Episode 113. Incitement
People began to gather at Beliana's screams.
"Oh, my God."
"Oh my God...!"
Shouts of terror were heard here and there.
Doana's previously cold expression quickly changed, and, feigning ignorance, she ran towards the source of the noise.
"What's wrong? What's going on?"
Doana, with an innocent expression, pushed her way through the servants.
"Do, Doana."
"Don't look."
The servants, who usually disliked Doana, were worried about her today.
They didn't want to show her the horribly dead kitten.
However, Doana approached Beliana despite their protests.
Beliana was frozen in place, trembling. At the end of her gaze was Doana's cat, White.
Doana, staring into Beliana's wavering eyes, smirked and curled the corners of her mouth. Then, her expression changed terribly.
She looked as if she had lost everything in the world.
“Whi... White!!”
Doana’s desperate scream rang out. Her face turned pale, and she trembled.
Doana shook her head in disbelief and collapsed to the floor.
“No... No. No, no, no, no!!”
Doana cried bitterly, as if her own child had truly died. Then, with trembling hands, she dug through the dirt in the flower bed and took out the already dead kitten and held it in her arms.
“Ah, what do I do... Our White... What do I do with our White!!”
Doana sobbed as she held White, who had been found as a brutally murdered corpse, in her arms.
As she choked and shed tears, Doana turned to Beliana with a resentful gaze.
“Countess... How... How could you do this?”
She began to drive Beliana as if it were all his fault that the kitten had become like this.
“No matter how much you hate me... How could you... How could you... an innocent cat...”
She didn't wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes, trailing off. Then, as if in sorrow, she lowered her head before shouting loudly.
"Are you abusing a dumb animal like this!!"
Doana's voice boomed loudly, making Beliana flinch.
"Why, why do you think I did it? I didn't do anything."
"Lies! You hate me to death. I... I know I'm a thorn in your side. I was a mistress who was pregnant with your husband's child before you were married, so how much you must have hated me."
She set the tone by using the usual politeness she rarely used, without fail.
"Why didn't you just hit me like you always did! Why didn't you just crush my face in the food plate! As a woman, I fully understood the resentment you felt towards me. That's why I could have endured your harassment... But... Our... White was always by my side whenever that happened..."
Doana continued speaking, her resentment clearly evident.
“You... didn’t even want to see that. You didn’t want me to have a place to lean on in this mansion... right? That’s why you killed my cat!!”
“What are you talking about! How much I cherished cats. Everyone in the mansion knows that.”
Doana burst into tears at Beliana’s words.
“...It seems you really won’t admit it until the very end. Our White... always acted strangely whenever he came home from being with the lady.”
She casually made up stories out of nothing, inciting the argument.
“He used to be so obedient and gentle... but one day, whenever he came back from visiting you, he would turn away with a fearful expression. He even bit my hand.”
She showed Beliana the bite mark the cat had left.
“It was just a bite.. I thought that was all. Countess... You were abusing White!”
Doana’s confident voice was strangely persuasive. Her instigation seemed to have worked, as the servants murmured and looked at Beliana.
“Even so, how could an innocent cat be like that!”
“Oh my goodness. This is the first time I’ve seen Doana look so pitiful.”
The reason Doana looked even more pitiful was because of the tomato sauce clinging to her face and hair.
In a situation where it was so obvious she was being bullied, her words seemed even more credible because she was expressing her frustration.
Running without even wiping was Doana's direction. Even now, Doana didn't bother to wipe the sauce off her face.
"I... I didn't do that!"
Beliana shook her head, stepping back in embarrassment.
She had simply found White on her way back to her quarters. The servant had always said White had been found hiding in the flower bed.
However, what she found wasn't a living White, but a horribly dead corpse.
"You buried White here secretly and screamed when you got caught, right?"
Doana spoke in a booming voice, as if she wanted everyone in the mansion to hear.
In truth, they didn't have to believe a word she said.
'Truth doesn't matter when it comes to rumors anyway.'
Simply creating a controversy like this was a huge success.
With any luck, maybe half the people would believe her.
She hid her evil intentions behind her sad face. Doana staggered to her feet.
She glanced around, scanning for places where male servants might be.
Having decided on her destination, she walked weakly, her face about to give up the world.
Slowly, she pretended to collapse in front of a sturdy servant she had previously spotted.
The servant caught Doana's body as she fell. Thanks to this, Doana was able to pretend to faint as planned, without falling painfully.
Rose, who had finally gotten up, was reviewing business documents in her office.
She was scanning the documents of the fifteen companies she had signed contracts with on a first-come, first-served basis. The thought of a private meeting made her feel a bit nervous.
"Still, it's reassuring that I'm not going alone, but that Gwen is with me."
Even though Gwen was accompanying her, she felt as if a mighty army was protecting her.
"We'll have to decide where to go first with Gwen."
Gwen knew the geography well, so he would be able to suggest an efficient route.
Rose gathered up her various documents and stood up to go to where Gwen was staying.
She walked quickly and opened the office door.
With a bang, the door swung open. Rose and Neruan both shouted at the same time.
“Ouch!”
“Wow!”
When she opened the door, Neruan was standing right in front of her.
“What a surprise!”
Neruan, too, seemed quite surprised, as if he hadn’t expected the office door to open. Rose brushed her chest and looked at Neruan with a wary look.
“What were you doing in front of my office?”
Since she had never had anything good to do with him, Rose’s gaze couldn’t help but be sharp as she looked at Neruan.
Neruan looked at Rose awkwardly. His lips were parched, so he kept moving them.
“What is it?”
Rose, clutching a stack of documents, looked at Neruan with a puzzled look.
He was startled by Rose's words and rolled his eyes here and there.
"Ah, that..."
He paused for a long moment, then lowered his head. Then, with a "Oh dear," he tossed his hair.
"It's nothing."
Neruan muttered, glancing at Rose. With that, he took a step back.
"What, so bland?"
Rose narrowed her eyes and turned to face Neruan. She strode away, leaving the place.
As she walked, she felt a strange chill and looked back.
Neruan was loitering in the long hallway.
'Are we going the same way?'
Rose shrugged and continued walking. But for some reason, she kept feeling eyes on her from behind.
She stopped and looked back once more. Neruan flinched when Rose saw him, then looked at the wall and pretended not to notice anything.
Thinking it was a mistake, Rose took another step. This time, she walked very slowly, allowing Neruan behind her to pass her.
Despite her turtle-like crawling pace, Neruan showed no intention of overtaking Rose.
Rose glanced behind her. The distance between them remained the same, neither widening nor narrowing.
Neruan was following Rose's pace.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
She was concerned about him pacing around. To be honest, it was more frustrating. Why was he acting like that when he looked so shabby?
'Ah, that's enough. What's the big deal?:
If he had something to say, he'd say it himself.
Rose turned her attention away from Neruan and walked towards the annex where Gwen and his family were staying.
As expected, Gwen suggested a very efficient route. He even took on the task of contacting them, telling Rose to get some rest since she'd worked so hard.
Rose left Gwen's room with a bright expression.
"That's great. Contacting fifteen people is already a lot of work."
With one less thing to worry about, Rose's mind felt much lighter.
Rose left the room with a bright smile and frowned when she saw Neruan loitering nearby.
"...Have you been doing that the whole time?"
He couldn't easily approach Rose, but hovered around.
Neruan and Rose's eyes met. Rose pretended not to see him and just walked past.
Neruan only grew smaller under Rose's attitude, the cold wind blowing against him.
"Ha... Is it really this hard to just apologize?"
He felt incredibly ashamed of himself. Furthermore, he couldn't face Rose, so he kept hesitating.
"I should have knocked on the office door earlier."
In fact, he'd been loitering in front of Rose long before she came out.
He'd debated dozens of times whether to knock or not, and the moment he finally made up his mind and approached, the door flew open.
Missing the timing made it even harder to speak. Rose had already noticed he was following her, which made the situation even more embarrassing.
"I should... apologize."
What on earth was that petty pride? Neruan sighed deeply as he chased after Rose.
"...Huh?"
He only lowered his head briefly, and Rose, who had been in front of him just a moment ago, had vanished.
Neruan looked around with a puzzled look. He quickly walked away, worried that he might have lost sight of Rose.
Just then, Rose, who had been hiding around the corner, appeared.
“Neruan, do you have something to say to me?”
Rose was the first to speak. Arms crossed, she looked up at him as if to say something if he had something to say.
Neruan, flustered, rolled his eyes and blurted out something he didn’t mean.
“Nothing?”
Of course, he regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth.
“Damn. ”
His self-reproach was evident. Neruan creaked and turned away from Rose. Rose sighed softly and grabbed his sleeve.
“You know. Just tell me.”
Rose’s words made him flinch.
“Right. I came here to apologize anyway. Why are you idiots constantly slacking off?”
He turned around, his resolve firm. Then, with his eyes tightly shut, he spoke loudly.
“I’m truly sorry for my rudeness. I’m sorry for belittling your business, for misinterpreting your intentions, and for being sarcastic.”
He waited anxiously, hoping that Rose would say something. However, Rose did not say anything.
Neruan, feeling anxious, opened his eyes slightly. Rose was smiling unexpectedly, very gently.
“Neruan.”
“Yes.”
Rose called Neruan’s name and said to him.
“You weren’t trying to make up for it with just an apology, were you?”
Rose’s face gradually turned red and blue. Her eyes were burning brightly, and she grabbed his collar.
“I’ll just hit you once.”
Rose’s fist flew at Neruan with a grudge.
People began to gather at Beliana's screams.
"Oh, my God."
"Oh my God...!"
Shouts of terror were heard here and there.
Doana's previously cold expression quickly changed, and, feigning ignorance, she ran towards the source of the noise.
"What's wrong? What's going on?"
Doana, with an innocent expression, pushed her way through the servants.
"Do, Doana."
"Don't look."
The servants, who usually disliked Doana, were worried about her today.
They didn't want to show her the horribly dead kitten.
However, Doana approached Beliana despite their protests.
Beliana was frozen in place, trembling. At the end of her gaze was Doana's cat, White.
Doana, staring into Beliana's wavering eyes, smirked and curled the corners of her mouth. Then, her expression changed terribly.
She looked as if she had lost everything in the world.
“Whi... White!!”
Doana’s desperate scream rang out. Her face turned pale, and she trembled.
Doana shook her head in disbelief and collapsed to the floor.
“No... No. No, no, no, no!!”
Doana cried bitterly, as if her own child had truly died. Then, with trembling hands, she dug through the dirt in the flower bed and took out the already dead kitten and held it in her arms.
“Ah, what do I do... Our White... What do I do with our White!!”
Doana sobbed as she held White, who had been found as a brutally murdered corpse, in her arms.
As she choked and shed tears, Doana turned to Beliana with a resentful gaze.
“Countess... How... How could you do this?”
She began to drive Beliana as if it were all his fault that the kitten had become like this.
“No matter how much you hate me... How could you... How could you... an innocent cat...”
She didn't wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes, trailing off. Then, as if in sorrow, she lowered her head before shouting loudly.
"Are you abusing a dumb animal like this!!"
Doana's voice boomed loudly, making Beliana flinch.
"Why, why do you think I did it? I didn't do anything."
"Lies! You hate me to death. I... I know I'm a thorn in your side. I was a mistress who was pregnant with your husband's child before you were married, so how much you must have hated me."
She set the tone by using the usual politeness she rarely used, without fail.
"Why didn't you just hit me like you always did! Why didn't you just crush my face in the food plate! As a woman, I fully understood the resentment you felt towards me. That's why I could have endured your harassment... But... Our... White was always by my side whenever that happened..."
Doana continued speaking, her resentment clearly evident.
“You... didn’t even want to see that. You didn’t want me to have a place to lean on in this mansion... right? That’s why you killed my cat!!”
“What are you talking about! How much I cherished cats. Everyone in the mansion knows that.”
Doana burst into tears at Beliana’s words.
“...It seems you really won’t admit it until the very end. Our White... always acted strangely whenever he came home from being with the lady.”
She casually made up stories out of nothing, inciting the argument.
“He used to be so obedient and gentle... but one day, whenever he came back from visiting you, he would turn away with a fearful expression. He even bit my hand.”
She showed Beliana the bite mark the cat had left.
“It was just a bite.. I thought that was all. Countess... You were abusing White!”
Doana’s confident voice was strangely persuasive. Her instigation seemed to have worked, as the servants murmured and looked at Beliana.
“Even so, how could an innocent cat be like that!”
“Oh my goodness. This is the first time I’ve seen Doana look so pitiful.”
“Look at her. You have no idea how brutal it was in the dining room today. The Countess crushed Doana’s face on a plate and just laughed like this.”
The servants shuddered and shook their shoulders.
Recently, Beliana had been harassing Doana often. In fact, the servants had even chuckled at the sight back then.
They wished Doana would just get kicked out quickly.
But seeing the innocent cats dying, even the spiteful Doana somehow seemed pitiful.
The servants shuddered and shook their shoulders.
Recently, Beliana had been harassing Doana often. In fact, the servants had even chuckled at the sight back then.
They wished Doana would just get kicked out quickly.
But seeing the innocent cats dying, even the spiteful Doana somehow seemed pitiful.
The reason Doana looked even more pitiful was because of the tomato sauce clinging to her face and hair.
In a situation where it was so obvious she was being bullied, her words seemed even more credible because she was expressing her frustration.
Running without even wiping was Doana's direction. Even now, Doana didn't bother to wipe the sauce off her face.
"I... I didn't do that!"
Beliana shook her head, stepping back in embarrassment.
She had simply found White on her way back to her quarters. The servant had always said White had been found hiding in the flower bed.
However, what she found wasn't a living White, but a horribly dead corpse.
"You buried White here secretly and screamed when you got caught, right?"
Doana spoke in a booming voice, as if she wanted everyone in the mansion to hear.
In truth, they didn't have to believe a word she said.
'Truth doesn't matter when it comes to rumors anyway.'
Simply creating a controversy like this was a huge success.
With any luck, maybe half the people would believe her.
She hid her evil intentions behind her sad face. Doana staggered to her feet.
She glanced around, scanning for places where male servants might be.
Having decided on her destination, she walked weakly, her face about to give up the world.
Slowly, she pretended to collapse in front of a sturdy servant she had previously spotted.
The servant caught Doana's body as she fell. Thanks to this, Doana was able to pretend to faint as planned, without falling painfully.
***
Rose, who had finally gotten up, was reviewing business documents in her office.
She was scanning the documents of the fifteen companies she had signed contracts with on a first-come, first-served basis. The thought of a private meeting made her feel a bit nervous.
"Still, it's reassuring that I'm not going alone, but that Gwen is with me."
Even though Gwen was accompanying her, she felt as if a mighty army was protecting her.
"We'll have to decide where to go first with Gwen."
Gwen knew the geography well, so he would be able to suggest an efficient route.
Rose gathered up her various documents and stood up to go to where Gwen was staying.
She walked quickly and opened the office door.
With a bang, the door swung open. Rose and Neruan both shouted at the same time.
“Ouch!”
“Wow!”
When she opened the door, Neruan was standing right in front of her.
“What a surprise!”
Neruan, too, seemed quite surprised, as if he hadn’t expected the office door to open. Rose brushed her chest and looked at Neruan with a wary look.
“What were you doing in front of my office?”
Since she had never had anything good to do with him, Rose’s gaze couldn’t help but be sharp as she looked at Neruan.
Neruan looked at Rose awkwardly. His lips were parched, so he kept moving them.
“What is it?”
Rose, clutching a stack of documents, looked at Neruan with a puzzled look.
He was startled by Rose's words and rolled his eyes here and there.
"Ah, that..."
He paused for a long moment, then lowered his head. Then, with a "Oh dear," he tossed his hair.
"It's nothing."
Neruan muttered, glancing at Rose. With that, he took a step back.
"What, so bland?"
Rose narrowed her eyes and turned to face Neruan. She strode away, leaving the place.
As she walked, she felt a strange chill and looked back.
Neruan was loitering in the long hallway.
'Are we going the same way?'
Rose shrugged and continued walking. But for some reason, she kept feeling eyes on her from behind.
She stopped and looked back once more. Neruan flinched when Rose saw him, then looked at the wall and pretended not to notice anything.
Thinking it was a mistake, Rose took another step. This time, she walked very slowly, allowing Neruan behind her to pass her.
Despite her turtle-like crawling pace, Neruan showed no intention of overtaking Rose.
Rose glanced behind her. The distance between them remained the same, neither widening nor narrowing.
Neruan was following Rose's pace.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
She was concerned about him pacing around. To be honest, it was more frustrating. Why was he acting like that when he looked so shabby?
'Ah, that's enough. What's the big deal?:
If he had something to say, he'd say it himself.
Rose turned her attention away from Neruan and walked towards the annex where Gwen and his family were staying.
As expected, Gwen suggested a very efficient route. He even took on the task of contacting them, telling Rose to get some rest since she'd worked so hard.
Rose left Gwen's room with a bright expression.
"That's great. Contacting fifteen people is already a lot of work."
With one less thing to worry about, Rose's mind felt much lighter.
Rose left the room with a bright smile and frowned when she saw Neruan loitering nearby.
"...Have you been doing that the whole time?"
He couldn't easily approach Rose, but hovered around.
Neruan and Rose's eyes met. Rose pretended not to see him and just walked past.
Neruan only grew smaller under Rose's attitude, the cold wind blowing against him.
"Ha... Is it really this hard to just apologize?"
He felt incredibly ashamed of himself. Furthermore, he couldn't face Rose, so he kept hesitating.
"I should have knocked on the office door earlier."
In fact, he'd been loitering in front of Rose long before she came out.
He'd debated dozens of times whether to knock or not, and the moment he finally made up his mind and approached, the door flew open.
Missing the timing made it even harder to speak. Rose had already noticed he was following her, which made the situation even more embarrassing.
"I should... apologize."
What on earth was that petty pride? Neruan sighed deeply as he chased after Rose.
"...Huh?"
He only lowered his head briefly, and Rose, who had been in front of him just a moment ago, had vanished.
Neruan looked around with a puzzled look. He quickly walked away, worried that he might have lost sight of Rose.
Just then, Rose, who had been hiding around the corner, appeared.
“Neruan, do you have something to say to me?”
Rose was the first to speak. Arms crossed, she looked up at him as if to say something if he had something to say.
Neruan, flustered, rolled his eyes and blurted out something he didn’t mean.
“Nothing?”
Of course, he regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth.
“Damn. ”
His self-reproach was evident. Neruan creaked and turned away from Rose. Rose sighed softly and grabbed his sleeve.
“You know. Just tell me.”
Rose’s words made him flinch.
“Right. I came here to apologize anyway. Why are you idiots constantly slacking off?”
He turned around, his resolve firm. Then, with his eyes tightly shut, he spoke loudly.
“I’m truly sorry for my rudeness. I’m sorry for belittling your business, for misinterpreting your intentions, and for being sarcastic.”
He waited anxiously, hoping that Rose would say something. However, Rose did not say anything.
Neruan, feeling anxious, opened his eyes slightly. Rose was smiling unexpectedly, very gently.
“Neruan.”
“Yes.”
Rose called Neruan’s name and said to him.
“You weren’t trying to make up for it with just an apology, were you?”
Rose’s face gradually turned red and blue. Her eyes were burning brightly, and she grabbed his collar.
“I’ll just hit you once.”
Rose’s fist flew at Neruan with a grudge.
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