Do you think I didn’t know you intended to stab me with that broken teacup shard?”
She would heartlessly kick out a maid who had stayed by her side for years just because a single teacup was broken.
– “I see. Seeing as you brought me a dress with a thread sticking out like this, you must be plotting to humiliate me!”
It was a common occurrence for her to rip up a perfectly fine dress she had received for alterations, claiming it wasn’t good enough.
Because servants left the Lady’s room in tears almost every day… I even ended up hitting it off with a poor maid while I was comforting her during my guard duty.
I won’t bother giving a thank-you note for providing me with a fresh lover.
Of course, Lady Rosetta hadn’t always been one to act out so violently.
If I recall correctly, it was probably when she was around fourteen… after the Duke remarried the current Madam and they began living with Lady Bonita.
The two sisters seemed to get along, but if you turned your eye for a moment, Lady Bonita would be pouring out tears, apologizing profusely.
Then Lady Rosetta would be fuming, screaming in a rage for her to get out of her sight.
Since they weren’t blood-related, it was inevitable they’d be different… but they truly were a contrasting pair of sisters.
– “I order Rosetta to be confined to her room until her health recovers.”
As Lady Rosetta’s tantrums grew worse by the day and the servants’ resentment reached its peak, it was no surprise that the Duke ordered her confinement.
He even stationed knights in front of her door.
Thus, the young princess, once considered the most noble in the Empire, found herself locked away in a room at the end of her fourteenth year.
“Yawn, it’s so quiet…”
And so, it had been a year and a half since the long neglect of the Lady began.
While on dawn guard duty, I was crouched in front of the door, yawning as usual.
Since there were so many who were negligent, it was true that I had become lazy as well.
Inwardly, I think I felt that a lady who only ever acted wickedly didn’t deserve proper treatment.
I would have continued like that, if only the door hadn’t suddenly opened to reveal the Lady’s signature deep crimson hair.
“Hey.”
I forcibly muffled the shout that nearly erupted from my mouth, as if I had seen a ghost in the moonlight.
While quickly straightening my seated posture, I thought I was just incredibly unlucky.
Since there was no excuse for my negligence, I was debating whether to offer my left cheek or my right shin.
Then, the Lady’s appearance caught my eye.
It was the first time I had seen her in person in a long time.
Her hair, unwashed for ages, was matted and tangled in a messy state.
Her body, thin from skipping meals, was no different from a child in the slums.
“Where is Father?”
I was just thinking that offering my left cheek would be more beneficial.
Yet, the Lady asked an unexpected question without any stance prepared for a physical strike.
“He is likely… in the office.”
“I see. Understood.”
Since the confinement order was still in effect, I should have stopped her, but I couldn’t.
Her eyes, sunken and hollow, were the same as usual, but the look in them was entirely different.
– “You’re a face I haven’t seen. Are you newly assigned?”
The Lady’s violet eyes, shining intensely, reminded me of the day I first faced her as a guard.
The eyes of young Lady Rosetta, who used to joke that I should protect her well, had sparkled like amethysts, and the gaze I met after so long was just like that.
In the quiet dawn, the Lady left her room without even being properly dressed.
For a noble lady, it was a truly shameful sight.
– Excerpt from the log of Knight A belonging to House Bennetra
