Chapter 70
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 70
"Fine. If the axe is the problem, I'll put it down this instant."
Dies flung the axe to the floor. The blade spun across the wood, skidding to a halt just inches from Kinder's feet. It was a clear threat, one that could have maimed her, but Kinder didn't even flinch.
Realizing he couldn't get a reaction out of her, Dies shifted his target.
"Hey! Your mistress is here, so what are you doing hiding in there? Get out here now, or you're fired! And if firing you isn't enough, I'll call the guards. I'll have them drag you away for kidnapping and confining the young master of the marquisate, so you'd better think carefully."
Weather looked toward Kinder, her eyes trembling with fear. An accusation of harming a noble's son wouldn't end with a mere fine. Especially now that Ryder was dead, she could easily be branded a murderer.
The gathered onlookers began to whisper, wondering if the young master was truly dead.
Kinder bit her lower lip. What should I do? She felt as if she'd been pushed to the edge of a cliff. One more step and she would plunge into the abyss. Or perhaps she had already fallen.
No. Kinder desperately searched for Evangeline. If it's the young lady—if it's Lady Rohanson—she'll find a way out of this.
Where was she? Had the young lady gotten lost because Kinder had recklessly run ahead on her own?
Kinder scanned her surroundings, then gasped as her eyes locked onto a pure white figure standing in the corner of her vision.
Lady Rohanson was standing right there. Her presence was so vivid and distinct that it was baffling how Kinder had only just noticed her. It was almost bizarre that no one—not Kinder, not Dies, not even the butler—had perceived her until this very moment.
"P-please help me... Lady Evangeline."
Evangeline, who had been observing the situation like a detached bystander, finally took a leisurely step forward as soon as Kinder begged for help. With every step she took, the very air in the room shifted.
At her first step, the crowd startled, shocked by her sudden presence.
At her second, they were struck speechless by her overwhelming aura.
By her third step, they held their breath, paralyzed by the suffocating pressure she exuded.
"W-who..."
Dies was the only one who managed to find his voice, though stammering out that single word was the absolute limit of his strength.
Lady Rohanson didn't spare Dies a single glance, keeping her eyes fixed solely on Kinder. For a moment, forgetting the bleakness of her situation, Kinder was swept up in a strange euphoria. It felt as if she had become the chosen one of a god.
Lady Rohanson stepped directly behind Kinder and gently embraced her. White-gloved hands brushed her shoulders, and strands of silver hair tickled her neck. A cold breath ghosted against her ear, carrying a whisper as seductive as a serpent's tongue—a whisper meant for Kinder's ears alone. Had she not known who Evangeline truly was, she would have mistaken the voice for that of a deity.
"Madame Toten, do you wish to bring your child back to life?"
"Yes... Yes."
"Even if the one who returns is not your son? Even if it is someone else merely borrowing your son's shell?"
Kinder wanted to turn and demand what she meant, but her body was held fast, unable to budge, as if coiled by a massive serpent.
Hearing those words, she recalled their conversation from their first meeting. Yes, the young lady clearly said she was a substitute. It hadn't been a mere excuse to deny her request. Then Ryder, my son... is he really gone forever? So pitifully, so miserably?
"The choice is entirely yours, Madame," Evangeline continued. "You can officially acknowledge the child's death and accept the parting, or you can have him pretend to be alive, even if it is only on the surface."
What Kinder wanted was for Ryder to be resurrected. But as Evangeline had already declared, a perfect solution did not exist.
She quickly accepted reality. She was simply too exhausted to resist. The last words Ryder had spoken echoed in her mind.
"Since this might be my end, please let me at least leave my final words."
"Even without me, please protect the marquisate, Mother."
Accept parting with her son, or accept something that only pretended to be him. If Kinder had to choose, it would be the latter. She loved Ryder dearly—so much that she was willing to use her son's corpse to fulfill his final wish. Her love was of that selfish breed.
Mom, you love me, right?
Even a selfish love was still love.
"Yes," Kinder choked out, her voice barely a whisper. "Even so, it's fine."
"Melek."
"Yes, My Lady."
Evangeline called to the blindfolded coachman. Kinder hadn't even realized he had followed them inside the mansion.
The two whispered to each other, and before Kinder could question it, the coachman's figure began to blur. He dissolved into black smoke, which drifted through the air toward Ryder. The smoke seeped into the boy's body. Because everyone else was utterly transfixed by Lady Rohanson, Kinder was likely the only one who witnessed it.
"The young master moved!" a maid in the crowd shrieked.
Kinder recognized the voice. It was Lady Rohanson's maid.
The crowd tore their eyes away from Evangeline and looked toward Ryder. Sure enough, the previously motionless child scowled. His cheeks twitched, like a child tossing in his sleep, and then his eyes snapped open.
"Ah!"
Someone who met Ryder's gaze gasped and covered their mouth. Kinder did the same. She was the one who had begged for this, the one who had made the choice. Yet, the moment she saw the stranger nesting inside her son's body, a wave of nausea washed over her.
Ryder's hand twitched.
"W-what in the world..."
The most terrified person in the room was Weather, who had been holding Ryder the entire time. To her, it must have felt like a cold corpse had suddenly squirmed back to life in her arms.
"Ah, that is a bit terrifying," Hena murmured, recalling Evangeline's own funeral with a shudder of deep sympathy.
* * *
This is truly shocking.
I'd followed Madame Toten because she begged for my help, but I had no idea things were this dire. This wasn't some simple succession dispute; Dies, the late marquis's brother, was literally wielding an axe and threatening a child.
A lone maid was hiding in the room, protecting the boy, while not a single person—not the butler, the nanny, or anyone else in the mansion—was doing anything to stop him. With no one else to rely on, Madame Toten had no choice but to turn to me, an outsider.
"Now that I am back, is that enough?" Madame Toten was saying as we arrived. "You must be exhausted from your journey to the estate, so please, go inside and rest."
"Yes, I'll do that," Dies sneered. "But... sister-in-law, isn't it rather strange? Despite all this commotion, my nephew hasn't even blinked. He's sleeping so soundly, he might as well be dead, don't you think?"
"Didn't I tell you? He was sick for five days and only just fell into a deep sleep. He's so exhausted, there's no way he would hear any of this."
The bastard threatened her, demanding she hand over the child, but Madame Toten tried her best to calm him down. He wasn't someone you could reason with. Dies slung the axe over his shoulder, acting aggressively as he demanded to check on the child himself.
"What on earth are they doing with a dead kid?" Jelly clicked his tongue.
What? Who's dead? Ryder?
"Mr. Jelly, what do you mean by that?" Hena asked, her voice trembling.
She'd asked exactly what I was thinking. What was he talking about?
"Can't you tell?" Jelly said quietly. "He isn't breathing. Ah... I suppose you can't hear it from here. Then look closely. His skin is pale, his hands are completely limp, but his jaw and neck are stiff."
I peered through the broken door. Ryder was wrapped tightly in a blanket, so I couldn't verify everything Jelly said. The only thing visible was his complexion. So his exceptionally pale face wasn't because he was sick? Hena also turned pale and looked at Madame Toten with concern.
"Madame Toten..."
A loud voice drowned out Hena's murmur.
"Tell them to open the door! Why won't you let me check? Sister-in-law, are you not even worried about your own son? Let's go in together right now."
Dies was deliberately trying to provoke her. Yet, despite his blatant instigation, Madame Toten didn't say a single word about checking on Ryder herself.
"Madame Toten already knows the child is dead," Hena sighed.
I thought so, too. She knew Ryder was dead, which was why she refused to give in to Dies's demands. As I had heard before coming here, if Ryder died, the succession to the marquisate would go to Dies, not his mother.
Madame Toten was desperately struggling to prevent that.
"That's why she came to find you in the first place, Mistress," Hena added. "To bring a dead child back to life. Because if you search the whole world, you're the only one who has died and come back."
So that's why she came to find me. It explained why she had asked if I remembered what I'd said during our first meeting. Back when I was deceived by that old butler, I'd made excuses about how there was no way to fix things instead of offering comfort. I think I had said something similar then.
"Hey! Your mistress is here, so what are you doing hiding in there? Get out here now, or you're fired!"
Meanwhile, Dies had shifted his threats. He began shouting at the maid, a woman of low status who seemed easier to intimidate.
"P-please help me... Lady Evangeline."
Madame Toten looked around anxiously. Then, spotting me, she reached out. She looked exactly like someone standing on the edge of a cliff. Anyone else might have pulled her back to safety.
Not me. I had to push her over the edge.
"Madame Toten, do you wish to bring your child back to life?"
"Yes... Yes."
"Even if the one who returns is not your son? Even if it is someone else merely borrowing your son's shell?"
Just like me.
Madame Toten agonized over my question, then grit her teeth and answered.
"Yes. Even so, it's fine."
A dead child could not be brought back to life, but the marquisate could still be saved. At the crossroads of losing everything or protecting at least one thing, Madame Toten chose the latter. Since she had put her grief aside and steeled her resolve, I had no choice but to help her, even if it meant resorting to a less-than-ideal solution.
"Jelly, go bring Melek."