The room was silent.
Not even a whisper moved through the crowd of stunned guards, servants, and the few children who had peeked in from the hallway, eager to watch the drama unfold. Their eyes were wide, mouths slightly open, not a single soul brave enough to move.
Even Damian clung to Merly's cloak like a frightened kitten, trembling as he peeked at the scene from behind her. Merly, however, stood with her arms crossed, looking unfazed, as if she'd seen far worse. Perhaps she had.
Selene, shaken to her core, didn't even glance at Kevin. She was focused entirely on Miranda, who had gone quiet in her arms. Her plush body had stopped moving, her thread-stitched eyes dull with shock.
"Miranda…?" Selene whispered, her voice trembling. "Miranda, talk to me."
But she didn't respond.
Selene's hands trembled as she gently cradled her. She wasn't sure if Miranda had fainted from emotional distress or if her mana had begun to run dangerously low.
And then.
CRACK!
Magnus struck Kevin across the face, the sound echoing like a whip crack across the marble floor.
Kevin's body flipped once, then crashed to the ground. Before he could even groan, Magnus was on him again, grabbing his collar and lifting him like a ragdoll.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Magnus roared, his voice shaking the chandelier overhead.
BAM!
Another punch, this one straight to Kevin's gut. Kevin gasped, spit flying from his mouth.
"You think I'd sully my hands, my name, my house, with a wretch like you?!"
THUD! A swift kick followed.
"YOU OFFER YOUR DAUGHTER TO ME?" Magnus bellowed, smashing Kevin to the floor and delivering a vicious kick to his ribs. "YOU THINK I'M THAT KIND OF MAN?!"
Clarissa shrieked and ran toward them. "Stop! Stop! You're going to kill him!"
SLAP!
Magnus' backhand sent her flying across the room. A pair of guards quickly caught and restrained her before she could crawl back to Kevin.
The other guards shifted nervously, unsure if they should step in.
"Should… should we stop him?" one whispered.
"Are you mad?" another hissed.
Meanwhile, Selene tried to cover Teddy Bear Miranda's eyes, shielding her from the brutal display.
"Don't look," she whispered gently.
But Miranda squirmed under Selene's palm and reached up with her fuzzy paws.
"Wait, wait! I wanna see it! Let me see!" she chirped, trying to pry Selene's hand away.
Selene sighed and rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"
But just then, her gaze fell on Miranda's real body, still lying limp on the floor. Her brows lifted in realization.
"Hold on a second."
Selene grabbed Teddy Miranda by the head.
Miranda froze mid-squirm. "Wait, what are you…? SELENE! No, no, no…!"
RIP!
She tore the bear's head clean off.
Miranda's real body jerked violently. A gasp burst from her lips as her limbs twitched, and then, with a cry, she sat up, clutching her head.
"Ow... ugh!" Miranda groaned.
She blinked around, dazed, then turned to Selene with an incredulous glare. ""I'm back...? I'M BACK! Yes! Seriously, couldn't you have given me a warning before doing THAT?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Selene raised a brow. "Sorry. Your body looked pale and blue just a while ago, that why I did it so hastily."
"…Touché."
But then Selene's attention was drawn by the strange hush in the room. Her eyes flicked to Magnus and to the bloodied mess beneath him.
Kevin was barely recognizable.
His face was purple, his lip split open, one eye swollen shut. He groaned weakly, his body limp and unmoving under Magnus' boot.
Selene was already wincing when she looked.
Miranda followed her gaze and immediately sucked in a sharp breath, clutching Selene's sleeve.
"Whoa…"
"…Yeah."
As Selene stared at Kevin's bloodied, swollen face, a strange déjà vu washed over her. Something about this scene felt oddly familiar but she couldn't put her finger to it. But the feeling lingered like a fog in her mind. (Valmont)
She then noticed Magnus's bloodied fist, calmly pulled out a packet of cleansing wipes from her inventory.
"Here," she said dryly.
Magnus took them with a grunt and wiped the blood off his knuckles, still staring down at Kevin. "If I followed my instincts, I've got every right and reason to kill you right here and right now. But…" He glanced toward the stunned guards and servants, "…I don't feel like being labeled a tyrant today. Let the public think I'm fair." He turned to the guards. "Take him to the manor and lock him in the dungeon. Make sure he doesn't die before the trial."
Two guards immediately obeyed, dragging Kevin's limp form away.
But Magnus's sharp eyes narrowed as he suddenly looked up at the second floor. There, half-hidden behind a wall, a small figure was peeking down at the scene.
When their eyes met, the figure gasped and ducked behind the wall.
"You there," Magnus growled, pointing. "One of you, get up there and grab her."
Just as one of the guards moved to obey but
WHOOSH!
A violent gust of wind blasted through the foyer. It knocked the guard back and nearly threw him off his feet. Selene's and Miranda's hair whipped around wildly, and even Magnus was momentarily staggered.
Damian, standing beside Merly, fell flat on his back with a dazed "Ughhh…" while Merly herself was suddenly gone.
Magnus blinked. "What the hell was that?!"
A high-pitched scream rang out from the stairwell.
All heads turned as Merly calmly descended the stairs, a furious Victoria flailing under one arm like an unruly sack of flour and an unconscious maid draped over her other shoulder.
Victoria screamed and kicked like a toddler in a tantrum. "Let me go, let me go! Put me down!!"
Magnus stared at Merly, his brows furrowed. "Seriously, Merly? What was that for? She's just for a level 6 brat? You almost knocked me over."
Merly shrugged. "The maid's an awakened one."
At that, Magnus narrowed his eyes and activated his Appraisal skill. After a few seconds, his lips twisted in a scowl.
"She's only a level 21 assassin? Hah. Any of the guards could've handled her."
"Oh," Merly said flatly. "Well… my bad."
Victoria spotted Selene among the gathering and screamed, "Selene! Stop this right now or I'll never, EVER be your friend again!"
Selene slowly turned her head toward her, her expression blank.
Victoria's screaming intensified—louder, wilder, fouler.
She began to spit the ugliest obscenities she could think of, ones that made even the nearby guards wince. The more she spoke, the more Selene's patience began to slip. Her left eye twitched.
Once upon a time, Selene was Eunji, a girl from a remote village on Earth, where she'd learned how to curse like a sailor from listening to grown-up arguments. One part of her—the old her—ached to unleash a barrage of insults so brutal it would leave Victoria crying for her mother.
But the other part remembered that she was now Selene Ravencroft the biological/adopted daughter of Magnus Ravencroft. Refined. Elegant. Unbothered.
I am not Eunji anymore. I'm Selene Ravencroft.
So she kept her mouth shut.
Victoria's screeching hit a new high, complete with more curses, insults, and threats.
Magnus turned to Merly. "Gag her."
Merly sighed. "Hands are full."
The unconscious maid groaned.
Without a word, she bent down, yanked off one of her white lace-trimmed socks, marched up to the flailing Victoria and stuffed it straight into her mouth. (A trick she learnt from her grandmother)
Victoria's eyes went wide with disbelief as muffled screams burst from behind the fabric.
The room went silent again.
Even the guards froze. One dropped his spear.
Even Magnus froze.
Then—
"WOOOO!" Miranda cheered, clapping enthusiastically. "Encore! Encore!"
Magnus covered his face with a groan.