Chapter 168 - Final Chapter: A Paean for All Villains
Greetings! I am Violia Nico Fortesia!
I am currently enjoying myself by leisurely chasing around a half-frantic Dactor-sama!
"Don't come near me, don't come near me—!"
"Oh my. How cruel, Dactor-sama. Was it a lie when you said you loved me?"
While chasing him around the room, I allow myself to fully enjoy the sight of Dactor-sama trembling.
He is already slightly affected by the poison. The wine I served contained lead, and the oysters were a special product raised by a rather peculiar method. The white shine of the cream sauce also contained lead. The soup had a bit of Basilisk blood in it, and I had some poisonous herbs mixed into the herbs and spices in very small amounts.
The main dish of dragon meat was from one I killed with my own blood. Well, I think eating it would only increase his palpitations a bit... but after that, with the final dessert, Dactor-sama fell completely into paranoia.
Yes. The actual amount of poison he consumed was very small. Although there would be some physical discomfort, it was not something that would lead to immediate death.
However, when anxiety and suspicion cling to that physical discomfort... even a single drop of poison can become the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
"D-Don't come near me."
"Silence."
Dactor-sama was desperately clutching a cutlery knife with both hands, holding it up. It was a sight that truly invited pity. Therefore, I used the gun I received as a birthday present to shoot the knife out of Dactor-sama's hand, sent it flying.
Having lost the knife that seemed to be his emotional support, and having heard a gunshot on top of that, Dactor-sama finally began to shake violently.
"Now, you did say you loved me. Naturally, you shall embrace me, yes? Surely you did not propose to me for the sake of status or money?"
"A, ah..."
"Come now, Dactor-sama. It will not do for the man who is to be the Queen's husband to be like this. Or perhaps, did you intend to become the Queen's husband without even this level of resolve?"
Looking down at Dactor-sama, who was cowering in the corner of the room, I am enjoying myself immensely!
The more words I throw at him, the more Dactor-sama is dominated by terror and regret. He is probably thinking about how he shouldn't have said those things back then, or realizing that while he felt like he had grasped hope, it was actually a one-way ticket to hell. Well, indeed. I shall have him think and realize as much as I desire.
"...Say? Dactor-sama. You did annul our engagement once. Do you not think some compensation is necessary?"
"E-Eh, ah, I-I am sorry, I am sorry, I, I..."
"If you had followed me back then without annulling the engagement, you would be the Queen's husband right now without any obstacles. But it is too late now."
It is a future that might have been, yes.
If Dactor-sama had persuaded the King back then and stayed true to his love for me, then at that time... well, he would have normally become my husband. It is unthinkable now, though.
"I do not wish to marry without love. Therefore, come, prove it. If you say you love me, then give me the proof."
Come. While looking at bright illusions of a future that might have been, you may despair at the gap between illusion and reality.
"Prove that you do not even begrudge your own life."
"—!"
Dactor-sama squeezed out his remaining strength, fled from before me, and headed for the room's exit.
...But it will not open. The door. Dactor-sama is finally rattling the door frantically, but unfortunately, that door will not open.
"Oh my, that is no good."
The door Dactor-sama is clinging to is locked from the outside. Therefore, he can no longer leave this place.
"You have two choices. Spend the short remainder of your life in this room, or embrace me and prove your love. See? It is a simple thing."
"N-No. Let me out. Let me out."
"If you prove your love, I shall let you out immediately. Or, I could let you out after you are dead."
Dactor-sama backs away further and further as I approach. ...Well, in other words, he does not even have the guts to embrace me and maintain his lie.
Ufufu. I thought that if he would do something like embrace me and whisper love here, I might actually let him out. If he had that much guts, well, he might be useful for something, and I thought I might use him as a slave just like Chris.
...But. It was no use.
Dactor-sama was already completely terrified, merely trembling in fear, regret, and deep despair. He truly was just a small man.
"...Now, Dactor-sama. Have you found the resolve to love me? Or perhaps, the resolve to maintain your lie and obtain status and honor... have you found it?"
I closed the distance to Dactor-sama, and... I reached out my arm to him.
...How should I put it.
I witnessed the mystery of the human being.
"H-He is dead..."
Yes. Dactor-sama died. He died right here. I am surprised.
I was thinking of embracing him and giving him the poison from my dress and accessories bit by bit, while also stabbing him with a deadly poison, or perhaps kissing him with lips coated in deadly poison, or maybe blowing a hole through his head with a gun to leave him in a wretched state...
...Yes. The moment I cornered him and reached out my hand... Dactor-sama died with a scream!
"It seems humans can truly die from terror alone..."
Apparently, Dactor-sama died from terror and despair. Yes. I suppose it was a case of 'he thought he was dying, so he died'...
I think it was a much more painful way to die than any mediocre poison. His dead face is the complete opposite of peaceful. Well... since he imagined the most deadly poisons, their effects, pain, suffering, and various other things within his own brain, and died from that imagination... it could be called 'the worst possible way to die imaginable.' Yes.
Now then.
"This mousse is truly delicious."
While gazing at Dactor-sama, who met such an end, I enjoy the leftover mousse cake and wine! First, I shall celebrate the victory modestly by myself!
...Many things have happened, haven't they?
It has been nearly two years since the mansion was burning.
And in the meantime, I have done many things... and finally, I have killed everyone I wanted to kill. Oh, I haven't killed Chris. But that is fine as it is.
Looking back at the past makes me feel a bit sentimental.
The long story of revenge ends here. It is quite moving, but it feels as if a hole has opened in my chest... well, it is fine. I shall enjoy the wine with this sense of emptiness as a side dish.
For a Queen covered in poison to look back on her life, this level of modesty is just right.
...Or so I thought. Yes. I did think so.
But it did not happen!
My quiet, solitary reflection session did not happen!
"Yo. Drinking?"
"Oh, Chesta. You must not enter here. This room is a mass of poison, far beyond mere magical poison."
"Hmm? If I don't stay long, it's not much of a problem, right? Then it's fine."
...Just as I was trying to celebrate modestly alone, stomping in. Chesta came in. With a half-drunk bottle of liquor in one hand.
"Your lifespan will be shortened, you know?"
"It's fine. I'll give a year or two of my life for your celebration."
Oh my. Truly a man who does not fear death.
"Is it over?"
"Doran. You came too? It is a problem if you do not stop Chesta."
"My bad. I'm in the mood for a drink today too."
Doran followed after Chesta.
"Well, it's fine, right? Since it's a special occasion. Look, it's a celebration for Violia's full recovery."
"It is not acceptable for you all to nearly die at my recovery celebration... oh my, no, Keeb."
Keeb came over with a grin and hugged me tightly. He is so cute! But I am sorry, the dress I am wearing now is poisonous!
"It's not like I'm licking the dress, so it's fine, right?"
"Well, that is true, but..."
...Well, normally speaking, that is true. Even if poison is soaked into the dress, as long as it is not the kind of poison that penetrates through the skin, touching it for a bit is no big deal. Even for poisons that penetrate the skin, as long as one does not touch it for a long time, problems do not usually occur.
"Congratulations, Violia-sama! With this, you have finally achieved your revenge!"
"I feel like it is not something to be said so brightly..."
Furthermore, Lital also clung to me hesitantly. ...Even if they understand it rationally, I think clinging to a poison-covered dress is quite an unpleasant thing. They certainly have guts.
"Hey, Young Lady. Sorry to interrupt the excitement, but why don't we change the venue? I've prepared a little something in the room upstairs."
"Oh?"
"We don't mind being here, but you'd be worried, right? And since we've been together for these nearly two years, we'd like to share in the celebration. Right, Your Majesty?"
What Giovan showed me with a wink from just inside the room... was a variety of lovely small cakes on a silver tray. Oh, how wonderful.
"That's how it is. You can leave cleaning up Dactor to someone like Chris."
"Why me...!"
"Oh, do you dislike it? In that case, we shall leave the corpse as it is for a while, and Chris shall participate too."
"I refuse! What joy is there in celebrating the ruin of the royal family I served!"
"Is that so? Then it is an order. Accompany me in my recovery celebration."
Chris's face of dislike is my reward. Yes. I think it is about time he understood that.
Well, it is fine. I shall have Chris show many faces of dislike for my recovery celebration and the completion of my revenge. Ohohoho.
"In that case, let us head there immediately, Young Lady. Delicious sweets, good wine, and above all, a wonderful guest is waiting."
...Oh? A wonderful guest?
Which means, could it be...?
The place everyone led me to... just as Giovan said, was lined with delicious-looking sweets, snacks, and plenty of wine... and!
"Happy birthday, Violia!"
"I am glad we could celebrate your birthday like this this year."
"Violia! Come, this way! You are the star of the day!"
Father, Mother, and Onii-sama were waiting in the room! Oh, how wonderful!
...And then I remembered, oh right, today was my birthday. I had completely forgotten!
From then on, although with a small number of people, the most fun party in the world began.
It seemed Father and Mother's work had also reached a stopping point, and they said they could talk slowly tonight. I talked a lot about what had happened until now. Yes. There were mountains of things I had wanted to tell Father and Mother for a long, long time. The stories never end!
...Then Carol came rushing in with celebratory wine, I received words of celebration from Rugel-sama who lent me the golems this time, and I received the slaves who were remnants of the anti-royalist faction as a birthday present from Saki-sama; it became quite a pleasant party!
And, when the banquet was at its height.
"By the way, where have Father and Mother been until now?"
I asked what I had been curious about all this time.
After all, while I was working hard in the Kingdom of Orchesta, neither Father nor Mother had been here at all... I was curious, after all.
"That is right. Had we not told you anything?"
"I am sorry, Violia. We should have told you somewhere..."
When Father and Mother said that... they each brought out a document.
"Father had brought down Windry, and Mother had brought down Asumbra."