Maria (part 1)

As soon as I entered the room, I washed the blood off my body. 

Jeremy also returned to his room. It was because the blood from my hand had transferred to his head. After that, Jeremy rolled around in my room for a while and then left. 

After Jeremy left, I sat down on the bed. As I rolled up my sleeves, a bandage covering my arm appeared. It looked like it wasn't properly pressed because it was roughly wrapped up after washing. Blood was still oozing from the wound, dyeing the bandage a deep red. 

It was the same wound that I had made by drawing a dagger with my hand in the hatchery room earlier. I moved my hand to remove the bandage from my arm. Soon, long scarred skin was visible in the field of view. 

"Guys, it's time to eat." 

After checking the bloody wounds, I called in the butterflies. Soon, dark red butterflies appeared in the air one by one. It could be said that it was a bit bizarre in some way to see the twelve butterflies lingering over the wounds oozing with blood. 

However, because poison butterfly's staple food was blood, it couldn't be helped. It was still a secret that I had already hatched one of the poison butterfly eggs. 

So, I had lied to everyone that out of the three poisonous butterfly eggs, the first two eggs that grew first failed to hatch and died. However, there was only one that was actually dead. The butterfly I sent to the west border a while ago, and the butterfly attached to Cassis's room, were the very poisonous butterflies that came out of the first hatched egg. 

Probably, me and the poison butterfly seemed to have a better match than I thought. Of course, there have been expectations from the time I got the eggs from the habitat, but it was surprising that I really engraved and awakened the poisonous butterfly with only 30% hatching probability. The poison butterfly is a monster that is close to a semi-spirit body, so it has a different vessel from other creatures. 

They usually hide their appearance, but when I call them, they appear in front of me. poison butterflies born from one egg had the ability to multiply themselves and forming a group. I have only a dozen poisonous butterflies in my possession now, but after a little more time, they would multiply again and reach dozens or hundreds of them. 

In addition, the characteristics of poison butterflies also changes depending on what kind of poison they were fed and how strong it was when they were fed. Therefore, it was understandable that the person who became the host of the poison butterflies could not procure the food of the growing butterflies in time, they would be eaten. In that sense, I belonged to Agriche, which possesses all kinds of poisons, so it was advantageous for raising poison butterflies. 

Fortunately, the poison butterfly I hatched loved my blood very much. 

So, until I, the host, died the poison butterfly was completely subordinate to me, and it was clear that it would become a powerful weapon. In future plans, the poison butterfly will be a very useful card to have in my hand. 

I haven't revealed to anyone that I hatched an egg from a poison butterflies. This fact is a secret from Jeremy, my mother, Emily, and my other family members. At least until the day Cassis escapes Agriche. 

Finally, seeing that the wound on my arm had been completely clotted, I sent back all but one of the butterflies. 

"To the western border." 

The butterfly, who was left aside, was ordered to check the western border. 

This is the first time it has traveled to such a long distance, perhaps because the connection with the butterfly sent to the western border was blurred and could not be recalled. 

As I am still inexperienced, it was a little difficult to deal with several butterflies at once. It seemes to me that I had to increase the amount of poison I take in order to further strengthen the bond with the poisonous butterfly. 

After a while, I called Emily into the room and instructed her to increase the type and amount of poison I eat in the future. 

* * * 

Currently I am a minor, and until I was an adult, there were still lessons to take.

"Oh, if it isn't Roxie."

On my way back to the training room today, I encountered someone I wasn't happy with. Deon's mother, Mary, was the woman standing in a parasol on a lush road. She, with brown hair and purple eyes, came to me with a very happy face as soon as she saw me. 

The moment I saw Maria, I almost crumpled my face without my knowledge. But I concealed my decent heart and greeted her with a gentle voice. "Hello. You must have gone for a walk."

"Roxie, you really seem to get prettier every time I see you." 

As always when she see me Maria, while standing in front of me, admired my beauty again today. It once again reminded me that she, suprisingly, still had human emotions. It is unbelievable that she is the mother of Deon, who is as inhuman as one can get. 

Even as she admired my beauty, she somehow looked very naive. 

Maria has a round, gentle-looking face and a small body, so when viewed from this close, she feels like a cute little animal. She had those who seemed to be maids in a row behind her back. It was a very friendly and soft attitude, but I was uncomfortable with her. 

Just because she was Deon's mother, there was no reason why I should like Maria. But even if I exclude that, I was just uncomfortable with her. Maria is the third wife of Lant Agriche. Among the mothers, she was famous for being bright and friendly, but very different from the way Jeremy and my mother are. 

"You're still shining as if you were alone in the sky, when you mature you'll be prettier than your mother."

"You exaggerate." 

"I am not, it is even questionable whether there will be any words in this world that can tailor to your beauty." Maria, with an open face, praised me all the time. "Oh yeah. It's a coincidence that we met like this, so why don't we have a cup of tea in the garden?" Seeing her casual invitation, it felt as though the place where we are standing is not Agriche's mansion, but rather a sunny retreat. "It's been so long since I saw Deon. Anyway, the children of this house are too busy. It's a long time, so it would be okay to talk of Deon."