Chapter 100

The carriage was instantly drenched in blood.

Derek hurriedly rushed towards it. The blood seemed to drain from his body, thinking he might be too late. Finally running to the front of the carriage, as he was on the verge of reaching out to the man and was about to get him out, the man who had entered the carriage passed over to the side before that.

His bewildered gaze saw Gideon holding a dagger. It was the dagger that he had handed over to him just before departure.

He was breathing heavily. At the same time, Finn, still in his arms, was trembling.

“Are you okay?”

At Derek’s question, Gideon, who barely came to his senses, nodded his head. He still couldn’t believe he had stabbed someone.

However, there was no time to look at them since there were still many assassins left. Derek turned around and ran into those still fighting.

This long fight was only over when Brielle’s aunt collapsed.

* * *

When Derek arrived at the County, he got off the horse and finally met Kentrail.

“Master, how have you been?”

Kentrail looked closely at him for any injuries. It was because Derek’s clothes were stained with blood.

“I’m fine. But…”

Derek, who said it wasn’t his own blood, pointed into the carriage.

‘There they are.’

…People who are enemies of his mother and father, and who may be involved in his brother’s case.

Kentrail took a deep breath as he opened the carriage door. In his current mood, he felt like he wanted to strangle them right now. However, if that happened, he wouldn’t be able to catch the other mastermind, so he had no choice but to ease his anger.

Looking at his master like that, when the signal of his permission was given, Derek opened the carriage door.

A stranger came out from inside.

‘He said that this person named Gideon married Brielle’s aunt.’

As Kentrail turned to look for Brielle’s aunt, he could see Derek coming out of the carriage while holding a woman.

“We met an assassin on the way, and she collapsed. I think we will have to meet with the doctor first.”

He couldn’t respond to Derek’s words for a while.

‘She hurt my parents… with that face that looks so much like sister-in-law.’

Kentrail clenched and opened his fists repeatedly. Instinctively, he felt that Brielle meeting his aunt would be dangerous.

“Take them to the annex first. And, commander…”

He ordered Derek to call the knight commander.

“Yes, Master.”

“Have the knights watch over them.”

“Understood.”

Gideon glanced at Kentrail, who was giving orders to watch over them. Guilt ran up the nape of his neck.

‘That person…’

It was difficult to see a man who lost a family because of them. Holding his breath, he followed Derek to the annex.

* * *

A knock rang in Marie’s room.

“Yes.”

Knowing that Kentrail was coming, she opened her door without asking who it was.

He reached out and held Marie.

“Count?”

A long time passed after the door was closed though he didn’t say anything. Marie, who had guessed that he was having a hard time, hugged him back.

As Brielle and Ellie were sleeping in Brielle’s bedroom, she had been awake because of the bright light outside the mansion. There seemed to be a connection between his condition and the circumstances outside.

“Brielle’s aunt has arrived.”

Kentrail broke the silence and opened his mouth.

“…What did she say?”

“She collapsed. She didn’t say anything.”

There were other people who had a hard time, yet she collapsed. Anger erupted in her stomach, thinking that they wouldn’t be able to ask anything until she woke up.

“And Eujes opened his mouth.”

“….”

“He asked if I believe in the King.”

Marie’s eyes fluttered, and a thought occurred to her.

‘…The reason why the Count raised his sword towards the Kingdom in the original story…’

“Then the culprit…”

“Well, I’ll have to hear about it from Brielle’s aunt. When my parents died, the current King was nothing more than the Crown Prince, so it’s unlikely that he was involved in the case. Still, he must’ve known about the forces trying to hurt Brielle.”

Marie’s eyes filled with anger.

‘…How could such a man put Brielle on his lap at the banquet? How could he invite us like that?’

As Kentrail hugged Marie, his confused mind began to clear.

‘When the King secretly asked about the nanny in the past. Was it all related? He wouldn’t have noticed my feelings back then because even I wasn’t aware of it. If the King had been keeping an eye on her, Marie would be in more danger.’

“From now on, never walk around without an escort.”

Kentrail warned her.

“Yes. Don’t worry, I’ll try not to get away from the Young Master’s side.”

“All right. After this is done, let’s go see the sea. The children said they wanted to go.”

“Right. He said he’d never seen it. Let’s go together.”

As they imagined happy things to come in the future, the two gained strength.

* * *

The doctor went to check on her, but Brielle’s aunt did not wake up.

“Didn’t I tell you that a doctor is useless?”

When Gideon said that, Derek glared at him.

“What is the reason, since you’re so sure that you know why your wife is sick?”

“….”

Derek asked again at Gideon, who remained silent until the end.

“Is it something to do with that ivory?”

At that moment, his eyes began to shake. Gideon swallowed a gulp nervously before muttering softly, “How do you…”

“I heard it from people I was hunting with.”

“….”

“Why are you carrying that ivory, knowing that it hurts you?”

“What? Does the ivory hurt her…?”

For a moment, there was silence between the two of them.

“Did you not know?”

“…No way—”

Gideon’s face turned white.

“Then, why did you think your wife was ill if not because of the ivory? Unless you didn’t think it was going to hurt her?”

“…Could you give me a moment to sort my thoughts?”

Even though Derek didn’t want to give him time to think, Gideon’s face looked so unsettled that he had no choice but to agree.

* * *

“Are they down there?”

Siege asked Barry.

“Yeah. They said they came here last night.”

The children were talking about Gideon and Finn, who were on the first floor of their annex.

“Isn’t it dangerous for Brielle to know?”

“That’s right. I think we’re going to have to not let them approach this way. Teacher said she looks so much like Young Master’s mother, he might get agitated when he looks at her.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

A sigh escaped the children’s mouths.

“Still, do you come to the annex sometimes to meet them?”

“Sister told me to block them from this side as much as possible. Or, I think we’ll have to move to the main building.”

Siege nodded his head.

“Will the criminal be caught soon?”

“I think so. They might be able to find out the culprit who made your brother do that, too.”

Siege’s expression darkened as he heard Jaz’s story.

“Yes… I hope I can know the person who gave the strange drug to my brother.”

“By the way, there must have been someone else who gave the drug to your brother. They say it’s not a poison that can be bought arbitrarily.”

“Right…”

Both children stood up at the same time.

“We can’t do this, let’s get out. Being here makes me only think of melancholy.”

“Yes, let’s go to the training ground and train. The other kids in the academy must have already advanced to the upper class.”

And so, Barry and Siege took their swords and headed for the training ground.

“Brother!”

“Barry!”

Ellie and Brielle arrived at the training ground first. However, laughter erupted from the mouths of the two people who saw Brielle.

“Young Master, did you cut your hair?”

“….”

Brielle’s cheeks swelled up.

“Who cut it?”

“I don’t know!”

“It looks good on you.”

“Don’t lie. Ellie laughs every time she sees it.”

Thinking they could understand the reason, both of them had to turn their heads and hold back their laughter. Barry, who struggled, asked Brielle.

“What are you doing here?”

“Look over there.”

Barry and Siege turned their heads to follow where Brielle was pointing.

“Huh?”

Marie was there. In addition, Kentrail was also there as well.

“What is sister doing?”

“She said she’s learning self-defense?”

“Suddenly…?”

“Yes. She is learning how to attack vital points.”

Barry gazed at his sister with concern since she suddenly became interested in learning self-defense.

“A little harder.”

Unaware of these children’s gaze, Marie struggled to escape from Kentrail’s arms.

“I told you to hit it hard with your elbow.”

Although Marie did her best to attack Kentrail, he didn’t budge.

“We can’t do this. Let’s learn another movement.”

Looking at Marie, who was not improving at all, Kentrail changed the position. Instead of being in front of her this time, he extended his arms toward her.

“When an attack comes in like this, push the arm to the side.”

“The side?”

“Yes. Then you moved their center because of the force.”

As he explained, Kentrail stretched out his arm once more, and she pushed his arm to the side.

“Well done.”

The first compliment came out of his mouth. It raised her enthusiasm, so Marie said that she would try again.

Even though they decided to let Marie practice self-defense, the reason why they were here was because they wanted to distract their nerves elsewhere. If they didn’t, they would want to go to Brielle’s aunt and shout for her to wake up.

“Marie.”

As she was about to practice the other movement, she heard Brielle’s voice next to her.

“Young Master.”

“Barry and Siege are here, too.”

Seeing the children waving at them, Marie waved her hand back as well.

“I want to practice together.”

“Young Master, too?”

“Yes. Marie and I don’t get a chance to train together like this. I want to do everything together.”

Brielle’s thought was so peculiar that she stroked his hair tenderly.

“By the way, uncle!”

The child, who was receiving Marie’s hand, called Kentrail.

“Yes?”

“Barry and Siege laughed, too. Look at my hair.”

“Ah…”

Perhaps, he could not be forgiven by the child until his bangs grew back. Even though he was resented by Brielle, Kentrail was only happy. It was because he knew that the war-like time would repeat again when Brielle’s aunt opened her eyes.