Deceit (part 2)

"...Charlotte...!"

Mark gritted his teeth with the mirage of his sister appearing in front of him and got up to his knees, forcing himself to stand up.

|What am I doing...? I'm such a dumbass...! If anything, mister Medea is the only person capable of helping me...! And with how kind young lady Zorivia is, there still is a chance to save...!|

The young coachman's eyes widened in realization, and he started turning around while trembling, pressing his hand around the blade of the knife sticking from his side, putting pressure on the wound to slow down the bleeding.

His sister's life being in danger made him make the wrong decision, trying to escape instead of accepting the infinitely kind proposition of the most forgiving person in the world...!

There was still time!

The black-haired man carried dozens of magic pellets with him – he already gave him a healing one as if it was nothing!

Mark's wounds? They were nothing that the phenomenon called magic couldn't fix!

|I join them! I will explain my situation...! Young Miss is kind! She will understand and convince Mister Medea to help me save my sister and...!|

Mark's face lit up as the new hope filled his body!

*STAB*

"...ehgghh...?"

...but then, before the young coachman was even halfway to facing the black-haired man, the second knife entered his body – this one piercing through Mark\s throat and changing the words that were about to be said into bloody bubbles foaming up in the corners of his mouth.

"..." *SHING*

Medea silently leaned down, putting one hand on Mark's shoulders and pulling it back while pushing the hand holding the knife forward, which resulted in the blade of the weapon slashing his victim's throat open.

*SPLURT*

*THUMP*

A bucketful of blood gushed out, and the next second, the limp body of the dead coachman hit the ground as his vacant eyes were looking into the distance, unable to see anything anymore – be it a reality or a hallucination.

"..."

Medea pulled out the first knife from Mark's corpse and then cleaned both of his weapons, wiping them off against the corpse's clothes.

"...the whole talk about the last guy surviving and bringing reinforcements was only hypothetical. He would be able to escape IF NOT for the fact that his intestines were hanging out by that point, and he tripped on them while trying to get away from me."

Medea straightened his back and said towards the dead body.

He then turned away and was about to leave, but he stopped and glanced back one last time.

"Charlotte. It's quite a common name, but I will keep it in mind in case that person is one of the perpetrators."

Medea declared with a serious expression and started walking back in the direction of the carriage.

The black-haired man was almost there, but he ended up stopping, hidden behind one of the trees.

He pulled out the pellet casket and took out a single green marble.

"..."

Medea didn't crush it, though, instead just rolled it around between his thumb and the index finger for a few seconds.

...As if this was some kind of ritual or something...

When he was satisfied, Medea put the green marble and the pellet casket back in their place and approached the carriage.

"I'm back, my dummy~"

He reached out his hand and knocked on the door before opening them with a soft hum.

"Medea...! How it went?!"

Zorivia rushed towards Medea from inside the carriage so fast she almost hit her head against his face, barely able to stop.

"Everything went according to plan. Sorry to make you worried... do you think that Mark's shouts were convincing enough?"

Medea nodded and asked in a hushed voice.

"Yes! It really sounded as if he was still working together with those bad people! But... Medea, you did actually stab him... will he be okay...?"

Zorivia nodded her head vigorously before lowering her head and asking with a worried expression.

"True, it must have hurt, but Mark is a tough guy. Besides, look. When we were sure that no one could see us, I sued the healing pellet on him."

Medea pointed out, showing off his thumb and index finger that had the very recognizable green residue – a clear sign of a healing pellet being activated.

"Thank goodness...!"

Zorivia breathed out in relief, pressing her forehead against Medea's chest.

... their conversation was so far apart from the reality that if Mark's spirit could hear it from the afterlife, it would let out a tormented howl at the blatant injustice and falsehood...

"I need to apologize to you. When you told me that Mark decided to confide in you that he was being blackmailed by a group of criminals and forced to lead us into a trap, I was so scared...."

Zorivia lifted her head and looked timidly at the serious-faced Medea.

"I... I thought that you would want to punish him, even though he was ordered to deceive us against his will, but then you came up with a whole plan on how to save him and scare off the bandits away from us!"

The blond-haired girl wiped a tear that appeared in the corner of her eye because of the immense feeling of relief she had experienced.

"There is no need to apologize, dummy. Doubts like that are normal. I am a bad person after all."

"N-no...!"

Medea closed his eyes and slowly shook his head from side to side, but Zorivia was quick to deny his words.

The noble lady threw her hands around the servant's neck and hugged him with all of her might.

"You are not a bad person!"

"...~"

Zorivia declared, nuzzling her face against Medea's head as he hugged her back...

As for Medea, his face was serious, as always – only his eyes were a bit more gentle...

...he didn't feel even a grain of remorse about lying to Zorivia's face so blatantly, merely grateful for how easy it was to deceive her about the entire situation...

She was his lovely dummy, and there was no reason for her to become wiser. It was the best for her to stay as her clueless, naive self.

As the two stayed in place, the serenity of the silent forest was interrupted by a wolf's howl. A single howl that was soon joined by many others – a whole pack, no doubt lured in by the smell of a readily available meal already pre-hunted.

"!!!"

"..."

Zorivia flinched and looked up above Medea's shoulder while the black-haired man didn't even budge.

"Oh no...! Medea, I completely forgot about wild animals...! Do you think that Mark will be okay? What if those wolves are going after him?!"

The blond-haired girl gasped in worry, looking between the wall of trees and the black-haired man with a stoic expression.

"Even if they are, he will be fine. Mark is a tough man. I also gave him my spare paralysis and fire pellets – I can guarantee you that nothing painful will happen to him anymore."

Medea assured her, this time choosing to tell the truth... with the catch being that a corpse cannot feel anything anymore...

"Alright. If you say so, then I know it is the truth."

Zorivia's breathed out in relief and smiled, gazing at Medea with her beautiful sapphire eyes filled with gratefulness, admiration, and love.