It was pure coincidence that Daisy learned the truth.
That day, as usual, Daisy was faithfully performing her duties for the Madame.
“Suspicious rumors have been spreading lately,” Daisy began worriedly. “It seems Madame’s actions from five years ago are coming back to haunt her. Unless we take some measures — “
“You don’t need to worry about that, so stay out of it.”
“What? But Madame…” Daisy hesitated before continuing. “The situation is quite serious. For now, it’s only spreading through word of mouth in the back alleys, but considering the impact of the story, if these rumors were to reach higher ears — “
“Enough! I told you it’s none of your business, didn’t I?!”
Daisy quickly shut her mouth, but it was too late. Madame poked Daisy in the chest with the tip of her fan and lamented.
“How is it that you never understand the first time? When will you ever become a useful talent?”
As Daisy froze under the scolding, a snicker came from the side.
“Take it easy, Madame. She’s going to cry at this rate.”
It was the man who was said to be Madame’s acquaintance. Although Daisy didn’t know his exact identity, it was certain they shared an intimate relationship. Madame did not hesitate to reveal any of her flaws in front of him.
Perhaps not wanting to show an unsightly side of herself to the man, Madame let out a deep sigh and nodded her head.
“You may leave now.”
“Yes, Madame.”
Daisy left the room, careful not to even let her breathing disturb Madame’s mood. It went without saying that after leaving, she reproached herself for the stupidity that had disappointed her mistress.
‘Goodness, me. I’m sure Madame’s acquaintances will take care of it, yet I went and ruined her mood for nothing.’
The scale of the situation didn’t seem like something that could be resolved so simply, but Daisy figured she only felt that way because she was dim-witted. Surely, Madame had some sort of hidden plan. After all, Madame was the Queen of the Press, a manipulator of public opinion.
‘I need to reflect. I can’t keep showing her such a pathetic side of myself forever.’
She had to show Madame that she could be useful, even if only a little.
‘Come to think of it, the preparations for the upcoming party were still a bit lacking, weren’t they?’
Daisy remembered that the prop room had been a cluttered mess. It wasn’t exactly a job for the general manager of the party to handle personally, but Daisy had always done anything for Madame’s sake.
It was just as Daisy entered the prop room.
[… Isn’t it all because of that guy?]
A faint voice drifted down from above the room. It was definitely the voice of the man who had been with Madame earlier.
‘Oh no! I’ve heard a few times that the soundproofing in the prop room is poor!’
To think such private conversations could be heard. She should have paid attention to this sooner; she really was incompetent!
‘What should I do? Should I go and tell Madame right now?’
No, that might only give Madame more of a headache. Would it be better to quietly repair it later and stay here for now to ensure no one else accidentally eavesdrops on Madame’s conversation? Unlike her, who was Madame’s closest confidante, it would be troublesome if an ignorant employee overheard a secret…
While she was worrying, the voices continued.
[The problem arose because you covered for that fellow five years ago. Why not ask him to fix it?]
[Forget it. Contacting him over something like this would only make me look pathetic. I want to look good for you, darling.]
[I suppose. It would be funny to do a favor no one asked for and then brag about it, but it would look even more ridiculous to ask for help because that very favor caused a problem.]
[Are you going to keep being mean? I just don’t want to ask you for help over something of this level. I can handle this much on my own.]
Daisy was relieved by Madame’s confident voice.
‘What a relief. Madame really can solve this easily.’
She felt silly for worrying about Madame for no reason.
[Really? How do you plan to solve it?]
[It’s easy. I’ll just use that pumpkin.]
[Pumpkin?]
[My secretary, I mean.]
‘… What?’
[Didn’t I keep that stifling girl under me all this time, even when she was annoying, just for a moment like this? I’ve been processing most of the work through her for several years now. I’ll just make it look like she did everything.]
[Dear me. That poor little secretary seemed to worry about you quite a lot.]
[A pig is bound to follow the owner who feeds it. But would a pig’s owner spare a pig that’s grown nice and plump? I’ve been feeding, housing, and raising her all this time just for this day.]
[Heavens! Aren’t you being too cold-hearted, Madame?]
The man laughed, making an exaggerated show of being shocked. To them, Daisy’s misfortune was nothing more than a joke.
“Ah… Ahhh…”
Daisy was devastated. Her ears felt muffled, and she could hardly believe what she had heard. She was a pig? One that could be slaughtered at any time?
‘She called me a pumpkin, too.’
Before Daisy, who had collapsed as the strength left her legs, something came into view. In truth, it was an object that had been in front of her all along. She had simply been desperately pretending not to see it.
It was a giant sculpture of a pumpkin head. A very vulgar and hideous sculpture. One made to resemble Daisy.
“Ugh…! *Sob*…”
Daisy remembered when that pumpkin sculpture was being made.
“What should I do, Daisy? I can’t find a model.”
Madame Moss had looked at her with a troubled expression.
“To make a realistic pumpkin carving, I need a model, but who would want to be the motive for a hideous pumpkin?”
“Um… can’t you just carve it from your imagination?”
“No! I need a truly realistic carving! My party must be a special one that stands out more than any other! Oh, I know! Daisy!”
Madame had looked bright and held Daisy’s hands tightly.
“Could you help me? I really need your help!”
“… You want me to be the model? Am I really that ugly?”
“Of course not! I’m only going to gather your bad points and carve those. It will be a completely different face from the real Daisy, so don’t worry.”
How could she refuse Madame’s request? Daisy had nodded her head, and a short while later, she paid the price.
“Is this… the finished sculpture?”
Daisy felt a sense of shame as she looked at the carving.
‘I really do have a snub nose. My teeth aren’t even, and my left eye is larger than my right, so it looks hideous.’
Looking at the sculpture, Daisy realized how ugly she was.
‘Everyone else who sees this carving will think the same thing, won’t they?’
Anyone who knew her would recognize at a glance that this carving looked exactly like her. Then, they would realize every single detail of how hideous her face was. Her other good points would be hidden by the emphasized flaws.
Madame Moss had spoken kindly to her.
“Think of it positively. The only thing burning at the festival is your ugly and bad side. That’s only a part of you, not all of you, isn’t it?”
“Yes…”
But even if it was only a part of her, she couldn’t help but feel ashamed. Unable to overcome her embarrassment, Daisy made a request to Madame.
“Is it all right if I wear a mask that covers more of my face for this party?”
Madame smiled brightly.
“Of course. It’s the *Pharmakos* festival, after all. You should cover up everything unsightly so that evil spirits don’t attach themselves to you.”
Madame had prepared a mask that could cover her entire face.
“It’s a plain and cute Daisy mask, just like you.”
The mask was just as hideous as the pumpkin sculpture. It didn’t resemble Daisy in the slightest.
However, Daisy put the mask on without a word. Since Madame called it a Daisy mask, it was a Daisy mask. If Madame called her Daisy, then she was Daisy.
‘Madame is the one who decides how things are viewed.’
Madame was the Queen of the Newspapers. She was the one who decided how people should perceive a subject.
Not a worker who died from frequent overtime and overwork, but a worker insensitive to safety who paid the price for violating safety regulations.
Not a victim who lost their entire fortune to the fraud of a trusted, high-profile person, but a stupid, lazy person who lost their fortune while dreaming of a hollow get-rich-quick scheme.
Not the genuine youth standing right next to the youth created by vast sums of money, but an ugly woman resembling a hideous pumpkin standing next to a beautiful lady.
Daisy knew Madame’s methods well. She knew them, and yet she had accepted them for the sake of her benefactor.
But then…
*Drip, drop.*
Daisy’s tears fell onto the floor of the prop room. The face of the hideous pumpkin appeared blurred through her tears. The distorted Daisy stared back at Daisy.
‘This time, too, Madame will decide how the world views me.’
Madame Moss’s newspaper, like a kind guide, would expose the hideous person who deserved to be burned to death for all the world to see. In the *Pharmakos* party, the hideously carved pumpkin burns. In the witch trials, the hideously carved Daisy burns.
‘… I don’t want to.’
She didn’t want to meet such a miserable end. Why did she have to burn? There was someone else who deserved to be burned more than her, wasn’t there?
For instance, a witch who toys with people’s hearts. Madame Moss. Wasn’t she the one who truly deserved to burn? Could there be anyone more hideous than her?
‘Yes. Madame deserves to burn.’
Trembling with a sense of betrayal, Daisy began to plan. The most magnificent execution by fire, befitting Madame Moss.
***
“I worked hard. I wanted to show Madame my competence at the very last moment.”
Daisy did not stop her story, capturing the crowd’s attention like an actor on a stage. She listed the steps of her crime breathlessly.
The process of diverting the fireworks, hiding them inside the pumpkin, and covering those fireworks with sawdust as a blind. Breaking into the locked prop room and being caught with the fake fireworks. Realizing after swinging a blunt weapon that a police badge had fallen from the person’s pocket.
“I was relieved the Detective didn’t die from my blow. He must have come to dig into Madame Moss’s background, and such a wonderful person shouldn’t die, right?”
So, Daisy trapped the Detective inside the pumpkin.
“I felt bad for Jaguar. I didn’t know he was a colleague who came looking for the Detective; I just hoped one of Madame Moss’s acquaintances would die.”
That was why she had advised him to search the first-floor hall. So that when the pumpkin exploded, he would be blown up with it.
However, once she realized he was a police officer, she led him to the prop room. It was a gesture of consideration, allowing him to take his unconscious colleague and escape the dangerous scene.
“After that, it was just as Jaguar deduced. Christine’s performance began, and I met Madame Moss in front of the giant pumpkin. I suggested a surprise event where she would emerge from inside the pumpkin.”
As Madame leaned toward the pumpkin, Daisy drove a knife into the back of her neck.
The people didn’t pay any mind to Madame’s scream. After pushing Madame into the pumpkin along with the black cloth that had already been installed, she lowered a new black cloth she had pre-installed like a curtain around the pumpkin’s head to hide the tragedy.
“Everything was perfect. After Christine’s performance ended and the crowd was swept up in excitement, they would have followed my lead to light the pumpkin, and it all would have ended with everyone clapping and cheering for Madame Moss’s burning…!”
Daisy looked at the Detective on the stage reproachfully.
“To think the Detective would regain consciousness in the meantime…”
Unable to hide her regret, she let out a small sigh.
“I was truly unlucky.”
I felt a strange sensation. It didn’t seem like the words “I was unlucky” were directed at herself. The expression Daisy wore as she looked at me was almost…
‘Wait. This is strange.’
In an instant, my mind cleared. According to Daisy’s words, that pumpkin was her trauma. Yet, why was she showing her face in front of the pumpkin and displaying herself like a spectacle? Why was she confessing her crimes so exaggeratedly while capturing everyone’s attention?
Could it be that she was doing this to stall for time…?
It felt as though I had been doused with ice water. Following a sudden intuition, I shouted.
“Everyone! Get away from the pumpkin! Something is wrong!”
“…! Dammit! Hayes!”
Detective Baron shouted as if he had realized something upon hearing my cry.
“Those swapped fireworks from earlier! They didn’t have time fuses attached! She diverted those, too! To trigger an explosion at a set time!”
“Haha… Did you notice?”
The culprit wiped the exaggerated expression from her face and glared at me with a chillingly blank stare.
“But what can you do? It’s already too late.”
*Dong. Dong. Dong.*
The sound of church bells echoed from the distance. It was the bell announcing five minutes before the hour.
[A significant event is scheduled for 7:00 PM — .]
“Dammit! It’s going to explode in five minutes!”
“Aaaaakh!”
Realizing the situation, the people fell into a panic.
“Move out of the way!”
“I have to go first!”
“Argh! Don’t push! Ack!”
People ran frantically toward the exit of the party venue. As scores of people crowded the narrow exit, they pushed and shoved one another. The scene turned into complete chaos. Would all those people be able to evacuate safely within five minutes?
“What are you doing, Mr. Hayes! Hurry and evacuate!”
I ignored Charlie’s urgent shout and grabbed the black cloth.
‘I don’t know if I can stop the time fuse or whatever it is, but I have to try!’
*Tear!*
I completely ripped away the black cloth. As the cloth was stripped away, the hidden reality was revealed.
“… Madame Moss?”
I couldn’t help but be horrified. Madame Moss was lying on the sawdust, alive. Blood was gushing from her neck.