CH 77

Cersinia was surprised that the old man was calling her name. The old man, lying on the floor with a dying face, was so skinny that only his bones remained. His skinniness to the point revealed the skeleton of his bones. Judging by his appearance, it seems that he had been imprisoned for a while.

“How do you know my name?” Cersinia said with a surprised look.

“I know very well. Since I heard it to the point that name nailed my ears. Seeing that you’re here now, that brat eventually brought you into the Grand Duchy.”

“Devil… that brat? Who are you talking about right now?”

She glanced at the old man with her squinted eyes. The old man’s words muttering like ‘devil’ and ‘that brat’ made her quite annoyed. Especially since she doesn’t know who it is referring to.

“The half who brought you into this house. That brat is a devil. A devil that will destroy this family.”

When Cersinia looked confused, the old man sneered and added.

“Looks like that brat didn’t tell you anything. And yet you followed him, right?”

Cersinia’s shoulders trembled. His words were straight to the point. She didn’t know anything but only believed words from Limapheus and came all the way here.

“Who are you, and what are you talking about?”

Just by looking at the old man, it was clear that he had a bad feeling toward Ben. But we should not trust people’s words recklessly.

“I’m Verdik, the ears, hands, and feet of Shorevarce. There is nothing in this family that has not gone through my hands. Cough…”

The old man panting because his stamina had run out.

‘Verdik.’

Cersinia remained silent from hearing Verdik’s name.

‘Verdik. Verdik.’

It was a familiar name to her.

“Butler Verdik, who was there before, had served the former Grand Duke, but he stepped down from his position and went to a new place.”

It was what Verne said when they went out to Fabian Street.

The only butler who has worked in this family for a long time. Cersinia heard that he stepped down from his position because he was not feeling well, but why is he imprisoned here?

“How long it has been since my Master and I plan our whole lives, and that brat instantly… ruined everything. How dare he do that to my Master on the subject of half-noble.”

Cersinia frowned her brows at his words that continued like curses. She could see why this old man was imprisoned here. It was because of his attitude that he was always believing the former Grand Duke and disrespecting Ben. Even though Ben is the owner of Shorevarce now.

“I don’t want to listen to your old plans. Tell me the story if Ben had been imprisoned here.”

“That brat killed Master. That illegitimate child killed my Master! Cough, cough!”

Verdik screamed, ignoring the question thoroughly. Then he coughed so hard that he could barely breathe.

“Illegitimate child…?”

For a moment, Cersinia’s mind went blank.

‘Ben is an illegitimate child?’

‘It’s true that Ben killed his own father…?’

The novel says that Ben killed his father and took the power. But she thought there must be some misunderstanding. Because Ben that she knows can’t be that kind of person. But is that really true?

‘No, let’s not believe it. Don’t believe anything he said. Just believe what Ben says.’

Cersinia made up her mind. She didn’t want to judge or criticize Ben after hearing about him from someone she had met just once. She didn’t want to have any prejudice about Ben. She will only listen to Ben and believe the truth Ben will tell.

“That brat is a fake. Everything he had was originally owned by another owner. A fake that brat can’t reveal by himself because he is hidden in the shadows for the rest of his life. It’s really the perfect life for that half-noble.”

Angry at the old man who judges Ben’s life at his will, Cersinia replied with a clenched tooth. 

“Don’t talk carelessly without knowing anything. Someone like you can’t understand what kind of effort he’s been making.”

Cersinia turned around without regret. She didn’t want to hear more from the old man who decided Ben’s life carelessly and easily talked about it. She clenched her fists with her sharp nails and penetrated through the palm of her hand. Cersinia could tell much about what kind of life Ben had lived since childhood and how fiercely he had survived this mansion for three years.

‘He had been here… He must have been lonely.’

In this place full of hostility, Ben, who had to endure everything alone, nevertheless tried countless times to come to her. The image of him is drawn in front of Cersinia as if she had actually seen it.

Her heart ached. Tears welled up and her vision blurred. But Cersinia moved without hesitation. Even though her ankle was hurting, it was nothing to her. Now she had to go to Ben. She misses him and wants to hear his story. She wants to know him completely.

“That brat will ruin everything! There is nothing that half-noble with no roots can’t do. It’s the same for you too!”

Cersinia heard the shout behind her back, but she didn’t care. She hurriedly climbed the basement stairs. The sound of footsteps filled the basement and resounded. Standing in front of the door, she lifted her foot and kicked the door.

BANG

The closed-door was crushed beyond recognition.

“Hiiik!”

The maid who was standing in front of the door freaked out. Cersinia glanced at the maid with cold eyes without any sympathy, unlike before.

“W-Where are you going! You can’t go! Never!”

The maid grabbed Cersinia’s clothes violently. It was clear that Cersinia would go to her Master, so she had to stop her.

“Get lost.”

There was no time to delay here, so Cersinia pushed out the maid without hesitation. The maid rolled around the floor screaming, but she didn’t give a glance. She left the annex, passed the connected corridor, and ran toward the mansion. The wind hitting her cheek was cold, but she didn’t care. She had to see Ben as soon as possible.

“Ben! Where is Ben!”

Upon arriving at the mansion’s main building, Cersinia called him without hesitation. The servants murmured, and Murchen glanced at her with displeased eyes, but she ignored them. What important is she had to meet Ben right now.

“Ben!”

She looked everywhere Ben could be. From the parlor room, the study, to the training center in the garden. But his figure was nowhere to be seen.

“Lady Cersinia?”

When she turned around to the sound of calling her, Archen was approaching her with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Archen, where did Ben go?”

“Your Excellency left early in the morning.”

Archen looked anxiously at Cersinia, who was in a hurry.

“What happened to you?”

Cersinia took a breath away from running around and swept away the hair that blocked her view. After her breath calmed down to some extent, she faced Archen. Before Ben returned, she wanted to ask Archen something.

“Archen, I’m on my way back from the annex.”

“…”

Archen’s pupils shook violently.

“I found a hidden door. When I went down, it led to the basement. There I met a man named Verdik, and I found a prison with traces of someone who lived there before.”

Archen closed his trembling eyelids with a devastated face.

“The prison with traces of someone who lived there. Did Ben live there? The wound on his back… Was it because of the whip hanging on the wall?”

Heavy air sank between the two people standing in a quiet hallway. Archen opened his mouth in pain as if he recalled his old memories.

“Lady Cersinia, no matter what Verdik said, please believe in Your Excellency.”

“Yes, I don’t believe what he said. All I want to know is whether Ben lived in that prison before.”

“…That’s right.”

“Ha… H-How long he had been lived there?”

As Cersinia staggered without strength in her legs, Archen quickly grabbed her arm and supported her.

“I think it’s better to move first.”

* * *

Cersinia followed Archen into his room. As he poured out the hot tea by himself, she stared intently at him. Recognizing her rushing look, Archen pulled out the hand that was pouring the tea.

“Lady Cersinia.”

“Tell me, Archen.”

“What do you think it would feel to live someone else’s life?”

Someone else’s life. Those words made her remember what Verdik had said.

“Is that what Ben is doing now?”

“Yes, that’s right. Your Excellency came to this Grand Duchy like that.”

She couldn’t accept Archen’s words right away.

“Your Excellency is not the successor. He’s the illegitimate child of the previous Grand Duke.”

“I heard about that earlier.”

Archen nodded, saying, “Is that so?”

He couldn’t believe Cersinia understood it because it was something that no one could believe.

“The former Grand Duke had another child. He was the child born from the Grand Duchess. But he was too sickly to appear in public, and he didn’t leave his bedroom until the moment he closed his eyes.”

Archen continued to speak.

“The former Grand Duke was a man with great ambition. The biggest desire in his life was to sit on the throne. To do that, he needed a bloodline that would support him, not a sickly child.”

It was the beginning story of Ben’s long and painful past.