When The Silver Bell Of Charlotte's Pharmacy Rings (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 10
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“It’s not nonsense—just think for a moment. If we go down into the basement now, the only one we’ll catch is that rat bastard. But the one I need to catch is Baron Lireld. Suppose I grab that rat, skin him alive, and wave his hide right in front of the baron’s eyes—do you really think Baron Lireld would grovel on the floor and confess everything to me?”
Ah, that was the issue. Charlotte had no choice but to agree, even as her teeth ground in frustration.
She knew well that Baron Lireld was a cunning man. Even if someone threatened to flay his own skin—not someone else’s—he might still not talk. And even if this man had the ability to extract a confession, there simply wasn’t enough time.
Decide, Charlotte. A voice inside her head whispered insistently. Tae Mi isn’t even here right now.
She couldn’t even call for him… The baroness’s hysterical laughter—eerily inhuman—rang sharply in her ears.
She had to decide.
And so she made her decision.
“Fine. I’ll accept your proposal—but only on the condition that my plan succeeds perfectly.”
Matiel shrugged. Whether he failed to grasp the situation or was simply naturally laid-back, either way, Charlotte didn’t like it. But resolving the matter immediately took precedence.
[This is the timeline separator]While the two of them engaged in what barely passed for an argument, the party’s atmosphere had grown even more decadent.
Drunken guests were scattered everywhere, and even though some corners were hidden behind curtains, it was obvious that couples were engaging in dangerously intimate foreplay right where others could see.
Charlotte paid none of it any mind, focusing solely on locating Baroness Lireld.
Finding her wasn’t difficult. She was right where things were loudest and crowds thickest… precisely there.
To someone unaware of the circumstances, it might have looked as if the guests surrounding Baroness Lireld were staging some sort of protest.
“I never knew Baroness Lireld could be so eloquent.”
At Matiel’s remark, Charlotte bit lightly at her lip.
“It’s the demon’s power—without a doubt. That’s…”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes, observing the crowd gathered around the baroness.
They clapped each other on the shoulders, bursting into maniacal laughter every time the baroness spoke a word.
They didn’t care even when passersby shot them curious glances. Their behavior was utterly unbelievable for nobles who prized decorum above all else.
“Laughter… or attentive listening—those must be its nourishment. Definitely.”
“Laughter? Attentive listening?”
When Matiel repeated the words in confusion, Charlotte waved her hand irritably, as if she had no time to explain.
“Demons feed on a wide variety of things. Some literally devour their hosts, while others absorb humans’ mental or emotional energy through their hosts. This demon—I don’t know its name—but it’s using the baroness to draw people’s focus and make them laugh. Listening intently to someone else also requires tremendous energy. It’s absorbing that. Look over there.”
When Charlotte pointed toward the baroness, Matiel frowned and fixed his gaze on her as well.
“…Her body looks swollen.”
The dress that had fit her perfectly just moments ago in the hallway now strained taut against her frame.
Every time the baroness moved, laughed, or raised her voice, it seemed a button might pop or a ribbon snap at any moment.
Yet the crowd gathered around her appeared completely oblivious to this.
Moreover, their own bodies seemed to be swelling strangely as well… Was it an optical illusion? Perhaps it was.
“We need to separate her from the crowd right away.”
“Can’t we just drag her away by force?”
Charlotte stared at Matiel as if he were the dumbest man alive.
“Do you think you’d quietly let yourself be dragged away?”
“Then what do you suggest? This is your problem, not my area of expertise. You’re the one who needs to come up with a solution.”
I know that, Charlotte thought. It’s just that the solution is infuriatingly unpleasant.
‘If only this man weren’t involved, it’d be much easier… But there’s no choice now…’
Just as she steeled her resolve—
Charlotte watched the baroness swell ever more—now visibly expanding with each breath—and finally spoke to Matiel.
“I’ll be the bait.”
Matiel looked down at Charlotte sharply.
“What did you say?”
Charlotte snapped irritably.
“Don’t make me repeat myself. We don’t have time. I’ll be the bait. That demon… it knows I’ve come to capture it. That’s why it mocked me earlier. Devouring a single mage is far, far more satisfying and sweeter than consuming an ordinary human.”
Or maybe it wants to save me for dessert, Charlotte thought.
“So I’ll lure the baroness by acting as bait. You keep the crowd from following.”
“So you’re saying you’ll handle the demon alone?”
“What exactly can you do? Have you even seen a demon before?”
No, Matiel thought. He had knowledge, but had never actually seen a demon.
Today was the first time he’d even seen a human possessed by one.
Suddenly, he recalled the series of murders in the western region. King Ryuen had prioritized solving that case above all else.
If Charlotte’s words were true—if she could eliminate the demon—and if those bizarre murders weren’t the work of humans at all…
‘This is unexpected.’
“Will you do it or not? Hurry up and answer!”
Charlotte pressed one last time—her eyes practically stabbing him to death if he didn’t answer immediately—and Matiel finally nodded.
“Fine. Just keep people from following—that’s all?”
“They’re enchanted by the demon right now. At least partially. If the demon senses danger, it’ll summon them—it’s using them both as food and as potential new hosts… Understand?”
“Is it similar to laying eggs?”
“A disgusting comparison, but accurate. However, once the demon itself dies, those ‘eggs’ won’t grow or hatch anymore. So you must prevent any interference while I kill the demon inside the baroness. Can you do that?”
“I’ll try.”
Can you really? A voice inside her head shrieked indignantly. Can you really trust this ordinary ‘human man’?
‘If I don’t, what choice do I have? Damn it.’
Charlotte shot Matiel a sidelong glance, then pushed her way through the crowd swarming around the baroness. They paid her no mind—whether she shoved shoulders, stepped on feet, or even trampled them.
Their eyes were fixed solely on Baroness Lireld, laughing at her gestures and weeping as they struck their neighbors at her absurd remarks.
“So I told him! ‘Get lost, you clown from some backwater village!’ And just like that, his belly swelled up like a real circus clown! His nose turned red like he’d been stung by a bee!”
Charlotte couldn’t make sense of the story, but it didn’t matter.
She deliberately stepped forward and seized Baroness Lireld’s wrist. The baroness, mid-boast, suddenly whipped her head toward Charlotte.
“Sherry!”
Baroness Lireld was smiling, but the expression no longer resembled a human’s—at least not in Charlotte’s eyes.
Her red lip stain had smeared all the way to the corners of her mouth, making her look exactly like the “backwater clown” she’d described, and her lips stretched unnaturally upward as if hooked by fishhooks and tied behind her ears.
Her wide-open eyes glistened like glass splashed with water, and for a long time, she hadn’t blinked even once.
“Sherry, where have you been? Ah—you’ve just come back from a passionate rendezvous with Duke Elinak, haven’t you? Your hair’s come undone! Surely you didn’t use my bed, did you? That’s absolutely off-limits!”
The crowd burst into laughter. It was clear none of them were in their right minds.
Had anyone not under the baroness’s spell heard those words? It didn’t matter.
The moment Charlotte tightened her grip on the baroness’s wrist, the woman spoke again.
“You must listen to my story too! Come on! I’ll prepare the best seat just for you! You won’t be able to help laughing once you hear it. Right, Sherry? You came to my party—you have to listen!”
“Of course, Baroness Lireld. I’ll listen to your story. But first, I have something to tell you—just the two of us.”
The baroness’s glassy eyes gleamed again. This time, Charlotte knew for certain.
That shine wasn’t from tears or any natural bodily response. It was the cold, hard gleam of actual glass—reflecting the chandelier’s light.
“Just the two of us? Sherry, you have something to say only to me?”
“Yes, just the two of us. Absolutely, only the two of us. Right now.”
Baroness Lireld lowered her chin and laughed.
Her lips, which Charlotte thought couldn’t possibly stretch any further, rose even higher toward her ears—now looking as if they might split open sideways at any moment.
“But Sherry, I haven’t finished my story yet…”
Just then—
A woman with a dahlia tucked behind her ear,
Wearing a straw-woven hat,
Swirling her violet-embroidered skirt,
Ran up the hill.
Suddenly, a singing voice echoed through the hall, which had been filled with noise.
It was so unexpectedly beautiful that even Charlotte lifted her head in surprise—but what astonished her most was the overwhelming power of the voice.
‘That person…’
Charlotte recognized the man singing atop the platform Baroness Lireld had used earlier.
It was Eliot. He sang accompanied by piano—and seated at the piano was none other than Matiel.
“Look! It’s Duke Elinak!”
“We get to see the Duke playing piano!”
“What luck… And Mr. Eliot is singing! I think I’m going to faint!”
For a moment, Charlotte felt as if Matiel had glanced at her.
Their eyes might have met—and he seemed to say:
‘What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go.’
Ex-husband Wants Reconciliation
One-line summary: Chasing the wife to the crematorium (making an effort to attract someone who has become indifferent), the female lead doesn’t look back, the second male lead takes the position.
Intro:
To repay the kindness of the older generation, Su Mu crossed into a female-dominated world and became a live-in daughter-in-law of the Yan family, single-handedly saving the Yan family from fire and water.
But her husband, Yan Jiyue, the eldest son of the Yan family, treated her with sarcasm and never showed her a good face.
It wasn’t until after Su Mu’s death that this pampered and arrogant young master shed a few fake tears and pretended to want to die for love.
This life’s kindness was enough. If there was a next life, she would definitely kick Yan Jiyue away.
Who knew that the heavens would be so kind as to allow her to be reborn, returning to the time when she had just married into the Yan family.
Su Mu glanced at the Yan eldest son, who still spoke coldly to her, and threw a divorce letter in front of him.
“Let’s divorce!”
***
Yan Jiyue never imagined that he would be reborn. He happily went to find Su Mu, wanting to make up for the mistakes he had made in his ignorant youth.
Wasn’t the reason the heavens allowed him to be reborn to let him reconcile with Su Mu?
But when he pushed open the door to Su Mu’s room, the person lying on the bed was another man.
Su Mu’s personal attendant, Xie Yi.
Yan Jiyue hated him so much that his teeth itched. In front of Su Mu, Xie Yi was a gentle and considerate whisperer of sweet nothings, but in reality, he was vicious-hearted and deliberately sabotaged their husband and wife relationship.
In the previous life, it was he who secretly hid in Su Mu’s coffin and committed suicide, stealing a step ahead of him to be buried with Su Mu.
Yan Jiyue’s eyes were filled with hatred as he cursed, “What kind of thing are you? Your background is lowly, what right do you have to occupy Su Mu?”
Xie Yi looked at the sleeping Su Mu and no longer pretended to be a whisperer of sweet nothings.
He proudly stuck out his belly, “I have the right because my belly is capable of giving the Wife-master a daughter.”
***
Yan Jiyue was consumed with jealousy. He spread rumors that Xie Yi had once been branded with the mark of a “harlot” on his chest.
But on the night Xie Yi cut off the flesh bearing that mark, Su Mu suddenly realized something was amiss.
“How did you know the exact moment I was poisoned? And why did you show up a month early?”
Xie Yi remained silent, blood from his wound soaking through his robes. His sapphire eyes brimmed with anguish – or was it just a flawless act?
Between a once-arrogant husband now seeking redemption, and a gentle soul willing to die for her – who truly held the darkest secrets? And could it be that Su Mu and Yan Jiyue weren’t the only ones given a second chance at life…?
[Reading Guide]
1. True divorce, chasing the wife to the crematorium, the female lead doesn’t look back, the male lead is Xie Yi.
2. The ex-husband did not cheat, he just realized too late and didn’t realize that he liked the female lead.
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To be honest, Tae Mi is my favorite character in this novel.
Wow that’s grotesque. I didn’t think this novel was going to be so gorey