Chapter 101 - Power and Love (7)
Power and Love (7)
Translator: XZY
Chapter 101: Power and Love (7)
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“Wh-why did you break the window…”
“Shh.”
Thud, thud—
Derek shook off the water, tended to the wound on his hand, and then glanced back out the broken window.
Rain was pouring down, and an even deeper darkness veiled the landscape outside like a curtain.
Fortunately, it seemed no one had seen the scene of Derek scaling the outer wall and shattering the window.
As he slowly repaired the broken glass through transmutation magic, Derek spoke.
“Right now, Lady Elente, you are in a situation where you cannot rashly meet outsiders or obtain information without the consent of the high-ranking retainers. If someone outside realizes that I entered the room without the servants and retainers knowing, it will needlessly complicate things.”
“S-secretly? The number of servants in the Belmeade mansion easily exceeds a hundred, and if you add the stationed soldiers, it’s not a scale you can handle just by moving nimbly on your own…”
“I had someone who helped. This doesn’t seem to be the time to explain the detailed circumstances at length.”
Soon, once the window was flawlessly repaired, Derek began to tear a strip from his collar to bind the blood that was dripping from his hand.
“I originally had no intention of making a scene by breaking a window like this, but I was worried that Lady Elente, unable to overcome the situation, might make a rash decision, so I had no choice but to force my way in a bit violently.”
“That’s…”
Derek’s blood was on the dagger rolling on the floor.
Elente, with her heart sinking, looked back at her own haggard appearance.
What had she just tried to do? If she had gone through with it, it would have probably become the most futile and foolish decision of Elente’s life.
However, Elente’s fingertips were still trembling.
Looking at it from a step back, she was merely caught up in the political machinations prevalent in the noble world, taking the blame for a crime she did not commit.
For her, who had already fought her battles in Ebelstein’s high society, it would by no means have been an unbearable ordeal.
However, more important than such things was the doubt she felt about the values she had reached for and chased her entire life.
Anyone who wishes to reign over the masses must know. Humans are, by nature, beings who betray.
An opponent subjugated by authority and power could turn their back at any time if one were to fall. There were those who called it heartless and criticized it, and there were those who accepted it, saying that was just how humans were.
Elente somehow forced strength into her trembling chin and slowly raised her head.
Derek, looked up at from a seated position, was tall. His eyes, revealed from beneath his cloak, did not seem to contain any great emotion.
That appearance did not seem much different from when he had passed by Elente with Leonard.
But why had she forgotten? Derek had always been this kind of person.
“…”
Derek was silent for a moment.
He could have recited lines that might appear in the kind of third-rate romance novels Denise liked to Elente, who had just returned to the path of life from the brink of an extreme decision.
Things like, your life is noble and valuable, so do not make a foolish choice.
Things like, I will be by your side, so please, lay down that fear.
Things like, if you just trust me and entrust your heart, I will surely heal your wounds.
It was not difficult to picture the series of processes: comforting Elente with wonderful lines mixed with romance and a little self-awareness, becoming a pillar for her heart, and weaving trust once more by holding each other’s hands.
To pull up the arm of the girl who was flailing in a pit like that.
However, Derek did not do that.
Derek was Elente’s master.
Derek did not believe in words like unilaterally saving someone’s heart.
He considered that unilaterally extending a hand of salvation to a girl who coveted power, believed in upright values, and was carving out the path of her own life was synonymous with not respecting her life and ideals.
That is what it meant to teach someone.
One does not call a person who unilaterally grabs the arm of someone who has fallen into the mud and pulls them out a master.
A true master is one who rolls up their sleeves, pushes against the ground, and recites the way for them to pull their own body out of the mud.
Therefore, Derek did not pull Elente to her feet, but instead knelt on one knee beside her and met her gaze.
Elente, sitting on the floor, raised her head and met his eyes.
Her appearance was haggard. Unkempt hair was stuck to her cheek, and her lifeless eyes were like those of a living corpse.
“You have come to understand solitude.”
In an empty room, the experience of those you thought would believe in and follow you for a lifetime turning their backs one by one leaves a void and a sense of futility in one’s heart.
It was something that those who were advancing to reign over the masses had to experience at least once, whether sooner or later.
Elente was also just in that process. Even those who reigned over the high places and commanded the world had all gone through it once. But there was no one to tell her that.
Therefore, without any other long words, Derek quietly whispered to her.
“You have grown again.”
At those words, Elente’s eyes widened.
Looking at the tips of Derek’s fingers, from which blood was dripping, she finally felt as if cold water had been thrown over her.
The one who becomes the next head of Belmeade must always live as a single flower, never losing her dignity.
However, mental strength was a consumable. From time to time, one had to let everything go and prepare a place where the heart could rest.
Only now, when she felt a great doubt about her life’s goal and felt as if she had fallen to the bottom, could she know the importance of that.
“Derek.”
She squeezed the bridge of her nose tightly and held back the tears that were about to pour out.
Just like that, Elente stood up on her own without receiving Derek’s help. And after raising her chin again, she raised her eyes, which, though still in a haggard frame, had regained their vitality.
“I have shown an unseemly side of myself. I am sorry, Derek.”
“Not at all. It was a situation where anyone would have been mentally cornered.”
“Haha… this kind of slander is something that can be refuted by calmly collecting evidence and arguing logically. I almost went down the wrong path in a momentary illusion of hardship, but it was literally just an illusion. For me, who has reigned for a long time as the heir of Belmeade, there is no reason to struggle over a stumbling block of this degree, so…”
Elente was once again revealing her strong nature, speaking fluently.
However, seeing the boy in front of her who was just looking at her silently, without refuting or agreeing, she was at a loss for words.
“So…”
Her words trailed off as she looked around the room.
A blood-stained dagger, an overturned table, a rain-soaked carpet. It was truly a mess.
Her reflection in the mirror looked so haggard that she could hardly recognize herself at a glance.
And her appearance reflected in Derek’s eyes was the same.
Elente stammered… and finally spoke with a trembling chin.
“I see. I was having a hard time, wasn’t I?”
“…”
“Derek, I understand well what you mean. Though I hold much authority and power at this age, it seems my core was not as firm. But still, Derek…”
Elente finally wrapped her arms around Derek’s chest and spoke with a trembling voice.
“It is truly a relief that you are still on my side.”
<><><>
Once the emotional turmoil had passed, a person would rapidly regain their calm and become cool-headed.
After Derek had finished cleaning up, Elente was sitting demurely in a corner of the bed, her head turned to the wall.
Seeing her fiddling with her fingertips and not meeting his eyes, it seemed that now that her head had cooled, she had become embarrassed.
“Lady Elente.”
“Yes! No, yes…”
The pitch of her voice shot up, and Elente, startled, had to lower her voice again.
The state of calm that comes after an emotional upheaval, as if one has become a sage. However, that state of calm could not drive out the shame.
“I’m telling you this beforehand in case you misunderstand, but it would be troublesome if you thought I was the kind of loose person who so easily wraps her arms around a man’s chest. The heat just rushed to my head for a moment, and I did something I normally wouldn’t do. Consider it a situation as if I were drunk on strong liquor.”
“…I understand. I will consider Lady Elente to be a person who presses her body into a man’s chest when she is drunk.”
“…Why do you put it like that?”
“Have you calmed down?”
Derek naturally provoked Elente, making her turn her head.
Elente suddenly trembled her shoulders and fidgeted, then realized that even this reaction was something Derek had induced.
‘Secular power, I am far superior, and he is even thoroughly polite… but when I talk with this man, I end up feeling like I’m the one being swayed.’
For Elente, who had been sitting in the position of the next head of Belmeade since she came of age, it was a fresh experience.
Above was above, and below was below… it was the first time she felt that a person below her was holding sway over her, yet it was a strange feeling that did not scratch her pride or make her angry.
The man named Derek was a strange person who seemed neither like someone below her, nor like someone above her.
‘I see. I think I know why Lady Aiseline fell for him. Noble young ladies are, by nature, weak to such men.’
And then, she put a hand to her brow and monologued.
‘He’s a player.’
In truth, Derek had no such thoughts. Elente was just assigning meaning on her own.
But Elente was no pushover either, so that insight was correct to some extent.
Women of noble houses had a truly subtle nature, and there were many cases where they felt no attraction to men who were completely polite, kind, and never opposed them in any matter.
Rather, it was truly paradoxical that they more often felt a fiery love for men who did not move completely according to their will, yet seemed like they could be caught… men on that boundary.
‘Thinking about it like that suddenly cools my mood. To say he’s a person who goes around effortlessly holding sway over people, from my position with all of Belmeade in the palm of my hand, isn’t it quite damaging to my pride to be swayed by such a frivolous person?’
Elente placed a hand on her chest and took a deep breath.
‘For Lady Aiseline’s sake, if nothing else, I must never lose my peace of mind.’
“Lady Elente.”
“Huk?!”
However, as soon as he suddenly came close and called her name, Elente broke out in a cold sweat and retreated.
Leaning her back against the wall, she spoke with wide eyes.
“Don’t suddenly come so close. I have only just recovered from a state of mental and physical weakness, so I am startled by even light stimuli.”
“I apologize. I was lacking in consideration.”
“Ah, no… strictly speaking, it’s not your fault… No, I’m sorry.”
Elente shook her head and fanned her face with her hands.
Derek arranged the letters he had placed on the table and spoke in a faster tone.
“The longer I stay, the more the risk of being discovered by the retainers on watch increases, so I will quickly inform you of the necessary information and leave.”
“L-leave? Leaving me here alone?”
“…? It’s not as if I can stay here forever…”
“Ah, no. I was just asking. It’s only natural.”
Elente once again raised her eyes sharply and sat on the edge of the bed.
When she sat alone, the darkness of this private room felt like it was pressing down on her shoulders, but she did not want to show such a weak side to Derek.
As she had said, she was just in a state of mental and physical weakness right now. If she spouted strange things in such a situation, it would leave consequences.
“I am pretending to cooperate with Young Master Leonard while sounding him out. Do you remember when Lady Trisha visited our Ravencrow Barony?”
“Lady Trisha? Yes… I believe she asked you to investigate the necromancers who escaped from Rodentz Island.”
“Originally, necromancy is something that ordinary mages cannot easily access, and it is difficult to grasp its nature. However, I, who have encountered necromancy in the Duplein family, can tell.”
Derek crossed his arms and quickly relayed the information.
“The necromancy research lab that was in the basement is quite different in its origin from the necromancy I saw during the Duplein family’s tragedy. It is highly likely that it is related to the necromancy of Rodentz Island. Of course… this is not a story with definite evidence.”
“Then… Leonard wasn’t on a pilgrimage all this time, but…”
“For some reason, he encountered necromancy and learned it while studying on Rodentz Island.”
The 6-Star necromancer Pinne was a person who had authored numerous necromancy books.
The necromancers of Rodentz Island would gather to pore over the magic books written by such a Pinne, revere her who was somewhere on the continent, and seek to find her writings that were wandering somewhere on the continent.
Leonard also became one of them and was active, but after the island was subjugated by the Renuel Viscounty, he had no choice but to return to the Belmeade County.
When he returned, he found that Linus had given up the position of heir, and Elente was taking his place.
From Leonard’s perspective, who had been pushed aside by Linus, he must have thought that he was a better fit as the master of this family than Elente.
“…However, the idea that the necromancy of Rodentz Island and Leonard are connected is just a guess. Without evidence, how can we refute Leonard’s slander?”
“There is no need to refute it. Slander can be countered with greater slander.”
“What…?”
“Why do you try to fight on the battlefield your opponent has created? Let us redraw the board where we are the masters.”
Derek unfolded a letter and showed it to her.
It was a message he had received directly from Aiseline of the Duplein family.
— ‘The late Lord Valerian of the Duplein family was swayed by evil necromancy and made a great mistake, but it was not his own will, but an act led by the domination of necromancy. It brought a great disaster upon our family, and the result was not good, but he never proactively researched necromancy.’
— ‘Distorting this fact is a great discourtesy to our Duplein family. We are sincerely mourning the late Lord Valerian, and we will not stand by in the face of unnecessary slander against the deceased.’
It was a letter that directly refuted the claim that Elente had discussed necromancy research with Valerian.
Of course, no one would want to proudly say that a member of their own family was researching necromancy. Such words of denial from Duplein might just be a formal expression.
However, it would serve as one of the many elements to prove Elente’s innocence.
“…Sending such an aggressive letter to the Belmeade side must not have been an easy decision for Lady Aiseline…”
“It is because she does not doubt the fact that Lady Elente is innocent.”
“…What is this letter from the Renuel Viscounty?”
“It is a letter stating that the great hero of the Renuel Viscounty, the matriarch Rodeia, will soon visit the Belmeade family.”
At those words, Elente’s eyes widened again.
Viscountess Rodeia was the hero who had subjugated Rodentz Island, and she was recognized as a person who would soon receive the position of Margrave and display her authority highly.
She abhorred necromancy and was a person who would stop at nothing to catch and kill all the remnants of Rodentz Island.
Derek had contacted Trisha, intending to bring the viscountess, who was nothing less than the natural enemy of those necromancers, directly to this Belmeade.
“Y-you’re blowing this up to such a large scale? What if Leonard really has nothing to do with Rodentz Island? Can you handle the aftermath?”
“I can handle the aftermath.”
“H-how?”
“Because this letter is a forgery I created.”
At those words, Elente’s jaw dropped.
“When the opponent argues with lies and pressures us with fabricated evidence, why must we fight fair and square?”
“…”
“Rodeia of the Renuel Viscounty is nothing less than a god of death to the necromancers of Rodentz Island. Just by mentioning her name, we should be able to seize the initiative to some extent.”
If Rodeia, who had lived her life killing more necromancers than anyone, were to visit in person and examine the scene, she might be able to detect the magic power imbued in the traces of necromancy that belonged to the necromancy of Rodentz Island.
It was a difficult task for even considerable experts, but it was different for a master like Rodeia. There was no one in the world who was more of an expert on the necromancy of Rodentz Island than her.
If that were to happen, Elente’s innocence would be proven.
Because Elente had spent her entire life in Ebelstein and the Belmeade County, and had never even been near Rodentz Island.
“Derek. Leonard is a fellow who is skilled at forging documents and constructing situations. At a glance, this letter may look fine, but to Leonard’s eyes, it could quickly be exposed as a crude and clumsy fake.”
“That is what I’m hoping for.”
Seeing Derek smile as he said that, Elente could not refute him any further.
She could not shake the feeling that Derek was setting some kind of trap.
“The longer I stay, the greater the risk of being discovered, so I will now exit through the window.”
“A-already?”
“Yes?”
“Ah, no… I m-mean, it’s a relief that the rain has already stopped.”
Afterward, Elente, who had been informed of Derek’s plan, was watching Derek tying a rope to the window frame with a complex and subtle gaze.
It was the first time she had ever vented her rock-bottom resentment to someone, let alone someone of the opposite sex, so it was difficult to easily fix this awkward and fidgety attitude.
However, since she couldn’t keep being like this, Elente shook her head sharply and spoke.
“The outer wall will be slippery, so be careful not to fall.”
“Do not worry.”
Whoooosh—
When he opened the window, the wind of the open sky rushed into the room.
As she felt that cold night air, it suddenly hit her. This man had rushed in like the wind and knocked the dagger from her hand, and now he was about to leave like the wind again.
Even so, morning would come, and they could meet again when the plan began in earnest.
But what was so great about that brief separation, that the hollow darkness pressing in from behind her in the room felt a little heavy.
“Tomorrow, the Margrave of Belmeade will come in person to hear the entire situation. That is when we must make our move.”
“Don’t worry. I can convey my opinion to my father logically.”
“Yes, I believe you will do so. Then, rest well for the remainder of the night and…”
Before climbing down the rope, Derek met Elente’s eyes and stated it clearly.
“Do not forget the fact that I am Lady Elente’s ally.”
A confirmation of fact.
That was all it was, but Elente suddenly felt as if she had been stabbed in the chest with a knife.
As always, it was just a matter of nodding coolly and saying, ‘Mm,’ but… it was strange that her heart felt so strangely full from just those words.
When Elente nodded that she understood, the man dropped down into the darkness of the night. He soon landed on the ground and melted into the darkness.
After confirming his departure, she untied the rope and put it away, closed the window, and walked back into the hollow darkness.
Lying on the bed, she stared blankly up at the ceiling.
— ‘Do not forget the fact that I am Lady Elente’s ally.’
The words the man had left behind like a gift before he left seemed to echo in her ears.
— ‘Do not forget the fact that I am Lady Elente’s ally.’
— ‘Do not forget the fact that I am Lady Elente’s ally.’
Was it because of the words in her memory that continued to spread like an echo?
When she suddenly came to her senses, she no longer felt the hollow darkness of the room, and instead, a strange sense of fulfillment was washing over her.
Elente thought calmly and rationally.
This was definitely dangerous.