ERTHMB Chapter 86

Parasite

 

How had she managed to hide such wickedness all this time, acting so innocently? Christine could not tolerate the insect that was trying to crawl over her head.

 

Her beautifully painted red lips twisted crookedly.

 

“Is that something you absolutely must see to understand, dear?”

 

“I wonder if you truly would, Madam? I thought you disliked wasting time.”

 

Natasha’s ambiguous smile now became quite distinct. She hooked her finger around the teacup handle with a smooth motion.

 

It was a natural flow that continued regardless of her situation. Her composure while rolling the tea’s fragrance around her nose was unperturbed.

 

‘Poor thing.’

 

Christine also let out a more blatant sneer. It was for the fool who didn’t even know what she had just done.

 

In the end, Natasha had proven it. That she was just a weed that wouldn’t die from being stepped on once. So whatever humiliation she received from now on would all be of her own making.

 

“No matter how much you scheme and crawl, the position you can obtain will be limited to being a mistress. You won’t have Evergale attached to your name, and even if you bear children, they’ll live in shadows forever.”

 

“Is that a wrong way to live?”

 

“No, no, dear. I’m talking about a miserable life. That girl who received such a life as a gift before – you’ll live a worse life than her. I merely crush vermin, but fleas that jump around without knowing their place, I burn them.”

 

This time it was quite a clear threat, but Natasha declared without blinking an eye:

 

“No one knows better than I do what position I’m standing in right now.”

 

Christine couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

 

“Ah, poor Eugene. It seems his eye injured during the war still hasn’t recovered. He can’t even distinguish whether what enters his house is human or parasite. You’re just his substitute, dear.”

 

“Still, I’m the one by his side right now. Isn’t that right, Madam?”

 

Natasha spread a beaming expression across her entire face. If one only saw her expression from afar, it was so clear that one might mistake her for having received a precious jewelry box from Christine.

 

Of course, the sugar-coated performance didn’t last long. Natasha gradually removed her smile. As she did so, she paused the teacup she was bringing to her lips.

 

“But you know what, Madam.”

 

The clear tea water only lingered as fragrance beneath her nose, never moistening her throat. This time too, Natasha tilted the teacup but then set it down on the saucer.

 

Christine’s gaze quietly followed that series of actions. Natasha graciously received the breathless attention and unfolded the topic she had turned to.

 

“I’ve always wondered why no young children are visible in the mansion.”

 

“…What?”

 

“The marriage with the Grand Duke has lasted a full five years. Considering his stamina, there’s no way no children would have been born during that time.”

 

It was then that Natasha’s smile completely changed its nature.

 

If before it was a smile that created a mask, now predatory joy circled in her pupils.

 

“Do you know that medicine and poison are separated by the thickness of paper?”

 

Natasha leisurely leaned back against the bistro chair. Then she stretched out the hand holding the teacup far away. The expensive porcelain hanging on two fingers swayed precariously.

 

“Unfortunately, you chose the wrong opponent, Madam.”

 

The cup overturned just like that. The tea water splashed down onto the neatly trimmed grass. Steam rose from the liquid that still held warmth.

 

“There is no poison in this world that I don’t know.”

 

The gentle voice and rosemary scent. Between them, a sharp smell briefly thickened. Following that thick trail, Natasha’s momentum became even more imposing.

 

“I understand you were in a hurry, but you should have at least controlled the amount. Even if I had a cold, I would have noticed.”

 

“You…”

 

“You mixed lucose leaves, didn’t you?”

 

“…!”

 

As if she had been doused with the spilled tea herself, Christine’s complexion turned pale.

 

It was a face that had kept even smiles small to avoid wrinkles. Cracks began to form mercilessly on that smooth surface.

 

As if it were an unprecedented comedy, Natasha watched with consistent amusement.

 

“Lucose leaves, when dried and steeped, are ordinary tea leaves, but if you extract juice by cutting the leaf stalks and boil it, it becomes a contraceptive that prevents conception. And if taken continuously or excessively…”

 

Her smooth lips stretched long like a cat from a fairy tale.

 

“It becomes a poison that causes infertility.”

 

“You, you…!”

 

Christine’s thinly parted lips quivered. Natasha carelessly threw the cup that had completely emptied its contents.

 

Unluckily, the porcelain that hit the ornamental rock cracked cleanly like Christine’s face.

 

The teacup made in only three pairs in Instantia to commemorate last year’s founding festival. Having reduced something whose value was hard to even estimate to two pairs, Natasha remained composed.

 

“It doesn’t have fatal effects on bodily functions, but for couples who want children, there’s no more vicious poison than this.”

 

So go ahead and try stepping on me, Madam.

 

Natasha mouthed the words. Her gentle eyes curved into crescents. In contrast, the words she spoke were extremely alien.

 

“I am neither kind, nor naive, nor foolish, nor stupid. If you tell him this story, whose side do you think he’ll take?”

 

Christine groaned ominously.

 

“You’re nothing but a substitute—”

 

“Yes. That’s right, a substitute.”

 

Surprisingly, Natasha readily admitted it. However, she raised a new question.

 

“But what about you, Madam?”

 

Her deepened green eyes flashed without hiding their provocative light. Fluttering her prettily curled eyelashes, Natasha asked back.

 

“Are you someone necessary enough to him to be worth replacing with something else?”

 

“…!”

 

It was a proper blow that pierced her brain. Christine’s eyes bulged. The bloodshot whites rose so prominently that it seemed they might spill out.

 

She gripped the table with trembling hands.

 

“There’s a limit to insolence… You’ve gone completely mad… How could Eugene have such a demon like you…!”

 

“A demon? Where would you find a demon that visits with such kind advance notice?”

 

Natasha ignored her and rose from her seat.

 

“You should prepare yourself even now if you want to live a little longer, Madam. I won’t fall away easily like that woman did.”

 

The gesture of turning after dropping her final words was as refreshing as dancing. Natasha moved away, stepping lightly in her green satin shoes.

 

Christine floundered in her furious emotions, then belatedly jumped up and shouted.

 

That she would definitely burn the flea to death.

 

****

 

As soon as she returned to her room by carriage, Natasha connected the communication device signal. Along with the darkened screen, a light indicating waiting for response blinked.

 

One minute, two minutes, five minutes… The waiting time lengthened due to the recipient’s absence. But even this was within her calculations, so Natasha leisurely prepared to face Eugene.

 

Fortunately, just as thick teardrops were about to slide down her cheeks, the screen brightened.

 

“…Natasha.”

 

“…”

 

“I feel like I see that face every time.”

 

It was a tone mixed with guilt rather than comfort. Instead of answering, Natasha responded with even deeper sobbing.

 

Eugene also addressed her again with a voice of different depth.

 

“Stop crying, Natasha. Don’t think that society’s crude formulas will work on me. Tears are not weapons.”

 

However, Natasha did not stop crying. Thick streams of tears flowed down her cheeks without pause. Wiping them with the back of her hand, she forced out words.

 

“Ah, I know, Your Grace. If that were a weapon, everyone would carry handkerchiefs instead of swords.”

 

“…Then why are you crying today?”

 

“I’m so shocked, bewildered… sob, it’s so unbelievable that tears are coming.”

 

Eugene closed his eyes and raised his eyebrows with a dry sigh. Rubbing his wrinkled forehead a couple of times with his arm resting on the desk, he waited for the unwelcome story to continue.

 

Natasha splendidly lived up to that expectation.

 

“Today, the Grand Madam fed me poison.”

 

“…What?”

 

It was a story that exceeded expectations far too much. Eugene’s thought processes stopped for a moment.

 

Natasha didn’t even give him time to process and sobbed pitifully.

 

“I was dizzy all day and couldn’t stop vomiting. I had no appetite today, so all I had was the rosemary tea the Madam gave me as a gift… I wondered if the tea leaves had gone bad because I stored them incorrectly, so I called a pharmacist to ask. Then he said it seemed to have lucose extract mixed in. Ah, lucose is…”

 

Natasha’s rambling words didn’t register in his ears. Other voices that suddenly came to mind covered him.

 

[You usually had severe headaches… I wonder if you’re well…]

 

[I haven’t been sleeping well lately, so my body feels a bit unwell. I’ll get up first.]

 

Eugene’s halted thoughts were now flowing toward one person. Riding the rough backflow, they stopped at each day that bloomed scattered.

 

The letter you sent from the battlefield, saying that now two people were waiting for you.

 

And your collapsed body that I faced as soon as I returned.

 

A year later, your face that smiled warmly, saying it was another child with you.

 

But your belly that had flattened again.

 

Each scene from the past fell like domino pieces, click, click, click, soon returning to the present moment. At that moment, Natasha’s voice fell with the last piece, click.

 

“It’s a poison that causes infertility.”

 

****

 

Cuckoo-. Cuckoo-.

 

It was a bright morning with birds chirping.

 

And it was also a noisy morning with Gelda barking.

 

“Damn cuckoo bastard! I’ll put you on tonight’s dinner table!”

 

At least once every two weeks, up to three or four times at most. Helena would wake up to Gelda’s cursing.

 

Her room was on the first floor of the same building as Gelda’s, and Gelda’s room was on the third floor. Whenever cuckoos sang in the forest, scenes like today would regularly repeat.

 

Gelda would tolerate all other bird sounds but couldn’t stand the cuckoo’s call. Every time, she would throw open her window and shout at the top of her lungs loud enough to make the forest leave.

 

‘At least I can’t oversleep thanks to that.’

 

Grateful for the hearty alarm sound, Helena got up from bed. The village had been bustling with festivals that had been going on for several days, and Gelda’s usual temper actually helped calm her mind.

 

“Ah, perfect weather for enjoying the festival.”

 

Of course, it was absolutely no help in getting rid of this persistent man.

 

As soon as Helena stepped outside, she frowned at the face she encountered. He had been naturally attached and pestering her for the past three days, just like now.

 

“It’s strangely warm enough to wander around until night, the air is clearer than yesterday, and fortunately there are no requests that came in.”

 

Helena naturally walked past him.

 

“Even without requests, there’s work to do. The subjugation period is coming soon.”

 

She explained her daily tasks while carrying a wooden bucket toward the well.

 

“I still can’t handle aura skillfully, and I need to build arm strength. I’m busy in many ways.”

 

But he was exactly like the beeswax that Flam melted every Tuesday.

 

“Trees that are watered every day actually rot, Helen. Just for one day, just get some sunlight and feel the wind. Hm?”

 

He stuck to her persistently and wouldn’t come off easily.