Chapter 286: Rinella’s Destiny is Her Own (79)

The manor became lively with the news that I had regained consciousness.

Because of this, I had to receive numerous visitors.

The reunions with the women, especially, were particularly dramatic.

First, Senior Elsie, who refused to leave my arms and then the Saintess, who burst into tears and collapsed as soon as she saw me.

She had always been so confident and dignified.

Seeing her react so vulnerably, I couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

Celine and Seria had similarly intense reactions.

Celine, when she saw me, stumbled towards me and placed her palm on my chest.

Then she burrowed into my arms and silently wept.

I had to pat her back for a while.

Just as I had done with Senior Elsie.

Seria couldn’t even approach me.

Her legs gave out and she collapsed on the spot.

As soon as she saw me, she covered her mouth with both hands and lay there, showing only her tears.

It was inevitably bewildering reunions for me.

I suffered such severe injuries many times before.

If anything, the fact I was still alive was more surprising.

Neither the Hunting Festival nor the Orphanage nor the Homecoming Festival had been simple trials.

They were battles where I had to risk my life and barely snatched victory from the jaws of death.

Naturally, I ended up bedridden many times in the process.

It was an inevitable consequence after narrowly escaping death.

My acquaintances always reacted strongly in such situations but the reactions of the women today seemed somewhat different.

They didn’t seem to be facing someone who merely recovered from severe injuries.

It was more like they were meeting someone who had come back from the dead.

And soon, my intuition was proved to be true.

“How did you survive?”

That was Leto’s greeting.

Quite a great thing to say to a friend who just woke up after a month.

Of course, I wasn’t angry.

That’s just how Leto was.

If anything, I felt somewhat relieved.

I had been busy wiping the women’s tears. Comforting someone without knowing the reason was nearly torturous.

On the contrary, Leto’s straightforward reaction was much easier to handle.

I stroked my chin in thought for a moment, then asked just in case.

“...Did I almost die?”

“Then, did you really think you were going to survive?”

It was a blunt retort.

At the same time, it was a point I couldn’t argue with.

In the end, I had to let out a low sigh.

Only now did I realize how insanely reckless I had been.

A sigh-laden voice escaped my lips.

“Wow, I really almost died.”

“Thanks to that, the past month has been hell.”

Leto said, leaning back against his chair.

Leto’s face looked as if his soul had left him. This showed just how much he suffered over the past month.

His body slid down the chair.

“You have no idea how terrifying a woman can get when she’s about to lose something precious... I got a taste of that abyss.”

“...Was it really that bad?”

“Don’t even talk about it.”

Leto’s body shuddered as he spoke.

It seemed like even recalling it felt like a nightmare to him.

He continued his words with a bitter tone.

“Your condition when we finally rescued you was too terrible. We immediately started gathering everything we could from the Holy Relic to Sacrifices, but we were still told you could die at any moment.”

“...Wouldn’t it have been alright if you procured more Holy Relics?”

At my brazen response, Leto let out a laugh in disbelief.

First, the disposition of the Percus family was deferred. Not only did this matter require consultation between the Empire and the Holy Nation, but the fact that they were deceived was also taken into consideration.

Additionally, I learned the identity of the swordsman I saw just before losing consciousness.

The Empire’s Sword Duke.

The Great Elder of the Imperial Family and the Empire’s only Master had personally intervened.

Of course, without a swordsman of his caliber, that day’s miracle wouldn’t have been possible.

I heard that he even played a significant role in ensuring leniency for the Percus family. The ‘reward’ he mentioned at the end might have been related to this.

He wanted to speak with me but, being a very busy man, had to leave first.

However, he mentioned that there was something he absolutely needed to discuss with me.

He said he would return to see me once I regained consciousness, so it seemed I would soon be able to face that legendary swordsman again.

There was no need to send word.

The Imperial Family had eyes everywhere, and Senior Neris was still staying at the manor.

Surely, as soon as I regained consciousness, he must have been informed of my condition.

Sir Reynold also seemed deeply impressed by me.

Before leaving, he had several meetings with my parents.

“If the Viscount permits it, I would like to proceed with the engagement as soon as possible.”

I heard my father had a hard time dealing with that blatant proposal.

Even the private soldiers of the Yurdina family left me with words of gratitude before they departed.

“Please convey to the Lunatic Young Master that it was an honour to fight in that legendary battle alongside him, and he is welcome to settle in the North if he wishes.”

Those were the words of Sir Alex, the veteran knight who led the thousand soldiers.

It was the highest compliment those prickly Northerners could offer.

It meant, ‘You are a warrior worthy of the North.’

After that, the recounting still continued.

However, there was still an unresolved question.

“...What about the masked assailant?”

At my question, Leto exclaimed, “Ah.”

He reacted as if he had been reminded of a forgotten issue.

He sighed deeply and shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yeah, there’s no trace of them. They haven’t shown any activity since then.”

I couldn’t hide my unease.

It felt like leaving behind a threat in the manor.

But there was nothing I could do to resolve the mystery immediately.

Deciding to investigate it later, I asked the question that had been bothering me the most.

“What happened to Ria?”

At once.

Leto, usually so eloquent, fell silent.

His lips pressed tightly together.

A grim silence settled between us.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of anxiety.

“...Leto? What happened to Ria?”

“Ri..a... Right, about Ria...”

He avoided my gaze, looking troubled.

For the first time in my life, I saw Leto, usually so glib, struggling to face me.

I grew increasingly impatient.

Just as I was about to urge him again,

“What should I say...”

Leto groaned for a while, as if struggling to find the right words.

Then, finally, a helpless answer escaped his lips.

“She’s broken.”

As far as I knew, it wasn’t an expression one would use for a person.

* * *Ria thought.

I am a monster, and I killed my Oppa.