Chapter 122
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Dear, I believe you may be misunderstanding. Chapter 122 "...!"
Marquess Capren and Norman's faces contorted simultaneously, as though they'd bitten into rotten fruit.
"Surely you don't wish for our family to fall, do you?"
"I'm curious.... If you knew these were deeds terrible enough to ruin our family, why did you allow him to live that way? Or perhaps, since Father lived like that, you thought it was only natural?"
"Grace! You ungrateful wretch!"
Marquess Capren's neck bulged with rage as he spat out curses.
"Fine, do as you please! As if our family would actually fall because of you! If we do fall, you'll be dragged down into the filth with us—don't you understand that!"
"Ungrateful?"
Grace laughed softly. The notion of betraying kindness and forgetting bestowed grace—hearing such words from Marquess Capren's mouth was absurdly laughable.
"Father never once visited the Temple, not when I nearly died, nor when Mother was dying."
"That, that was..."
"Yet the moment your little toe was broken, you didn't hesitate to go to the Temple."
Over a single broken little toe....
"What grace could I possibly have received from you?"
"Grace, what good does it do to dredge up old grievances now? Yes, this father was wrong, terribly wrong!"
"Father, though I call you Father, I have never held affection or respect for you."
"Grace!"
"...Since I have never received your grace, I have not betrayed it."
Grace spoke calmly and hurled the documents she'd been holding toward Marquess Capren and Norman. Marquess Capren, his face flushed with alarm, quickly snatched them up and examined them. And without hesitation, he tore them to shreds. Grace, watching quietly, let out a soft laugh and murmured.
"Surely you didn't think that was all I had?"
"...!"
Marquess Capren, startled, lunged toward her without thinking. The knights blocked him first, and Elia and Julie stepped forward protectively around Grace.
"W-w-what are you saying? What is it? Why are you doing this, Grace! What have we done wrong!"
"Father! I told you she's insane! She's cursed! We should have killed her long ago!"
"Be quiet, Norman!"
Father and son were shouting at each other. Their resemblance was so striking it was almost amusing.
"Grace, Grace Oellin! This father was wrong. I will reflect on this, I will! I'll apologize! I'll do anything, anything for you!"
He stretched his hands desperately through the knights blocking his path, pleading earnestly. Anything. Those three words from Marquess Capren's lips pierced through Grace's chest. Those words, those three syllables.... They were the desperate screams of a mother clinging frantically to a nameless man to save her dying daughter.
"I apologize, but...."
It was my mother's anguished cry as she ran, cradling me—Grace Oellin—who had nearly died at the hands of my demonic husband and his stepson, who bore his exact likeness.
"I don't need anything from you, Father."
There is truly nothing I desire from you. Marquess Capren's face contorted with despair. With a face twisted like a demon, he seized Norman by the hair, still unable to comprehend the situation.
"Ah, Father!"
"Apologize. Apologize, Norman. Apologize!"
"W-what are you doing!"
How could such strength come from an old man? He pressed Norman's head against the ground and cried out to me with raw desperation.
"I will apologize. I will reflect. I will make him reflect. So please, please... let's stop here. Yes? You've already left this house! There's no need for it to go this far, is there?"
So he was truly this greedy.... I was startled by the redness in Marquess Capren's eyes. I knew he was arrogant, irritable, and covetous. But I never imagined he would willingly kneel before the daughter he had ignored all this time, simply to keep what he now possessed. Yet that did not make me wish to accept him in the slightest. With a sigh, I pushed through the knights and stepped forward. Then I lifted Marquess Capren's head, which had been pressed into the dirt.
"Please, don't do this."
As Marquess Capren's head rose at my touch, a glimmer of hope flickered in his eyes. Meeting that gaze, I rejected his sincerity with a measured voice.
"I don't want an apology from you or from Norman. So please, don't apologize."
"...What?"
"With a single word of sorry, with such a hollow word... I refuse to let it soften even slightly the terrible past of these two people."
Norman stared at me with a blank expression. I looked beyond them, toward the iron gate of the Mansion visible in the distance, as if he had never imagined hearing such words.
"Don't apologize. I don't want it. Just as you were in the past, remain bad people now. I will not forgive you in the slightest."
I slowly retreated, leaving the two of them frozen in place. The pathetic old man sprawled on the ground and the demon of my childhood with a twisted face. I delivered my words to them with calm and measured precision.
"So please... simply fall to ruin as you are."
Both of you. The moment my words ended, the sound of the iron gate shattering echoed from afar. Crash! Crackcrackcrash! The iron gate, reinforced thicker and stronger than before, was torn apart in a single blow. Startled, Marquess Capren and Norman spun around, only to see a massive black horse charging toward them.
"...!"
"Th-that horse...!"
The very same horse that had shattered Norman's ribs on that rainy night. A massive black horse with brilliant blue eyes. The very steed that Marquess Capren had failed to find despite scattering gold in every direction came charging straight toward them. Neeeeiiiigh! Startled by the tremendous sound of the approaching horse, Norman scrambled to his feet and stumbled backward. A fear that had nearly crystallized into trauma consumed him entirely. Had Grace Oellin's escort not seized the fleeing Norman, he would have bolted straight back to the Estate.
"N-no, let go! Let me go! Let go! Aaahhh!"
The black horse halted directly in front of the terrified, thrashing Norman. Then it hurled something from its mouth—a sodden mass dripping with saliva—directly at Norman's face. Splat. A drenched bundle of papers struck Norman's face with perfect accuracy. So startled he didn't even feel the pain, Norman's legs trembled uncontrollably. Snort! Lucas Black exhaled sharply and kicked up dirt with his hind legs toward Marquess Capren, who stood staring blankly at me.
"...!"
Fine particles of earth pelted Marquess Capren's face. With those same movements, Lucas Black approached Grace Oellin and buried his nose in her neck.
"...I never expected such a dramatic entrance." -I was restraining myself from bringing an army. Whinny! Lucas Black raised his chin proudly and answered with a resounding neigh. Grace Oellin smiled faintly, embracing the black horse's neck and stroking it gently.
"Th-that horse, h-how...! Th-that day too, if you...!"
Marquess Capren pointed at Grace Oellin with a pallid, sickly expression. Grace Oellin shrugged casually and spoke.
"I didn't know him back then. Later... he became my horse." -I am always prepared to be your stallion....
"...This is not the time for such remarks." 'Lucas....' I swallowed his name silently within myself and cast him a sidelong glance. The horse became instantly docile. Grace Oellin, who had been smirking, pointed to the newspaper that had struck Norman's face.
"Read that newspaper article carefully... and prepare yourselves well."
A headline blazoned across the newspaper lying on the ground. 【Special Report! Exposing the Rot Behind the White Lily!】 Marquess Capren's complexion turned corpse-pale as he stared at it. But Norman, still dazed and hollow-eyed, could not even examine what article had struck his face, trembling uncontrollably. Just as Grace Oellin was about to mount Lucas Black's back, she suddenly turned around again. Norman Oellin. My demonic half-brother. He turned back and looked at Torres, who stood restrained. Blood had swollen his face so badly that he could barely open his eyes halfway. His vacant gaze, as if bewildered by the chaos, fell upon Grace Oellin. Seeing Torres brought the baby and Carol to mind. Poor Carol and the small baby who might have died by her father's hand. Grace Oellin deliberated for a moment, then approached Norman. -Grace Oellin. Lucas Black tried to stop her, but she approached Norman without hesitation and spoke.
"Elia, would you cover Father's eyes for me?"
"Yes? ...Ah, yes, Miss."
Elia and the servants quickly seized Marquess Capren and turned him away. In that moment, Grace Oellin approached Norman and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Listen, older brother. Or rather, Norman...."
Grace Oellin strode forward before the dazed Norman and lifted the hem of her skirt. Then, drawing a sharp breath, she unhesitatingly raised her foot and kicked between Norman's legs.
"Hup!"
Crack— A sound of something shattering, unlike anything heard before, echoed through the air. Several of the men watching involuntarily drew their legs together.
"...Don't go around causing harm with that thing. It's wicked."
Norman curled into a ball, emitting broken, whimpering cries. The veins bulging across his forehead and the cold sweat streaming down made his agony apparent. Yet however agonizing it was, it could never compare to the ruin wrought upon the women by the instrument he had so carelessly wielded. Grace Oellin turned away from the trembling Norman without a backward glance. An unpleasant sensation lingered on the top of her foot. As if dismissing it, Grace Oellin walked with even greater confidence. -My, Grace Oellin.... Lucas Black called to her with a tone of both admiration and apprehension. Grace Oellin pretended not to hear and mounted Lucas's back. She felt him flinch slightly. It was somewhat amusing and embarrassing, but she pretended not to notice. -My. I must never be careless with your wife, it seems. Lucas Black whispered with an exaggerated show of fear. Grace Oellin smiled with a grimace and slapped the horse's rump sharply. Pretending not to notice his startled reaction, she urged him forward in a low whisper.
"Now ride faster." -I've married a terrifying woman, haven't I. Grace Oellin tightened her thighs to urge him on further, and Lucas Black laughed low and kicked forward with vigor. His powerful leap carried him over the shattered iron gates of the Oellin House.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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