The Man’s 101st Bad Ending

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When a person breaks down, it happens in an instant, and sometimes they even forget how they ended up breaking down.

What is the reason for it? What is the cause?

The collapsed Arthur may not be able to think, but Theresa should have clearly known the reason.

“…Where is Ned?”

At the chilling voice, the servant trembled.

In the room that had turned into a mess with various pieces of furniture broken, a woman with her hair disheveled parted her lips.

It was also the woman’s own actions that had made the room like that.

Perhaps there was someone hiding and monitoring. Watching her actions, who knew what mischief they might do – she had said.

“Aha. Right. That’s how it was.”

Theresa burst into laughter, chuckling.

Ned, who had been her butler, had finally lost her trust as well.

Now that she thought about it, wasn’t it indeed suspicious?

With her brother collapsed and groaning like that, there was no way there could be nothing wrong with the food.

Perhaps it was Ned’s order to put poison in the food.

If only he would confess with his own mouth while being tortured now, this matter would be over.

No matter how much her former fiancé had done such a thing, to use poison…

…He was a more terrifying man than she thought.

Since when had he been hiding such a dagger in his bosom? Theresa let out a small sigh and brushed her hair with her hand.

The hair was matted and tangled with dried blood.

She forcefully pulled it, applying strength until the hair was ripped out from her fingers.

Even so, the servant’s face turned deathly pale at her expressionless face.

Theresa didn’t even find this painful.

It had already been a week since Arthur’s condition had worsened.

The doctors who came all failed to find the cause of the illness, and even the priest… could not purify that poison.

“The guy who said he would call the saint.”

“Uh, we still can’t get in touch-”

“How many times did I say she has to come by today!”

Bang, Theresa, who slammed the desk that had remained intact with her hand, shouted.

Even as she slammed the desk, causing wooden splinters to pierce her hand and drip blood, her mind was still filled with thoughts about that poison.

It must have been a poison ingested through food. She wondered what kind of poison it was.

Even the servant trembling in fear looked pathetic to her.

Rather… should she interrogate him like Ned?

There was no need to be so frightened right now, was there?

Had she gotten angry? No, she had merely asked.

She must have asked quite kindly when the priest would bring the saint.

Why was he reacting like that?

In an instant, the frozen pupils melted again at the sound of coughing coming from far away.

It was a sound that could no longer be called a simple cough.

With each cough, it expelled the vitality of the entire body, making it evident that he was gradually dying, didn’t it?

“Just what is going on? For the Taylor family to use poison on us!”

To Theo, the head of the Violet family, it was truly a bolt from the blue.

They had not even been on bad terms, and until a few days ago, the children of both families had been engaged to each other. Why on earth would they use poison on them?

He, too, did not know the exact truth.

He had only heard what Theresa said, and even he could not make a level-headed judgment about this situation.

“…I don’t know either. Why they would do this to us.”

“It, it might not be poison, right? They never had any interest in us in the first place. Why would they use poison on us…”

Foolish.

How could he suspect a person this sick of merely having an illness?

She had heard of illnesses with similar symptoms, but just seeing that it didn’t improve with medicine, one could tell it was not a simple illness.

Pneumonia? No way. This was poison.

The poison that Robert Taylor had personally used to destroy the Violet family that had exploited him.

“Father, don’t worry too much. They can’t do anything to us either.”

It was too obvious a ploy.

If only she could get her hands on the evidence by torturing Ned, she would be able to counterattack the Taylor family later.

That foolish Robert, did he think she would crumble with this kind of trick?

Ha, a sneer burst out, twisting the corners of her mouth.

It was such a bizarre and uncanny expression that Theo, who saw that smile, trembled slightly.

The cold, frozen pupils reflected nothing.

They merely gazed at her brother lying down, coughing up blood.

There was no reason, no sense.

How was it different from the state of fanatically believing that everything she judged was right?

What Theo thought of was Ned.

To calm his daughter even a little, wouldn’t Ned, who had been with her since childhood, be of help?

So Theo opened his mouth to call that name.

“Come to think of it, I don’t see Ned. Where on earth is he at a time like this? Bring him here at once!””You won’t find him even if you look.”

Thud, at the words thrown out, Theo turned his head.

He won’t come, Theo was the only one in this room who did not understand those words.

The servants each bowed their heads and squeezed their eyes shut, trying to avoid the words that would be heard next.

“He’s downstairs, that traitor.”

“…I have no idea what you’re talking about. Traitor, are you referring to Ned?”

“That person hid the fact that he put poison in the food. He probably mistakenly thought we blindly trusted him. He’ll probably open his mouth soon. Why, we have them in our family. The torture experts.”

His mind turned blank in an instant.

Unable to believe that the words his daughter uttered were reality, all he could do was blankly gaze at his daughter’s smile.

A traitor… He knew better than anyone that it couldn’t be true.

And the basement.

His face, which could no longer even force a smile, stiffened, but Theresa, not even noticing it, was muttering words he couldn’t understand.

Poison, at least in Theo’s mind, it was hard to see his daughter’s fiancé as such a wretched person.

Moreover, there was no way Ned, who had worked the longest in this mansion, would be involved in putting such poison.

Theresa, not even sensing the desolate gaze directed at her, still had Robert in her mind.

The poison he had secretly brought in, how to obtain the antidote for it.

Her father had long disappeared from her mind.

‘…Indeed, I need to kneel before him once.’

She had sent several letters pretending to repent for her sins.

She had just been waiting because there was no reply. But… she felt the need to directly see that face.

“Father, don’t worry too much. I’ll take care of it.”

She whispered to her father, who had slumped to the floor.

It must have been the shock of her brother collapsing that made him like this.

How would he feel if he knew that it was all because of one person?

Theresa still believed she could resolve this situation.

No, wasn’t it natural?

What Robert wanted was probably for her to apologize.

No matter how much he had found out, if she appropriately pleaded guilty and apologized, wouldn’t he give her the antidote?

If a situation arose where he didn’t give it, that would be a bad move for Robert instead.

“I’ll be back in a bit. It won’t take long.”

The sun was still shining brightly outside.

She hated even the sun. She was in such a serious situation, yet even the sky seemed to be mocking her.

Crumpling the letter in her hand, Theresa rose to her feet.

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“…So, I was told she is currently heading this way.”

I nodded my head at Renold’s words.

I thought her reaction was quite slow, but was she lost in her own delusions?

She was a more fragile woman than I thought.

To imagine a poison I didn’t even administer and demand an antidote…

“Did she originally… have delusional disorder?”

“No, she didn’t have delusional disorder. Her mind probably just became strange because her family’s health deteriorated.”

I knew well that she didn’t have delusional disorder.

Perhaps my words had triggered her and drove her mad, or she genuinely suspected this situation.

After burning a few letters, she was finally coming.

Renold, who had been looking at my slightly smiling expression with puzzlement, seemed to recall the previous incident and asked about the preparations.

“But, is it alright to not make any preparations like last time?”

“Well. This time, I think it might be better to prepare.”

I couldn’t easily imagine what Theresa’s state of mind would be like when she came here.

I thought she would probably be quite desperate, but somehow, I felt she would have a quite serious attitude.

Seeing her say nonsensical things about poison and antidote, she would probably apologize for this matter.

We were not in a relationship to go back with just that. After a brief contemplation, I gestured slightly to Renold and opened my mouth.

“One tea will be enough. I’ll go out first.”

“Understood.”

The entire time I was getting ready to go out, straightening my clothes, what came to my mind was the time I had spent with Theresa.

The time I had lived, not missing even the slightest chance to survive,

Forcibly embracing things that could be discarded. Things that could be discarded without much issue.

Hadn’t I lived with the thought that a single mistake would lead to my death?

At every moment, in every situation, a slight mistake had brought about my demise.

Recalling the times I had died merely for a slip of the tongue, I couldn’t understand what this world wanted from me.

“Did it just want me to die?”

There was a time when I had stubbornly tried to live, resisting that, but now I ironically wished for such a death.

My steps heading towards the garden felt lighter than ever.

Even though this meeting was not so pleasant, wasn’t it rather sending off the 100 ties I had built towards the past?

But it was enjoyable. To the point where I couldn’t hold back a smile for a moment.

I thought the weather was truly nice.

The grass I stepped on, the swaying greenery of the garden seemed to be smiling at me.

The warm sunshine soaked my body, the warmth of summer enveloping the surroundings.

On the round table placed alone in the garden, there were two teacups, and a pot filled with chamomile tea in the center.

Taking out a white chair and taking a seat, I began to wait for Theresa, who would soon arrive.

Renold tried to stand beside me, but I shook my head, saying there was no need for that.

“There might be unforeseen circumstances, though.”

“There won’t be such circumstances. You don’t need to worry.”

The ways Theresa had tried to kill me were quite diverse.

As such, I knew well how to handle it.

And did you think I had spent those 100 lives just playing around? No matter how enraged a woman she was, she wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on me.

Neigh-

The sound of a horse’s neigh coming from far away made my closed eyes open.

Perhaps the woman I had been waiting for had arrived.

Correcting my posture, like a gentleman waiting for his beloved. Recalling my past self, I showed a gentle smile.

Click, click.

The woman I had loved at one point, the woman I had loved.

That was why I had smiled, and often suppressed the urge to cry and put on a mask.

It was time to bid farewell to such a woman in my own way.

The only parting gift I could give her was the most polite and warm attitude possible.

I could guarantee that Theresa’s appearance upon seeing me would probably be a mess.

This smile would be the most harrowing poison for her, more than anything else.

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