A Matter of Life and Death: The Unveiling of Secrets

“Lady Rachel! Lady Rachel! Are you alright?”

Vera’s anxious cries managed to bring a semblance of calm to Rachel’s otherwise muddled thoughts.

Struggling to maintain her balance, she gently pushed Vera, who had been clinging to her, away slightly.

This gesture served a dual purpose: to signal that she was indeed unharmed, and to alleviate the overwhelming pressure from Vera’s chest.

In mere moments, Rachel’s arm, caught between them, had begun to throb with a dull ache and a growing numbness.

‘Vera, what a truly formidable woman,’ Rachel mused inwardly.

Rachel cast a wary, lingering glance at Vera, only to find Miriam before her looking utterly flustered, barely capable of uttering a coherent word.

It was then that Rachel recalled Vera, in her momentary panic, had inadvertently shouted her name aloud.

“You-you-you-you-you, are you that Rachel, Rachel Lockwood? The one rumored to devour maidens alive?!”

Miriam’s voice quivered, her legs trembling uncontrollably as if afflicted by a violent chill.

Witnessing her distress, Rachel could only let out a resigned sigh.

“…I am indeed Rachel, but I assure you, I have no appetite for consuming human flesh.”

With her identity now revealed, there was no longer any point in concealment.

Yet, the notion of cannibalism seemed excessively sensationalized; could her public image truly have devolved into something so monstrous?

Just as Rachel prepared to offer some words of reassurance to Miriam, the young woman suddenly dropped to her knees, her wares clattering loudly as she prostrated herself on the ground, beginning to beg for mercy with a torrent of tears and heart-wrenching pleas.

“Lady, oh Lady! Please, have mercy on me! Just consider me a fleeting fart and let me pass! Take whatever catches your eye, I’ll gladly offer it all, just please, I beg you, spare my humble life!”

Miriam’s profound terror and desperate pleas were hardly surprising.

While Rachel’s infamous reputation certainly played a part, Miriam’s panicked utterance of the noble’s full name constituted a grave insult under Imperial law, a crime for which Rachel would have been entirely justified in executing her on the spot.

Having only transmigrated that very morning, Rachel was utterly unaccustomed to such dramatic displays.

The instant Miriam knelt, a cold shiver traced its way down Rachel’s spine, prickling her skin with goosebumps.

She fumbled, reaching out to help Miriam to her feet, yet Miriam stubbornly remained prostrate, refusing to budge.

“Lady, if you do not deign to forgive my transgression, I could never, ever dare to rise!”

A wave of exasperation washed over Rachel.

“I assure you, no harm will come to you! Now, please, stand up.”

“…Truly?”

Miriam cautiously lifted her head, her face notably devoid of any tear tracks, betraying that her previous, heart-wrenching sobs had been nothing more than a theatrical performance.

Rachel regarded her with an unwavering, earnest gaze.

“Of course. Do you doubt my word?”

“…”

“Very well, then I shall put it another way,” Rachel said, exhaling a weary sigh.

“Miriam, if you do not rise at once, I shall take it as a deliberate disregard for my command, and then…”

Before Rachel could complete her thought, Miriam shot up from the ground with astonishing speed, a sycophantic grin now plastered across her face.

“Lady Rachel, you are truly a benevolent and good person!”

“A good person?” Rachel found herself caught between amusement and exasperation.

“Only moments ago, you were accusing me of being a demon who devours maidens alive, were you not?”

“No, no, no, that was merely a rumor! How could anyone possibly believe such baseless gossip!” Miriam declared with an air of indignant righteousness.

“Upon my return, I shall personally disseminate Lady Rachel’s sterling reputation, utterly dispelling these irresponsible fabrications!”

“Therefore, I shall not further impose upon your valuable time, Lady.

I will humbly take my leave now…”

As Miriam spoke, she attempted to discreetly slip away, only to be firmly grasped by Rachel.

“Hold on a moment,” Rachel interjected.

“I have a few questions I wish to ask you.”

Miriam was now genuinely beginning to feel quite flustered.

While she certainly didn’t credit the outlandish tale of Rachel devouring maidens alive, another persistent rumor about the noblewoman was far more troubling: despite being female, Rachel harbored a distinct fondness for other women, and one of her chief delights was reportedly to fill her castle with beautiful young girls.

Miriam held this belief with unwavering conviction, for the curvaceous maid standing nearby appeared, at a glance, to be one of Rachel’s prized acquisitions, and likely the subject of some unspeakably cruel physical enhancements.

After all, how else could a person possess such… exaggerated voluptuousness?

Thus, the moment Rachel seized her arm, a sudden dread washed over Miriam, a chilling premonition that her virtue might be irrevocably compromised.

Naturally, Rachel remained blissfully unaware of Miriam’s frantic musings.

Her sole intention in detaining Miriam was to ask a few pressing questions.

Miriam’s earlier theatrics had almost caused her to forget the true urgency of the situation: the mysteriously shortened countdown, which she absolutely had to comprehend.

“Where did you acquire that pellet you gave me earlier, the one that induces a state of suspended animation?”

Given that the strange occurrence had coincided precisely with her impending purchase of the pellet, Rachel resolved to begin her inquiry at that point.

“It… it was a gift from a friend of mine…” Miriam stammered, her voice laced with trepidation.

“A gift from a friend?” Rachel’s expression conveyed her skepticism.

“This ‘friend’ you mention, surely they wouldn’t be…”

Miriam’s face crumpled, on the verge of tears.

“Lady, I swear, it was truly a gift from a friend! She’s an alchemist, and when she has unwanted byproducts, I assist her in selling them, and she even shares a portion of the earnings with me!”

‘So she’s peddling substandard goods, then? No wonder each one comes with a host of side effects,’ Rachel thought.

Having silently cursed the unscrupulous merchant, Rachel resumed her questioning.

“So, it was indeed a gift from your friend, and its sole purpose is to induce suspended animation? You’re not concealing any other details from me, are you?”

“Of course not! How could I ever possibly deceive anyone!” Miriam proclaimed with fervent assurances.

“I have always conducted my business with the utmost integrity!”

“You claim integrity while peddling shoddy goods?”

“I always make sure to inform my customers of any side effects in advance! And besides, at the very least, those items can be repurposed as firecrackers, so they’re not entirely without utility.”

Regardless of the validity of Miriam’s evasive arguments, it appeared that the sudden reduction in the countdown bore no actual relation to the pellet.

But if not that, then what could be the cause?

Rachel found herself utterly bewildered.

Instinctively, she focused her mind, intending to re-examine the countdown for any potential clues, only to freeze the instant her gaze fell upon it once more.

[Time until death]

[74:10:51]

What did this signify? It had inexplicably reverted?

Could this countdown truly oscillate so erratically?

Rachel found herself utterly baffled for a moment, while Miriam stood nearby, an anxious expression etched upon her face.

“Um, Lady, have you concluded your inquiries? I actually have some other matters to attend to, so I shall depart now…”

“Just a moment, please.

Let me think, let me just think…”

Rachel’s thoughts were a chaotic swirl.

The countdown’s sudden decrease, followed by an equally abrupt increase, made it seem as though the system was having a seizure.

Surely this invaluable cheat wasn’t malfunctioning, was it?

And if it were, could such a thing even be repaired?

No, that couldn’t be right.

There had to be an underlying cause, something she had inadvertently overlooked.

Rachel furrowed her brow, pacing back and forth, utterly lost in contemplation.

Vera and Miriam, standing nearby, exchanged uneasy glances, neither daring to speak nor to depart.

The initial alteration to the countdown had coincided with her decision to purchase the pellet capable of inducing suspended animation.

Rachel replayed the scenario in her mind: at that precise moment, she had experienced a distinctly clear reaction, and the countdown had manifested itself.

Yet, the second alteration had occurred without any discernible warning, its timing unknown to her.

Had she not impulsively decided to check the countdown, she might never have realized it had reverted to its previous state.

If every external influence on the countdown invariably triggered a headache, then why had she experienced absolutely no reaction when the countdown reversed itself the second time?

Was this merely an intrinsic aspect of its mechanics, or did some other, deeper reason lie beneath?

Rachel’s brow remained furrowed in thought, until her gaze inadvertently drifted to the visibly bored Miriam nearby.

Suddenly, her eyes widened with a spark of insight, as if a crucial realization had just dawned upon her.

Miriam, however, recoiled, a shiver running through her at Rachel’s peculiar gaze.

A sudden coldness crept up her spine, prompting her to instinctively take two steps back.

“La-Lady, is there something you require of me?”

Miriam inquired, her voice trembling slightly.

“No,” Rachel replied, shaking her head.

“I merely had a sudden recollection, and it prompted a question for you.”

“Uh, please, ask anything you desire; I shall certainly answer with utmost honesty…”

“I recall you mentioning earlier that your presence in Lockwood was for the purpose of gathering information,” Rachel stated, subtly closing the distance between them.

“What precisely were you seeking to uncover?”

“Those are merely trivial rumors, Lady, utterly devoid of value to someone of your standing…”

“I shall determine its value for myself,” Rachel asserted.

“Your only task is to answer truthfully.”

“Very well…” Miriam conceded, her face contorting into a pained grimace.

“In truth, it’s nothing particularly remarkable.”

“Lady, did you not acquire a certain mine some time ago? You see, wherever there are people, there is potential for commerce, so I merely wished to ascertain if I could establish trade with those miners…”

A mine? Rachel paused, a flicker of confusion crossing her face, before she finally unearthed the memory from the depths of her mind.

Ah, yes, there was indeed such an acquisition.

The Lockwood family’s finances had been precarious for several years.

In an effort to bolster their income, Rachel had previously purchased a mine at a considerable discount, harboring hopes that it would reverse their ongoing financial deficits.

This, however, was merely the ostensible reason.

At the time, Rachel’s true interest in the mine stemmed from her discovery that it was registered under the name of Princess Ariya, the third princess of the royal family.

She had insisted on buying it purely to forge a stronger connection with the royal family.

As for the subsequent discovery that the mine’s veins had long been depleted after its purchase, further exacerbating the Lockwood family’s financial woes and ultimately leading to the implementation of new territorial tax policies, Rachel had remained utterly indifferent, to the point where the mine had long vanished from her memory.

It was for this very reason that Rachel had paused for a moment before finally recalling the matter.

“However, my business endeavors have not been particularly fruitful,” Miriam continued, her face etched with a bitter expression.

“Those miners are as tight-fisted as iron roosters, unwilling to purchase anything, or even to speak with me.

I sometimes wonder if their work has driven them mad…”

“Wait, you said, miners?” Rachel swiftly interrupted Miriam.

“Are you implying you actually saw miners?”

“Yes,” Miriam replied, looking utterly bewildered by Rachel’s question.

“Is there a problem?”

A huge problem!

Where could miners possibly come from in a mine whose veins had long been depleted?

Could it be that the mine was still operational?

If so, who was running it?

The princess?

Or perhaps someone else entirely?

And what exactly were those miners excavating daily?

Surely, it wasn’t haunted, was it?

A sudden chill of dread crept over Rachel; she had a terrifying premonition that she was on the verge of uncovering something truly extraordinary.

She had indeed deciphered the reason behind her death countdown’s erratic fluctuations, but it had little to do with Miriam.

The crux of the matter lay solely with herself.

The first alteration to the countdown had occurred precisely when she resolved to evade the three-day banquet through feigned death and took concrete steps to achieve it.

Her attempt to purchase the suspended animation pellet was then interrupted, rendering her efforts to fake her death futile, which in turn triggered the second alteration.

Both countdown changes had transpired simultaneously, which was why she had only experienced a single headache.

However, this realization allowed Rachel to definitively conclude that her death would not be accidental or a natural disaster, as neither would accelerate simply because she intended to feign death.

The countdown foretold an assassination, and the individual intent on killing her possessed an exceptionally resolute will.

Even if she disseminated news of her feigned demise, they would personally arrive to deliver the finishing blow, a fact underscored by the countdown’s sudden reduction by a day.

Yet, despite narrowing the possibilities considerably, Rachel could not immediately conceive of a way to save her own life.

Her earlier question to Miriam had been merely an idle inquiry, recalling the mine and hoping, on a whim, that it might offer some clue.

To her surprise, it actually did!

The royal family was hosting the banquet that coincided with her impending death, and the seemingly haunted mine on her own territory had once been registered under the princess’s name, thus also linking it to the royal family.

Could it be…

Miriam, observing Rachel’s fluctuating expression, grew increasingly nervous, unable to comprehend what she had said to displease the unpredictable noblewoman.

Could the mine conceal some profound secret?

Were those miners merely guardians of Rachel’s hidden truths?

Wait a moment! Rumors about Rachel also included whispers of her dabbling in dark magic…

As Miriam’s thoughts spiraled wildly, Rachel had already approached her, smiling as she patted Miriam’s shoulder.

“Excellent, Miriam, you’ve been a great help!”

“It… it is my honor to be of assistance, Lady!”

Miriam reciprocated the smile; although she had no idea how she had helped Rachel, since the Lady herself had said so, it seemed a good opportunity to curry favor.

“However, I must correct you on one point,” Rachel stated.

“While I did indeed acquire that mine, its veins have long been depleted, and I have never operated it.

Therefore, the individuals you encountered there are likely not miners.”

“Ah!?”