WHEN Chris and Cordelia entered Sonia’s chambers, the scene made Chris’ blood curdle. Rushing over, he yelled at the unconscious guard, “Hey! Hang in there!”
The guard moaned as he slowly came to. He squinted up at the man holding him as he weakly croaked, “The moment a young lady came up to speak to me...I was hit on the head... Is the Duchess inside all right...?”
The guard cradled the back of his head as if it still hurt. Chris entrusted him to Cordelia and charged into the room, his hand nestled over the hilt of his blade. Immediately upon opening the door, he found the maid on duty unconscious on the floor, just as the guard had been. After checking her pulse, Chris dashed to the door that connected to the inner chamber.
Sonia had holed up on the other side of that door. But according to the guard, some “lady” had also gone inside after Chris and the others took their leave. The moment Chris’ hand grasped the doorknob, he heard Sonia’s muffled voice through the door.
“Pamela...you’re right. There might not be any point for either of us to go on living...”
“Yes, exactly, Sonia... Your blood is filled with greed. Only someone possessed by a demon could steal land from a servant of God.”
What is this? The voice of the woman with Sonia seemed strange. Actually, was there both a man and woman in there trying to lead Sonia astray? The male and female voices were speaking as one, like they were perfectly harmonizing each word without fail.
But...
“Sonia, you can’t let your vile bloodline tarnish the world... So why don’t we die? I’ll go with you so you aren’t lonely.”
The aura of malevolence crossed the door, seeping into Chris. They were speaking of confidential information regarding the Clare lineage!
“Princess!” Chris cried. As if in an attempt to drown out his fear, he flew into the room.
“AH!” he gasped. He was met with the sight of a black-haired young lady holding a practically unconscious Sonia. Both girls were holding a sharply gleaming dagger in hand, aimed for Sonia’s throat.
✦ ✦ ✦
“DON’T!” Chris shouted.
He started to run toward them, but the black-haired girl sharply commanded, “Stay back!”
From the looks of it, she was roughly the same age as Sonia. I’ve seen her somewhere before... Indeed, this was the young lady standing beside Sonia when he had first gone to retrieve her from the Royal Abbey. Sonia brought her up frequently.
“...Lady Pamela...?”
In response to Chris’ question, the young lady threw an alluring, yet sinister, smile.
“What are you doing? Such a dangerous blade doesn’t suit you. Put it down.”
A possibility had crossed Chris’ mind, but he didn’t know for fact if it were true. Seeing as they were best friends, Pamela may have heard about the Clare Curse from Sonia. However...
“The guard and maid were knocked out. Was that your doing?” he demanded.
It didn’t look like her scrawny arms, which had never so much as held a sword, could muster the strength to knock out two adults, and a haunting voice of a man overlapped with hers when she spoke—there was only one conceivable explanation.
Chris took a step forward. Seeing him move cautiously, Pamela smirked faintly as she declared, “You’re too late! This spells the end of the Clare line!”
“NO!”
Sonia’s limp head slumped back, revealing her white neck. Pamela swung the dagger to pierce through her exposed flesh, but...
“GET AWAY FROM SONIA!” the Queen roared. Outraged, she threw a high heel right at Pamela’s face.
“Gyah!” Pamela cried. The moment the dagger pulled away from Sonia’s neck, Chris sprung into action.
CLANG! In a sound of metal clashing upon metal, the dagger slipped to the floor. At the same time, the force of the impact sent Pamela’s light body tumbling to the floor.
Chris rushed to Sonia as she suddenly came back to her senses. He pulled her close before raising his sword...and pointed it at Pamela!
“How dare you move into the Princess’ irreplaceable best friend to get close...! Leave her body!”
“...Sir Chris? What’s going on? Don’t hold Pamela at sword point!” Sonia screamed. Confused by the tense situation before her, she tried to stop Chris from directing his sword at her best friend.
“Sonia! I’m scared!” Pamela was her old self again as she wailed with fear in her eyes as she looked back and forth between Sonia and the sword.
“Sir Chris! Please lower your sword!”
“She is at once both your best friend and not her! Don’t you realize she tried to kill you?” Chris protested.
“That’s...because...we were going to die...” Sonia responded.
“You were what?” Flabbergasted by Sonia’s confession, Chris shifted his eyes to her.
“You heard her! DON’T GET IN OUR WAY!” Pamela bellowed in a man’s voice once more. The words were barely out of her mouth before she flung herself toward Chris’ sword.
“Pamela, DON’T!” Sonia yelled. The moment she did, Pamela’s body went sprawling off to the side.
“Your Majesty!”
Cordelia had struck her across the face, knocking Pamela away from the tip of the sword.
“...I swear, something is wrong with you. Some stinky, old man’s voice keeps speaking over the voice of a fresh, young maiden! So tell me, who’s possessing you?” Cordelia demanded while looking down at Pamela, who was sprawled out on the ground. At the same time, she shook out her hand to ease the sting from slapping her.
“Please get back, Your Majesty!” Chris shouted.
Pamela’s hair began to rustle without the aid of a breeze as she lay slumped with both hands pressed against the floor. It was an eerie sight to behold, resembling a swell of countless snakes writhing on her head. Sensing the impending danger, Cordelia jumped back.
“CURSE YOU... How dare you thwart me time and again...!” the deep, male voice crept from Pamela’s mouth just before she snapped her head toward Sonia.
“Eek!”
The face was no longer a reflection of Pamela’s gentle personality. Instead, the visage that glared viciously at Sonia was transformed: bloated from excessive gluttony, the red complexion revealed spiking blood pressure. Pamela’s features were warped into a hideous button nose, beady eyes, and a pinched mouth.
“Y-You...aren’t Pamela...! You aren’t Pamela...but that’s her body...!” Sonia exclaimed. She fell into confusion, unable to grasp the situation. Chris grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close.
The sight of Sonia staring at her in fear made Pamela cackle creepily as she rose to her feet. She looked down upon Sonia as if she were a mighty king, her arms spread open.
“I am taking this body. It’s nice to have such a comfortable dwelling. I had also considered that prince, Severin, but...it is far more comfortable inside this girl, where she’s agonized and suffered in housing the polar opposites of a pure body and a corrupt heart. This heart fills me with pure bliss through its constant, desperate search for salvation.”
Corrupt heart?
“Where...did Pamela go? You said she’s corrupt...but what did she do?” Sonia asked.
“Unable to cope with her lot in life, she turned to God. To God’s messenger, me! Do not worry...I will slowly, slowly assimilate her, so that we will be one. It is a great honor. Now come here...” The priest held Pamela’s hand out to Sonia. “Your one and only friend can put an end to you and your accursed bloodline for all eternity. Consider it my show of benevolence.”
“...What are you going to do with Pamela?” Sonia asked.
In response, the man reverted Pamela’s face back to normal. The corners of her mouth dropped in an expression of sadness.
“I’m suffering...horribly. The enterprise my uncle undertook failed, and he used up the inheritance my parents left for me... But even then, the debt continued to pile up... So he’s giving me to that crooked moneylender’s son as collateral. But...I don’t want to marry him! I really don’t want to! I have to put on a smile in front of them and act like I’m enjoying myself when I’m not...! Nothing’s changed! It’s just like back at the abbey when I was around you! I still have to put on a show...!”
“Pamela...”
“Sonia, I’ve always been jealous of you. You’ve always had people who cared about you. People gather around you before you know it. The sisters and all those girls who came to the abbey for etiquette training—they were all drawn to you.
“I was desperate... As roommates, I was closer to you than anyone else. But I was terrified you’d grow to hate me or treat me like the dead... You could use your status as Duchess de Clare to have me expelled from the Royal Abbey at any time. I knew that if I was kicked out, I’d have nowhere to go. My uncle and his family stole my home, so that was the only place I had left... I was desperate!
“I was a nervous wreck, constantly living in fear as I tried to put on a smile so you wouldn’t hate me. I was genuinely relieved when you left the abbey,” Pamela said with a small sigh, a look of relief crossing her face.
But sadness quickly washed over her face once more. Placing her hands over her chest, her face contorted as if she was struggling for air as she forced out, “But...but then my uncle came to marry me off! I thought you really did order him to come for me! That was the first time I outright hated you!”
“I...still haven’t seen your uncle...!”
“Right, I quickly realized I was mistaken... But you see, it clicked after that. I’ve always hated you. I’ve always been jealous of you. With all your wealth, you didn’t have to do a damn thing for people to shower you with love...! Even though we’re both orphans! Why? Why are you so blessed? Why am I so wretched? At the very least, I want to spend my life with a man I love! So why must I devote my life to an unlovable scumbag, while you get to be with a gentleman you could grow to love? I’ve HAD it!” Pamela yelled.
She clutched at her chest with her head lowered. When she looked up to face Sonia again, her face had returned to that of the man.
“No! NO! I’m going to live freely, following my heart... I don’t care if no one loves me. I don’t care if people hate me. I’m going to listen to my heart! I’ll hate you! I’ll covet you! And...then...I’ll...kill...you...”