Chapter 23 ─ Sasha & Sophia

A piece of news came in the evening to the Kingdom.

Joachim stood up while sweating like he was in a sauna.

"How... did you say?"

"... The Norden Kingdom has fallen, they were conquered and their king is dead. That was what I said..."

Joachim had been part of this plot to profit, the problem is now that Norden fell under the hands of the Kingdom. His life was at risk if anyone found out about the letters he sent to Walsh.

He asked the servant.

"Who conquered it?"

"You won't believe this, but it was the captain of the 9th Squad of the Royal Knights. Bret Elliott."

"... Hey, that guy? Really!"

"I can't believe it either, but it's like this."

Joachim was terrified.

"My lord, what shall we do about the plan now?"

He looked at the servant in annoyance.

"It is obvious that we will go through with the plan."

"We will no longer go and stir up trouble in various parts of the capital to get Hogan sent. We will go after the king's children and use them as bargaining chips!"

"Tell everyone to get ready and go in small groups! The best chance of catching them is at night when they're in the academy sleeping!"

"Yes."

The servant left the room, Joachim took out a bottle of very old wine and drank it as if it were water.

Someone knocked at the door, Joachim annoyed answered.

"What do you want?"

Not caring who was there, the door opened and Sophia was there.

She said to him in a concerned tone.

"Husband... the servant told me everything."

He looked at his wife as if she wanted to tell him something.

"I was thinking, it's still not too late to try to save ourselves. We can say they were threatening us or even if they don't believe us, we can choose to run away."

"I know a good place where we can start another life outside the capital─"

*Breaking*

Sophia couldn't finish what she was saying as her husband threw the bottle at her, fortunately it landed next to the door and the shards of glass didn't touch her.

She closed her eyes from the loud bang and when she opened them, she saw her husband's demonic face.

"Are you stupid, are you?"

"Idiot woman, if I go down you will go down too. The best thing you can do is just shut your damn mouth and let me do things. For once in your life, stop screwing someone's life up and get the hell out of here!"

It was clear that her husband didn't want her around, she just nodded and closed the door.

Joachim muttered to himself.

"I'm not going down, I still have my ace up my sleeve. I will use everything in my power to win."

◇◇◇

Sophia was walking down the hallway of the mansion, she could see the servants running in panic around the place.

The reason was that she was running away.

Their loyalty to the lord was the same as a merchant's loyalty to lend money.

They knew it was all over, they would escape before their heads rolled, even if they were currently on their way to attack the academy.

Sophia went into her room to expect either the worst or a miracle.

What happened could be considered neither.

"Hey, you sure took your time."

"...!"

She was upset to hear a voice coming from the room, but there was no one in the place.

On an armchair where a cup of tea was being poured, a person materialized as if he could distort the light.

It was Rei who was sitting as if he was the owner.

Sophia could not believe how this was possible, but said.

"Duke Redblade isn't it?"

"What are you doing here might I ask?"

Rei sipped some of his tea before answering.

"Obviously for one thing only. To finish off your husband."

Sophia swallowed saliva at those words.

"Have a seat, we need to talk."

She heeded Rei and sat down.

◇

We flew directly to the capital after leaving the royal palace of Norden.

We entered Catley's mansion using stealth and Rei fell asleep in his office while waiting for the news.

Of course, he was upset with Bret for saying that he was the one who conquered Norden.

Rei woke up when Joachim got upset, he was going to materialize to surprise him, but when he heard him yelling at his wife he decided to skip that and wait for her in the room.

A woman like her would normally come to her bedroom or a private room, good thing we made sure until the last second to wait for her to come in.

Or else we would look ridiculous.

Sophia sat up, she had a confused expression on her face that she didn't know what to say.

Obviously this was not going to end well for her.

Right now we are in Joachim's check, soon the end will come.

The problem is that that end involves Sophia as well, in the game she gets her endgame for escaping when this situation occurs.

Of course, the Norden Kingdom had not fallen, and Sophia was a greedy woman like him. Rei finally spoke up to break this uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Tell me the reason why you won't leave that man. He treats you badly, abuses you, and worse, you let him treat you like dirt."

"Your husband is one step away from the gallows and you will accompany him too, or you may both die by my hands, speak now."

"May I pour myself some tea before I speak?"

"Sure."

Sophia poured herself some tea, made herself comfortable and began to explain her story.

"When I was a child, my family engaged me to him, I belonged to a prominent house with money. The reason was because the Catley family at the time was going through a severe economic crisis."

"With this engagement my family could have influence in the palace, they did, after all, I am a Harrisburg."

Rei was shocked to hear something like that, so was I, this was not in the game.

"Darryn was my younger brother, though it may not seem like it, ah, I have no hatred for you or desire for revenge for taking him or my nephew down, you reap what you sow is what I think."

After finishing off the prime minister, the remnants of the Harrisburg family were exiled or executed.

That Sophia was still alive was incredible, but more incredible was the reason why she is not a greedy woman like her husband.

Probably because of her brother or her relatives, she grew up not to be just like them.

For example, in the game the Redblade's were an opportunistic family that abused taxes, Rei's cousin, Max wanted to change that mentality as he knew that one day it would be the end for them.

In the end only Rei is the only one who is the combination between being a monster and not being a corrupt scumbag... I hope.

"As a child I always heard adults say the same things every time they saw me."

"Do something useful for the house."

"We should take advantage of the fact that it's pretty so we can make a profit with some nobleman."

"A large sum of money can bring us by marrying a rich man, no matter if he divorces."

"There were other things, but they were similar. One day I met my husband at a party, we were introduced, of course, I was nervous."

"He spoke to me with manners and a smile that made me see that not all nobles talked like snakes. That's what made me fall in love with him."

"Upon graduation we married, consummated our love and were blessed with the news of a baby in my womb. I was so happy."

This wasn't in the game, I certainly don't want to hear what follows.

"One day there was a festival in a nearby territory, I wanted to see it no matter what, my husband could not go as he was working."

"I went with my escorts, there was no problem going there... when we came back that's when that happened."

"Torrential rains without warning."

"I remember hearing that, my father said that a long time ago the rains ruined crops and washed out roads... then you..."

"No. The rains were not the problem, there were no overflows either, the problem was an unexpected one."

"... They tried to kill me."

"...!"

"My escorts fought the bandits, one of them managed to tear off a piece of their cloth... the material used was unique, there was only someone in the whole country who has that kind of cloth on his clothes."

Sophia mentioned another problem that was from the game.

"The Orthodox Church."

I really didn't want to hear it, aaaah!

"I don't know if you know this, but the Orthodox Church is named after the pontiff in charge several generations ago, the Neville family has been in charge of that position. Since the royal family is liberal, they don't like other cultures or attempts to further beliefs that aren't about the god of light."

"I kind of understand that, but what does they have to do with you?"

Rei asked somewhat validly, it doesn't make sense what Sophia says with what the game said.

"To make it short, if the church assassinates the four families, there would be no choice left for the royal family to not only accept them for being a family with seniority as a high ranking noble, it would also be proven that going against the church is taboo."

"For that reason one of their men plunged a knife into my belly. I was poisoned, I was immediately sent to a clinic."

"There the doctors did what they could, but they said that not only did I lose my baby, my uterus was also injured as that knife was poisoned with a special kind of poison."

"That left me devastated, when my husband came to see me, I was happy, I wanted him to support me. But he instead looked at me with horror, as if I was the ugliest thing in the world."

"My love life became nothing but a lie. Sometime after I recovered my brother came to me, he said 'You are no longer fit to give an heir, Catley is a family that does not seek to have more than 2 children so that way there will be no inheritance problems in case one dies, I cannot have lovers because it would be an illegitimate child after learning of your situation, I has everything to lose'."

"From that day on my husband despised me, I did everything in my power to make him love me again... or at least to make him do it seriously if he never loved me. In the end, all my strength was in vain..."

Tears streamed down her rosy cheeks at the thought of her situation.

"Even if I survive what my husband plans, I have no family to go to for shelter. My husband thinks he can win after losing Norden's support, I honestly don't have faith that it will happen."

"And it won't!"

Rei proclaimed as she poured herself a fresh cup of tea.

"Eli, the princess of the Kingdom is my fiancée, did you know?"

Sophia nodded silently.

"Good. I can't let anything happen to my future wife or brother-in-law or parents-in-law. Therefore, I have two options. The first is to go to the palace to bring in the Kingdom forces and catch them all, the second is..."

Rei finished his cup of tea and gave Sophia a cold look.

"Kill them all here, I have the evidence, I can make a massacre and then present this. Just as you say, there is no way to escape."

"Then how will you convince me not to? Or, how will you stop me from at least not killing you?"

Rei's answer was simple "I want you, choose to save yourself or you will die." If Sophia wanted to save herself, she had to agree.

The problem was, she was smiling.

"I appreciate your offer to try to save me, but I refuse. If I go under, I'll go down with my husband. At the very least, I want to live the lie of my marriage in our final moments."

"With that said, I withdraw, I'll go have one last bath as a final dinner."

Sophia left, this did not go as Rei planned it.

He was very upset, he broke the table with his leg.

"Shit. This wasn't even planned."

"What do we do now Rei?"

I was asking since, by getting Sophia we were guaranteeing her safety, but now that she chose to die, there is no choice but to go on with the next plan.

Rei became annoyed and opened the window.

"We'll go to them of course. If it turns out just as bad... it means they're all stupid."

◇◇◇

"What did you say!"

At the same time at the Harvey mansion, Dominic was shocked by what he heard.

"I can't believe it... Norden was conquered."

Since Dominic had made an alliance with Joachim, he was aware of this, but did not report it.

A servant arrived with a new report.

"Reporting something serious my lord!"

"... What is it now?"

The servant took a moment's breath to reveal...

"Catley bank is on fire!"

"... Huh?"

◇◇◇

"Damn swindlers!"

"Come out and show your faces!"

"This shit is fake, you fucking impostors!"

Several citizens caused insurrections on some sides of the capital.

The reason was the discomfort of the money distributed by the Catley bank.

The counterfeit bills they were distributing because of the real ones that Rei had stolen, they had to be forced to distribute the fake ones for now.

They wanted to distribute new real bills while the Kingdom was at war with Norden, but something strange happened.

The banknotes fell apart, as if they were dust.

This phenomenon was strange.

It made people despair and panic.

The Catley bank was destroyed, an angry crowd was heading for the mansion.

The capital was in a frenzy of pent-up anger over high prices.

This was the end of the Catley family and the Harvey's no doubt.

◇◇◇

"I see... I suppose they'll be burning down the Harvey bank before long and coming here to complain."

"What is the palace doing?"

"... It hasn't done anything. Commandant Hogan is waiting at the front gates in case anyone wants to do harm to His Majesty the king."

"I suppose he expects an explanation from me."

"You can bet he's not the only one who wants one."

Rei entered through the window of his chambers, Dominic and the servant were astonished.

"Y-You are, Redblade?"

"That's right."

"What are you doing here? No, more importantly, what do you mean, isn't the king the only one I owe an explanation to?"

"To be exact, it's not you old man, it's someone else."

"Let's go see it."

Dominic clenched his fist and lowered his head.

"... How much do you know?"

"A little, but there's something that doesn't add up, and that's why I want her to explain it. Let's go see your daughter."

"... Yes."

Dominic took Rei to the room of his daughter, Sasha, the cause of it all.

◇◇◇

The mansion's servants were upset, Rei's presence and Dominic's distressed face did not indicate anything good.

Knocking on the door, there was no answer.

Dominic opened it anyway and they both entered.

A beautiful room of high nobility was visible.

Several bookshelves filled with books.

A tea table, a desk near the window and a huge picture of her and a woman.

Sasha saw them and was also surprised.

"What's he doing here?"

Her father with his head bowed said.

"My daughter, sorry, I can't anymore."

His daughter was annoyed.

"Why, everything was already complete!"

"Sasha... I can't go on with this lie."

"... Father, understand, with this the Catley─"

"I'm not talking about that..."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your mother. Sasha, she─"

"She's dead."

It was Rei who completed what Dominic said.

"Your mother is dead. She's been dead for many years."

Sasha got so angry, she euphorically threw her notebooks at him.

"You're lying, my mother's not dead, she's alive, she's just in a coma!"

Rei didn't dodge the books as she approached.

"She is. I went to the Harvey family cemetery and saw your mother's grave."

Sasha in response, slapped Rei's face.

Rei didn't avert his face as he continued to take hits as he spoke to her.

"I have a skill called Open Status with which allows me to see information about people. I used it on you once."

"...?"

"That information revealed several things, for that reason I want you to tell it yourself. Or would you rather I do it? It's better if you do it so that way it's less embarrassing, I won't skimp on revealing to your father about that book you have."

"Huh, book?"

"D-Don't you dare!"

Sasha was terrified, she said as she trembled.

"O-Okay, I'll talk."

◇◇◇

A long time ago, there was a mother and daughter who were inseparable.

The mother gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, she was unable to conceive anymore because a strange disease incapacitated her for many years.

When the girl turned nine years old, the mother organized a party.

The girl told her several times that she was a grown woman. She wanted to give her a grown-up party to see if it was true what she said.

Everything was normal, nothing out of the ordinary.

While the father was greeting some acquaintances, an adult approached the girl. He said "This drink is very delicious, would you like some? Although I warn you there is no more" the little girl in response said "Sure! I mean, I'd love to try it."

Despite the fact that she said she was an adult, she was acting like a child.

The mother who was sitting down saw that, there was nothing unusual... until she saw the man who gave her the glass smile mysteriously.

The mother hurried and took the glass instead of her daughter's.

The man looked her in the eye, she knew that this drink was definitely not something normal.

Before calling for help, the man pulled out a small razor the size of a pin and placed it on the girl's back.

It was on her spine, one cut and her daughter could be paralyzed or worse.

The man said "This wasn't for you, but what can you do. One less Harvey, if you don't drink it, she will pay dearly."

The girl did not understand the conversation, her mother looked at the glass with a complicated face.

She looked at her daughter who was confused and smiled at her with a beautiful loving smile.

"Sasha, your mother loves you. Always remember that."

"I know, why do you say that?"

The mother drank the contents of the glass to the bottom.

A few moments later the man walked quickly away and the girl's mother collapsed on the floor.

"Mother? Mother wake up!"

Everyone became aware of that cry.

Dominic ran to where his wife and daughter lay.

He watched as his wife convulsed with foam at her mouth, his daughter was so frightened that tears were streaming down her rosy cheeks.

"Get a doctor! Get Sasha out of here!"

A servant came to take her away as the guests murmured.

"Mother! Mother!"

Catching one last glimpse of her mother before the door closed, Sasha later learned that she died before the doctor arrived.

◇◇◇

"... That's what happened."

Sasha told Rei her mother's story. The reason why she trusted no one.

By trusting a stranger, she lost what she most loved in the world.

Rei after hearing Sasha's story said.

"I already knew that, but I wanted to hear it from your own mouth. Now explain everything that happened, why ruin Joachim Catley at the expense of your family's? Are you stupid?"

Sasha walked to the window, the flames of the riots were getting bigger and bigger. She said after opening the window.

"I discovered years later that the drink my mother ingested contained a powerful poison which is not available on this side of the continent."

"You get it far beyond, over the mountains, the Gabino Desert Kingdom. Their country is surrounded by sandstorms and embracing sun, but they still managed to survive and trade with everyone."

"A servant who traveled a lot managed to buy a generic poison to kill pests, the special characteristics were the same. A light melon fragrance, my favorite drink."

"Whoever it was who planned it all was aware of my tastes. At the party that day an inventory was taken and my favorite drink was not included as I wanted to look like an adult. So where did that mystery individual's drink come from?"

"Easy. The one person who would benefit from the death of the Harvey family's only daughter, the ones with the minister's job and above all sentimentally crumble the finance minister."

"Joachim."

Dominic said that as he clenched his fists, he continued what his daughter was telling.

"Under Sasha's description we drew a picture, we looked up what that person would look like several years later, when she turned twelve, we found out he had died."

"How did he die?"

Rei got a surprise after asking that question.

"He was killed along with a criminal from the republic by the name of Barry."

"Barry you said!"

Barry was the name of the knight who worked in the duchy, he was complicit in kidnapping Eli several years ago.

Rei killed him for trying to frame his family for his crimes.

"That was not his name, but the plaque on his corpse identified him by that name. An ambassador from the republic came to check the body after hearing that a man with the characteristics he was looking for was found. That was how we discovered that the man responsible who killed my wife was already dead."

"Now there was only one thing left to solve, what did Catley have to gain from this?"

Sasha replied after watching an angry crowd march towards the mansion, the knights acted as a shield to keep them from trying to enter.

"Searching for evidence when the evidence is scant or the culprit hid it well is difficult. That's why there was only one answer left to give."

Turning, she revealed her plan.

"The only way to get a rat to talk is with another rat. If Catley had help of the same level, he would feel he had an ally."

Sasha lowered her head as what she said made her very sad.

"We had to do something horrible to prove it. The best way was to be on his level, my father stole from his own nation to make Catley confident, little by little we would achieve his confidence."

"Thanks to the transactions we were doing, I managed to find out several things with some spies I infiltrated because of his lousy management."

"First, under the name of 'Pepe' he bought the poison. The destination was a barony of the Kingdom, there, 'Pepe' went to withdraw it. Of course it was not him but another man. He had all this written down in his notebook which he hides in his office."

"He says he's a smart man, but he has too many openings, arrogance is a double-edged sword."

"Hey, you're going down the wrong road. I don't care what Joachim does, I'm going to ruin him with my own hands. I want to know why you did it. Your family will be damned as the evidence I have and yours ties them up."

Sasha bit her tongue as she cried.

"Because I miss my mother... you don't know what it's like to lose the person you love more than anyone else in the world. When I told my father, he hesitated of course, but like me, he also wants revenge against Catley."

Dominic went over to hug Sasha as they both cried.

"I'm prepared for Harvey Household to fall in ruins and my head to roll, but as long as I know my wife's killer is dead, that's enough for me."

"As father says, I'm willing to get dirty just to see him pay for his sins."

*Sigh*

Rei gave a big sigh, looked at them both and said.

"Are you idiots? You must be, because that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life."

His bored face confirmed that he really didn't care about their motives, he just wanted to know why they did it.

"That's the second time today I've encountered two foolish idiots. I should let them die, but I won't."

"Are you going to help us? But you'll lose out too?"

Sasha asked in confusion, Rei picked his nose.

"It's because idiots shouldn't die, you are such idiots that you leave me no choice but to help you. Since, if only you had asked me for help I would have proven that the big me can do it all."

"Huh?"

Rei walked over and grabbed Sasha as a princess.

"What are you doing?"

He put his foot on the window.

"We're going to go condemn Catley and save both. you and his wife."

"Why would you do that?"

Rei smiled before jumping out the window.

"Because a cheat lord has no match."

"Old man, control the angry crowd, I'll come in a short while with that idiot's head, goodbye."

"Huh? ... Noooooooooooooooooooo!"

Rei jumped up and flew straight to the Catley mansion.

The end of this crisis would be over soon.

◇◇◇

Meanwhile at the academy, a group of individuals were at the gates, they had the whole place surrounded.

A man got out of the carriage.

"So this is the academy huh? It will be prettier when it burns."

Zekken was ready to cause chaos.