Chapter 32
It felt as if Hera was seeing through Han Arin, her true self, as who she really is. The fierce eyes that are like a menacing snake seemed to be sweeping through her body.
“It must be hard to hide the madness that’s about to explode.”
…Huh?
“The truth is you want to go even more wild?”
‘…Me?’
“Don’t you want to do the sword dance more ferociously and sing a song of poison?”
“….”
Oh, wait.
‘Me?’
At Viola’s silence, Hera thought otherwise—she thought they had an implicit agreement.
“You’re holding it in well.”
“….”
“Well, people who just crave blood are not Verratoux… They’re just killing machines.”
Verratoux and a killing machine are different.
The killing machine is just regarded as a criminal, while Verratoux is a ruler.
Viola passed in acting as a ruler. Because she acts like a ruler, she knew how to control her madness. Uncontrolled madness leads to destruction, while controllable madness is an essential virtue of a true Verratoux.
“Didn’t Xenon report it like that? You also have the rationality to control your madness.”
“How did you know?”
“It was shared between the butlers.”
Saying so, Hera nodded. “In fact, I think Xenon gave too much generosity in giving the score. I was really curious.”
“Now that you’ve seen me in person, what do you think, sister?”
“That was an accurate score after all.”
Hera’s facial expression relaxed.
“I like you, too, Viola.”
Hearing that, Viola was a bit taken aback. It felt like the development was more rapid than she thought. Hera then suddenly reached out and caressed her cheek.
“Your face is really my taste.”
At this point, it was Viola who thought the situation was rather absurd.
‘No, this isn’t it.’
She had to come to her senses. I feel like the initiative has now been handed over to Hera.
Hera is smart. She must have been testing her while pretending to admit her thoughts completely.
‘Hera wants to be the absolute.’
She wanted a strong absolute who could protect her perfectly. Her first and second siblings will take care of the ‘real absolute,’ anyway.
So, it’s up to them.
Now, all she had to do was show the ‘carbon copy’ absolute.
She snapped Hera’s hand in a flash—snap! Then, Viola swept her hair down.
“My pretty sister.”
Viola’s fierce eyes turned to Hera’s.
Because of that, Hera swallowed dry saliva without realizing it. That hand sweeping down her hair made her feel a strange fear as if it would dig into her neck any time soon.
Of course, Viola didn’t mean to go that far.
She thought the original Viola would have acted like this, so she just imitated it. She then said, “Don’t cross the line.”
“….”
“It was me who chose you, sister.”
Her tone is full of murderous energy. It was the original murderous energy from Viola’s body.
Hera flinched. She is very ill, but she could sense a natural feeling of murderous energy. “What is this incredible murderous energy?”
She muttered quietly as the thought that Viola could kill people only by her murderous energy.
‘I can feel the tremendous amount of magic.’
She felt a huge wave of magic.
However, Viola, who exudes her murderous energy, is not aware of her own murderous energy at all. Her words kept flowing.
“It’s not sister who chose me.”
“….”
“Do you understand?”
“….”
As Hera was still silent, Viola opened her mouth again.
“Nod if you understand, sister.”
Hera nodded slightly immediately while glancing up at Viola.
Viola’s appearance is what she usually admires.
Her power and resourcefulness at the same time, and not intimidated by anyone. Along with her attitude that it is appropriate to be ‘the absolute.’ Viola possessed the gift to support such attitudes and personalities.
‘Yet the insidiousness and scheming that can conceal itself.’
…She could feel it all from Viola.
Hera felt suffocated. It was difficult for her to breathe.
This is the presence of the character ‘Viola.’
Viola, who is actually the subject of Hera’s thought, doesn’t even realize that fact. Meanwhile, Viola watched silently.
‘Is that enough?’
It is not easy to imitate Viola in the original story, so she felt as though she was wearing clothes that didn’t suit her.
‘Today… Isn’t it a little awkward?’
She thought her acting today was rather awkward, so she decided to put her worry behind her and smiled.
“We could be good sisters.”
“I think so, too.”
Hera’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘She’s definitely not as good as our first or second siblings. Not yet.’
Viola’s still too young. She didn’t have a location base yet. So, Hera can’t even get help from her mother’s family as the gap between the first and second has already widened too much.
But, one thing is different.
She’s only seven years old.
The first and second are not as good as her when they were seven years old. That means that VIola’s growth potential is extremely high—her potential is so enormous.
‘It’s enough to make it hard to breathe just by the murderous energy.’
If she grows up properly, how strong will she be…?
Cutting the silence, Viola added one more thing.
“I want us to be a good family for each other.”
“….”
Hera was speechless for a moment.
That phrase… That phrase is so warm. It is showing warmth but not servile enough. Hera didn’t consider herself thirsty for affection, nor did she feel lonely, though the word touched the part of her that she never knew.
“…What?”
“I want to be a good family member.”
‘Rich sister. I’ll be nice to you!’
Let’s get along!!
“You are so warm, Viola.”
Hera is as vigilant as Viola is. Hence, the clever Hera interpreted Viola’s warmth in her own way.
‘There must be a sharp thorn hidden in her warm tone.’
What is a good ‘family’ for Verratoux?
It is quite a different concept from what is commonly referred to as ‘family.’ Verratoux’s “good family” should be able to benefit each other—A good family is someone who can maximize profits by taking advantage of each other.
Viola’s words were alluding to that route.
Still, she liked the warmth of her phrase. Hera grinned unconsciously.
Viola felt a little ominous about that look.
The next day, Hera came back.
“I have a place to go for a while, would you mind?”
“Where do you want to go?”
Hera lowered her voice and continued.
“Oh, I want us to have a secret between us.”
This phrase appears in the novel.
「 The clever rabbit digs three burrows. 」*
[ T/N: An idiom meaning: a smart person always keeps a few options open for himself in the face of uncertainties. ]
Clever rabbit is the phrase for Hera.
Realizing her physical limitations early on, and accordingly, she prepared various countermeasures in advance.
「 The ‘Tera Business,’ located at the intersection of seasons, is one of them. 」
Hera, the Fourth Princess, had long realized that ice, which is common in Winter Solstice Castle, is considered precious in the southern part of the country.
「 In order to transport ice without melting, magical power was essential. Hera, the fourth Princess, mobilized the wizard to make the Tera Business. That happened when she was nine years old. 」
Viola was lost in deep thought as she recalled the original story. The place where Hera asked her to go together was the Tera Business. It is all right there, though there is a slight problem.
[ “You and me. I want to have a secret between us.” ]
[ “Secret?” ]
[ “It’s a secret from the butlers, too. I want to go there alone with you. I’ll show you my power, but you need to keep it a secret.” ]
[ “You didn’t even tell your butler?” ]
[ “Yes, it’s a secret. It’s the top-secret that I kept.” ]
[ “What about our father?” ]
[ “Father doesn’t even know it.” ]
[ “Then, why did you keep it a secret?” ]
[ “Because… invisible knives are scarier than the visible one.” ]
Originally, Viola and Hera don’t get along.
So, there was no such event in the original book.
Han Arin thought that without the help of the original work, she had to solve the situation on her own. However, that was the problem.
‘It can’t be a secret to the butler.’
The butler can’t be unaware.
And whatever happens in the winter castle, their father shouldn’t be oblivious to it. But, Hera clearly said that he doesn’t even know what fact as well.
‘Our father doesn’t know? What’s going on in the Winter Castle?’
This should be a lie.
If it isn’t, then the answer would be…
‘She’s lying to me.’
In a way, it could be a test for Viola herself, but what kind of test is it…?
Is it a ruse?
The idea of an insidious ruse should not be ruled out since this is a world where the back of her head is regarded as a routine, anyway.
Viola decided to prepare in her own way.
She observed the note that Hera left earlier.
[ At 3:18 PM, I’m going out the west door.
Viola, you should come out the south door in forty minutes. Let’s meet at the intersection of seasons. You have to come alone. ]
And so, Viola left the duke’s residence alone.
No one stopped the seven-year-old from moving alone.
‘They’re letting me out alone?’
We don’t even have a butler.
‘Hera must have used her hand in advance…’
Maybe the gatekeepers are accustomed to the fact as Hera is fully capable of doing so.
‘Shall we go?’
Thinking so, she moved her feet.
It is the third-largest intersection in Winter Castle, the Season Intersection.
It was a busy street with people and supplies, and numerous buildings rising along the boulevard. However, behind this busy street, there are complicated alleys like spider webs. The streets are splendid, but the road is underdeveloped right next door.
The reason why it was called ‘Season Intersection’ was because it is where one can definitely feel the gap between rich and poor in Winter Castle.
‘If you look at the map…’
Perhaps it’s this way, she walked along as the map showed.
And, left turn—
Far ahead, there was one shabby bar.
[ Moonlit Night ]
Since it was still daytime, they didn’t seem to be open yet.
‘Walk with your back to the moonlit night, and then on the second alley to the right…’
Thankfully, the instruction was explained here thoroughly that she would find a small two-story building.
…Although the said building was not visible.
‘There’s no building.’
It is a blocked place.
At the building that is supposed to be situated, there was a wall instead of a building. It was a dead-end.
Creak.
Suddenly, the door of the moonlit night opened, and four masked people walked out of there. They had a deadly weapon in each of their hands.
One of the masked men opened his mouth first, “What brings you to this narrow, shabby alley, little girl?”
“You must have been lost when you came here alone.”
One man was holding a big hatchet.
“Charles is right, isn’t he? If we wait here, we’ll get a couple of stupid young girls.”
“I know, it’s been a couple of days.”
Talking among themselves, the four men walked towards her slowly. They are emitting some kind of vicious force—it is as if meeting the enemies of one’s parents.
“From head to toe. Everything’s worth a fortune.”
“Is she alone? Is she a noble young lady?”
As they continued the chatter, Viola only listened.
“Yes, a noble lady that had no guardians are very expensive treasures.”
They weren’t really wrong either since the most favored slaves are the children of the fallen aristocracy.
“I think we need to deal with it quickly. The security of the winter castle is very good.”
“Let’s kidnap her and head south before the guards sniff it out.”
Four men started surrounding Viola.
At the same time, she grinned before finally opening her mouth.
“Masked men…”
Han Arin was a reader of this novel. She was confident that she knew more about Hera than Hera herself.
With that thought in mind, Viola grabbed the hem of the skirt and bowed slightly.
“My name is Viola Verratoux. I just turned seven this year.”
Han Arin decided to solve the novel in Han Arin’s way.