Chapter 110
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 110
Weather handed over the letters with practiced efficiency. She had initially feared she couldn't handle the sudden promotion, but contrary to her worries, she had quickly grown accustomed to the work. Kinder accepted the stack of letters.
The pile was smaller than usual. As Kinder flipped through them, a familiar surname among the senders caught her eye.
"Duke Hosaquin?"
Kinder was bewildered by the sudden appearance of the name. Tearing open the most luxurious envelope, she quickly scanned the letter from the duke himself.
"So the rumors about the Duke's failing health weren't baseless after all," Kinder murmured, nodding as she absorbed the contents.
Utilizing Duke Hosaquin was the key to a natural pardon for Lady Evangeline—the very opportunity the Emperor had promised Gabriel. Fortunately, the situation was highly favorable for Evangeline.
There was one more letter. It was from Raphaella, Gabriel's adjutant. The letter began with the usual platitudes, expressing gratitude for Kinder's hard work.
After finishing Raphaella's letter, Kinder rose from her seat.
"Madame Toten?" Melek called out, tilting his head in confusion at her sudden movement.
"I must go down to the basement for a moment."
"Are you going to see Dies?" Melek asked, his brow furrowing slightly.
He knew Kinder was torturing Dies, an idea he found deeply unpleasant. However, having lived in Ryder's body, he had seen firsthand how fiercely Kinder cherished her son and couldn't bring himself to stop her.
If Mr. Jelly or Lord Pudding had tried to intervene, I would have stopped them, but…
Kinder was the one with a personal grudge against Dies.
Furthermore, Melek felt a faint sense of guilt toward her. It stemmed from the matter of transferring Princess Jeremia's soul into Azazel's body.
Although Evangeline hadn't ordered him to keep silent about what happened at the Rohanson Mansion, Melek chose not to mention it to Madame Toten. Ryder's soul was gone, departed to a place of no return. To learn that the Princess, who had been in a similar situation, had survived would only shatter Kinder's heart.
Even if it meant living in an ill-fitting shell, Madame Toten would have wanted Ryder to remain. She would have taken him back even in the shell of the hated Dies.
Right now, she worked hard for Lady Evangeline out of gratitude, but if she heard Princess Jeremia's story, she might end up resenting her instead.
On a personal level, Melek didn't want Kinder to resent him. A futile thought haunted him: if only he had known of her situation sooner, if he hadn't buried the past in fear and had spoken up earlier, perhaps her son would still be alive.
But Ryder was already dead, and Melek knew all too well that a departed child would never return. He could only rationalize that Ryder had atoned for all his sins in this lifetime and fallen into a peaceful sleep in the Sun Goddess's embrace, to be reborn into a noble and healthy life in the next.
Kinder stroked the soft-hearted demon's head, noticing his gloomy expression at the mention of the basement, and answered his question.
"This time, I'm going to see the butler."
"The butler?"
"Yes. The one I locked up on the day you arrived."
He was still alive.
Melek was startled, recalling the chaos of his first day at the Marquis Toten's Estate. Since Kinder had never mentioned the butler, he had assumed the man was long dead.
"I'll go with you."
When Melek offered to accompany her, Kinder looked reluctant.
"It's not a pleasant sight for a child."
"Madame Toten, I was sixteen before I died."
And now you can add twenty to that, Melek swallowed the rest of his words.
A subtle smile that didn't quite reach her eyes touched Kinder's lips. She stroked Melek's head, looking pleased, like an adult watching a child boast about being grown up.
"Then shall we go together?"
Kinder took Melek's hand and headed for the basement. On the way, a maid nervously interjected, "The environment down there isn't fit for the Young Master. It would be best if he didn't accompany you."
Melek thought the maid would have her pay docked, but Madame Toten praised her instead, calling her someone who truly cared for her master and even promising her a bonus.
Descending into the basement, the two passed the room where Dies was suspended and opened the door to a cramped cell. Inside, stripped of his title, was Lak. Kept in pitch darkness, he winced and squeezed his eyes shut, blinded by the faint light of the small candle Kinder carried.
After a long moment, Lak’s eyes adjusted. He had assumed only Kinder would come, but then he saw a small figure clinging to her side.
"...Young Master Ryder," Lak parted his dry lips.
Previously, Ryder had been the one locked away. Now, it was Lak himself who was trapped in a cell, unable to move.
Our roles have completely reversed.
Kinder's voice pulled Lak from his thoughts.
"Lak. There is something I need to ask you."
"You haven't asked me anything until now. Why the sudden questions?"
This was the first time Kinder had inquired about his circumstances since locking him away. Did she suddenly want to hear some pathetic excuse? When Lak asked calmly, Kinder didn't answer directly, instead bringing up Dies.
"Dies's screams reach this far, so you must know I have him locked in the basement."
Lak nodded. Given Dies's massive build, his voice was incredibly loud. It was impossible not to know.
"Even though I have Dies locked up, the elders no longer interfere."
Kinder stroked Melek's head, as if showing him off to Lak. Ryder, who would normally have coughed violently just from stepping into a dusty basement, stood tall and unaffected.
"Ryder has recovered safely and has even gained the recognition of the elders. Now, Ryder is not just the Young Marquis of Toten in name, but in fact. This child will grow up to inherit the Marquis Toten's Estate."
Lak merely nodded in silence. If Ryder had fully recovered and the false rumors of him being cursed by the Sun Goddess had been corrected, he was a legitimate heir, incomparable to Dies.
"I will not forgive what you have done, but I understand why you did it. You betrayed me, but you did not betray the Marquisate. Therefore, Butler, answer me truthfully for the sake of the Young Marquis."
Lak understood why she had taken such a roundabout approach. Kinder had still called him "Butler." Though his crime was unforgivable, she hadn't forgotten his devotion to the estate.
Had Ryder not been recognized as the Young Marquis, Lak would never have spoken the truth. But now, the Young Marquis stood right before his eyes.
She was telling him that Lak, the man who lived for the Marquisate—the butler of House Toten—would confess everything for the sake of the Young Marquis. She was explaining that she had delayed her questioning until the very moment Ryder gained the elders' recognition. Lak couldn't help but admire her shrewdness.
"You wouldn't have suddenly thought of Dies as the successor on your own. Someone must have been egging you on."
After a long silence, Lak spoke quietly.
"...I met a priest."
"...A priest?"
Kinder's aura turned murderous. She looked ready to tear Lak apart, forcing Melek to grab her hand to calm her down.
"The priest told me that having a cursed child in the Marquis's Estate was a harbinger of ruin. He warned that if we didn't act quickly, the entire Marquisate would be dragged down and destroyed."
In truth, his words weren't entirely wrong. If Melek hadn't entered Ryder's body and the boy hadn't been known to recover, the Marquisate might have been branded as heretical and ruined.
"So you fell for those whispers and brought Dies in?"
"The priest also helped bring Young Master Dies here."
Kinder groaned, clutching her head. The only person from the Temple who would entice a devoted butler and dig into the Marquisate's bloodline to find Dies was Bishop Marik. And this was before the Crown Prince had even died. She had no idea Bishop Marik's reach had extended this far, this long ago. This, too, was her fault for being so consumed by Ryder that she had neglected the estate.
And it was Lak's fault for bringing in outside forces while claiming to act for the Marquisate. Seeing his shameless face, as if he truly believed he had worked for the estate's good, made her blood boil. But she still had more to hear, so Kinder forced her anger down.
"The priest must have also told you to block any contact between Lady Rohanson and me."
Lak nodded.
"Lady Rohanson said she never received my message offering to be her chaperone. Did you intercept that letter?"
"I did."
Kinder took a small, deep breath.
"Then, did you also give the letters Lady Rohanson sent me to the priest?"
This was the very reason Kinder had come to the basement.
According to Gabriel's letter, Evangeline's handwriting had fallen into the hands of Bishop Marik's faction. Yet, no matter how she thought about it, there should have been no opportunity for Evangeline's handwriting to be exposed. The servants of the Rohanson Mansion would never go against Evangeline's wishes.
Since it wasn't an inside job, the letters must have been intercepted. Evangeline rarely interacted with the outside world, and the number of letters she exchanged was extremely small—at most with Gabriel, Count Rohanson, and Kinder.
The letters Evangeline wrote to Count Rohanson were few, and the Count had kept them all. The same went for her letters with Gabriel. The only ones unaccounted for were those sent to Kinder.
Evangeline had sent letters, but Kinder had never received them. The butler must have intercepted them and delivered them to Bishop Marik.
This was Gabriel's theory, and Kinder agreed with it.
"That is not the case."
But Lak shook his head.
"The only letter I intercepted was from the Commander of the Pararos Knights. Not a single message arrived from the Rohanson Mansion."
Kinder suspected he was lying, but his demeanor was entirely confident.
Lak didn't hand them over?
Was it the truth? Kinder couldn't be sure. But there was no reason for Lak to lie specifically about this. Locked in the basement, he wouldn't even know what was happening outside.
"Is that true? No letters came from Lady Rohanson?"
"Yes. I swear on the honor of House Toten, which I have served with devotion, that it is the truth."
If so, the letters must have been intercepted in transit. The people watching the mansion at the time must have stolen them.
Surely a servant from the Rohanson Mansion hadn't handed the letters directly to the Temple. As Kinder was lost in confusion, Lak asked shamelessly:
"Since I'm locked up, you must have hired a new butler. What is my successor like?"