Chapter 12

Chapter 12. I Found the Culprit (2)

Could it really be Duchess Maria?

Her beautiful face was unchanged, and so was her smile.

And yet her smile no longer felt warm as it had before. She looked almost... like a doll that had been forced into shape.

"What is wrong?"

As she looked at me, her expression gradually stiffened.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

There was no longer any trace of a smile on her face.

Mine was surely the same.

Even now, the power writhing through my head and body, the way she now appeared different from before,

and her inherited ability, which no one else had known about.

I thought I finally understood what was going on.

And I was now certain enough of who the culprit was, the one who had tried to kill me, that I could ask her to her face.

I spoke in a calm voice.

"Why are you trying to kill me?"

A crack appeared in her expression.

"What are you talking about?"

"You have been trying to kill me ever since I was born. And that has not changed even now."

The Duchess’s expression kept shifting.

Anxiety, suspicion, deliberation, realization.

Maria opened her mouth with a hardened face.

"Do not tell me... you blocked my ability?"

Just as I had expected. The reason I had liked her, and the reason everyone else had liked her, was because of her inherited ability.

"So it really was your inherited ability? Since Sister Elena’s was the kind that cured status ailments, that means House of Ibisa must have mental-type abilities. In that case, does that mean your ability is one that heightens people’s affection toward you?"

Maria stared at me with a drained expression. She was no longer looking at me as though I were a child.

"I knew you were clever, but... I never imagined you were this clever..."

After muttering under her breath, she immediately shook her head.

"But no matter how clever you are, there is no way you should have been able to block my ability. How did you do it?"

She asked me, but it did not seem as though she actually wanted an answer.

"Could it be that the inherited ability you awakened was that sort of thing? No, that cannot be right. They clearly said it was physical enhancement."

She went on pondering to herself, then finally seemed to reach a conclusion of her own.

"So you really are Andres’s son too?"

The Duke’s son. So the Duke had indeed been free from her ability.

"No. Even Brivia’s sons never noticed, so how could you, a half-blood..."

A bitter smile rose to my lips at her words. Hearing the true thoughts of someone you once liked was not good for one’s mental health.

I no longer wanted to listen to her muttering to herself. As soon as she fell silent, I spoke.

"So the Duke had escaped that ability after all. And the reason the two of you were close in the beginning was because of it too..."

Cutting me off, she suddenly shouted,

"No! It was not because of my ability! He truly did love me! Amanda! It was because of your wretched bitch of a mother! She was the one who drove us apart!"

Her screaming eyes were filled with rage toward my mother.

But from my perspective, it was absurd.

She knew everything and yet vented her aimless anger onto someone else.

To me, the one who had become her target because of that, her words sounded like nothing but barking nonsense.

"So everything was false. The kindness you showed me and Mother, and the way you treated everyone else."

"Well, being kind to people who liked me had become a habit. It was pleasant to be adored, and it was amusing to watch people like you and your mother caper around in front of me without knowing anything."

She sneered as she rattled on, then suddenly changed her expression.

"Ha... I got too worked up. To lose my composure in front of a child..."

She let out a long sigh, then smiled again.

The air rippled once more, and her smile tried to wrap me in warmth, but before it could have any effect, it returned to that stiff smile.

"Forget what just happened. I merely spoke out of anger and said things I did not mean."

Perhaps because she had realized that her ability no longer worked on me, she followed those gentle words with a threat at once.

"In any case, no one would ever believe the words of an illegitimate son like you. If you stir up trouble for nothing, the only one who will suffer is your mother."

That seemed to be how she intended to smooth everything over.

But I had no intention of letting it end like that. That was not why I had gone this far.

Even now, no message appeared telling me that I had escaped danger.

The Duchess still wanted me dead.

If I went back to not knowing when an assassin might come, then nothing would be any different from before.

That could not happen. This time, I intended to choose the timing myself.

Well then, shall I start fanning the flames?

"As you say, Madam, perhaps no one will care."

I nodded and continued.

"But I nearly died several times, did I not? Ever since I was born. I imagine quite a few people would be interested in that."

At my words, she replied with a mocking look.

"Hmph. Who would remember something like that?"

I pointed at my head with a finger.

"I remember."

"Impossible. You remember that?"

Her mocking expression changed completely at my next words.

"Not only do I remember it, I cried desperately to stay alive, and spat out the food as well."

Maria stared at me with her eyes wide open. Apparently, I now looked like some kind of monster to her.

"You did all that knowingly? As a baby that was not even weaned?"

The hardships of that time flashed through my mind. I truly did not want to play the part of a baby ever again.

I leaned toward her. Placing a hand near my mouth, I whispered to her as though I were telling her a secret.

"Did you not know? People call me a 'genius.'"

I think my sneer came across well enough. Looking at her expression, I continued.

"I did very well on the test too. Starting tomorrow, I will be training 'alone' at the training ground behind the manor."

At my words, the Duchess’s fist clenched tight.

She knew very well what kind of training ground that was.

A training ground that only the ducal family was permitted to use.

The fact that I would be using that training ground by myself, ahead of my brothers, meant that I had earned the Duke’s recognition.

Come to think of it, is that not an extraordinary privilege?

That thought brushed through my mind briefly as I paused and watched the Duchess.

In any case, the fist she had clenched had gone pale, and her face had stiffened so badly that it was frightening to look at.

It seemed my words had struck home.

It was about time to deliver the final blow.

"And starting tomorrow, the Duke said he would observe me 'personally.' We will find out tomorrow whether he will listen to what I have to say."

Of course, the Duke had never said any such thing.

But in the life before last, the Duke had come to see me, so now that I had shown even greater ability in the test, there was a good chance he would come even sooner.

In any case, meeting the Duke was not a lie.

Creak.

I heard the sound of teeth grinding. The woman seated before me was looking at me with an expression I had never seen before.

A face steeped in rage and disgust.

And gradually, fear began to appear on that face as well.

Well then, it was time for me to leave.

"Then I enjoyed today’s refreshments."

I rose from my seat and bowed deeply toward her.

It was a greeting Mother and the maids used to find adorable, but the woman before me did not respond to it.

Nor did I expect her to.

Leaving her behind, I walked out of the drawing room.

As I made my way down the corridor, I fell into thought.

Well, now that I have dug into the wound, I need to clean things up.

What should I do now?

Should I go to Miguel? To the Knight Commander, or perhaps the Head Steward?

No, there was no reason to go back.

---

The drawing room after the child had left.

Duchess Maria was alone in the room.

The drawing room, which always had such a gentle atmosphere, and Maria herself now seemed as though they had stiffened and frozen inside time.

And so time passed.

Knock, knock.

A knocking sound came from the door.

With that sound, the stiffness in her expression came back to life.

A smile bloomed like a flower, and the desolate drawing room seemed to fill with the scent of spring.

A gentle voice flowed from her lips.

"Come in."

Creak.

The door opened, and a man entered.

"I was told that you summoned me."

At his words, Maria smiled again.

It was a smile slightly different from the one she showed the child and the servants.

A smile that made the man’s face flush red.

"Yes. You will have to take care of that matter you put off the last time."

"Ah, so it is about that illegitimate son. Understood. It seems a little early, but I will choose a day and deal with it."

"No. If we choose a day, it will be too late. It must be done tonight."

The man flinched in surprise at her words. She was not usually someone who handled things with such haste.

"What? Are you not being too hasty?"

Maria shook her head at that. Folding her hands together, she looked at him with a desperate expression.

"No. I do not care how much money it takes, or what they demand. Please! It must be tonight."

"...Understood."

He thought she was being far too hasty, but as always, he had no choice but to do as she asked.

He left the drawing room at once, and the room once again became a frozen painting.

---

The afternoon passed, and darkness was pressing in beyond the window.

It was already long past the time when she should have retired to her own quarters, yet Flora was still in my room with me.

She looked at me with a restless expression.

"Um... why did you tell me to stay...?"

I checked the time and rose from my seat.

"A child cannot go wandering around the manor alone at night. That is why I told you to stay."

At my answer, her face grew even more anxious.

"The sun has already gone down, so where in the world are you planning to go?"

As I stepped out into the corridor, I answered Flora’s question.

"The Duke’s study."

"...What?"

Flora stood there blankly for a moment, then let out something close to a shriek.

She looked as though she very much did not want to go, but she still led me to the study.

The manor, with the servants withdrawn, was exceedingly quiet.

The guards standing watch along the way looked at the two of us, but they did not speak to us.

For someone like me, who was trying to meet the Duke without anyone else noticing if possible, the present circumstances could not have been better.

After descending the stairs and passing through a long corridor, we arrived in front of the Duke’s study.

Before the study, the Head Steward was standing guard at the door. The fact that the loyal man was there meant that the Duke was still inside.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"I have come to see the Duke."

Though puzzled, he asked me with his usual courtesy,

"Did you make an appointment?"

"No."

"His Grace’s work is not yet finished. You should make an appointment and come another time."

A courteous refusal. But I had no intention of backing down either.

"I will wait."

The Head Steward’s white eyebrow twitched slightly.

Just then, the Duke’s voice came from beyond the door.

"Let him in."

As expected, someone of the Duke’s caliber could easily hear voices from the corridor.

"Understood."

Unable to vent his irritation at me, the Head Steward instead glared sternly at poor Flora before opening the door for me.

An old-fashioned study filled with books and documents.

At the center of the study, which I was entering for the first time since my birth, sat my father, Duke Andres de Gresia.

He did not look pleased by the sudden arrival of his illegitimate son.

But I had no use for his affection either.

Now was the time for business.

I stepped into the bleak study.

Thud.

The door closed, leaving only the Duke and me inside the room.