Episode 78. Yes, This is the End
Bam!
At that moment, the door to the greenhouse visible through the glass window opened.
Adele turned her gaze without realizing it and saw it coming through the door. All dazzling silver...
Stone, not missing that gap, snatched the pistol aimed at the back of his head.
Taang!
The pistol fired with a thunderous sound.
Clang!
The bullet sank into the glass door of the secret room, and the glass shards shattered into pieces, shining brightly.
The dazzling fragments flew in all directions, and the pistol that flew through them fell far away. The two reached out their hands at the same time.
Phew!
At that moment, a sharp blade struck the back of Stone’s hand.
“Kuaak!”
Stone raised his head with a groan of pain.
Christine was standing there, smiling brightly. In this situation, this kind of laughter was strangely creepy.
“Found you, murderer.”
He grabbed the rapier that had pierced Stone’s back of the hand and was stuck on the floor, and sank down. Then he grabbed the bastard’s hair with his other hand.
“Ugh, I’ll tear you to pieces...!”
Stone ground his teeth, and...
“That’s what I’m going to do.”
Crack!
Christine slammed the bastard’s face into the floor. Stone’s face was crushed on the glass shards.
“Get out of the way, Chris!”
Crack!
Meanwhile, Adele picked up the pistol and aimed it at Stone again.
But Christine shook her head.
“Not now, Adele. The guards will be here soon, since we heard gunfire.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll kill him here!”
The hand holding the gun trembled as if it were about to pull the trigger at any moment.
“You promised. You’ll kill him with your own hands. So put the gun down, Adele.”
Christine tried to comfort her, still holding Stone’s head on the floor.
But Adele couldn’t put the gun down easily. The two eyes glaring at Stone were bloodshot, and her pursed lips trembled.
“Adele...”
Thump thump!
At that moment, the footsteps of the guards running into the greenhouse were getting closer.
Adele, who had been conflicted, finally lowered her gun with an angry face.
Then Christine shouted loudly so that everyone could hear.
“Marquis Stone Oswald, you are under arrest for kidnapping and serial murder of women! Arrest him!”
“Arrest him!”
The guards responded loudly and began to tie up Stone.
***
“Count Weiss, you! I won’t let you go! How dare you do this to me without evidence! I will follow you to the ends of hell and pay you back a hundredfold, a thousandfold!”
Stone went berserk with a horribly bloody face.
“Evidence is enough.”
“...!”
When Stone paused,
“What happened?”
Christine asked his subordinates behind him.
Then Zimmer ran inside.
“We found it! Unidentified skeletons were discovered in the catacombs!”
“That’s right?”
Stone laughed sharply.
“Isn’t it obvious that there are skeletons in the graveyard?”
“You’ll find out when you investigate. Take him away!”
But Stone was confident even as he was being dragged away.
“You’re going to regret this moment to the core! I’ll come out soon! Then I’ll chew you alive!”
Christine said indifferently, poking his ear with his fingers.
“Tear his mouth off.”
“Huh?”
When Zimmer asked again, he shook his head.
“No, gag him.”
“Ugh! Ugh!”
When Stone became quiet, Christine finally took a breath.
Then he looked back at Adele. Her clothes were torn and bloody here and there on her arms and shoulders. She had been cut by the glass shards flying from the broken mirror.
He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath.
“I need to treat you first.”
But Adele urgently held out the key.
“We have to save Tanya first. She’s trapped in this mansion where this key is.”
“Yes. I’ll ask the people to find it, and you get treated first.”
“Tanya first...”
“Damn it! Stop!”
Christine shouted, and the people inside looked up in shock.
He took a deep breath and tried to soothe her.
“Don’t be so stubborn... please... ”
Zimmer quickly took the key from Adele’s hand.
“Yes, we’ll take responsibility for finding it, so you’d better get treatment first. I’m also good at finding people.”
Adele nodded, though she felt uneasy.
“Please, Sir Zimmer.”
“Don’t worry.”
Christine, unable to bear to see Adele still uneasy, quickly picked her up.
“Ugh, Chris! Put me down.”
Adele whispered in panic in front of so many people, but he ignored her and crossed the greenhouse.
***
“Chris... I’m fine. I was just slightly pricked by a piece of glass. Put me down...”
“Stay still. Or I’ll spank your butt.”
“What?”
“Does your maid think that way, and not care about me?”
“What the...?”
“Damn it!”
Christine left the greenhouse and eventually put Adele down on the floor and left.
Adele, who was watching his back in bewilderment...
“Ahh!”
She groaned as if in pain as she sat down on the floor. Before she knew it, he had come running.
“Are you okay?”
“I can’t walk. Hug me again.”
Adele stretched out both hands like a child begging to be hugged. When Christine opened his eyes slightly, she continued to whine as if urging him.
“What are you doing? Hurry up.”
“I’m not that easy.”
“I know. You're a very, very difficult man. The reason you give in so easily is because you love me. I’m always grateful.”
“Ha, that’s what I mean.”
But Christine’s face had already calmed down.
He was definitely an easy man.
“I’m sorry. I made you worry.”
Adele hugged his waist tightly and buried her face in his chest. Only then did Christine reveal his feelings, gently stroking his head.
“I thought my blood was dry. I had all sorts of thoughts, thinking that you might get hurt by that damned Stone.”
“Me too.”
Then Adele quickly shook her head.
“No. Nothing.”
In fact, he didn’t know how anxious she had been, wondering if Christine was really the Silver Wolf.
As much as she wanted to meet the silver wolf, she desperately hoped that it wasn’t the silver wolf that came into the greenhouse.
So when she confirmed that it was Christine who had come looking for her, she couldn’t help but feel grateful.
‘Yes, the one who killed my mother was Stone, a member of the wolf clan, and now that he’s been caught, it’s all over.’
Adele smiled broadly and looked up at him.
“It’s so good. I have you worrying about me.”
“You’re making so many people worry, and you’re smiling like that?”
“Why, am I pretty when I smile? Do you just want to love me?”
“Ha, you should look in the mirror and say that?”
Adele’s hair was all messed up after fighting Stone fiercely, and her clothes were cut and stained with blood. How could she say such innocent things in such a state?
But even that looked pretty to Christine...
“So you’re saying I’m not pretty?”
“Pretty.”
“I don’t feel sincerity.”
“Seriously. Is that okay?”
Christine’s steps, which had been playfully crossing the garden, stopped.
In the dark shade of the trees in the garden stood a man in overalls holding a pair of pruning shears.
“Thank you, Count.”
He bowed deeply to Christine, his waist touching the ground.
“Thank you is not yet due. And I owe you a great favor today.”
“It was something I should have done.”
Adele, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, asked curiously.
“Chris, who...?”
He seemed to be a servant of the Oswalds, but Adele had never seen him before. One side of his face was disfigured by a burn. However, his voice was polite and dignified, unlike that of a servant.
“I’m Joseph, the gardener of the mansion, my lady.”
“He told me that Stone took you to the greenhouse.”
Adele expressed her gratitude for Christine’s words.
“Ah, thank you very much. Thanks to you, you’re safe.”
“Oh, no.”
Joseph’s gaze at Adele was wistful.
“You’re more... similar than I thought.”
“Huh?”
“No. You seem to be hurt. Go and get treatment.”
He picked up the scissors and went back into the shade of the trees.
Joseph was the man Christine met at the Oswalds' villa.
He was the brother of Stone's murdered wife. Stone's wife was adopted when she was young, so the Oswalds are unaware of Joseph's existence.
So Christine used his hand to send him into the garden. He had been the one who had informed him of Stone’s movements so far.
Thanks to him, he was able to find Adele today without turning into a silver wolf.
***
Time passed, but Tanya’s whereabouts were still unknown.
Joseph said he hadn’t seen Tanya come in here either. Furthermore, Christine couldn’t sense her presence in the mansion.
“At least sniff her out!”
Christine’s eyes turned fierce at Zimmer’s urging.
“I’m not a hunting dog, I’m your superior.”
“Anyway, show off your abilities like you did when you found Miss Adele!”
Christine looked at Zimmer, who was shouting, incredulous.
He was known among the White Ghost Knights for his gentle and quiet personality. Of course, he had changed so much in battle that people suspected his split personality.
“You two... are dating?”
Christine narrowed her eyes as if he sensed something.
“Don’t assume anything!”
Zimmer’s face turned red as he jumped up.
But Christine didn’t pretend to know.
"If Tanya is here, she must be somewhere with a strong smell. Or she’s trapped in a place with a lot of water. That’s why her scent has disappeared.”
“That’s right! I’ll look for her again!”
Zimmer seemed to have caught on to something.
He bowed and ran, shouting,
“Search the sewer!”
Then, finally, complaints poured out from the guards.
“The sewer?”
“Didn’t you say that the missing thing was a maid?”
Zimmer could understand why they were making such big noises.
The guards were an army of nobles who were made to protect the Emperor. Some of them had strong pride and a sense of superiority.
“It’s not the maid who’s missing, it’s His Majesty’s subjects. If we delay, a life could be in danger. Hurry!”
But they grumbled in discontent.
“That’s enough. Why are we picking on a maid?”
“Did the Marquis take her and throw her in the sewer...?”
The jaw of the guard who was muttering and giggling suddenly turned back.
Bam!
Zimmer, still angry, rushed at him who had fallen over.
“Stop.”
At that moment, Christine’s rapier blocked Zimmer’s path. He grinned at the guard, who was covered in dirt.
“Your clothes look like they’re perfect for digging through the sewers. Now, if you’re dissatisfied, come out. I’ll give you a chance to swim through the sewers. Do you have more?”
“No!”
The guards answered with serious faces.
Christine ruffled Zimmer’s hair, who was still angry.
“I understand how you feel, but there are problems that can’t be solved with violence.”
“It’s not convincing when you say that, Captain.”
“Well, I guess so.”
Christine shrugged his shoulders and coolly admitted.
Zimmer laughed in bewilderment, but he knew why he was acting like that.
That was his way.
When a fight broke out within the Knights, he would often joke around without any reason. Because of that, the tense atmosphere that seemed like it would break out into a bloody fight would suddenly collapse.
Thanks to that, he had managed to lead those rough men without any major troubles so far.
He was a leader who was endlessly merciless, but also endlessly friendly.
“If you’ve calmed down, then let’s go to the wine cellar.”
“Huh? The wine cellar?”
“I found out that Adele is the key to that place. I heard that there’s a huge wine cellar in the annex to the mansion.”
“Ugh! Thank you! Thank you!”
After bowing his head in greeting, Zimmer ran away like crazy.
Christine clicked his tongue as he watched his back.
“Don’t tell me to pass it over like that?”
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