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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

Part 5. The Capricious Dragon

She regretted not doing so. Even if she tried to explain, they likely wouldn’t listen. But if Knight Commander Carlton had accompanied her, maybe the misunderstanding could have been cleared up…

The moment she crossed the estate’s threshold, curious gazes converged on her. Whether due to the focused attention or the low-grade, traumatic sensation that seemed to permeate the estate, Edith felt a growing sense of discomfort and unease.

“The Viscount has summoned you to his study.”

The moment she entered her room, the maid Marie, as if waiting for her arrival, relayed the Viscount’s summons and then scurried away in a flash.

“But I don’t even know where the Viscount’s study is…”

Her hand, reaching out to stop Marie, hung awkwardly in the air.

Finally sighing deeply, she left the room she had just entered to find it on her own. Guided by whispers and unhelpful stares from the servants, she traced a vague memory and barely managed to reach the Viscount’s study.

Whether it was fortunate or not, time had passed, and the Viscount’s initial fury seemed to have subsided somewhat. He was deeply sunk into a sofa, glaring at Edith, while beside him stood a seasoned-looking head butler she hadn’t seen since possessing Edith.

“Edith.”

The Viscount’s voice, hoarse as if with phlegm, carried suppressed emotion.

“When you disappeared after the last banquet, I thought you’d gone off to seduce some man… But that day, what exactly did you do at the palace?”

Viscount Moulton seemed to assume Edith had caused trouble, given she had almost no connection to the imperial family and had mysteriously vanished during the recent banquet.

“Well, His Highness the Crown Prince…”

“The Crown Prince?”

“I… I really didn’t do anything wrong… He just invited me because he heard I was a young lady close to the Saintess…”

Under the Viscount’s murderous gaze and repeated questioning, Edith’s voice began to tremble uncontrollably, as if her very being had shrunk before him against her will.

“Is that so? Invited because you seemed friendly with the Saintess…”

The Viscount’s face seemed to swell, leaving little room for his features. His already small eyes squeezed shut tight… Then, snap—

He glared at her with bloodshot eyes and jabbed a finger in her direction.

“You think… you think I’d believe such a lie?! You damn wench, are you trying to lie to me?”

His face, with eyebrows raised high—streaked with white hairs that betrayed his age—shouted, and Edith froze in an inexplicable terror. Even if she wanted to explain the misunderstanding, her tightly clenched mouth gave her no chance to defend herself.

“Head Butler! Confine Edith to the attic! And from now on, give her nothing but bread and water! It seems she’s forgotten her place from not visiting that room for a while. This time, come out after some proper reflection!”

At the word “attic,” her heart froze, and a sharp pain began in her chest. The unpleasant sensation that had been prickling at her feet since morning had now risen near her heart, threatening her.

Pale and disoriented, Edith was dragged away by the head butler and a maid. As they moved, a wave of emotion washed over her, making her truly realize how desperate the situation of being sent to the attic was.

The “attic” the Viscount mentioned was a small room behind a wooden door at the top of a dark, lightless staircase, accessed through a small door at the end of the second-floor hallway.

Inside the room, there was only a small, dusty wooden bed fit for a child and nothing else.

After lighting the room’s candle with the one she’d brought, the maid Marie, who was about to leave Edith alone, suddenly turned back. Raising one corner of her mouth, she spoke.

“See, you should have been more careful. It’s obvious anyone would dislike your unpleasant face… Kuk kuk. You were pretending to be all chummy with the Saintess for a while, acting like you were something, but look at you now~”

Snorting with glee, Marie left Edith alone, locking the door with a click from the outside.

Once again, it wasn’t her own emotion, but Edith’s emotion, trying to swallow her whole. The less she could focus her mind, the faster the number on the status window visible in her vision rose.

Her heart raced, and she felt cold sweat trickle down the back of her neck.

[Status: Melancholy (42%)]

43%… 49%… Once it passed 50%, the second window appeared.

[Warning! The Melancholy Level has exceeded 50%! Entering Panic State!]

But this time, she was locked in this room. At least she wouldn’t end up with a strange man like last time. Finding some small comfort in that, Edith’s consciousness began to fade.

In her blurring vision, red flames flickered in the room. The capricious dragon appeared, catching her as she fell, and said something.

“…I had a feeling… …That was close…….”