Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Her Father (4)
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"You're the one who conquered Tarros Tower, aren't you?"
Mary's father, Raymon, knew that I had cleared the tower.
That explained the strange look in his eyes when he heard my name.
"...May I ask how you know about that?"
The only thing I was curious about was how word of my conquering the tower had spread.
"It's the conquest of a legendary tower. The high nobles of the kingdom already know all about it. Especially since you did it with just the two of you."
Come to think of it, even before the past had changed, right after clearing the tower, taverns and such were full of people shouting my name.
My name must have spread like wildfire.
On top of that, it seemed my reputation for weapon repairs and crafting had reached even the border regions.
Raymon looked at me with satisfied eyes upon realizing I was indeed the person from those rumors.
He even wore a faint smile.
'No wonder she resembles Mary.'
A seemingly impassive face with a subtle smile.
Mary had that same smile sometimes.
"So, you're the academy friend of my daughter, I hear."
A moment ago, Mary had introduced me to her father as a friend.
Of course, from the way she'd hesitated just before, it seemed she'd been debating how to introduce me.
She'd probably passed me off as a friend because her father was so strict.
And as if he knew that, Raymon continued.
"But from the atmosphere, it doesn't seem like you're just friends."
"......"
I couldn't answer his question and averted my eyes slightly.
After Mary had introduced me as a friend, I wondered if it was okay for me to correct it now.
"In truth..."
Still, I answered honestly.
I couldn't bring myself to lie to the end to Raymon, who gazed at me with such a precarious, flickering life in his eyes.
"I've proposed to Mary."
For the first time, surprise crossed Raymon's face at my response.
But he soon smiled faintly, as if it all made sense.
"I figured it wasn't an ordinary relationship. So, a proposal."
He laughed as if delighted.
I'd worried he might get angry, but there was no sign of that.
Mary had told me he was strict about upholding the prestige of their noble house, so I thought he'd never accept someone like me, who wasn't even a noble.
That's probably why Mary had introduced me as a friend.
But contrary to what Mary and I expected, he was smiling.
And as if satisfied with my answer, he continued without missing a beat.
"The reason I asked to speak with you alone is because I have a favor to ask."
"A favor, sir?"
"Yes. It's nothing difficult, so don't worry."
He turned his head to gaze at the ceiling for a moment, then spoke lightly.
"I'm going to convert all my assets into cash. Take them when they're ready."
"......Pardon?"
His "not difficult" favor was simple enough—but utterly bewildering.
Just the mansion and the number of servants made it clear how enormous his fortune was.
I couldn't believe he was handing it all over to me, someone he'd just met today. I doubted my own ears.
"I-I'm sorry, but I can't accept that."
Of course, I shook my head and refused.
There was no way I could take that kind of money.
But Raymon fixed me with an intense gaze, as if he wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Take it. If my daughter refuses the inheritance, I planned to gift it to Albus and have him pass it to her bit by bit anyway."
He was serious.
This wasn't a test or anything like that.
He truly intended to hand his fortune over to me.
"Why would you do that, sir?"
It was a natural question.
After all, he'd only just met me a few minutes ago.
Our conversation had barely consisted of a handful of exchanges.
Yet here he was, offering to pass on everything he'd inherited and built up over his life.
How could I not wonder?
To that question, Raymon closed his eyes wearily and answered.
"I've worked in the royal palace all these years and seen countless people. So, I've got a good eye for judging character."
The reason he wanted to give me his fortune was shockingly simple.
"Mary has feelings for you. And since you've proposed to my daughter... that's reason enough."
He was simply trusting his instincts.
Believing I'd be with Mary, he wanted to leave his fortune to me.
"No matter what I say, that girl won't take what I leave behind. Better it go to you than fall into the hands of some worthless scum."
It felt less like trust in me personally and more like a desperate bid to avoid the worst outcome.
Like he'd chosen me through process of elimination as the highest-probability recipient after Mary.
But if that was the case...
Then why?
"...If there's no need to pass on the family line... why did you treat your daughter so harshly?"
I couldn't make sense of it.
He'd raised her so harshly precisely to make her worthy of inheriting the family.
Without even dolls or toys.
Without fairy tales.
He hadn't cared that she suffered, as long as she became someone qualified to take over the house.
He'd filled her childhood with painful memories.
"If converting it to cash would have been fine anyway..."
It was an impertinent question.
I'd only learned of Mary's circumstances a few days ago, and we'd only spoken for a few minutes.
It was far too presumptuous for someone like me to ask.
But this was the question Mary had wanted to ask but held back from moments ago.
"Then couldn't you have been kinder to Mary?"
At my words, Raymon opened his closed eyes.
He quietly stared up at the empty ceiling.
What was he thinking?
Of Mary crying from his harsh childhood training?
Or excuses for his own actions?
A moment later, he spoke.
"Ten years ago, the palace physician told me I wouldn't last another ten winters."
What came from his mouth was no apology, no regret, no excuse.
Just a story from the past.
"An incurable disease. My mana has corrupted, tainting me from the inside out."
His eyes held steady, without a flicker, as he recounted the day he'd been given his death sentence.
Gazing at the empty ceiling, but looking straight beyond it.
"Guess what my very first thought was when I heard that."
He turned to look at me.
And I couldn't answer.
It was too hard to fathom the heart of someone handed a death sentence.
"Pathetically, it was those branch family bastards who came to mind first. The ones who'd be happiest if I died."
He gave a hollow laugh and closed his eyes.
"Then I pictured my daughter, stripped of everything, sitting in the gutter sobbing. With her mother gone so early, she'd have no one left without me."
He opened his eyes again and fixed me with an unyielding gaze.
His body might be at death's door, but those eyes burned with life.
Those eyes told me how resolute his determination was.
"Once I'm gone, those branch family vultures will pick her clean down to her undergarments to fatten their own purses. That's why she needed to prepare. In those short ten years, to face those who smile to her face while hiding knives—and protect everything herself."
That was his answer to my question.
A person worthy of the family.
He'd raised Mary that way so no one could challenge her inheritance, so she could prove it herself.
So that even without anyone to protect her, she could protect herself.
But...
"Then Mary loses ten happy years with her father, doesn't she?"
There must have been another way.
Was there really no way to leave her happy memories while still protecting her?
"You're still young."
Raymon rejected my thinking with firm resolve.
"The world doesn't indulge childish notions like yours."
He flatly denied my words.
"Adults are the kind who trample crying children to move forward. The world is full of filthier, uglier people than you can imagine."
His eyes blazed with fury, as if envisioning those who would one day reach dark hands toward his daughter.
"And my daughter will be left alone in that world. For the rest of her life."
He closed his eyes gently, steadied his breathing, then turned back to the ceiling.
"What she needed wasn't ten happy years. It was the strength to survive fifty harsh ones."
His now-calm eyes drifted to the clear view outside the window.
I gazed at his back and voiced my lingering incomprehension.
"But is that really what's best for Mary?"
Why couldn't Mary choose between ten happy years and fifty miserable ones?
Why wasn't it up to her to judge and decide?
"...For Mary's sake?"
Raymon answered without turning.
"Foolish talk. ...All of this was for me. My own selfishness."
"......"
"That's the end of it. Take the fortune, Ken. I trust you'll honor a dying man's final request."
And he turned his gaze away from me no longer.
Only his peaceful breathing remained.
I couldn't ask him anything more as I looked at his finally settled back.
"...Excuse me."
━Kiiik.
In the end, I left his bedside, opened the door, and stepped out.
"......Mary?"
Across from the door, Mary stood waiting, hands clasped behind her back against the wall.
She met my eyes and smiled faintly.
"...Shall we go?"
"......Yes."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Afterward, Mary showed me to the guest room, then went to Raymon's room and didn't come out.
Worried there might be shouting, I quietly approached the door and peered inside.
But Mary simply sat by her father's side in silence.
Raymon lay in bed with his eyes closed, saying nothing.
And as if he'd held on just for this moment today...
Raymon breathed his last before noon the next day.
In the carriage heading back to Epiris Academy after the funeral and wrapping things up...
Mary leaned on my shoulder, eyes closed. She seemed to sob quietly for a moment, then drifted into peaceful sleep.
We made our way to the academy without much conversation.
Just once, Mary gripped my hand tightly and said,
"Funerals are... really tough."
I recalled her weeping bitterly as she sent off her father.
He might have been harsh to her.
But he was still precious to her.
I didn't know how to comfort Mary as she parted from such a father.
All I could do was hold her hand tightly by her side.
"I never imagined it'd be harder than your funeral."
As if sensing my feelings, Mary looked at me with a smile, like a joke to lighten the mood.
"Mary..."
Perhaps to spare my feelings amid her grief over her father, and to shift the somber atmosphere.
Mary tried to change the mood by sharing good news with me.
To bury her sadness deep inside and return to our usual academy life.
That was how she let me know her memories had returned.