Salvation of the Fallen - Chapter 23
While Arsena was hesitating in confusion, Morpheus boldly flung open Rosalyn’s door and nodded towards her. Arsena reluctantly moved her heavy feet.
“Eek!”
Rosalyn entangled haphazardly with two men. Arsena collapsed with a scream at the unfamiliar heat filling the bedroom.
The dress prepared for this day was in disarray, fully exposing her b*ttocks. The man behind her wore nothing but Rosalyn’s jewels dr*ped all over him. With each bestial thrust, the jewels rattled, seeming as if they might shatter.
“Mmph. Ah, hnn.”
Another man’s m*mber was in Rosalyn’s mouth, from which emerged moans close to retching. Her carefully applied lipstick was smeared, and drenched in cloudy saliva.
Though it was her first time seeing intercourse between men and women, she could tell. What Rosalyn was doing now was far from normal.
Even at Arsena’s scream, Rosalyn showed no sign of stopping. As if she couldn’t hear or see anything, she received one man below while sucking on another man’s member above. With her eyes hazily unfocused.
The two men thrusting their hips were no different. They were violating Rosalyn while making unclean sounds like boiling phlegm. As if they couldn’t see anyone else. As if bewitched.
“Close your eyes.”
Even at Morpheus’s command, who had rushed over at Arsena’s scream, she couldn’t take her eyes off the scene. No, she couldn’t even blink, as if her limbs were paralyzed.
“I said don’t look!”
Morpheus frantically blocked Arsena’s blue gaze, cursing loudly. Arsena’s body began to tremble like an aspen.
“What on earth is this…”
The Count, who had arrived belatedly, hurriedly averted his gaze. He couldn’t believe Rosalyn was engaging in such debauchery. And on the day of announcing her marriage, no less. Too much had changed during his absence as he fled from his own sins. The lovely Rosalyn in his memory was no longer a child. He couldn’t bear to look at his child, who had become irreparably broken.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Viareche, who arrived soon after with the Margrave, threw down the wine gla$s she was holding and approached Rosalyn, each step crushing his anger. Even with Viareche’s heavy presence right in front of them, the entangled beasts showed no sign of stopping.
“How dare you…”
She couldn’t forgive the one who had twice tarnished her reputation, daughter or not. After giving up so much Felita to cover up what happened at the imperial palace… To behave so vulgarly on a day like this.
Viareche, gritting her molars, grabbed Rosalyn’s hair and lifted her head to strike her cheek.
With a thud, thick saliva and blood burst from her lips as what she had been holding disappeared. Yet Rosalyn’s mouth gaped, seeking the man’s member again.
With a face frozen in anger, the Margrave tore away the men entangled with Rosalyn and beheaded them on the spot. His white uniform was dyed red with splattered blood.
Thud. Familiar faces rolled towards Arsena. The bloodied forms of the Peter brothers. As Arsena fainted without even screaming, the blood soaking the floor crept up her skirt like a snake.
“Count. A word.”
The Margrave, his speech suddenly curt, nodded and disappeared outside the door. With each of his striding steps, blood spread thickly.
***
“How dare you!”
In the special room of the Katarini family, hidden from the eyes of those filling the banquet hall.
The very place where young Arsena had been silenced by the Count. Where she had trembled in fear of everything being revealed at Viareche’s call. Now, Viareche and the Count sat there. It was due to the Margrave who had taken the seat of honor, displacing the owner.
Despite his suddenly insolent attitude, no one could stop him. Everyone could only pace anxiously. As the butler approached hesitantly, unable to bear it any longer, Viareche lightly raised his hand to stop him.
With the recent scandal still fresh, they had to somehow salvage this unfortunate situation. If not, it was clear that the reputation Viareche had built over a lifetime would crumble in an instant. Never to be rebuilt.
Though unpleasant, she had to persuade the man before her. Fortunately, the opponent was a young, inexperienced Margrave who had just inherited his title. If he made the right proposal, he wouldn’t be able to refuse. Just like everyone else had until now.
“How do you intend to compensate for this disgrace?”
“If it’s compensation money, I can give you as much as you want.”
Such a borderland family. She could give them enough funds to run their territory for 10 years. Whatever he demanded would be mere pocket change to Viareche. Having enjoyed unimaginable wealth, Viareche responded arrogantly.
“As much as I want… Ha!”
The Margrave let out a scornful laugh and pierced Viareche with blazing eyes. His face, with dried blood still visible, looked like a yaksha crawling out of Raiti’s fire.
“Then let’s make it Felita.”
“Margrave. Your joke goes too far.”
As soon as the Margrave’s words fell, Viareche furrowed his brow. This provincial novice wouldn’t know the value of what he was demanding. It wasn’t something a foolish person could dare to ask for. So brazenly.
“Isn’t it you who’s gone too far? If you’re so out of your mind that you don’t even know where your things are, you should at least be discreet. How dare you try to pass such a thing off to me? Did I look that ridiculous to you? What, did you think my ears were as distant as the borderlands because I’m a country bumpkin?”
Viareche’s face turned deathly pale as the truth hit home. More than the fact that he already knew about Rosalyn’s scandal, she feared the intentions of the one who had sent a marriage proposal despite knowing everything.
The man before her was not a foolish novice, but a vicious snake. One that would gnaw at and devour the roots of Felita entirely. As the owner of Felita, Viareche faced a heavy fate before him.
“One-tenth. Send one-tenth of the harvest. Then this matter will be quietly settled.”
The negotiation of one who held absolute advantage was no different from a threat. It was as good as saying that if his demands weren’t met, all of this would not be quietly settled.
Never in her not-so-short life had she been in such a situation. Viareche bit her lip at her humiliating predicament.
“Think carefully. With this incident added to the previous one, it would be quite a sight. Such a filthy scandal for the owner of Felita. The fall of a family can happen in an instant.”
By now, the Margrave was speaking not with the voice of a knight commanding a battlefield, but with that of a seasoned merchant. The Margrave was aiming precisely at what Viareche feared, like a blade to an enemy general’s neck.
If she refused this offer… If the Margrave were to spread word of Rosalyn’s misdeeds…
Viareche could see the castle she had built over the years completely crumbling. A bleak future. The songs that had long praised her would now resound with mockery. The greedy emperor would seize Felita using this incident as an excuse. No. The temple would act first. Though they never expressed it openly, they had been displeased that a divine artifact was in private possession.
But if it’s one-tenth… Wouldn’t it be better to give up a bit of herself rather than lose everything?
No. The Margrave’s demands would surely increase. That cunning snake would not stop. He would slowly strangle her until her last breath.
But to protect everything she had loved so dearly, the only choice she had was to accept the vicious conditions offered by that cunning man.
“…Very well.”
After a long silence, Viareche agreed, as if collapsing. It was better to keep even a piece of herself than to lose everything.
