Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: New Phase #6
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Elga prided herself on having lived diligently.
Sure, others might call her the wastrel of the Lioness family or a wayward cat behind her back. But those were just the cowards who gossiped from the shadows.
Cowards like Mirna Draco.
Such rumors couldn't even scratch Elga's pride.
From a young age, she'd rolled in blood and mud on the battlefield, fighting the kingdom's enemies with all her might. She took pride in that life.
For such a woman to be the daughter of a traitor?
When she first heard that her father and a man named Isaiah were involved, Elga hadn't believed it. She'd thought it must be some misunderstanding.
But seeing this letter made it undeniable—they had sheltered a fallen royal.
"Someday, he was fated to be king. We planned to make it happen."
The horrific tale, written in her father's familiar hand. Reinhardt hadn't just hidden the fallen prince; he'd intended to crown him king.
In other words, the ringleader of a rebellion.
If her mad cousin Aira saw this letter, who knew what would happen. So Elga tore it to shreds after reading it. She ripped it into tiny pieces, not leaving a single letter intact.
That's when the half-elf who'd been reading it beside her spoke up.
"Lady Elga."
For a moment, Elga wondered if this half-elf was about to reproach her for what just happened.
—The daughter of a traitor...! And you've been strutting around like that all this time...! The Lioness family is finished. We'll confiscate your wealth...! I'll make you my slave...!
Of course, he wouldn't say that.
But it wouldn't be strange if he did.
So Elga wanted to shut him up before he could speak.
"What, you about to say something weird again!"
"No, it's not weird. According to this, Isaiah went missing. And he's not the type to chase skirts, so there's a good chance he has no descendants in the world."
"Wh-what's that got to do with anything."
"But suppose Isaiah does have a son or daughter out there. And suppose you found out about it, Lady Elga. What would you do?"
"If I found out—"
Elga wasn't an idiot.
She could easily guess why this man was asking her this.
He was the queen's closest aide, working tirelessly to uphold the current Tarantella royal line.
As a man in that position, he was testing her loyalty now. Probing her ideology.
So Elga said it as if it were the most obvious thing.
"I'd kill them, obviously!"
"Kill them...?"
The half-elf looked thoroughly perplexed. Worried her answer had been too bland, Elga defended herself with fervor.
"Not just kill them—I'd burn them alive, make it gruesome...!"
"Burn them alive, make it gruesome...?"
The man's reaction grew increasingly odd. He seemed hesitant, maybe even frightened.
Was she supposed to suggest an even more gruesome method?
To protect her devotion to the nation and her pride as a noble, Elga chose her words carefully. This was the time to prove her innocence.
"Suppose."
The half-elf, who'd been silent for a moment, spoke.
"Suppose the hidden Angmar's true identity turned out to be someone you care about, or someone you know."
"What?"
"Think about your younger brother, Richard."
"Richard?"
At the half-elf's mystical voice, Elga's mind immediately pictured her little brother.
The boy who'd toddled after her since childhood, calling "Sis." With their big age gap, she'd practically raised him on her back.
"Why Richard?"
"Suppose Richard isn't your blood brother after all, but an adopted one—and his true identity is Angmar's prince. What would you do?"
Richard, adopted?
No, Elga remembered the day he was born. It was the day she lost her mother—she'd never forget.
"Richard is my brother! Nothing to do with Angmar! He's got blond hair and blue eyes! Anyone can see he's a Lioness son!"
Elga passionately defended her brother's innocence.
The half-elf calmly countered.
"No, I mean, just suppose. If the most precious family member or person in your life turned out to be a traitor, had committed treason—what would you do?"
"......"
Elga fell silent for a moment. She realized she had to choose her words carefully. The half-elf's intent was so transparent it was obvious.
He's asking what I'd do about Father.
Now that she'd realized her family man, her father, was involved in a treasonous plot. What would she do about him?
Weighing family against duty.
It was a deeply troubling question for Elga.
She'd lived her life swelling with pride as an Angmar soldier. But she'd also lived her whole life as a daughter of the Lioness family.
Elga glanced at the half-elf's face.
Despite looking like a boy just entering puberty.
Despite his usual foolish antics that matched his childish features, he had these moments when his words struck like a sharp dagger.
Perhaps sensing her hesitation, he spoke.
"You need to think carefully about your answer now. Someday, Lady Elga, you'll truly be forced to make that choice. I guarantee it."
His blue eyes gleamed with an eerie light. His words felt like pronouncements of inevitability.
As if he'd seen the future.
That's when Elga truly realized why this half-elf had been summoned from a court full of venomous sycophants.
Ascetic Priest Tao Gospel.
Indeed, the man who held her mad cousin Aira's reins.
"The moment of choice..."
* * *
I was certain.
Someday, Elga would face a moment where she had to choose between family and nation.
It was inevitable.
Someday, I'd reveal my identity with a dramatic *bam*, and she'd be shocked.
Then she'd realize she'd stepped too far to turn back.
By then, we'd probably have two kids, and given the Lioness family's trait of doting on their blood, she wouldn't abandon her own children. She'd break and compromise in the end.
Imagining that made me feel oddly good.
An eye for an eye: as many killed, so many born.
That was a gentleman's revenge.
But Elga seemed to interpret my words differently, saying something a bit off-topic.
"You're telling me to prove my loyalty now by taking down my father?"
"Your father?"
Had she heard my words as "Choose wisely between Reinhardt and devotion to the nation"? It could sound that way.
Suddenly, it struck me that this situation was quite similar to the answer I'd wanted from her.
To Elga, Reinhardt was her father—and a potential rebel.
And I was her husband (soon to be)—and the seed of rebellion itself.
Her attitude toward Reinhardt could predict her future attitude toward me. So I drove the point home.
"Lady Elga. It's true that Lord Reinhardt tried to make a man named Isaiah king."
"......"
"What do you think about that? Family versus nation. Affection versus noble pride. If you had to choose one, what would you do?"
"You're telling me to disown my father right now."
"It could sound that way."
"I..."
Elga clenched her fists. Watching her trembling hands, I felt I could guess her answer.
"...I couldn't do that."
"Couldn't?"
"How could I abandon my father?"
Elga's response held a serene resignation, almost calm.
"I'm a Lioness first—before I'm a knight or soldier. How could I abandon my family?"
"Even if it puts you at odds with House Tarantella or others?"
"Yeah."
Her answer pleased me greatly. Prioritizing family meant a higher chance she'd choose me later.
Wiping the satisfied smile from my lips, I said calmly.
"Then, I'll keep this a secret for now. The letter from Lord Reinhardt and its contents—all of it."
It could serve as a leash to control Elga if she started acting out on her own in the fortress.
Thinking that, Reinhardt's letter had been quite helpful to me.
Too bad she'd shredded it.
"You—"
Elga hesitated, then mumbled.
"What about you?"
"Me?"
"Suppose your family was reviled by everyone. Finger-pointed at. Dragged to the execution block, torn apart by an angry mob. Or branded enemies of the state."
"My family?"
"What would you do? Abandon them?"
Abandon family.
Elga didn't know, but I'd been abandoned. Deserted, you could say. For me to abandon family was unthinkable.
I still vividly remembered my childhood self, peering out the window every day, waiting for a mother who might never return.
"I couldn't abandon my family either. If you became my family, Lady Elga—even if the world reviled and tormented you, I'd stay by your side."
"What're you saying?"
Blushing at my words, Elga rubbed her slippers against the floor.
She reached out her hand toward me. Thinking maybe a gift, I checked her palm—nothing.
"Why?"
"...Let's hold hands. Go for a walk."
"What if people see?"
"So what if they do. I already told Aira straight up. The only one who could nitpick between us now is Mirna."
She had a point.
With some unease, I took Elga's hand.
We slowly strolled the late Sunday night streets, edging into Monday. My heart pounded like I was doing something naughty, face burning.
Just holding hands, and I felt like this.
Unlike the times I'd held her body, driven by lust—this was a strange, ticklish warmth in my chest.
Did Elga feel the same?
I glanced at her face.
Under the streetlamp, her cheeks flushed, lips twitching as if she had something to say.
It felt like tying the hands of shy boy-girl kids. Like an elementary school punishment game walk.
"Tao, since you said you wouldn't abandon me, I'll tell you a secret."
"A secret?"
A secret, out of nowhere.
I wondered what secret Elga had been hiding from me all this time. No underwear? No, I'd seen her wearing some earlier.
As I pondered, Elga teased.
"Nah, changed my mind. Not telling."