Chapter 78 Cruel Mistress

"Keep going! I need to get the most coins!" A particularly unpleasant high-pitched feminine voice rang out, "I need to teach that commoner the difference between us!"

Antoinette looked at her followers with visible annoyance.

Something which sent shivers down their spines.

Even though they were extremely tired and thirsty, it wasn't like they could complain.

After all, they and their families were on her family's payroll.

If they upset her, their family falling into poverty was the best possible outcome.

More often than not they would be tortured and killed.

The bullies who threateningly came at Arvell were nothing more than meek lambs in front of their master.

Even when their master made them carry her since her 'legs felt tired' 5 minutes after the start of the examination, they had to accept it no questions asked.

More so they needed to smile while doing it.

Maintaining their sick charade of actually caring for her.

If selling themselves to their shitty master wasn't enough, they needed to act like they actually liked her.

Even so, they persevered.

"Yes ma'am! No one other than you deserves to win this!"

Their words seemed to somewhat pacify their master.

"Good! Now get moving!"

"Yes!"

The group bit their lip in frustration.

They wanted nothing more than to rest, but that was a luxury they couldn't afford.

"Keep a look out for that silver-haired peasant! If you see him, I want you to bring him to me. Make sure he's at least barely breathing."

One of the group members looked at Antoinette with visible confusion.

"Isn't it a bad idea to kill him while he's under the academy's protection? It would be better if we could wait until he's returned back to his house before we kill him. It's far safer that way," She explained.

The girl who spoke just happened to be the one who tried to punch Arvell earlier that day.

Antoinette's body twitched when she heard the girl's words.

The others flinched when they saw this.

Even the girl hurriedly brought her hands to her mouth, wishing she could've just sewn it shut instead.

Antoinette turned to her with an angry glare.

"How dare you advise me! A mere commoner like you, a servant no less! I am your better!"

Tears began to form in the girl's eyes.

She knew what was going to happen next…

Antoinette raised her hand and aimed it at the girl.

"Ignite a flower of burning crimson… Fire!"

A small wisp of fire flew out of Antoinette's hands landing straight on the girl's face.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

The girl screamed as the fire ate away at her face.

She desperately tried to put the fire out by rubbing her face against the ground, but sadly Antoinette's next words removed any hope of doing even that.

"All of you hold her still. Don't let her put out the fire, or you'll experience the same."

Besides the person carrying Antoinette on their shoulders, there were only three other people.

The reluctantly turned to the burning girl, and bound her arms, preventing her from putting out the fire on her face.

'I'm sorry, but please bear with it.'

'We don't have any way to reject her.'

'If we don't do this, we'll experience the same fate as you.'

The boy holding Antoinette on his shoulders breathed out a sigh of relief.

At least he didn't need to participate in that.

But his shoulders holding up Antoinette felt a lot heavier after witnessing this.

If he accidentally dropped her, he would be next.

Making his increasing fatigue a real concern at the moment.

After the fire on the girl's face went through its toll, the girl's face was a charred fleshy mess.

Any of the beauty she had earlier was completely gone.

Antoinette had left her alive, since she still had value in the exam, but afterwards?

Her fate was already decided.

She ordered the girl to cover he face with some clothes, so Antoinette didn't have to 'disgrace her eyes' with that sight.

At this point, the girl couldn't do anything but cry.

At least with the clothes covering her face, no one would see the tears trailing down her cheeks.

However, even that stung.

The cold tears running down her scarred flesh caused her to feel mild pain on her cheek, but after facing the pain of having her face burned off, a minuscule pain like that was nothing.

"Now that the problem's been suitably dealt with, let's get back to business."

Antoine instructed the group to continue on their original path, ordering them to keep an eye out for coins and Arvell.

Suddenly Antoinette noticed a glint of light, causing her eyes to light up.

'It must be a coin!'

She smacked the person who was carrying her on the back of the head to get their attention.

"Go there, I see a coin!"

Antoinette pointed in the general direction of the flickering light she saw earlier.

"Yes ma'am."

Her entourage followed her directions, going in the direction where she supposedly saw the coin.

Upon reaching the spot where she saw the coin earlier, Antoinette's eyes widened in joy.

She pushed the person whose shoulders she was sitting on and jumped off of their back.

Losing their balance, the person fell to the ground face first.

"Oww…"

Antoinette didn't seem to notice much less care for the plight of the fallen boy, instead, she was too busy being distracted by something else entirely.

She raced over to the coin she saw glimmering on the ground.

However, instead of being one coin, she found a whole pile.

She was rich!

"Yes!" Antoinette shouted in visible excitement.

Without turning back, she yelled to her companions.

"What are you doing, just standing there? Come help me!"

"..."

Surprisingly only silence greeted her.

"I told you to get your arses over here! If you ignore my order, I'll have all of you punished!"

"..."

At this point, Antoinette was seething with rage.

How dare they ignore her, not once, but twice!

In an angry huff, she turned around to face the bastards who so willingly ignored her.

Only… to see that none of her companions were still there.

"Where did they go? Did they just leave me!"

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"Hissssss"

Antoinette heard a small sound behind her.

"Huh? What the hell is going on?"

'Did they sneak behind me to claim the coins for themselves?'

An angry scowl formed on Antoinette's face.

'How dare they!'

She turned around to face her backstabbing companions, only to realize… There was nothing behind her.

It was all… black?

She couldn't see anything.

The pile of coins, the trees, the moon, everything.

It was as if… they all just disappeared somehow.

"What is going o-"

*GULP*

No more sounds were heard, as the area became filled with an eerie silence.