Chapter 78
The moment we learned that the duke was the witch Sercia, the ducal territory was practically the witch's own home.
That witch's target was Runoa.
Her mana core had been damaged, and her value as a vessel had dropped sharply, but it was too soon to relax.
Because I had no idea what Sercia might do.
For that reason, I never left Runoa's side for even a moment.
Not even for a second.
It hadn't mattered when we were at the academy. No, it had been a problem there too, but at least there had been room to rationalize it.
Because aside from a few maids, it had just been Runoa and me there.
But this place was different.
There were nobles and knights everywhere.
Since I stuck to Runoa like glue, the stares I got were no joke.
Just like now.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“What’s with that one?”
“What do you mean?”
“What else? I’m talking about that slave.”
It was dinner time for the Edelhyde family.
Everyone except the duke, who had left saying he had business to attend to, was gathered in one place.
Idella, the eldest daughter, stopped in the middle of her meal and stared at me.
Not just her—everyone in the dining room was looking at me like I was some weirdo.
I had been half-forced into the family meal by Runoa, so I had to stay by her side.
“I was almost assassinated once. If I don't keep a bodyguard knight at my side, I can't even live in peace.”
Runoa speared the food with her fork. Then she turned and beckoned to me behind her.
“Come on, say ah.”
“Young lady...?”
“Ah.”
“......”
I glanced at everyone else, gauging their reactions.
I knew I shouldn't do it, but Runoa's attitude was so firm that I couldn't find a chance to refuse.
I reluctantly accepted the food and ate it.
“How is it?”
“It's fine. Please eat without worrying.”
“Who asked that? I asked how it tastes.”
“...It's delicious.”
“Really? Then try this too.”
Runoa fed me one bite after another, to the point I couldn't tell whether I'd come to guard her or to eat.
If I, the one stuck in it, was already losing my mind, I couldn't imagine what everyone else thought.
Sure enough, Florencia jumped in to object.
“You really have lost your mind, haven’t you? What on earth do you think you’re doing?”
“I was poisoned by a maid I trusted once. If I don’t check whether there’s poison like this, I can’t bring myself to eat. So? What tastes best?”
“......”
“Answer me.”
“I think the meat tastes best.”
“Meat? Then have another bite.”
Runoa's assassination excuse was, quite literally, an all-purpose shield.
Just look at how Florencia, famous for her venomous mouth, couldn't make a peep.
In the end, I had to take every bite Runoa offered, and it turned into a full meal.
“Young lady, I can't eat another bite.”
“Already full? You’re not just pretending to be full, are you?”
“Young lady...”
“Fine. Let's go. I’ll head out first.”
Runoa finally got up from her seat. I'd only pretended to be full, but luckily Runoa accepted it.
I hurried after Runoa as she strode out of the hall.
“Um, young lady? Won’t this draw unnecessary attention? From our position, getting attention won't do us any good.”
“So what?”
“What do you mean, ‘so what’...?”
“Do you know how they treated me?”
I did know.
I had seen Florencia slap her with my own eyes.
But if she were going to take revenge outright, I'd at least understand it. I just couldn't see what that had to do with this...
“Those people would pray for nothing but my misfortune. They’d rather die than watch me do well.”
Something like that, I guess.
Of course, I'd seen posts like that while browsing online communities.
Me getting 100 million won while the person I hate most in the world gets 10 billion won.
‘I get 100 million won and Gerard gets 10 billion won...’
Not bad.
I could just beat Gerard up and take his 10 billion too.
What's the problem?
Anyway, that way of thinking is twisted.
You should have a kinder heart, like I do.
“So you're saying you'll stage a lovey-dovey scene with me to get under their skin?”
“Well... roughly speaking, yes.”
“I understand. But would there really be any point if it's with a slave?”
“From the look on their faces earlier, it seemed to work.”
I suppose so.
So every time she fed me, Runoa must have been oddly thrilled.
She was enjoying the thought of teasing them.
‘Somehow, her nasty personality never changes.’
No matter how much the environment changes, the fundamental part of a person doesn't seem to change much.
That was Runoa's identity, after all.
“Hm?”
While I was chatting idly with Runoa, someone came out of the dining room.
It was Cassius, the eldest son.
The other members of the Edelhyde family wore their personalities on their sleeves, so they were easy to read.
But Cassius had no expression and hardly spoke, so there was no way to tell what he was thinking.
‘I did hear he was close with Aither.’
Usually, you had to be most careful around guys like that.
“Did you enjoy your meal, Brother?”
There it was again.
Runoa's knack for starting trouble.
You might wonder what was provoking about that, but Runoa was an illegitimate child.
No one regarded Runoa as a member of the Edelhyde family.
And Runoa felt the same way in return.
She didn't call her father 'Father,' and she didn't call her older sister 'Sister.'
For Runoa to call Cassius, the eldest son, Brother was clearly a provocation.
How would Cassius react, I wondered.
Runoa and I quietly waited for him to speak.
Soon, Cassius opened his mouth.
“Don't call me Brother.”
And what he said was:
“Because you're not Edelhyde.”
It was an extremely cold and exclusionary declaration, no different from the others.
Since it was entirely expected, Runoa wasn't fazed at all.
Her languid gaze instead seemed disappointed.
“Even if our mothers are different, we still share the same blood. To be so cold to your younger sister—how cruel of you.”
“Don't misunderstand.”
Cassius strode right up to Runoa, closing the distance until he was right in front of her.
He lifted his chin and looked down at Runoa.
“Even if you attend the imperial banquet or go to the academy, you're not Edelhyde. You're nothing but a stand-in.”
“......”
“Stop clowning around while invoking the family name. You're an eyesore.”
As if further conversation was a waste of time, Cassius walked past us and disappeared.
Watching his retreating back, Runoa muttered softly.
“How boring. I thought he'd be a little different.”
“......”
“What's wrong?”
“No... nothing.”
His manner of speaking.
His expression.
His voice.
His overall atmosphere was cold, as though it were choking the breath from my lungs. It was similar to when I first met Runoa.
An inborn aura of intimidation.
I felt that from Cassius too.
‘But it was strange.’
There was no hostility in the way Cassius bore down on Runoa.
He only growled.
With no substance behind it at all.
‘Is he scared of Runoa?’
Like a frightened dog barking loudly for no reason.
That could be it.
Runoa really was a rabid dog, after all.
“Let's go for a walk.”
“You're going to take me for a walk?”
“What?”
“Nothing. Let's go.”
***
The imperial palace in the capital.
Aither, who had entered the academy, was back. It wasn't as if he'd quit.
The one who'd made the declaration before the crowd and gathered everyone there couldn't just slip away; that would ruin his prestige.
He had only stepped away for a while under the excuse of his health. As soon as he finished his business, he'd return at once.
“Welcome back, Your Highness the Prince. How was the academy? Did you make any friends?”
“Don't even mention it. They won't leave me alone for a moment.”
“That just means there are many who want to get close to Your Highness, doesn't it? Was there anyone you liked among them?”
“There was.”
The head chamberlain stroked his mustache, as if intrigued.
“Oh? Someone has caught Your Highness's eye? What kind of people were they?”
“The second daughter of Edelhyde and her slave knight. The other one is a commoner.”
“That sounds like an unusual combination indeed.”
“Really. When I'm with them, I lose track of time.”
Aither let out a chuckle.
Just imagining it, I could perfectly hear their conversation in my head.
The chamberlain steered the conversation elsewhere.
“I've heard the news. You found the witch, did you?”
“Thanks to a friend's help. I came back to the imperial palace because of it, too.”
“Do you intend to lead the subjugation force yourself, Your Highness?”
“Of course I do.”
The witch Sercia was a calamity that had once plunged the entire empire into a cauldron of terror.
Any imperial subject, even a newborn, would stop crying at the mere mention of her name.
Subjugating such a witch was one of the imperial family's great, fated duties to carry out.
They would punish the crime of massacring innocent citizens and honor the souls of those who died unjustly.
In addition, the witch's subjugation would bolster the people's support for the imperial family. That would in turn strengthen imperial power.
Only if Aither, the likely next emperor, led it would that significance be fully realized.
“However, there is one concerning point. How do you plan to prove that the duke is the witch?”
Sercia in the guise of the Edelhyde duke was no mere imitation.
She had taken over that body.
If it had only been temporary, the original self might still have been pushed into a corner, but Sercia had been in the duke's body for over a dozen years.
The duke's own self was probably long gone by now.
In other words, the current duke was the duke in both body and mind.
“If you execute a noble—especially a duke—without clear physical evidence, it'll look like the imperial family unilaterally started a civil war.”
No matter how powerful imperial authority was, they couldn't just kill the head of the empire's greatest family on a whim.
If they used force without a proper justification, they'd be remembered as a tyrant who purged loyal subjects under the pretext of treason.
An unjustified bloodbath would be the worst possible move, one that would make even the other great nobles who'd stayed quiet rise up.
“That part has already been prepared for with the court mages, so don't worry.”
The plan had been decades in the making. There was no way they hadn't made preparations.
Whatever scenario arose, he was fully prepared to deal with it.
Not even the slightest mistake would be tolerated. For the future of the empire, the witch had to be eliminated.
Even if something went wrong, there was a backup plan.
All they had to do was prove that the witch had swallowed up Edelhyde. Whoever that witch turned out to be.
‘If that happens, I won't be able to keep my promise to him, but...’
What a shame.
Because sacrificing the few for the many is always part of the bargain.