WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 101: Drama (2)
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2.
The moon was slightly reddish, tainted with sand.
The sky turns red when dust clouds it, and people turn red when they bleed. This coincidental similarity made me uneasy.
'It's as if the moon is bleeding.'
I walked, dragging my uneasy mind like a shadow.
From a distance, the chatter and murmuring of the servants were audible.
"You mustn't do this here, Lady!"
"This is the Ivansia Duke's residence!"
"Even if you are favored by the Crown Prince, at this hour..."
Lady Silver Lily, walking with me, muttered,
"There's no uninvited guest like her."
Her tone conveyed disdain for the Heretic Inquisitor, no, for Goldencup.
"Looking at the time she barged in, it's clear she didn’t come to have tea with me. Butler, was this visit scheduled?"
"No."
I was also surprised. Wasn't it past midnight already? There was no reason for the Heretic Inquisitor to meet Lady Silver Lily at this hour.
Two days earlier, we had talked.
'I'll work as the exclusive butler of Lady Silver Lily for a while,' I said. 'To gather information about her and to conquer this stage,' I added.
"Hmm."
The Heretic Inquisitor showed a brief, subtle expression.
Nevertheless, she beamed as usual.
"Yes! It's unavoidable for the mission."
"I'm fine with it. Go, King of Death!"
That's how we agreed.
We had an agreement.
"Bring my butler here!"
As we walked, her voice grew closer.
"Butler! I know you're here!"
The residence's garden.
The dark night sky couldn't completely hide the spring lingering in the flower garden. The white magnolias drooped, burdened by the weight of spring they bore. The moon was red. The moonlight reflecting off the magnolia leaves tinged red, making it seem as if red magnolias were in full bloom.
"Ah!"
A magnolia leaf fell.
"You were here after all! Butler!"
The Heretic Inquisitor pushed past the gate guards. Unable to lay hands on a baron's daughter, the guards hesitated.
During their hesitation, the Heretic Inquisitor, with her skirt hem rolled up, strode into the garden. Crunch. The earlier fallen red magnolia was trampled under the Heretic Inquisitor’s shoe.
"I was worried because you hadn't returned despite the late hour."
"......"
"Really. Making your master worry and causing her to visit, isn't that a failure as a butler?"
My anxiety peaked the moment I saw the Heretic Inquisitor.
Hair.
The Heretic Inquisitor's blonde hair, illuminated by the moonlight, had grown longer than yesterday.
"My lady..."
"You are my one and only butler and childhood friend. You mean more to me than an ordinary servant. Would it seem terribly improper of me to ask you to understand that?"
It was not just the hair. The face. The appearance. Traces of the Heretic Inquisitor still remained, but somehow the figure before me looked unfamiliar.
'Did she use Holy Technique to change her appearance?'
Why?
"Anyway, you shouldn't be here. Even the flower garden seems poisonous. Come, butler. Let's go back together."
"Such impudence."
Lady Silver Lily stepped forward to block the Heretic Inquisitor's approach.
"Causing such a disturbance in the dead of night is by itself a serious crime punishable by flogging. Do you know where you are? How dare you raise your voice here? Kneel at once and confess your wrongdoing."
"Is that so? Will you whip my shins with a cane?"
The Heretic Inquisitor smiled slyly.
"If you're going to whip, do it hard and properly, Lady. If I show the Crown Prince the scars on my shins, I wonder what would happen. It will be another memory for the Crown Prince and me."
"How outrageous...!"
The Ivansia's servants shivered. Officially, Lady Silver Lily was the Crown Prince's fiancée. The Baroness was talking about her shins and memories in front of his fiancée. The servants glared at the Heretic Inquisitor with reddened faces.
Lady Silver Lily muttered softly,
"Is that so?"
The servants flinched at her voice.
I felt a chill in my heart for a moment.
"So it shall be."
Her voice was icy cold.
"How admirable that you wish to make memories of your school days. Then again, at a baron's daughter's age, even rolling through a dung heap gets romanticized as a fond memory. Since you want to make such lovely memories, I shall assist you as a noble of the empire."
Lady Silver Lily raised her left hand.
"Bring the cane."
The servants trembled.
"Yo-Young Duke......."
"I told you not to address me that way here."
"If the Crown Prince learns of this..."
"Do you think I'll let this disturbance go unpunished? If I let her go, the name of our family will be tarnished. The law takes precedence over everything, and the Crown Prince himself must uphold it."
The servants swallowed, not quite convinced. 'But still,' their silent protest said, 'the Crown Prince isn't that kind of person.'
No one dared to voice their objection.
"My left hand is still empty."
Lady Silver Lily's voice flowed.
"Bring the cane. I won't repeat the same order twice."
The servants scurried across the path lined with fallen red magnolias to fetch the cane from the residence.
All heads were bowed, as if they feared their faces being illuminated by the moonlight. Only two people, Lady Silver Lily and the Heretic Inquisitor, stood with their heads held high.
"Lady."
I had no choice but to approach the Heretic Inquisitor.
"What's going on? Why are you here at this time?"
"I've come to take back what's mine. You're making me state the obvious."
The Heretic Inquisitor beamed.
"I have been waiting since this morning, but you never returned. At first, I let it pass, thinking something urgent must have come up, but then I happened to hear that you were with the Lady."
The Heretic Inquisitor tapped her cheek.
"I realized immediately. The Lady must have blackmailed the butler by exploiting his weakness. Poor butler, being tossed around because of the Crown Prince and me..."
"......"
I couldn't understand.
What was she talking about?
"Don't worry."
The Heretic Inquisitor's smile remained bright.
"I won't let the Lady take anything from me anymore. Whether it's the Crown Prince's affection or the butler's loyalty. A cane? Whip as much as you want. I'll save the butler. After all, the one who will be hurt by the whipping is the Lady."
"No… I'm sorry, excuse me for a moment."
I moved closer to the Heretic Inquisitor, ensuring our conversation couldn't be overheard by those around. Fortunately, no one tried to stop me.
"Lady."
"Yes."
I swallowed and whispered to the Heretic Inquisitor.
"Heretic Inquisitor."
Silence.
"Yes?"
My heart raced.
My lips were dry. My tongue wouldn't move. It was so hard to twist words into a sentence, to weave them into a line. Slowly, I opened my mouth.
"When spring comes."
"Yes?"
My heart.
"Heretic Inquisitor..."
"What are you talking about, Butler?"
"I'll be really angry if this is a joke like last time. I'm serious. I'm asking seriously, so please answer me properly. What is your immersion rate now?"
The Heretic Inquisitor blinked.
"Huh? Butler, you seem to be joking. Are you reminiscing about the past? Or did you become a bit strange after spending the day with the Lady? Butler, really. I'll understand with gentle leniency."
"When spring comes..."
"It has already."
The Heretic Inquisitor smiled.
"Spring is here, Butler."
No.
"What a beautiful season, isn't it?"
Goldencup smiled.
"We have brought the item you ordered..."
The servants who had dispersed to the residence returned. They bowed their heads and presented the cane to Lady Silver Lily.
It was slender.
I guessed they had frantically searched for the slenderest cane in the mansion. Perhaps that was the extent of the servants’ loyalty they could offer to their master.
"Come back again."
However, Lady Silver Lily was ruthless. The servants flinched as they moved away.
"Come back again."
The command was repeated four times. With each repetition, the thickness of the cane increased. The servant, biting their lip, brought the fourth cane, and Lady Silver Lily grasped it in her left hand.
"Baroness Goldencup."
"Call me by my name, Lady."
"Silvia Evanair."
"Yes, Raviel Ivansia."
The moon and sun faced each other.
"You trespassed upon the ducal estate for private reasons and caused a disturbance. You have not uttered a single word of apology. The empire has a proper order of high and low, yet your insolence is appalling. By the name His Majesty bestowed upon you, I shall pronounce judgment."
"A crime? I know my crime best."
Goldencup smiled brightly.
"My crime is being favored by the Crown Prince despite my humble origin from a peripheral baron family."
That was not something to be said to the Crown Prince's fiancée.
"I apologize for being loved."
Goldencup lightly grasped her skirt. A single goldencup descended into the magnolia-filled garden, bowing to the lily in front of her.
Her manners were perfect.
"I apologize for being loved more than Raviel Ivansia."
"......"
"Is that a sufficient apology?"
The wind blew.
"But, Raviel Ivansia, I wonder. Is this truly my crime? Love has meaning only when it is received. Is it really my responsibility alone that one person loves while another is loved? Perhaps..."
Goldencup didn't finish her next words. Instead, she let out a laugh. A petal fell from a black branch.
Lady Silver Lily quietly raised her left hand.
"Vicious thing."
The night air was cut by the cane.
"-----."
Goldencup didn't scream or moan. She stood upright. Even the smile carved on Goldencup's face remained unshaken.
He, she, was certain of victory.
[Immersion into your character is intensifying.]
That's why the moon seemed to bleed to me.
[Your immersion rate is currently 40%.]
That day, the moon was slightly reddish, tainted with sand.
When the moon was buried in dust in the sky, it turned red, and when humans bled on the ground, they turned red. Cough, the air was acrid, and Lady Silver Lily coughed. It was a dry cough.
No one said a word.
Only the sound of coughing and the cane echoed in the night garden.
"Silvia!"
A torch flickered.
"Silvia! Are you there, Silvia!"
Footsteps broke the silence. Beyond the gate. The Crown Prince rushed in, holding a torch himself. The guards scurried around, attending to the Prince. Such a commotion couldn't have escaped the Crown Prince.
"Sil..."
The Crown Prince stopped at the gate.
"......"
He looked at the garden and fell silent for a moment.
"Raviel...!!"
He called Lady Silver Lily with a different tone than when he called Goldencup.
"Out of the way!"
The Crown Prince pushed past the Ivansia guards. No one there could bar the passage of the heir to the throne. The prince immediately rushed to Goldencup's side.
"How could you... Even so... How could you...!"
"I'm fine, Your Highness."
"I am not fine! You fool...!"
The Crown Prince checked on Goldencup.
Then turned his head to glare at Lady Silver Lily.
"Vicious woman!"
Words become wounds.
"How could you treat Silvia so harshly!"
Those who inflict wounds without seeing them don't know they've done so.
"It is the law of the empire, Your Highness."
"Is the law more important than a person!"
"It’s more important than an individual."
"That is why you are so cruel! You witch!"
Perhaps the world is divided between those who know and those who don't, and the Crown Prince was among the latter.
Lady Silver Lily coughed and breathed.
"Will you punish me?"
"......"
The Crown Prince's face contorted. Just contorted. Despite shaking his head as if it wasn't worth answering, it was just an escape.
The Prince lacked the courage and ability to face or take responsibility for Lady Silver Lily.
"Let's go, Silvia!
You shouldn't be here."
"Ah."
The Crown Prince picked up Goldencup.
As she was held in the Prince's arms, Goldencup looked at me.
"Butler."
The Heretic Inquisitor.
"Butler, come with me too."
"......"
I didn't respond.
Looking at him, I murmured in my mind like a prayer.
'Character Window.'
Chararuk.
Letters bloomed before my eyes.
+
Name: Silvia Evanair
Favorability: 90
Preferred Genres: [Romance]
Disliked Genres: [Political Drama]
Preferred Characters: [Those who love me], [Crown Prince], [Butler], [Teacher], [Senior], [Junior], [Classmate]
Disliked Characters: [Raviel Ivansia]
Preferred Plots: [Victory of the Strong], [True Love]
Disliked Plots: [Defeat of the Weak], [Betrayal]
Psychological State: 'Raviel Ivansia. I will leave you nothing.'
+
The name Heretic Inquisitor wasn't there.
The words [Fairy Tales] that were displayed in the preferred genre section and the word [Humans] displayed in the preferred character section were no longer visible.
"Butler?"
The Heretic Inquisitor had been consumed by the role of Goldencup.
"Will you come with me?"
And I sensed the end of this round.
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