Chapter 9
1421words
"No... you can't arrest me!" Anastasia finally recovered, pointing frantically at the gold heap. "How much do you want? Is this enough? If not, I have more! Ten times this! A hundred times! Just let us go!"
The captain regarded her as one might view a mildly entertaining lunatic.
"Save your theatrics," he sneered. "Before royal justice, your filthy gold means nothing!"
Two guards stepped forward, forcing her to the ground and clamping cold iron shackles around her wrists.
Her mother and sister's screams, her own struggles and curses—all utterly futile. The guards dragged her from the room like refuse.
In her final backward glance, she saw the gold, silver, and jewels scattered across the floor. The treasures she'd fought so desperately to obtain now gleamed with cold mockery, lying inert and useless.
In a dark, damp dungeon, Anastasia and her family shared a single cell.
She sat in numb shock, staring through the bars at her mountain of wealth piled in the corridor. The guards had deliberately placed it there—a silent, massive mockery.
"These fools! Blind idiots!" Anastasia hissed, teeth grinding audibly. "All that money right in front of them, and they refuse to take it! Were they kicked in the head by mules? Or did that little bitch Cinderella's tears wash away their common sense?"
Her sister Theresa shivered nearby, her fine dress useless against the dungeon's bone-deep chill. She approached the cell door on trembling legs and addressed a bored guard:
"Please, sir, might we have a blanket? We're... we're freezing."
"Get lost!" the guard snapped.
"I'll pay you! Money!" Theresa pointed desperately at the gold pile. "See that treasure? Take a piece—no, take a handful! Just bring us a blanket, and keep the rest!"
The guard gave her a contemptuous look before erupting in laughter. He casually kicked away a gold coin that had rolled near his foot. The coin—worth enough to feed ten families for a year—clanged against the wall like a worthless pebble.
"You think I'm stupid?" The guard wrapped his thick wool coat tighter around himself. "The prince decreed that anyone touching that trash with even a finger joins you in here! Would I risk my position for that garbage? Is it as warm as my coat?"
He patted his coat smugly and turned away.
Theresa collapsed in despair.
Anastasia observed silently, her gaze fixed on the useless treasure.
The concept that "money is worthless" never entered her mind; instead, her rage intensified.
"No, that's not it... the price simply wasn't high enough," she thought savagely. "Once I escape, I'll amass enough wealth to buy the entire kingdom! I'll make that prince and Cinderella kneel and lick dirt from my shoes! I'll prove there's nothing money can't buy! There's only money that isn't enough!"
She clung desperately to her principles, yet beneath her certainty lurked a nagging doubt she herself hadn't recognized.
Why did that glittering heap suddenly seem so... offensive to her eyes?
Just as she prepared to pound the wall in frustration, the faint sound of turning keys interrupted her thoughts.
She looked up sharply to see her mother pressing her haggard face against the bars, whispering urgently:
"Anna, don't be afraid, mother's here..."
The key made a soft, heart-stopping click in the lock.
*Click.*
The cell door cracked open. Anastasia saw her mother's face contorted with anxiety and fear.
"Anna, hurry!" Mother's voice quavered with tension. "I sold my last piece of jewelry to bribe the jailer. We must go now!"
Anastasia didn't move immediately, instead asking coldly: "Where's Theresa?"
"I... I didn't have enough... could only free one of you..." Mother's tears fell freely. "Anna, please, the guards change shifts soon!"
Anastasia felt something pierce her heart, but quickly suppressed the discomfort. She rose impatiently and exited the cell.
"Hurry up! Useless old woman, can't even manage a simple jailbreak." She muttered irritably, yet allowed her mother to grasp her hand firmly as they vanished into the dungeon's shadows.
They navigated the city's labyrinthine alleys under darkness. Her mother wheezed with exhaustion while Anastasia, slowed by her, grew increasingly furious, hurling cruel words as if they were free.
"Move faster! You're slower than a crippled snail! Are you trying to get us caught?"
"I... I can't... run anymore..." Her mother sagged against a wall, struggling for breath.
"Useless! Such a burden!" Anastasia berated her. "I told you to seduce the king years ago. With any real skill, I'd be a princess by now! Would I be running like a hunted rat? This is entirely your fault!"
"It's... mother's fault..." Her mother sobbed, apologizing repeatedly. "Because mother is worthless... Anna, leave me, save yourself, you must survive..."
"Shut up! If I run now, who'll support a useless old woman like you?" Despite her harsh words, Anastasia slowed her pace, gripped her mother's arm, and half-dragged her forward.
Finally, they glimpsed the city gate's faint torchlight. If they could just reach.
However, the drumming of hooves and approaching torchlight shattered their hopes. A squadron of guards with blazing torches had already sealed the city gate.
"Halt! You're surrounded!" the captain bellowed.
It was over.
Anastasia's heart plummeted. She watched the guards advancing with gleaming swords, her mind utterly blank.
In that moment, a guard saw his chance. With a battle cry, he raised his sword and lunged at the frozen Anastasia!
"Anna! Look out!"
Anastasia heard only her mother's agonized scream. Then a warm, frail body unhesitatingly shielded her.
*Squelch—*
The sound of steel piercing flesh was horrifyingly distinct.
Anastasia stared in shock. Blood poured from her mother's chest, soaking her worn dress crimson. Her mother gazed at her with eyes showing no pain—only boundless love and relief.
"Thank goodness... you're safe..."
With these words, her mother crumpled, collapsing into the spreading pool of blood.
"No..."
Anastasia's mind buzzed as something inside her shattered.
She remembered Ariel enduring knife-like agony for her prince.
She remembered Belle willingly imprisoning herself for her father.
She remembered her mother's words: "Anna, you must live well."
She had always mocked those "foolish" emotions and scorned those "unprofitable" exchanges. Yet now, the person who loved her most had made the most "foolish," most "unprofitable" trade of all—for her.
"AAAAAH——!"
She released an inhuman wail, cradling her mother's cooling body, utterly shattered.
"Witch! COME OUT!!" she screamed mentally. "Didn't you say my 'Correction Points' were valuable?! Where's my S+ evaluation?! My 'classic case study'?! I EARNED them! I want to use them NOW!"
"What do you wish to exchange?" For the first time, the witch's voice carried a trace of emotion.
"Save her!!" Anastasia sobbed uncontrollably, her mental voice raw with desperation. "I command you—save her life! Whatever the cost! All my points, all my ratings, everything I've earned! Take it all! I want nothing for myself! Just let her live! HURRY!!"
This was the first and only transaction she had ever made without calculating costs or expecting returns.
"...Deal accepted."
As the witch's voice faded, an indescribable warm, radiant light flowed from Anastasia's body into her mother's. She felt her precious "S+ ratings" and life-saving "Correction Points" rapidly depleting to zero.
But she didn't care. Not one bit.
The guards froze before this supernatural phenomenon, none daring to approach.
As the light faded, the wound in her mother's chest had vanished completely. Though still weak, her breathing had stabilized.
The witch's voice resonated in Anastasia's mind one final time.
[Final Correction Points: 0.]
[Overall Evaluation: None.]
['Evil Stepsister Transformation Plan' successfully completed. Congratulations, Anastasia. Welcome to your... new life.]
The system went permanently offline.
Anastasia remained stunned briefly, then gathered her remaining strength. She hoisted her weakened mother onto her back and, while the guards remained transfixed, stumbled through the city gate into the pre-dawn darkness.
After running for what felt like eternity, she finally found shelter in a secluded cave, gently lowering her mother to the ground.
Her mother slowly regained consciousness, gazed up at her, and smiled weakly: "Anna..."
"Hmph." Anastasia turned away, roughly wiping tears from her face with her sleeve, her words still harsh. "Look what you've done, you useless burden. Because of you, all the money I worked so hard for is gone. Now we're completely broke."
Even as she complained, she lifted a water pouch to her mother's lips, helping her drink with awkward tenderness. Then she clasped her mother's cold hand tightly in her own—and never let go again.
