ITIWAFRBIAHS Chapter 23

6. Cataclysm

"......"

Bloody hell, I have no idea what to do about this sudden turn of events.

Since I don't know what to do, let me lock the door first!

"Rose? Are you there?"

I moved extremely carefully and managed to lock the door with almost no sound. Phew, thank goodness. I'd like to dedicate this success to the staff who maintain even the door locks so meticulously and smoothly.

Well, it's not that I'm certain my stepmother will attack me. The detective might have misunderstood, or the phone might have just broken down at that moment. Still, if this were a novel, there's such a thing as scene atmosphere, and the timing of that phone call cutting out was so ominous that I couldn't ignore it.

The moment I finished that thought, the locked door handle began rattling like a joke. It seems my stepmother is pulling on the handle.

It started rather gently at first, but soon became a harsh noise that echoed throughout the room.

Click-click. ......Click.

Clunk, clunk! Clunk-clunk-clunk.

Clunk......

"......"

The door handle that had been shaking like an earthquake suddenly stopped. Oh, did she give up? No. Given the flow of events, that's unlikely. Sure enough, not noise but a thunderous sound began to resonate!

...BANG!

Bang, bang-bang, CRASH!!

Good heavens, you're stronger than I expected, stepmother. At this rate, you might break down the door. Just in case, I'll take out my pistol!

"Oh my, why did you lock the door? Aren't you happy to see this mother?"

"......"

"Surely, surely you don't misunderstand and think I'm the culprit? Rose, absolutely not. Absolutely not. Please listen to me carefully."

My stepmother pleaded in a soft and sorrowful voice, quite different from how she had been roughly pulling at the door handle.

"The teaspoon discolouration was fabricated. It may have looked like ordinary silver on the outside, but it must have been specially treated. That horrible man who gave you the teaspoon must have done such a thing deliberately to drive a wedge between us mother and daughter. Don't you think?"

No... So you're saying he fabricated the teaspoon to drive us apart, but there's no benefit whatsoever for my fiancé? After all, the inheritance will eventually come to me anyway, so what would be the point of doing such a troublesome and chilling thing? At best, it would only have the effect of making me sick of this mansion and taking me to his house...

Oh... wait, actually this makes sense. This makes sense. This development is familiar.

I've seen this a lot in dark romance novels with scheming male leads...?

A method that an obsessive male lead would use to make everyone around the protagonist distance themselves and occupy only his place beside the protagonist. Later, in the mid-to-late stages, if he sheds tears and snot while reflecting deeply, he becomes a regretful male lead; if he continues with a similar tone, he's established as a trash male lead.

I'm sorry for suspecting, but fiancé, since I've transmigrated into a romance novel, this is a renowned genre worth suspecting at least once...... Let me gather more information.

"......Do you happen to have any other evidence?"

"Ah, Rose!"

My stepmother calls out to me in a voice filled with joy and taps on the door.

"Of course, of course. If you come with this mother, I'll introduce you to the person who exposed this conspiracy. It will surely be a pleasant meeting."

Another witness...... What kind of case is this that's overflowing with nothing but witnesses? Aren't there any material evidence or circumstantial evidence? I looked at the door with jaded eyes.

"So please open the door."

"......"

"Quickly."

Hmm, since I've already opened my mouth to speak, I should naturally ask this question, right? It's actually a very common-sense question that should have been asked first.

"But."

"Yes?"

"How did you return to the mansion?"

Suddenly the outside of the door became quiet. After a brief silence, my stepmother's counter-question popped out.

"Why are you curious about that?"

Wouldn't anyone naturally be curious? The last I saw of you was being dragged away in handcuffs.

"You were taken to the police station. Were you released?"

"Ah, yes! Due to insufficient evidence... Yes. I was released. I rushed here because I missed Rose."

It would be hard to answer more suspiciously than this... And the fact that you're not mentioning Jeril at all until the end is also extremely concerning! Eventually, I hesitantly backed away from the door.

This feels like I'll be kidnapped if I open it. Let's escape!

"Rose? Rose!"

Since it's come to this, I'll escape through the window! Gah!!

I threw my body to break through the window...... but then realised there was no need to do that and calmly unlocked the window latch. I could hear my stepmother calling for me from behind, but I never looked back and quickly climbed over the window, landing flat in the garden. Phew.

Good. I've managed to get out of the room at least. Now what should I do? I don't know whom to trust or what to do. Could this be where the main male lead route branches depending on whom I trust?

Ugh, but I don't have time to think about this. I need to move before my stepmother realises my escape and rushes out to the garden... Then let me move within the garden to avoid being noticed.

I half-raised my body and moved in a very crouched position, stealthily circling around the garden's hedge wall. And I ran into someone completely unexpected.

"Sunset?"

I almost called him the chuunibyou gardener.

It's fortunate that the proper address came out, but what's more concerning is that the young gardener's condition looks very problematic. He's hanging his head low and flailing about like someone who's had a drink in broad daylight. Even though I'm seeing him from the side rather than the front, something feels off.

You didn't see the rose bushes destroyed and go into some concept like 'Life is bitter...... Like the alcohol contained in this shining glass...... That bitter and futile taste. Kukuk......', did you?

"Miss Aubert......"

He's even scraping his voice as much as possible. At this point, I'm seriously starting to pity his future in ten years.......

"Aubert...... Kihihihihihit."

Look at that laugh—he must have practiced that deliberately. Now he just needs to add some black dragon nonsense and it'll be complete. I'm mentally munching popcorn at this whole performance when the young gardener suddenly turns towards me.

And I spat out the mental popcorn I was chewing.

He, what he's holding in his hand...... that looks like a really big awl? ......And dark red blood is dripping from it.

What? What is this?

"Rose!"

Right on cue, my fiancé comes running from one side of the garden. I'm glad to see him, but the distance is still too far. My fiancé urgently raises his hand pointing at the gardener and mumbles something, but because the situation is urgent, I can't understand what he's saying! Speak louder! Damn!!

And like a lie, the young gardener raises his awl and charges towards me!!

AAAAHHH!!! I reflexively fired my pistol. Hit his stomach or thigh!!

Bang!

With a short sound, the bullet miraculously hit the young gardener's side! Good! I avoided a murder record!

But the young gardener... exploded.

"...Huh?!"

Literally... he burst into black water and scattered. The burst water instantly splattered messily about half a metre from where the young gardener had been charging and became a black puddle.

"Uheoeoeok."

What is this? What is he? Why did he become black water? Wait, black water? Could he really be a black dragon?

"Are you alright?!"

"Uoeok."

At that moment, my fiancé, who had reached right in front of me with amazing running speed, grabbed my head with both hands! I made a strange sound at my fiancé's grip strength as he held my head as if it were a watermelon about to be crushed.

And like checking the quality of a watermelon, my fiancé turned my head from side to side to check my condition, then finally hugged it tightly.

"......"

I...... understand that this should be an emotionally heightened atmosphere given the flow of events. But could you let me breathe first? I, I can't breathe properly.

"I, I need to breathe......"

"I, I'm sorry."

My fiancé startled and quickly released my head. Ugh, I almost broke my neck this time. He seems to be the type who loses his reason when he gets too worried.

Hmm, then if he really is a scheming male lead, his emotional line would lean towards regret rather than trash... No. Let me stop this line of thinking for now. At the very least, his worry right now felt genuinely sincere.

My fiancé now holds my hand tightly instead of my head.

Still, perhaps because he's relaxed his strength compared to before, I can feel my fiancé's hand trembling intermittently. ...Or is it not? Is it my hand that's trembling? That's possible too. Anyone would react that way if they shot someone and they suddenly burst like a balloon.

As expected, a dragon... No, there's no way a dragon would be taken down by one pistol shot. Then was it a dragon's clone? The awl he was holding was a dragon tooth. Wow, then maybe what the gardener said last time about master consciousness and such wasn't chuunibyou but earnest sincerity.

But why did he suddenly attack me? Could he have been angry that I couldn't send a message to Jeril? Hmm, that's also possible. Then it might be a narrative where we start from negative affection and gradually become friends.

Anyway, let's sort out this situation first.

"Sh, shouldn't we check that? Someone suddenly......"

"Someone?"

My fiancé suddenly stared into my eyes.

Gosh, he's not blinking even once. His eyelashes are so long that not a speck of dust gets in.

"There was no one."

"......"

"Right?"

"Hmm... Yes, well."

My fiancé must be distorting reality from too much shock. Well, if I had encountered something like this in raw reality instead of a romance novel transmigration, I would have escaped from reality too. For now, I should speak carefully and indirectly without being too stimulating.

I looked at my fiancé pitifully, then suddenly remembered the original reason I had entered the garden.

That's right, stepmother!

So I earnestly explained the situation before climbing over the window. I was slightly worried that he might not be able to accept this story either since he was in shock, but fortunately, perhaps because it was a realistic emergency situation, my fiancé answered firmly.

"That was a very dangerous person. Don't worry."

My fiancé frowned but smiled as if trying to reassure me.

"I'll handle it well."

Hmm...... That sounded a bit like a scheming male lead just now, fiancé. Perhaps it would be better to keep some room for suspicion after all.