Chapter 38: Preparations
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 38: Preparations
The manor's only church was packed to the brim. Light streamed through the stained-glass windows, casting a rainbow of colors upon the coffin that rested on the dais before the altar.
This focused baptism of light, as if from a deliberate spotlight, evoked a sense of reverence.
Aenya, sitting in the front row, kept dabbing at her tears with a handkerchief. The man in the coffin was the scholar who had cherished her like a grandfather, taking the place of her own father who spent most of the year away from the manor.
Now, he lay as a cold corpse inside that coffin. The scholar, who had been hovering between life and death due to illness, had passed away.
I took Aenya's hand.
“Brother…”
Aenya immediately buried her face in my chest. Her endless tears soaked my shirt.
“It’s alright. I’m sure he’s gone to a better place.”
I comforted her, stroking her back. Across from us, Zaenbold stared at us with an expression of disbelief.
Indeed, to him, who had returned after a long absence, the sight of the now-affectionate siblings must have seemed quite strange. And what of Sophia's empty seat? She was the one who should have been taking our absent father's place.
However, this was neither the time nor the place to resolve his questions. After all, wasn't Zaenbold a chief mourner?
Dominico, standing at the altar, continued the funeral mass.
“…Death is not the end of life, but the beginning of eternal life. Therefore, do not grieve. Dalebold, who has gone to the Lord’s side today, will now enjoy eternal happiness with the saints and praise the Lord. Let us pray for him with one heart.”
Zaenbold finally spoke as the funeral procession left the church and headed for the cemetery on the outskirts of the village.
“What happened?”
Zaenbold gestured with his eyes toward Aenya, who was following behind. The two of us were currently leading the procession from the very front.
“We’ve matured. We can’t keep fighting as siblings forever, can we?”
“Fighting? Let’s get it straight. Aenya did nothing wrong. She was just the one who suffered at your hands. Really, Aenya is an angel. It’s obvious, seeing as she forgave a scoundrel like you.”
“Aenya is like an angel.”
Even though we’d seen all there was to see of each other, she was still shy every time we were intimate, barely even showing me her face. And yet, the way she writhed, endlessly craving my love, truly was angelic.
An angel of lust, that is.
Zaenbold once again wore a look of disbelief.
“Are you really Allen?”
“That expression is rather unpleasant.”
“Hah. Fine, whatever. What happened to Lady Sophia?”
Sophia's faint scream from last night came back to me. The metallic scent of blood seemed to brush past my nose.
Even though she was a woman I’d thought of as mine, I felt strangely indifferent. Was it because I knew she could never truly be mine? Or was it because the child she carried wasn’t of my blood?
It was a question no longer worth considering.
“She… is dead.”
Zaenbold stopped in his tracks. He quickly started walking again as the eyes of the funeral procession gathered on him, but the look of shock remained on his face.
“What…? You, don’t tell me.”
“She was the bitch who schemed against my family on the baron's orders.”
“Crazy…! Are you really planning to fight the baron? A mere knight's son?”
“The baron started it.”
“Hah, if I’d known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have told you.”
Zaenbold looked deeply regretful. He had judged my choice to be the result of ignorance and arrogance. To him, I was nothing but a scoundrel, so in a way, it was only natural.
“I’m not going to ask for your help, so wipe that look off your face.”
“I can’t help you anyway. When I go back, Sir Joang will be watching my every move. In fact, this return itself would have been impossible if not for my father's death. I had to pull some strings.”
“Sir Joang? Is he a knight?”
I’d heard the name before. If I knew it, that meant he was a character with a significant role in the story.
“He’s the baron’s top secretary, his ‘bag of tricks.’ He’s also my direct superior. His knighthood is just an honorary title.”
“A bag of tricks, huh. Then he must have known about the baron's scheme. No, perhaps he was the one who devised it.”
The baron was stingy and unpopular. He wasn’t the kind of lord one would want to serve and follow. Yet, the fact that he had managed his domain so well until now would be impossible without someone's help.
I suspected that ‘someone’ was the baron's bag of tricks, Joang. The important question was why a man like him would follow the baron.
The answer was simple.
“Sir Joang? He's related to the baron by marriage. He married his daughter to the baron's second son.”
“Not the heir?”
“Marrying the second son was only possible because it was Sir Joang. The baron is not a man who makes a losing deal.”
The baron's heir was twenty-five and still unmarried. That was the result of the baron insisting he must marry a daughter from at least a count's family.
After all, didn't he himself marry the daughter of a count? His greedy nature wouldn't permit a union with a family of a lesser station.
The conversation stopped when the procession arrived at the grave. The coffin was lowered into a pre-dug pit, and soil was piled on top. At the head of the grave, Dominico began the final prayer for the deceased.
“Joang Conrad.”
I let the prayer wash over me, lost in thought. Zaenbold believed Joang was helping the baron because they were in-laws, but my memories, growing clearer the more I heard, told me that wasn't it.
Joang Conrad had another purpose.
“Hmph. Stop with the foolish thoughts and just get ready to run away with Aenya. The baron will be sending someone soon.”
Zaenbold had returned to my side. The reason he had pushed himself to come back was to help Aenya and me escape.
I watched as the mourners who had accompanied us to the grave lined up to bid farewell to the deceased, and said, “No. The baron must pay the price.”
“Think of Aenya.”
“Aenya will be safe. I've made other arrangements.”
“A scoundrel and a princess? What kind of bizarre combination is that?”
When he heard I planned to entrust her to the Castellan of Quaran, Zaenbold looked at me differently. Only then did he seem to realize I wasn't just going to charge in headfirst.
He continued, “Do you… have a plan?”
“First, I'll have to change the baron's mind.”
“How, after killing Sophia, the baron's spy?”
“Greed. If I can provoke the baron's greed, everything will change.”
Zaenbold frowned.
“Don't tell me you're planning to offer him a bribe. Forget it. The wealth from a tiny manor like this won't be enough to sway the baron. He'll just fly into a rage, thinking you're insulting him.”
“The bait I'm offering is far more powerful than a bribe.”
The greedy baron would never be able to ignore the bait I was laying out. Especially because he was so greedy.
“Ugh. I have no idea what you're thinking. Anyway, I believe I've done my duty with this.”
Zaenbold didn't try to dig any deeper. He had warned me of the baron's plot out of friendship, but this was his way of showing he wouldn't stand against the baron with me.
I nodded.
“Thanks.”
Zaenbold grimaced and changed the subject. His gaze was fixed on Aenya, who was saying her goodbyes to the deceased.
“When are you going to tell Aenya?”
In truth, telling Aenya about our father's death and that we had to part for a while was more difficult than facing the baron.
If only I had more time, I could have given her enough space to absorb the shock.
“I'll have to tell her. Soon.”
As soon as the funeral ended, Zaenbold returned to the baron's capital city. He didn't forget to warn me that the baron would send men within a few days.
I began to prepare, step by step, for my encounter with the baron. First, I appointed Mari as the head maid and put her in charge of managing the mansion's affairs. She would also partially take over my role while I was away.
For a mistress who came from a family of serfs, this was a social ascent beyond compare. It would have been natural for her to feel pressured, but instead, her eyes sparkled as she made a request.
“If I do well, will you give me a reward?”
Mari smiled with her eyes, her gaze dropping to my groin. The way she licked her lips was quite alluring.
Her looks were lacking compared to Aenya and Sophia, but her decadent aura was a charm all her own. Like a black widow, perhaps? She was a woman who knew how to seduce men.
“You're cunning, so you'll do well. I'm looking forward to it.”
Click.
Just then, the door opened without warning. It was Aenya. As if sensing the strange atmosphere in the room, she frowned, looking back and forth between Mari and me.
“Well then, I'll be on my way.”
Mari bowed her head and turned away. Giving Aenya a slight nod, she left the room, her hips swaying from side to side, making their presence known.
Seeing that, Aenya snorted and strode toward me.
“You were with another woman when I'm right here?”
“Isn't it all because you're not enough?”
“Still…!”
I pulled Aenya onto my lap. She was heavier than I expected. Her growth was ongoing, and she was getting closer and closer to the character who, in my memory, deserved the title of a fatal beauty.
Aenya squirmed and said, “What happened to Mother? I haven't seen her around.”
“Sophia is dead.”
“What…?”
Aenya tilted her head back to look up at me. Her wide-open eyes were just like a deer's. I stole a kiss from her lips. Her tongue reflexively came out to meet mine. I pulled away just before they touched and whispered.
“She chose the baron over me.”
“Th-then, did you…?”
Had she grown fond of her after tumbling in the same bed for a while? Aenya's eyes trembled faintly. I thought she'd be happy, considering how she'd been mistreated. As expected, Aenya had a kind heart.
“No, I didn't touch her. Sophia left the manor in the middle of the night without any preparation and was harmed by a beast.”
It was as good as me killing Sophia, but that was a truth Aenya didn't need to know.
“I-is that so…?”
Aenya let out a sigh of relief.
For a while, we stayed in that position, enjoying the warm sunlight streaming through the window. I pondered how to tell her about our father's death and our impending separation, while Aenya stared blankly out the window.
Then, as the sun began to set behind the western mountains, dyeing the sky yellow, Aenya squeezed my hand tightly and spoke.
“Did something happen to Father…?”
For a moment, I couldn't breathe. Had Aenya overheard our conversation? But her reaction seemed too mild for that.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because… you were talking so seriously with Zaenbold.”
Aenya turned on my lap to face me. Her eyes, meeting mine, were trembling faintly. As if she already guessed my answer.
Was this a woman's intuition? I, who had been struggling with how to break the news, thought this was for the best. I gently hugged Aenya and said, “Yes. Father has passed away.”
Aenya's body went rigid. Tears welled up in her deer-like eyes. A beat later, she cried out.
“Liar!”
I held her without a word. The front of my shirt was quickly soaked. Fat tears streamed down endlessly. Aenya cried her heart out. She cried and cried.
All I could do was stroke her back and comfort her. Then, as the scenery outside the window sank into darkness, Aenya, having stopped crying, looked up at me.
Her eyes were trembling with anxiety.
“You're not going to leave me, are you, brother?”
I remained silent. Tears welled up in Aenya's eyes again. She struggled, trying to break free from my embrace.
“Aenya.”
I held her tighter, pinning her in place.
“Let go!”
Aenya's struggles intensified. It wasn't enough to push against my chest; she dug her nails in and scratched my face.
Ignoring it, I grabbed her face and kissed her. As I pushed my tongue in, a sharp pain spread, followed by the metallic taste of blood. Aenya had bitten my tongue.
“Brother…!”
Startled, Aenya finally stopped struggling and watched my reaction.
“Are you calm now?”
“I-I'm sorry. I just…”
Fortunately, it was only a small cut on my tongue. I stroked Aenya's back as if to tell her to relax.
“I've told you before. Every single strand of your hair belongs to me. I have no intention of ever letting you go. This time, I'm just sending you away for a short while for your own safety. The time we're apart won't be long, and we'll have chances to meet in between.”
“Sending me away? Because of the baron…?”
I nodded.
“Yes. I can overcome any threat directed at me. But if you were to be in danger, I wouldn't be able to bear it.”
It was half-sincere, half-excuse. Aenya's trip to Quaran was for her education and to win over the Blood Princess.
However, if I only told her that, Aenya would never agree to leave my side. Especially not now, when our father was also gone, leaving just the two of us as family.
“I-I can help, too.”
“As a matter of fact, there is something I need to ask of you. A task only you can do. Get close to the Castellan of Quaran. Make her your ally. So close that we can take refuge with her in the worst-case scenario.”
At that time, I didn't know how this excuse, meant to persuade Aenya, would play out. I should have been mindful of how devilishly an innocent child can act.