The devil laughed as if it were absurd.
“What’s so special about that cookie?”
“Value is always relative. What will you do with just that trivial cookie in return?”
“That’s preposterous…”
Johan gave a snort of laughter to the devil.
“The negotiation has broken down.”
“Hey—!”
The devil tried to grab Johan.
But there was no provision in their contract that allowed one to arbitrarily bind the other.
The devil’s shape quickly disappeared. A blood flower blossomed on the altar where the demon, the source of chaos, had vanished.
‘The devil demanded the cookie that Estelle gave me.’
There was a secret with Estelle. Perhaps besides the time limit, there was something else…
Zing— Suddenly, Johan clenched his teeth against an incoming headache.
‘I feel like I’ve forgotten something.’
Having confirmed the time was before the banquet, Johan found the secret torture chamber in Blanchett.
The secret torture chamber was a place within Blanchett to confine those to be punished. Naturally, there were servants of Libertan who were not taken for treason.
“Get up.”
Johan woke up the prisoner who was hanging on the wall.
“Du, Duke Blanchett…?”
This prisoner was Duchess Libertan’s closest aide, and the servant who had served Estelle.
“I have questions about Estelle.”
“Estelle? Adopted into Libertan…”
“Yes. The Miss Estelle you served.”
Johan asked sternly.
“There was a faint scar on Estelle’s body. You let your mistress get hurt?”
“A scar… was there?”
The prisoner’s eyes became increasingly dim, and his speech slurred.
“Ah, the scar. Was it that ridiculous scar that troubled all the servants?”
“Speak straight.”
“A scar… Miss Estelle tormented everyone with a minor injury.”
Johan’s rough hand twisted the prisoner’s windpipe.
“A minor injury leads to a scar? She threw tantrums and yet the scar remained?”
“It’s true! The treatment… she deliberately prevented the treatment! Miss Estelle injured herself whenever it was to her disadvantage!”
The once silent prisoner suddenly writhed and screamed.
“She must have wanted to make the master and mistress feel guilty! So everyone had no choice but to listen to Miss Estelle!”
Bam! Johan smashed the prisoner’s head against the wall, immobilizing him.
“Watch your mouth.”
“Poor master, mistress, our mistress. How they ended up with such a fake…”
“Our mistress, you say?”
Johan closely examined the prisoner’s eyes.
The eyes were unfocused and hazy.
“…Yes, our beloved Miss Estella. That fake lady stole everything from our mistress.”
“So, how did this fake take it all?”
Johan asked with a firm grip but a gentle tone.
“Being honest will help your Miss Estella.”
“That is…”
However, no meaningful statement came from the prisoner.
As time went on, only inconsistent stories emerged. The only consistent, repeated statement was one.
Estelle was loved in the Duchy of Libertan, but she tormented people with her tantrums.
Yet they tried their best to love Estelle.
“She even took the real Miss Estella’s place!”
“Shut your mouth.”
Johan silenced the prisoner, feeling as if his ears would rot.
‘It’s not just this prisoner.’
Johan furrowed his brow.
‘The testimonies from other prisoners and our spies are similar.’
It’s logical that one of them would differ, but that was not the case.
It’s most likely the truth, considering the common sense of the people at the time and the surrounding circumstances.
‘Was that scar truly your misdeed, Estelle?’
Everyone was against Estelle.
‘It’s strange.’
Originally, Johan would have judged based on their evaluations. It was rational. It was true, considering the people of the time and the context.
Coming out of the secret dungeon, Johan looked up at the sky turning black.
“You seem more real to me.”
The execution day for Libertan was drawing near.
Now only 2 days were left for Libertan’s execution. Of course, he wasn’t planning to let them go easily but would torture them painfully on the scaffold—
‘Is this alright?’
Johan clenched his fist tightly.
(This is the time separator.)
I stood still, watching Erich.
“If the injury is not to this extent, it means nothing.”
I honestly did not care about Erich’s sorrow.
“I feel strange.”
I saw myself as a child overlapping with the figure of Erich, who was hiding his bleeding hand behind him.
Young me, who denied being abused even after being abused in Libertan, young Estelle, who wanted to be loved and thought it was my fault.
“Was the scar meaningful enough to shout at the saint?”
So I said it.
Even if everyone denies it, even if it’s not visible, a wound is a wound.
As long as one remembers, there is no moment that endured the pain and pain.
Suddenly, a beautiful blue rose bloomed alluringly between the bushes.
It was an Eden Rose.
“I don’t care about flowers right now, do I?”
I couldn’t understand why the Eden Rose suddenly bloomed.
[Dash] Our child, you’ve done it! Splendid! [Dash] Yes. That’s how you use the power of the fairy!The trees cheered as if they were about to have a festival.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
