🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 18
“Lowell, I have no intention of accepting this money, so I think it would be best if you take it back. I know this wasn’t your fault, but… I don’t think I can bear to see you anymore.”
Lowell raised his head and looked troubled.
“…My Lady, I understand your feelings completely. However… with the current situation of the Marquess Blante family, it will be difficult for you to prepare such a large amount of money…”
“That situation has already been resolved. I’ve already reached an agreement with the Kuno Merchant Guild.”
“…You reached an agreement with the Kuno Merchant Guild?”
Surprised, Lowell forgot even the uncomfortable atmosphere and asked again loudly.
That was understandable. The Kuno Merchant Guild he knew was not exactly known for its good character.
Especially its guild master. He was famous for being obsessed with money.
For a man like that to agree so easily? Once he learned that the Blante family was in a difficult situation, he should have tried everything to squeeze money out of them.
However, after hearing Ariel’s next answer, Lowell could no longer ask any questions.
“Yes. So please tell the Grand Duke this. Tell him never to take an interest in the Blante family again. Tell him I don’t need His Highness’s help.”
Ariel drew a sharp line between them.
The one who needed to accept reality was not Ariel, but Lowell.
Looking into her icy green eyes, Lowell finally realized that she would never accept the envelope. Quietly, he picked it up.
“…Yes. I understand. Then I’ll take my leave now. Today… I believe I behaved rudely. I sincerely apologize.”
With the envelope in hand, Lowell rose from his seat.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to see you out. Please travel safely.”
After bowing politely, Lowell left the reception room with quiet steps.
Click.
The moment the door closed behind him, Ariel’s rigid expression collapsed.
“Haah…”
Anger, resentment, and misery came flooding in.
In the end, Ariel burst into tears.
Just how much longer? How much more do I have to be hurt by you?
You abandoned me so cruelly.
It would have been better if he had simply ignored her until the very end, treating her as if she were invisible while staying by Cier’s side.
But instead, he sent her money as if giving alms to a beggar.
At this point, even Cier, who had mocked her with words, seemed better. At least she hadn’t thrown money in Ariel’s face like this.
She had confidently told Lowell to take the envelope back.
But if the Tower Master had not helped her…
She would have eventually accepted that money.
And Kailuns had sent it because he knew she would have had no choice.
“How much further are you going to drag me down?”
What did I ever do to you?
Ariel’s weak voice echoed through the quiet reception room.
Of course, no answer came.
Biting her lip tightly, Ariel shed silent tears.
It felt as if a massive stone had been placed on her chest. Even breathing was difficult, and she lacked the strength to cry out loud.
After sobbing for a long time, the growing headache forced her to close her eyes and lean her head against the sofa.
She prayed that this would be the last of Kailuns’s merciless actions.
Because if he pushed her any further, she wasn’t confident she could endure it.
* * *
A chilly afternoon in late autumn.
In the Grand Duke’s garden, trees that had shed most of their leaves exposed their bare branches.
Among them, one tree especially caught Kailuns’s attention.
A thin, skeletal tree holding only a few remaining leaves.
One leaf in particular hung precariously from a branch, looking as though it might fall at any moment.
A slight breeze seemed enough to knock it loose.
Kailuns stared at the swaying leaf as if mesmerized.
Then a sharp voice suddenly broke his concentration.
“Kyle, are you listening to me?”
Pulling his gaze away from the leaf, Kailuns turned toward the source of the voice.
Across from him sat a middle-aged woman wearing an expression of clear dissatisfaction.
Even in her display of displeasure, she radiated elegance and dignity.
As befitted a member of the imperial family.
The noblewoman, with black hair styled similarly to his own and her brows deeply furrowed, was none other than Kailuns’s aunt.
Melish Viastes.
She was the mistress of the Viastes Ducal House, one of the Empire’s three great ducal families, and had been like a mother to him after he lost his parents.
As his silence dragged on, she finally called his full name in a cold voice.
“Kailuns Seyard.”
She was angry because he was not paying attention to their conversation.
Kailuns poured tea into her cup and finally broke his silence.
“You should know better than anyone, Aunt. We lost both the evidence and the witness needed to strip Marquess Blante of his title.”
There was still the gold coin bearing the Blante family crest, a treasured possession of the marquess family.
But that alone was not enough to prove the crime.
Both the assassin who received it and Marquess Blante, who gave it, were dead.
There was someone who could testify that the two had met before the accident.
However, that person knew nothing about the contents of their transaction.
Since Deobic’s family was only a minor knightly house, almost no one knew they had served the Blante family.
In fact, Kailuns had only learned during the investigation that the son of a knight who had once received the marquess family’s favor was now serving as a knight of the Grand Duke’s house.
But the Duchess of Viastes seemed dissatisfied with his answer and frowned even more deeply.
“Wasn’t there a witness who saw them meeting before the accident? Even if we don’t know what they discussed, we should still bring the matter to trial somehow! Even if it’s only suspicion! Are we really going to let this go? They dared to assassinate imperial royalty—the former Grand Duke and his wife!”
At those words, Kailuns’s hand paused while setting down the teapot.
The former Grand Duke and Duchess she referred to were his parents.
“No matter that the witness is dead and the evidence is lacking, you and I both heard that traitor admit to tampering with the Grand Duke’s carriage. How can we simply let this pass?”
“……”
The Duchess curled her lips into a cold smile.
“His Majesty is truly heartless. His beloved younger brother was murdered, yet he hesitates because he’s worried about legitimacy. When he was cutting down members of the imperial family before, he certainly didn’t hesitate.”
“Aunt, your words go too far.”
Kailuns interrupted her coldly.
The warning in his eyes was unmistakable.
The Duchess instinctively flinched.
But only for a moment.
Unable to contain herself, she slammed her hand onto the table.
“Am I wrong? I can still clearly remember His Majesty weeping at Alex’s funeral. Yet now he turns away from this matter. Don’t you feel angry?”
Kailuns answered with unwavering eyes.
“His Majesty is the Emperor who governs the Empire. There are too many things he must protect to focus solely on a personal revenge. The Blante family is a prestigious house that served the Empire since its founding and shares deep ties with the late Emperor.”
The Duchess’s brows twisted sharply.
“How strange. You and I know that better than anyone. That’s why we even fabricated evidence to make him a traitor, isn’t it?”
Fabricated evidence.
At her words, Kailuns recalled the real handwritten letter from Marquess Blante.
A perfect response from a loyal subject, firmly rejecting the rebels’ proposal.
But Kailuns had destroyed that letter and altered the reply into one that appeared to support the rebels.
Seeing his eyes waver slightly, the Duchess continued.
“We did it so he could never escape. We intended to completely destroy the Blante family.”
Yes.
It had been his doing.
Just as she said, he had wanted to crush the Blante family thoroughly.
Slowly, Kailuns spoke.
“…Yet the Marquess succeeded in escaping. He took with him the only witness capable of proving his crime. And in the first place, it was our failure that allowed them to get away.”
After all, it was we who lost the evidence necessary to prove the crime. How can we blame His Majesty?
When Kailuns quietly added those words, the Duchess hesitated.
Because he was right.
The Emperor had not allowed the culprit and witness to escape.
They had.
“Even so, we can’t simply—”
Her objection was cut off by Kailuns.
“And the former Emperor’s sword is now resting in the Blante family tomb.”
The Duchess’s expression finally changed.
The sword of the Seventh Former Emperor.
She had forgotten about it.
As though he had expected this reaction, Kailuns calmly continued.
“His Majesty cannot recklessly exterminate the Blante family. The Marquess died during the investigation, making it difficult to push a charge of treason. And the significance of the sword remaining with the family is far too great.”
“Ah…!”
“As you know, Aunt, His Majesty is not the son of the late Empress.”
“And besides… His Majesty ascended to the throne through a coup.”
The corruption of the late Emperor and the former Crown Prince had made it unavoidable.
But far too much blood had been spilled before the Emperor took the throne.
A throne won through blood.
It was a label he could never escape and a fatal weakness that would follow him until death.
Marquess Blante had been one of the loyal nobles who helped compensate for the Emperor’s lack of legitimacy.
Because of that, the Emperor was reluctant to personally destroy the Blante family, whose legitimacy and reputation were unquestionable.
Kailuns understood this very well.
And he did not deeply resent the Emperor’s hesitation.
…Because it could not be helped.
The Duchess stared at him for a long time with an unreadable expression before finally speaking.
“Very well. So because His Majesty’s legitimacy may be affected, are you saying we should simply stand by and do nothing?”
