#11. The Mad Dog’s Unexpected Obsession

The maids who realized they were screwed desperately shouted.

“N-No! It’s a misunderstanding!”

“Th-That’s right. It wasn’t our intention at all, the Miss, no, the lady misunderstood our words……”

I watched as the higher-ranked maids who had accompanied Johanna knelt down with pale faces and pleaded.

Right, you were there too.

When I was falsely accused of stealing the Divine Beast’s egg by Penelope and insulted as the shame of Dragonia. Back then, they tried to remove me from Taran’s sight.

Calling me ‘that thing.’

And now these same people so easily submitted to Kalenso.

Some of them even had the audacity to shoot glances at me, begging for help.

‘Ah, how amusing.’

So this is what it takes to bully the Grand Duke’s daughter, even if she’s lowborn. I inwardly sneered and deliberately closed my eyes.

“M-Miss……”

The maids’ pleas were quickly cut off by Kalenso’s growl of “Shut up.”

‘Come to think of it, he called me a fool.’

I smiled bitterly at the sudden memory.

Perhaps because it was from so long ago that it might as well be called a past life, I don’t remember much about my life before entering Dragonia.

What I do remember is the father who appeared one day. The three brothers he mentioned. Just the excitement of having a family.

‘I was so ignorant.’

People looked unfavorably upon the youngest daughter of Dragonia who suddenly appeared, and as I received cold treatment everywhere, I came to admire Kalenso, who at least appeared to be around my age.

‘Brother Kalenso!’

‘Move aside. I need to train.’

But Kalenso was indifferent to me. As if he couldn’t care less about a younger sister who suddenly appeared.

‘C-Can’t you take a short break? Today, Madam Penelope……”

‘Madam?’

I was about to say that there would be snacks.

Kalenso glared at me with cold blue eyes. Confused by the unexpected reaction, I hesitated.

‘Yes, that fourth wife, Brother Taran’s aunt……”

‘Shut up!’

At that moment, Kalenso, who had only been indifferently pushing me away, harshly rebuked me.

‘There is no fourth wife in Dragonia, you fool!’

Back then, I didn’t know. About the secret struggles and power conflicts surrounding the lady’s position in Dragonia.

‘How could I know? It’s not like I had subordinates sent from my maternal family like the other three brothers.’

But I couldn’t say that then.

I was too scared by Kalenso’s anger to move my lips.

‘Get lost.’

I could only helplessly watch his back as he walked away while my whole body froze.

After that, Kalenso, who wasn’t particularly pleased with the youngest family member who suddenly appeared to begin with, treated me like a stone.

‘Neglected by father, ignored by the three brothers.’

It was probably from then on that people watching Dragonia began to see me as ‘a half-wit who could be bullied.’

‘……That was in my past life.’

I tried to relax my painfully clenched fist and thought.

The lady of Dragonia, Partanie, who was treated as a fool and a half-wit, is dead. It’s over. This is just a nightmare.

If I seriously empathize with those emotions, I lose. Reminding myself of this over and over, I took a deep breath.

‘Since he was so harsh even to me, his youngest sister, he must be even more merciless to the maids.’

I wondered if this was enough to clear the quest. How far should “eliminate” go?

‘Would firing them be sufficient?’

That’s what I was thinking.

Shing— The longsword hanging at Kalenso’s waist revealed its gleaming white blade.

‘Wait, a sword?’

As my eyes widened, Kalenso smiled like a dog baring its fangs.

“Time for a complete staff change.”

The light flashed, and the sword had already cut through the air.

“Ahhh!”

Johanna, who tried to escape, fell to the floor.

‘Is he really going to kill her right here?’

I had expected Kalenso to be enraged, but this was beyond my expectations. My eyes widened in surprise, and Johanna, terrified, begged frantically.

“F-Forgive me! Young Lord Kalenso, please show mercy just this once……”

“Shut up.”

But Kalenso clicked his tongue in annoyance and raised his sword again.

Intense killing intent emanated from him. It was enough to make even my skin tremble, though I wasn’t the target. My body hair stood on end from instinctive fear.

At that moment, I realized.

‘He’s not just angry.’

Kalenso was about to use the right of summary execution allowed only to the children of the family head.

With this realization, I felt a chill.

‘So “eliminate” meant taking a life!’

Bang!

It was then that my bedroom door, which had long since lost its original function, was flung open as if breaking.

“Lord Kalenso! Please stop, stop this!”

A man rushed in and knelt as if clinging to Kalenso’s waist.

Kalenso kicked away the man who clung to him and snapped irritably.

“What is it, get lost. Do you want to die?”

“Lord Kalenso, you cannot kill people by recklessly wielding your sword like this!”

“Why not? What’s wrong with it? These vermin dared……”

“If they’ve committed crimes, they should be punished properly, how can you end it so simply!”

“……?”

Wait a minute.

I froze as I nodded along to the subordinate’s direct words, spoken while trembling.

‘That’s the reason it’s not allowed?’

In the midst of my daze, subordinate #2 who followed shouted.

“That’s right! It shouldn’t end with just a sword strike!”

“We must properly teach these Barshava people a lesson!”

“This isn’t something to finish by just dealing with these few!”

“……”

They’re all crazy. Not in their right minds.

“You have a point.”

So that’s the reasoning…

I gave up trying to think further. Well, Kalenso’s subordinates couldn’t possibly be normal people.

As the saying goes, clear water flows from a clear source—if the master is a rabid dog, how could his subordinates be normal?

“Take them all away.”

“Yes, my lord!”

“L-Lord Kalenso!”

“Mercy, please forgive us just this once……”

At Kalenso’s command, his subordinates approached Johanna and the maids.

My room was in complete chaos with Penelope’s subordinates resisting, crying, and clinging while Kalenso’s subordinates dragged them away.

Among them, Johanna desperately tried to make eye contact with me while shouting “Help me!”

‘……Why should I?’

Since it would be a waste to even answer such a person, I didn’t give her my attention.

“Aaaah! No—!”

The screams disappeared after Kalenso’s “Ah, so noisy” and a thudding sound.

This situation was somewhat my intention. Because the half-wit lady of Dragonia, Partanie, who was disrespected everywhere, couldn’t eliminate Johanna with her power alone.

‘So I brought in Kalenso.’

Using barbarians to control barbarians.

I deliberately triggered Kalenso’s anger, incited his rage, and then used his power to sweep away Penelope’s subordinates.

[Congratulations on completing the quest! As a reward……]

And that strategy was successful. I felt relieved that the maids who had been tormenting me were all driven out.

But that feeling was short-lived.

As I looked at Kalenso up close, my mood gradually sank.

‘I’m sick of this.’

Both the past wounds I thought I had forgotten being reopened, and having to continue seeing the perpetrator who inflicted those wounds.

It felt like my heart was being clawed. Even breathing was slightly difficult.

‘Such a fool.’

As if Kalenso’s voice was echoing again, I squeezed my eyes shut.

‘This is a past life, just a nightmare.’

But perhaps because I had repeated it so many times, even such rationalization no longer worked properly. My nails painfully dug into my palms.

“Hey.”

Kalenso’s voice was coming from too close.

Slowly raising my head, what I saw were the characteristic bright blue eyes of Dragonia.

Looking around, the space had become quiet, with neither maids nor Kalenso’s subordinates in sight.

“What are you?”

But why is this guy still here and not gone?

“Why do you have such a strange face?”

“Strange face…?”

I unconsciously raised my hand to touch my face.

“Yes, strange.”

Kalenso repeated his short answer.

‘That seems rich coming from someone who just went on a sword-wielding rampage in someone else’s room.’

I found it absurd, but he was serious.

“You’re different. Your manner of speech, your expressions. And……”

Kalenso, narrowing his eyes, looked directly at me and said.

“Even your gaze.”

“……!”

Only then did I realize.

Originally, at this point, I had been following Kalenso around. Until I was harshly kicked away for calling someone the fourth wife.

‘Is this point in time before that incident?’

I’m not sure. Perhaps because it’s from a past life, the timeline doesn’t come to mind clearly.

“It’s strange.”

Kalenso is a mad dog.

That means he has dog-like intuition. A rabid dog that bares its teeth at the slightest suspicion.

It means the sword that was pointed at Johanna could be pointed at me too.

“Why have you changed?”

Not wanting to be stabbed even if this was a nightmare, I tensed up.

What should I do when I can’t face Kalenso with this weak body?

“Ch-Changed? What do you mean?”

“You, you like me.”

“……?”

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

What did he just say?

“So why don’t you have that face that says you’re dying to like me anymore?”

Kalenso tilted his head as he spoke. As if he truly couldn’t understand.

Only then did I realize.

Kalenso, at this time, you knew well that I liked you, that I wanted to follow you as an older brother and wanted to be loved as a sister.

‘And yet, you called me a fool and ignored me.’

As if it didn’t matter at all whether I was hurt or not.