Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 73

Siern's first murder occurred around age ten.

One day, she suddenly killed a servant who entered her room with snacks.

At that tender age, drenched in fresh blood, she stood motionless in a corner of the room, silently observing the young servant who had stopped breathing.

- Bang!

When Melberot burst into the room, Siern remained still, covered in blood.

She showed no signs of trembling from fear at what she'd done, nor any concern about covering it up.

Her pale eyes beneath blood-spattered cheeks simply stared at Melberot. The blood splattered across her white pajamas looked like part of the lace pattern.

Even as servants gasped and covered their mouths upon seeing the scene, and attendants rushed to clean up... Lady Siern remained utterly unfazed.

The gathered servants all got goosebumps at the sight, but her father Melberot didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow.

Head Butler Leighton thought as he watched him:

The man showed no reaction to his daughter's murder... as if he'd been expecting this.

Siern's indiscriminate murderous impulses began without warning like that.

Yet despite the shocking series of events, Melberot never once showed signs of panic.

"Mr. Derek!! If you continue!! Trying to control Lady Siern with violence!!!! I, I swear on the Duplein name!!!! Won't stand!! Idly by!!!"

Derek decided he couldn't let Aiselin continue delivering lines like this.

Her terrible sense for dialogue was bad enough, but her randomly fluctuating tone was painfully awkward, and her sudden outbursts of anger came out of nowhere.

Probably because she'd rarely raised her voice at anyone before.

Demanding such emotional outbursts from a girl who'd always lived as a dignified, elegant young lady might have been too harsh.

Derek raised his staff and spoke:

"Lady Aiselin. I'm not one for niceties. Lord Melberot ordered me to reform Lady Siern by any means, and I'll use every method available to produce results. If you interfere, I'll have to remove you by force."

"I'm a noble lady of House Duplein. Don't you dare... dare to...? No, how insolent to speak of using force before me! The audacity!!!!"

"..."

Derek felt significant confusion about the emotional tone.

Aiselin's acting was a black hole that warped and erased all surrounding emotional context. Sensing this could lead to disaster if prolonged, Derek channeled mana to intensify his presence.

- Whooooosh

Derek's mana swirled violently, sending accumulated snowflakes swirling into a mist.

Lady Siern, still collapsed, held her breath and swallowed dryly, but Aiselin rushed forward again, spreading her arms to block Derek.

"Shoot then... shoot!! I won't move from here!!"

Derek's massive mana converged at his staff's tip.

Then a 2-Star magic, Fireball, began taking enormous form. Just its manifestation melted surrounding snow, revealing bare ground around Derek.

Lady Siern trembled, swallowing dryly. Taking a direct hit from that massive fireball would mean certain death.

If she tried to run, he'd anticipate and subdue her. If she stayed still, he'd beat her senseless.

Her teeth chattered at Derek's brutal teaching philosophy, but she tried to rise anyway. Yet her legs gave out, refusing to cooperate.

As Siern trembled in terror, Aiselin simply glared at Derek with arms spread.

Though her fingertips shook under the overwhelming magical pressure, her stance made clear she absolutely wouldn't move.

The cold-blooded mage across from her seemed utterly indifferent that she was a Duplein noble - gathering even more mana to form a fireball larger than a person. This level of firepower approached the highest tier of 2-Star magic.

"Final warning. Step aside."

"Hurt me... and you won't escape unscathed either..!"

"I told you I don't discriminate methods. If you ignore this final warning, I have no choice."

It seemed unthinkable he'd actually fire magic of that scale at a Duplein noble.

But this was the same troublemaker who'd tried to beat Lady Siern of House Rochester. The possibility he might actually do it sent terror creeping into Siern's heart.

- Whoosh!

Then Derek actually fired the fireball. An unbelievable sight.

Aiselin, arms still spread before Siern with eyes tightly shut, trembled violently. Even as the fireball approached, she held her ground nobly without moving.

Finally, the fireball struck.

- KABOOM!!

A massive explosion rang out, flames filling their vision momentarily.

The intense heat melted all surrounding snow instantly. Smoke rose, leaving behind glowing afterimages from the fireball's residual energy.

"──."

It had missed.

When Siern opened her tightly shut eyes, the fireball had grazed past Aiselin to impact bare ground.

Aiselin remained in her protective stance, arms still spread before Siern. The trembling of her fingertips revealed how terrified she'd been.

Yet she hadn't moved an inch.

Biting her lower lip while glaring at Derek, she looked resolute despite her uncontrollable shaking.

Derek studied her briefly before slinging his staff back.

"I'll let it slide this once. But if you keep interfering like this..."

His blood-red eyes gleamed ominously through the blizzard.

"You'll pay the price."

With that, Derek turned sharply and strode back toward the main manor.

His retreating figure resembled a grim reaper temporarily postponing execution.

Terror crawled up Lady Siern's spine.

- Crunch crunch

- Flop

Once Derek was gone, Aiselin's legs gave out, collapsing into the snow. She took several deep breaths to calm herself.

After composing herself, Aiselin turned to Lady Siern.

Siern flinched, still unable to move her weakened legs. Aiselin managed a strained smile at her.

"Lady Siern. You must be terribly shaken? That arrogant mercenary Derek is always like that. He thinks violence solves everything..."

"I, I... I mean..."

"It's alright. It's natural to be shocked. Are you hurt anywhere? Let me check your injuries."

Struggling up, Aiselin dragged her exhausted body to Siern and knelt.

Despite her panic, Siern felt an odd warmth watching Aiselin.

With her gentle, embracing nature and somehow noble, sacred appearance, Aiselin seemed to genuinely care for and protect her.

Few could resist such sincere concern. This was precisely why Derek had brought Aiselin - if he was the stick, they needed a carrot.

Indeed, even as Siern scrambled back, she felt strangely comforted by Aiselin's approach.

"Now, show me your injuries. We should treat them quickly to prevent scarring."

"N-no... don't..."

When Aiselin reached out, Siern slapped her hand away.

Yet even as she did, Siern looked conflicted, avoiding eye contact.

"...It's alright. You don't need to be so tense."

- Pat!

As Aiselin spoke gently again, Siern suddenly leapt toward the spire and fled.

Her bewildered expression was understandable - too much had happened too quickly.

Still, the fact she hadn't lashed out at Aiselin was noteworthy.

- Tap! Tap!

Watching Siern escape across building protrusions, Aiselin sighed deeply.

The northern air was so cold her breath formed visible puffs from her small lips.

It was hard to tell if Siern had opened up at all.

"This is... ambiguous..."

Aiselin muttered dejectedly.

- Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in."

Derek was drying his hair after washing up in the guest room. Naturally, his attire was casual.

Wearing the sleeping robe provided by servants while shaking out his hair, the door creaked open to reveal Aiselin.

"Mr. Derek. About Lady Siern..."

- Slam!

The door closed again.

Though Derek was mostly covered, even partial exposure of his torso was too much stimulation for Aiselin.

She couldn't even finish her sentence before retreating to the hallway - her retreat speed rivaling veteran mercenaries.

"D-D-Derek! I didn't know you were undressed, s-sorry."

"No, I thought you were a servant knocking. You could have called me out."

"Y-you seemed tired... I just wanted to talk briefly..."

"What noble lady visits a commoner's room? Even if your family's struggling, you should act according to your status."

"I-I told you..."

Hearing her hyperventilating outside, Derek quickly donned his tunic and leather pants.

"I've accepted being a fallen noblewoman. I need to act boldly and energetically..."

Aiselin's image of a"fallen noblewoman"seemed closer to a spirited wife overcoming hardships than the gloomy wretches haunting back alleys.

No need to correct her if that's how she saw it.

Derek opened the door to find Aiselin slumped against the hallway wall, face buried in her knees.

"I already know all that. No point repeating it."

"Guh..."

"And while the start was awkward, you got more convincing later."

"R-really?"

When Aiselin peeked at him, Derek answered honestly:

"Yes. The detailed trembling of your hands and voice before the fireball hit was very realistic. Extraordinary, really. Lady Siern must have been fooled."

"That... wasn't acting..."

"..."

"I-I was really scared... How could anyone not tremble with a house-sized fireball coming at them...? I barely held back tears, but showing fear seemed so undignified..."

Derek decided further comment was unnecessary. Whether praised or criticized, the conversation wasn't going anywhere productive.

"Anyway... it's good Lady Siern seems to be opening up slightly. I've gathered some concerning information though."

"Oh?"

Aiselin looked up to see various documents and books on the table - servant reports about Lady Siern's routines... and oddly, historical records of the northern"Dawn War."

'Why history books...?'

As Aiselin looked puzzled, Derek finished drying his hair and sat opposite her.

"To summarize, Lady Siern has apparently killed many people. The'Slaughterer'rumors weren't exaggerated."

"..."

"Lord Melberot told us to swallow any questions while teaching her. But how can we do our job with superficial information? We need to learn everything possible."

Aiselin felt uneasy seeing Derek's serious expression.

When this man set his mind to something, he achieved it by any means necessary. She'd seen him accomplish countless impossible tasks.

"...I also thought Lord Melberot was hiding something."

"That's the key. Whatever it is, it's likely Lord Melberot's closely guarded secret."

"...Derek. Lord Melberot is a northern hero and one of the continent's few 6-Star mages. What good comes from uncovering his secrets?"

"If we share that secret, all the better."

Aiselin swallowed dryly.

Derek could show humanity, but when calculating gains, he became utterly cold-blooded.

Possessing a 6-Star mage's secret would be an incredible weapon.

Becoming allies with Melberot would provide unmatched support for Derek's magical path.

Of course, you can't negotiate with transcendent beings - they simply crush opposition.

Hence bringing Aiselin. Even a declining ducal house warranted basic respect.

Realizing this, Aiselin broke out in a cold sweat.

Derek planned to use Lady Siern to manipulate Lord Melberot.

He'd stop at nothing to reach higher magical heights.

That was the man named Derek.

"Derek..."

"..."

"Do you... suspect something specific?"

Derek only spoke definitively.

He wouldn't make baseless claims he couldn't back up. His silence meant he lacked concrete evidence.

But since Aiselin asked directly, as allies he couldn't completely evade.

Cracking his knuckles, Derek finally answered:

"Lady Aiselin, what kind of person did you think Lady Siern is?"

"Huh? Well... somewhat sharp-edged but... beautiful and... with potential to become a fine lady if properly guided...? A rough diamond, perhaps?"

"A rough diamond, you say?"

"Y-yes... that kind of person."

"A person... right?"

"...What?"

Aiselin's breath caught. She had to replay Derek's words to grasp their meaning.

But even after reconsidering, his implication was clear.

Derek's sharp gaze held hers.

The pale red eyes peering through white hair - the very sight that terrified Lady Siern.

This was a man who'd spent his life researching and slaughtering magical beasts in labyrinths.

The corpses he'd piled would form mountains, the stench of demon blood permanently staining his soul.

That established fact... seemed significant now.

Aiselin trembled, holding her breath.