Chapter 613: Refusal
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 613: Refusal
Peaceful or not, the night winds of Belland were always biting.
In the midst of that chilling breeze, the two siblings stood on opposite sides of the street, staring at each other in silence.
It was as if time itself had frozen.
After an eternity, the silence was finally broken by a sigh that drifted through the wind.
"So, you found out after all."
"The evidence wasn't exactly difficult to analyze, was it? The Dion family, the Sun Food Factory, the Underground Research Institute... if you dig deep enough, you find they are all linked by a single thread. And if you follow that thread, you eventually see it—the hidden channels belonging to the Bugard family."
Ariel lowered her gaze slightly. "I have to admit, you hid it well. It’s no wonder the Robin managed to escape even after the Inner Council was wiped out. If I weren't the heir to the Bugard family and didn't already know a few things, I expect it would have taken me quite a bit more effort to uncover this."
"That’s not what I’m getting at."
Orlando shook his head, his tone laced with regret.
"If you found out, you found out. It was within my expectations; I never thought these things could stay hidden forever. But... why must you be so clever, my sister? In a time like this, you should have just played the fool."
Orlando looked up, staring at Ariel. His eyes were the deep blue common among the Imperial nobility, shimmering like jewels—a symbol of his mother’s noble bloodline.
Ariel, however, had ordinary brown eyes. Though the brilliance and spirit within them could be piercing enough to make one look away... her mother had been nothing more than a maid born in the Lower District, sold to the Count’s Manor at the age of eight.
"You should know, my dear sister, that if these things are exposed to the light of day, it will be a catastrophe for me, for you, and even for the entire Bugard family. You could have easily pretended you didn't see anything. The Inner Council is gone. If you had just played dumb this once, everything would have ended with you. No one would have ever discovered the truth. After all, for the new Emperor to entrust you with this task, he must truly trust you."
"Play the fool... Yes, it would have been so easy to just play the fool..."
Ariel looked at her hands, the images she had seen along the way flashing through her mind.
The human experimentation, the man-made monsters, the wretched souls treated as mere disposables... Having seen all that, could she really turn a blind eye to such atrocities?
She knew she couldn't.
"I’m sorry, but you went too far."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Orlando spoke. "So, you’re still going to the Imperial Palace? You’re going to personally expose the crimes of your own family?"
"Yes."
"Do you not care for the Bugard family at all?"
Orlando’s hand suddenly gripped his thigh—a limb that had lost almost all sensation. He spoke with sudden, sharp fury.
"Ever since you crippled these legs, I’ve been the laughingstock of everyone... I lost, and I don't dispute that. But I became that damned Robin so that this family could take another step forward! So I could prove to the world once again that I, Orlando Bugard, am not a useless failure!"
"But you lost again," Ariel said, her voice flat. "And in doing so, you’ve dragged the entire Bugard family into the abyss."
"Yes... I lost again."
Orlando slumped back into his wheelchair, as if all the air had been let out of him.
"I lost, and I’m doomed to be a failure forever. But you, my dear sister—you are different."
Orlando looked at Ariel with a desperate glimmer of hope.
"You are the heir to the Bugard name now. You are the future Countess. It doesn't matter what happens to me. If my death could end this, you could take my head right now... but you know that’s impossible. This won't end with the death of one person; it will inevitably implicate the entire Bugard family!"
"Ariel, sister, I’m begging you. Even if you won't think of me, think of the family! Think of the hundreds of people who serve the Bugard name!"
"Turn back!"
Orlando lowered his head.
This was the second time in his life he had bowed his head to the girl before him. He was practiced at it now, making his plea seem all the more sincere.
He believed his sister was simply too rigid, that she had made the wrong choice. He was certain that with a little persuasion, she would see reason and return from the brink.
After all, she was a future high-ranking official of the Empire, the radiant Countess of—
"I’m sorry, but no," Ariel replied.
"Huh? What... what did you say?"
"I said, no."
Ariel traced a ring on her finger, a look of profound longing suddenly appearing in the depths of her eyes.
"Actually, I don't understand why you think... that I would truly care what happens to the Bugard family."
"Because you are the heir! You are the future Countess! If you turn back now, no one will ever challenge you again! No one in the entire family would dare oppose you!"
Orlando roared, his eyes bloodshot.
These were the things he had once pursued with everything he had, and now they were laid out before this girl, within her reach.
And yet she seemed... indifferent?
Impossible. It was absolutely impossible. No one could resist such a temptation!
"Yes... it all sounds very enticing. But... so what?"
Ariel spoke calmly. "Countess? To be honest, I never cared about some 'Count's title.'"
"Liar! Who would refuse—"
"I have no reason to lie to you."
Ariel cut him off.
"Do you know, Brother? I was born in the Lower District. I grew up in the Lower District. My only memories before the age of ten are of a shack so dilapidated it couldn't even keep out the wind and rain, and my mother—gentle, strong, working day and night without rest. You, who grew up in the luxury of a noble household, probably can't imagine what that life is like. The black bread I find hard to swallow now was a luxury we could only afford once a week back then—the only thing that truly filled my stomach!"
Ariel gripped her ring tight, her expression turning fierce, like a cornered stray dog. "Then, when I was ten, my only relative—my mother—passed away. I was left with absolutely nothing. On her deathbed, she told me I had a powerful father. She gave me this ring and told me that if I ever had no way to survive, I should go find him. She told me she didn't blame him, that she still loved him... just a bunch of nonsense that sounded incredibly stupid to me.
"So, after using the last of our money to bury her, I didn't go looking for him. I started scraping by in the Lower District, fighting with thugs, stealing from thieves. Even then, it was hard to survive because I was weak. I couldn't beat anyone. I was often beaten until I blacked out. If a kind Abbess hadn't taken me in, I probably would have died in a gutter in the Lower District long ago.
"Of course, it was because of her that I met Liya... and other people who are important to me."
Ariel took a deep breath, closing her eyes to steady her emotions before continuing.
"Later, using my own savings and my teacher's help, I tested into Saint Maria Academy. I began to make a name for myself there, and only then did that 'great man'—my father—notice me and bring me back to the Bugard family."
"But you still came back, didn't you? Saying you don't care is obviously—"
"The reason I came back to this house and fought you for the position of heir was twofold. First, because you were the one who couldn't stand the sight of me and tried to sabotage me from the shadows. And second... to clear my mother's name!"
Ariel interrupted Orlando, her voice cold. "Do you understand? I don't give a damn about the Bugard family or the title of Countess! I only wanted to prove to all of you that the 'wench' you looked down on and the 'bastard' you whispered about in the dark are far stronger than your so-called noble blood!"
"That’s right. That is all!"
The cold wind blew, and a faint night mist danced with it. Ariel stood alone in the middle of the wide road, her figure appearing fragile.
But the light from some unknown source behind her cast a massive, menacing shadow on the ground.
Orlando looked stunned, unable to speak for a moment.
He seemed to recall the time he was defeated—he had been sitting just as pathetically then, looked down upon by Ariel’s contemptuous gaze.
After a long silence, Orlando’s body swayed. He shook his head to clear his daze and pleaded humbly once more. "Regardless, you have been cared for by the Bugard family for the past two years. You can't just—"
Clatter.
Before Orlando could finish, an exquisite bracelet—a spatial magic device—dropped in front of his wheelchair.
"This is..."
"Do you know why I discovered all this over a day ago, but am only going to the palace now?"
Ariel struggled to keep herself from looking at the bracelet, her teeth clenched.
"I spent this entire day gathering money. It cost me a significant price, but every bit of the 'paltry' funds you used to support me is in there!"
"This... how could..."
"I kept a record of every single transaction. There are no mistakes. I will not owe you a single copper!"
As she spoke, Ariel turned to leave, seemingly unwilling to stay in this painful place a moment longer.
"I’ve said my piece. I’m leaving. Goodbye!"
"Wait!"
Orlando suddenly slapped the armrest of his wheelchair and shouted, "You think you can just walk away?"
"Oh?"
Ariel turned her head slightly. The phantom of a greatsword appeared behind her, and a dangerous aura began to radiate from her slender frame.
"Are you saying... you want to fight me?"
"..." Orlando froze.
"You were no match for me a year ago, and you’re even less of one now. Better save your strength and think about how to face the coming judgment... Brother Orlando."
After emphasizing those last words with biting sarcasm, Ariel gave a casual wave and vanished into the darkness of the street.
Orlando stared blankly at her retreating back. His hands, veins bulging, clenched and unclenched several times, but in the end... he failed to act. Even though he had come prepared, with enough men lying in ambush around them to kill ten Fourth-Tier Martial Artists.
He had lost his nerve.
It wasn't because the commotion might draw the experts from the palace and make everything irreversible. It was because...
Orlando looked down at his trembling legs and suddenly realized that he had been afraid of Ariel from the very beginning.
Not just now.
But from the very moment Ariel had first stepped into the Bugard Manor.
He was afraid of this sister of his—a girl who shared nothing with the word "noble," whose every action and instinct was like that of a wild beast.