Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Lina looked at Sylvia with terrified eyes. Eventually, she burst into tears that she had been holding back, and they ran down her red cheeks.

Sylvia, watching her tears, got up from her chair where she was sitting and walked closer to Lina, who was kneeling on her knees. Terrified, Lina lowered her gaze and trembled at the sight as she approached her.

Sylvia gently ran through the orange hair that had been soaked with her pretty long fingers.

“Lina.”

“Yes, yes… Miss Sylvia.”

“Do you want to be Azela’s handmaid, not me?”

“It is not! I never thought of that!”

In response to her friendly but eerie question, Lina hurriedly lifted her head up and shook her head in denial. However, Sylvia still had a pretty smile on her lips.

She had such a beautiful angelic smile.

“…There was one maid that Azela loved. She has orange hair like you do.”

She muttered softly as she touched Lina’s soaked wet hair one by one.

It happened before Lina came into the mansion, so she couldn’t understand Sylvia’s words, so she stayed quiet. Sylvia, who had been staring at the hair, turned her gaze to look at her face. She then raised her long hand, and she stroked the girl’s soft cheek.

“…You look so much like that child, Lina.”

“Miss Sylvia.”

“Do you want to know what happened to that child?”

Sylvia moved closer to Lina’s face and whispered softly. It was a sweet voice, like the sound of a morning bird waking her up, but the tone was eerie.

As Lina dripped her tears and gave no answer, Sylvia twisted her hand that was touching the girl’s cheek. Her long nails left scars on the delicate girl’s cheeks, though Lina didn’t wrinkle her brow. She just tightened the grip on her skirt.

“…She’s dead.”

“…!”

“Do you want to know how she died?”

“I, I was wrong, Miss Sylvia.”

“You think I killed her.”

“No, no…! I don’t think there’s any way that Miss Sylvia, who is like an angel, was like that.”

Sylvia bowed her head and walked closer to Lina’s ear.

And, she pulled hard on the still tender ears. Sylvia’s unmerciful tugs with her long fingernails caused blood to drip from Lina’s ear. The ripped skin looked like it would hurt, although the girl didn’t seem to feel any pain because of the great fear.

Sylvia stopped pulling her ear and whispered softly into the girl’s ear.

“…Actually, I did kill her.”

“….!”

“To Daniel… I asked him to kill her.”

Lina’s trembling eyes unknowingly turned to her. Sylvia, who met her eyes, was smiling so beautifully. She had such a pretty smile that dazzled her eyes to the point that if this place were heaven, she would be an angel.

Lina’s two eyes filled with fear.

* * *

The refreshing sound of swords clashing rang for a long time. The sound of the sword, which had lasted over an hour, never seemed to end. The sound of breathing, drenched in sweat, who did not know whom it belonged to, filled the training hall.

“…Ugh.”

Zagnac, who lost the strength in his fingers, frowned. At the same time, the sword in his hand flew horribly towards the corner. Azela’s blade faced him. Contrary to him, whose hand was empty — Azela, with a sword in her hand, held their breath, unable to speak to each other.

It was Azela’s victory.

“…That’s great.”

Zagnac smiled, wiping his sweat-drenched forehead.

After he made a small training hall just for her, Azela was able to resume her sword practice for a while. It didn’t take long to find her stamina and strength, probably because she had the ability to hold a sword in the past.

At first, it was difficult for her to even wield one of the swords or even move her gripping wrist, but now, she had raised her skills to the point where she could face the sword equally with Zagnac.

Her swordsmanship skills were truly a ‘genius talent’ given by God that was overshadowed by the fact that she had not held a sword for quite some time. It was never the speed and strength that a woman’s body could achieve.

God had graced her with swordsmanship, and Azela had become one body with the sword to such an extent that it was colorless to express it just like that.

With Zagnac’s praise, she splendidly put the sword back into the sheath and shook her head.

“Compared to before, this level is garbage.”

Azela turned her throbbing wrists lightly and furrowed her eyebrows with a disapproving look.

When other people hear it, they would say, ‘what were you supposed to do with that level of skill?’ though that was what it was. She hadn’t held the sword for a long time, so her strength and speed were all noticeably lower.

No matter how good she was in swordsmanship, there was a limit to what she could embody in a woman’s body.

So, Azela worked three or five times harder than others. She woke up when others were still asleep and trained alone for hours, and while others ate, she got the hang of it. She clearly needed her own skills because she knew that she would lose in front of strength and speed.

However, that too was a thing of the past. Azela smiled bitterly as she loosened the scabbard from her waist.

Looking at her, Zagnac opened his mouth as he handed her a towel.

“If it’s okay with you… You don’t have to talk about business, so you’re always welcome to come and practice. I will be your opponent.”

Azela, who was handed a towel, smiled brightly at the suggestion, but she soon shook her head with a stiff expression. Untying her braided hair, she wiped the sweat from her face and neck and replied, “Thank you for the offer, but I will decline it. Practicing in the training ground will be enough. Now that I’ve played a match like this, I’m satisfied.”

“…Why? It’s such a waste of skill.”

“Because I don’t want to go back to my old self.”

Taking off the armor, Azela turned behind first.

Zagnac, who was looking at her, also took off his armor and followed her quickly. His face was filled with incomprehensible doubts. As they left the training ground, he, who was clinging to her, asked.

“Why not?”

“It’s not that I can’t, but… What I want to do now is revenge for Irene, and revenge for the years that I have been trampled upon.”

Azela spoke in a firm voice. Still, Zagnac still looked like he did not understand. Sweat dripped down his black hair. He was like a child. He was like a little boy who couldn’t understand anything unless she explained it to him.

Seeing this, Azela unknowingly smiled and added more explanations.

“I definitely like the sword… I like it, but I don’t have to hold the sword now. You don’t need a sword to get revenge on Daniel.”

“….!”

“The sword… I vowed to put it down when I got married. It’s enough just to hold it as a hobby on a very rare occasion like this.”

Saying so, she smiled bitterly as she looked at her beautiful hand that had no calluses or small wounds. Zagnac just looked down at her like that without saying a word. Azela smirked at the thought that she might be the only one who felt so sad that she had the hands of a beautiful woman.

Then, suddenly, a large hand was placed over her palm.

It was Zagnac’s hand.

“Are you really okay with that?”

When she looked up, she saw Zagnac’s face with his head tilted to one side. His long fingers, much larger than her hand and beautiful, seemed to give Azela heat. The palm of his hand was hot but not strangely unpleasant.

“It seems to me that you want to do it… Revenge and swordsmanship.”

“….”

“Then, how about doing this?”

“What?”

He painted a playful smile on his lips. Even though it was a smile full of playfulness, there was sincerity in the corners of his non-smiling eyes.

“I’m going to kill them.”

“….!”

“Both your husband and his mistress — then, it will end very neatly.”

Zagnac’s purple eyes shone alluringly. It was as if they were whispering, ‘You just need to nod your head.’

Azela, who was looking into his eyes, smiled vaguely and shook her head.

“That’s okay.”

“Why?”