Chapter 5
The situation was settled before Cassis moved.
As we passed by, the salutes of the knights who had already occupied the Eillian Mansion erupted.
For a moment, it was to the point of being confused about whether it was the Vallois Castle instead.
‘Great. First of all, I survived.’
Let’s take a breather.
When I thought that I was physically safe, then I remembered my friend.
‘By the way, where is Sian?’
The Vallois Knights were those who only acted on orders.
Surely no good sound came out of Cassis’s mouth, so by now all the people who appear to be servants must have been crushed!
While worrying about Sian, the air around me was chilly and sticky.
It seemed that Cassis had entered the underground warehouse.
“This is Viscount Eillian.”
‘Finally, cider!’
I, who was in Dad’s arms, lifted my head at the sound of the Viscount.
The startled toes disappeared in the shadows.
Shiverㅡ
The corner of the warehouse.
In the presence of Dad, Viscount Shrek was crouching as much as possible like a frightened herbivore.
‘If the Viscount had treated Mom and me, things would have been different.’
But where does the human personality go?
I was struggling to somehow make eye contact with the Viscount.
“?”
Something drooping behind the Viscount’s back caught my eye.
Is he trying to protect your children as he’s a parent?
The identity of the person sitting in the shadow of the Viscount isㅡ
‘…Sian?’
Same age as me. Obvious blonde.
‘Why are you here!’
I opened my mouth wide in shock.
The black eyes staring down at the floor with bored eyes slowly ascended upward to meet me.
That calm gaze was thicker than the darkness of the solitary room.
I expected it to be a joke.
Surprisingly, Sian looks like a well-bred young master.
‘I’m Billishia!’
I smiled brightly because I was happy for nothing, but his gaze, which seemed to pass by, floated in the air again as if he hadn’t noticed my identity.
His expression was too relaxed to say he was trapped by the knights.
‘Oh my, he’s going to get crushed after doing that.’
…He said that he could starve for several days, and then he shouted out with a single mouthful.
Being familiar with his bluff, I became anxious about the relaxed expression on his face.
As I waited for his dark eyes to turn to me again while sending an SOS signal.
“Vivian is locked up in a cell.”
Flinchㅡ
Slowly, the return began to touch my skin at the same cold lines as in my last life.
“T-That’s not… That, I’ll explain it all. At first, Madam Vivian said she wanted to stay in our mansion. Therefore…”
Did he sense death in Cassis’ eyes?
The Viscount trembled abnormally with both his hands and moved his mouth.
“That’s why I… M-Madam Vivian… ”
“So, what.”
“T-That’s why… ”
However, the Viscount couldn’t talk.
“You mean, you usually have bad feelings for Vallois, but Vivian wanted to stay here, so you guided her to a prison.”
As he watched the Viscount’s actions to the end, he tilted his head loosely.
“!”
It was only natural for the shameless Viscount to say nothing.
“That’s right, this isn’t the time for excuses. Viscount.”
Nod, nod.
Without realizing it, I nodded at Cassis’ words.
Viscount Shrek’s Eileen family was a vassal family of Vallois.
He, who usually made money from the shadow business, followed Vallois after seeing Cassis’ journey, whom even the Imperial Palace couldn’t control.
However.
‘He was dissatisfied because Cassis didn’t commit any illegality as he thought.’
I’m not sure what this means, but it really was like that.
‘Because Viscount Shrek wanted to grow the slave trade with our family on his back.’
“But I also want to hear this explanation.”
It was then.
As I watched the Viscount’s frightened expression with satisfaction, at one point my body landed softly on the floor.
“Hm?”
The palm of my hand, which was on the floor, was quickly swung by Cassis’ giant hands.
“What is this outfit?”
“Outfit… ?”
Ah, I’m in a maid outfit!
What do you mean, Dad! The Viscount used the Dad’s daughter as a slave!
“Your Grace! I’ll explain why! She’s only five years old and she doesn’t even know what she’s been through.”
“She’s not just a five-year-old child, she’s the Princess of the Duke of Vallois.”
The Viscount’s answer, which he uttered out of anxiety, was a remark that touched the realm of Cassis.
“To exploit a child who can’t even dress properly because of being locked up in a prison, you’re so crazy you want to die.”
At the irrefutable perfect remark, the Viscount closed his mouth like a clam and looked at me with bewildered eyes.
“She looks like a wreck.”
Did I finally come into his sight?
Calluses and scratches embedded in the knuckles of short, fat fingers. The traces of labor that a five-year-old child had never imagined were recorded in the palm of my hands.
An unthinkable self-compassion lingered in my palm for a while.
“Baby. Vallois pays back exactly what it has received.”
Not knowing the intention of his words, I looked at him blankly, but Cassis put my palm down carefully and continued speaking quietly.
“Determine the punishment you will inflict on the Viscount.”
“Eh?”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
At that, the knight sitting next to me asked at the same time.
It must have been Cassis who wanted to kill the Viscount.
But for some reason he was handing all the initiative over to me in a pleasing tone.
“Vivian would want that too.”
He was thinking of my mother in the midst of this.
“If it were Vivian, she would have loved this kid a lot.”
Still unable to take his eyes off my palm, he looked like he had a lot to say, but he shut his mouth firmly.
“…Damn it.”
Then a swearing sound was heard like a small breath.
When I lifted my head, the knight commander who was guarding me was clenching his teeth in displeasure.
“I-I have sinned to death, sir.”
Then I looked up, and there was something hanging under the face of the Viscount who bowed his head politely.
It was a bright smile that even a shadow couldn’t hide.
***
“Kill me. However, if you wish to borrow Miss Billishia’s voice, I shall be punished.”
The voice telling the truth was as light as a feather.
His thoughts were, in fact, obvious.
If a five-year-old child scolded someone, what level would that be?
Starving at best, or they would have expected him to live a life of being used as they did.
Of course, it would be fatal to become a servant even as a viscount.
However, the price of his sin must be weaker than that of Cassis, who experienced war.
It’s better to starve for a few days than to die with a torn limb.
And that fact was known to everyone in this space.
Cassis also seemed to have noticed the subtle change of the Viscount, yet he didn’t continue to say anything.
It was clear that he had considered everything and handed over the initiative to me.
“Princess Billishia. Please kill me.”
The Viscount, who would fail to manage his facial expressions, eventually bowed down to me to hide his face.
Even the knight next to him was coughing at the blatant act.
Alright, whatever.
“Then, shall we start with the pinky finger?”
Was it from then?
The Viscount’s shoulders began to tremble slightly.
“W-What does that mean?”
“Mom said that Vallois was a family that used magic to build up virtue through wars.”
“Yes?”
“I’m a Vallois.”
When I looked down at the Viscount with a villain’s head tilted 40 degrees, the corner of the Viscount’s lips, looking up on that day, subtly lowered.
It was then that he seemed to have realized what kind of blood was flowing through the child’s body.
“W-What are the fingers? Princess?”
Would you have dared to expect such a specific punishment from a 5-year-old?
The entire inside of the warehouse hardened from the shock.
“My family is famous for swordsmanship!”
“…Yes?”
It seemed like someone was bragging about a toy, but the Viscount, who inferred my intentions from the words of swordsmanship and fingers, was turning white.
Of course he would.
How can a five-year-old kid punish you by cutting your fingers?
‘But I’ve been through this twice, so you have to accept your fate fairly.’
I raised a cold corner of my lips to the Viscount and glanced at Dad.
From the outside, Cassis looked fine.
But I know.
There was one screw missing in the one who stared at the Viscount tenaciously.
In my previous life, Cassis was also mad at the grief of what happened to Vivian.
As a result, I still remembered the consequences of sadness.
Because he started with the fingers.
So, from the outskirts to the center of the body.
The last time Cassis struck his sword, it was said that the part of his neck that could hold his breath precisely was cut off.
‘Wow, looking at this, Dad is a real villain.’
I trembled as I felt the cruelty of Cassis, who seemed to be fine on the outside.
“And I’m going to scold you, starting with the little toe. Becauseee as soon as your neck is cut off, you’ll go to heaven, slowly, one finger at a time, starting with your toes. That, and… Ah, I don’t have enough fingers, thouuugh.”
“It’s obvious that she’s in a direct line.”
“I don’t know until I do a blood test.”
“It’s more accurate than a blood test.”
“Then shut up. Vallois listens to everything.”
As I folded my fingers one by one and muttered, Cassis’ expression became more and more strange.
He seemed to be embarrassed to find my bloodline in a random corner.
“…Her eyes, they’re a little bit like mine.”
“Uh?”
It was then.
Without realizing it, the Viscount screamed and stood up.
“The Princess is still five years old! If this punishment is really executed, there will be an uproar in the Rolls Empire!”
Why.
You said earlier that you would receive the punishment I gave you.
When he completely deviated from the situation he had envisioned, the Viscount changed his attitude and barked like a dog.
“Now that the Princess has decided your punishment, let’s wrap this up. Send him to the Duke’s Castle.”
“I understand.”
Cassis’ attitude was the same as before.
As if even an interest was a luxury, Cassis completely ignored the Viscount and gave the order, and the Viscount, who had tasted his death, screamed.
He hugged Vivian carefully, as if he was protecting her from such Viscount.
“P-Princess Billishia! You’re going to kill someone, you’re only five years old, and you’re doing such a cruel thing!”
Dad, who lost interest, left the warehouse.
The Viscount, looking at the back, realized that this situation was really serious and began to pray with both hands.
He was begging in front of me with his runny nose and tears.
“Don’t look.”
At one point, my vision was blocked and I was startled.
“We’ll have to check if the Miss Baby is really a direct descendant of Vallois, but if you are, I have a reason to protect you.”
The knight commander who was holding me in that state smiled brightly.
It turns out he’s the knight commander, Emon. Long time no see.
He was one of those who protected Vallois from his previous life to the end.
“I really am in a direct line.”
As a loyal follower of Vallois, I was about to pass on it, but Emon, who was holding me, firmly pulled up the dry corners of his lips.
“The results will be proven by blood, Miss Baby.”
Yeah, he’s saying that he still can’t admit this.
Without a blood test, I kept my mouth shut like a clam.