Chapter 129 – Thunder
“… So.”
On the first floor of the Gordon family home, Grace sat on the stairs, resting her chin on her head and looking at the two women lying on the floor.
One was a woman she knew well, Mason.
And the other one.
“Who am I?”
The adjutant stood at attention and answered her sighing question.
“I am a servant of the mansion named Jennifer Robinson.”
“Okay? “Is that all?”
“I heard a statement that you have become Isabella’s exclusive user not long ago.”
Because I am an exclusive user.
She looks at Jennifer again, repeating those words in her head. A bright red handprint around her neck.
It was created by Mason.
How did she get such strength from her thin body? Even Grace had to struggle to pull it off her body. Although he managed to get her off, Mason soon passed out after a similar seizure.
They told her that it was probably caused by excessive stress and tension, and they laid her down to recover, and Jennifer, who seemed to show no sign of waking up no matter how much she tried to shake her, was undergoing a drug test.
Grace looked at the bright red marks on Jennifer’s neck a little longer, then read again the letter she had read before Mason attacked her.
-Think carefully. This isn’t where we met. I’m disappointed, sister.
Her memory was correct. She said she, Siana, Mason and Isabella had never been together. This was a trap set by Isabella, and Mason was caught in it.
She stroked her chin with her hand for a moment and then suddenly asked a question.
“Hey, where do you think a kid who doesn’t have many friends will go if he sulks alone?”
“… Yes?”
“Ah, but he has a very courageous personality. You think you are the best in the world, but you are the most miserable in the world. That kid is upset. Then where do you think she will go?”
Her adjutant stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, unable to answer the riddle she had suddenly been given. Grace looked at him for a moment and then laughed.
“Is there a start of the year?”
The adjutant held out a well-rolled cigarette. Grace put a cigarette in her mouth, lit a match, held it to her tip, and inhaled her breath. It was the moment when a thick-smelling smoke spread throughout the magnificent interior of the mansion.
The expressions of those around her were filled with astonishment, but Grace paid no attention.
After repeatedly inhaling and exhaling the tobacco for a while, she called her aide again.
“Hey. “Take off the straps on my back.”
“… Yes?”
“Ah, I’ve been feeling frustrated since before. Just do as I tell you.”
At her frown, the adjutant hurriedly undid the straps of her armor. The shirt underneath was exposed, giving a more refreshing feel. She could breathe easier and move more easily.
Eventually, she disarmed herself one by one and looked similar to how she usually walked around the forest. She is more of a hunter than a capital investigator, armed only with a bow and sword.
She took the blooming butt out of her mouth, threw it on her carpet and crushed it with the heel of her boot. The cries of employees who witnessed the scene could be heard around her, but she completely ignored them.
“You should think about the answer until I come back.”
“Oh, I understand.”
At her command, the adjutant slightly rolled her eyes and slowly opened her mouth.
“I. But where-“
“Where? “You don’t have to go catch Isabella.”
“… Are you speaking alone?”
“So, can you still manage all of these people even if we remove a few people from here?”
Of course, that was impossible. They were well aware of the collusive relationship between farm owners and residents in this area. If they made up their minds to resist, it would be quite a headache.
To be honest, I feel sorry for just one person.
“Hey. “You know who I am.”
I didn’t know. She was quite famous among investigators.
Grace.
Golden eyes like those of a creepy snake.
Amazingly good mind, overwhelming memory. Physical strength that rivals that of male investigators.
And above all, she is stubborn and will not let go of the problem she has committed even if it means death.
Rather, that persistence led her to be transferred to a rural area that was almost like a demotion, but she was a person who had a talent for getting involved in events even in this unremarkable countryside.
Grace, seeing his expression, smiled and nodded.
“I’m coming back for a while. In the meantime, you, my lieutenant, take care of yourself. And, tell Miss Mason this when she wakes up later,”
“What can I tell you?”
“Cave.”
The adjutant’s face was once again filled with doubt, but she didn’t say anything more and turned around. She quietly opens the front door of her mansion and closes her front door behind her.
Shoot aaa-
The wide gray sky was rippled by the merciless pouring rain.
The humid air envelopes her, and the rain that slants under her roof pats her face unpleasantly.
But Grace was fine.
Rather, her pulse beat strongly with each breath she took, and a pleasant heat rose in her head. Stepping to her feet. There was an unpleasant sound on the muddy floor, but today it couldn’t have been a more pleasant sound.
She walked alone through the rain and headed to where Isabella was waiting.
Isabella opened her eyes as she felt a thick feeling deep in her throat.
It was still dark all around her, it was raining outside of her cave, and her box was still there next to her own. When she looked back, forcing her heavy eyes to open, she saw Sianna’s figure covered in a blanket.
The heaviness of her body reminded her that she had fallen asleep for a moment, but she had no idea how much time had passed.
She just stared into space, listening to the sound of the bonfire burning again.
I wonder if they have noticed that we are gone by now.
What did Mason look like when she looked at the letter and leash she had prepared?
I guess I got a surprise gift that I was hiding.
The flow of thoughts that continued one after another is interrupted. Maybe it was because I was extremely nervous. When she lifted her head again after shaking it to come to her senses, there was someone standing at the entrance to her cave.
A ponytail tied back for ease of movement.
Moderately tanned skin as if it had been under the sun for a long time.
And rare golden eyes.
Isabella immediately recognized who she was and smiled.
Her partner also responded to her with a bright smile.
The two looked at each other without saying anything for a while.
In the calm silence created by the pouring rain, a moment of tension as to who will speak first.
“It’s been a while.”
Calm and soft.
“You fucking bitch.”
A sly voice opened its mouth.
Grace grabbed the bottom hem of her top with both hands and twisted it. The stream of water squeezed out by her hand hit the floor with a thumping sound.
Her entire body and hair were soaked with water, as if she had climbed a mountain in a hurry, and her pants and shoes were especially muddy. She smiled as if she felt refreshed.
“Whoa.”
After taking a moment to catch my breath, I entered the cave and flopped down on the floor. Her golden eyes flashed faintly at a distance that was neither too far nor too close to Isabella.
Those eyes are hard to tolerate, Isabella thought.
“… How did you know?”
“What?”
“This place.”
This place, me, my sister, Lucia, and Becky. A secret place just for the four of us.
Why did you come here?
Grace smiled quietly at Isabella’s words. Her eyes were sparkling with an inappropriate playfulness.
“It was so easy.”
“Really?”
“Huh. When I gently poked Mason’s bottom hole with my finger, he was whimpering and blowing alcohol?”
Isabella barely managed to keep her expression from crumpling, but Grace was not one to notice this brief change.
“Hey, hey, it’s just a joke. Lighten up your face.”
Grace still shrugged her shoulders with a calm expression.
“Actually, I saw Lucia and Mason around here before, and I just found them after coming back here later to investigate. “How can I know everything?”
… Come to think of it. I think she said that Lucia brought Mason here.
Let Isabella think for a moment. Grace asked, looking around her head as if she was waiting.
“Siana?”
In response to Grace’s question, Isabella nodded toward her back. Grace’s gaze follows the direction for a moment, then rests on the blanket, and then she realizes what her nod means.
“… “Can I take you down?”
“Of course not.”
“Hmm. Of course so. “I took medicine, I am currently in a state of severe poisoning, and my body is weakened. If I get hit by wind and rain right now, I might die from hypothermia.”
Isabella naturally laughed as Grace shook her head as if it was none of her business.
“I know. Still, should I take you with me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Well, I guess it’s because there’s a better chance of survival if I go down with me than if I stay here with you, right?”
“No.”
At her words, Grace’s eyes frowned as if she was embarrassed.
The two golden eyes did not contain a single emotion.
It was so peaceful that it was an empty image, and no intention could be read within it.
It was natural.
“You don’t really like Mason.”
Hearing Isabella’s words, Grace slowly withdrew her smile. But Isabella continued speaking.
“Actually, whatever happens to Mason, she doesn’t care if Sia or she dies or not. Let’s be honest.”
Isabella said with a smile.
“You just want to defeat me.”
Grace stared at her blankly, her smile withdrawn. The two eyes, which gave the feeling of a reptile glaring, were eyes that would have made an ordinary person shudder.
“What…”
Grace opened her mouth after a moment of silence.
“Like I figured out something great…”
She opened her mouth with emotion for the first time. Disappointing, pathetic.
And funny.
“Isn’t it obvious? The same goes for you!”
Grace said, gesturing to each other as if she was frustrated.
“Didn’t you do all this shit because of your petty pride? Don’t you just want to live a life where you look down on everyone around you, put them all under your feet, and control them as you please? Because you have the ability to do that!”
Isabella said nothing and kept her silence. Grace continued speaking, considering the silence to be consent.
“Right? But I’m the same as you. I get angry when I see kids like you who believe they can do everything their way. Do you know what I think when I see people who think they are the best and cross the line?”
She smiled. Normally, it was a smile that I consciously controlled, but now that I had been holding on and thinking only about this day, it was a smile that I couldn’t control.
“I want to ruin it. I want to see them panicking over situations that are out of their control, and I want to see them despairing in the end. Because just like you-“
She muttered in a low voice, almost like a whisper, but she spoke clearly, as if she were whispering in an ear.
“Because I have the ability to do that too.”
After whispering that, Isabella stretched out her finger and pointed behind her.
“I’m going to take Siana down from here. It’s up to you whether you live here for the rest of your life, run away, or die. What about Siana? If she dies, it’s okay as she dies, if she lives, it’s okay as she lives. “It’s none of my business.”
If Siana dies, I will destroy someone important to you.
“And,”
If Sia Na lives, she can take Mason away from you once and for all.
“Can you stop me? You said you beat me like a dog at the cabin the other day. Should I remind you of that time again?”
Grace stood up and dusted herself off. He wasn’t worth dealing with anymore. He passes Isabella and enters the cave. Siana was supposed to be there.
At that time, she heard the sound of a blanket fluttering behind her.
Grace reflexively turned her head to stop Isabella from running towards her, but Isabella did not get up from her seat.
Instead, there was her Isabella, pointing something of her own at her.
“Do you know what this is?”
Unfortunately she knew what it was. She’d seen her prototype for this thing a few times since she’d been in the capital.
What she had in front of her now was an object that seemed several times more stable than the crude object she had seen back then.
Where did he get this?
There was no need for her to answer. Isabella, seeing Grace’s expression, only smiled.
“I don’t really use the things my father gives me. Now it doesn’t matter anymore, I’ll just pull the trigger no matter what.”
Grace, still in a state of bewilderment, looked at Isabella, the object in her hand, and then again at Isabella’s eyes.
Fear of death? Those were not the feelings she had. However, she was embarrassed that she could meet such a ridiculous thing in her place and meet such a meaningless end.
“… “Where did you get this?”
“My father sent it as a gift.”
“… “Your father is the person who can send that as a gift?”
“It looks like you’ve seen it before?”
“Ha.”
Grace laughed.
Damn leadership bastards. Who on earth and to what extent did they harm it, and how on earth did Gordon receive this?
Grace’s mind was full of questions, but her mouth moved automatically.
“Think straight. I am a water inspector. If I die, you might end up in prison for the rest of your life. “I don’t think you want that more than anyone else.”
“What does that matter?”
What?
What does it matter?
Grace had to doubt her ears to see if she had heard properly. She was Isabella, she was no one else’s Isabella, and there was no way she would give up everything she had achieved.
But as if betraying her expectations, Isabella smiled and whispered.
She said that and started giggling. It was a nervous, paranoid laugh.
“… Mason hates me, Sianna is a fucking asshole now. “Lucia stopped hearing from me a long time ago, and Becky said she won’t come visit me anymore.”
She took care of Mason with the utmost care to keep him away from Isabella. Lucia also scolded her and mentally pushed her away from Isabella.
It was all her work.
I decided to destroy the perfect cage by slowly taking her birds, one by one.
However, if all the birds escaped through the door that was opened to steal one bird.
Naturally, the cage no longer meant anything to the owner.
“Nothing will go as I want in my life any more anyway.”
One of her fingers gently moved towards the trigger.
“If I kill you, what difference will it make?”
An unusually loud thunder rumbled.
It was even more so because the sound was coming from inside a cave.
