PEGI 21 Warning, this chapter contains depictions of immoral practices such as child torture, incest, bestiality, cannibalism, and mental degradation.
Genova County
The noble lineage earned the title of 'Paragon of Talents,' because each and every descendent born in that family was a genius who had absurd talents in some specific field that shines regardless of any circumstances.
Because of the Genova family's bloodline talents, the prestige and influence they wielded were overwhelming.
But even in that house of monsters, one descendant stood out, 'Isabel Ron Pierre Genova,' who became an Apollyon-class elemental wizard at the age of 16.
Attracted by Genova's bloodline talents, many aristocratic households wished to marry someone from Genova's line. However, in order to keep its bloodline pure, those of the Genova established an incestuous tradition.
Many noble houses expressed their disgust upon those traditions, but at the same time, there were nobles who agreed with the incestuous practice in order to keep their bloodline pure.
And because of those practices, the Genova county always produced peerless geniuses in each generation without fail.
However, because of those Bloodline purity ideals, those of Genova's line were extremely racist and didn't interact with the rest of the world, choosing to live in seclusion.
But those of the Genova's Bloodline paid a heavy price for their talents, they carried both a blessing and a curse.
Starting from the 17th anniversary, those of the Genova bloodline manifested twisted and corrupted desires every full moon, often leading them on the path of lunacy.
'... '
Whir.
Resting her head in the carriage, Laura de Charles Rosenberg vividly recalled the memories of her previous life as Isabel Ron Pierre Genova.
Her 17th birthday.
Following the curse, when the full moon rises, those of the Genova's bloodline gathered in their mansion's basement, which was only accessible on the night of the full moon.
Her own mother, who was kind and noble, now screamed like a harlot while mating with pigs and horses, and her father, who always showed her the same kind and lovely smile, now consumed human flesh with a look of pure ecstasy on his face.
Isabel tried to run away from that madness but in the end, she too was someone who carried the cursed bloodline.
On that night, overcome by the madness, Isabel dragged one of the kids from the orphanage that existed in her family's estate to the mansion's basement and then slowly tortured the child, ripping parts of her body while listening to her cries of agony before killing her.
Isabel's curse manifested in the desire to brutally torture and then kill those who were innocent or showed her some sort of goodwill.
While shuddering from the extreme pleasure coursing through her body, after tainting and destroying that child for showing her some measure of affection, Isabel outcried her last bit of reason.
And when the night had ended, the Genova family left the basement as if nothing happened and returned to their daily life, except for Isabel, who had gone mad.
The young lady laughed like a lunatic, after experiencing the truth about the Genova's family bloodline.
And so, Isabel too learned about the incestuous practices of her family, which was established not for the purpose of preserving the purity of their blood but to hide their corruption, profanity… and madness.
This realization about the truth of the Genova family's blood was disgusting enough to make her vomit immediately, and after this incident, Isabel tried to deny this reality, often deluding herself that what happened was just a nightmare.
However, Isabel was left broken as a result of her cursed bloodline getting triggered on every full moon. And after struggling for two years, she gave up on her quest to search for a cure to her family's curse, rather the young lady focused her talents on her new goal.
To wipe out the Genova Family from this world.
For her, the act of partaking in her family's incestuous practices and passing down the cursed blood to her own child was something Isabel abhorred.
So she became a witch.
By massacring innocent people, Isabel branded the previous 'Blessed' bloodline of the Genova family as vile and evil, forcing the Imperial family to hunt the Genova down and exterminate every single descendant because of the 'Witch of Genova.'
But being a Genova herself, Isabel thought she didn't have the right to kill her own family, and even with the curse running through her veins, she still wanted to preserve her family's reputation.
So Isabel endeavored alone and successfully concealed the truth about her family's curse, while also bearing the stigma of her family all by herself.
Thanks to this, the only stain on the Genova's family record is the acts of Isabel, 'The Witch of Genova,' who was born from the previous noble lineage.
'I can't let anyone know the truth about this…'
While the carriage moved steadily, Laura couldn't help but sigh at her previous and present life.
She still remembered her shock when those disgusting and miserable memories of her past life suddenly appeared on her 13th birthday.
After remembering her past life, she couldn't help but be deeply grateful for how happy her new life is turning out to be.
'I am… was Isabel Ron-Pierre Genova, but how could I have a less understanding about my own corpse than him?'
When Laura heard that the Imperial family was putting Isabel's body up for an auction, she tried her best to get her hands on it.
This was her way of showing her past self how happy she is now, and how deeply she appreciates the gift of a new life she received.
Laura realized that as soon as the Bruteins started to participate in the bid, her chances were slim to none. But she rekindled her hope when she came upon the statement Ferzen declared in the past.
Thoughtfully, Laura still couldn't believe that Ferzen managed to win against her in a fair duel, demonstrating his uncanny understanding and his absurd proficiency with his mana, even when he lowered his mana level to match hers.
That's right, it's the Brutein family.
Many have already accepted Ferzen's challenge and were defeated, increasing the fame of Brutein.
But Laura lost completely.
Despite having the actual memories of Isabel Ron Pierre Genova's life, she still lost.
'Why the hell... '
Certainly, the man possessed great analytic skill, for being able to determine that Isabel had the habit of smoking, but this was only something Isabel did to relieve her stress, not some great secret that could grant insights about her.
'Pervert… !'
Remembering the embarrassing moments of the duel, Laura could still hear Ferzen's words after he examined Isabel's crotch.
It seems that she's still a virgin. It's not even discolored yet…
His voice was devoid of any semblance of emotion, his tone entirely professional, but… even then, this situation was too much for Laura…
"Is there something wrong, my lady?'
"N-no?… everything is okay, it's all o-okay…"
Because of Laura's albinism, her blush was visible, causing Laura's nanny and personal maid to become worried about her.
"Still my lady… I'm glad that man was different from what we expected. I thought he would use this duel as an excuse to bully you, my lady. Well, even if he did threaten you with regular seminars fufufu."
"R-right, h-he wasn't bad… "
Feeling a little exhausted, Laura leaned back and sat more comfortably in the carriage.
In any case, the fact that she lost despite having Isabel's memories meant that he must be a genius beyond imagination.
'Perhaps I could learn something from him after all..'
Even if she had the memories and experiences of an Apollyon-class Elemental Wizard
But not that this could help her a lot as now Laura was just Keter-class warlock.
That knowledge of elemental wizards was almost useless to her now.
And the usual way of learning about one's magical skill for the first time, or in Laura's case the second, usually meant spending huge amounts of money contracting a private tutor and then signing a magical contract of nondisclosure on what you learned.
Those tutors would probably just bore the student with their dull lessons, with little to no practical use, and then give you a long test that in fact didn't prove that you mastered anything.
Even if you demand more useful knowledge, those 'tutors' are more preoccupied with checking their teaching plans than actually teaching…
'I don't really want to go… … '
Since she's a Rosenberg they wouldn't treat her badly in any situation, but wouldn't they laugh at her if the Rosenberg's young lady stuttered while talking to someone?
I won't even learn anything useful there too…
This sure is going to be boring.
But it's not like she could refuse the academy's scholarship, as that would be the same as squandering the Imperial family's prestige and 'generosity'.
"Oh my lady, it seems that your 17th birthday won't be held at our estate. Please understand."
"Ah…"
Laura visibly flinched at her nanny's words.
Because the topic of her 17th anniversary was something taboo for her.
Of course, there is no Genova's blood flowing in her veins now.
So, obviously, everything will be okay… right?
* * * * *
Euphemia looked like a kitten who just got adopted into a new home. She looked at the spire-shaped buildings that populated Brutein, striking an obvious difference from her motherland Louerg.
"Feel free to explore as much as you want. I won't touch you, I'll just tag along for your safety".
Even in the crowd, I stood behind Euphemia, focusing only on her back.
"You don't need to worry about the expense."
"... "
Euphemia paused for a moment at my words, shrugged, and then resumed walking.
"If you want to eat that just buy it."
Seeing that Euphemia was focused on a street vendor who was attracting his customers with his funny performance and the sweet smell of his skewers, I said.
"I am well aware of your appetite, so even if you want to eat your fill now, it won't matter much later anyway."
"I thought you despised lowly things like this."
She is right.
In truth, this body is already showing his disgust and resistance at the idea of eating that plebeian food, but it's not at the point that I couldn't suppress it.
Thanks to Seo-jin's ego, my resistance to these types of food had been lowered to some extent.
Honestly, from the perspective of modern people, the cuisine in the middle ages does not look elegant nor does it appear to be rather healthy.
"Would you like to eat one too?"
I shook my head.
There's no way I would be eating tha–
"I will have one as well."
The number of meat on each skewer was 11.
In this way, we will both have 22 pieces of meat.
"3… That would be 3 Bernes, my Lord."
"Keep the change."
"What?"
I only had silver taels with me.
And I would have received a change of 97 Bernes after paying 3 Bernes with the silver tael I had. I don't like that number.
I could tell him to only give me 96 Bernes, but in the worst case that could cue Euphemia about my Obsessive-compulsive disorder, and in the best case I would look foolish in front of her, which also wasn't an option.
"Why would you waste so much money…"
Euphemia stared at me with an astonished look, but I didn't care and started to eat the meat skewer.
It surprisingly tasted rather delectable.
"Don't stand there and eat your food, lest you stain your clothes for taking too long."
"I'm not that clumsy…"
She was wearing her old white dress, so it would not be pretty if she somehow stained her clothes while eating the meat skewer.
Of course, I wouldn't mind if the stain on her dress was somehow symmetrical, but the probability of this happening was extremely low.
So after taking a tour in Brutein, I took Euphemia to a restaurant worthy for me to dine at.
Since there was so much money circulating in Brutein, it wasn't difficult to find a restaurant that meets Ferzen's standards.
"Euphemia."
"What…"
"There is no need to panic in a place like this."
Looking at Euphemia who lowered her shoulders as if she didn't belong in a place like this, I said in an angry tone.
"Even if you have this pathetic low self-esteem, remember, you are now my wife."
I don't think I could have encouraged her in any worse manner than that…
" I was just a little nervous… Ah!"
"…What happened."
"Nothing, it's nothing…"
Euphemia, who was about to pull her chair and sit down, frowned and raised her hand.
I could see thin drops of blood flowing down from the middle finger of her right hand.
"I think the chair had a splinter, so it grazed your finger… Besides, isn't this your left hand?"
"... "
Seeing me hold her left hand when it was her right that got injured, Euphemia looked at me in confusion.
Yes, I know
I'm not stupid. There's no reason to be confused about her left or right…
But...
"Stay here for a moment."
While it was regrettable that I had to stop holding her hand, I left the restaurant and held my head after going into the alley in the back.
Seeing the wound on the middle finger of her right hand, I almost tried to inflict the same wound on her left hand.
Had I done that, I knew that she would never trust me again.
'I can still fix this.'
If Ferzen gets slapped on his left cheek, he would turn his right cheek to get slapped as well.
And if he gets slapped on his right cheek, he would turn his left to get slapped as well.
However, when Euphemia slapped me, and I slapped her back, I was able to create a diagonal symmetry that put my mind at ease.
Perhaps it's because we are married, so there exists an equilibrium between husband and wife.
Chomp!
So I raised my left hand and bit hard my symmetrical middle finger as if I was trying to rip it off.
'It hurts like hell'
It's different from a wound caused by getting stabbed or bruised
Bites are much more painful.
Drip──!
But even while feeling this pain, I felt happy because the discomfort caused by my obsession vanished.
Taking a deep breath, I squeezed my middle finger in order to draw out the blood and clean the wound.
The 'plot' thickens ....