C195
A few days after the siege of Miloam, I headed to Duke Cassius's residence.
"Due to these circumstances, I can only return it now. I'm sorry."
Duke Cassius stared at the black account, a family relic.
"It's alright. I'm glad if it helped you."
Soon, a heavy silence fell.
A moment ago, I explained to Duke Cassius and his two sons the complete story of what happened in the realm of the Demonic Beasts. Including Liena's end.
When my story reached Liena's will, Leheim and Leandro left one by one, as if they couldn't bear to hear more.
Only the duke stayed until the end and received the relic after hearing the whole story.
"Yes, I see."
With tears in his eyes, he looked out the window and murmured softly.
"I'm glad you returned safe and sound. Thank you for telling me my family's story."
I wanted to say more, but the duke remained silent after that.
I suppose I was done with my business, so I gathered my things and stood up.
"Excuse me, Duke."
But suddenly, a curiosity arose.
"I have a question I'd like to ask."
"What is it?"
"If you think it's presumptuous, you don't have to answer."
"Go ahead. If it's your question, I have to answer it."
"Will the duke accept Liena's apology? Has he already accepted it?"
I also conveyed the apology Liena asked me to transmit to the duke.
He looked down at his toes and replied.
"... At least for me."
I left Duke Cassius's residence, remembering the image of him quietly bearing his pain.
It's just my guess, but maybe Leandro and Leheim have already forgiven Liena, or they will someday.
However, it's not the case for most of the victims who were emotionally manipulated by Liena.
"I hope she goes to hell and suffers forever in terrible pain."
The person I met when I left Duke Cassius's residence and headed to the next place said that.
Margaret, who welcomed me into her living room, declared with a cold rage enveloping her entire body.
A woman who was a high-ranking member of the imperial family, a renowned monster ecology researcher, and president of Redpal.
Terence and I, who returned to the imperial palace after the siege of Miloam, explained in relative detail to the emperor and then to Margaret what we had experienced.
Since the monstrous wave was abruptly cut off, it was natural to explain the reason to the empire's highest authority in the monster-related field.
Margaret had been recently investigating whether a monstrous wave would actually occur as we said.
"It would have been easier if it all ended there..."
The problem was that the monstrous wave wasn't the only thing that interested her as she listened to my story.
"Would you mind telling me more about her death later?"
Margaret said and invited me to her home.
I visited her house today, the day of our appointment, feeling a bit uncomfortable because there was clear hatred in her polite tone.
After answering her questions, Margaret looked at a wall in the room and said she hoped Liena would go to hell.
There hung a family portrait.
"It's me, my husband, and our only daughter. Everyone, except me, passed away a long time ago."
I couldn't find the words to respond to Margaret's sudden topic.
"My husband researched the same thing I did and finally said his daughter would also follow this path. Maybe it's because of our influence."
She continued talking anyway.
"I should have actively stopped him at that time. It's a dangerous job; you never know when you might die because of a monster..."
It was a well-known anecdote that she went to research with her family and was the only one who returned alive.
Margaret was even more respected by many because she continued her research even after experiencing such a tragedy.
"I felt it was strange from the beginning. After that incident, my heart was empty, and I couldn't love anyone, but strangely, I found that charming young lady. I thought she was cute and adorable."
"But I liked that feeling and was happy, so I pretended not to notice. I was glad to hear those atrocious words from that person that I could consider her as my daughter."
It was such a cruel story.
I couldn't imagine what Margaret must have felt after the goddess's blessing was lifted.
There were cases, like the Cassius family's, where feelings arising from the blessings turned into true love, but they were only a minority.
Most victims showed great or little anger at having been deceived with false emotions.
Even Isaac Cassius, who expressed his discontent, plotted a grand revenge scheme called investment fraud, but what about Margaret?
"Liena, your karma is great."
No matter what unfortunate past Liena had or whether she finally reformed or not, this was an unforgivable sin.
"It's very regrettable. No matter how I think about it, that woman died too comfortably. She should have suffered more."
Margaret, murmuring something to herself calmly, looked at me and smiled cheerfully.
"Even so, I like the fact that she was killed by a monster that was her subordinate. Monsters are things that humans will never be able to control."
"... I agree."
"Thank you for coming to tell me your story today, Viscountess Lucibiou. If she had escaped, I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night."
So I received thanks from Margaret and left her mansion.
But as I was getting into the carriage on the side of the road, Terence appeared in front of me.
"Oh! What are you doing here?"
"I had some business around here and remembered that Ethel decided to pass by Margaret's mansion today. I came because I wanted us to return together."
He took my hand and lightly kissed it.
"My lady, would you honor me by traveling in the same carriage as you?"
"Of course."
I asked him on the way back in the carriage.
"But what did you have to do?"
"Just a simple journalistic interview. I was also asked a lot about the siege of Miloam."
The incident in which the second prince, who obviously was supposed to be in the capital, suddenly appeared in Miloam and became active was one of the topics that excited people the most these days.
It was also shocking that Miloam, which had been quietly ignored within the empire and barely managed to avoid invasions from the Zabika Kingdom or the nomadic tribes, achieved a complete victory against a large army of monsters.
"Even the prince was there on the scene, so it's impossible for people not to be interested."
Thanks to this, Miloam was promised great support by the emperor, and those who actively participated in the battle received the title of hero and medals.
Of course, I also have one. Not only was it honorable, but I especially liked the fact that the government offers various benefits to those who receive the medal.
Elliot seems to aspire to a special pardon... I felt that he needed to accumulate more merits to get out of prison.
Terence sighed and relaxed his posture.
"It's nice to be seen in a good light, but it's exhausting to be dragged around from one place to another asking about my activities."
Although there hasn't been an official announcement from the imperial family yet, many people accepted the Siege of Miloam as a monstrous wave due to the omen that suddenly stopped.
"So, this time it happened on a particularly small scale because Goddess Miella protected the humans?"
Well, since I had no intention of revealing the truth to the world, it was beneficial for them to think that way.
"It's more annoying than anything else."
Just by being the owner of a first-class magic stone mine and having a relationship with Terence, I had already experienced great interest from people.
Any other interest would not be more beneficial.
However, for Terence, who was in the position of prince, it was difficult to escape attention.
Those who didn't know the internal story also judged differently the reason why Terence left the imperial palace in such a hurry.
The rumor that His Highness the Prince, who had predicted the Miloam incident with his sharp intuition, led his subordinates and went there himself, was considered an established theory.
"If you look at it from the outside, it looks like that, but actually..."
Anyway, Terence's rating went up a lot because of this.
Perhaps because there hadn't been major wars in the empire for almost a hundred years, seeing the royal family go directly to the front seemed reassuring to people.
Among the soldiers who participated in the battle, some were interviewed and felt encouraged because it seemed like proof that the country hadn't abandoned the Miloam area.
"What do you think? Good things are good."
I said, tilting my head to Terence, and he smiled.
"That's also true."
"Hey, Terence. About what I talked with Margaret."
I honestly told him about the agony that arose within me after the encounter with Margaret.
"I don't know if conveying Liena's apologies to the victims is really a good thing. If they have a lot of resentment, they won't want to hear an apology or anything."
Terence rubbed his chin and seemed serious.
"Well. If it were me, I would like to hear it."
"Is that so?"
"Knowing that the offender regrets and forgiving them are two different things."
He told his story.
"Honestly, I wanted to hear the apologies of the Empress. It became impossible because she's already dead."
"Don't make that face. It just means I feel regretful. Besides."
He paused for a moment and then continued.
"I don't regret too much receiving an apology from someone else."
He refers to Mikhail.
A few days ago, he came face to face with Mikhail.
After learning of Liena's death, he remained silent for a moment and then expressed his gratitude to Terence.
"Thank you for listening to my request. And... I would like to apologize on behalf of my mother. I'm very sorry, brother."
Mikhail seemed to be thinking a lot on his own.
"After my mother's death and Liena's disappearance, I began to reflect on myself. All this time, I was so absorbed in my childish love that I couldn't even look around. I thought I was the most unfortunate person for being forced to follow the path of an heir to the throne, but it wasn't like that."
Terence didn't offer any particular response to his half-brother's apology, but he also didn't seem very offended.
Isn't it up to the two of them what will happen with their relationship in the future?
At that moment, Terence put his arm around my waist.
"Ethel, if you have no other plans, how about spending time with me until dinner?"
"Well, what should I do? I have other plans."
"What plans?"
As for what that is...
"Viscountess Lucibiu! Get me out of here! Why should I be imprisoned?"
It was about dealing with an elder who had been imprisoned in the imperial prison just two days ago.
"I'm Roland Cassius!"
Roland, who was in isolation, shouted desperately.
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