Born as the Hidden Daughter of a Villainess and the Male Lead

<Episode 55>

 

***

“Ugh…”

A moan naturally flowed from my mouth.

I struggled to move my rigid body and finally succeeded in raising my eyelids.

“…Where am I?”

And I stared in confusion for a long time, unable to accept the sight that came into view.

I was swallowed up by an unknown black gust of wind and lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a quiet forest behind a magnificent and splendid old castle that was comparable to the Heilian Archduchy.

…What?

I blinked and looked at the bright blue sky, no different from the one I had always seen, and the old castle with its piercing spires.

A flock of white birds flew across the quiet sky.

Why is there such a peaceful and sunny atmosphere in the invitation that I was dragged in by a black fog that looked ominous to anyone?

Step–

“oh?”

“!”

At that moment, a stranger suddenly came from behind and let out an exclamation in seemingly friendly voice.

I was so startled that I jumped up from where I was lying down and turned to look in the direction the voice came from.

“How did this little lady, who looks so precious from the first glance, end up alone in a place like this?”

A young woman, who I assumed was a maid from her appearance, was looking at me with a surprised expression.

She was a perfectly living person.

…How did this happen?

I couldn’t understand the situation, so I looked up at her blankly.

“Are you the lady the customer brought along? What is your name?”

“…….”

Is it okay to go with the flow?

The ghost stories I had read in my past life flashed through my mind.

In times like this, if you give a careless answer or follow where someone tells you to go, wouldn’t you most likely end up with a terrible ending?

But… I thought with tears in my eyes.

It was not a solution to keeping one’s mouth shut.

“I…..I’m lost.”

First, let’s continue the conversation while avoiding revealing any information about my identity as much as possible.

“Oh, really? Can you tell me which family you are from? I will take you to your family.”

“No… I remember that well…”

I don’t even know where I am or if it’s the real world, so how can I bring up the word ‘Hailian’? … …

The same goes for Bastevan.

And there was one rule that was considered important in ghost stories: not to reveal one’s name carelessly.¹Wise, indeed ಡ⁠ ͜⁠ ⁠ʖ⁠ ⁠ಡ

Especially if a person suddenly appears in this strangely peaceful place.

She was silent for a moment in response to my answer and studied me intently.

“……..”

Then, with a friendly smile, she took my hand and helped me up.

“First of all, let’s not stay here and go into the Duke’s residence.”

“………The Duke?”

I suddenly asked back at the words that came out of the maid’s mouth.

Then the maid tilted her head and said, as if she was puzzled by my reaction.

“This is Duke Kandel’s residence. Didn’t you know?”

“Yes……?”

Crazy, where the hell did I get sucked into?!

I froze in panic and looked up at the maid.

I was caught by a black fog coming out from the invitation that Oried opened.

And what came into view was a magnificent mansion that existed before my eyes.

The identity of that mansion… It was none other than Duke Kandel’s residence.

This is a family that was so cruelly exterminated that it is said that they were erased in return for breaking a taboo long before I was even born.

Why then… Does it look just fine and even have signs of people living there?

…Where on earth am I?

“Let’s go in now. I don’t know your story, but…”

The maid, who was gently pulling me as I stood there in confusion, looked down at me with strange eyes and said…

“If you go to Duke Kandel’s residence, everything will be okay.”

 

***

 

I went in Duke Kandel’s mansion in almost half-conscious, caught in a whirlpool of fear and doubt.

“…….”

But it was the exact opposite of what I had imagined to be a den of evil.

In an extremely peaceful and everyday atmosphere, employees went about their business and chatted occasionally, and smartly dressed gentlemen and ladies walked past me at a leisure pace.

What, why is this… So peaceful?

I looked around frantically, holding the maid’s hand, as we walked around Duke Kandel’s residence for a while.

Then after some time, the maid suddenly stopped in front of a huge hall.

“Now, let’s go in.”

She led me inside.

It was a hall as vast as the sea, comparable to the main hall of the imperial palace.

There was a huge pattern engraved on the floor that must have been drawn by several people.

As I stepped on the overlapping pattern of a snake curled up, I was inwardly amazed at its scale.

… By the way, I think I’ve seen this pattern somewhere before.

When did I see it…

“Ah”

After some moments, I remembered where I saw it.

The invitation from the Kandel family.

The pattern engraved on the vast floor I was standing on was hundreds of times larger than the pattern drawn on the invitation.

The moment I realized that fact, I noticed that the maid leading me with her gentle hand was heading towards the center of the black magic ceremony.

And then, surprised by the size of this hall, scenes that I had not paid attention to began to come into view.

As I entered the center of the pattern, there were children who seemed to be my age, numerous young men and women, and people who appeared to be elderly, as many as a hundred people were sitting in different directions.

Just as if they were separated by age.²Well, I think it is a universal law for the main character to always attract trouble…

…Something is strange.

My clenched hands started to get wet with sweat.

An ominous feeling that made me wonder why I hadn’t felt it from before came to me all at once, and I was about to recite the summoning spell after slight hesitation.

Tuk-

The maid suddenly let go of my hand and pushed me on the back.

“-uh?!”

The push made me fall to the floor.

“What…”

I looked up at the maid in confusion.

She said, still looking down at me with the same friendly smile as before.

“Okay, I don’t know where this pretty and seemingly precious young lady came from, but the more offerings, the better…Lady, please also become a sacrifice for our master.”

“……What?”

Once the shock was swept away, the remaining emotion in me was an ominous alarm.

Even if something is wrong, it is clear that it is extremely wrong and ominous.

I looked around in confusion.

Are you saying that all those people were prepared to be used as sacrifices?

“……You, children of life that does not perish, answer the call of the one whom you have blessed with an immortal heart, [Oried]!”

As I was sucked into the invitation, I didn’t know if the summons to Oried had been lifted or what had happened, but in this situation, his help was desperately needed.

However.

“Why….”

There was no summons.

I was shocked and recited the summoning spell again.

But the result was still the same.

The maid standing in front turned and left as if she had no regrets.

As I looked at that figure, I realized.

Perhaps this is not reality but a world in an invitation.

I don’t know if it’s a reenactment of the past, or if I’ve really jumped through time and come to the past Duke Kandel’s residence…

Maybe as I am not a being belonging to this world, I am not qualified to use mana to summon spirits.

“What, then am I going to be sacrificed like this?”

I muttered in confusion and soon realized.

No way, this is the taboo that should have never been broken.

Nevertheless, the sins committed by the Kandel family was revealed.

“Was it a human sacrifice?!”

Belatedly, my heart sank.

I had no way of knowing what kind of being this offering was being offered to, nor did I have the presence of mind to guess.

“Ugh…… ”

I immediately stood up and tried to run away, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get away from where I was sitting, wondering what on earth they had done to the complicated magic spell engraved in black on the floor to have this effect.

“No….”

I was overcome with despair and chewed my lips.

What should I do?

How can I get out of this terrible situation?

At that moment, everyone standing everywhere began to kneel at once, except for the sacrifices already kneeling on the floor.

I stared at them in shock.

Soon they were shouting in voices filled with madness and adoration.

“Master Meinhardt has arrived!”

“Waaah-!”

Heck! This greeting is like what a pseudo-religion leader would be received with.

As I was mesmerized by the strange and shocking sight that I didn’t realise…

“……uh?”

What they were shouting…

I shouted in astonishment as I pondered over the all-too-familiar name.

“… Meinhardt?!”

Why did that name pop out here?

No, that’s not right. It could be someone with the same name……That should make more sense, right?

Just as I was trying to calm my agitation by having some southing thoughts, a small figure began to emerge among the kneeling crowd.

I stared in despair at the figure of the ‘Master’ who had finally revealed himself.

It was a child.

Was he at most one or two years older than me?

It was a small boy of similar age to Ashamed.

Jet-black eyes contrast with dazzling golden hair.

That extremely emotionless face looked somewhat familiar.

“Ah….”

I realized something as I looked up blankly at the boy walking right past me.

That boy was clearly the Meinhardt I knew.

This is what he looked like when he was young…

Then… Is this place really none other than the former residence of Duke Kandel?

I looked around with anxiety.

A family whose name can no longer be mentioned because they were exterminated for breaking a taboo.

A famous family from the past that produced Judith Sephemia Kandel, the Great Spiritualist of Electricity, who was my grandfather’s special close friend and comrade who went through the battlefield together.

“………Oh my god.” ‎‫

Everyone in that family kneeled down, calling the boy “young master.”

As I put all the facts together, I finally realized.

Meinhardt…

“He is a blood relative of Judith Sephemia Kandel…?”