Chapter 141
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Secret from 10 Years Ago (2)
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"Astridje, sis!"
"...Haa."
"Don't just sigh—look over here!"
For me, Astridje, if there was one day I regretted the most, it was about twelve years ago.
"My son—he's so cute!"
But before explaining that day, I should start with what happened the day before.
"...He's ugly."
"Eek? Watch your mouth! All babies look like this, you know?"
The day before the incident, my younger sister—visiting my room as usual—thrust her precious baby toward me, making a huge fuss.
"He has Belverk blood, yet white eyes like that."
"...Heehee, since I gave birth to him, they'll turn red later, right?"
"His hair at birth is white too. At this rate, no one can tell if he's Opstein's or Belverk's."
To be honest, unlike the adults and my siblings, I didn't have strong feelings about Opstein one way or another.
But seeing that child with no trace of Belverk in his hair or eyes, I could clearly foresee the hardships ahead, so I didn't feel particularly warm toward him.
"...Opstein will change now."
Yet my sister, gazing at me with unwavering confidence, had said exactly that.
"Once my husband recovers from his illness and gets up, he'll push out Marquis Opstein and become the next family head."
"...Huh, sure he will."
"Don't look at me so skeptically. Okay?"
Foolishly kind, but with unyielding resolve where it didn't matter. That was always my one and only little sister.
"You're like this now, but once you marry that guardian angel of yours and live happily ever after, you'll understand how I feel."
"...Shut up."
"By the way, didn't you say it's been years since you last saw him?"
Of course, her habit of hurling curveballs with an innocent smile hadn't changed either.
"You promised to confess when you meet again, right?"
"...Will you shut it?"
"Ah, no bad words allowed!"
Despite that, her beauty had blossomed dazzlingly, but when she crossed her arms and put on a stern face, I could still see traces of her cute younger self.
"Anyway, sis. I have a favor to ask..."
"What is it?"
"Be the godmother to this child!"
That made me inwardly smile, but her unexpected request froze me solid.
"You still have that habit of dropping bombs out of nowhere."
Godmother. Here, in Belverk of all places? Normally, I'd laugh it off.
"...Is it really okay for someone like me?"
But knowing she wasn't one for empty words, I asked with a serious expression.
"That's why I said no self-deprecation!"
"......"
"Anyway, it should be fine to tell our godmother the child's name!"
Of course, as usual, without consulting me, she had already decided I was the godmother.
"...Truth is, I thought long and hard about it."
I considered refusing out of spite, but her unusually grave expression that day made me listen quietly.
"Because of the prophecy?"
"Ah, yeah. My unique ability. Haha..."
"Your prophecies have never been wrong."
Naturally, her words rang true without a hint of falsehood.
Her unique ability was spatial separation—the secret garden in Belverk's inner courtyard was built that way.
But somehow, she had subtly shifted it to "prophecy," casually foreseeing the future as if it were natural.
Suspicious, sure, but I'd never questioned her about it.
"So, I was going to name him something else originally..."
"......"
"But that felt like forcing it against some greater power or fate. I hated that."
I didn't need to ask; I already sensed my sister was an extraordinary being.
"So, I decided on the name I'd originally thought of!"
With those thoughts, I just nodded and listened silently back then.
"Kairen Nox Belverk."
"......"
"That's my son's name."
Honestly, it's such a painful memory I try to forget, but I clearly remember the moment I first heard Kairen's name.
"Well then, take care of... Urk!?"
And I also recall how she often complained of headaches around then.
"Another headache?"
"Haha, yeah. They've been worse lately..."
"You should have taken better postpartum care."
It seemed to start after she moved to the Opstein Marquisate...
Looking back, I should have noticed something was wrong much sooner.
No, regretting it now is pointless anyway.
"Anyway, sis. Take care of Kairen."
At the very least, I should have sensed something off in her meaningful tone.
"...If something happens."
I never dreamed that plea would come true just a day later.
"...This is the decision of the Belverk Elders' Council."
For my sister, who had returned after so long from the Opstein Marquisate with her newborn son—the worst possible situation.
"Anastasia Nox Belverk and Kairen Nox Belverk are hereby marked for purge."
I don't clearly remember leaping from my seat early that dawn upon my personal maid's report.
"Miss, the family head's pursuit squad has mobilized personally."
"Lady Anastasia has sustained a fatal wound and is fleeing with Schwarz. Her whereabouts are unknown."
The personal maid kneeling before me and the current 1st Knight Commander probably reported with pale faces.
"Opstein, upon hearing the news, is preparing for all-out war, ready for mutual destruction. But given the distance, we can't expect real aid..."
Of course, their words barely registered in my ears.
"...Why."
Now, I'd have bolted from the room, but back then, I lacked the power the world would later praise.
"The Elders' Council is so hierarchical and insular that we can only obey orders..."
"I already know that crap."
I was also utterly lost in the first crisis of my life.
"Why... Anastasia, of all people."
Sitting blankly on the bed, lost in such pointless questions.
"Lady Anastasia violated a taboo."
"...What taboo."
"She defied the Elders' Council decision."
"What decision exactly...!"
Instead of wasting time, I should have just run out.
"The order was to eliminate Kairen Nox Belverk with her own hands."
"......"
"For whatever reason, the Council deemed her son a threat to the family."
But back then, only after hearing that absurd decision from the old fools who sensed two Demon Kings' births and cowered did I finally muster courage.
"Anastasia can't escape Belverk territory with her power alone."
"......"
"The search parties are combing outside the territory, but I know where she'd hide."
Hearing that, my maid and knight commander must have realized what I'd do and paled in fear.
"And once you find her... what then?"
"Are you planning to flee together?"
But by then, my eyes were already set.
"If you don't like it, then run."
I couldn't lose my one sister like this. That thought filled me.
"We won't."
"Abandoning you now would leave a bitter taste."
"Then prepare an escape carriage and emergency funds."
Tragically for that past me,
"I'm heading to Anastasia."
It was already far too late.
"Anastasia!"
I cleared the maids and soldiers blocking the entrance in seconds, charging alone into the secret garden of the inner courtyard.
"It's me, Astridje!"
Up to that point, I still believed there was hope.
"No time! With the purge order issued, you must leave Belverk with me right—"
Thus, I couldn't immediately accept the scene unfolding before me, slightly delayed.
"...Huh?"
The blood-soaked pond and forget-me-nots. Corpses of pursuit squads filling the secret garden. And...
"Cough, cough..."
"......"
"Sis..."
My one and only sister, gasping for breath where we always lay stargazing, a wound on her stomach too grave to recover from...
"I tried to do well, but things turned out like this..."
"No..."
"I never thought the Elders would act so swiftly..."
From then, my mind went white, yet I remember her words clearly.
"Even twisting the original story this much feels too weird..."
"......"
"The Black Heart... took action itself?"
Black Heart. The term she always muttered in nightmares.
But then, my focus was on my sister bleeding before me, not those ominous words.
"The wound's deep. Save your words!"
"...No, I'm done for."
"Anastasia!"
By then, she must have sensed her death.
"Sis, remember the promise from yesterday?"
She began leaving what were like final words.
"Take care of my son..."
"......"
"...Kairen is hiding with Schwarz."
If I'd at least heeded those words and swallowed my rage, I might not have had the same nightmare every night for ten years.
"So please, at least my son..."
But I didn't, so I've lived in regret ever since.
- Gulp...
Witnessing her vital signs fade as she vomited blood would surely make my eyes roll even now.
"...Haha."
Let alone back then, when my mind and power were immature.
"In the end, not even a status window—my unique ability never fully awakened..."
Stroking my cheek, murmuring strangely, she flashed that innocently bright smile I now miss so much.
"Still..."
And uttered words that would curse me for life.
"At least sis won't die like in the original..."
I didn't know what "original" meant, but one thing was clear.
"Ah."
The one who should have died was me—not my sister, who went limp and cold after those words.
"Haha... Ahaha."
She had dared defy fate, sacrificing herself in my place.
"Ahahahahaha!!!"
Realizing it all, I held her cooling body, laughing skyward till the heavens shook.
"...I'll kill them."
Of course, the first time my eyes fully turned crimson, tears of blood streamed as I said it.
"...I'll kill them all."
My cursed power devoured my reason, running rampant beyond control for the first time.
Forgetting even to protect her son, I rampaged until tricked by the belated Marquis Opstein. My karma indeed.
- Twitch...
But the unforgivable sin was my sister—cold in my arms—twitching grotesquely.
"...Haha."
No, failing to notice the original personality's revival, reclaiming her body after ten years.
"...Finally."
"...Wait, hold on."
Listening blankly to Mother's near-memoir confession, I suddenly broke in, cold sweat dripping.
"The original personality awakened?"
Mother snapped to, eyes sharpening, then explained with a guilt-ridden face.
"The sister I loved wasn't just amnesiac and kind."
"Ah..."
"She claimed so, but she was too bad at lying."
Meaning Mother had somewhat noticed the possessor?
"...For ten years, a foreign soul utterly unlike the original inhabited that body."
"......"
"With the foreign soul gone, the original owner's personality reclaiming the body isn't strange."
No, she seemed to know the full story...
"And that original personality seems to have absorbed my vanished sister's memories."
"......"
"She vanished amid my rampage, reappearing years later as a saint."
As expected, the shock hit hard.
"Then Anastasia Korhart is..."
Seeing my blood drain, Mother averted her gaze, revealing the long-hidden truth in a low voice.
"...My original little sister, in your mother's body."
"......"
"That's the self-proclaimed saint's true identity."
A brief silence followed.
"Kairen, it's too soon to hate me."
In the quiet, Mother's strained voice, eyes welling again, filled the room.
"...I haven't finished her story yet."
From the look, Mother's confession was far from over.