“…I’m exhausted…”
As soon as she returned home, Lea collapsed onto the sofa. She hadn’t realized emotional exhaustion could be this draining… Lea felt her creaking heart gradually settle as Abel sat by her side and gently stroked her hair.
The plan she had devised was executed flawlessly without error. She started the fire to make it appear as though it had begun on the second-floor stairs, and Abel used magic to spread the flames, burning everything completely. Even if there had been people inside, not even their bones could be found. She had cast a hypnotic spell on the two men she hadn’t tied up and left them thrown outside the mansion. They would serve as witnesses to what happened at the mansion and divert suspicion.
The people were first moved to the mansion where Helen and Ken were staying, and the captured men were tied up and confined in the basement. When she appeared in the living room with Abel, bringing a whole crowd of people, Ken looked surprised at first but soon asked with a resolute gaze.
[Don’t tell me all these people are the ones I have to protect?]
When she confirmed it was true, he sighed and said.
[I wondered why the pay was so good for such easy work.]
Then he drooped his shoulders with a dispirited expression, but when Abel told him not to worry because he would set up a barrier, he immediately revived and began bustling around taking care of the people.
‘Now that I think about it, Ken is quite easygoing for someone of his background.’
She already knew what kind of background Ken had through her investigation. It wasn’t a lie when she said she trusted his eyes, but that alone wasn’t enough given the current situation, and he would probably understand that. As she thought of Ken with a slight smile, the image of Rien looking at her with tear-filled eyes before they left came to mind, and a throbbing pain returned to her heart.
Even after moving with Abel’s help, she was too busy organizing various things to speak to her. Or perhaps she had avoided her because she wasn’t yet ready to face her. Finally, when it was time to leave that place, Lea mustered her courage and spoke to her as calmly as possible.
[…Please wait just a little longer. I’ll come to fetch you as soon as things are settled..]
At her words, Rien lifted her tear-filled eyes and nodded. Why did she smile so brightly when she was a daughter who couldn’t even call her mother or speak a single word to her… Smiling like that, she spoke tenderly.
[Don’t worry. Mother is confident about waiting now.]
The word “mother” that came from Rien’s mouth shook Lea’s heart mercilessly.
“…Haah…”
When she unconsciously let out a sigh, Abel spoke gently.
“Stop thinking and get some sleep. I’ll stay by your side.”
His voice was like a lullaby, making her eyelids droop, but Lea sat up abruptly and shook her head to chase away sleep.
“I can’t. The Duke…Father will be waiting. I have to go.”
Seeing Lea like that, Abel sighed as if he had no choice and raised two fingers to lightly touch her forehead. A small silver magic circle appeared and was absorbed, and Lea felt her body become lighter.
“Go on.”
Abel, who had relieved her fatigue with magic, extended his hand with a gentle smile.
“Yes, I’ll be back.”
A large silver magic circle appeared beneath Lea’s feet as she took Abel’s hand, and her form vanished in an instant.
****
“Say that again.”
Abram’s subdued voice echoed ominously through the living room.
“A fire broke out at the first base and burned everything down.”
Before Fibien could finish his report, Abram’s foot flew into his solar plexus.
“………”
As Fibien bent over in pain, this time he kicked his face. His lip split and broken teeth scattered on the floor along with blood, but Fibien didn’t let out a single groan.
“You idiots! How were you managing things that a fire broke out!!”
Unable to contain his rage, Abram rained kicks on Fibien. After huffing and puffing for a while, he walked to the display cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine. He yanked the cork out as if tearing it off and gulped it down straight from the bottle to calm his burning insides. In the meantime, Fibien staggered to his feet. His face was a mess from Abram’s kicks, but without a single complaint, he waited for Abram’s orders.
“…Continue the report.”
As Abram flopped onto the sofa and brought the wine bottle to his mouth again, Fibien opened his mouth.
“…There are two survivors in total, and their testimonies are similar. The fire started on the second-floor stairway side, and the moment two people went up to put out the fire, the stairs collapsed and both were trapped underneath… The fire spread too quickly and with no stairs, they didn’t even think about going to the second floor and just ran out.”
Crunch. Abram ground his teeth. The hostages at the first base were essential for taking control of this Yurasen Empire. He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if the people being blackmailed realized that all the hostages were dead.
‘Duke Kaien will be the biggest problem. He’ll chase us to the ends of hell.’
The House of Kaien. The sword of the empire that protects the Yurasen Empire. That’s why they had targeted the House of Kaien as their first target of attack over twenty years ago. At that time, Abram was a low-level organization member, so he knew very well how terrifying the House of Kaien was. No matter how hard they tried, Duke Kaien showed no openings. The ducal house even had tighter security than the imperial palace. After spending three years with countless failures, war finally broke out and they seized their opportunity. In fact, they had been the ones who caused that war, but unaware of this fact, the Duke answered the imperial summons and participated in the war leading the Kaien Knights, and they didn’t miss that opportunity. Using spies they had planted in advance, they kidnapped his wife and the newly born baby. Recalling the appearance of the Duke when he returned after hearing the news that his wife and baby had disappeared, Abram felt a chill run down his spine even seventeen years later. The Duke’s fury was tremendous, but he couldn’t find his wife, whom they had hidden thoroughly, or the baby they had abandoned in Hauzen Forest.
‘How many spies died back then…’
In the end, the Duke compromised with them. He accepted Michelle as the Duchess and allowed shadows to be attached. Their initial plan was to have Michelle seduce the Duke to bear a child, then kill the Duke and make that child the next Duke.
‘I thought it wouldn’t be easy, but the Duke never fell for it.’
So they changed their method. Using Michelle, they humiliated the wives of noble houses with whom the Duke was friendly, severing ties between families and weakening his power. And whenever necessary, they blackmailed the Duke to make him move as they wanted. As long as it wasn’t about the imperial family, the Duke granted most of what they wanted. Even if it meant loss to himself. Still, to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, they had been steadily administering a colorless, odorless poison to the Duke and the captain of knights so they could kill them at any time. They probably didn’t even know they were already seriously poisoned. If things went wrong and something happened to the hostages, they planned to kill the Duke and the captain of knights, who would be the biggest obstacle, so that Michelle could inherit the ducal house without problems.
‘That’s why I kidnapped Joseph’s little sister… tsk…’
Joseph… someone with outstanding abilities recognized by the Duke, who could approach the Duke and captain of knights without suspicion, who had recently entered the ducal house and hadn’t yet built trust with the servants, so he could be immediately identified as the culprit when the incident occurred… That’s why Abram kidnapped his little sister. He was the perfect tool to use for killing the Duke and captain of knights. Moreover, since he came from abroad and only had his little sister, they thought if they killed both siblings, the truth would be buried forever.
Tap tap… Abram, who had been tapping his knee with his finger, softened his expression. While the dead hostages were regrettable, only he and Fibien knew they were dead anyway.
‘The Duchess is a pity though.’
He had planned to taste Joseph before killing him, but the Duchess was also a target he had been eyeing. After killing the Duke, he intended to forcibly violate her and then inform her of the Duke’s death. He had been very much looking forward to seeing how that proud woman would change.
‘She’ll lose her mind. Knowing not only the Duke but also her daughter is already dead. It’s a shame I won’t get to see that.’
Clicking his tongue regretfully, Abram ordered Fibien.
“Move up the plan for the House of Kaien. Go capture Joseph immediately tomorrow. And tell Michelle to cut off the last remaining thread.”
“Yes.”
Fibien bowed his head in obedience to his command.
****
The Duke’s gaze fixed on the clock was so fearsome it seemed he might cut it down at any moment. It was because his daughter, who had said she’d be right back and disappeared, still hadn’t returned even after five hours had passed. He couldn’t unleash his killing intent because the shadows were watching, but the atmosphere was such that his eyes alone could kill several people. Finally unable to bear it and about to rise from his seat, the Duke’s eyes met with Lea, who had suddenly appeared in her original form instead of Joseph’s appearance where she had vanished. Their identical red eyes gazed at each other briefly.
“Where are you going?”
At Lea’s quiet question, the Duke, who had been about to stand, stopped mid-motion and sat back down in his chair with a clearing of his throat. His ears were slightly red.
“…You were so late I was going to go look for you…”
At his voice so low only she could hear, Lea’s expression changed subtly. It meant that even knowing how dangerous it was to move right now, he had been about to act thinking something might have happened to her.
‘Really, at this rate…’
Lea’s eyes wavered once more. She could no longer deny it even if she wanted to. She was their daughter, and that fact would absolutely never change going forward. And the deep love they held for her had now become chains on her heart, binding it.
‘…I can’t leave these people anymore…’
She felt it instinctively. It would no longer be possible to live as Lea. From now on, she would have to live as Leas, the legitimate daughter of the House of Kaien. It wouldn’t be easy, but just as they had waited a long time for her to return, it would be right for her to do her best to adapt as well.
‘Yes… that’s the conclusion.’
Lea felt her mind suddenly clear as she regained her peace. She was simply returning to where she should have been. And this place was one that only she could fill.