Black Sword Festival (4)
“So, you’re convinced that Galeniya Helmont is the traitor?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Clarice clamped her mouth shut after hearing Isaac’s words. On the surface, his reasoning seemed perfectly logical. And truthfully, she herself assessed the possibility as quite high.
“Sorry, but I have one question.”
Clarice deliberately pressed the point. Knowing Isaac’s current state as she did, she had no desire to contradict him. But personal feelings had no place in matters like this—especially when it involved the Helmonts. They were called the kingdom’s war deterrent; even the royals couldn’t prod them recklessly. Certainty demanded certainty.
“Before the Black Sword Festival began, a guest from the Black Hand family visited the Helmonts.”
“……”
“It was the Black Hand’s eldest son. But do you know how he died? Arandel killed him himself. Butchered him.”
The Black Hand had kept silent about it to this day. They hadn’t even attended the festival. Clarice crossed her legs and asked again.
“Right? Even my brilliant mind sees something off here. For one, it was too blatant for them to show up like that. If they were colluding, why kill him? To shake off suspicion? Would they sacrifice their eldest son for that? The Black Hand has only the second son left now.”
Clarice spoke in frustration, but Isaac answered all too easily.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
“Pardon?”
“Galeniya Helmont is a transcendent. Arandel is not.”
“……”
Clarice fell silent for a moment. The Helmont name naturally led to Arandel, so her mind had frozen briefly.
“That makes it even harder to understand. If Arandel were a transcendent, we could think, he’s betrayed humanity! Plotting a coup! Rebellion!”
Words unfit for a princess’s lips spilled out freely. If anyone overheard, they’d flinch, and strange rumors wouldn’t be far behind.
“But what does it matter if just one noble lady becomes a transcendent?”
“……She probably wants to save him.”
“Save who?”
Isaac finally felt the pieces falling into place. In his previous life, Arandel had died of illness. It was undoubtedly linked to the transcendents somehow, and Galeniya must have turned to them to save her husband.
That’s the kind of family they are.
“Haah, fine. So you’re saying Arandel isn’t the traitor. That’s a relief, at least.”
As long as Arandel, their supreme force, hadn’t turned, it wasn’t a huge worry for the royals. Of course, men could flip at their wives’ words—but seeing how Arandel had slain the Black Hand’s heir, Clarice could already gauge the direction of his loyalties.
“We’ll need to move quickly.”
Clarice shot to her feet, then rose slowly from her seat.
“This Black Sword Festival is going to be the noisiest one yet.”
The emotion in her purple eyes was anticipation. Having finally grasped a clear tail to chase, Clarice grinned and muttered.
“If we’re still not sure, we could always stick a sword in her gut. I hear transcendents can regenerate from that much.”
“……Princess?”
“Not a joke.”
Wasn’t this the part where people usually said it was a joke?
“More importantly, this is bad. If humans can turn into transcendents, we can’t trust anyone—we don’t know who’s flipped.”
“It probably isn’t that easy.”
As far as Isaac knew, no human had truly become a transcendent. He’d encountered transcendent puppets often enough—like Alois, victim of subordination. Or his Great Master, a half-transcendent hybrid. Isaac suspected shamanism had induced some specific change in Galeniya’s body.
“I hope not. We can’t live suspecting every noble.”
Clarice brushed past Isaac with quick steps. As princess, she had preparations to make—and her own verifications for certainty.
Left alone, Isaac surveyed the garden. The Helmont rose garden was always a sight to behold. Roses blooming beautifully across the vast grounds, hiding thorns beneath. It was quintessentially Helmont.
“……”
A few nobles strolled the garden, laughing and chattering in awe at the festival-exclusive vista. Following butterflies amid the fresh rose scent, Isaac soon arrived at a familiar spot.
A bed of purple lilacs planted mischievously among the roses. And there—Lianna Helmont, gazing down at them.
With her house arrest lifted after the Galeniya assassination attempt, it wasn’t odd to see her wandering freely. Lianna had never been curvaceous, but post-confinement, she looked fragile enough to snap.
“……”
A single lilac bloom, late despite the season. Lianna stared blankly at it.
“……Today.”
He didn’t know how she sensed him, but she spoke flatly.
“Do you think you can leave?”
Why not turn? Guilt, perhaps. Or shame at her own appearance. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to face him now. Lianna seemed smaller than ever.
“Don’t worry about the festival. I’ll stand in for you.”
“……”
“I’ll handle any pursuers, so how about heading north? Silberna would surely—”
“Lianna.”
She’d deliberately avoided looking. Fixed on the lilacs. But before long, Isaac stood beside her.
“What was our biggest problem?”
“……I was utterly—”
“Haha, I’m not asking you to blame yourself. Just look at the truth coldly.”
Lianna’s outburst died in her throat, hand clutching her chest. Isaac’s faint smile resembled the lilacs.
“It was my incompetence.”
“Isaac, no.”
“From the start, the Helmonts wanted a man worthy of them. I was just a lowly baron.”
“Isaac—!”
“I seduced one naive noble girl who knew nothing of love or how to express it—”
“Stop!”
Lianna grabbed his arm desperately. Her hand trembled.
“We loved each other…… Don’t say it was wrong.”
Isaac’s words made their love sound like a sin; Lianna pleaded urgently.
“Yeah, that came out sharp.”
Isaac admitted it honestly. The conversation had turned cutting, true.
“But Lianna, we need to face the truth. If I’d been the son-in-law to satisfy the Helmonts—if I’d had that level of ability—we’d have dated smoothly, no hardships.”
“Expecting that of you is cruel.”
“Maybe.”
Silence fell. A warm breeze soothed them, lilac mingling softly with the roses.
“Why didn’t you tell me your mother brought in the Black Hand guests?”
Isaac shifted the topic slightly, glancing at her. Her face darkened again, but she answered honestly, hiding nothing.
“I didn’t want you tied to the Helmonts anymore.”
“……”
“I wanted you to cut all ties, leave quietly, and start fresh.”
Lianna poured out her choked emotions.
“In the end, I messed up again. If I’d told you sooner……”
“Milli wouldn’t have died?”
Lianna didn’t reply. She truly believed it, drowning in self-reproach.
“Did you kill her?”
Her body flinched. Isaac’s voice pierced like winter chill—unheard before.
“Wh……?”
“Did you kill Milli?”
“No, but—”
If she’d spoken sooner, maybe she could’ve been saved. In her regretful silence, Isaac’s anger flared.
“Then what? I was closest to Milli—should I have noticed her oddity sooner? Am I the killer?”
“……”
“We had something like this before, and I didn’t suspect her then—did I kill her?”
“……”
“No, she killed herself out of guilt. Your mother was the culprit.”
“Yes.”
Lianna’s voice shrank. She acknowledged her mother’s unforgivable act.
“Lianna, don’t apologize to me by framing it as all your fault. That insults even me.”
“Yeah.”
She apologized sincerely.
“The Helmonts…… love doesn’t suit them at all. Yet it crumbles everything.”
The thought surfaced suddenly. Lianna wavered between love for her family and for Isaac. Galeniya let transcendents in for love of her husband. Alois shattered his brother-in-law’s legs for forbidden love for his sister.
“Lianna, I won’t ask you to oppose your mother.”
Isaac warned calmly.
“I know how cruel it is to tell a daughter to swing a sword at her mother.”
Parent-child bonds defied logic. People prioritized their own lives, but family was often the exception.
“But if you stand in my way, I’ll cut you down too.”
It wasn’t about capability. It meant he was serious. Milli’s death had reshaped his emotions.
Lianna squeezed her eyes shut. Past voices lingered like regrets, holding her body.
“Our Lianna, you’re so pretty.”
“Huh? A gift from Mom? Really?”
“Want to sleep with Mom? Shh, don’t tell Dad?”
Ghostly touches. Such everyday memories were Lianna’s few warm recollections in that stark mansion.
“Why is our girl so beautiful? Must be from me.”
“It’s fine, he talks rough, but he treasures you deep down.”
“A child like the rose. More rose-like than any, beautifully so.”
Mother’s warm words swept by on lilac scent and gentle breeze.
“Lianna, you take after me.”
“The way you cling to love.”
“Even knowing it leads to ruin, you can’t let go.”
The final words stabbed her heart like thorns, too late.
Now knowing Galeniya’s crimes, “you take after me” crushed her shoulders.
“Lianna.”
As she sank deeper, Isaac’s call snapped her head up. Worry etched her even more haggard face.
“Don’t be blind to love.”
Her heart shattered. A heavy thudding.
Because the greatest love denied her own.
“You’re right, Isaac.”
Lianna’s breathing steadied. Color returned to her eyes. As the red calmed, it wasn’t Lianna Helmont standing there.
The kingdom’s next swordmaster. The Blood Rose leading the new generation.
“I won’t sit idle anymore.”
“Lianna.”
“I was ignorant and incompetent, so I lost you.”
Painful wound, but wounds bred growth. In actions.
Reasons abounded. Blackmailed by her mother, distancing from Isaac. Protecting him from siblings risked worse harm. Telling him everything? He’d break under her burdens and leave. Swallowing it all.
Excuses insulted victim Isaac. Justifying acts with reasons mirrored her mother.
“Wanting to shoulder everything was greed.”
She had to accept, unwilling or not.
“And so, in the end.”
Responsibility followed closed eyes. Time to lose all she loved.
Lianna closed her eyes gently and accepted it.
“I lost them all.”