Punishment
The place Siana and her companion headed for was the estate of Marquis Zarden.
After traveling most of the way by carriage, they continued on foot. Led by a girl in a black hood, they infiltrated the Zarden estate and quietly opened the door to the room where their target, Marquis Zald Zarden, awaited punishment.
There he sat, facing his desk in a heavy chair. Zald bounced his leg in irritation, hands clutching his head, radiating barely contained fury.
“That bastard! A mere count’s brat, and he defied me on day one… If someone that weak can come from a count’s house, then this country really is doomed. I should just ditch this place, take what I know, and trade it for a title abroad. Not marquis—duke. Maybe, if I play it right, I could even tie myself to royalty… Hehe, that would be the end of that little count’s pup. No need to wait. I’ll frame him for something tomorrow and be done with it.”
“You’re the first person to ever make me feel this kind of fury in such a short time.”
Siana’s voice rang out from behind Zald, low and calm, but brimming with wrath.
“Wh—!? A woman…? Who—”
Startled, Zald began to turn, but Siana’s next words stopped him cold.
“I suggest you don’t turn around. If you do, you’ll die.”
“D-Die…? You dare threaten me? Do you even know who I am!?”
“A fool. No, calling you a fool would be too kind. You’ve committed the one sin that must never be committed in this world.”
“A… sin, you say? Don’t tell me… You know about the negotiation?”
At that, Siana sighed quietly.
“I know you tried to sell classified information from this country to another nation in exchange for a ducal title.”
“Gh…!”
The blood drained from Zald’s face in an instant. But Siana didn’t even blink. Her voice remained steady, unconcerned.
“But honestly, I couldn’t care less. Information in the hands of someone like you can’t be worth much. And if there really is a country foolish enough to offer a dukedom for it, then it’s hardly a threat. No, your true sin is something far greater.”
“I-I haven’t done anything worse than that—”
“You have.”
Zald tried to stand his ground, but the steel in Siana’s voice, the fury woven into every syllable, sent a shiver down his spine.
And still, she pressed on, unmoved by his fear.
“You wounded the one person I care about most. The very reason I exist. Without cause, without principle—just your petty pride. Because of you, he started blaming himself, thinking all his efforts had crumbled. He doubted everything—his worth, his place—when none of it was ever his fault.”
“W-What are you even talking about—”
“He is everything to me. I would gladly offer this entire country for him. My body, my soul—everything I am belongs to him. And you hurt him. Someone that precious to me. You don’t have to understand. I don’t expect a creature like you to grasp what love truly means, and I certainly don’t care if you do. I came here only to declare how deeply, irrevocably foolish your actions were.”
Crushed beneath the weight of her words, Zald lost all sense of composure. Panic, dread, and confusion swirled within him, clouding what little reason he had left.
“Hah… hah… I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you’ve got a lot of nerve for a woman!”
He spun toward her in defiance. But before his eyes could catch even a glimpse of her, Siana cut him down with her blade.
“I warned you not to turn around. Now look at you, reduced to a beast who can’t even follow simple words. Not that it matters. No one who dared to speak of Lux-kun the way you did was ever going to walk away.”
Siana looked down at Zald’s lifeless body, her gaze flat and cold.
“Clean it up.”
“As you command, Ojou-sama.”
At her signal, the girl in the black hood, who had been hiding in the shadows, stepped silently to Siana’s side and answered. Once the body was dealt with, the two of them returned together through the still night to the Rodwell Count’s estate. And after they arrived, Siana, now resuming her role as Felisiana, took one small step forward in her plan to grow closer to Lux, then finally allowed herself to sleep.