Chapter 28

“All right.”

Elena smiled and retracted her hand.

Before she exited the greenhouse, she icily glared at Killian, who was still crying out in pain.

She momentarily let go of her thread of reason.

‘Did you get so excited at the thought that all the evidence has been gathered?’

With this kind of evidence, Killian would surely be kicked out of the Duke’s family.

With that in mind, Elena didn’t intend to easily let Killian go.

‘I wanted to make him suffer for the rest of his life, at least.’

Just like the anguish that Killian carved on Lexion which lasted for a lifetime, Killian should also suffer from such an ordeal.

But not Lexion.

The small, innocent child, on the contrary, only cared about Elena.

‘… Lexion. You’ve grown so much.’

Returning to her room immediately, Elena called for Lani.

Lani put the recent incident in the video section.

“Good job, Lani.”

After the beast spirit received her favorite carrot, Elena touched her video sphere.

‘Don’t tell me I’d be doing devil’s editing.’

* * *

After a few hours.

Elena was inside Duke Halos’ office.

Facing the Duke, she struggled to hide her laughter that was about to escape.

And Duke Halos was looking intently at the video sphere she had brought.

The video sphere was repeating two images.

To be precise, the two scenes were repeated cross-edited footage.

The first video was this.

“Elena, hang out with me.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Young Master is not my taste.”

It was Killian’s confession.

However, this was where Elena’s editing skills came into play.

“How dare you!”

The next video followed immediately after Killian raised his voice.

“Why the hell do you like Lexion?”

“Why not? Lexion is kind.”

“He is also quite friendly.”

“Haha. It seems that the young master does not understand the meaning of affinity.”

“Is Miss Elena finished talking now?”

Killian jumped up from his seat in anger.

He was about to approach Elena, but Lexion stopped him.

“Get out of the way, you bastard!”

And just before Killian’s fist touched Lexion, the video ended.

Video editing was easier than Elena initially thought.

The part in the confession where Killian raised his voice was a piece of cake since the shot was taken from the conflict in the greenhouse, while the next segment effortlessly used their conversation, cutting and pasting them.

Elena checked it several times, and she checked her mouth several times to make sure it matched.

Fortunately, everything went well.

Duke Halos’ reaction to the video was not good.

‘Of course, he won’t be pleased.’

Because Killian was his firstborn, he was chosen to be the heir.

Elena looked at the Duke and cautiously spoke.

“I got this video sphere when I visited the tower. It’s amazing, so I always carry it with me. And I happened to record these scenes.”

She had a sad look on her face.

“Yes. And remarkably so”

The Duke of Halos had no doubts that the video had been edited.

Not a hint of skepticism.

Because he knew Killian’s character well too.

Even being caught by him several times.

But in the end, such an accident happened.

What was more, it was Elena, his favorite, who brought the evidence.

Duke Halos soothingly gaze at Elena.

The two videos Elena showed were a few days apart.

That meant that Elena, too, brought this video to him after she endured them.

“Elena, I’m so sorry for what you went through.”

He sincerely apologized.

“No, Duke.”

“No. Because of the misguided way I raised my son, you suffered a lot. Thank you for protecting and taking care of Lexion. I’m  going to take good care of this one.”

“Yes, Duke.”

The Duke returned the video sphere to Elena and gave her an order.

After Elena left the office.

Duke Halos contemplated for a moment.

He knew that one day this day would come.

But still, because he was his son and descendant, he held onto a glimmer of hope.

But now, it was meaningless.

The Duke immediately ordered the butler to call Killian.

Killian entered the office and discovered his injured hand wrapped in a bandage.

Duke Halos’ gaze stayed on Killian’s hand for a moment, then fell.

Elena also briefly told him why his hand was injured.

Just before Killian hit Lexion, Elena used her magic to protect Lexion.

“Oh, father! This hand– That girl, Elena, did this!”

When the Duke’s gaze landed on his hand, Killian frantically denounced Elena.

He immediately knelt in front of his father and told him what he had been through.

“That girl tried to kill me! Me!”

Killian pleaded, terrified.

However, the gaze of Duke Halos was cold.

“Are you bawling since your hand was injured?”

“Yes! Elena made me…!”

“Noisy!”

At the Duke’s reprimand, Killian sensed something was wrong.

“Even while your fiancée is there, you dare to ask Elena to be in a relationship? Even saying you will break your engagement and you even tried to hit your little brother!”

“Ah, father….”

“In the past, I have given you a chance because you are my son, you have my blood.”

Killian’s eyes widened.

Something was definitely wrong.

He was just, just…

“However, as of this moment, you are no longer the heir of the Halos’ family.”

“No! Father, I was wrong!”

Killian crawled to his knees and grabbed the leg of his father.

But the father pushed his son off.

“Also, you are no longer my son.”

After those words, the knights guarding the office came in.

The knights grabbed Killian’s arms and started dragging him out.

“Father!! One last chance, please!! Father!”

“I gave you my last warmth. I will provide you with enough travel expenses to make a living. But never again, never set foot in Halos.”

“Father!! Hey, let me go! Let go of me!”

As soon as the door closed, Killian’s cry was no longer heard.

Alone, the Duke let out a deep sigh.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Elena was happily looking outside the window.

Killian grumbled past the window.

About an hour ago.

Killian was stripped of his position as heir to the Dukedom and was expelled from the Halos manor.

It was said that the Duke showed his remaining affection by giving him some travel expenses, and then drove him out.

Hearing all this news from the maids, Elena gave one final look at Killian with satisfaction.

‘I thought I would have to cause you a little more pain before kicking you out.’

She was a little sad.

‘The Duke was said to have provided some travel expenses, but on the scale of Halos, it wouldn’t be a small amount.’

It was probably enough money for Killian to live and play for the rest of his life.

‘After all, the Duke is also a father.’

Paternal love was unavoidable.

Elena shook her head.

Fortunately, the Duke of Halos had completely nailed everything.

He ordered that if Killian returned to the Duke’s residence, he would be expelled at once.

Even if it was his son, it seemed that he didn’t want to see him again because of the atrocities that Killian had committed.

Elena laughed with great satisfaction.

Duke Halos even apologized to Elena, Jane, and Lexion after expelling Killian.

He said that he inappropriately raised the child and made it difficult for them.

Elena’s mood improved when she accepted his apology.

But the next day, she couldn’t hide her misery.

“Elena, I’m sorry.”

Jane tearfully apologized to Elena.

“What are you sorry for?”

Elena forcefully smiled and took her hand.

Today was the day after Killian left the mansion.

Jane also decided to leave the Halos mansion.

She said that the reason Jane stayed with the Duke was for ‘her bridal class’, so she was taken for granted.

But now, her groom was gone.

With Killian stripped of all his dukedom status, there was no longer any reason for Jane to stay.

She immediately packed her bags. Her bag was light because she had little to carry in the first place.

The Duke of Halos told Jane it was fine to stay a bit longer, but she refused it.

After packing all her belongings, she came to Elena’s room.

“I’ll be leaving Elena alone now.”

“It’s okay.”

“But once Master Lexion goes to the academy, I think you will be lonely…”

A tear fell from Jane’s eyes.

She was the one who now thought she was stronger than anyone else, but she acted weakly in front of Elena.

‘That must mean that we became close.’

Elena carefully reached out and wiped Jane’s tears away.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Because Jane’s happiness is more important to me.”

One of the main reasons Jane left the mansion was Killian being kicked out.

It said Jane had changed a lot from the previous years.

She heard several stories from Elena; she pondered about them and decided what she wanted to do.

Not long ago, Elena learned that Jane wanted to be self-directed.

Thus Jane’s decision to leave the mansion as soon as her obstacle – Killian – was gone.

Elena fully supported her decision.

Because she always wanted Jane to be happy wherever she was.

“I also want Elena to be happy all the time. Elena is the coolest and nicest person I ever met.”

The two promptly hugged each other, regardless of who approached first.

‘I knew the parting would come someday, but I couldn’t help but feel sad when it came so suddenly.’

But she valued her friend’s happiness even more, so Elena hid her sorrow.

“Even though we’ll be parting ways, we are still friends, right?”

Before Jane got into her chariot to return to the Count’s mansion, she asked Elena.

Elena nodded fiercely towards her, wanting to reassure her.

“Absolutely. We will always be friends.”

“Then I’ll write to you more often.”

Jane kissed her briefly on the cheek. And she whispered in her ear.

“My dear friend Elena, wherever you are, may you always be happy.”

With that, Jane left the Duke’s estate.