Chapter 4
“Well then, let’s hear what you have to say.”
After a long silence, Grandfather’s voice echoed through the now-empty conference hall.
Once Chloe and the retainers had left, Grandfather had asked to speak with me privately.
It had been quite a while since we were alone like this.
“Irene, you seemed different today—unlike before.”
The answer to that was simple.
Because I’m not the same person.
But even if I said that, would he believe me?
“A lot has changed.”
I gave a vague, evasive answer, but Grandfather slowly nodded, stroking his graying beard.
“Yes. Deborah’s sudden death is…”
He began to speak, only to pause midway. It wasn’t like the family head I knew.
A man who once seemed immovable—no matter who died or disappeared—now appeared visibly shaken.
“Do you think becoming the heir of Mergen is so easy?”
“There are hundreds of people depending on you. Be more serious.”
“And you’re struggling over something like this?”
The same man who once drove me mercilessly.
It wasn’t that grandfather had a soft spot for Irene.
He was someone who only ever thought of the family. He never pitied her or treated her dearly.
He simply stood by while the retainers treated her with contempt.
Was it just the death of a granddaughter that made his heart waver?
“My sister is dead. And now, on top of that, people are calling me her murderer. Surely even you wouldn’t want that, Grandfather.”
“……”
At the very least, I wanted to free Irene from being treated as a suspect.
Whether I continued to live in this body, or Irene’s soul suddenly returned—
Even if Irene really had killed me—
“I have no intention of becoming the heir. No, I know I’m not in a position to be one.”
“That’s…”
Everyone must already know that.
“So please, just allow me to protect this fragile life. You can do that for me, can’t you, Grandfather?”
I intentionally used the word Grandfather.
For a brief moment, a complicated emotion crossed his face.
“Please… protect me from my stepmother.”
Because I had already died.
Trying to live as I did before in this body would be foolish.
Now that I had become Irene, I could clearly see the swamp I once struggled in without even knowing I was sinking.
Why did I ever stake my life on becoming the head of this family?
What did it even mean to rule over a place teeming with filth?
Mergen was nothing but a rotten apple—glossy on the outside but decaying within.
If you poked it, no—just squeezed it a little—maggots would come spilling out.
Without me, even the shiny surface of Mergen would disappear.
“If you tell me to leave, I will. So—”
“…No.”
Grandfather cut me off before I could say I would willingly step away.
“You don’t need to leave this place.”
“…What?”
“Why would a bloodline of Mergen have to run away?”
I couldn’t hide the grimace that crept onto my face.
Was he really thinking of using Irene now that Deborah was gone?
“Do you think it’s right for Chloe’s child to become the head of Mergen?”
“……”
It seemed Grandfather was far more obsessed with bloodlines than I had imagined.
Or perhaps he was just testing me.
But I had already made up my mind.
I shook my head.
“I can’t do it.”
What I meant was—I didn’t want to walk back into that hell on my own two feet.
A heavy silence followed my firm answer.
Grandfather simply sipped his tea.
We didn’t reach any agreement. There was no conclusion.
After finishing the conversation with Grandfather, I returned to my room and collapsed into sleep.
It wasn’t even evening yet, but I had already run out of energy.
How long had I been asleep?
I slowly opened my eyes, wincing as a dull headache pulsed through my skull.
As soon as I regained consciousness, an unbearable thirst gripped me.
“Ugh…”
Just turning my body brought a groan to my lips.
In this condition, simply surviving another day seemed like a miracle.
“Ha…”
As I brushed my disheveled hair away from my eyes, a strange sensation crept through the room.
There’s someone here.
I instinctively reached under the pillow.
Damn it.
But I had overlooked one crucial fact—this wasn’t my room.
Under Irene’s plush pillow, there was no dagger, nothing like the one I always carried with me.
I turned my gaze toward the nightstand.
There was nothing there except for a vase.
I steadied myself and cautiously opened my mouth.
“Who’s there?”
The moment my voice rang out, two figures emerged from a blind spot in the room.
They were dressed in black and wore black masks that hid their faces.
“Unlucky for us—you woke up early.”
The man’s voice was raspy, like it scraped against his throat, and it clung to my ears in a chilling way.
“Identify yourself.”
“Hm. That’s not such a hard request.”
Contrary to my expectations, the man easily pulled off his mask.
“…Vermont.”
I couldn’t help but frown at the sight of his face.
He was one of the retainers and a key figure in Chloe’s faction.
Practically the right-hand man of Roosevelt, my stepmother’s younger brother.
“What are you doing here…?”
“You’re really pretending not to know me today, huh? Then again, after the way you humiliated me in the council hall, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
Did Irene have any contact with Vermont?
Did she even have any sort of relationship with the people of the household to begin with?
The questions swirled through my mind, but before I could speak further, the masked man moved in and grabbed me.
“Mm!”
His hand clamped over my mouth.
Vermont approached me slowly, as if enjoying the moment.
He was holding something in his hand.
A syringe?
The moment I realized it was a syringe, a wave of dread ran down my spine.
“Mm, mm!”
I couldn’t even scream, let alone speak to Vermont.
In desperation, I stomped down with all my strength on the foot of the man restraining me.
“Ugh!”
He faltered in pain, his grip loosening just enough for me to reach toward the nightstand and grab the vase.
Smash—!
The vase struck the man’s head with a dull thud and shattered into pieces.
“Argh…!”
He clutched his head and rolled on the floor, a strong metallic scent of blood filling the room.
“What the hell is wrong with you today?! Why are you rolling around?! Get up and catch her already!”
Still gripping a shard of the vase tightly, I stepped on the fallen man’s chest and pinned him to the ground.
As I bent forward, Vermont’s gaze followed me.
“Come any closer and I’ll drive this into his throat.”
“Hah, unbelievable.”
Vermont gaped at me, unable to hide his disbelief.
“You… are you really Irene?”
For the first time, he questioned it.
That meant my reaction was so unthinkable, so out of character, that it had thrown him off completely.
“Your eyes aren’t just for decoration, are they?”
“Exactly! This doesn’t make any sense! You usually offer your blood without a fuss—why are you acting like a mad dog today?!”
I repeated his words in my mind.
Usually offers her blood without a fuss?
“Did you come here to draw my blood?”
“Hah. Why else would I be here?”
“Put the syringe down. Far away.”
“You filthy wench… where the hell did you learn this crap…”
Grumbling, Vermont threw the syringe and his other tools far away.
At least he saw me as someone dangerous enough to warrant caution.
“So, what now? Are you going to stab that guy in the neck with that pathetic little hand of yours and then come for me too?”
Vermont twisted his lips into a sneer.
“Oh dear, you’re bleeding. If you’re just going to waste your blood like that, wouldn’t it be better to hand it over willingly?”
He eyed the blood dripping from the hand I had cut holding the vase shard.
“What do you use my blood for?”
“And now you’re curious about that, after ten years?”
Ten years?
It felt like I had just been struck in the back of the head.
The fact that this man had been drawing Irene’s blood for ten years—and that I hadn’t known about it—was a shocking revelation.
Suddenly, the image of the needle marks and bruises on Irene’s forearm flashed through my memory.
I had simply assumed they were traces of medical treatment.
“Ten years… For that long, what the hell were you doing with her blood?!”
A wave of nausea twisted in my stomach.
Could it be… that within the walls of Mergen, something filthy had been happening all along—something I had never even imagined?
“Hah. What do you think? Isn’t it obvious? Must be because of that incredible power running through your bloodline. Not that I’m high enough in the ranks to know the details. Now then, I’ve explained, so how about you kindly offer up your arm?”
Judging by Vermont’s shameless attitude, it was clear he felt no remorse about any of this.
“I don’t know why you’re going crazy all of a sudden, but let’s not waste our strength on pointless drama.”
He took a step toward me.
In response, I pressed the sharp shard in my hand harder against the skin of the man I had pinned down.
“Urgh—gah! P-Please! Spare me!”
The man begged instinctively for his life, and Vermont froze in place, his expression hardening.
“Do I look like I’m playing around to you?”
“…You’ve completely lost it, haven’t you.”
