An Extra Who Wants To Escape The Obsessive Male Lead - Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Thud, thud.
The sound of the door closing echoed through the room. Now, only Diello, Argenta’s intelligence member, and the two traitors remained in the room.
Tap, tap.
Apart from the sound of water droplets falling from the traitors’ wet hair, silence filled the air. As he slowly turned his gaze towards the two traitors, Diello’s mind was still dominated by Krua’s lingering presence.
The hand that patted his shoulder…
At the thought, he found himself smiling unintentionally. If he truly was a ‘pure’ person, he might have willingly been tainted.
His wife, in her cuteness, thought of him as a pristine, untouched expanse of snow.
However, that wasn’t the case. Rather, the one who stained themselves was Krua. It was a delightful misconception.
Thud.
Diello approached the bathtub slowly.
“Is she instructing me to handle the punishment personally…?”
As he got closer to the bathtub, the scent of water reached his nose. It wasn’t unpleasant, perhaps because Krua’s touch was present.
Swoosh.
Dipping his hand into the water and moving it, his fingertips felt tingling as if the water carried the residual magic of Alors. Yet, the sensation of rippling water was strangely pleasant, even though it should have been uncomfortable for someone like Argenta.
“Is it because she’s a gentle soul who does not take lives?”
He mumbled to himself while feeling the water, thinking of Krua.
In his eyes, it was Krua who was the true embodiment of pureness. One who couldn’t easily take another person’s life was someone born pure. Diello couldn’t avoid the gaze of such a person and smiled silently.
He was certain that his wife had never killed a person.
Compared to him, she was an incredibly pure person.
Phew.
Meanwhile, the traitors seemed somewhat relieved after Krua, known as the villainess, left the room.
If it had been Argenta on the fourth floor, they wouldn’t have foolishly felt relieved upon seeing Diello’s face. However, these people were from the lower floors, where information was limited. They didn’t know the true face of Diello.
They seemed to think of him as someone with a weak heart, just as he appeared to the outside world, so they immediately tried to persuade him.
“Please spare us, my lord.”
“We will live as if we are dead if you spare us!”
Saying so, they looked up at Diello with desperate expressions as he smiled lightly.
“I can’t disregard what my wife has taught me.”
His smile made the traitors pause.
…Was he really going to spare them? So easily?
“Seeing Krua spare your lives, I believe she intended to teach me mercy.”
As he spoke with a gentle voice, a flicker of hope appeared on the faces of the traitors. Diello patiently waited for the spark of hope to spread throughout their minds until it completely consumed them. Then, in a calm voice, he continued.
“However, I, unlike what my wife expects, am not a merciful one.”
The traitors’ faces immediately stiffened.
There was nothing more they needed to ask them. After all, they had already revealed the names of twelve traitors, and even the location of the traitors’ meeting place in this annex was known. He had uncovered everything.
They were now useless.
“Nevertheless, my wife has instructed me not to personally harm anyone.”
One must uphold what they have learned, and besides…
“When she sees this side of me, she will be surprised.”
He leaned toward the traitors.
Crackle!
Flames suddenly ignited in the empty air. It was a peculiar sight, fire on water, but Argenta’s flames made it possible.
Crackle, crackle!
When the bathtub caught fire, Diello turned away.
“Whether you drown in the water or burn in the fire, I will give you the choice.”
Shouldn’t he fulfill his wife’s teachings?
While the fire began to spread across the walls of the room, he furrowed his brow at the sight.
Argenta controlled the fire. Naturally, Argenta’s head of the family was not afraid of being engulfed by fire, though he himself didn’t like being consumed by fire. That was the reason why he quickly turned his body.
“What… what is this—!”
Although they were floating in the water, the traitors, with their hands and feet bound, couldn’t escape from it.
Diello turned his body and spoke.
“An accidental fire broke out in this room… and unfortunately, you all mentioned the names of the traitors. Bring the list to the office.”
“I will comply.
The intelligence member bowed their heads.
“What is this?!”
The traitors, who had only seen the gentle side of Diello, writhed in fear.
But it was already too late.
* * *
“Now, there are only the knights on the first floor here.”
I stroked my chin.
I was on the first floor of the main building.
Just before I realized Mirta’s betrayal, there were undoubtedly knights from the fourth floor here. The movement of the knights was an important matter. Moreover, Argenta on the third floor or below was clearly treated differently from those on the fourth floor.
“What’s inside if you go in here?”
Vielle answered the question.
“There’s a path leading to the underground.”
“The underground?”
What could be in the underground of the Argenta main building? There wasn’t much described about it in the original.
[ It was a special area where servants were not allowed to enter. ]
That was all that was mentioned. If it were an important place, the knights from the fourth floor would usually be guarding it, so why were the knights from the fourth-floor present here only on that day? Was there something important inside?
What could be important in Argenta at this time…?
As I tilted my head, I heard a voice.
“Have you heard the story of the crazy count who told his wife that she could enter everywhere except the underground?”
Turning around, I blinked my eyes as I saw Diello.
“Could that Diello be that crazy count?”
In other words, a warning not to enter the underground? In the meanwhile, Diello corrected me in a light voice.
“I’m a mad duke.”
…So, he was indeed crazy?
I raised an eyebrow and turned around. If it was a place that shouldn’t be entered, I had no intention of going in. Besides, I was the type of person who hated entering a haunted house anyway. So, why go when you were told not to?
At that moment, Diello spoke up unexpectedly.
“Would you like to go and see?”
I turned to look at him at those words.
“In the story, the count refused to open the door.”
“But I am a duke.”
Diello then extended his hand, showing it to me. According to the story, it was the count, not the mad duke, who didn’t allow entry to the underground… so, as a duke, he wouldn’t prevent me from going down?
It was truly an absurd logic.
…But the truth was, I was curious. If he wanted to show me something, there was no reason to refuse.
“Alright.”
I replied, and he reached out his hand. As I took his hand, he gently led me forward, amidst the knights silently paying their respects on the first floor.
The door opened as Diello silently gestured.
Just like Vielle had said, behind the door guarded by the knights, there was a staircase leading down to the underground.
Crack!
As Diello entered, flames spontaneously appeared on the candlesticks in the dimly lit underground. And as we descended, I could see…
“…Statues?”
There were statues in front of us.
Diello faintly smiled before he replied.
“They are statues of the Sea God.”
Why were they here in the Argenta mansion, especially in the underground of the main building? Did Argenta place such importance on the worship of the Sea God?
As I pondered, it occurred to me.
“Please come in, madam!”
A lively young man suddenly appeared. With his green hair, he respectfully bowed deeply to me, placing his hand on his chest.
“I am Rick, a faithful follower of Argenta.”
Rick?
This person… I knew his name. Those who truly knew him in Argenta called him the ‘Cheerful Rascal.’ He held absolute faith in Argenta, but he shouldn’t be devoted to the Sea God… it should be an absolute belief in Argenta, right?
“It is truly an honor to meet you, madam!”
“Nice to meet you.”
I managed to withdraw my hand from Rick, who was shaking it enthusiastically as if he would break my arm. At the same time, I glanced at the statue of the Sea God.
Rick grinned.
“I was praying to the gods. I told them to continue protecting Argenta by the sea.”
He bowed his head.
[ Continue to protect Argenta by the sea. ]
However, in the original work, Rick mentioned those words not to the Sea God but to the lord of Argenta. In other words, Rick was lying from the beginning. Was there really an altar here from the start?
“I believe the madam wishes to take a closer look, so please go ahead.”
Diello gestured with his hand.
“Yes!”
At his signal, Rick quickly hid himself after greeting us.
“I heard that you don’t believe in the Sea God.”
Argenta’s customs placed a special emphasis on abilities, so they didn’t allow reliance on gods. When I mentioned it, Diello nodded.
“Yes, that’s why there used to be a dungeon here underground.”
…A dungeon in the mansion where the lord resided?
Well, it might be a natural thing to have a prison in the place where the strongest person in this mansion was located.
“Though, why is there an altar now?”
“Perhaps for you. Alors believes in the Sea God.”
Diello smiled faintly.
Indeed, Krua Alors, in the original story, believed in the Sea God. As a member of a family born with the power of water, it was natural. From Diello’s perspective, it was a gift he had prepared after considering it.
“Once everything is ready, I intended to show it to you, but someone…”
Diello narrowed his eyes and glanced up at the staircase we had descended.
“It seems that you have become concerned.”
To be precise, I had noticed the change in knights.
I shook my head.
“It’s not like that.”
“Then I’m glad.”
Diello smiled beautifully.
His pure smile, without a trace of deceit, was oddly unsettling. The mad count locked the underground as a key to hide the secret. Although Diello wasn’t actually a mad count, his most powerful knights were guarding this place.
Wasn’t it rather excessive to hide a gift?
I gazed at the silent statues once again.
* * *
And that night, I heard the news of a fire in the annex.
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