Tail’s Curse Chapter 5

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Born from love’s deceit and betrayal, she is incapable of something as pure as love. 

 

The blood flowing through Cordelia’s veins, the soul she inherited, screams with hatred for love. 

 

The curse her mother planted in her daughter before death would follow her until the very end. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes.  

 

“Cordelia, remember this.”

 

Her mother, her sickly eyes burning with intensity, whispered,

 

“You must take this medicine for the rest of your life. Then you won’t be in pain. Promise me. You must never tell anyone about our illness. Understood?”

 

The girl stared at the small black pill in her palm and nodded hesitantly before asking: *Then what about you?*  

 

Her mother was silent for a moment before smiling. 

 

“I don’t need it.”

 

Three days later, her mother’s body surfaced in the lake near the village.  

 

According to the guards, she had taken her own life, unable to endure the pain of her illness. 

 

Given her serene smile that day, perhaps it was true. 

 

But now, Cordelia knew the truth. Her mother had been killed by the love she carried. Even if her father hadn’t struck the final blow, it was ultimately betrayal and lost affection that drowned her.  

 

That lake was where her mother had first met her father in her youth.  

 

‘Why did she return to the place where her first love was born?’

 

Why?

 

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Harper Marguerite sat in the middle of a dingy tavern, his leg bouncing impatiently under the table.  

 

Today felt lucky. If he won this round, he could finally afford good liquor, a decent cut of meat, and maybe even a tailored tuxedo.  

 

Once a man of fine suits, polished shoes, a cane, and a pocket watch, he had lost it all to the pawnshop. 

 

The borrowed money was gone, and his once-handsome face had faded with age, leaving him looking shabby and worn. 

 

No money, no youth, no charm—even his days of charming women into supporting him were long over. Life had become wretched.  

 

‘Damn it, how did my life come to this?’  

 

Still, his well-raised daughter would soon be married off, and the dowry would be substantial. With that money, maybe he could finally leave this place.  

 

Having lost his father early, this second son of a noble family had once introduced himself as a traveler or a poor musician, swindling and seducing women into supporting him. 

 

By sheer luck, he had managed to charm the only daughter of a wealthy family untouched by his notorious reputation, eventually marrying her.  

 

While his fierce father-in-law was alive, he had to tread carefully. But after the old man’s death, life became comfortable—until he squandered everything. By then, his sickly wife and young daughter were the last things on his mind.  

 

Given the gambling debts, piled-up loans, and grudges against him, he should have fled long ago. 

 

But there was a reason he always returned to his dead wife’s estate after all these years. His daughter had finally come of age—old enough to marry.

 

Of course, his reasons had nothing to do with paternal love or moral obligations like responsibility. That girl was the gold mine he had been waiting for. 

 

The De Villiers were one of the wealthiest families in the region—just how much money would come pouring out?  

 

Even before bankrupting his wife’s family, he knew full well that swindling nobles was the most lucrative game. He could say with certainty that no one understood that better than him. 

 

After all, he had spent his entire life leeching off others.  

 

Harper clicked his tongue. At the very least, he needed to look presentable for the wedding. 

 

Should I borrow more money from the pawnshop? Damn it, there wasn’t a single penny left to scrape together. 

 

Maybe write another letter to my future son-in-law? No. If that led to a broken engagement, all my efforts would be wasted.  

 

His leg still bouncing, he spat on the floor and flipped his cards. 

 

The moment his flushed face lit up in triumph, the tavern’s wooden door slammed open and shut. Harper burst into raucous laughter, greedily raking in the money from the table.  

 

“Hahaha! Look at this! Told you luck was on my side today!”  

 

Laughing like a preening turkey, his voice thick with phlegm, Harper only noticed the eerie silence in the tavern when a large shadow fell over him. 

 

Blinking, he turned his head to see a man in a black suit and a bowler hat pressing down firmly on his shoulder.  

 

The gentleman smiled, his gold-capped canine glinting.  

 

“Now, Mr. Harper? Shall we have a little chat?”  

 

As the pale-faced man was half-dragged out of the tavern, the hushed crowd erupted into whispers.  

 

“Finally, that bastard’s getting what he deserves.”  

 

“Are those the infamous Raven Bank creditors? The ones they call the Money Ghosts?”  

 

“A pack of vultures, I tell you. Ruthless bastards.”  

 

“Rumor is they have branches everywhere—no place is safe.”  

 

“You haven’t heard? They say even if you die and drop into hell, those Raven gentlemen will chase you to the very end. Reapers, they are—actual reapers!”  

 

“W-Who the hell are you people?!”  

 

Harper gasped for breath as he was thrown into a filthy alley corner. 

 

Scrambling backward, he flinched as one of the men lit a cigarette, the glow flickering against his shadowed face. 

 

Calmly, the man nudged the stolen pouch of gold coins with the tip of his shoe.  

 

“Count it.”  

 

“W-Who sent you? Patrick? Or was it Old Lady Cressia—”  

 

“Tsk. Borrowed from so many places you lost track?”  

 

The man sighed, speaking with practiced politeness.  

 

“Now, Mr. Harper. Don’t underestimate us just because it’s been five years. If you borrow money, you pay it back.”  

 

Harper hiccuped, staring up at that pitying smile. 

 

Was today the day I die? 

 

The unsettling gold tooth, the pitch-black attire—it was getting harder to deny who they were.  

 

“G-Goldtooth Vincent?”  

 

The man’s customer-service smile vanished. He was more sensitive than he looked—he hated the notoriety that came with his work. 

 

Specifically, that brutal nickname wounded his pride. And so, he made sure to return the pain tenfold. 

 

But business was business.

 

“I suppose there’s no need for further explanation. Now, as stated in the letter you received a week ago, I expect you to repay the 5,000 rubles immediately. To be precise…”  

 

“157 rubles.”  

 

“So, 4,843 rubles remaining. Well? We’ve sent multiple notices—do you have the money ready?”  

 

Harper, who had been darting his eyes around as if searching for an escape, gulped nervously when his gaze met the man flashing his gold tooth, hands folded politely. 

 

Swallowing hard, he slowly shook his head.  

 

“M-my apologies… If you could just give me a little more time…”  

 

“Ugh, what a headache.”  

 

The man clicked his tongue, looking genuinely regretful.

But despite his reluctance, it was impossible not to know how cruel these people could become when pushed into a ‘no-choice’ situation. Swallowing again, Harper crawled forward like a dog and clutched the man’s pant leg.  

 

“P-please, spare me! Huh? I’ll pay it back soon, I swear!”  

“The debt ledger is already six months overdue. Listen here, Mr. Debtor. I’m a very busy man, too.”  

 

The man, Vincent, irritably pressed his tongue against his gold tooth.  

 

“Our boss has a real shitty temper, you see. Because of people like you, I’m running back and forth between two continents with my ass on fire. Damn it, it’s not even my money you borrowed.”  

 

To put it bluntly, they were the ones who took the loan, yet the ones collecting it had to suffer more. 

 

Of course, the interest on Raven Bank’s unsecured loans was several times higher than a regular bank’s—ridiculously expensive—but wasn’t that clearly stated in the documents before they signed?  

 

Why keep whining about mutually agreed terms?… 

 

Vincent’s magnificent and illustrious superior had once said, ‘If they can’t pay, they should sell their bodies.’

 

From head to toe, skin and guts—if stripping them bare still doesn’t cover the debt, then they’re worth less than livestock. 

 

No loss if they disappear from this world. 

 

Truly, a ‘beautiful’ philosophy. No wonder they were in this loan-sharking business.  

 

“The boss hates late interest the most. I barely managed to stop him from coming here himself.”