Chapter 6
The moment those trembling eyes—shaking as if an earthquake had struck—locked onto me, the reaper suddenly stopped moving.
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
Instinctively, I understood.
That was the kind of look people often had just before lunging at someone.
I should deal with him first.
I summoned roses while glancing sideways at Windsor. Fortunately, he didn’t seem inclined to step in.
At the same moment, the reaper bared his sharp claws and rushed toward me with a shriek.
“Ki—kill…!”
Of course, the sentence never finished.
Vines that had suddenly grown all around wrapped tightly around the reaper’s waist and yanked him back.
But that wasn’t the only reason he stopped moving.
I stared blankly at the sight of the reaper’s neck being half torn off while he hung suspended in the air by the vines.
A fountain of blood burst from his throat, splashing loudly and staining the surroundings red.
Something long and platinum flashed across my vision.
“Oh my. The heir of the Winslet family seemed to be in trouble, so I stepped in…”
A voice came from the side—surely the owner of that color.
“But it seems there was no need.”
In the silent banquet hall, the only sound was the quiet echo of footsteps on the marble floor.
No wonder I hadn’t seen him earlier.
“Yustaf.”
Yustaf, who had been watching the rose vines, smiled faintly and stepped forward.
I could feel the gaze of everyone in the hall turning toward us.
Soon he came right up to me, leaned down, and whispered.
“As expected, my guess was right.”
“….”
“I told you, didn’t I? It would be interesting.”
Even while we spoke, the platinum-colored snake kept moving busily.
Crunch. Crunch.
The familiar scent of blood brushed past my nose.
I didn’t even want to imagine what those sounds meant.
Deliberately ignoring it, I kept my eyes on Yustaf.
The reaper bound by the vines choked and gasped, unable to properly groan.
Just before dying, he muttered something with crushed pronunciation.
“I-if I had been born in… Chelus… th-this wouldn’t have—”
Crunch.
With that loud sound, the reaper fell silent.
The nuisance had been dealt with.
But the liveliness of the banquet did not return.
Instead, an even heavier silence tightened around the vast hall.
Just when it felt like I might suffocate—
“Haha. Born in Chelus? How amusing.”
Clap, clap.
Windsor Albrecht stepped forward, giving a brief round of applause.
He was still smiling, but no one present would have taken his words at face value.
Inferno and Chelus.
People often said the two worlds maintained balance while governing the Midrealm.
But that wasn’t the reality.
There was no comparison—the side favored by the Absolute God, Chelus, held the greater authority.
Humans worshiped the sacred gods of Chelus rather than the terrifying reapers. Temples dedicated to them stood across the continent.
That was simply the order of the world.
Even though Windsor refused to accept it.
“After all, vermin should be dealt with by me.”
Windsor passed by Yustaf and me and walked toward the seat of honor.
“Ah, if anyone wishes to help with the cleaning, feel free to step forward.”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone’s gaze turned toward the stage.
Like predators spotting delicious prey.
Eyes of many colors shimmered with anticipation.
A chilling silence, different from before, settled over the hall.
Snap.
Windsor lightly flicked his fingers.
A massive black panther appeared behind him and immediately pounced onto the stage.
Soon, piercing screams filled the air.
At that sound, the other reapers—now with crazed expressions—also lunged forward.
Before long, the banquet hall had turned into chaos.
The floor was soaked so thoroughly that it was impossible to tell what was wine and what was blood.
…Just as tiresome as always.
No one remained beside me anymore.
I slightly lifted my dress to avoid getting blood on it.
Then I noticed my gloves—now stained with blood from earlier.
For a moment, the image of Windsor kissing them flashed through my mind.
“My gloves are dirty.”
Then I should get rid of them quickly.
I tossed the gloves away.
A vine shot out and caught them midair.
As soon as the gloves touched the smoke emitted by the roses, they melted instantly and disappeared without a trace.
Leaving behind the naked sounds of the “failed products” being disposed of, I walked out of the banquet hall.
Just another ordinary day.
* * *
Ten days later, on a quiet night.
I visited Ricardo again.
“Here. Eat.”
I held out a paper bag I had carefully brought with me.
Hearing my voice, Ricardo woke from sleep and sat up from the spot where he had hidden from the reaper ten days earlier.
His dry silver hair stuck out in messy directions.
As he moved, the cloak covering him like a blanket slipped slightly.
In just ten days, the cloak that had once looked almost new was now dirty and worn from constant use.
“Why did you come?”
Ricardo asked, narrowing his eyes.
I had expected that question, so I answered casually.
“I promised I would. And besides, I wanted to.”
“…What?”
“I brought food like I said, so eat quietly. You don’t even have the strength to stop me.”
When I pushed the bag toward him, Ricardo took it almost unconsciously.
His blue eyes widened when he looked inside.
The bag contained freshly baked bread—enough for ten days—and a warm drink with honey.
I thought he would devour it immediately after starving for so long.
But surprisingly, Ricardo stayed still.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“How do I know what’s inside it?”
Ricardo muttered suspiciously.
…Oh?
“You can try one bite first. If it’s bad, don’t eat it. Even if it’s poisoned, you can heal something like that with your power.”
“But still…”
“Besides, do you think I’d go through all this trouble just to kill you?”
Ricardo flinched.
Yet he still didn’t reach for the food.
So that’s how you’re going to be?
“Seeing how scared you are, I guess when you asked me to kill you earlier, that was all a lie?”
“When did I say I was scared?!”
Ricardo suddenly jumped up and opened the bag fully.
Then he stuffed so much bread into his mouth that both cheeks puffed out, chewing furiously.
I smiled slightly.
Compared to the awful things in Inferno, dealing with a child like this was easy.
Now let’s feed the other child.
I moved a little away from Ricardo.
With a gesture of my hand, rose vines began sprouting from the floor.
When the vines had filled the entire room, I took out a bottle and sprinkled pain onto them.
Ricardo’s expression stiffened.
“What’s that?”
“My ability. Roses.”
“My nanny said abilities were always animals, whether they belonged to gods or reapers. I guess that’s not true.”
Ricardo looked at the roses greedily as they devoured something.
There’s really nothing to envy.
Ricardo’s ability was actually the legendary creature—the griffin.
Even Windsor, the ruler of Inferno, only possessed a black panther ability.
There was no need to explain how powerful Ricardo’s ability would eventually be.
Abilities that strong naturally took longer to awaken.
And with his malnutrition and lack of guidance, it would take even longer than usual.
I glanced at Ricardo’s thin, bony arms.
Noticing my gaze, he quickly changed the subject.
“What are you feeding them?”
“You can’t have it even if it looks tasty. This is theirs.”
“…I wasn’t asking for it.”
Ricardo turned his head away in annoyance.
I quickly emptied the bottle, closed the lid, and put it back inside my coat.
Then I waved my hand, making the rose vines withdraw.
Now that the roses had eaten, it was time to give the next thing.
I knelt down in front of Ricardo.
Tilting his head in confusion, he suddenly panicked when my hand touched his bare foot.
“Th-that’s dirty!”
“It’s fine. I’ve already had far worse things on my hands.”
For a moment, the illusion of blood-covered hands flashed before my eyes and disappeared.
A chronic symptom from living as a reaper.
Ricardo stopped struggling.
Maybe he understood what I meant.
I slipped a pair of black shoes onto his small feet.
Seeing him barefoot had bothered me the most. Now I finally felt a little relieved.
“You won’t hurt your feet anymore. I brought clothes too. Change after I leave.”
“….”
“Oh, and you should wash first. There’s a small spring nearby. Go there. But don’t go too far—it’s dangerous.”
Ricardo didn’t answer.
Instead, he stared at his shoes.
Emotions that were difficult to define swirled in his blue eyes.
His small fingers unconsciously touched the cloak draped over his shoulders.
“…I’ve been wondering this for a while. Why are you trying to save me?”
“There’s no reason to kill you.”
“That’s ridiculous. Everyone abandoned me, and now a complete stranger does this?”
His small hand gripped the cloak tightly.
The thick fabric crumpled under the pressure.
Just like his heart.
“I heard my mother died giving birth to me. My father killed himself to follow her. They didn’t care about their son. Even my nanny left me.”
I already knew this from the original story.
The nanny he spoke of was actually a maid who had served the former leader of Chelus.
When everyone mocked the love between a reaper and a god, she was the only one who worried about her mistress and followed her to the Midrealm.
Even after her master died, she stayed behind to care for Ricardo.
Then when Ricardo was just old enough to speak a little—
She left for Chelus.
Because she had discovered she was pregnant.
The daughter she gave birth to was Veronica Sisrein.
The female protagonist of For Your Happiness.
A compassionate god who would later save the madness-stricken Ricardo after he became a reaper—and ultimately help him carry out his revenge.
With Veronica’s help, Ricardo destroyed Inferno far faster than expected.
Even Rosina Winslet surrendered easily in the end.
I briefly remembered the ending of the original story.
Many thoughts crossed my mind, but I shook my head and pushed them away.
“Don’t try to understand. I just decided to do it.”
I couldn’t explain everything to him anyway.
Even if I talked about reincarnation or the original story, he wouldn’t understand.
Fortunately, Ricardo only stared at me without asking further.
“I’ll come again in ten days, so take care of yourself. I wasn’t joking when I said I’d come immediately if you get hurt.”
“Ah…”
“And don’t try to save the food. It’ll spoil.”
I turned to leave.
But suddenly Ricardo asked—
The words slipped out as if he hadn’t meant to say them.
His voice sounded surprisingly urgent.
“If I really get hurt… will you really come right away?”
