Chapter 48

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Reason That Villainess Took Up the Sword
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Corelia tilted her head, looking puzzled. Karon, sitting opposite her, was staring intently.

Why was he acting like this today? Corelia found it utterly baffling.

When they met in front of the cafe, Karon hadn't approached her with his usual smile.

‘Why did he come alone without Erin, whom I told him to bring? How annoying.’

She had planned to educate Erin in a nice place after a long time, but everything was ruined.

"My sister said she was busy today, so I couldn't bring her."

Karon's gaze, as he spoke to Corelia, seemed more troubled than usual.

‘To break our promise just by hearing that. Has he suddenly had a change of heart?’

"Erin is busy? Well, that can't be helped. She... she was always busy whenever I came. I understand. Perhaps she just doesn't want to see me."

Corelia smiled benevolently and placed her hand on Karon's.

Karon, however, pulled his hand away.

Corelia's brows slowly furrowed. She widened her eyes and looked at Karon.

"Karon?"

"Ah... I apologize."

How dare... Karon Resus pull his hand away from hers? Had he eaten something strange? Karon clearly seemed off.

Normally, he should have been watching her expression, disappointed that he couldn't bring Erin.

"Karon, you seem to be in a bad mood today. You're not even smiling at me."

The children of the Resus Marquis's household were changing in a strange way. Corelia's eyes gleamed oddly as she looked at Karon.

Corelia couldn't understand why he had suddenly changed after meeting Erin.

But it was clear that something she didn't know about was happening.

"You look tired today."

Charlotte approached Corelia. She settled between them, as if mediating between Karon and Corelia.

At Corelia's comment about him looking tired, Karon awkwardly pulled up one corner of his mouth into a smile.

"Don't worry, Mother. Nothing happened. I'm sorry for causing you concern."

Karon's hands were trembling as he spoke.

* * *

Karon struggled to eat for a while. In his mind, he had already concluded what was right.

But the thought of having to sever all past memories related to his feelings for one of the two people was incredibly painful.

"If I told you that the person you call Mother has been dragging me to hell all this time, would you believe me?"

The mother he knew was so delicate that she could barely hold a knife.

Karon couldn't even imagine Corelia doing anything cruel to Erin.

But at the same time, he constantly recalled the marks still on Erin's arm.

"Mother, I'm sorry. You must be very upset because of my sister."

"Why would my sister do that to Mother?"

"Sister, why are you like this? Why are you so twisted?"

The words he had uttered to them, unknowingly, had returned as thorns piercing him.

When he was truly overwhelmed with self-loathing, Erin came to find Karon.

* * *

Karon's face was filled with shock. He stared at the dress placed before Erin.

"What... what is this?"

"It's a dress Corelia sent. She told me to wear this to the party."

"Then my sister wasn't choosing her own dresses all this time?"

Before Erin lay the dress Corelia had sent.

[Erin, I sent you a dress that I thought would suit you well.]

The dress she sent was a high-saturation pink. And it was adorned with large, chunky jewels.

In a word... it was tacky.

Karon recalled the disparaging remarks he used to hear whenever Erin attended a party.

"Lady Erin doesn't seem to have good taste."

"How can she like only such flashy, tacky dresses...?"

"The Marchioness must pick out dresses with excellent taste... perhaps she just wears what she prefers."

All their words were wrong. The dresses Erin had worn were all personally chosen by Corelia.

And... Karon had never known that fact until now. He felt nauseous again, even though he hadn't eaten anything.

Erin quietly watched him. Karon had a pitiful expression, like a drenched puppy.

In her first life, she had resented him at times.

There were many times when she couldn't stand that Karon didn't notice her pain, that he misunderstood and condemned her.

But Erin could never forget the expression he made one day when she shed tears in front of him.

Those trembling eyes, as if the world had collapsed.

At that moment, Erin forgave Karon. For victims to blame each other... wasn't that too sad?

Even without Karon, there were plenty of people who deserved her wrath.

Even now, with her brother not fully trusting her, Erin understood Karon.

She pushed aside the tacky dress Corelia had sent. Then she spoke to Karon.

"About Ditrion's knight, Roham."

At Erin's words, a puzzled look crossed his face.

The fact that Roham had gone missing was well-known within Atenz Academy.

Because Ditrion had turned the academy upside down over it.

Since it happened after his argument with Erin, rumors even spread that the Resus Marquis's household might have been involved in his disappearance.

"The night we argued... Sir Roham came to my room late at night."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Karon's face instantly filled with rage. What reason would Ditrion's knight have to visit her late at night?

Did he perhaps intend to insult his sister?

"So... so what happened?"

Karon grabbed Erin's shoulders.

If something had happened to Erin, he would find that man to the ends of the earth and make him pay for his sins.

Karon gritted his teeth, thinking that.

"What did he... what did he do to my sister?"

"No, he couldn't do anything."

"What?"

"I subdued him."

Karon momentarily failed to understand what Erin had said.

Erin subdued Roham?

"That's not what's important. What kind of person Sir Roham was, that's what's important."

Erin recalled the words Roham had spoken to her with his last strength that night.

"The reason I didn't tell you the truth was because of the person behind Corelia."

"..."

"Karon, since you're a knight, you know what knights despise the most, don't you?"

"…?"

"Sir Roham was a knight strengthened by black magic."

"What did you say?"

Black magic. The moment he heard those words, Karon's face was filled with contempt.

Gaining strength through black magic. That was what knights hated the most.

In ancient times, when monsters were more powerful, physical abilities were sometimes enhanced with black magic.

This was done to increase the number of stronger knights, even if only slightly.

However, once its fatal side effects became known, it became an abandoned method.

The Holy Order had always warned of the dangers of black magic and sought to eradicate those who used it. It was prohibited not only in the Empire but across the continent.

But Roham, the First Prince's knight, had become stronger using black magic...?

Karon was well aware of the weight of those words.

His palms became clammy. Karon realized one strange fact.

If Roham was someone strengthened by black magic, then how... how did Erin subdue him?

"How could my sister... such a person..."

The moment he spoke those words, Karon understood. He had always felt a question since he began earnestly learning swordsmanship.

He liked the sword and knew he had talent, but he never thought he could become a Sword Master.

He recalled a conversation he had with his father one day.

"Those chosen by the sword... they say they feel a certainty the moment they wield it. A certainty that they will become a Sword Master."

Yet, he had never once felt certain that he would become a Sword Master.

Karon muttered despondently.

"The one chosen by the sword... was my sister."

"That's right. The reason I didn't publicize what happened when Sir Roham came to me was because I didn't want to reveal that fact. Plus, he left me with some interesting words."

Saying that, Erin recalled the words Roham had left her just before he died.

"The one who plunged your life into the gutter... is Sergia Lexia. He's behind the Marchioness."

"How can I believe your words?"

"Look at me. The Emperor used black magic to cultivate his own knights. He didn't want more Sword Masters to emerge. He believed he could use both monsters and knights like puppets anyway."

"..."

"That's why he did that to you. Corelia, too... is a knight sent by that Emperor."

With those words, Roham's body shattered and scattered.