Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: White Snow
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Thud.
The door closed as Carnel departed.
The duke sank into his chair with a deep sigh.
“Haah….”
That single sigh was tangled with all sorts of emotions.
Had he told his daughter too much?
Would that cold truth ultimately leave her scarred…?
Knock knock.
The door was rapped once more.
“…Come in.”
The door opened, and old butler Thanatos entered.
“Thanatos.”
“Did the talk go well, Your Grace?”
Propping his chin on his hand, the duke gazed out the window with eyes full of complex feelings.
“Go well…?”
Had it gone well?
Or had it not?
Revealing the truth of House Delbar to his daughter too soon.
Even if it was for her sake, as a father, he had spat out words more like curses than blessings.
“…I don’t know.”
Thanatos quietly stood beside the duke.
“The role of a father is a difficult one…”
He had never dreamed he would become a father.
Not during the days when he lost his emotions and himself along with them.
Not even in the moments when he regained his emotions and reflected on himself.
He had always lived solely as the duke, as the head of House Delbar.
“My heart is always right there… but the moment it leaves my mouth, it’s always too late.”
Affection realized too late was buried under irreparable words.
The sincere feelings he wished to convey were always shrouded in a cold tone.
“When emotions start to fade… it feels just like losing yourself.”
“You are still you, Your Grace.”
“The moment I looked at my daughter and felt nothing… that was when I finally knew for sure it was a curse.”
“…It’s not too late yet.”
“Carnel must be hurt.”
“Yes. The young lady is still young, but she’s strong. And you know better than anyone where that strength comes from, Your Grace.”
The duke quietly closed his eyes.
He knew well that asking for forgiveness now wouldn’t erase the wounds.
But…
“…I’m glad, then. It seems she’s found someone to heal those wounds.”
…It was then.
“…….”
“…Your Grace.”
“I felt it.”
The duke rose from his seat.
His gaze shot straight out the window, beyond the mansion, to the forest encircling it.
“A spirit…”
“If it’s a spirit… could it be the Ayrin family?”
The duke narrowed his eyes.
At the end of that gaze, something was slowly approaching.
“No. It’s a spirit, but not a spirit.”
That presence wasn’t radiant.
It held no trace of the beautiful light of mana, no breath of nature…
It was utterly devoid of any such sensation.
It was… corrupted spirits that had surrendered to the underside of darkness.
“Thanatos.”
“…Your orders.”
Crackle.
In an instant, the temperature around them plummeted sharply.
Above the duke’s head, a crown of ice slowly formed.
***
Thud.
Carnel carefully closed the door.
The dull sound of it shutting echoed behind her.
“…….”
The conversation from moments ago lingered in her mind.
Her father’s cold tone, the words ‘Calamity’ and ‘curse’ delivered so matter-of-factly.
…The erosion of emotions and the Calamity brought by a talent like a blessing.
And… Laplace.
Clack.
Carnel halted in the middle of the corridor.
Unconsciously, her hand drifted to her chest.
“Adel has a curse too…”
The moment those words escaped her lips, an inexplicable emotion welled up.
Pity? Sympathy?
No, more than that…
A sense of kinship.
“Then… the mask too?”
A sudden question crossed her mind.
The white mask Adel always wore.
The one he never took off… could never take off.
Was that another mark of the curse?
“Adel…”
Murmuring his name made a corner of her heart tingle.
“…Why him, of all people.”
Why did it have to be Adel?
…The man who never said a word.
Unable to speak, unable to smile, hiding his sadness, joy, anger—all behind that white mask.
“Being unable to speak… means you can’t even explain your own feelings…”
If that Adel… truly bore the same curse as her.
That would be…
Too cruel.
“The same curse, yet…”
They shared the same curse, so why did Adel have to live so alone?
…She had grown up under a name more brilliant than anyone’s.
Not just free of curses, but showered with envy and praise from the world.
But Adel?
He lived in silence, understood by no one.
“Adel…”
She couldn’t continue.
An emotion swelled in a corner of her heart, on the verge of bursting.
…Not pity.
…Not regret.
Those feelings would belittle Adel as a person.
“It’s just…”
Just… because it was Adel.
In a silence no one else knew…
In depths deeper than anyone’s…
That boy watched the world through wounded eyes.
And so, before she knew it… she couldn’t look away from those eyes either.
“Hmph… looks like I’ll have to stay by his side.”
It wasn’t duty or responsibility.
Perhaps it was arrogant, foolish even.
But… someone had to be by Adel’s side.
And she wanted that someone to be her.
It was then.
“Oh~? You have to stay by his side?”
…A familiar, ominous voice.
“…Mother?”
Turning her head, she saw Amelia peeking out from behind a pillar in the corridor, grinning mischievously.
Who knew how long she’d been watching… Her face was blooming with laughter.
“Carnel~ Carnel~ my daughter~”
“…….”
Her mother’s voice rang out, ominous and foreboding.
“No way… that feeling right now! Do-do-do-doo!”
“…No.”
Amelia formed her hands into gun shapes, winking as she aimed at Carnel’s heart.
“Bang~ It was love~”
“…Wh-what?!”
Carnel waved her hands in denial, but her face flushed red in an instant.
Amelia nodded exaggeratedly, full of admiration.
“Right~ Our house has been lacking this fresh young love~”
“…Listen to me, Mother!”
“Yes, yes~ I’m listening. You want to stay by his side! You saw his wounds! You empathized with their depth!”
“I never said that…!”
“Hmm…? Really?”
“Yeees…!”
“Hmmmmm…”
Amelia tilted her head with a creak, nodding as if she’d let it slide this once.
“So, did you find out what you wanted? Like~ whether Adel is family or whatever~”
“……Yes.”
“And the result?”
“…No.”
Was she disappointed that Adel wasn’t actually of Delbar blood?
…She was.
Carnel had secretly hoped.
So… was she sad that he wasn’t family?
…No.
“Heh heh… As if my darling would ever cheat! Silly Carnel!”
“…I’m not silly.”
“Then, did you make up with your Father?!”
“…….”
Karnel couldn’t answer that question readily.
Reconciliation… felt too warm a word.
That conversation couldn’t be captured in such terms.
“…I just learned a little, that’s all.”
“Really?”
“…I still don’t know. Have I forgiven Father? Understood him? Or is it just that it’s too late, and that’s all that’s left.”
Carnel forced a smile.
“But you know… I did think, just a bit, that he’s had a hard time too.”
She couldn’t fully accept her father yet.
Even if it was the curse’s fault, the lingering wounds were too many, and he’d been alone too long.
“Ahem~ Learning that bit by bit is what growing up means~”
“…What are you even saying.”
“Hee hee, Mom can do love advice and life counseling too—”
“Who said anything about love…!”
“Whoops~ The emotions of someone who just wants to ‘stay by his side’ are like thiiiis~”
Amelia drew a big heart in the air with her finger.
“Hm…?”
Just then, Carnel’s gaze shifted past Amelia’s shoulder.
“Hm?”
Amelia turned to follow, but… nothing was there.
But…
“Oh? Adel?”
Poof.
Adel suddenly appeared.
In silence, there was no telling how long he’d been there.
But atop his head… for some reason, there was a loach perched there.
“Adel?”
[Hello]
Adel scribbled on the whiteboard with a squeak.
But Amelia’s eyes were fixed on top of Adel’s head.
“Wow~ What’s that fish on Adel’s head!? Emergency rations?!”
At that, the loach on Adel’s head flopped vigorously!
Splash!
Droplets flew from its moist, slippery body, wetting the corridor.
“Eek! Sorry!”
Amelia hopped away, dodging the splash.
“It’s alive? So cute~ What’s its name?”
[Miku—]
Adel turned the whiteboard to write the name, but…
Clack.
Carnel reached out and pushed the whiteboard down.
“It’s called ‘Mikuberry.’”
“Ooh… Mikuberry!”
At that moment, the mikurebi flopped wildly again!
On top of Adel’s head, it thrashed like mad, putting on a little fountain show.
***
After hurling the mikurebi far down the corridor, I turned the whiteboard back as if nothing had happened and got to the point.
[Spirits are gathering outside]
“Spirits?”
“Spirits?”
…They were mother and daughter, as expected.
Even their wording, timing, and intonation were identical.
I turned my head, looking back and forth between them.
One with a mischievous smile full of playfulness.
One trying hard to keep a serious expression.
[Corrupted spirits]
But they both still didn’t seem to grasp the gravity of the situation.
So I added one more line.
“Hmm… Is this the witch’s house?”
“Ooh… Witch!”
…And yet the mood wasn’t heavy at all.
What?
Am I the weird one?
The ‘witch’s house’ refers to the spirits commanded by the Calamity of Lust, the ‘Witch.’
And they’re reacting this lightly?
“Shall we go watch?!”
“Yes?”
[Yes?]
Clack.
Amelia had already grabbed my and Carnel’s wrists, dragging us out of the mansion in a flash.
“Ooh…!”
And right then, I sensed something strange.
…Snow.
Pure white snow was silently falling from the sky.
‘What?’
It was the cusp between summer and autumn.
Days were still hot enough to feel the sun’s blaze.
And yet… snow?
“My darling can be as cold as white snow!”
…Circumstantially, it had to be the duke’s doing.
Making it snow when it wasn’t even winter.
And so naturally too.
…Is this the power of House Delbar?
And it was then.
Crunch crunch.
Something approached, pushing through the snow.
“Oh! Mikuberry!”
From afar, the loach crunched over, climbed my body familiarly, and settled back on my head.
“…Achoo.”
With a very human sneeze, un-fishlike.
“I’m off to make a snowman!”
With those words, Amelia donned a scarf and gloves from who-knows-where and hopped off into the snowfield, vanishing from sight in an instant.
“…”
“…”
In the end, only Carnel and I remained.
I stared toward the main gate of the Delbar estate, in the direction the spirits were coming from.
But strangely…
The estate’s people were all casually donning ear muffs, scarves, and winter gear like it was routine.
Even Carnel.
‘Am I the weird one?’
Why were they all taking this so nonchalantly?
Maybe this wasn’t the first time?
And…
“Hmph! Take a good look… Achoo!”
[I’m looking]
Indeed… I was looking closely.
At Carnel in the snow, nose red as a cherry, sneezing away.
“This is the power of House Delbar… Achoo!”