Sister, I Hit You Because There Was a Ghost Behind You - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 47. A Waltz, Gold, and the Fourth Prey
In the center of the Banquet Hall, beneath the cascading brilliance of an ornate chandelier, two men’s hands hung suspended before me in palpable tension.
To accept either hand first would shatter the fragile peace of this cruise ship like glass—the air crackled with such menacing rivalry.
The surrounding nobility observed our breathless standoff with glittering, rapt fascination.
I snapped my fan shut with deliberate grace and placed my hands lightly upon theirs in turn.
A beguiling smile curved my lips as I made my declaration.
“To refuse the escort of two such distinguished gentlemen would be the height of discourtesy. I propose we compromise—a half-dance with each of you in turn.”
My audacious, flawless proposal caused both men’s pupils to contract visibly.
Displeasure etched their features, yet neither dared defy my decision.
I drew Demian’s gloved hand forward with gentle persuasion and spoke.
“Since propriety demands a classical lead, Demian shall take the first steps.”
A faint glimmer of victory bloomed across Demian’s face.
He placed his hand respectfully at my waist and guided me toward the center of the floor with movements light as feathers.
My waltz with Demian was flawless and ethereal—like a swan gliding across still waters.
His lead was impeccable, each movement precise, and we turned together as though we had always been one.
Demian leaned close to my ear, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
“Your grace in dance rivals your mastery with the blade. Yet my attention is drawn to the hall’s entrance.”
I maintained my smile while turning my gaze toward the direction he indicated.
Among the glittering throng of nobility, a suspicious group in deep black robes slipped furtively down the staircase leading to the lower decks.
Just as I began to nod in acknowledgment, the waltz’s gentle melody suddenly shifted to a rapid, passionate tempo.
In the same instant, Demian’s hand was torn from my waist, and a scorching, iron-hard arm seized me with commanding force.
Kairik bared his teeth in a feral snarl.
“Enough of this tedious, model-student choreography. Let me show you what a truly breathtaking dance looks like, Violetta.”
He pulled me flush against him before Demian could even protest.
His dance was ruthless and provocative—the movements of a predator herding prey, utterly indifferent to propriety.
With each violent spin, my navy gown bloomed like night-flowers in a spectacular display.
The scorching heat radiating from his muscular chest and the crushing strength of his hold nearly caused me to stumble.
Kairik arched my back as though lifting me skyward, his voice dropping low against my ear.
“I saw them too—those rats in black robes. They disappeared into the Secret Passage that leads to the Underground Auction House.”
The music reached its crescendo, and with Kairik’s flawless turn, the dance concluded.
Every noble in the Banquet Hall stood transfixed, their eyes wide with wonder as thunderous applause erupted.
I steadied my quickened breath and offered an elegant curtsy to both men flanking me.
“That was magnificent. Now that we’re properly warmed up, shall we return to business?”
We slipped away from the watching eyes and emerged onto the Balcony at the rear of the Banquet Hall.
As the sea breeze scattered my skirts, we moved swiftly toward the lower-deck Secret Passage Kairik had identified.
After descending the dark, damp staircase for some distance, we encountered a group of brutish guards stationed before a massive iron door.
Weapons in hand, they blocked our path and issued a threatening warning.
“None may enter without an invitation. If you value your lives, return to the upper decks at once.”
Demian reached for his holy sword, but I raised a hand to stop him.
Spilling blood and causing a commotion was the crude method of amateurs—hardly befitting a nobleman’s subtle infiltration.
I retrieved the golden VIP badge I had tossed to the Auctioneer earlier, along with a hefty pouch of gleaming gold coins, and dropped both at the feet of the Gate Keepers.
I issued my command in a cool, arrogant tone.
“My family is not the sort to wait around for trivial invitations. Surely this will suffice as a toll to open these doors?”
The Gate Keepers alternated their gaze between the enormous pile of coins and the golden badge scattered at their feet, swallowed hard, and hastily threw open the iron gates.
Indeed, there was no key quite so reliable and peaceful as the weighty power of gold for opening the world’s most stubbornly sealed doors.
Beyond the iron gates lay a spectacle that stood in stark contrast to the bright, cheerful Banquet Hall above—a clandestine, corrupt realm.
The underground hall, thick with hazy cigarette smoke, was filled with hundreds of nobles and magnates whose faces were concealed behind grotesque masks, their eyes gleaming with avarice.
At the center of the hall stood a dais draped in resplendent crimson cloth.
We settled quietly into seats at the back and waited for the auction to commence.
Soon, a dull bell tolled midnight, and the Auctioneer in a black tailcoat ascended the dais.
The Auctioneer cried out with exaggerated gestures.
“Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you the legendary ancient relic that will crown this evening’s grand finale—the ‘Queen’s Blood Drop,’ said to bestow absolute allure and power upon its possessor!”
The crimson cloth was drawn back, revealing a blood-red necklace nestled within a crystal case.
In that instant, my spiritual sight clearly captured the thick, viscous dark-crimson magical aura emanating from the necklace.
It was no mere jewel.
It was the core of the fourth calamity—’Envy’—which ferociously amplified the jealousy and vanity lurking deep within the human heart.
The moment the necklace was revealed, the atmosphere of the underground hall began to twist grotesquely.
The eyes of the masked nobles became bloodshot, and their mouths erupted with bestial, ragged breathing.
“Ten million gold! I’ll take it! That’s mine!”
“Twenty million gold! You dare bid before me? Thirty million gold!”
Entranced by the magical aura of Envy, the nobles lost all reason and began driving the price up like madmen.
Some even seized each other by the collar, glaring as though ready to kill, foam flecking their lips.
Demian gripped the hilt of his holy sword in alarm.
“This is… the magical aura is devouring their reason. If we allow this to continue, the auction house will become a sea of blood. We must suppress it at once!”
Kairik von Herzen likewise bared his sharp fangs and growled.
“How troublesome. It will take considerable time to knock out all these raving fools. Shall I just destroy the dais?”
Just as the two men assumed combat stances to exercise their power, I slowly rose from my seat.
I let out a soft laugh and gently pressed both men back down by their shoulders.
I held my fan to my lips and spoke with leisurely composure.
“Why resort to such barbaric and tedious methods? They are merely driven mad by jealousy, desperate to possess the jewel.”
I snatched a bidding paddle from a passing waiter’s tray and called out in a voice so loud and clear it seemed to shake the hall.
“One hundred million gold.”
In that instant, all the noise of the auction house—which had been consumed by frenzy and bloodlust—ceased as though it had never been.
Hundreds of eyes fixed upon me at once, and in their gaze lay overwhelming astonishment that transcended mere jealousy.
Even the Auctioneer stammered as though struck on the head with his own gavel.
“O-one hundred million… gold, you say, madam?”
I nodded with utmost elegance and finality, continuing my words.
“Are your ears deaf? Let me repeat myself. One hundred million gold. Stop wearying my ears with these pointless squabbles over pittance, and immediately award that hideous necklace to me.”
No matter how fiercely the magical aura of Envy might shake the human heart, before the overwhelming disparity of wealth that dares not be challenged, even that shallow jealousy shatters into fragments.
Confronted with the surreal sum of one hundred million gold, the nobles who had been entranced by the magical aura were seized by despair and submission, and they let their bidding paddles fall helplessly from their hands.
Kairik let out a hollow laugh, utterly flabbergasted, and muttered under his breath.
“Good heavens, what a terrifying woman. She crushed the spirits of all those people in a single stroke without lifting a finger.”
Demian too stared at me with an expression of disbelief.
“Violetta’s relentless financial prowess… sometimes it appears more miraculous than my own divine power.”
I walked toward the platform, leaving the two men’s admiration in my wake.
One hundred million gold. It stung to watch my hard-earned currency slip away, but I had already calculated that once I handed this cursed core over to the Magic Tower and submitted an invoice to the Imperial Court, I would receive double the amount in reimbursement.
As I accepted the crystal box, I suppressed an inward cheer and turned to glance back.
I cast a captivating wink toward Kairik and Demian.
“Well, the prey was captured quite peacefully. No terrifying monsters appeared, and it ended rather anticlimactically, didn’t it?”
But before my words could even finish.
The necklace that had been resting quietly inside the crystal box suddenly began vibrating violently, as though pulsing with an ominous heartbeat.
Crash—!
The box shattered into fragments, and blood-red demonic energy erupted like colossal tentacles, lashing viciously against the floor of the hall.
The Fourth Calamity, the Demon of Envy, had taken offense at having its core reduced to mere currency and crushed at auction, and now it began revealing its true form in earnest.
The entire ship convulsed wildly, as though caught in a violent tempest.
The nobles in the auction house shrieked and fled toward the exits, while the sound of splintering wooden panels erupted from all directions.
Kairik instantly positioned himself before me, his eyes blazing with bestial fury.
“My turn has finally come. Step back before your expensive dress is ruined, Violetta!”
Demian likewise drew his silver holy sword and cried out with resolute conviction.
“Vile demon blinded by envy! In the name of the Goddess, I shall purify you upon these waters!”
I brushed away the shattered crystal fragments without hesitation and retrieved a weighty magical hammer from my spatial pouch, settling it against my shoulder.
When elegance was no longer an option, what remained was always the same—thorough and merciless physical demolition.
I tore through the hem of my dress roughly and smiled with cold resolve.
“For daring to mar my possession! Today I shall strip you bare to the bone!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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