Chapter 97: Baited Into Insanity
Margaret glanced at the gift box for a moment, a mix of anger and disgust on her face.
Her gaze shot towards Arthur.
’’He’s still messing around irresponsibly!’’ she shouted angrily. ’’You have to do something! Punishment! That’ll set him straight!’’
Arthur slowly glanced up from the box, looking back at his son.
The anger on his face hadn’t disappeared. Only now, there was even disappointment mixed in.
’’Is this all a joke to you?’’ he asked. ’’Do you seriously think some gifts are going to make this right?’’
Roderic blinked innocently.
Arthur’s expression darkened even further.
’’I expected you to be more intelligent than this. You should know by now that nobles are beings with fickle pride. You can’t brutally humiliate the heir of an allied house and expect a few gifts to fix everything.’’
For a moment, silence fell in the hall.
Margaret’s expression grew more vicious as her mouth opened.
But before she could utter a word, Roderic began nodding enthusiastically.
’’I know, I know,’’ he said, raising his hands. ’’But trust me, these gifts are out of this world!’’
Arthur fell silent.
For several seconds, he simply stared at his son.
Even Margaret’s anger briefly gave way to confusion.
’’Have you lost your damn mind?’’ she eventually spat. ’’Look at you! Standing there grinning after everything you’ve done! You’re still treating this entire situation like some fucking joke!’’
Roderic’s smile widened.
’’A joke?’’ he repeated. ’’You haven’t even opened it yet.’’
He gestured towards the box.
’’Go ahead. See what I got you.’’
Margaret finally went silent.
Her gaze dropped to the neatly decorated box.
After a moment of hesitation, she reached forward and pulled the string loose.
Almost immediately, a disgusting smell spread through the study.
Arthur’s eyes widened instantly.
His gaze shot towards Roderic, his mouth falling open as he recognized the smell.
’’Just wait,’’ Roderic mouthed back with a smile.
Meanwhile, Margaret only frowned.
Slowly, she lifted the lid.
That’s when her entire body froze in place.
Resting inside were two rotting human hands, surrounded by beautiful flowers.
Thud!
Margaret dropped the lid as she stumbled back.
’’WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, YOU DEVIL?!’’ she screamed.
Snapping out of his daze, Arthur rose to his feet as well.
’’Roderic! Explain yourself!’’
Roderic nodded once.
’’Well,’’ he began slowly. ’’On the way back from Aldermere, we were ambushed at night by someone who wanted revenge.’’
For the first time, his smile completely disappeared.
’’Many of our soldiers and knights tragically passed away.’’
Silence fell inside the room.
Strange expressions appeared on both Arthur’s and Margaret’s faces.
Before either could speak, Roderic turned around and picked up the other two smaller boxes.
He placed them on the broken desk one after another.
As their lids came off, more rotten flesh appeared, surrounded by flowers.
A pair of severed arms rested inside one box, while the other contained two legs.
Margaret’s face rapidly lost its color, nearly throwing up.
Arthur simply stared at them.
’’It was a really unfortunate event,’’ Roderic continued. ’’But I think it’ll end up pushing our barony in the right direction.’’
Finally, he turned to the final gift box.
It was much larger than the others, requiring two people to carry it.
’’You know,’’ he suddenly said as he flicked his fingers. ’’I’m surprised you haven’t figured out who is inside this box, Margaret.’’
Two knights walked forward, placing the heavy gift box down.
Thump!
Something inside the box moved.
Margaret’s eyes suddenly widened in horror.
Her gaze snapped between the severed limbs and the enormous box.
Roderic noticed immediately.
’’Oh? Maybe you have figured it out already,’’ he said, tilting his head. ’’No wonder they say blood is thicker than water.’’
Margaret’s lips parted.
’’No...’’ she whispered, her breathing halting.
With a wide smirk, Roderic pulled off the lid.
Inside lay a trembling young man.
Or at least... what remained of him.
Gareth was painfully thin after the journey, his clothes hanging loosely around his body. All four of his limbs were gone, leaving only heavily bandaged stumps behind.
A rag had been tied tightly around his mouth, while a necklace of flowers adorned his head and neck.
But the moment his eyes found Margaret, they widened desperately.
’’Mmmph! MMPH!’’
He leaned forward.
Thud!
His body fell forward onto the table.
For a moment, complete silence fell inside the room.
Gareth helplessly looked up, unable to move even a bit further.
He stared at his aunt with desperation in his eyes, almost like she was the only person in the world who could save him.
But Margaret didn’t move.
For several seconds, she didn’t even seem to breathe.
Her eyes moved from Gareth’s face to the open boxes beside him.
’’...Gareth?’’
Gareth desperately nodded, tears forming in his eyes.
Just then, Roderic gestured towards Gareth with both hands.
’’Tada!’’ he said, a massive grin on his face.
Margaret glanced back at him for a moment.
Something inside her finally broke.
’’YOU FUCKING MONSTER!’’
She lunged forward, her face twisted with pure hatred.
’’YOU SHOULD’VE DIED LONG AGO! YOU SHOULD’VE FUCKING DIED WITH THAT WENCH YOU CALLED A MOTHER!’’
Arthur froze in place.
But Margaret didn’t even notice.
Suddenly, a thin needle appeared at the top of her fan.
’’YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!’’
Swinging her arm down with all her might, she sent the needle shooting forward.
Roderic quickly tilted his head.
Whoosh!
The needle shot past his cheek and buried itself deep into the wall behind him.
’’WHY WON’T YOU JUST DIE?!’’ she screamed. ’’THE POISON DIDN’T KILL YOU! THOSE USELESS MERCENARIES COULDN’T KILL YOU! EVEN MY BROTHER COULDN’T FUCKING KILL YOU!’’
The room went completely silent for a moment.
Margaret’s chest heaved violently.
Tears of rage streamed down her face as she pointed a trembling finger at Roderic.
’’You were supposed to be NOTHING! A useless little bastard everyone laughed at! But you just kept crawling back! Again and again and again!’’
Arthur slowly turned towards her.
His face had gone completely white from disbelief and shock.
’’...What?’’
Margaret didn’t even see or hear him.
She was simply too far gone.
’’Why did I marry into this family after that fucking wench died?!’’ she shrieked. ’’Why did I agree to this torture? Why did I do all this? Why! Why!! Why!!!’’
Arthur’s mouth was wide open.
He just stared at the woman he’d been married to for over a decade.
’’THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!’’ she shrieked, her bloodshot eyes locked on Roderic. ’’I SHOULD’VE FINISHED YOU MYSELF YEARS AGO!’’
Another set of needles appeared on top of her fan.
Without hesitation, she swung her arm down wildly.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Roderic took a step aside.
His hand shot up, catching one of the needles.
He glanced at the blackened tip for a moment before slowly nodding.
’’Poison, huh,’’ he said approvingly. ’’Seems to be pretty strong too. Nice one.’’
For a moment, silence fell inside the office.
Margaret stared at him, one eyelid twitching crazily.
Then she grabbed her hair and opened her mouth wide.
’’AAAHHH!!!’’ she screamed crazily like some kind of wild animal.