A complex expression passed over Marilyn's face as she carefully closed the door and came out.
Dorothea looked at Marilyn, who was still pale and haggard but seemed somewhat stable.
“The Countess doesn’t know anything.”
“Maybe so, maybe not.”
Dorothea smiled faintly at Marilyn, who was staring blankly at her with eyes that seemed to say she couldn't understand her. Judging by her tearful eyes, it seemed that pity had seeped into her heart.
“What are you going to do now?”
"Yes?"
Dorothea reminded Marilyn, who was asking blankly, of the situation again.
“Marilyn was involved in their business. If you want to blame the Count, you can go to the police station and tell them the truth or demand appropriate compensation.”
"What..."
Marilyn's eyes shook violently.
The gaunt-faced Countess appeared in the distance.
She had a gloomy expression, but when their eyes met, she bowed her head deeply.
Marilyn, who had been keeping her mouth shut for a moment as if at a loss for words, rolled her eyes.
“But the Countess is in that situation...”
“There is no reason to give in to the circumstances here.”
She opened her mouth, looking away from the Count, who seemed to be looking very guilty.
“The little Count valued his mother’s life, which did not have much time left, but did not take any responsibility for the innocent people who were killed by his younger brother, who had already become a demon.”
Marilyn was lucky to survive, but those who lost their lives in vain did not even know why they had to die or who killed them.
Marilyn's mouth opened slightly at Dorothea's words.
“Marilyn, make no mistake. The reason Marilyn survived the attack was because you were the only one of the victims who was close to the security forces, riding in a sturdy carriage, and accompanied by a maid.”
Because, unlike other victims, she was in a position to 'prepare' more.
Unlike the nobles who could take an escort with them in times of danger or avoid dark streets at night as much as possible, countless people had to walk the streets alone, even if it meant taking risks.
“Is the remaining time of the Countess more important to those who still walk the streets trembling with anxiety?”
“...”
Marilyn was speechless at Dorothea's remark.
“Their ‘consideration’ made the Countess an ignorant person.”
Chase Germain lowered his head with a pained expression, unable to say anything.
“And I have sinned against the dead, in that I have robbed them of their peace.”
Even though Raymond Germain died of love, there was no reason for his body to be violated.
Marilyn, who had been silent, suddenly asked.
“Young Lady, why are you telling me these things?”
“Because you deserve to know what started what you went through.”
And it is also Marilyn's job to settle their karma.
Dorothea may have jumped in for her own gain, but she was the one who was caught up in it innocently.
“I told you, I’ll give you ‘reasonable compensation’ for your involvement in Dane’s accident.”
“Is that... this what you mean?”
As Dorothea nodded with a smile on her face, Marilyn looked at her again with a strange expression.
Marilyn, who had been fidgeting with her fingers in silence, suddenly asked.
“If he’s already dead... how did the person I saw come alive and move?”
Dorothea lowered her eyes at the question that cut to the heart of the matter.
It was a question so astute that it was hard to believe the stupidity of the gaffe at the Tea Party.
“He’s dead. He’s not alive or moving, Raymond’s body has just become a vessel for the demon.”
What took over Raymond's body was different from the ears that were running wild with resentment.
It had long since lost its connection with this world, and was nothing but the dregs of impurity, possessing nothing but its instincts as a demon.
“Even if you try to find the name, there’s no such thing as a name.”
From the beginning, it was nothing more than a shadow created by the accumulation and gathering of negative energies, so it did not have the five desires and seven emotions that humans have.
The flesh is always hungry for its own shortcomings, and so it covets the living.
“It’s not about killing, it’s about coveting humans.”
Even if they desire a being that lives with a complete soul, they will not accept it if you tell them that they cannot fill the shortcomings of the physical body.
This is simply an instinctive action and is not done with any purpose or goal.
Dorothea looked at the black, shimmering line that wrapped around Marilyn's neck.
The faint traces left behind by those who encountered evil spirits were suffocating her.
“Marilyn, those who face demons and survive are left with a ‘mark’.”
Marilyn's hand felt her neck as Dorothea looked at it.
“The dreams you have every night, the eerie feeling you sometimes have, usually mean that evil spirits are out there looking for traces of you.”
"Ah..."
Dorothea calmly told Marilyn, looking at her frightened face.
“I can erase that trace from you right now.”
"That..."
“So that no demon with Raymond’s face ever tries to eat you again.”
Marilyn paused and looked at Dorothea with a face of disbelief.
She was thinking quickly, then her face crumpled as if she had come to an idea.
“Out there right now... If that thing with that man’s face is searching for me... Does that mean that after erasing my traces, it will go back to looking for other ‘prey’?”
It's so convenient to be able to pinpoint exactly what Dorothea wants to say without having to tell her.
Moreover, Dorothea liked the fact that she was very timid but still had a lot of useless curiosity that made her want to know the truth.
These are the people who are digging their own grave with their own hands.
Marilyn looked at Dorothea, who was smiling instead of answering and said with a desperate look on her face.
“Young Lady can control it... right?”
“That’s right. I have the ‘power’ to do that.”
But...
“Even though demons are classified as ghosts, they are not souls. They only imitate humans and do not have the origin of a soul. They probably won’t show themselves to me.”
With the Grim Reaper as her retinue, she is more than just a threat to evil spirits.
To bring out a guy who hides like a loach, the evil spirit must be absorbed in something else at least enough that she cannot sense his 'presence'.
“...”
Marilyn's still pale face looked at Dorothea. Dorothea read the emotion in her eyes and spoke softly.
“This is not something Marilyn should worry about. I can find a way, even if it doesn’t happen right away...”
“What if someone else dies in the meantime?”
Dorothea readily admitted to Marilyn's question, which interrupted her.
“That could be the case.”
Marilyn opened her mouth, her dry and cracked lips twitching, then seemed to have given up and asked Dorothea one thing.
“If Young Lady is such a great person that ‘that being’ has to avoid it, wouldn’t she be able to protect me from harm as well?”
When the young lady of a noble family who once restrained her and once caused her great difficulty expressed her firm opinion, Dorothea remained silent for a moment, blinking her blue eyes as if looking at a very strange creature. She smiled faintly and answered in an extremely affectionate voice.
“Yes, of course.”
***
The streets in the dark evening were extremely deserted.
In particular, the downtown area, where many shops frequented by the middle and upper classes were located, closed early. This was perhaps natural, as this was the last raid site.
And Marilyn was crossing that street that everyone avoided, riding in a carriage of a similar shape as that day.
“You don’t have to worry too much.”
A young voice was heard reassuring Marilyn, who was looking outside with an anxious face.
The girl who introduced herself as 'Jane' chattered as she adjusted Marilyn's dress in a familiar manner.
“There has never been a case where something the young lady set her mind to failed.”
“Actually, I thought Young Lady would ride in the carriage with me.”
When you make a promise to keep it, don't most people think that way?
Never leave the side and step inappropriately when there is a danger to deal with the enemy first.
That's what Marilyn had wanted from Dorothea.
In fact, it was terrible to be in a carriage alone with just the two of them, but going out into the street without Dorothea filled her heart with a sense of emptiness and fear.
She never thought she would come too long for Dorothea Highclere so much.
Jane shook her head at Marilyn's words.
“She told me everything in advance. Your ‘presence’ is so strong that it will be difficult for the evil spirit we are looking for to approach you if you are around.”
“But I guess he's still close?”
“Don’t worry. The young lady can run very quickly when needed.”
“...”
She was starting to get really worried.
Marilyn grabbed Jane's hand tightly, trying to control her ragged breathing.
Even though she looked young, her hands were rough and hard, as if she had been through a lot.
“Since you were given to me by Lady Dorothea herself, you must have great abilities, right?”
Dorothea must have given it to her because she was trustworthy.
Like Dorothea, she can summon spirits the moment an evil spirit appears.
She can drive out evil spirits with just a few words.
Jane blinked and waved her hand shyly.
“Hey, compared to her, my lady, I’m just a newbie here.”
“Introduction... right?”
Marilyn doubted her ears.
“To deal with the spirits? That’s something only a young lady can do. I’m so weak that I always find it difficult to awaken my own spirit power.”
“What...”
“Then, since the demon-possessed body won’t feel threatened by me, it will just rush at me.”
“Running..?!”
Marilyn felt her mind becoming dizzy and looked around for the carriage door.
“...!”
Strangely, the carriage door handle, which had been fine when she got on, was already ripped off as if it had guessed her intentions.
“Hey, here’s the doorknob...”
“The carriage has to move quite noisily, so if the door opens accidentally, we inside could get hurt. That’s why we blocked the door in advance.”
It was as if she was trapped in the carriage, unable to even escape.
Marilyn felt as if she could hear the blood draining from her face.
***
Dorothea was looking down at the carriage from the top of a building some distance away.
Colin, standing next to him, asked softly.
“Wasn’t it because you were reluctant to involve other people who weren’t related?”
Marilyn Lehr was not only not a relative, but was also someone who happened to be involved.
She thought she would send her away after erasing the marks on her neck, talking about 'cause and effect', but surprisingly, Dorothea put her in a carriage and sent her out into the street.
“She said she would do it herself. That’s why I told her to do it.”
Marilyn Lehr could hardly contain her sympathy for the Countess, even though she knew that she was the victim of a scandal.
Even though she had good reason to be angry.
Not only did she comfort the Countess without saying anything, she even offered herself as the 'bait' to expose herself to the evil spirit.
“Isn’t it strange? She had hostility toward me even before our first meeting, even though we had no relationship.”
Dorothea felt pity for those who almost took her life.
“Is that because we’re humans?”
“Don't ask me.”
The former messenger replied annoyedly.
Even without that, she was already physically and mentally exhausted from attending various meetings during the day to welcome the delegation from the Kingdom of Rohen, and then at night, she was dragged here to kill an evil spirit.
“She has faced demons, so she knows how scary they are.”
Just making eye contact would cause her nightmares every night, and she would suffer from trembling, blood-curdling pain in the face of fear, unable to forget the memory even for a single moment.
“But it was Marilyn who said she would do it.”
“You could have refused. Why are you rushing things so uncharacteristically?”
“Raymond Germain has already paid the price of his foolishness with his death.”
Whether it was an escape from a harsh reality or a reckless, boiling blood, he paid a heavy price for his actions.
The remaining body of a soul that has already finished its life on earth and passed on.
The body of the deceased, which should have been a free-spirited nutrient for the earth, was tied up by someone's trick and was reborn as a being that harms people.
“Even if it’s just a physical body, I hate seeing myself being swayed by other people’s desires without any will of my own.”
As Dorothea added in a low voice, she felt Colin glance at her.
Dorothea stared silently down the darkened street.
Memories of her past life, where she had sacrificed herself for someone else's comfort and happiness against her will, turned her stomach inside out.
Phi Phi, who had slipped out of Dorothea's arms, ended up in Colin's hands, transformed into a giant scythe.
“Okay, it’s hunting time.”
In the distance, an evil spirit smelled something delicious and approached the carriage, spreading an evil aura.
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