Chapter 83
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Playboy, Villainess Lady, Stepmother (6)
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"Just get through today, and we'll truly become brothers."
Cale patted my shoulder as we stood at the door and said that.
I knew he was just thinking of ways to smack me in the back of the head later, so it struck me as ridiculous, but I nodded vaguely and stepped inside anyway.
"There you are."
Garcia sat there with an alluring poise, her long green hair neatly braided and pinned up atop her head.
The outfit she wore was quite revealing, but the noble air she exuded made it seem more antique and refined than lewd.
"Have you been well, Mother?"
The word mother didn't sit right on my tongue.
Garcia seemed to feel the same, judging by her somewhat disgruntled expression.
"...Yes, sit down."
The moment I took my seat, Garcia beckoned to the maid as if she'd been waiting.
"Bring the tea."
"...Yes, ma'am."
Garcia was a woman who knew exactly how to make even the slightest gesture convey an air of dignity.
"This will take a while, so listen up. It's brewed from tea leaves grown by House Maysha itself."
"...No thank you. I already quenched my thirst before coming here."
We might be here to forge an alliance, but this was still enemy territory at heart.
You couldn't just casually eat or drink what the enemy offered.
At that, Cale threw a fit and shouted.
"Eugene! Are you refusing Mother's kind gesture right now?!"
"...That's not it, brother..."
"If that's not it, then what is it?! If you don't trust it, I'll drink it first!"
With that, Cale took a sip from the cup and opened his mouth again.
"See?! Now do you believe it, Eugene?!"
"I told you, it's not about that. I never doubted it from the start, brother."
"Then drink up! If you're here for an alliance, shouldn't we at least build a minimum of trust?!"
"...Fine."
As I took a sip from my cup, the corners of Garcia's and Cale's mouths curved up faintly.
"Does it suit your taste?"
"...It's excellent."
"I'm glad to hear that."
Garcia took a sip of her own tea, crossing her impeccably maintained legs as she spoke.
"Then let's skip the pleasantries and get to the point. I heard from Cale that you'll support our side for the next family head position. What do you want in return...?"
"Hold on a moment, please."
"..."
She clearly didn't like being interrupted mid-sentence, but since I was here to form an alliance, she couldn't treat me too roughly, so she just grimaced slightly and let it go.
I bowed my head politely and turned to Cale.
"How are you feeling right now, brother?"
I smiled at Cale as I looked at him, and he scowled back.
"What nonsense is this all of a—...? You... why... suddenly... two... of you..."
Thud—
Cale slammed his head onto the table and collapsed.
"...Looks like brother was exhausted."
"Cale! Cale! Pull yourself together! Cale! ...You bastard! What have you done?!"
"Who knows? Wasn't it you, Mother?"
Garcia gnashed her teeth and pulled a small vial from her bosom to try feeding it to Cale, but I snatched her wrist first.
"Let go!"
"It's pointless anyway. Do you think I'd use the exact same poison you prepared? Right?"
I glanced at the maid who'd brought the tea as I spoke, and she began trembling violently.
"I-I..."
"Have you lost your mind, you wretch?! Betraying me like this?! Do you think you'll get away with it?!"
"S-Sob... I'm... s-sorry... ma'am... please... spare me..."
She looked pitiful enough, bawling and kowtowing, but I'd died by that maid's hand several times already, so I felt no sympathy.
Emma did a great job.
Threatening the maid had been Emma's role.
She'd attached herself to Garcia's side and warned her that if the plan to poison me got out, she could kill not just her, but her whole family anytime she wanted.
Garcia, half out of her mind, screamed.
"You bastard! You think you'll get away with this?!"
"Yes, I will. If anything, you should worry about Cale, brother."
I issued a light threat, but Garcia bellowed back undaunted.
"Guards! Come in here and arrest this vile scum right now!"
She must have trusted the knights outside the door, but it was futile.
Creeeak—
The door cracked open slightly, revealing Alfredo smiling benevolently.
"...Why... you!"
"...I'm sorry, ma'am. No one enters here without the young master's permission."
Spotting the knights collapsed at Alfredo's feet, Garcia's face drained of color.
"Urgh...!"
They were knights she'd prepared herself, but unfortunately, Alfredo was stronger.
Of course, if it had been the White Wolf Knights that House Calliope prided itself on standing at the door, the situation would have been different.
But the White Wolf Knights were loyal to Father and my eldest brother.
Garcia never could have trusted them in the first place.
I handed the maid Cale's teacup.
"Drink."
"Y-Young master... p-please... forgive me..."
"Refuse, and you die."
The conversation from here on wouldn't be for anyone else's ears.
"H-Hng... guh... mmph..."
The maid passed out after drinking. I slowly crossed my legs and called out to Garcia.
"Mother..."
"Don't you dare call me that with that mouth!"
The mother protecting her young snarled sharply, but a toothless bitch's bark was just noise.
"Then, Garcia..."
"How dare you...!"
Garcia's neck veins bulged as she spat the words.
I let out a short sigh and shook my head.
She hated being called Mother, and she hated her own name too.
What a demanding woman.
Thud—
I slammed the desk and growled lowly.
"...If you want to save that idiot, you'd better get your head straight from now on."
Telekinesis (Rank D)
I spread my telekinesis thinly, physically weighing down the air.
Mimicking the intimidation from killing intent or overwhelming mana with telekinesis.
It was laughable against real experts, but more than enough against a powerless woman like Garcia.
Finally regaining some composure, Garcia exhaled deeply and spoke.
"...What do you want."
"Now we're talking."
"Shut up and say it!"
"Simple. Hand the next family head position to my eldest brother."
"So Erden put you up to this! All that noble pretense, and this is what it comes down to?!"
Garcia glared at me with bloodshot eyes again, and I sighed pityingly.
"Brother had nothing to do with it—he doesn't even know this happened. You know it too. Once Eldest Brother gets the family's full backing, he could crush House Maysha anytime."
"You...!"
She was so furious that a trickle of blood seeped from her clenched lips.
House Maysha was her reverse scale, so her reaction was understandable.
"Even so, this is me going easy. Take it."
The note I handed her detailed perfectly the costs of her assassination plot, the hired group, the operation timeline—everything.
"...How did you... get... this...? Mmph."
Realizing she'd unwittingly confirmed the plan, Garcia clamped her mouth shut, but it was far too late.
"Think about who else knew the plan besides you, and the answer's obvious."
Aside from me, only Garcia and Reika knew this plan.
"Impossible... it can't be."
"Deny it all you want. Just not sure how you'll deny what's written there."
It was natural for Garcia to suspect Reika.
More realistic than me somehow knowing the future.
...Truthfully, it didn't matter to me if she believed it or not.
Just planting seeds of distrust between them was enough.
Time to open a path for her...
Even a cornered rat will bite a cat.
Better to leave an escape route.
Even if it led straight to hell.
I withdrew the telekinesis and smiled amiably.
"Mother, I'm not trying to bulldoze you. I'm open to a fair negotiation."
"...Are you toying with me?"
"Let's be honest for once. Isn't the root of your lust for power because House Maysha was humiliated?"
It wasn't easy for a pure noble maiden to sneak into a man's bedchamber at night.
Yet Garcia did it because her weak house had suffered excessive insults from other nobles.
Failure meant House Maysha would vanish without a trace, but success would let her repay those humiliations.
The gamble half-succeeded.
She became Lady Calliope, but never grasped real power.
If anything, it increased the number of people scorning House Maysha.
They said she sold her body to enter House Calliope yet couldn't act the part of lady even once.
That's why she obsessed over the next family head position so fiercely.
To gain true power and avenge the insults to herself and her house.
"I'll help House Maysha. Not to the level of House Calliope, that'd be a lie. But at least in this northern region, no one will dare look down on your house."
"...How could a wretch like you possibly help me?"
Fair point.
I wasn't the head of House Calliope, and my powerful maternal family was long destroyed.
In the end, I had no real power left.
...Which meant the power I had left was...
"I'm in a deep relationship with Lucia Ursula."
"..."
It was something of a bombshell, but Garcia didn't seem too surprised, so she'd probably suspected.
Made sense—after ten years of monthly letters to Father, someone as close as Garcia would notice.
But that wasn't my only card.
"And with Her Highness the Princess, too."
"...What?!"
This one caught her off guard—Garcia's eyes widened.
I showed her the letter from Her Highness.
"...This is... from Her Highness... such a childish love letter?"
I got her mood.
Hard to believe the Empire's Sun would send something so playful.
"...I know it's hard to believe, but it's true."
"...Ridiculous... impossible..."
I took back the letter, ran a hand through my hair, and fixed Garcia with a stare.
"Understand? I have Ursula's and the imperial family's protection. With their power, propping up House Maysha is no issue."
"...How could I trust the bastard who poisoned my son?"
I let out a hollow laugh at her words.
After trying to poison me first, now she nitpicked that? Absurd.
"Then grab my weakness too, Mother. That's exactly what I want."
"...What nonsense is this?"
I leaned forward slowly and whispered in Garcia's ear.
"...Have a physical relationship with me. Mother."