CH 6

It seemed that she hadn’t followed Kriella and the knights. I immediately knelt in front of her.

For Magorit, Merilly, who was born as a commoner, is his husband’s illegitimate child anyway. It would have been much better for her to get rid of that child than to raise that illegitimate child with her own hands.

“Give me back Merilly, my child.”

Thinking it was my last chance, I moved my bleeding lips.

“If you want, I will live in a very deep forest. Please help me…! Without my daughter… I can’t live…”

A sob that I couldn’t resist leaked out from time to time. I lowered my head and moved my shoulder weakly. Right now, even at this moment, I felt like I was going crazy for wanting to see Merilly, who was looking for me.

“Oh my, I feel sorry for you.”

Magorit stretched out her fair, fine hands toward me. “Okay. Anyway, Mother was a little too much.”

“…R-really?”

“Follow me before I change my mind.”

Magorit, as beautiful as her name, smiled sweetly and walked gracefully. Although my eyes were swollen and my blood vessels were bursting, which made it difficult to see, I eagerly followed her even as I staggered.

Then suddenly, I thought, why aren’t we moving in a carriage? That time, the peculiar smell of the river stung my nostrils. Did we go the wrong way? This wasn’t the way to the mana tunnel.

Just as I was about to open my mouth, Magorit murmured quietly. “How dare you to get married before me…”

“…Yes? What are you saying now…?”

“It’s not even funny that the baby in my womb has to call an illegitimate child as sister all their life.” Her tone was getting sharper and sharper, like a sharp blade.

I rubbed my eyes roughly and looked around. Before I knew it, my body was standing at the edge of a dizzying cliff where a rough river flowed.

“W-wait a minute. I’m not the one you should kill…!”

It was Endimion, not me that she had to kill. Why is everyone doing this to me while leaving the trash that deceived everyone? But when I thought like that,

“You said you would die without your daughter, right?”

It was already after Magorit pushed my arms as hard as she could.

“Madam…?”

“Then, I would like you to die.”

“Madam…!”

With her angelic smile until the end, I fell straight down the cliff. Feeling the gravity that suppressed my whole body, memories of the past passed through me like a lantern.

At the age of 19, I met and fell in love with Endrew like fate. And we ended up having a baby. But why did it result like this? The person I loved with all my heart cheated on me, and my baby, to whom I devoted my body, was getting farther away.

I want to live.

My body fell into the river with a loud splash, with a feeling all my skin was being torn apart.

I want to live, Mother.

I sank deeper and deeper into the water. Contrary to my will to live, my body no longer had the strength to swim. So I held my pendant tightly.

…Merilly.

My eyes blinked slowly as I was losing my breath.

Merilly…!

At that moment, Lobelia’s pendant began to crack little by little. Through the gap, blue light flowed out. The light instantly enveloped Lobelia’s body, just like a pupa before becoming a butterfly. 

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

“It’s not the time yet. Don’t let it be known that you’re the last descendant of the Shinsu clan. I will seal your mana.”

“But… What if I need to use magic…?”

“I will infuse my mana into this pendant. This should make you able to use magic at least once.”

“Then what if Mother loses your mana? What if someone bothers me?”

“If… If something serious happens to you that threatens your life, and the seal I put on you is broken…”

She lowered her eyes as if worried, then said something as if she had finished making up her mind.

“You will need a lot of time to return. But…”

“Gasp!”

“You will become strong enough that no one can touch you.”

My eyes opened as my mother’s voice lingered in my ears like an afterimage. Blue mana was swirling around my body like a whirlpool.

“W-what?”

Even before I could understand her situation, the mana that was flowing around me grew out of control. And finally, the mana wave spread from my body as if it exploded. The whole mansion shook like an earthquake.

“Gasp, gasp…”

Apart from the relief that I survived, I suddenly woke up in an unfamiliar place with my mother’s seal lifted. I couldn’t help but be anxious. My eyes rolled quickly. The antique-decorated room must have belonged to the noble.

Could this be the March?  I scanned the room with a wary gaze., Then, an ornate calendar made of jewels caught my eye in the middle of the wall.

“Huh…?

My eyes trembled like crazy as if she could not believe it.

I was tricked by Endrew, parted away with Merilly because of Kriella, beaten to death, and pushed off the cliff by Magorit. That was exactly what I had been through a moment ago. However,

“You will need a lot of time to return…”

The imperial calendar’s date was exactly five years from that day.

“Is that what mother meant…?”

In the unbelievable situation in front of me, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. Only then did I properly grasp what had happened to me.  

I stretched out my trembling palms in shock. Then I gently closed my eyes and concentrated my mind to gather mana. Soon a white light source floated over my hand.

My eyes slowly opened. Blue mana that looked menacing, like lightning was surrounding the light source.

“With five years passed, my mana, no, stronger mana has returned to me.”

I breathed heavily, unable to hide my surprise.

“A power that is strong enough so no one can touch me…!”

I clenched my fist. Like fireworks exploding, the light source beautifully spreads out into multiple light branches.

“I need to know what place this is,” I murmured quietly, looking at the pieces of light that faded like petals.

I carefully went out of the hallway. Several maids were busy moving in the hallway as if they had no room to pay attention to me.

As expected, I’m not in the Hamilton March. There was no way that Marquis Hamilton would bring her back, and even if he did, the maids wouldn’t turn a blind eye to her like now.

I looked around and stealthily stepped toward the place where the maids rushed. I didn’t know what happened, but to the place where the maids went, there must have been someone who had brought her.

I watched the maids busily carrying towels, bowls, and vials. Could it be that the owner of this mansion is sick? It was just when I was finally about to take a step away, looking at the room where they were moving back and forth.

“You’re awake.”

In a low, dignified voice, my head turned back. There, an elderly gentleman who was clearly a high-ranking noble looked at me with high pressure.

“You roam around the mansion as soon as you wake up. I guess I saved you for no reason.”

“Are you the one who saved me?”

“Yes.”

His hair was gray, and traces of time remained all over his face, but his impression was like a tiger. With his fierce eyebrows moving up and down, he opened his mouth again. “There is nothing to be wary of. I am Duke Gracie, the owner of this mansion.”

Despite my attire, which anyone could tell that I was a commoner, Duke Gracie introduced himself politely.

Duke Gracie…! My eyes widened.

“I just saved you from falling down by the river.”

Duke Gracie was so powerful that even I, who was completely unfamiliar with the noble family, had heard about him. The Gracie family was a prestigious family that produced empresses from generation to generation and was also the head of a faction that followed the former Shinsu clan.

“It’s just because I have a sick granddaughter the same as your age.”

Contrary to his frightening impression, Duke Gracie shrugged slightly and smiled lightly. “I’d like to treat you as a guest, but unfortunately, I’m in a bit of a hurry right now.”

His eyes were on the still busy maids. A bitterness sat down in his dark eyes, which looked like melted gold.

“Go to your room and wait. I will prepare a meal for you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone rushed from the end of the corridor.

“Your Excellency!”

“Oh, Allison…!”

“Forgive me for being late. I will examine the princess’s body right away.”

“Come on, hurry up.”

Duke Gracie rushed into the room with Allison.

I, who was left alone, murmured quietly. “Sick granddaughter…”

Maybe this could be an opportunity for me. A golden opportunity to get my daughter back and to get revenge on those who touched me.

I lifted my head as I had a good idea. Then I followed the Duke into the room.

“…You?” Duke Gracie frowned with an absurd face at my excessive behavior.

“Your Excellency.”

Even with his face full of displeasure,  I opened my mouth as if I had decided. “I will save your granddaughter.”

“…What?”

“If I save the princess, will you please listen to my request?”

Duke Gracie’s eyes widened to the side.

Last night, he was walking by the river in memory of his son, who died, leaving his granddaughter behind. While he was immersed in contemplation listening to the lonely sound of waves, blue fireflies appeared. They flew around him as if to follow them.

As the mysterious blue light came from unusual fireflies, Duke Gracie followed them as if possessed. And there, a woman was lying by the river. Having a strange feeling for some reason, he rescued the woman and brought her to his mansion.

However, how can such a woman offers to cure the incurable disease of the princess that even a doctor couldn’t cure? Although he knew it was absurd, he asked again, wanting to hear the story.

“What request…”

Stronger mana, and Duke Gracie. If these two were combined, I could aim for the most brutal and cruel blade of revenge on their necks, who had killed my heart.

“Please just listen to one thing.”

I made clear eye contact with Duke Gracie, who was staring down at me in bewilderment.

“Then I will save the princess.”

Wait for a moment, Merilly. And… the three scumbags of Hamilton. My eyes, hardened like heated emeralds, shone more sharply and brilliantly than anyone else.