Chapter 84

Translator: penny

Chapter: 83

Chapter Title: Uninvited Guest

After the eldest daughter's subordinates withdrew en masse due to Kairen's solemn declaration, and approximately 30 minutes had passed since the three-way meeting finally began inside the temporary tent erected on the outskirts of the Mist Forest to maintain secrecy...

"So, Kairen."

"……."

"What you're saying is, all of this was just a misunderstanding?"

Astridje, who had been silently listening to her son's passionate explanation for quite some time, finally spoke up with a somewhat dazed expression.

"Be quiet."

"Ah, right."

"I didn't say you could speak yet."

But when Kairen, who was straddling the chair in front of her with his arms crossed, scolded her in a cold voice, Astridje, who had been kneeling on the floor until then, quietly nodded and lowered her gaze.

"Alright, Big Sister. Explain."

In that situation, Kairen shifted his gaze to the eldest daughter, who was kneeling beside Astridje with a sullen expression, and said as much.

"…It's a picnic."

"Longer, and with a clear causal relationship!"

"Ah, uh…."

At his stern voice, the eldest daughter, who had been opening and closing her mouth for a moment, finally began her story, sweating profusely.

"I wanted to see my family's faces, so we were going to have a picnic together."

Then, Astridje, who was still kneeling and glancing at Kairen for a moment, received her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠son's silent permission and quietly posed a question.

"Then why on earth did you bring armed soldiers, and why are your subordinates completely misunderstanding the situation?"

"That's…."

Thanks to that, the eldest daughter, who had just overcome one crisis only to face a new one immediately, began urgently looking toward Kairen.

"……."

But when Kairen, who had his eyes narrowed, pursed his lips and shook his head, she realized she had to resolve the situation on her own without her little brother's help. With a resolved expression, she finally opened her mouth.

"My subordinates misunderstood 'picnic' as operational jargon."

"Hah……."

"And I didn't know we had to remove our armor for a picnic."

Astridje began to wear a dazed expression once again at her sincere words.

"I just wanted to play with my little siblings…."

At the eldest daughter's tearful voice, she ended up lowering her gaze with an ashamed expression.

"See, Mother."

"……."

"Big Sis isn't the scary person we thought she was."

And around that time, Kairen's stern voice began to come from the front.

"She's just grown-up on the outside but still like a pure little kid!"

"…Right."

"Misunderstandings piled up because of her communication issues, her unique strength, and her cold expression, leading to this mess. Right?"

The eldest daughter, who had been quietly watching Astridje nod with a dark expression from beside her, soon opened her mouth with a deflated look.

"…Sorry."

"No, it's not something to apologize for…."

Kairen, who had looked slightly flustered, soon turned his head to look at his mother.

"The one who should apologize is someone else!"

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, isn't that right?"

And then began Kairen's piercing gaze.

"……."

Astridje, who had been averting her gaze under that stare, finally closed her eyes tightly and spoke.

"My original sin runs deep."

"……."

"For 10 years, lost in grief, I only thought about raising successors to follow in my footsteps."

At her heartfelt words, Kairen and the eldest daughter's expressions tensed slightly.

"So I missed what was truly important."

And as she looked around at her two children with a regretful expression, Astridje continued.

"Blood may not connect us, but you are undoubtedly my daughters, bound by fate…."

Suddenly, she turned her head toward Adel, who was kneeling beside her, and spoke.

"…I'm sorry, Edel."

"……."

"It must have been so hard for you all this time."

And the next moment.

- Swish….

Astridje spread her arms wide and embraced her firstborn daughter.

"Little brother."

The eldest daughter, blinking dazedly from within that embrace, soon turned her gaze to Kairen and beckoned him.

"Come here."

"Huh?"

"It's really warm here."

At her incredibly innocent words, Kairen sighed but stepped down from the chair and approached.

"Sigh…."

Thus, the body heat of the three embracing each other was shared, creating one clear truth.

'It is warm….'

It spoke to the fact that their long-misaligned hearts had finally connected as one.

After the long embrace finally ended, I stepped out of the tent first to give my mother and big sister time to catch up.

"Young Master, did everything go well?"

"Ah, yes."

"I'll escort you to the safe zone."

And as I began walking following the knight who had been waiting beside the tent, a system message appeared before my eyes.

Confirming that message, I realized I had finally overcome the most important hurdle of the three cards and sighed, wiping the cold sweat from my forehead with my sleeve.

'Then, what's left is….'

And it was right then, when I decided to check the remaining three ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quests since things had come to this.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, something odd entered my field of vision.

"Um, Knight?"

"……."

"This is the opposite direction from the tent…."

So I stopped walking and timidly asked the knight who had been leading the way ahead of me.

"…I know."

For some reason, the voice echoing from inside the helmet sounded familiar….

"I snuck here once with Dad when I was little."

"Huh?"

"Back then, I got annoyed because my clothes got dirty, but it's a good thing now."

As I tilted my head in thought, the knight suddenly turned around and approached me, causing me to instinctively back away.

"By the way, not bad."

"W-Wait."

"To neutralize the plan that the Saintess and Second Prince put so much effort into, just like this."

Why was it? A tension and fear that seemed to gnaw at my entire body began to creep in.

"But this won't do…."

"Wait a minute…."

"If we reconcile so easily like this, I'll be the one who gets scolded as the person in charge."

And why did the speech pattern of the knight wearing the Third Knight Order's armor sound so terribly familiar?

"It was a great chance to catch the Holy Church's eye."

"Uh…."

"And a chance to get you back in my hands."

Those doubts were instantly resolved the moment the knight standing before me removed her helmet.

"You know, right? Kairen."

"Ah, ah…."

"In this perfect opportunity where Belverk is in complete chaos, with security and surveillance weakened…."

The person approaching me with a terribly sticky expression and a tone that was all too familiar—and frightening—to me was someone I knew very well.

"Do you think I'd let you slip away from me again?"

The face of the Marchioness Opstein, whom I had seen constantly over the past 10 years in Opstein, was one I couldn't forget even if I wanted to.

"Don't say a word from now on, and follow me."

But unlike usual, I had no time to worry about the system quest this time.

"Unless you want to get punished like old times."

Because the Marchioness Opstein, who had suddenly held a knife to my throat, was stroking my head with a chilling smile.

"Good boy?"

Meanwhile, at that time, in the tent Kairen had left.

"By the way, Edel. There's one thing we need to clarify."

"Yes?"

"If you planned a picnic, why didn't you contact us in advance?"

Astridje, who had been having a long-overdue conversation with her firstborn inside the tent, suddenly lowered her voice and asked that question.

"I did."

"Hm?"

"I sent a letter requesting permission to use the Mist Forest for a picnic."

The eldest daughter responded diligently, though puzzled.

"Not through your subordinates?"

"I sent it directly via my own messenger bird…."

"…That's strange."

Astridje, sensing something off in her answer, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sharpened her gaze and continued.

"Come to think of it, there's another strange thing."

"……?"

"If you weren't planning a rebellion, why did you restrict information inside Belverk?"

The eldest daughter tilted her head again and answered.

"I didn't do that."

"Couldn't it have been your subordinates?"

"My subordinates?"

"Hm, right. If a rebellion wasn't prepared in advance, it's impossible to control all of Belverk with just your subordinates."

Astridje nodded once more, accepting her explanation, but a cold voice soon leaked from her mouth.

"Something doesn't add up."

"Then…."

"Someone tampered with things in the middle."

Hearing that, the eldest daughter widened her eyes and listened intently to her mother.

"Who…?"

Astridje fell into deep thought for a moment at her question.

"We'll discuss this later."

"Ah."

"First, we need to handle the current situation."

But after a brief contemplation, Astridje stood up, displaying the shrewdness of the family head.

"First, enter wartime status and restore the security and surveillance systems of the territories we pulled in."

"……."

"I hope not, but it's probably poison. However…."

Even as she said it, she muttered with a worried expression.

"Um…."

"……?"

"The picnic…."

The eldest daughter, who had hurriedly stood up after her, opened her mouth hesitantly and trailed off.

"…You can do whatever you want after we sort out the situation."

Astridje understood her words perfectly now and replied with a wry smile.

"Thank you…. Ah."

The eldest daughter bowed to her mother, but then belatedly remembered Belverk's unspoken rule, broke into a sweat, and dashed out of the tent.

"Haha…."

But only for a moment; reassured by her mother's laughter from behind, the eldest daughter began looking around excitedly.

"Little brother!"

She called out to Kairen innocently and started walking toward the tent.

"Mom allowed the picnic."

But no matter how much she looked around, her adorable little brother was nowhere to be seen.

"Let's wrap up quickly and…."

Trailing off mid-sentence, she soon reddened her eyes and began concentrating.

'…Little brother's scent!'

And shortly after, with sparkling eyes like a puppy catching its master's scent, she hurried toward where her little brother's smell came from.

'And….'

Of course, unaware of how to change her expression, she maintained her cold look.

"Huh?"

The eldest daughter, who had been hurrying along, suddenly stopped and froze in place.

'Blood smell?'

Because from the direction ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of her little brother's scent came a smell that absolutely should not be there.

"Eek…!"

And right after, a frail scream came from the bushes ahead.

"I told you not to make a sound, Kairen."

The eldest daughter, walking toward it with a coldly hardened expression, had her eyes quietly lose their light the next moment.

"It hurts…."

"Of course it does. That's the point."

A woman wearing her knight order's armor—but someone she'd never seen before—was straddling Kairen, flashing a cold smile.

"You know, right?"

"Ugh…."

"Next is the face."

She had already stabbed a knife into Kairen's shoulder in that state, leaving a deep wound.

"…Or maybe the eyeball would be better?"

In that situation, the moment the woman whispered chillingly into Kairen's ear with a creepy smile.

"I was wrong…."

Kairen stopped sniffling and muttered quietly with dead eyes.

- Snap….

Something inside the dazedly standing eldest daughter broke with a snap, right at that moment.