TFYHS 14

Chapter 14

“Sona, what are you doing in the garden?”

Someone spoke to Sona as if they knew her. It was Seymour, who was working at the ducal estate.

Seymour had come out to the sun-drenched garden for a short break when he spotted Sona and approached her.

“Ah, Lord Seymour!”

“……And what is that basket for?”

“I was just gathering some ingredients.”

Ingredients?

Seymour tilted his head, unable to understand what kind of ingredients one would gather in a garden.

Just then, something very small next to Sona rustled and moved busily.

Seymour’s curious gaze shifted towards it.

Soon, Riersha, wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a white ribbon, revealed herself.

Her hands were full of flower petals.

“Sona! This one! Do you think Grandfather will like it?”
“Of course, Miss Riersha. Here, put them in the basket quickly.”
“Okay!”

Riersha swiftly placed the picked flowers into Sona’s basket.

Noticing Seymour, she then waved her hand at him.

“Hewwo.”
“……Yes, Miss Riersha. It’s been a long time.”

It was their first meeting since the previous encounter in the Duke’s office.

Seeing Riersha, who looked utterly harmless, made Seymour’s heart ache strangely.

‘Good heavens, to think I’d witness such a scene in the Arachne Ducal Estate in my lifetime!’

He had never dreamed of it.

Unconsciously, Seymour put force into the corners of his mouth, which were threatening to turn upwards.

“And what are you collecting these for?”
“To make tea for Grandfather and Father.”
“For both of them?”

Seymour seriously racked his memory, trying to see if he had missed some sort of anniversary.

But no matter how much he thought, there was no such day.

“Miss Riersha wants to become closer to them, you see. So we’re gathering materials to make a gift.”
“Oh.”

As Sona provided the explanation, Seymour let out an exclamation that conveyed he couldn’t relate at all.

‘It seems like she doesn’t really need to go that far.’

Riersha probably didn’t realize it.

Ackmund was fundamentally not a man who showed kindness to people.
Yet, that very Ackmund had taken a stunning, unprecedented course of action during the recent disciplinary committee.

“I’m sure they will both be very pleased.”
“Shh.”
“Pardon?”
“You have to keep what you saw today a secwet.”

Riersha put her index finger to her lips with a very serious expression, indicating it was a secret.

Seymour, his eyes wide, finally burst out into a loud laugh.

“Yes, I’ll keep it a secret for you.”

Office of Duke Ackmund Arachne.

“It’s been a while.”
“For someone returning home after four years, that’s a rather brief greeting.”

Ackmund frowned and reproached his son for his perfunctory, short greeting.

“I have no desire to see the face of someone who was ready to sever ties over that biased woman.”

Fernaugh let out a slight laugh at the Duke’s words.

“For someone who says that, I heard you assigned Cadden as a tutor to Riersha.”
“……You’re unnecessarily well-informed.”
“I heard you have Rosinante report on Riersha’s status all day long.”

It was thanks to that, that they had been able to submit evidence of her innocence to the disciplinary committee.

Ackmund had predicted that an incident like this might occur.

Fernaugh scoffed, thinking how his father had been paying attention to Riersha all along while pretending otherwise.

As if his true feelings had been discovered, Ackmund’s eyebrow twitched.

“That was merely an order to keep watch because there seemed to be a problem with Riersha’s awakening. The matter of the disciplinary committee was just a fortunate coincidence.”
“Then please stop taking an interest in my daughter now. And stop exploiting my aide as well.”
“Worthless fool.”

Ackmund clicked his tongue loudly and muttered.

He recalled the day Riersha was born.

The deep dawn when a child, born without any magic, had let out a powerful cry.
That day, Ackmund made a choice that went against the family’s rules for the first time.

He granted the Arachne name to Riersha, who should not have been registered in the family records.

Why did she have to be born without having awakened any magic?
If only she had been born with silver hair, at the very least…

With Riersha’s birth, the atmosphere within the family became unsettled.
Rumors began to spread that there was a problem with the bloodline, and those with ulterior motives began to appear.

The Imperial Family, noticing that internal divisions were beginning to form, even secretly approached the branch families and showed suspicious movements.

All of this happened within the four years following Riersha’s birth.

“As you know, no one currently in the ducal estate can be trusted.”
“I know.”

Fernaugh replied briefly.

He knew that there were quite a few who had secretly made contact with the Imperial Family.

Knowing this, Ackmund had no choice but to turn a blind eye to the Imperial Family’s misdeeds to keep his promise to Fernaugh.
To keep the promise that he would do his best to ensure Riersha’s position did not become precarious.

That was why Ackmund had never been particularly fond of his granddaughter.

It was fortunate that she had awakened her ability, even if belatedly, but…

‘If she was going to have such an ambiguous awakening, it would have been better if she had never awakened at all.’

A child who cannot properly control her ability is an easy target in many ways.

Furthermore, there was another cause for concern.

If it became known to the world that a child who did not properly inherit the Arachne bloodline had awakened not a decent ability, but rather a dangerous one?

In many ways, Riersha’s existence was a headache.

At the same time, Ackmund sometimes wondered what wrong the little one had actually done.

He found it pitiable how she was trying so hard to adapt in an atmosphere where no one welcomed her.

That was also why he had summoned Fernaugh when he heard the news of the disciplinary committee.

Frankly speaking, she was a child of his own bloodline, so he couldn’t help but have his eyes drawn to her.

With complicated feelings, Ackmund spoke.

“You’ve heard the news about Riersha, I assume? An ability one cannot control is nothing but a calamity.”
“It’s not confirmed yet, is it? Besides, I won’t let that happen.”
“How amusing. How do you propose to do that? You wouldn’t be able to handle that child’s ability either.”

It was an ability that even Ackmund couldn’t casually make guarantees about.

Ackmund’s expression darkened as he recalled the day he met the child in his office.

Perhaps from the very beginning, everything was a mistake.

“From birth, the magical flow in Riersha’s blood vessels has been tangled.”
“……I know.”
“If it were to run wild, an irreversible situation would unfold. Who do you think would take responsibility for that?”

Countless lives would be extinguished.

Their gazes sharply clashed.

Fernaugh was the first to speak.

“Are you telling me to abandon Riersha out of fear of that?”
“If only you would step aside, both the child and the family could be safe.”
“Are you saying I should let Riersha live out her life in the outer territories?”

Fernaugh scoffed, as if the idea was preposterous.

To have awakened an ability but be forced to continue living in the outer territories was a form of execution in its own right.

It meant she would be denied everything she could enjoy as an ‘Arachne’.

“That will not happen.”
“You are impossible to reason with. If you’re done making that ugly face, get out. I don’t even want to look at you.”

Seeing no room for compromise, Ackmund waved his hand.

As the order to see the guest out was given, Oberon quietly opened the office door.

But Fernaugh paid it no mind.

“I haven’t gotten to my main point yet.”
“……So you came to see me just to exchange pleasantries?”

Ackmund expressed his displeasure and anger.

No matter how much time passed, Fernaugh remained an unfilial son through and through.

“I took a brief look around the main estate, and there seem to be several issues.”
“So you intend to interfere in my household? If there’s anything that bothers you, sort it out yourself after you become the Duke.”

Seeing that the conversation was likely to continue, Oberon quietly closed the door again.

Fernaugh, who had briefly lowered his gaze, spoke indifferently.

“Do you remember what I said before? That I would give up my position as the young lord and leave?”
“……Didn’t we agree not to speak of that again?”
“I will leave.”

In that moment, Ackmund flinched and his expression hardened.

But the words that followed caused Ackmund to scowl.

“The Arachne main estate is not conducive to a child’s emotional education.”