Volume 4, Chapter 42 – Confusion and Rescue

Six years is enough to change many things.

Edith’s transformation into the decisive and ruthless count’s eldest daughter was merely a part of her normal growth.

Although Yisi had said that Edith had become the way she was because of the Fallen Mark, “the way she was now” referred to her sadistic tendencies. If the Fallen Mark didn’t exist, Edith would only lack the bad habit of venting her frustrations on slaves; she would still possess the temperament a lord should have: decisive, calm, independent, and exceptionally charismatic.

Recalling her uneventful growth process, Edith let out a sneer.

“In comparison, Refina’s experience is much more interesting.”

She herself, simply because she was a Fallen and destined to die young, was treated as a pitiful thing by her family, who were always ready for their own offspring to inherit the position of head of the Pescia family. Thanks to this, she became independent and would never allow others to interfere with her will. Her so-called paranoia was hatched from this: no retreat, no reliance on others. Only in this way could she silence those talkative collateral branches of the family.

Thus, her personality gradually became willful. Coupled with the influence of her growing irritability, anyone who dared to speak ill of her was executed on various charges. By the time she came to her senses, no one around her looked at her with pity or ridicule anymore. No matter what she said, they could only answer “yes.” If they disagreed or couldn’t do it, they had to be punished.

This was the story of Loiswell Edith Pescia’s growth.

So boring it could be summed up in just a few sentences.

Of course, Edith didn’t think it was a bad thing. This was the life she was supposed to have. It was so in the past, and it should be so in the future. Her decisions were not to be refuted by outsiders. Similarly, she would not abandon the dignity she had fought so hard for—it was now as natural as breathing.

For example, when Yisi kept asking her why she didn’t borrow troops from her uncle and adopt a more stable plan, her answer was that she could not abandon the honor of a noble. Looking back now, it would be more appropriate to say that she could not abandon her personal dignity.

Seeking help from others meant that her own ability was insufficient, and insufficient ability would give others a pretext for gossip. Even though she was no longer bound by the Fallen Mark, the scars of the past still served as a constant reminder.

“It’s more like saying goodbye to a weak past.”

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Laughing at herself, Edith tried to pull the chain on her ankle—no reaction. Unless she performed a heroic sacrifice and cut off her entire left foot, her magic would forever be in a state of depletion.

“It’s a pity there’s nothing sharp.”

She glanced around the cell. There was nothing here but hay.

All she could do was wait.

I’ll rest for a while and regain my strength.

After sitting down on the pile of hay, the recent events unconsciously surfaced in her mind—the person occupying her body, Yisi. She was a person who could easily defeat even a fallen angel, yet after discovering another soul residing in her body, not only did she not strangle it, but she even seemed to want to help.

Incomprehensible.

If it were her, she would have surely erased the person trying to occupy her body without hesitation.

However, Edith also knew that such good people did exist in the world, so she hadn’t paid much attention to it at first. It was only after discovering that the Fallen Mark had been erased, and after being contradicted by Yisi to her face, that she began to take her seriously.

Normally, just contradicting her was enough to be executed, but she could do nothing about Yisi and could only try to persuade her with words. Although the final result was that neither side would give in and they couldn’t agree with each other’s methods, Yisi had understood her insistence. The feeling of being understood was always comforting, and for her, it was even more so.

The fact that she had allowed her to use this body for the assassination was also built on this understanding.

But… Why would that person play this game of fighting for position with her? In fact, she had nothing to give her, and she was not a weak person like Refina who needed to be controlled and wanted to be dominated. Even if she wanted to find a way for them to exist independently, and out of kindness, couldn’t bear to kill her, there was no need to adopt such an inefficient strategy.

“Phew…”

She let out a small breath.

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Perhaps she wanted to see her fall to pieces, or perhaps she was watching her with the mentality of watching a buffoon. Of course, it was also possible that she was attracted by her stubbornness, or simply admired her unwavering self.

A feeling of displeasure flashed through her mind. If it were the first two, she was probably being laughed at. But even if she could do it all over again, she would still choose the same plan. One cannot ignore the means to achieve the end. If she were to abandon the dignity of the count’s eldest daughter to reclaim the title, such a victory would be equivalent to defeat.

Just like those pets who had betrayed her for the sake of pleasure, not only did they have no dignity, but in the end, they had to kneel and beg for her forgiveness.

Pathetic, ugly, laughable.

Both the pets who had abandoned their dignity and her current self.

But it was limited to her “current” self. Those pets could no longer stand up, while she had never backed down.

Shaking off the chaotic thoughts in her mind, Edith took a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes.

The best way to recover her strength was to get some sleep.

However, just as Edith had closed her eyes, the sound of scraping metal echoed in the empty cell.

Screeeech—

A piercing, yet hopeful sound.

Edith subconsciously opened her eyes and looked towards the place where the light was coming from.

The heavy metal door of the dungeon was pushed open, and in came a girl with a purple side ponytail. After looking around for a moment, the girl quickly spotted Edith and hurried over.

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“Master!”

Edith stood up from the pile of hay.

“Refina? What are you doing here?”

“I bribed the soldiers here—no, the soldiers guarding this place already believed that you were the real Miss Pescia. I just gave them the opportunity to pledge their loyalty to you. They have already sent away the soldiers who betrayed you. Let’s get out of here quickly!”

As she spoke, Refina used her metal-gloved hands to forcibly pull open the iron bars of the cell. Thanks to the special training from the past few days, Refina had already gone from level 12 to level 15.

Pulling Edith out of the cell, Refina was about to lead her away, but Edith stopped in her tracks.

“I have magic restraints on me. I can’t run very fast.”

“Those bastards actually used magic restraints on you…”

As she spoke, Refina squatted down, grabbed both ends of the chain, and prepared to forcibly break the chain that was attached to the iron ball.

“Wait. Breaking the magic restraints will alert the user. Give me a knife.”

“You’re going to…?”

Refina’s gaze fell on Edith’s left foot. As if understanding something, her face turned pale.

“No! I can’t let you do this!”

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What Edith wanted to do was simple—cut off her left leg.

Edith frowned.

“What are you hesitating for? Those soldiers can’t buy us much time. We will be blocked by others on our way out. I must have the ability to protect myself.”

The wounds could be healed with magic potions, but if the magic restraints were not removed, she would be no different from an ordinary girl with no strength to even tie up a chicken.

However, Refina stubbornly stuck to her own opinion and did not follow Edith’s command. She directly squatted down and carried Edith on her back—along with the magic restraints and the iron ball.

“This way, there won’t be a problem.”

Even though she had defied her command, Refina’s face was filled with a relieved smile.

Edith let out a cold snort.

“The soldiers in the city won’t let us leave.”

“I’ve already made preparations.”

Preparations? What could possibly be prepared? The assassins I left outside? A hundred or so assassins can’t change anything.

Even so, Refina still carried Edith and left the cell.

Just as Refina had said, the soldiers guarding the cell just stood there, giving Edith the Hyurent military salute, showing no signs of obstructing her.