Episode 13
Riya asked, swallowing her saliva.
Eliah, whose eyes had become dilated due to the alcohol, burst out laughing at her words.
“Haha! You’re a wuss, you only realized now. You’ll find out eventually. So, do you want me to tell you?”
Riya was taken aback by this and quickly changed her posture and sat down.
Finally, it appeared that the mystery could be cleared up this time.
“Please, Elijah-nim. Do you not feel sorry for me? Could you please tell me the truth?”
“Pfft, your fate has already been decided because you were late. I’m not sure why you don’t recognize me, but I do know you. Think carefully. We were in a very interesting situation.”
Riya sucked her saliva and begged Elijah with her eyes.
“Please let me know! Could you please explain why I’m doomed to die and why I’m in this situation?”
It may appear servile, but she had no choice but to find out.
“Haha, shall we think about it?”
In front of Elijah’s cheekily moaning, Riya gathered her hands and begged eagerly, when the door suddenly opened and Seir entered.
The servants and maids were taken aback and moved to one side, while Seir approached them and stared at them.
He couldn’t help but be taken aback by what he saw in front of him.
Elijah, red-faced and drunk, sat arrogantly crossing her legs and staring down at Riya.
Riya Lisburn knelt at her feet, clasping her hands together and pleading.
“Raise yourself, Princess Lisburn.”
Seir’s voice, which had become cold, was tinged with uncontrollable rage.
Elijah, taken aback by his appearance, attempted to stand up quickly, but her feet twisted and waddled.
Seir turned his head as if it were abominable as he looked down at Elijah’s disastrous state, who was falling down with a drunken face.
And he reached out to Riya, who was pleading on the floor.
“Please take my hand. What a disgraceful appearance, the servants are watching. You’re a princess, so you should act like one.”
He was distracted after Yucal’s reprimand and went to see Riya, but when he heard she was at Elijah’s house, he ran to see this shocking scene.
Riya, who had previously threatened Elijah, is now begging and pleading at Elijah’s feet.
He had been wondering if this was the truth all along.
“No, that isn’t it…”
Riya tried to make an excuse while resenting Seir for interrupting her plan to find out the truth, but Seir’s rage was stronger than she had anticipated.
“And all the servants here are just standing there, doing nothing? I suppose you should all be punished.”
Frightened by the words, the servants and maids rushed in to help Riya, while the others apprehended Elijah, who was drunk and staggering.
“Take Elijah out and lock her in the cellar like Riya.”
Elijah sobered up at his abstract command, then sobbed and clung to Seir.
“Ah, Seir-nim! I’ve done nothing wrong. I’m going to tell you everything. Please listen to me.”
Seir, on the other hand, turned his head and didn’t look at her.
Charlson, who ran in after him just in time, was stunned and reeling when he saw this scene.
“Ah, Madam Elijah!”
He yelled, obstructing the servants.
“Do you dare not let go of that hand? I’ll take Madam Elijah there myself.”
In his vile appearance, the servants slipped away and let go of Elijah’s arm.
Charlson looked at Riya as he assisted Elijah, who was on the verge of collapsing.
When Riya made eye contact with him, her heart sank.
His eyes were red with rage.
“Riya, are you alright? You can rely on me.”
Seir hugged Riya’s waist and drew her into her arms in front of Charlson’s staring eyes.
Charlson’s poignant eyes touched her hot until the door closed. In those eyes, he made it clear that he intended to kill her sooner or later.
Riya buried her face in Seir’s arms and shut her eyes tight.
‘I’m dead now.’
“No, Seir-nim, it’s not like that. Elijah hyung-nim did not mistreat me, and I was not beaten. We only drink and…”
Seir used his finger to block Riya’s lips, preventing her from speaking.
“It’s fine. I’ll only accept your admirable heart to protect her. What you’re saying won’t change the fact because I saw it with my own eyes.”
‘Ah…’
Riya just wanted to cry in front of this complete shambles.
Seir whispered sweetly into Riya’s ear.
“It breaks my heart to hear you’ve been begging and pleading at Eljiah’s feet like this. Don’t be concerned. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll keep your mind at ease in the bedroom tonight.”
Instead of waiting for her to respond, Seir snatched Riya into his arms and bit her lower lip.
‘You’re a jerk! I’m going to die as a result of you!’
No matter how hard she tried, this man was unlikely to doubt and be wary of his henchman, Charlson, simply because she said Charlson was looking for an opportunity to kill her. Seir
Seir would not believe what she said because Charlson is a trusted knight.
‘Then I have no choice but to survive, even if I have to work hard with my bad brain.’
Riya nodded and screamed her fighting spirit from inside.
* * * * *
When Riya returned to her bedroom, Dragon Quangi was sound asleep on the floor.
Riya carefully placed the petals she had ripped from Elijah’s garden on Quangi’s shoulder wound.
Surprisingly, the wounds and blood stains vanished right away.
It was well worth the effort to obtain it.
Riya stumbled into her study room after comforting Quangi, who was tossing and turning because his sleep had been disturbed.
“Did you hear about the knight named Charlson, Madam?”
Miryu conversed with Riya, who was trimming the contents of her writing in the study while putting the laundry in a basket.
“Wait, what about him?”
“I’ve heard that because he’s such a quick and accurate hunter, the chefs in the castle specifically request him to catch chickens and rabbits. He always aims very precisely at the vital point and takes his prey’s breath away in a split second. Isn’t it also a little frightening to collect flying axes? It’s no surprise that his eyes are out of the ordinary for some reason.”
Riya set the pen she was holding in her trembling hand down.
She then opened the drawer, took out the script book, and reread the part.
While Riya is sleeping, Charlson sneaks in and kills her instantly with a razor-sharp axe blade.
She read it several times and even memorized it.
The script’s heinous content stated that he axed Riya to death and then committed suicide on the spot.
His only purpose in life was to protect Elijah.
Later, it was kindly added with an explanation that those who witnessed the horrifying scene suffered from aftereffects for some time.
The blood of the two is said to form a river in the bedroom, so just imagining it made Riya’s entire body numb and scared.
“Miryu, I need to get some fresh air.”
“What? Suddenly, Madam, where are you going? Didn’t you remember to spend the night with Seir? Let’s get pregnant and flatten the noses of the maids on Elijah’s side!”
Miryu clenched her fist and cheered for her madam, unaware of Riya’s thoughts and feelings.
Riya left the house in a state of confusion, wanting to cry.
There will only be one place to go now.
The place where Riya reached was the Hyena Publishing House building.
It had the appearance of an old castle from the outside, but once inside, it is a place full of dreary offices.
There is a handsome but terrific editor-in-chief and an odd secretary.
Unsurprisingly, the secretary was reading a book while drinking green juice today.
“Come in.”
The secretary raised her glasses to check if the editor’s schedule was clear.
She entered with a steady step and noticed Marquis Hyena sitting alone at a table by the window, playing chess.
“What brought you here?”
He asked sarcastically, without looking back.
He was seated with his back to Riya, but he recognized her right away.
Riya asked back, feeling amazing.
“No, Editor-nim, let’s publish it right away. Let’s publish the manuscript already.”
Hyena turned his head and stared at her with a disapproving expression on his face.
“Oh, that’s right. I was about to say something serious.”
“What… you mean?”
Riya, whose heart sank at his solemn expression, inquired cautiously.
“”Not a single copy of your book, which was published a week ago, has been sold.”
“It’s… It’s a lie, right?”
Riya inquired, her voice trembling.
She brought the manuscript only a week ago, as far as she remembers.
‘Did he publish the manuscript as soon as I handed it to him? Does that make sense?’
Then Hyena answered with a straight face.
This time again, he seemed to have seen through Riya’s mind.
“Of course it makes sense. You are unfamiliar with our publisher’s system. All manuscripts are published within an hour of submission.”
Riya shook her head and asked again in response to the ridiculous answer.
“Where is the bookstore then?”
“There’s no bookstore. We promote ourselves by distributing flyers to social circles and taking individual orders. As soon as Lady Sophia’s book was published, 50 copies were sold, with a total of 10,000 copies sold in a year, resulting in enormous profits.”
Hyena appeared to be referring to the author who purchased the castle by selling the book, as Miryu had told her at the time.
“If you look at the contract, don’t you see the contents? If you don’t sell over a hundred books in the next ten days, I’ll cut out parts of our bodies one by one.”
“What?”
Riya’s eyes widened like a bell when she heard those absurd words.
“I still can’t believe it. I haven’t even gotten my advance tax.”
“Well, you obviously didn’t read the contract carefully. I should have made it clear that the 3,000-year-old tax is not real money, but a virtual one, and that if you do not fill it, you will be punished. “I’ll pick a certain part of your body and cut it out.”
Riya was speechless and unable to respond to Hyena’s claim.
‘Is this person insane? How can such a thing exist?’
Hyena, who stood up slowly, suddenly came to Riya.
He then raised his hand and stroked Riya’s hair before turning it back.
Riya’s entire body froze with that solemn gesture.
He gently stroked the back of her neck and touched her earlobe.
“This is preferable. I’ll cut off both ears if you don’t sell 100 books in 10 days. In any case, you don’t need hearing to write.”
“Argh!”
Riya was taken aback and fell down on her back.
Before she knew it, Hyena’s hand held a well-sharpened dagger that stood well.
“Riya Lisburn, you must have done an excellent job of putting a man in a scene with a woman. I’m going to break your habit. You should get out there and start selling your book.”
The heavy curtains blowing abundantly by the window were cut cleanly when Hyena’s dagger flashed into the air.
“Argh!”
Riya, who was taken aback, screamed.
What Miryu said was right.
Hyena is a cruel private moneylender, not a publishing company’s editor!
A body collector, Hyena!
She was so startled and terrified that she shook her head and bolted from the room.
‘Everyone is crazy. Everyone is really crazy!’
She dashed out of the publisher’s building, holding a flyer with her book introduction in her hand, as the rain poured down.
Riya, blessed with her sorrow, burst into tears as she looked up at the darkened sky.
“What am I supposed to do? I was thrown into this damned world and had no choice but to die a horrible death. What am I supposed to do?”
She sobbed uncontrollably.
There appeared to be something dark around her, but she had no way of knowing.
‘Oh, what should I do now?’
A passing carriage stopped in front of her as she was walking recklessly through the streets in the rain.
As the carriage door opened, a young and beautiful lady poked her head out.
“Hey, you look like a noble. Why are you out in the rain? Is your maid or carriage not yet ready?”
Riya, drenched from the rain and tears, raised her head and looked at her.
In front of her, she could see a woman of her age who looked pretty.
When the pretty lady offered her help, Riya’s head flashed as she tried to shake her head that she didn’t need her help.
‘Wait a minute, isn’t this my great chance then?’
“Thank you very much! Then I will not decline!”