Chapter 89
Bibi, Renoa’s personal maid, appeared. It was the first time since Leon had exposed her identity.
Bibi’s condition was utterly miserable.
Instead of her usual maid uniform, she was wrapped in rags, every inch of her body battered as if she’d been tortured.
She looked like someone out of a slave market.
"Why are you here?"
"I ended up like this after trying to be both a traitor and loyal at the same time."
It was easy enough to tell who she had been loyal to, and whom she had betrayed, without her needing to explain.
Leon had already guessed as much.
The "friend" Aither had mentioned to Renoa was clearly referring to Bibi.
"What were you doing until now?"
"As you can see, I was trapped here and had a rough time. Then, all of a sudden, I was able to move."
"We just caught the witch."
"That seemed to be the case."
The witch’s chains binding Bibi vanished.
Thanks to that, Bibi had escaped from the prison.
"My lady..."
Bibi’s gaze slid over the motionless Renoa and came to rest on the doll.
"It seems she is inside there."
Bibi grasped the situation in an instant.
Cersia, hiding inside the doll, must have switched bodies with Renoa.
Leon had captured Cersia, but still hadn’t found a way to restore Renoa, trapped in the doll, to her original body.
"If it were me, I could transfer my lady’s mind back to her original body. I am, after all, the witch’s assistant."
"..."
"Correction. I used to be the assistant."
Leon couldn’t bring himself to agree right away.
It was true that Bibi had been Renoa’s subordinate, and true that she had her circumstances.
But that didn’t mean he could trust her blindly.
One wrong move could lead to irreversible consequences.
Sensing Leon’s thoughts from his expression, Bibi said calmly,
"If the mind remains apart from the body for too long, it loses its sense of self. If you want to make the doll your master, I won’t stop you, but..."
Bibi paused briefly before speaking again.
"If you really care about my lady, I hope you won’t ruin things with a split-second choice."
Bibi always wore a poker face. It was hard to read what she was thinking behind it.
Even now, that hadn’t changed.
But Leon didn’t have the luxury of weighing his options leisurely.
As Bibi said, they couldn’t leave Renoa in this state forever.
Even if they found Cassius, it was uncertain whether he would help, and uncertain whether he had the ability to return Renoa to normal.
If, in the meantime, Renoa’s consciousness truly collapsed, it would be a failure beyond recovery.
"Hah..."
Leon let out a long breath.
"Fine."
He made his decision.
"Please take care of my lady."
"I’ll fulfill my duty."
Leon laid Renoa down on the floor. Bibi came over and sat beside her.
She placed one hand lightly on Renoa’s forehead and the other on the top of the doll’s head.
Soon, gray mana began flowing from her fingertips.
Renoa, Bibi, and the doll were bound together by a single gray thread.
-Fwoosh.
The light grew brighter.
It flashed three times in quick succession.
Then the thread of mana melted away like smoke and dispersed.
Bibi let out a ragged breath. Her pale face was drenched in cold sweat.
"Huh...!"
At that moment, Renoa’s body, rigid as if dead, jolted violently.
As if she had just been pulled from drowning at the brink of death, Renoa gaped, her jaw nearly dislocating, and tried to breathe.
"Hnngh! Ugh! Huuuh..."
But she couldn’t breathe properly.
Her body had been stolen from her, and she’d been cast into a pitch-black void.
The overwhelming fear that she might have to remain trapped in a doll for the rest of her life clamped harshly around her throat.
A bout of hyperventilation. Renoa gasped as if she were about to lose her breath.
Just as Renoa, seized by extreme panic, flailed both hands in the air.
-Whoosh.
Leon yanked Renoa hard into his arms.
"My lady. Please breathe slowly."
"Haa, ah, hgh..."
"It’s all right. It’s over now."
Leon gently rubbed Renoa’s back as she struggled.
Slowly, in a steady rhythm. As if calming a startled child in a parent’s arms.
"I’m right here."
"..."
"I’m right beside you, my lady."
A voice like an unshakable vow flowed into Renoa’s ear.
Then the frantic pounding of her heart gradually began to find its proper rhythm.
Her breathing steadied. The strength left her convulsing body, and she melted into Leon’s arms.
Leon patted Renoa’s back.
"Are you all right?"
"..."
"My lady. Are you all right?"
"..."
"I can’t breathe."
Hearing that, Leon was about to let go of Renoa.
-Clutch.
Rather, Renoa had no intention of letting go. She wrapped her arms around Leon’s waist.
"My lady?"
"I’m... still having a hard time. Just a little longer, like this..."
"Mm..."
Leon made a troubled face.
She still didn’t seem fully calmed down. Like when you wake up from sleep and want to act spoiled.
Though it was embarrassing, given the situation he could allow her to stay in his arms.
However.
"Would it still be all right if someone else saw us?"
"What?"
At that, Renoa jumped and pulled away from Leon.
She quickly turned her head and locked eyes with Bibi. Renoa’s eyes widened.
"Bibi?"
"It has been a while, my lady."
"Why are you here...? And why do you look like that?"
"I ended up like this by chance. More importantly, it seems there’s something more important than my condition."
Bibi’s gaze shifted back and forth between Leon and Renoa.
"To think the two of you got this close in my absence. It’s a shame I couldn’t see it myself. What was the trigger?"
"I covered for your absence, that’s why. I had to handle all the odd jobs because of you."
Leon, who had been stuck doing the chores thanks to Bibi, voiced his blatant dissatisfaction.
But that answer didn’t quite match what Bibi had been expecting.
Her gaze naturally shifted to Renoa.
"How surprising. I never would have guessed my lady was the one doing the chasing."
"Shut up. Don’t say useless things."
Renoa cut off the topic in one stroke, her voice razor-sharp.
"Bibi. From betraying me and poisoning me to the reason I’m in this state now, everything. You’re going to spit out every last detail, without missing a single thing."
"Understood."
Renoa stood up. With the tension gone, she swayed badly for a moment.
"Are you all right?"
"..."
"I’ll support you."
Leon and Bibi both stepped forward to support Renoa.
Renoa, caught between them, hesitated for a moment before casually taking Leon’s arm.
"Whoa."
Bibi took the shock as if she’d been struck on the head by a hammer.
It was as if a father who had cherished and raised his daughter all his life had her stolen by some man with no pedigree.
"This is... netorare?"
"What?"
"Please ignore it, my lady."
Leon supported Renoa as he walked.
"Ah, right."
Leon moved his hand a few times.
He reduced the doll to powder.
They had dealt with the witch and cleared the core of the barrier.
Their business in the underground was over.
"Then let’s head up."
***
They came back above ground.
Outside, the sun was already sinking low. The red glow of sunset stretched long across the sky.
The mansion was as quiet as a mouse.
Bodies lay scattered haphazardly. The survivors of the frenzy all wore dazed expressions.
Only the occasional sound of sobbing could be heard.
"What a mess."
"..."
"There were sacrifices, but defeating the witch was clearly an impressive achievement. You can hold your head high, my lady."
Bibi tried to flatter Renoa to lift her spirits, but those were words spoken without knowing the full circumstances.
Well, if Renoa had given up her greed, those sacrifices wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
"You succeeded."
Cassius greeted them as they returned from subduing the witch.
Leon and Renoa hadn’t spoken much with Cassius, but they could both guess he had his own secrets and circumstances.
But everyone was too physically and mentally exhausted to dig into them one by one.
They needed time to recover, and there was far too much to clean up.
"I know you’re all tired, but I need you to keep working a little longer. First, gather the survivors and treat the wounded. Then, recover the bodies..."
Cassius, who had been giving calm orders without panicking despite the situation, suddenly trailed off.
"We’ve got an uninvited guest."
Cassius’s gaze moved over people’s shoulders.
Everyone turned to follow his line of sight. An order of knights was approaching from the corridor.
Silver-white armor glinting coldly in the fading evening light. The silver sun emblem engraved on their banners.
"The Imperial Knights? Why are they here?"
It was the Imperial Knight Order, the Empire’s symbol of military might. At their head stood Prince Aither.
Jain took a guarded stance.
"There’s no need to be so wary. We were the ones who called them."
"You did?"
Leon nodded.
"We requested their cooperation in subduing the witch. Under normal circumstances, they should have come with us, but since the situation changed, it seems they’ve only arrived now."
"...What a pointless thing to do."
Cassius frowned.
In his mind, he recalled the imperial envoy who had come not long ago.
They had claimed to bring a gift for Renoa, but knights had been hidden among the envoy party.
Waiting for the moment to move in.
Leon stepped forward to greet Aither.
"Welcome, Your Highness."
"You’re safe, Leon. When the barrier suddenly went up, I was so flustered. I’m glad the young lady is safe too."
Renoa, having no strength left to move her mouth, answered with a slight bow.
Aither’s gaze, which had swept over the people one by one, came to rest on Cassius.
"It’s been a while, Brother Cassius. Have you been well?"
"What brings Your Highness to this humble place without so much as a message?"
"You don’t have to be so formal with me, Brother. And please relax your expression a bit. You look ready to kill someone."
Aither lightly brushed off Cassius’s sharp stare with a joke.
But Cassius had no intention of indulging that little farce.
"As you can see, our ducal house has successfully subjugated the witch. There’s no more work for the Imperial family, so take your knights and withdraw."
"I wasn’t planning to stay long anyway, so don’t rush me. There’s just one thing to take care of."
As he said that, Aither fixed his gaze on Renoa.
"Renoa Edelheid. I’m taking you into custody as a witch."