Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Basement
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I reluctantly stepped back.
There was no way I could overpower Basad, after all.
"Where is this, Basad?"
"The basement."
"...What is this place for?"
For a moment, Basad's eyes glinted menacingly in the darkness.
"It is where the traitors of the family are imprisoned."
Traitors of the family?
"...So there’s a traitor in there?"
"That is correct."
"...Is Daddy in there, too?"
Basad didn't answer. But his silence was as good as a yes.
An affair that would require Kaide to confront a traitor himself. And the reason Durias was with him…
"Please return now."
"Okay."
"Thank you."
Basad helped me, making sure I didn't trip on the stairs.
When he opened the half-closed door in the wall and I stepped out, the bright light was blinding, even though I had only been inside for a moment.
That's how dark it was beyond the wall.
*Thud.*
The wall-door closed. If I hadn't walked up and knocked on it myself, I might have gone my whole life without knowing such a place existed.
I found it hard to walk away. As my gaze remained fixed on the wall, Basad gently guided me.
"The Gaju will not want you taking an interest in the basement, Young Lady."
"Who's locked up in there?"
"That, I do not know."
Basad replied, shaking his head. I glanced one last time at the receding wall before turning away.
What could be happening in there right now?
As I followed Basad outside, my eyes widened.
"Ah."
The errand.
Durias had gone on an errand.
-Durias went to pick someone up. Are you curious?
-Yep.
-It's a secret.
And…
-How you could have been born into the Astrofel family… Durias is away to find that out.
And what Kaide had told me.
All the circumstances strongly suggested a connection to the person locked in the basement.
He'd said he went to pick someone up to learn the secret of my birth.
And now that person was locked up as a family traitor. Down in that basement.
The pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together in my mind.
Does that mean the person in there knows who I am, where I came from…?
If I go inside, will I get an answer?
"Young Lady."
"Huh?"
"What is the matter? You look pale."
Basad was looking at me, standing there blankly.
I quickly shook my head. For now, it seemed best if no one knew what I was thinking.
"It's nothing."
I started walking again, having stopped without realizing it.
Even so, all my senses were focused behind me.
I have to get in there. But how?
No viable method came to mind.
* * *
The commotion outside quieted down.
Aileen had finally found out about this place.
Kaide frowned, annoyed, and clicked his tongue.
"The Young Lady followed you."
"I know."
"I see. Then why did you not stop her?"
"Because she would be curious."
"...Aren't you being too soft on her?"
That was his only reason? Durias looked incredulous.
The two of them had sensed Aileen's presence the moment she started following them.
How could they not notice her, trailing after them so clumsily and ineptly?
Kaide had even been chuckling to himself the entire walk.
Durias shook his head at the sight of him secretly enjoying being tailed.
Aileen wasn't supposed to know about the basement yet.
"Won't it be troublesome if she finds this place?"
"It will be."
"Then perhaps you should be more careful. The Young Lady will be shocked."
"She won't be able to get in anyway, so it's fine."
Kaide spoke calmly, looking down at the unconscious Ella lying on the floor.
Her body, bound by pheromones, had grown gaunt.
Having had no food or water for days, she must have been nearing her limit.
He had given orders to give her nothing unless she talked.
"Wake her."
"Understood."
In the dark dungeon, it was impossible to even guess how much time had passed.
Losing one's mind could happen in an instant.
That was why they kept her unconscious by blocking her meridians with pheromones when not interrogating her.
Though that in itself was likely maddening for her.
Durias stepped into the cell and placed a hand on the back of Ella's neck.
"Her willpower is quite strong, though. She's still managed to hold on to her sanity."
"That's a relief. It would be inconvenient if she went mad too soon."
"Fortunately, she confessed before she went mad. We've secured a fair amount of the necessary information."
He released the pheromones that were blocking her meridians one by one.
Soon, with a small groan, Ella's closed eyes fluttered open.
"Ugh…"
"You're awake, Lady Ella. Do you know what day it is?"
A sharp, venomous scent wafted to her nose, and Ella held her breath.
"It seems you still wish to live. How fortunate."
Durias stood up, looking relieved.
Ella flinched and curled into herself as she spotted another figure through her blurry vision.
"The... the Gaju is here… W-what brings you…"
Ella's terrified eyes trembled pitifully.
"I... I told you everything. I confessed it all, without leaving anything out."
"So Durias tells me."
Then why…?
Ella's expression was one of confusion.
Durias shrugged and explained on his behalf.
"The Gaju wishes to hear the story directly from you."
He kindly helped Ella sit up. Focus was returning to her dazed golden eyes.
"You will have to tell it again, Lady Ella."
When her vision finally cleared and Kaide's face came into view, Ella's lips began to tremble.
Watching fear spread across her pale face, Kaide stepped closer, one foot at a time.
"Speak."
"...A-about what…"
"Everything. Without leaving a single detail out."
"...…"
"What happened with Estella that day."
Kaide then added.
"I'm well aware you're not the brightest, so don't even think about lying."
"...*Gasp*!"
"You've made me come all the way down here, after all."
Ella's heart plummeted.
If she said the wrong thing…
This time, her head might truly fly.
Ella exhaled slowly and shuffled back.
She had to tell the story again…
Her mind went blank, and her throat tightened.
When she could only move her lips without a sound, Kaide tilted his head.
"Why aren't you speaking? Did you spout some nonsense you can't repeat in front of me?"
"N-no, that's not it. …I have never told a lie."
She hastily denied it.
Seeing the flustered flicker in her golden eyes, Kaide's own eyes narrowed.
He instantly knew she was hiding something but pretended not to notice.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I have only ever told the truth."
"I see. Then you should have no trouble speaking."
Ella's mouth went dry.
Kaide must have come down to the basement himself because he sensed something was off.
I absolutely cannot make a mistake.
Her whole body tensed, and a cold sweat ran down her back.
Durias clicked his tongue and said.
"There is no need to be nervous. Just repeat what you told me."
"Y-yes, I understand."
Calm down. Just say what I said before. Even Durias accepted it.
She had no expectation of getting out of here in one piece.
But if she was lucky, she might be able to leave, even if she was crippled.
Realizing this was her last chance, Ella took a deep breath.
"Six months ago… I was contacted by my clan. They said they would give me a chance to return if I followed their orders."
Ella's voice trembled with anxiety.
Expecting a long conversation, Kaide, who was seated in a chair, asked.
"What were the orders?"
"...The order was to bring them the Astrofel family's heir-egg."
The Astrofel family was too fortified to be infiltrated from the outside.
So they tried to contact Ella, who was with the lady of the house.
They knew she wanted to return to the fold of her clan, and they intended to use that.
"I… I of course told them it was impossible. That I couldn't do it."
"Then why didn't you report it?"
"That's because… I was afraid that if it became known that I had been in contact with them, I would be cast out from here as well…"
Outsiders were always objects of suspicion.
Kaide nodded, acknowledging there was some logic to that.
"Continue."
"I told them I couldn't do it… but they kept coming to me, trying to persuade me. And so, before I knew it…"
Kaide let out a dry laugh. What a pathetic excuse.
To turn her back on Estella's kindness, the one who had taken her in, and join hands with her clan.
In the end, Ella was confessing that she had weighed her options and chosen betrayal.
When Kaide laughed, Ella's face stiffened.
"It's a pity Estella ever gave her heart to someone like you."