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~Chapter 38~
“I’d never do something that stupid. If Father gets executed or loses his noble title, I’d become a commoner, wouldn’t I?”
“T-then you’d be the Countess of Lenister by then!”
“My husband might divorce me. After all, I wouldn’t even be a baron’s daughter anymore.”
I smiled brightly and spent a long while persuading Roten.
It wasn’t hard to shake him up — he was already mentally broken after getting scolded harshly by Duke Benjo.
In the end, he gave in and told me where he’d hidden the ledger.
Of course, I’d make sure to hide this precious ledger somewhere even safer myself.
“I’ll manage the arboretum for just four years. After that, I’ll wash my hands of it completely.”
“You— You’d better do it properly! I’ll be watching you!”
“Go ahead.”
I waved my hand, telling him to do as he pleased.
Then I straightened my posture and left him behind.
I could hear him shouting from behind, but I ignored it without a glance.
“Y-you have to manage it properly! His Majesty owns a share in the arboretum, and Duke Benjo helped start that business! You absolutely cannot ruin it!”
Sure. As if I’d recklessly ruin it like a bowl of soup.
As I walked leisurely down the corridor, I murmured softly,
“Dear Father, I’ll take good care of the arboretum for your sake.”
Holding up my dress hem gracefully, I straightened my shoulders and walked forward.
“You won’t regret trusting me.”
A faint smirk curled my lips.
Roten, you miserable man — and your pathetic baron family.
The hidden gold and silver in your warehouse, that barely-earned noble title…
“I’ll ruin it all for you, Father. Completely.”
I walked with perfect posture, like a lady from a well-educated noble house — just as I’d been beaten into learning.
Every graceful, delicate step followed the etiquette drilled into me since childhood.
“Why the sudden change of heart? You once said you hated the idea.”
Heavy silence filled the reception room.
Marquis Maximilian’s sharp eyes fixed on the boy seated across from him — Noah Lenister, the very center of the rebellion he had long awaited.
The marquis leaned forward from his chair.
“You once told me you didn’t seek revenge.”
“I still don’t, sir. Taking revenge on the Imperial Family won’t bring my parents back, will it?”
Noah gave a bitter smile before continuing,
“I came today to tell you about my marriage. I plan to marry Solia Roten, the daughter of Baron Roten.”
Eight days earlier, Noah had visited Marquis Maximilian’s mansion.
Even in his sixties, the marquis still held an imposing presence.
When Noah appeared, he wasn’t joyful or sorrowful — just calm, as if he’d expected this day to come.
But the mention of marriage caught him off guard; his white-bearded mouth trembled slightly.
“Baron Roten has committed many crimes. We can easily deal with him. But what about his daughter?”
“I know what you mean. The woman who marries me may become a sacrifice for the Empire.”
“You say that knowing what happened to my granddaughter, Marianne?”
At the marquis’s angry voice, Noah let out a hollow laugh.
“Are you saying it’s all my fault? The duchess was murdered because of her charity work for the poor—”
“Yes! That may be why she died! I made the emperor furious by exposing human experiments, and my granddaughter angered Duke Benjo with her charity project!”
Noah fell silent. He wanted to understand why his mentor’s anger burned so deeply — the man who had once taught him how to live, how to endure.
“Marianne was killed because she began questioning the deaths of your parents.”
“That can’t be…”
Noah’s eyes widened.
“Your mother, Belgian Lenister, died in a carriage accident with Hardin. Neither of their bodies was ever found. It’s already been six years since that tragedy.”
Noah remembered his nine-year-old self.
“When I heard the bodies weren’t found, I thought maybe they’d survived… but it was just a foolish hope.”
The carriage had fallen off a cliff — survival was impossible.
If they were alive, they wouldn’t have stayed silent for six long years.
Maximilian, who had thought the same, spoke in a low voice.
“When Marianne was running the charity project, she also became interested in imperial law. She even tried to push for the Poor Relief Act — you know that, don’t you?”
“Yes. It was a law that would make lords responsible for their poor citizens.”
Noah explained quietly,
“Most nobles opposed it. Even you, sir, turned away from her.”
“I regret that now. Back then, I couldn’t afford to lose more noble allies. That’s why I didn’t support her voice.”
“The rebel forces are mostly nobles, too. They’d join you to dethrone Emperor Purka — but they’d never agree to the Poor Relief Act.”
“I thought once the rebellion ended, everything would change. I believed silence was necessary for the greater good.”
Maximilian rubbed his face and muttered,
“If I’d supported her voice, would things have been different?”
“I don’t know either. The duchess fought alone.”
At least, she must have known she wasn’t truly alone — even as she died in that slum.
With a heavy sigh, Maximilian continued,
“Enough of that. Noah, I know why you’ve come.”
A bitter smile crossed his lips.
“One day, Marianne received a necklace called The Mermaid’s Tear from her husband, Duke Benjo. You remember it, don’t you?”
At that name, Noah’s eyes darkened. His teacher had seen right through his purpose in coming.
“My mother wore it on special occasions. It’s the Lenister family heirloom — how could I forget?”
The Mermaid’s Tear had always been passed down from each Count of Lenister to his bride.
“I’m ashamed to face my mother. The necklace every Count gave to his bride doesn’t exist for me.”
Maximilian stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“There were rumors that The Mermaid’s Tear was cursed. Your mother, Belgian, died in that carriage accident. Marianne was murdered in the slums.”
“What are you trying to say, sir?”
Noah’s tone sharpened at the mention of his mother.
He could forgive his father, Hardin, for weakness — but not himself for failing to protect his mother.
Seeing his student’s pain, Maximilian clicked his tongue sadly but spoke anyway.
“Perhaps it truly is cursed. After Marianne received The Mermaid’s Tear, she began dreaming of its previous owner — your mother, Belgian Lenister.”
“She said whenever she wore it, she saw her in her dreams.”
“At first, she was simply curious about Belgian. But soon, she became obsessed — chasing her traces, uncovering everything about her life. And in the end, she discovered the truth about the carriage accident.”
“So you’re saying… Duchess Marianne was murdered because she investigated my mother’s death?”
“It may not be perfect proof, but it’s an answer close enough.”
He went on heavily,
“At the time, her charity work angered the nobles — and when she touched the emperor’s forbidden secret, she sealed her fate. Two weeks after she wrote me a letter saying she’d found the truth, she was dead.”
He buried his face in his hand.
“Perhaps it was because of her charity project… but the timing was far too soon.”
Noah clenched his fists. “You always told me your granddaughter died for her ideals. And now—”
“You were too young then. You had just lost your parents. How could I tell you the rest? Even as time passed, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.”
“So in the end, Duchess Marianne died chasing the truth about my mother.”
Maximilian nodded slowly.
“Marianne truly cared about helping the poor. She always raised her voice first.”
“She could have been killed for that reason alone.”
“No. Not even the nobles wanted her dead for that. They mocked her as a foolish idealist, but they had no reason to eliminate her.”
Noah fell silent. He couldn’t refute it.
“Then why bring up the past now, sir? Why mention your only granddaughter’s death?”
Maximilian’s eyes grew firm and cold.
“Because, Noah — the daughter of Baron Roten, the woman you wish to marry — might die the same way. The more she uncovers the truth, the closer she’ll come to death.”
