Chapter 85
85
My brothers approached me as if they had been waiting.
"Are you okay?"
"How's your body?"
I nodded.
"I'm all better. Uncle was just joking earlier. He said I don't need medicine, I'm all better."
Then Isaac muttered darkly, "Then I should have just killed him." He then looked at me and clamped his mouth shut.
"Why?"
Henri carefully took my hand and said,
"Once you're better... let's have a meal together. Let's have snacks together in the garden."
It seemed like he felt sorry for not paying attention to me while Mireille was pretending to be the fourth.
"It's okay."
"……."
"……."
"You don't have to worry. I know you thought she was the Baby Bird. It's natural to cherish your real sister."
When I tried to speak cheerfully, the two lowered their heads.
'Oh dear, the atmosphere...'
I changed the subject.
"Where is Yohan?"
"He's interrogating the inn couple on behalf of Dad."
"What is Dad doing?"
"Work."
"Work?"
"He's always working. Except for seeing you briefly this morning, he's always in his office. I don't think he's as affected by this as we thought?"
Isaac said, looking at Henri, and Henri nodded.
"He's thorough, so he wouldn't have completely believed it."
"Yeah, he was investigating Mireille."
The two said so, but I gripped the sheet tightly.
Knowing Dad's personality, even if there was evidence that Mireille was the fourth, he would have checked it two or three times. He wouldn't have fully trusted her until he finished checking.
'But...'
That doesn't mean he wouldn't be affected at all.
Dad never got angry at Mireille's excessive childishness. It was only because of the last shred of hope that 'she might really be the Baby Bird.'
My brothers never really got angry even when Mireille was being overly demanding.
Having lived with them for five years, I know how scary my brothers can be when they get angry. I also know how much they hate being bothered and crossing the line.
The reason they put up with Mireille was because they were seeing her as the Baby Bird.
After it was revealed that Mireille was not the Baby Bird, Javelin shut himself away. He couldn't return to The Capital, nor could he get angry at Mireille, and he just stared blankly at the sky like a corpse all day.
Everyone didn't show it, but I know how painful this incident was for the family.
Noth watched Theodore silently looking at documents in the same posture until the sun went down.
"Your Excellency..."
"What is LeBlaine's condition?"
"She opened her eyes today."
"Reinstate Taylor's status as promised. And move her residence near the castle so that it can be used if LeBlaine's condition becomes critical in the future."
"Yes."
Noth, who answered, carefully continued.
"Rather than that, please rest for today. Didn't you stay up all night yesterday too?"
Theodore didn't answer. Eventually, Noth had to sigh, hug the documents, and leave the office.
After the door closed and all traces of people disappeared, Theodore raised his head.
The sun was setting.
[I hate the sunset because it's lonely.]
At the voice that suddenly came to mind, Theodore moved his pen again. He was engrossed in work, but the memory that had once crept in rushed in like a storm.
[Theodore, I should have bought strawberries from The Capital after all. ]
[I'll send someone tomorrow.]
[That'll take two days. Let's go together now. I need to eat those strawberries now. Our daughter does.]
They were a mother and daughter he couldn't beat.
The daughter already had his leash in her hand before she was even born. At Lisette's words, "Our daughter," he had to wake up at dawn and drive the Magic Carriage around the country.
[She just kicked me. Touch it!]
[Why doesn't it move when I touch it?]
It moved excitedly when her brothers, whom she rarely saw, touched her, but it was always quiet when his hand touched her.
The moment he felt the fetal movement after more than eight months, a strange feeling welled up. A very strange feeling that made his throat tickle and felt like something was on his chest.
[Our daughter is teaching me emotions that I couldn't even tell you.]
The hand holding the pen tightened.
The memories that had been locked away surged in and shook him helplessly.
His senses became so sharp that they felt cold. It was when he swept back his hair and got up.
A small footstep was heard outside, and then suddenly it quickly moved away. Something was stuck in the gap of the window connected to the hallway.
A small note.
[Please apologize.]
/[Apologize to me.]/
The memories of Lisette came to mind again in the firmly pressed letters.
His eyes widened as he looked out the window. A glimpse of fluffy light brown hair could be seen behind the corner.
"……."
After fiddling with the note for a while, he picked up a memo pad on his desk.
[For what.]
He wrote the words, stuck them in the window gap, and hid behind the wall, and then he heard the sound of footsteps again.
[You didn't give me a goodnight kiss yesterday.]
Several more notes were exchanged.
[Didn't you say you were too shy?]
[I wasn't shy yesterday.]
[I'm sorry.]
[Then will you give me a goodnight kiss today?]
How does this kid know? She always knew what I wanted most.
When Theodore opened the door, he saw LeBlaine, who was hiding behind the corner, flinching.
As he approached, she slyly raised her head.
"……."
"……."
"……Why are you crying?"
As soon as she saw him, LeBlaine's big eyes welled up with tears.
His dry gaze, like a person crossing the desert without a destination, turned to the child's tearful eyes.
Theodore knelt down to meet LeBlaine's gaze and carefully reached out his hand, and LeBlaine hugged his neck.
Her small body trembled slightly, and he heard sobbing in his ear.
"You've become a crybaby after being sick."
"I'm not a crybaby."
"Then?"
"I'm just, just... Dad's daughter."
Theodore, who was holding the child, buried his face in her small shoulder.
The thoughts that had been tormenting him had disappeared.
I looked at Dad after crying until my nose turned bright red.
I rubbed Dad's eyes with the back of my hand. His eyes were slightly red, so he didn't look like a corpse anymore.
I liked that, so I smiled, but my stomach growled.
'Ugh.'
What an insensitive stomach clock.
It was so touching just now!
"We should have a meal."
"I like lamb potage. I had it last time and it was so delicious."
"Right after getting out of bed?"
"You have to eat meat to get healthy!"
He chuckled.
"I'll tell them to prepare a meal, so wait."
"Yes!"
I answered brightly, jumped out of Dad's arms, waved my hand, and left Dad's office.
And my next destination was the underground prison.
The guard who saw me asked in a slightly embarrassed voice, "What's going on?"
"I'm just going in for a bit."
"But there's an order not to let anyone in..."
"I'm not just anyone."
The guard seemed a little embarrassed because I usually didn't act like this, but he soon stepped aside.
As I went down the stairs, the stench of blood filled the air.
The innkeeper couple was passed out inside the iron bars, and Mireille was locked in the iron bars on the right.
I approached Mireille.
The girl, who was hugging her knees and trembling, raised her head.
"Hi?"
"What are you going to do to me?"
"Hey, you got it wrong. You should say, 'What are you going to do to Mireille?'"
"……."
The girl stubbornly closed her mouth.
She seems to think that it's all my fault that she ended up like this. Above all, she must be fearless because she is dying because of the divine power.
I smiled brightly. And.
Bang-!!
I used my power to blow away half of the iron bars.
Only then did Mireille's eyes widen and her face turn pale yellow.
"You know, I think you're misunderstanding something, but dying isn't the end of everything."
"Wh-what?"
"The point is 'how you die.'"
I grabbed Mireille's neck in one go.
"Now, think carefully and answer. Who gave you the information about the Baby Bird?"
"I-I don't know, I don't know- Ack!!"
As the Catalyst appeared on the back of my hand, Mireille's neck turned red as if it were burning.
"I told you to think carefully and answer."
"Hngh……."
"Who let you in here? Who is the person who ripped my family's heart out?"
"I, I really don't know, really- Kyaaaaak!!!"
Sparks flew from my hand. Mireille trembled like a person who had been electrocuted, then turned pale and slumped down, gasping for breath.
After seeing Dad's eyes, I didn't want to let this girl go at all.
"Again, who let you in here?"
"I, I don't know the identity, but he was wearing a dark blue jacket, and... and, ahhh, I really don't remember well. I was wearing a blindfold... please!"
"You shouldn't underestimate people's memory. If you're desperate, you can remember it somehow. Shall I make you more desperate here?"
As I smiled brightly and made the Catalyst appear on the back of my hand again, Mireille screamed.
"W-wait, wait... Th-that is, that is... Ah! Erythema! There was an erythema in the shape of an X turned over on the back of his hand!"
After that, Mireille tried to remember the culprit, but it seemed like she couldn't remember anything else.
"Okay, that's enough."
When I said that, Mireille's face brightened. She seemed to know that I would let her go now.
But.
"Ah, Keuaaaaaak!!"
Mireille, who screamed terribly and shuddered, collapsed.
At that time, familiar footsteps followed from behind. It was the Chairman, the chief of torture in the underground prison.
"Isn't that different from the promise? Weren't you supposed to let her die peacefully if she told you the information?"
"Backstabbing is Dad's specialty. I'm Dad's daughter."
The Chairman chuckled.
"Well, then now we have to catch the spy..."
It was then.
The door burst open and Yohan, Henri, and Isaac all came in.
The person Isaac grabbed by the collar was a familiar-looking vassal.
"P-please save me. Please save me!!"
Isaac frowned at the vassal who was shouting obsequiously, and Yohan kicked the vassal's abdomen.
Thud!!
The sound of bones breaking and internal organs bursting was heard, and the vassal rolled down the stairs.
"LeBlaine?"
Henri said after finding me.
"Uh-huh, hi."
"What are you doing here?"
"I was just with the Chairman for a bit... What about you guys?"
"Dad told us to catch the spy."
Isaac grumbled, following up.
"He told us to catch him in half a day."
I looked at the vassal.
Baron Suwae. The man who went with Viscount Misengke to pick up Yohan.
'He also advised me to get along with Mireille.'
It wasn't advice, he was trying to make me cower so I couldn't talk back to Mireille.
'Anyway, jackpot. I don't have to catch the spy.'
If my brothers interrogate him here, I can get all the information.
I was smiling happily inside, but my brothers who came down the stairs looked at Mireille, who was spasming in shock.
"What, who did this to her?"
I flinched at Isaac's words.
"That, well, uh..."
I mumbled and hurriedly pointed at the Chairman.
"The Chairman! Suddenly, boom, boom...!"
Then all three brothers' eyes were fixed on the Chairman.
"He had magic? And he knows how to handle it pretty well."
"There's no residual mana left. To make it look like this with the minimum amount of mana, it's not at the level of saying he knows how to handle it well."
"Was he this skilled?"
Isaac, Henri, and Yohan looked at him in order, and the Chairman frowned. It was a look that said, why are you turning the arrows at me and making me be wary for no reason?
I mouthed to the Chairman behind my brothers.
'Chairman, you're dazzling! Awesome! The best!'
At the desperate flattery, he looked at my brothers with a sullen face.
"Yes, I'm a bit good at it."
-He said.
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