CH 55

The mother whispered softly as she touched the quiet Ophelia’s cheek.

“I don’t know what the wind blew, but you changed after the National Foundation Day. Until then, you were just living as you went, without any ambition or any hopes or goals for the future, so from this mother’s point of view, I wanted to do something.”

“Uh… uh…”

Before and after the National Foundation Day… Probably so.

That was when the infinite regression started. While experiencing miserable and causeless deaths that no one knew about except Richard, let’s survive as if there was no tomorrow and then run away with the secret funds! The motto of life had completely changed.

But Ophelia couldn’t explain all those things to her mother.

Ophelia tilted her head vaguely, blurting out a mumble.

Fortunately, her mother just lightly sighed, as if she hadn’t thought about prying.

“I’m not saying that you’re living your life wrong. I just thought that if you had goals, you would be able to live a more colorful life. So, if I pushed for an engagement like that, I knew you would do anything to kick it.”

“Haha.”

Watching her daughter avoiding her eyes and her dry smile slipping, her mother grabbed her cheeks and stretched it.

“Haha, what do you mean ‘haha’. I gave you trouble to make you show your abilities, but you used it to collect secret funds.”

Ophelia was taken aback by the unanticipated words that came from the mouth of a completely unexpected person.

“That… did you know that too?”

“Wouldn’t you be interested?”

Ophelia’s secret funds.

Well, although it was ‘secret’ funds, it was not hidden very deeply, so anyone should be able to find out who the owner of the gold was if they set their mind to it.

But for that to happen, one would have to go through quite a cumbersome process.

Her mother was the woman who was currently in charge of Bolsheik.

She could have figured it out if she wanted to, but, as earlier said, she had to be more than interested.

It was definitely something she had to put time and effort into.

“The secret fund is smoothly growing, and a house to live in and a job to sustain your needs are well-obtained and prepared step by step… You’ve been hiding them.”

Ophelia had nothing to say even if she had ten mouths.

“Ophelia.”

Her mother cupped Ophelia’s cheek and looked straight into her eyes.

“Remember who you are.”

As blue eyes widened slightly, a smile bloomed on her mother’s lips.

“My daughter. Ophelia.”

The touch brushing her red hair was meticulous.

“You are a Bolsheik.”

The family name contained pride; it was also proud of its people.

“If you want to do something, anytime, anything.”

The older woman whispered as she peered into Ophelia’s hazy blue eyes.

“Keep in mind that you can. That Bolsheik will be happy to do anything for you.”

Ophelia was somehow ashamed of the confidence she felt in her mother’s calm words and the soft affection that underlaid it that tickled her insides more than that.

Maybe she forgot because it was so obvious.

Was it because she was so close that she couldn’t know?

Her mother did not disapprove of her as she thought, nor did she see her only as a tool for her family.

All her complacent thoughts were wrong.

Her mother acknowledged her, wanted her to develop her abilities, and said that Bolsheik would give everything if she wanted it.

Bolsheik, a family so old that it was said its history coincided with the beginning of the continent.

That was why it was also a family with a history that could not be imagined, no, more than imagined.

Its current evaluation was just a toothless tiger, but well.

There was a saying, ‘A rich man can last three years even if he bankrupts’, so could it be that a family that has had more prestige than just being rich for such a long time was just a paper tiger?

That was unknown, but there was probably no family in the present empire that had not owed a debt to Bolsheik at least once.

If she looked for it, she would be able to find some connection with the Marquisate of Neir.

After all, wasn’t it Bolsheik that had a crazy history of a reincarnator, possessor, and even guests from another dimension?

Suddenly, an unfounded confidence that she could do anything surfaced.

Before long, Ophelia threw a joke mixed with mockery.

“Even things that seem impossible? Like getting out of the damn loop of regressing indefinitely?”

It was a joke that anyone would retort ‘Don’t say nonsense,’ but her mother answered by lowering her lips to Ophelia’s wet forehead.

“Yes. Even something like that.”

Ophelia stammered as her mother made her close her eyes and patted her chest slowly.

“Then… then… now… I won’t… have a bad dream…”

The touch of her mother as she looked down at her daughter as she fell into a deep sleep without finishing her words wasn’t as sweet as before, but it didn’t stop either.

And that day, Ophelia didn’t have a nightmare for the first time in a long while, and she was able to sleep soundly as if she had milk and honey.

.

Around the time Ophelia was suffering from a nightmare.

Raisa was preparing for a nightmare.

Not for herself, of course, but for her mother.

“A new drug?”

“Yes. As I’ve said, it has been spreading extensively lately.”

Raisa twirled the small bottle around in front of her eyes.

The agent standing in front of her had survived safely under her for a long period of time, no, an incalculably long period of time, including the hours of her regression.

Although the situation changed slightly each time she regressed, he had never been out of her sight.

She had to say… he was capable enough, that his survival instincts were excellent.

There must be a reason when that kind of guy didn’t go to the main point right away.

Had it been for other things, she would have blown him off at once, but she lifted her chin instead. 

“So? What’s the use of this?”

“It’s a medicine that invigorates and relieves pain.”

“It’s a common medicine.”

“There are no side effects.”

The hand that was spinning the bottle stopped.

“There aren’t any side effects?”

“Yes.”

Pain-relieving drugs were often accompanied by tremendous side effects.

The most representative of these was a drug that had the label of ‘medicine’ but was used as ‘poison’.

The corners of Raisa’s mouth twisted.

“I’m not suggesting you eat this for that reason.”

“The drug itself has no side effects. Just…”

“Just?”

“It’s said that if you mix it, there’ll be very strong addictive symptoms and intellect breakdown.”

“It’s poison.”

“Yes. And the medicine that it needs to be mixed with is also relatively easy to obtain, but very expensive.”

“Even if it’s discovered, the excuse that it’s for yourself can be made.”

The agent bowed deeply, and a more shady smile spread across Raisa’s already twisted mouth before disappearing.

“Too perfect.”

The sarcasm in it was clear.

Nothing in this world could be so perfect as a dream.

“There’s no reason not to use it. Who knows about this drug?”

“The drug itself spread widely in the back streets in a short time, but it’s likely only those who sell it know how to mix it.”

“A secret is a secret only in the grave.”

Raisa waved her hand ever so lightly and ordered someone’s death.

“Kill them all. By any means necessary.”

However, despite her order, the agent did not easily bow his head.

Raisa gave a small nod to him as she eyed him carefully.

She had come up with a pretty plausible way to slam her mother’s head onto the floor, so that was to be expected.

“Tell me.”

“You told me to deal with everyone who knows, but it might be best to not do so until we can produce this drug ourselves.”

“You mean to keep the original producer alive?”

“Yes.”

Raisa happily agreed, rolling the medicine bottle in her hand.

“Of course we should. No.”

The corners of her mouth twisted and a sly smirk caught on.

“Bring the original producer. If he rebels, you can cut off his legs. Even if he doesn’t have legs, he can make the drug.”

“Yes. I will deal with it. And the supply of other drugs in the future.”

Indeed, this agent never disappointed Raisa.

He was still trying to prepare for the supply of drugs even though it hadn’t been confirmed it works.

But tools were just tools.

Raisa did not give him a satisfied smile, pat him on the shoulder, or guarantee his life.

He, too, could be replaced at any time, so what was the meaning of those actions?

And the answer to the question he asked was also in that context.

“When such a bug dies, other bugs take their place. They are useful in their own way, aren’t they?”

The agent bowed deeply, and Raisa issued an order.

Left alone in the midst of poison and medicine, Raisa shook an almost perfect mixture.

The flowing liquid was pale pink, so it looked like a cute accessory.

And no one would be wary of such a cute trinket.

Anyone would just think it’s insignificant.

Just like how Raisa’s mother treated her.

“It’s not that I’m not cute.”

Sneering, Raisa looked at the medicine that was to be mixed with this drug.

Unexpectedly, there were a lot of cases where medicine became poisonous when mixed with another.

“Does mother know?”

Raisa calmly touched the lined-up poisons.

Marchioness Neir treated hers and her daughter’s body like crap.

It must have been a natural step for her to collect so many poisons that she couldn’t count even if she put all her hands and toes together in preparation for all the poisoning threats in the world.

For an unimaginably long time, she had been by her mother’s side.

Ame: my mother called me while I was translating the mother-daughter talk lmao made me jump even though i’m not doing anything bad and don’t have a guilty conscience (right????? *eyes quaking*)

Dea: we jumped from a healthy mother-daughter relationship to this trainwreck haha