Chapter 123

"Hmmmmm," I stretch as I wake up, the rest I’ve finally gained is wonderful. I never imagined that simply lying down and sleeping would be so good after working so hard.

I didn’t even have time to worry about other things I just lay down and slept as much as I could. The potion the Demon King sent helped, but the mental fatigue didn’t go away. I really needed that good night’s sleep.

And even after sleeping through the night, I still slept through the day, so now it must be the following night.

’We failed to deliver the shipment on the 29th... today is the 30th... I wonder how my father will resolve this...’ I hope my father can somehow fix this.

’I don’t want to become a slave...’ I hate the prospect of having to go back to work incessantly.

’Wait... something is wrong...’ A strange silence, at a simply abnormal level. Normally, my father would be yelling at someone or complaining, and there would be the sound of maids walking around.

But there’s nothing not even ambient noise. I can’t hear the insects outside the house, even if I try to focus on it. This is not normal at all, and I, who always wear a blindfold, have excellent hearing. It’s impossible not to hear those sounds.

This gives me a strange fear of going out. I feel like something is urging me to go out, while reason and logic tell me that if I go out now, something terrible will happen.

"Father... maids? Is anyone there?" I ask, hoping for a response.

’Nothing...’ This leaves me strangely frightened. I remove the blindfold to really see the environment.

’It seems normal...’ Nothing appears out of place, and there’s nothing wrong. I go to a dresser and open it, the creaking sound of opening is there, but I don’t hear anything from outside the house.

’Father may not have returned from the Demon King’s castle yet... b-but why is there no sound from the maids?’ Even though it’s night, it’s not normal for the maids to make no sound at all.

I go to the door and hold the doorknob. I’m afraid to open this door and have something happen. I have a bad feeling, but if I don’t go confirm it, it might be even worse.

’I hope someone is home... even if they scold me for being without the blindfold...’ I open the door slowly, peeking through the crack. I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something bad nearby.

’Has the house been cursed by a Wraith?’ Perhaps some ghost has made this house its home. Wraiths are malevolent spirits that, although being souls, have become corrupted and turned into a kind of undead monster.

They haunt houses and are quite strong.

I walk slowly to the kitchen, each of my steps easily audible due to the abnormal silence in this environment.

’I’ve never noticed how scary my empty house is...’ I’ve never seen this house without anyone in it before, so I didn’t know it would be so frightening.

The tension in the air is almost palpable.

When I reach the kitchen, I see that it also shows no signs of use. That means no one has come to the kitchen in a long time.

"MAIDS... MAIDS, I NEED HELP!" I shout to get attention, hoping someone will come.

I wait a little longer, but nothing happens. No one comes to "help" me, and the uncomfortable silence continues, feeding my imagination that something very bad is happening.

"Someone... p-please, anyone..." I say softly, fear settling into my body. I’ve never been completely alone like this before. The silence is now too disturbing.

I walk slowly through my house, my imagination playing tricks on me. The moonlight casting shadows that don’t exist, even though I can see well in the dark, it’s still frightening.

I don’t even look outside, seeing no reason to when my house seems to be the problem. I go to the maids’ quarters.

Toc Toc Toc

"Is anyone there?" I knock on the door and ask, but I don’t hear anything inside. Everything is completely silent.

"IF THERE’S ANYONE THERE, COME OUT NOW, IT’S AN ORDER!" I yell at the door. The fear only worsens, because there’s no one else in the house? My father would never leave me alone, as he’s afraid I’ll take off the blindfold and use my power.

Even after yelling without any response, I slowly turn the doorknob, my heart racing. The fear seems to settle deep in my bones as the door creaks open.

When I open the door:

"Kyaaa... ah... i-it’s just clothes... w-what a scare... it’s o-obvious that there’s no one... i-it’s not like I was scared or anything..." I explain to nothing as I close the door.

A pile of clothes... I can’t believe I got scared by a pile of clothes that were misplaced.

I go to another maid’s room and knock on the door. In this room, too, there is no response, so I open the door, but of course, there’s no one there.

’W-Why did everyone disappear?’ I have no idea why there’s no one around.

’I-I’ll go out...’ If there really is a Wraith, it’s dangerous for me to stay here. It could kill me, as I have no strength to defeat that kind of monster. I barely know any attack magic.

And my physical abilities leave much to be desired. Besides, I don’t have any weapons or holy water to use, nor do I have enough mana to face this kind of thing.

I quickly run to the exit. If there really is a Wraith, the longer I stay here, the more dangerous it will be. I soon reach the door.

’I’ll ask someone in the village for help.’ I quickly open the door and step away from my house, but as soon as I step out of the property, I trip over something and fall to the ground.

SPLASH

My eyes close reflexively as I’m soaked in something.

’Did it rain? Why is there so much water?’ I get up and open my eyes.

"..." I freeze completely at the sight that could not be seen due to the fence around my house.

I can’t even scream as fear deeply invades my being. The vision is so surreal that it cannot be described. It’s as if the entire village had gone through a storm and been flooded, but instead of water, it’s with blood.

The ground is not even visible as the blood level is slightly above the soles of my shoes.

I look at my dress and see it soaked in blood. The sight makes me shudder as I see that the thing I tripped over was a severed arm.

Instantly, I feel unwell as the scent of iron invades my nose. I hold back the urge to vomit. Normally, I would have fainted at such a gruesome scene, but for some reason, I didn’t.

My fear and paranoia spin rapidly. I start running, each step making a SPLASH sound in the blood below, staining my legs and dress with more blood. The vision is horrific.

I try to find someone, but all I see are headless bodies lying in the midst of the blood.

’H-How is this possible?’ I can’t understand how everyone is dead and there is such an absurd amount of blood in the village.

Tears of fear flow as I feel sick seeing these grotesque scenes dismembered and mutilated bodies.

For some reason, the only thing I don’t see are the heads. There’s everything except the heads.

"SOMEONE... PLEASE, IS THERE ANYONE ALIVE... SOMEONE HELP ME?... T-Tell me this is just a prank..." I scream desperately as I run. I try to reach the town square.

Maybe someone is there, because in emergency situations, the inhabitants go to the square, where there is a statue of our goddess.

The smell of blood is nauseating as I feel disgusted to be so dirty with blood. Soon I see the corner that leads directly to the square, as I recognize this house and know it’s 30 meters away from the fountain in the square.

’S-Someone... t-there has to be someone there.’ I cling to this small hope that someone is still alive, that there are people in the square ready to help me. All I can wish for is that this is a bad joke.

Soon I reach the corner and almost slip in the blood with the speed I turned the corner.

In an instant, the scene I see shatters my hope. I see the reason why I didn’t see anyone’s head I see many spears stuck in the ground, all with the heads of the villagers.

Amidst the sea of blood and bodies, I see a figure that terrifies my mind even more a girl in a black and white dress, her pale, lustrous skin seeming perfect in the moonlight, while her red eyes seem to shine in the darkness of the night.

The Demon King is sitting on the edge of the fountain in the square where the goddess statue is. She is without a single drop of blood. What most unsettles me is how she waves at me with a severed arm, while she has a gentle smile.

"Zephyra, I’m glad you’ve finally decided to join me," she says with a smile, but her eyes focused on me make my body tremble with fear as I freeze completely.

The disturbing scene becomes even worse with this being in front of me. The culprit of this horrific scene becomes obvious when I see her here.

She walks up to me slowly, throwing the arm she was holding away. In the middle of the blood, the way she is clean only makes her stand out even more.

"Zephyra, I wrote a poem for you, I hope you like it more than the flowers," she says as she finishes approaching and begins to circle around me.

[On a beautiful night, I saw you.

A captivating beauty that stole my heart.

Even though you have used tricks to do so, I still love you too much to care.

That’s why I tried to gift you with my sincere love.

But... in the midst of my pure love, your love was false.

It breaks my heart to know this.

Because in the midst of my love, when I confessed to you, my heart was cruelly broken.

But just as my love, I do not accept a no.

And to obtain you, my beloved, I would do anything, even if you did not love me, I still love you.

And one day I will make you love me, even if it is against your will.

That is why I did this, that is why I made my love experience the pain, so that it could understand that only my feelings can help you feel better.

Every day I thought of you, I thought of the day I would show you how much I love you, the day I would make you mine.

And even in the midst of your false love, I still love you so much that it is simply unbearable.

However... even for my beloved, I am not someone who lets themselves be stepped on.

That’s why, my love, I gave you this gift, in the midst of a crimson ocean I decided to make you mine.

I decided to show you, my beloved, that only you have value in the midst of this trash that surrounds you.

Show you, my beloved, that all you have is me and my love, and that your future became mine the day you made me love you.

And just as my love for you decided to accept the pain of being broken, I hope you can also get used to the weight that my love brings you.

And that in the midst of this crimson ocean that represents me, I hope the most beautiful of jewels decides to be mine forever.]

The Demon King says the last verse while hugging me from behind, her arms tightly gripping my waist possessively.