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Chapter 8
The most vivid proof that Rosaline had truly existed in this world.
Therefore, Eureine absolutely could not become a blemish upon Rosaline’s memory.
That was the best thing Eureine, who possessed no particular talents, could do.
“You’re making all this fuss just because they took away a mere maid as a witness?”
And yet, he was actually defending someone who might have stolen Rosaline’s belongings.
“No one involved in this matter will be allowed to escape.”
The Duke spoke in a voice as cold as frost.
Eureine slowly shook her head and spoke calmly.
“You went too far.”
“You think taking her away for questioning was going too far?”
The Duke let out a small, incredulous laugh.
Everyone involved in this matter had to be interrogated somehow so that the truth of the incident could be uncovered.
He had already ordered the maid to be questioned in the torture chamber.
Yes. Even if it meant torturing her, they had to find out how this had happened.
“If necessary, I intend to torture her.”
The Duke spoke while picking up some documents, deliberately ignoring Eureine.
It was a clear dismissal.
He thought Eureine, whose only useful trait was that she was perceptive, would understand after this much.
The Duke was making his meaning perfectly clear to Eureine with his entire attitude.
How dare someone like you…
He was telling her not to involve herself in such matters.
“You seem to be useless after all.”
The Duke glanced at Eureine and drove the point home coldly.
But Eureine did not leave.
She stood there as though nailed to the floor, without moving her feet even an inch.
A strange light appeared in Eureine’s violet eyes.
To torture someone when it hasn’t even been established whether they committed a crime…
Eureine gave a hollow laugh inwardly.
Ederon Tarbargen.
A man who had risen from commoner origins, fought through numerous battlefields with exceptional skill, reached the rank of a quasi-noble, married Rosaline Tarbargen, and inherited the title of Duke.
Her biological father.
He had once been an outstanding knight, though he no longer stood at the forefront of the battlefield as he had in the past.
Even so, the presence he had possessed in his prime still remained.
That was why she had been afraid of him.
The Eureine from before her regression.
The Duke had called her weak-hearted and useless.
Yet he mourned and mourned again for Rosaline, who had died because of “someone like that.”
Because the proud and thoughtful Rosaline had been his entire world.
The Duke had continued to criticize Eureine as though denying her very existence.
And even now, he was once again belittling her.
Before her regression, whenever the Duke disparaged her, Eureine would be hurt and blame herself.
But the Eureine of now was different.
She no longer blamed herself, telling herself that she was useless as she had back then.
The corner of Eureine’s lips curled upward crookedly.
The monsters were much scarier than you.
Who was she, anyway?
She had been an SS-rank Guide.
Other Guides could not recklessly enter suddenly opened Gates.
Yet she had boldly entered Gates and supported Espers.
She had no reason to be intimidated by the presence of a mere human, let alone a monster.
In life, all you have to do is avoid the worst.
Rather than fear the second-worst outcome, endure by thinking about the worst.
It might have sounded strange, but that had been her personal creed when she worked as a Guide in Korea.
Eureine suddenly remembered the monster that had spewed blue poison.
That monster really was horrifying.
Even powerful Espers would have their flesh melt away if they were caught in the poison it emitted.
She had survived in battlefields like that.
Eureine pictured that monster in her mind.
The monster that looked like a giant toad and constantly dripped blue poison.
Yes.
When she thought about the worst situation she had faced when encountering that monster, the Duke, who could not even spit poison, did not frighten her in the slightest.
Looking at the Duke, Eureine spoke leisurely.
“If you drag away a witness too forcefully, wouldn’t that also look bad in the eyes of the other servants?”
The Duke was particularly concerned about his reputation.
A noble knight.
But aside from that, he was nothing more than a commoner with little else to boast about.
Eureine knew exactly what he cared about, so she pointed it out.
The Duke stopped for a moment.
Then he narrowed his eyes and slowly raised his head.
His expression hardened as he stared coldly at Eureine.
There was considerable pressure behind his gaze.
Eureine, who had never once talked back to him until now, was suddenly trying to lecture him.
He was extremely displeased.
I spoiled her too much, and now she’s become unbelievably arrogant.
He had thought she was a quiet, obedient child, but judging from this attitude, apparently that was no longer the case.
Thinking that he needed to correct her behavior, the Duke was about to shout—
“Rebecca is a noble.”
Eureine looked straight at the Duke and spoke clearly.
“Under Imperial law, torture is strictly prohibited even for commoners. And since Rebecca is a noble, it applies to her even more strongly.”
The Duke momentarily froze.
Eureine was right.
The maid was a noble.
However, she was a noble in name only, from a fallen family that had practically ceased to exist.
That was why the Duke had imprisoned Rebecca in the underground dungeon without hesitation.
But since torture was prohibited by Imperial law, there was no denying that doing so would be unlawful.
Eureine had precisely struck the weak point in his argument.
“The keepsake was found in that maid’s bedroom. An investigation is necessary.”
The Duke spoke while slightly averting his gaze.
In the past, Eureine would have stopped here.
No—she probably would not even have been able to bring the subject up in the first place.
But this time was different.
“Even though the keepsake found in Rebecca’s bedroom was a fake?”
Eureine raised her voice slightly.
But there was no way those words would convince the Duke.
“Hah.”
The Duke let out a hollow laugh.
Then his expression immediately turned cold.
A suffocating tension filled the room.
“Fake. Yes, fake. A fake that was an incredibly precise copy of the real thing. But how could that fake have been made so meticulously?”
The Duke clenched his teeth.
It was difficult to tell where the normally rational and composed Duke had gone.
“That girl Rebecca might have stolen the necklace while going in and out of the keepsake storage room, then become frightened and tried to put it back.”
Eureine tilted her head slightly.
Then she slowly tapped the back of her other hand with her fingertips.
Even though the Duke was angry, she looked almost relaxed.
No.
More accurately, she looked as though she simply could not understand why the Duke was being so unreasonable.
“That’s impossible. You think she would spend the money and effort required to make such a detailed fake simply because she was scared?”
Eureine spoke quietly, but she was not intimidated by the Duke’s words in the slightest.
“Was Rebecca even in a position where she could spend that much time and effort?”
Her shoulders were straight, and her slender neck was held high.
What is this?
Only then did the Duke begin to examine Eureine carefully.
She was definitely different.
The hesitant tone of her voice was gone. Her voice was now clear and smooth.
Her tone was gentle, yet each sentence ended with such firmness that every word reached his ears distinctly.
And that was not all.
Eureine was not flustered or blushing from embarrassment.
She calmly spoke her mind according to her own convictions.
Seeing this, the Duke suddenly saw someone else superimposed over Eureine’s face.
His wife.
Rosaline.
He had thought of Rosaline whenever he looked at Eureine before, but he had never seen Rosaline and Eureine overlap like this.
Yet Eureine’s confident attitude suddenly made Rosaline appear before his eyes.
Without realizing it, the Duke stared intently at Eureine.
For a moment, he was rendered speechless.
Under the Duke’s gaze, Eureine politely dipped her head once.
“I didn’t know you were this kind of person, Your Grace.”
With those words, Eureine gave a light bow, turned around, and left the room.
She hated these kinds of pointless arguments.
He was not worth dealing with.
After returning to her room, Eureine sat down at the table and tapped her fingers against its surface.
Well, it’s not as though the Duke has been obsessed with Mother for only a day or two.
There’s no point expecting him to willingly admit that he was wrong.
Still, it feels good to finally say what I wanted to say.
Perhaps because she had spent so many years being treated poorly, merely getting the chance to say a few things to the Duke made her feel as though an old knot in her chest had finally been released.
Eureine shrugged.
Why had the Duke seemed so impressive to her before?
He was nothing more than a man consumed by his own stubborn pride.
She felt a little better.
Come to think of it, this was the first time she had ever expressed her own opinion while living in this household.
She had always been too intimidated to say anything.
Eureine lightly slapped her cheeks with her palms.
This is ridiculous.
Why does it feel so thrilling?
In this life, she had never clearly expressed her own will like this before.
The Duke had always frightened her, while her older brothers had seemed so extraordinary.
And then there was Aila, her adopted younger sister, the only Guide who had received a divine oracle.
But Eureine herself was nothing more than the sinner who had caused her mother—a magnificent Esper—to die.
On top of that, she was a worthless existence without any abilities at all, so she had no choice but to shrink into herself even further.
But was she really such a worthless person?
The corner of Eureine’s lips curved upward.
From now on, I won’t let anyone treat me however they please.
