Episode 3: Elegant and Brutal Fact-Based Violence
Bang!!
The thick office door, crafted from the finest oak, slammed against the wall with a deafening roar, sounding as if the hinges were about to be torn off.
"Eleanor!!"
The faces of the two men who burst in with a roar like a beast were flushed red with rage and shame. Duke Valdemar, in particular, who had been kicked out of the middle of the secret auction house after his payment for a 100,000-gold 'Succubus's Elixir' was blocked, was gasping for breath, and his veins were bulging. His son, Claude, who followed him in, was also snorting and looked ready to turn the office upside down at any moment.
However, Eleanor's demeanor as she greeted these two raging uninvited guests was astonishingly calm.
"..."
She leaned back deeply in a plush armchair by the window, lazily savoring the fragrant aroma of black tea wafting up. Not a single fingertip of her elegant hand supporting the teacup moved.
"Are you, are you out of your mind?! I'm asking if you're sane!"
Valdemar shouted, slamming his hand on the desk at Eleanor's attitude of treating him like an invisible man. Only then did Eleanor slowly turn her head to gaze at her husband. The Eleanor of the past would have sighed first, her face pale and worn down by estate duties. It was her daily routine to resign herself to the fact that she would have to clean it up again. But in the red eyes looking up at her husband now, there was not a trace of fatigue or affection left. Only a cold contempt, as if looking down at an insect, flashed.
At that unfamiliar beauty, which exuded not just vitality but the intimidating aura of an arrogant ruler, Valdemar gasped and took a step back.
"Did you ask if I was out of my mind?"
Eleanor's red lips curved slowly.
"Yes. Just moments ago, I regained my sanity more perfectly than I have in my entire life."
"W-what?"
While Valdemar wore a dazed expression, the tactless Claude stepped forward, pointing his finger.
"Are you kidding me?! Withdraw the letter sent to Lumiere Jewelers immediately and lift the freeze on the ledgers! Because of that damned letter Mother sent, I was ridiculed by dozens of nobles right in the middle of the capital! Do you know how hurt Vivian was just because she didn't get that one diamond necklace? My dignity as the next Duke has been toppled to the ground!"
Watching her son scream, Eleanor swallowed a hollow laugh. Before her regression, even at the moment her head was about to be severed at the guillotine, that son of a bitch was laughing while hugging Vivian around the waist. And now, that piece of trash was throwing a fit and committing patricide against his own mother over a mere diamond necklace.
"Your dignity?"
Eleanor's cold voice languished in the office. A teacup clinked against a saucer, making a sharp, piercing sound.
"A groom-to-be, just a month away from an arranged marriage, abandoning the child who is to become his wife to chase after the skirts of a vulgar mistress and showering her with jewelry bought with the family's money. In high society, they call that not a matter of saving face, but the 'disgraceful spectacle of a horny bastard, Claude."
"Oh, Mother!! Aren't you being too harsh!"
Claude's face turned pale at the blatant and vulgar contempt that came from his mother's lips. Wasn't she the same mother who had always gently admonished him, saying, 'Act like a family heir'?
"Too harsh? The harsh part is your shameless heads."
Eleanor picked up a mountain of dozens of ledgers piled on the desk and roughly tossed them at the feet of the two men.
Thud! Thump!!
The heavy leather ledgers struck the floor, kicking up dust. Receipts from her husband's secret gambling den and records of her son's entertainment expenses spilled grotesquely from between the ledgers.
"There is no money to give to parasites whose only contribution to the family has been breathing and exhaling carbon dioxide."
"P-Parasites?! You must be truly insane!"
This time, Valdemar raged.
"You dare insult me, a Duke of the Empire and the head of the Castillo family?! You seem to have lost your mind just because a woman has been handling the estate's affairs, but no matter how great you may be, you are merely a Duchess! The key to that vault belongs to me, the head of the family. Call the Treasurer immediately and restore my authority!"
"The head of the family's authority, huh? You are still wandering in a dream."
Eleanor slowly rose from her seat. Her blood-red velvet dress dragged on the floor, making a chilling slapping sound.
"Do you still not understand why, ten years ago, right before his death, Father handed over control of the family's magic seal and vault entirely to me, his daughter-in-law, leaving behind that arrogant head of the family like you?"
"You-this bitch...!"
The complex of not being acknowledged by his father was Valdemar's most fatal wrath. His eyes were bloodshot.
"You are a fool with nothing in your head but a decent frame. Even the late Duke saw right through that empty head of yours and made me hold Castillo's leash to control you. How dare you speak of the authority of the head of the family?"
"This arrogant bitch finally...!!"
Losing his reason in rage, Valdemar raised his hand high and strode toward Eleanor. A weak third-circle sword aura rose like a mirage above his fist. Although he was merely a third-rate swordsman, it was a despicable and violent act of attempting to pin down his wife with the brute strength of a large adult male. Claude, far from stopping his father from striking his mother, simply watched with a vengeful look. However, Valdemar's violent grip never touched Eleanor's cheek.
"Don't you dare."
A chilling light exploded from Eleanor's red eyes. At the same time, a storm of 7th Circle mana-top-tier on the continent-that had been suppressed from her dantian for decades burst forth.
Wooooosh !!
The air throughout the office screamed as if it were tearing apart. A crimson wave of mana spread out in a circle from beneath Eleanor's feet, instantly crushing the gravity of the space by tens of times. It was the Archmage's overwhelming Mana.
"Cough...!"
"Aaaargh!"
Valdemar, who had approached confidently, and Claude, standing behind him, screamed like frogs crushed by an invisible giant rock as they slammed into the floor.
Crunch!
The marble floor cracked like a spiderweb under their weight. With pain as if their kneecaps were shattering and a terrible pressure as if their lungs were being crushed, the two stood with their mouths gaping open, unable to even breathe properly
"H-h-h-h. E-Eleanor! Save, save me...!"
"Mother!! I can't breathe! Cough!"
Two bugs flailing on the floor, drooling profusely. Eleanor slowly approached them, elegantly dragging the hem of her dress. Then, she mercilessly lifted Valdemar's chin with the toe of her high-heeled shoe to meet his cold gaze.
"Remember this, Valdemar. The only reason I tolerated your pathetic role-playing as clan head for the past ten years was that I didn't want sewage splashed on the nameplate 'Castillo,' which I had painstakingly carved out of my own bones."
Eleanor's voice was soft, but the murderous intent within it was chilling, as if it could sever the lifelines of both men at any moment.
"But that futile mercy is over now. If you dare to set foot in my office one more time, or if you displease me by coveting the family's money... next time, it won't end with just the pressure of mana; I will tear off your limbs and sell them to the Imperial auction house as food for monsters."
Overwhelmed by extreme fear and murderous intent, Valdemar's eyes were on the verge of rolling back to white. A damp, urine-smelling liquid gushed out from between his trouser legs. The noble Duke of the Empire had succumbed to his wife's murderous intent and wet himself on the floor. Claude, too, turned pale and trembled uncontrollably at the sight of his father. A deep sense of revulsion flashed across Eleanor's eyes.
"Disgusting. Get out of my sight right now. Before I get rid of you."
As Eleanor snapped her fingers and withdrew her mana, the oppressive air burst forth all at once. Released from the pressure, Valdemar and Claude, without a moment to spare for dignity or pride, clutched their wet trousers and practically crawled across the floor to survive as they fled the office. The receding screams echoing down the hallway were nothing short of a comedy
"Haa."
Complete silence returned to the office. Although the stench of urine staining the floor and the scattered ledgers were an eyesore, Eleanor opened the window to ventilate the room and took a deep, refreshing breath.
Even though this was only the first step of her revenge, it felt as if the heavy weight pressing down on her chest had been washed away. Just then, hesitant footsteps were heard from outside the half-broken office door.
"M-Madam. It is Hans."
Hans, the head butler who had just witnessed the gruesome sight of the Duke and his son fleeing in the hallway, reported in a trembling voice, his face pale.
"Miss Liliana, the daughter of the fallen Count Werner family, has just arrived at the Duke's annex. Since His Excellency the Young Duke did not go out to greet her, she is currently trembling alone in the drawing room, unable to even unpack her bags."
The moment she heard the report, Eleanor's red eyes snapped open. Her cold gaze curved into a round shape in an instant. The only child who had shed tears of blood for her. The poor little bird whom she had misunderstood and mistreated before her regression, causing her genius talent to rot away.
The warmest and softest smile of the day spread across Eleanor's lips. It was an expression filled with affection, 180 degrees different from when she had trampled on the two men just moments ago.
"Brew the finest tea leaves immediately, prepare the sweetest refreshments in the estate, and bring them to the reception room. I must go meet my distinguished guest."
Now that the rotten trash had been cleared away, it was time to welcome Castillo's true heir.
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