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Chapter 43
"Rachel did this?"
If Edelbayne's knights hadn't killed them, then according to his information, only Vivian, Rachel, and Dias had been present at that location.
But Vivian and Dias were ordinary people with ‌‌‌no power whatsoever, so there was no ‌way they could have killed so many mercenaries.
Only Rachel possessed such strength.
Yet it made no sense that ‌‌Rachel, who had never properly studied magic nor experienced actual combat, could have slain so many mercenaries.
"No. All the dead were killed ‌‌by the blade."
The moment he heard those words, Kaltz's mind flashed with the image of Dias's face he'd ‌‌‌seen somewhere before.
That strangely familiar countenance.
At the same time, an unexpected possibility occurred to him, but he set it aside momentarily as Owen continued speaking.
"However, Margaret Heitz, who cooperated in the kidnapping, has been confined to the Underground Chamber."
Thanks to Vivian's testimony, Edelbayne's knights were able ‌‌‌to capture Margaret, who had been attempting to flee with Sally immediately after the incident.
Kaltz descended into the Underground Chamber alongside Owen.
Margaret and Sally were inside an iron cage meant for large beasts.
While the Townhouse and Main Estate had separate underground prisons, this Villa had none, so this was a hastily improvised holding area.
Margaret, who had dozed off despite the discomfort of the Underground Chamber, stirred ‌‌‌at the sound ‌of footsteps and opened her eyes, then jolted upright upon seeing Kaltz.
"Y-Your Excellency."
Kaltz quietly surveyed Margaret, whose appearance had deteriorated over the past few days, and ‌‌Sally, who remained in deep sleep.
It was almost laughable that he had once trusted her as quite a capable woman and entrusted her with Rachel's upbringing.
Margaret knelt before him and bowed her head.
"Y-Your Excellency. I lost my reason to fear and made a momentary misjudgment. If only you would forgive me this once...!"
"The Emperor's doing."
Kaltz neither raged ‌‌at Margaret's betrayal nor questioned it.
He merely posed a question to which he already knew the answer.
His demeanor was as though discarding ‌‌‌‌‌something no longer useful, and Margaret's heart plummeted.
"Yes, that's correct. An Inspector sent by His Imperial Majesty approached me in secret. He threatened to kill Sally if I didn't cooperate, so I...."
She laid bare everything she knew, excluding only information that would disadvantage her.
Desperately, ‌‌‌she sought to prove her worth, to demonstrate her regret for her choice.
But the answer that came was utterly indifferent.
"How foolish."
With those cold words, he turned away.
Behind him, Margaret's voice pleading for forgiveness could be heard, yet it gave his footsteps not a moment's hesitation.
Owen posed a question to him.
"What shall we do with them?"
At the question regarding the disposition of Margaret and her daughter, Kaltz's cold blue eyes lowered.
Margaret had cooperated with the Inspector who sought to kidnap and murder Rachel. It was a grave crime that warranted summary execution without room for objection.
But.
'I cannot execute a child.'
Of course, he suspected that Sally had harbored jealousy toward Vivian and subtly caused ‌‌trouble and made false accusations.
Yet that was hardly a sin grave enough to warrant death.
I couldn't bring Margaret's sins down upon her child.
That would be the same ‌‌‌as the Emperor holding Rachel accountable for Leopfried's crimes. ‌‌‌‌
'If Isela had lived, she ‌‌would surely have wanted mercy.'
Even knowing what dangers Rachel had faced because of Margaret, Sally would have pitied her.
For the sole reason that she was a mother.
"Margaret Heitz shall face execution, and Sally shall be sentenced to hard labor in the Northern Snowfields."
Kaltz added this before Owen could nod. ‌‌‌
"However, Margaret's sentence shall be suspended for ten years."
"I shall ‌obey your command."
Having concluded the matter, Kaltz ascended to the second floor at once.
The moment I thought to glimpse Rachel's sleeping form, the ‌child appeared before ‌‌my eyes.
"Grandfather."
"You're still awake? Are you feeling well?"
Seeing Rachel unharmed, even the faint anxiety lingering in my chest dissipated.
"There's something I'd like to ask of you."
But the moment I met my grandson's resolute gaze, the memory ‌‌of Isela—now distant and faded—surfaced, and my heart sank heavily.
Isela had worn that very same expression when she refused to marry Emperor Orfen.
"Please let me return to ‌‌‌the Capital."
"...What?"
"I don't want to hide anymore."
Ever since that day when I nearly was kidnapped, I had been thinking.
When fighting the kidnappers, my dress hem ‌‌‌was seized and I was attacked.
The clothes I wore to conceal and protect myself could not shield me. Instead, they became a hindrance.
Only when I returned home and saw the tattered fabric did I truly understand.
'This scrap of cloth cannot protect me.' ‌‌‌
Hiding alone cannot protect anyone.
Not myself, nor Vivian.
Now I had to fight.
"I ‌‌want to become stronger."
* * *
In ‌‌the late afternoon, summer sunlight streamed through the Study window.
Standing before the window, Kaltz gazed out at the Garden.
Within that view, Rachel played with Vivian.
Unlike when he had expressed his resolve to me last night, he appeared entirely ‌‌‌‌like a child, yet his eyes still gleamed ‌‌with clarity.
[I want to become stronger.]
Those eyes that resembled Isela.
Perhaps one of the reasons Rachel wished to grow stronger was...
No, the greatest ‌‌reason was surely the child standing beside him right now—Vivian.
[Father, please protect Rachel... your grandson.]
Until now, I had protected the child in accordance with Isela's dying wish to ‌‌watch over Rachel.
Yet someday, in a future both distant and near, I would naturally pass before Rachel, following the course of nature.
When that time came, who would protect that child left alone in this world?
I couldn't keep the child confined within a shell ‌‌forever, no matter how much I wished to shield him.
That child would need to learn to fly alone ‌‌someday, to hunt for his own sustenance.
Since the world he would inhabit was a wilderness, he needed to learn to survive on his ‌‌‌‌own right ‌‌‌here and now.
So consumed with protecting the child before me in the present moment, I had never once contemplated the distant future—until now.
Not until I faced yesterday's ‌‌‌Rachel.
And then I understood.
'It wasn't Rachel who wasn't ready to break free from the shell. It was me.'
The child ‌‌‌had already been preparing to emerge into the world long ago.
Kaltz withdrew the pendant he always carried close to his ‌‌‍heart and opened ‌‌‌it.
On one side lay a portrait of his wife, and on the other, a portrait of his daughter Isela.
"...Isela, ‌‌‌you would have made the same choice, wouldn't you?"
No—had it been her, she would have supported Rachel's decision without a moment's hesitation.
She had always offered wisdom and kindness far greater than my own.
Just as I ‌‌‌‌finally steeled myself to break the ‌shell, a knock sounded, followed by Owen's voice.
"Your Excellency. Heisen requests an audience."
At that name, Kaltz's gaze transformed.
I had been wanting to see the face of the man who single-handedly slew dozens of kidnappers.
"Show him in."
The man ‌‌who entered bore an unmistakable resemblance to ‌‌‌Vivian. ‌‌‌‌
"I should have called upon you sooner, but I fear my tardiness may have been an imposition upon your busy schedule, Your Excellency."
"Or was it that ‌‌‌‌‌you deliberately avoided being recognized by me?"
Save for those eyes hidden behind his spectacles—eyes that carried ‌‌‌a distinctly chilling aura.
A subtle fracture appeared in Dias's carefully maintained public facade as he forced a smile against Kaltz's direct strike.
"Knight Captain of the Imperial 2nd Knight Order, Dane Lowsweed."
Ten years ago, ‌‌‌the hero who departed under the Emperor's command to slay the Demon King and retrieve his heart, ‌‌‌only to vanish without a trace.
His eyes, now stripped ‌‌‌‌of all pretense of amusement, could not be concealed even by his spectacles.
"Even as I investigated ‌‌you, I thought it impossible—yet the hero ‌‌recorded in the history books was in fact a traitor who refused the imperial command and fled."
Dias quickly contained the emotions that had fractured his composure.
'Truth be told, when I learned Vivian had been kidnapped, I lost my mind and acted recklessly without thinking things through.'
I hadn't entirely failed to anticipate that my identity would eventually be exposed ‌‌because of it.
I had hoped he wouldn't notice and ‌‌‌‌pretended ignorance, but it seemed I couldn't deceive a seasoned veteran who had spent half his life reading ‌‌‌the currents of power.
"You said the face was familiar—indeed, you bear a striking resemblance to that irritating sister ‌‌of yours."

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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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