The director's expression changed. The look of fear and bewilderment as she looked around was nowhere to be found, and instead, only anger was visible in her eyes, as if she was looking at an arrogant subordinate.
“What are you? You did this?”
“...”
“You brought me here? Why am I here?”
Even though it must be painful, her voice remains sharp only to Simone.
Even as she listened to her evil voice, Simone just smiled as if it was nothing.
“How dare you do this to me-”
“Ugh. It smells.”
The director, who had been shouting and yelling nonstop, shut her mouth in a daze.
What did you just say?
Smell?
Simone, you dare tell me I stink?
“You...! You bastard! I suffered so much because of you, and what just now? You got in trouble-”
“Oh, I did this.”
The director closed her mouth again at Simone's unexpected remark.
“I brought you here.”
“...”
“If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I’ll answer them all.”
Simone spoke calmly, her expression not changing even once, with a smiling face.
As if it were too much fun.
She didn't come back as an incarnation of revenge but acted like she had captured the director just for fun.
'What?'
Is this really the Simone I know?
Even though Simone was waiting for her, even laying out a mat to answer all her questions, the director couldn't open her mouth easily.
She was so embarrassed.
This was not Simone the director knew. The Simone she knew was a bit more timid, an easygoing child who would tremble when making eye contact with the director and would avoid her even when she was asked to do someone else's work.
But what about Simone in front of me?
Her downcast eyes, her rude, informal speech like a noble lady, her pretty clothes, and even her soft hair. She didn't seem to react at all to the director's words and actions.
It was like a different person with the same face.
Simone was still looking at the director with a smile.
A gaunt and withered face.
A bizarre sight, with no one wiping away the blood flowing from the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
Her legs were broken and bent, and she seemed to have a problem with her abdomen as well, so she was curled up, breathing heavily and trying to endure the pain.
And the stench.
Who would have thought that the arrogant director would end up like this?
“Ugh... Ugh...”
The director exhaled, clutching his ribs, which were hurting even more from the excitement.
Then she thought for a moment and asked with a slightly calmer expression.
“Where is this...?”
“The mansion of the Grand Duke of Illeston.”
“...You bitch, why are you speaking informally to me?”
The director's eyes sharpened and she glared at Simone. Simone simply responded to her gaze with a snort.
“Because you speak informally to me too.”
“...Phew.”
The director exhaled deeply as if swallowing her anger.
Okay, let's just move on without getting angry.
If Simone were to leave now that she was locked up without knowing anything, the director would lose her only means of understanding the situation, as well as her only escape route.
The director asked.
“Why are you here?”
“Because I made a contract with the Grand Duke of Illeston.”
“What contract.”
“Are you more curious about what I’m doing here than about your situation?”
“Shut up and answer my questions, you bitch! ...Huh!”
When the director, unable to contain her boiling anger, shouted at Simone again, this time the two men who had been watching the two from behind Simone, Louis and Abel, stepped forward.
Louis raised his hand to his sword and threatened the director, and Abel grabbed the director by the neck.
“Keep going!”
“Please limit your questions to Simone’s current situation. Don’t ask anything else.”
What happened? It can't be. How could Simone, a necromancer, be living a normal life while receiving such extravagant treatment?
The director felt wronged and confused, tears streaming down her face, but she nodded to avoid the man's rough hands.
“Hey, ask again.”
Abel let go of the director's neck, but instead placed his foot on her broken leg and glared at her warningly.
The director said, shivering.
“Why did you bring me here? Let me out.”
“You were being tormented by the ghosts of the orphanage, and I saved you. The reason I brought you here was, of course, to punish you through the Grand Duke.”
"...Punishment?"
“The support money that came out in front of the orphanage. That one.”
The director's eyes twitched. Had she been caught embezzling the grant? Was that why the orphanage was suddenly closed?
'No, but rather, the Grand Duke himself is punishing me?'
Simone forgot her pain and looked at the director's terrified face. She sighed deeply and got up.
“Actually, I didn’t want to come.”
Although Seo Hyun-Jung is currently living inside Simone's body, Simone's memories remain in her.
She also learns through the book what humiliation Simone suffered because of the director.
Seo Hyun-Jung was briefly assaulted by the director and was tasked with absurd tasks.
Anyway, to her, revenge and all, the ghost was an existence she hated to even look at.
Nevertheless, the reason Simone came to this room to face the director and answer her questions was because of the instructions from the Grand Duke of Ileston to make the director understand the current situation before he came.
“The Grand Duke will be here soon. That’s what I know anyway.”
'Is this enough?'
When Simone asked the servants who had blocked the door with their eyes, the servants nodded silently and made way slightly to make room for Simone to escape.
As Simone left, the trembling director opened her mouth again.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute. Over there!”
It was the sound of the servants, not Simone, grabbing Abel and Louis.
“You’re leaving me like this? Healer! Call a healer! Hey! Wait! Heck! Why are you listening to a necromancer! Is that your boss? Why am I being punished! The one who should be punished and die is the necromancer Simone! If you raised a kid like that to this extent-”
Boom!
The director spoke hurriedly, but the servants closed the door cruelly as if they didn't want to hear anymore.
And after a while.
Click-
The door opened again.
The cold-faced Grand Duke of Illeston came in, along with two shivering orphanage teachers with pale complexions.
***
A hallway in a mansion filled with warmth and bright sunlight.
A boy with silver hair and skin as white as the pure white hallway walked quietly in white clothes.
“Your Highness, we have guests here right now-”
"I know."
The boy put his index finger to his lips as if telling the servants to be quiet, as they fidgeted, not knowing whether they would fall over with each step the boy took.
Even those small gestures and voices were as fragile and light as feathers.
“Master Jace...”
The servants called out to him anxiously but reluctantly returned to their room when he gestured that they could return soon.
Jace. He watched the black-haired girl talking to people a little way away from him in silence.
'That's Simone.'
“My savior.”
He held the magic stone in his hand without realizing it, the desire of a saint.
He lived each day as if he was having a very long nightmare.
Then one day, a ray of light, a savior, saved him and his mother, Florier.
Only after he regained consciousness did he realize that the beautiful beam of light he had seen in his nightmare was a necromancer girl named Simone.
Ever since Jace found out about Simone, he couldn't wait to meet her in person.
He wanted to say thank you, but at the same time, he was just curious about who that person was.
So as soon as he recovered somewhat and was able to walk, he went around the mansion to look for her.
Simone, who had finally been discovered, was now reporting the results of the investigation to the Marquis of Barrington along with Abel and his party.
“The survey was successful. The extermination itself seemed very easy, but there were quite a lot of them.”
“Is that so? Yes, the townspeople also talked about that. Since the witnesses’ accounts are all different, I think there must have been more than one.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. Even if this were easy, it would be a hassle to make thirty talismans, right? If you could just raise the fee a little...”
Black hair and red eyes under gently drooping eyelids.
He had clearly heard that necromancers were symbols of uncleanness, but to Jace, Simon was simply beautiful and holy.
'I want to talk to you.'
How should I approach her? My savior is loved by so many people and must be busy saving his family.
That's when Jace was secretly hiding and spying on Simone.
“Hey, that guy over there, he’s been staring at me for a while now.”
Abel hit Simone hard and nodded silently behind her.
Simone shook her head with a frown.
“Shh, pretend you don’t know. He's the Prince of this mansion. I don’t know why he's acting like that.”
Everyone here, including Marquis Barrington, noticed Jace's presence, but they were pretending not to notice and were talking.
"Savior."
Simone felt as if she had heard the same words coming from Jace's direction which made her shiver just by hearing them.
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