༺ DC (5) ༻
Squeak!
The wheelchair moved closer and closer forward.
The figure of Ferzen, who was sitting right in front of her, seeped into her purple eyes……
“Hic…… Heuk!”
Lizzy hiccuped violently. At the same time, she curled her body and wrapped her hands around herself like a child under a blanket.
It was a reflexive defense mechanism based on survival instinct.
“……”
Seeing her appearance, Ferzen only glanced at his watch calmly.
Even though It was obvious that she wasn’t in a state where she could take the test, Ferzen cruelly pretended that he didn’t see it.
“Lizzy.”
“Ah…… Haeu……! U-ugh!”
“Let’s start the test.”
Ferzen’s voice reached her ears, but Lizzy couldn’t understand a word he said.
She just trembled as if she was convulsing and shed endless tears without making any sound.
Wiggle!
At the sight of Lizzy acting so pitifully and weakly in front of him, Ferzen couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from curling up.
Beyond the open window, people passed by.
Outside the door, the students, who had finished their test, and the knights, were having a lively conversation.
The fact that her trauma engulfed her to the point where she was shaking like this meant that his presence had taken root inside her deeper than before.
‘I’ll have to admit it.’
For a while now, even though he didn’t show it, Ferzen had been quite annoyed with Lizzy.
Because, in all likelihood, she would have become one of the contributing factors that helped Ciel Midford pierce the villain’s heart.
And when she would overcome her own trial, her light would shine so brightly that it could blind those who live in the shadows.
But now, he didn’t feel any annoyance from Lizzy Poliana Claudia anymore.
Rather, he pitied her.
She was a chick that had broken the eggshell but failed to leave.
A worm that failed to metamorphose into a butterfly.
It was only after he thoroughly put her in her place with his own hands, making sure that she could never bare her teeth to him anymore……
Only then was Ferzen able to look at the pitiful girl in front of him as a human being.
“Do you need more time?”
“Gasp……!”
Lizzy still didn’t respond despite Ferzen’s words which were full of kindness. She only shed more tears.
Rather than getting used to this situation as time went by, Lizzy’s mind kept getting occupied by the image of Ferzen, who had violated her mercilessly.
Therefore, his voice and the subtle smell of the luxurious perfume he wore became a catalyst that reminded her of her nightmare.
The fact that she was still conscious and not fainting could be regarded as a miracle in itself.
“This is strange. I’m sure you want me to act like a professor.”
If that is not the case……
“Do you want to be treated as the daughter of the Claudia family…… Rather than a student?”
“Ah…… Ah……”
Whisper!
For the first time, Lizzy understood Ferzen’s words that had entered her ears.
She hurriedly opened the subspace through her own altar and took out the coffin that contained the corpse which had been provided to her by the academy.
Thump-!!
The coffin half-opened due to roughly falling to the floor.
Lizzy used her unstable magic on the corpse lying inside.
Her fear-tinged purple eyes, barely stared at Ferzen’s toes.
“……”
Seeing that, Ferzen leisurely radiated his own magic and interfered with her control over the corpse.
Lizzy’s synchronization rate which he saw through his digitization ability was overwhelming compared to the 13 other students who took the test earlier.
However, it still took him a mere second to seize control from her.
This pathetic and futile scene was due to how unstable her connection was with the corpse.
But this didn’t anger Lizzy. She didn’t even consider protesting.
She was just dying to get out of this hellish room as soon as possible.
However……
“It may not be fair to tell you in advance, but congratulations. You got the best score, Lizzy.”
At Ferzen’s unexpected words, Lizzy bit his lip.
“D-don’t…… ”
“……”
“Pity……”
Even if she didn’t say it out loud, she knew better than anyone just how miserable and pitiful she was.
Therefore, what she wanted from Ferzen was contempt and ridicule, not sympathy.
There was no way a person who could feel pity for others would do such a cruel thing in the first place.
‘Ha…… Ahaha……’
There was nothing more painful and disgraceful than to mock someone with such hypocrisy.
“Do it……”
“……”
“As you like……”
In the end, Lizzy, who had accepted her fate, turned her gaze which had barely stayed on his toes.
And Ferzen, who laughed inwardly at those words, rose from the chair.
Flinch!
“Do you think this is a treatment stemming from pity?”
“He…… Heuk! Keheuk!”
Ferzen, who moved closer to her, touched the armrest of Lizzy’s wheelchair.
It was a distance that pulled all of Lizzy’s breath out of her.
“Don’t be mistaken. This test was designed against you from the start.”
The trauma he had inflicted, how strong a leash it had become.
Ferzen arranged this event to find out the extent of it.
Of course, there was also the reason that the only other way to conduct the test after Ruefeld Forest was blown away was for Ferzen to use his digitization skill to grade the student based on the synchronization rate shown only to him, and not the actual result.
Rather than being unreasonable, it could be seen as a well-balanced method.
“Is this a satisfactory explanation?”
“Heu……! Keheuk!”
Even though there was nowhere to run anymore.
Creak!
As if trying to erase his presence, Lizzy crouched down, showing only her back to him.
“You are not even following the most basic of etiquette.”
Ferzen spoke in low volume as he saw her antics before gently grabbing Lizzy’s wrists.
“Ah…… Aaaah……!”
Flinch!
As if convulsing, the corner of Lizzy’s mouth shook violently.
That was just how much the fact that Ferzen touched her skin scared and terrorized her.
Even when she was pushed to her limits, she still found the strength to keep going.
Lizzy even saved energy by not uttering a single word of protest and just tried putting up a fight.
Creak.
Creak.
As the wheelchair shook, her delicate and pure white wrists were dyed red.
“Heub! Ah…… ! Ah……”
But her arms slowly parted in his grasp, so easily, so effortlessly, making her resistance futile.
In the end, when her body, which she had been holding tightly in her arms, was exposed to Ferzen……
Tight!
Lizzy closed her eyes.
However, the more she blocked her vision, the more sensitive her hearing became.
“Lizzy.”
Her ears heard Ferzen’s voice more clearly than ever.
“Conversation is something that should be done while looking at the other person’s face.”
If she couldn’t even adhere to such basic courtesy,
“I…… I guess I can’t help but see you as a bad child.”
“Ha…… Ugh…… Heuk……!”
Ferzen Von Schweig Louerg.
His idea of right and wrong was nothing more than a variable and subjective yardstick to harass a certain girl.
It was a worthless standard that shouldn’t even be followed.
However, Lizzy, who had already lost the confidence to judge it, simply did not want to be labeled as a bad child by Ferzen……
So, she forcibly opened her trembling eyes and looked at his face with her distinct purple eyes.
“Ah…… Heub!”
Her breath was caught in her throat.
Her focus, which had come back to her, faded again.
Then, the scene from the nightmare overlapped with reality.
It seemed to her that Ferzen, who was holding her hands, would pull his hideous shaft out and terribly destroy her womanhood.
“Ha…… Ha……! Ha…… Haaak!”
Lizzy’s breath became more and more irregular.
“……”
Since Ferzen had a lot of miscellaneous knowledge, he recognized that what was happening to Lizzy was an early symptom of hyperventilation.
In her case, it must be due to a mental problem rather than a physical one.
So, Ferzen released his grip that was on her wrist, returned to the chair behind him, and gently sat down.
Then Lizzy’s breathing started to relax once again.
“Eu…… Heu…… Ha…… Haa…… Haa………”
Her overly tense body relaxed just like a dry piece of land experiencing the first rain after a long drought.
As he watched Lizzy’s shrinking form, Ferzen took a sip of the cooled black tea that had been poured into the teacup next to him and spoke.
“Lizzy. Your father, who encouraged you to ask me to dance back then……”
“……”
“Do you know what his intention was?”
Lizzy’s eyes, which were shaking while staring at the floor, momentarily focused as she tried to capture the image of Ferzen in her eyes.
“Did he ask you to be my first friend since I never showed up in social circles?”
Clink.
Ferzen, who lowered the teacup back down, smiled.
“Of course not.”
“……”
“Perhaps your father sent you to me because he was blinded by his lust for power.”
“……”
“Did he fail to see that I had turned down countless young ladies’ invitations?”
“……”
“You know…… Your eyes that looked up at me that day…… They were like the eyes of a mother that begged for food while holding a child who was about to starve to death.”
So, on that night of the banquet.
How could your father not have left you a legacy or memory?
With a slight sneer on his lips, Ferzen spoke like a demon whispering to its victim.
Since her father was already deceased, the only way to determine the legacy is through their shared memories of the past.
Because of that, he could plant a seed of doubt in the back of her mind.
Since there was no way for him to intervene in her development at the end of her path……
But it wasn’t the case for her beginning. So, Ferzen implemented a method like he always did as the villain.
She already had her conviction broken, fearing that her family would die, she might want to give up sailing against the storm.
So……
‘Listen to these whispers whenever you wish, Lizzy.’
There was no such thing as an unstoppable train in life.
It just refused to stop.
Of course, Ferzen didn’t expect her to be able to put brakes on her brothers.
But when the most important motive is taken away, all that is left is an obstinacy fueled by evil.
That leftover motive is something that is easy to stop.
“Then…… Your test is over.”
Her pitiful mind was wretched in a deep storm.
In the meantime, when Lizzy heard Ferzen say that she was free to leave, she immediately controlled her corpse through her unstable connection to push the wheelchair.
Creak-!!
However, just as she was about to leave the room,
“If you leave as is you will only cause a commotion.”
“Ah……”
“Now. Stop sniffling and lower your head even more.”
Even though sunlight was unable to come into the room because it was raining, she could still see the shadow of Ferzen standing behind her, growing bigger and bigger, like the shadow of a beast about to attack her.
As soon as his large hands pressed onto her head, Lizzy could only bow her head down while obediently swallowing her sniffles.
“Once you leave this room, don’t say anything, and don’t meet anyone. Just go to the bathroom and lightly wash your face.”
“He, heuk!”
“In the first place…… You need to go there, right?”
Like playing the piano, his hand slid gently down her side and pressed her stomach, making Lizzy tremble and pull her legs together.
She didn’t feel the need to urinate, but when she heard his voice and feel his touch, Lizzy felt a sudden, so she curled her slender hands into fists.
“You did well in the final exam, Lizzy.”
Click.
Ferzen stepped forward and kindly turned the doorknob to open the door.
Creaaaak!
An unpleasant noise echoed from the hinges of the wooden door.
But for now, the noise sounded very sweet to Lizzy.
Creak.
The wheelchair moved, and Lizzy was finally able to leave the hellish room.
Of course……
She would not show her swollen face, marked with traces of tears, to anyone.
On top of that, she wouldn’t let anyone hear her hoarse voice from all the crying she had done.
“……”
After seeing the departing Lizzy, who followed the advice he had given, Ferzen closed his eyes for a moment from the surging fatigue and spoke to the waiting knight.
“Let’s have breakfast with the students before leaving.”
“I understand.”
“Hmm……”
Certainly, he had drunk some tea a while ago.
But as thirst assaulted him again, Ferzen turned around and grabbed the teacup to quench his thirst.
In the meantime, the sound of the rain, which was still pouring, could slightly be heard through the closed window.
‘From a moral point of view…… Just how cruel were the things that I had said and done?”
Gently touching the handle of the teacup, Ferzen smiled lightly.
‘It’s a meaningless worry.’
Because it’s difficult to strengthen justice.
After all, humans tend to reinforce what is already strong and make that their justice.
That’s right.
‘Just like that.’
Thud.
After putting down his teacup, Ferzen left the room.
It was time to return.
* * * * *
After spending around half a day returning to the capital, Ferzen went straight to see the academy chairwoman, Princess Elizabeth.
He thought that even if he couldn’t take it, the meeting would only take around 5 to 6 hours.
However, since he was the target of the enemy’s assassination, the investigation was postponed by a day to allow him time to recuperate.
In his heart, he wanted to express his willingness to cooperate immediately, but considering the amount of fatigue he had accumulated, Ferzen accepted the delay without much argument.
Clack!
Upon leaving Princess Elizabeth’s office, Ferzen could see so many knights and wizards from the Wizard Corps standing in a row.
He sighed and opened his mouth.
“If I say I don’t need any of you, it will be difficult for those who have received the order, won’t it?”
“Yes. That’s right……”
Since he was planning to go to Louerg immediately after the investigation was finished anyway, Ferzen accepted the presence of the escorts, thinking that he would endure it until then.
“Let’s go.”
SWith the vacation underway, the academy exuded an atmosphere that was usually absent – calm and serene.
Ferzen descended to the first floor of the main building with the escorts in tow.
“……”
Then, as he walked toward the parking lot entrance where the carriage was parked,
He saw Lizzy and Roer engaged in a conversation.
What coil they be talking about?
Although Ferzen was curious and interested in their discussion, he also yearned to go home and rest as soon as possible.
Ferzen prioritized his needs and took a leisurely step.
Stomp.
The footsteps of numerous knights and wizards following him broke the silence.
Lizzy and Roer, engrossed in their conversation, turned their heads at that moment.
Both looked at Ferzen as he walked toward them.
However, Lizzy soon lowered her purple eyes to the floor……
As for Roer, he stared directly right at him.
Step.
Perhaps that’s why Ferzen, about to pass by, stopped for a moment and calmly said a few words to Roer, who stood rigid like a plaster statue.
“You are a very lucky man.”
“……”
“Don’t you think so? Sir Roer.”
If he was affiliated with the knight order, he would have heard the rough outline of what had happened to them.
It was not difficult to discern the true meaning behind Ferzen’s words.
“Take care.”
Flap.
After giving him a fake smile and patting him on the back a few times, Ferzen opened his umbrella.
Then, he took the step that had been halted and left the building, entering the still-raining outdoors.
“This is not the way to the parking lot…… Is there anyone you would like to meet?”
“I have one child to take with me.”
“Then I will tell the coachman to move the carriage towards the building in advance.”
“There’s no need to do that. I’ve decided to give up on riding the carriage. Since so many of you suddenly came without a warning, I have no choice but to walk.”
“We are very sorry.”
“If your superiors had their way, you would be in an even sorrier state.”
“Haha……”
Seeing the knight’s innocent smile, Ferzen turned his head.
Laura de Charles Rosenberg.
Originally, Ferzen had expected to attend to his duty for a while, so he instructed her to wait in the dormitory.
Since circumstances had changed, he had no choice but to visit her himself.
As he passed by the flower beds on the way to Dormitory A, the unique scent of rain-washed earth assaulted his nose……
Rustle.
Then, when he heard a rustling sound from a nearby bush, Ferzen turned his head.
‘That……’
A snake that had swallowed a squirrel released in the Academy’s garden was slithering away into the woods.
“I……”
Poisonous or not, the snake could pose a threat to the students, prompting a knight to swiftly approach it.
Woosh!
However, at that moment, a falcon swooped down amidst the light raindrops, snatched the snake with its sharp claws, and soared back into the air in an instant.
“……”
“Tsk……”
The knight made a sound of frustration, but Ferzen merely tilted his umbrella slightly and kept his gaze fixed on the hawk until it disappeared.
The law of the jungle.
It would never change, no matter how many years pass.
It was the most beautiful natural order.
TL note: Izzah big boi chapter!
Btw we should be Lizzy-free for a while after this chapter…..For at least 20 or so chapters idk, i have to read forward some more.
Also It’s time for me be shameless once more, so here we go!
