20
Episode 20
I gaped.
'You said you had something to say. This isn't saying anything.'
All sorts of things started coming in behind my sister!
"A bed and blanket. Curtains and a magic tool to catch bugs."
My bug friends, you can't catch them...
I could hear the soldiers urgently trying to dissuade her.
"Lady Chloe. It's really difficult to bring a bed into this detached building..."
"Why? It's cold."
My sister looked down at Ruth, who was sitting on the chilly floor.
"Hey, Ruth. Move."
"No, on this mossy stone floor...? What's with that pink silk blanket? Does that even match, huh?"
"It matches fine."
"I'm seeing the craziest person ever..."
About ten minutes passed.
Because they couldn't break Chloe's stubbornness, the inside of the prison was filled with a bright atmosphere.
"How is it?"
I looked at my sister, who was asking me after finishing everything.
"I'm, I'm okay..."
I checked my sister's expression again with a slightly uneasy heart.
'Is my sister okay?'
Is she not so afraid of the darkness she doesn't know anymore?
I tilted my head worriedly and saw the corner of my sister's mouth twist.
"Okay, my foot. You cried. But there are no tear marks."
"Huh? I didn't cry at all! I had fun playing with my praying mantis friend and spider friend. And I thought I'd be able to get out of prison anyway, so I was even more okay!"
"...You can't get out alone. What if I had just ignored you?"
"But, you didn't ignore me!"
In the end, you came to me.
My sister was silent for a long time at my words before opening her mouth.
"...Aren't you cold?"
I was coldest when my sister didn't recognize me.
Now, my sister bravely defeats the darkness she was afraid of and came to find me.
So I'm happy. I'm not cold at all.
"I'm super warm!"
"Cover yourself well with the blanket. Don't drop it on the floor."
I lay on the bed and wrapped myself tightly in the blanket.
Then I heard Ruth's nagging voice.
"Theresia will go crazy if she finds out?"
Regardless, my sister whispered coldly to me.
"Now that you seem to be back to your senses, I'll tell you what I need."
"Yes, what is it?"
"You didn't kill the Tiger, like you said earlier, right?"
Meeting her eyes, which shone brightly even in the darkness, I nodded my head with all my might.
"I didn't kill it! The Tiger will live soon!"
"Okay, I understand."
My sister turned and left the prison.
Ruth shouted at her back.
"Hey, the Tiger's dead! I saw it! But what are you? What are you trying to do again?"
"Why should I share my plans with a blockhead like you?"
"Hey, where are you going! Answer me and go!"
In front of the main gate of Duke Ardos's estate.
In a calm atmosphere without a speck of dust, Chloe stood upright.
"Everyone, did you hear the story?"
"Lady Chloe cooperated in killing the Tiger Spirit Creature."
It was a voice coming from beyond the gate of the detached mansion.
The soldiers on guard duty were chattering, not even thinking that Chloe would hear them.
'I can hear everything.'
Ability users tend to have good senses.
In particular, Chloe, who had lost her sense of taste, had a more developed sense of hearing as a counterbalance.
'Theresia must have deliberately involved me in that.'
But it was unusual for the rumors to spread so quickly.
'Well, if Theresia had a hand in it, it's quite plausible that it spread so quickly.'
It wasn't entirely wrong, since she was the one who gave the hydrangea to that child.
But there was something more important.
It was her father's return.
"Why is Lady Chloe near the main gate?"
"I don't know. I guess she's waiting for the Duke."
"...Huh? His Excellency just left the Grand Duchy? Is she planning to stand there for two days and nights?"
"Who knows? How can we know the heart of the Dark Sorceress."
There was something the soldiers were overlooking.
Chloe stared back at the horizon.
If the calculations were correct, her father's carriage would arrive within 30 minutes.
Exactly 30 minutes later. A black carriage, arriving faster than light, stopped in front of the main gate.
It was the return of the head of the family, which everyone had not expected.
Chloe knew.
Her father, Duke Ardos, was out of his mind.
Because hundreds of small magic stones were densely embedded in the wheels of the carriage to increase movement efficiency.
'It was faster than a teleport scroll.'
"W-We greet Duke Ardos!"
The soldiers standing at the main gate hurriedly bowed their heads.
"Greetings are unnecessary. Is this the time to exchange greetings leisurely when you can't even protect one Spirit Creature!"
"We are sorry."
"Sorry?"
"Yes, really, we are s-sorry..."
"The answer is wrong from the start. You shouldn't have done anything to be sorry for in the first place."
In an atmosphere filled with silence, where everyone closed their mouths in unison.
Chloe quietly approached her father and greeted him.
"I greet Duke Ardos."
The Duke did not answer her. He only stared at her with an unpleasant gaze.
And he gestured to the coachman of the carriage.
Behind Duke Ardos was a black carriage with hundreds of magic stones attached to the wheels.
The carriage looked the same as usual.
However, it was unusual that the windows were covered, as if something was being secretly transported.
Duke Ardos glanced at Chloe and said to the coachman.
"Move the VIP's carriage to the detached building on the northernmost side of the mansion."
Judging by the expression 'VIP', it seemed that a very important person had entered the family.
It must be someone who suits her father's interests.
Chloe nonchalantly stared back at Duke Ardos.
"I will say it again. I greet the head of the family."
"Ahem! You've been holed up in the detached building as a cripple, what brings you out today?"
"I have something to tell you."
"Come inside first."
Chloe straightened her shoulders.
The great being who had made the Ardos family twice as prosperous as its predecessors.
She stared straight at the man who had never once embraced her as a daughter.
"If you want to be the successor, I will treat you as someone who wants to be the successor, not as a daughter."
"......Yes."
"People's lives will come and go at your every gesture."
"From now on, I will call you Duke or Head of the Family."
In front of him, Chloe always became small.
But today was different, because there was a child to save.
It's not because she likes the child.
It's because she doesn't want that child, who has the same name as Coco, to be forcibly broken by someone's hand.
"It's about the child of blessing."
Duke Ardos's gaze sharpened in an instant.
"Are you talking about the child who captured the Tiger and couldn't stand it and killed it?"
As expected, he seemed to have already heard all the news.
The eyes of Duke Ardos seemed to be everywhere in the house.
"I'm planning to interrogate the sinner as quickly as possible, so don't worry about it."
"No, Father. That child did not kill the Tiger."
"What's the evidence?"
"The child said she didn't kill it."
His gaze sharpened.
"Is that all? I heard you became a cripple, but it seems your head isn't working properly?"
"At least it's working now."
"Then, it must be completely broken. It's not something you should interfere with, so don't get involved."
"If things are properly resolved, I'll step back."
A tense standoff between the two continued.
Duke Ardos glared at Chloe, who was as stubborn as he was.
"You never give in to a word... Then, follow me. I will interrogate my child directly."
"......"
"That means you should attend the interrogation."
"I will. However, before that."
"......Before that?"
The corner of Chloe's mouth twisted wickedly.