The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 207

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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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Part 2, Episode 12
“I beg your pardon?”
“You’ve suffered for a long time because of that monster. I’d like nothing more than to beat him senseless until your anger is spent…… but I’d prefer it if you didn’t do that.”
Zerdian fell silent, struck by the words.
Brisa spoke quietly.
“Marcel Cardipol didn’t choose to become a monster either. So I think he deserves a chance to live as a human again.”
“We didn’t choose to live like this either.”
“But this will be resolved now. This is a proposal for your sake too. I’m worried you’ll suffer needless guilt, Zerdian. You’re fundamentally a good person, after all.”
“So at first, you saw me as someone wicked and failed?”
Zerdian replied churlishly.
“And it’s difficult to restore a territory once it’s been ruined.”
His voice dropped low.
“It doesn’t simply end because one monster disappears…… Everyone knows that.”
Naturally the situation would improve compared to before, but debts had already accumulated and the productive foundation had nearly collapsed.
“Unless some sudden major variable appears…”
That was when Brisa spoke quietly.
“Then I’ll be that variable.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m currently promising to make this territory flourish.”
Zerdian blinked.
He’d naturally heard the rumors about Brisa Sears—that she was a farming genius who’d accomplished various things in the Western Region, Southern Region, and Northern Region.
If she hadn’t increased the wheat production of the Western Region, Russell County would have faced far greater hardship. At least the low price of wheat these days meant no one had to fear starvation.
“Our county is right by the sea. The environment simply isn’t suitable for farming.”
“Is that so.”
Brisa replied listlessly.
“That’s the fourth time I’ve heard that excuse. I already heard the same thing in the Western Region, the Southern Region, and the Northern Region—frankly, I’m tired of it.”
She spoke with her arms crossed.
“But one thing is certain. I’ve used disasters to my advantage all this time. So don’t harbor any vengeful thoughts—you’ll only miss out on a good opportunity.”
Then it happened.
Alpheus came running.
“Brisa! That thing!”
Zerdian spun around in alarm.
“The monster appeared already? You should have told me!”
In that moment, he lost his composure and spoke his true feelings aloud. The monster’s island had already come into view.
“I just meant…”
‘Ah……’
His pupils dilated.
‘What in the world is…’
On the rocks of the island where dark waves rippled, “it” sat perched.
“It” gazed at them with eyes that gleamed like the moon, long silver hair flowing in the breeze, irises shimmering with a deep violet hue.
‘But…… wait? Below……’
Below the waist of the half-human, half-beast seated on the rock, there were no legs to be seen. Instead, iridescent scales and fins that shone in five brilliant colors took their place.
‘Not a monster…… a half-human, half-beast, they said?’
It certainly looked more human than monstrous. Even if only half.
Just as Zerdian’s mouth fell open, the half-human, half-beast parted its lips.
“■■■■■■■■■■■■…….”
As his consciousness grew hazy from the incomprehensible song, its lyrics lost in the melody—
“Chew it.”
Someone suddenly slapped his cheek.
“Chew it, I said.”
That hand shoved fragrant herbs into his mouth with reckless abandon.
Then Alpheus’s voice came from behind Brisa.
“Brisa, no! Your hand will hurt! Let me do it instead!”
Zerdian’s eyes flew open. He remembered being struck by the mechanical arm and driven into the sand with the force of a seagull.
“I’ll chew! I’ll chew! Please, not that arm!”
He cried out desperately, working his jaw. The half-human, half-beast continued to sing.
“■■■■■■■■■■■■…….”
At this, Alpheus’s eyes—already narrowed as he chewed the Awakening Herb—sharpened further.
“My mistake last time…… was throwing Sword Aura. That’s why I gave you the sea as an escape route.”
His voice, stripped of all warmth, was chilling.
“This time, I’ll face you directly—with my hands, not a blade.”
With that, Alpheus launched himself forward.
He leaped over several rocks in an instant and hurled himself at the half-human, half-beast, seizing its throat with his mechanical arm.
* * *
I knew Alpheus was strong, but still my heart clenched with worry. The way he’d charged forward without hesitation overlapped with the moment he’d pursued the Empress Dowager.
‘It’s fine.’
I barely managed to suppress the tightness in my chest as I thought.
‘It has to be fine…… Alpheus said it would be.’
Compared to the reception when I’d faced the Empress Dowager, Taming this half-human, half-beast was absurdly simple.
I already knew how to counter its abilities, and there were no people nearby I needed to worry about.
Sure enough, Alpheus slammed the half-human, half-beast straight into the rock.
“■■!”
Its silver tail thrashed desperately. But with its throat constricted, the half-human, half-beast could no longer sing.
Alpheus and the creature grappled on the rock, but soon he pinned its tail beneath his legs and pressed down on it from above, subduing it completely.
“Go now!”
I shouted toward the navigator.
“Get closer!”
Alpheus forcibly subduing the half-human, half-beast was the procedure of Taming.
Sure enough, once the ship drew near, the half-human, half-beast had grown docile.
“■■, ■■■?”
Communication failed.
In any case, it seemed to speak in a relatively gentle tone, but Zerdian behind me muttered with malice.
“Ah, I see.”
Though he couldn’t possibly understand what it was saying, he spoke matter-of-factly.
“It says it doesn’t want to live like this anymore and would rather you killed it.”
Of course, his anger was justified.
Considering that monster had reduced his territory to this state, he had every right to complain.
But my earlier plea to ‘not kill it’ seemed to have had an effect, as Zerdian clenched his fists without attacking.
“■■!”
Instead, he attacked verbally.
“It says it’s longed for death for a very long time. If you’d just squeeze a little harder on your grip around its neck, it would be most grateful.”
At Zerdian’s words, the half-human, half-beast shook its head desperately.
It seemed to want to live after all.
“Hold still now.”
I spoke irritably.
“Look at my eyes.”
The violet eyes, which resembled Gillab’s, fixed on me.
Fear filled those eyes. Its mental strength appeared to be weak—nothing like the venomous defiance in Audrey’s gaze.
Upper body human, lower body fish.
Alpheus had said something like this once.
“Half fish, half human, something like that in appearance.”
Back then, I’d thought perhaps the right half was fish and the left human, and so I’d never imagined what it actually looked like. But this was it.
Staring at those violet eyes, I tried to dredge up a memory.
“You’re…… a Siren, aren’t you.”
Living in the sea, half-human in form, half-fish.
Marcel’s eyes widened.
In the meantime, Zerdian “accidentally” trampled its tail with force.
“■■■!”
Zerdian spoke casually.
“Ah, did that feel good? You enjoy massage, do you?”
“■■!”
Zerdian seemed to have decided to express his anger through petty mockery.
“What’s that? You’re asking for neck work too? Of course, gladly.”
After all, the very monster of the territory he’d wanted to kill stood right before his eyes.
‘Isabela couldn’t hide her resentment even though she knew he was her own father. Zerdian’s feelings are only natural.’
I looked directly into Marcel’s aggrieved eyes and spoke slowly.
“It may not have been your intention, but Russell County suffered immensely because of you.”
Marcel tilted his head in confusion.
Before Taming, when it was still a monster, it naturally didn’t remember those days well.
“So once you return to your true form, you must make amends for that. Can you promise me?”
Marcel’s face was bewildered.
I didn’t reproach him even when he couldn’t answer right away.
“Actually, you don’t even need to promise. After all, you’ll come to regard me as your master, your owner, or something like that.”
There is a Siren in ancient Greek mythology. It’s said they sing enchanting songs that lure sailors and travelers, and those who follow that song lose their lives.
Thus, the half-human, half-beast of the sea—embodying danger and ruin…….
“■?”
I looked at the bewildered Marcel and spoke.
“So let us begin your labor now. Your singing days are over,
Siren
.”
At the same moment, my body began to float.
Knowing I would faint soon, Alpheus threw Marcel aside and caught me in his arms.
“Pants!”
While instructing Zerdian. He was experienced too.
“Get him some pants!”
Forced to dress his enemy, Zerdian’s face twisted in anguish.
With that painful expression as the last thing I saw, I mumbled to Alpheus:
“This is the last time…”
“Huh? Brisa? What did you say?”
“That you turn your back on me and rush off to the half-human, half-beast…… this is the last time…”
Only after examining every inch of Alpheus’s intact body did my vision blur.
“…… Let’s go home soon…….”
And then I collapsed, consciousness fading.

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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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