Chapter 5
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Violet's First Words - Episode 5
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The Capital of the kingdom, Estrazet, was divided into nine districts numbered one through nine.
Among them, districts one through three were areas where nobility and the wealthy resided.
Violet had arrived in district seven, where the middle class primarily lived.
"Bycoline Street, number twelve."
I found it more easily than expected.
On the door of Cyril's residence hung a nameplate reading "Cyril Call Everdin."
'Is this Uncle's house?'
Violet knocked on the door cautiously.
'Is he not home?'
In that instant, the door swung wide open.
Violet nearly stumbled forward.
Fortunately regaining my balance, I recognized Cyril immediately.
With navy hair and eyes of the same blue-black hue, Cyril was far more youthful and handsome than I had imagined.
He wore a long leather coat that accentuated his waist and riding boots—an ensemble that was either impeccably refined or carelessly thrown together.
Upon spotting Violet, his brow furrowed and a crooked smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"You don't seem lost. So why is the offspring of my estranged brother here?"
"It's been a while. I apologize for arriving so suddenly. There's something I wanted to ask you about."
Cyril turned without a word and began walking down the corridor.
Taking this as permission, Violet quickly followed him.
'I was certain he would be staying in a boarding house or something similar... Does he own this entire building?'
Violet's father, Geoffrey, had always spoken of Cyril as a pauper, spitting the words with disdain.
Upon reaching the living room, Cyril plopped onto the sofa with his legs propped up on the table.
"Say what you came to say. I'm busy, so keep it brief."
"I wanted to ask you about Mother's ring. When I was ten, you came to the estate and gave me Mother's ring. I was curious about how you came to possess it."
"Where is that ring now?"
Violet's cheeks flushed faintly.
"...I donated it to an Old Woman begging in front of the Temple."
"Why would you throw away such a precious ring? How thoughtless."
Cyril's voice dropped lower.
"Father discovered the ring."
"...And?"
"He said he wouldn't let me off if I didn't dispose of it immediately. I couldn't defy him, so donating it was the best I could do rather than simply discarding it."
Cyril's brow furrowed. Violet tensed slightly.
"If I don't keep him in check, what exactly will that bastard do?"
Violet stared blankly at Cyril.
Geoffrey had slapped her across the face that day. But it wasn't the first time, nor was it anything serious.
"Father shouts when he's angry. But he's never beaten me severely or anything like that. I've never had to go to the hospital or anything of that sort."
Violet answered honestly.
Cyril's frown deepened. Violet quickly added more.
"At least if I donate it, the money will go toward clothes and food for the poor. That way, it could also serve as a prayer for my Biological Mother's soul, and besides...."
"Spare me the unnecessary explanations. Did you keep the promise?"
"A promise... what promise?"
Cyril simply gazed at her without speaking.
'That's right. About wearing the ring every day!'
Violet suddenly recalled that fact.
"To be honest, I haven't worn it every day. But whenever I go to the Academy, I always keep it threaded on a chain around my neck."
When going to the Academy, I primarily wore high-collared shirts. Thanks to that, I could hide the necklace.
"Good. How many mana circles have you built?"
At Cyril's words, Violet felt as though she might faint.
A talent that no one had noticed until now—something only one in ten thousand possessed.
How could Cyril possibly know about it?
"How did you know that?"
"How? Your Biological Mother told me."
"...What else did she say? Do you know her name?"
"A talent possessed by only one in ten thousand."
Violet nearly held her breath.
"If the first genius had existed, would they have lived alone and died alone? They would have had a spouse and children. And fortunate descendants would have inherited that talent."
"...."
"Your maternal family occasionally produces people of a special constitution—those who cannot accumulate mana within their bodies but can instead weave it into circles. That was you. Your mother recognized it the moment you were born, or so she told me."
"How could I—"
"Wait. I'll answer slowly, so be patient."
Violet exercised patience and held herself back. She sat quietly and waited for Cyril's next words.
"First, once you hear the answer you want, disappear without delay. That's the promise."
"Yes, I will."
"Good. First, I don't know how your mother recognized your constitution, so don't press me on it. I've only seen her a few times myself. Her name is Deborah."
Deborah.
It was a more aristocratic name than I expected. Yet it was such a beautiful and lovely name....
Violet pronounced the name to herself over and over again.
"Father said my Biological Mother had no family, no occupation, and was a lowborn woman who clung to others for survival."
"What nonsense. The one with only a noble name but actually a worthless vagrant is your father, Geoffrey. Your mother is from the Reinhardt Family, a prestigious house in the borderlands."
"A descendant of a prestigious family? According to Father...."
"Don't believe a word that liar Geoffrey says. A man who abandoned his own bride and fled is capable of any falsehood."
"...What?!"
The deepest inferiority complex and guilt in Violet's life stemmed from being a bastard child.
Father had loved Stepmother with genuine affection.
But Biological Mother's pregnancy with me had nearly shattered that marriage....
'So my very existence is a sin—that's what I heard every day.'
Cyril spoke matter-of-factly.
"You're no bastard. If anything, your Younger Sister Marigold is the illegitimate one."
Violet's world developed a hairline fracture.
"We were impoverished nobility in name only, relegated to the provinces. Then Geoffrey, who had gone away to study, returned with some great house's daughter—along with a substantial dowry, no less. Word was that her family opposed the match, so the two of them absconded with her inheritance and fled together."
"...."
A lovers' escape.
That was the story between Biological Mother and Geoffrey.
"And what happened after that, Uncle?"
"Afterward, Geoffrey set up a newlywed household for a few months, then stole every last coin your mother possessed and fled again—this time with a barmaid from a local tavern. By then, you were already growing in your mother's womb."
By now, I had exhausted my capacity for shock.
"Then that barmaid was..."
"Exactly—your Stepmother, Paula."
"But did he lie and claim she was the illegitimate one instead?"
"That's precisely why the bastard's a pathological liar. He'd swindled people back home multiple times. In the Capital, he'd pose as an investment broker, promising to manage their money."
Violet's face drained of all color.
Cyril continued his explanation with measured calm.
Geoffrey's flight had sent his own mother to her sickbed. She hadn't lived long after that, he said.
Cyril had been young at the time and was already contemplating leaving home.
When his mother passed, he'd scraped together what little money remained, intending to depart for the Capital.
But it was precisely on that day that Deborah gave birth.
Cyril and Deborah were practically strangers to one another.
Even then, Cyril and Geoffrey had been bitterly at odds—despite the considerable age gap between brothers, they were worse than mere acquaintances.
That's when the villagers came searching for Cyril in a frenzy.
Deborah had delivered a child and seemed to be dying, they said. For reasons unknown, she was desperately asking for Cyril.
Deborah was already fading. She gazed at Cyril as he arrived, offering a weak smile.
[Cyril, I heard you're leaving for the city. Geoffrey is likely in the Capital. I won't survive the night. Please—take this child to Geoffrey.]
[Are you mad? Do you truly believe the man who abandoned you would accept this child?]
[My father is the patriarch of the Reinhardt Family, a warrior bloodline stronger than any other. Those of the Reinhardt Family are born with a special constitution—a mana circle. If I tell Geoffrey that this power has manifested in his daughter, he will likely take her and raise her....]
[Why not send her to your own family instead?]
[My father is an extremely resolute man. In a fit of rage, he might even kill the child.]
[....]
[I'm sorry. I have nowhere else to turn. At the very least, as her biological father, he will feed and keep her alive. I'm such a poor mother—this is all I can do.]
[I'll find that man and leave the child at his doorstep, or whatever else it takes. But that's as far as I'll go. I won't offer any further assistance.]
Cyril finished speaking.
Violet clenched the fist resting upon her knee.
"So that's why Uncle kept Mother's keepsakes. You received them on the day Mother passed away."
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org