Chapter 77. I Want To Avoid It, But I Can’t
***
“You don’t think you can end it with an apology, do you?”
Leticia said this to Keena in a dry emotionless voice, as they sat alone together in a room. Keena was sitting across from her and was quietly looking down at the teacup in her hand. She avoided her gaze without saying a word.
“You were the reason that Emil and Xavier were here, right?”
“….”
“Who are you?”
Leticia knew from the beginning that she wasn’t an ordinary person.
Looking at Keena, who was always hovering around her. Hiding her name, her age, and everything else, Leticia certainly realized that there was something she didn’t know.
Nevertheless, she didn’t ask because she didn’t want to know. She had a strong feeling that she wouldn’t want to know the answer for some reason.
However, it seemed like it was too late to turn a blind eye now.
“Who are you?”
“Keena.”
“I’m not asking for your given name, but your family name.”
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“Keena Erebos.”
“….”
When Keena calmly revealed who she was, Leticia paled and closed her mouth. The sound of her heart dropping was faintly heard in her ears.
Leticia vaguely remembered the Erebos family from her childhood, but she couldn’t remember the exact details no matter how hard she tried.
There were three capable families in the Helios Empire[1]. Unlike the Leroy family, who were born with unique abilities, the Elgar and Erebos families had specific, determined fields of study. Elgar had abilities related to academics and knowledge, but the now destroyed Erebos family were famous for their prowess in martial arts and swordsmanship.
[I’m confident in using my body.]
‘That’s why she beat Xavier in the Swordsmanship tournament.’
No matter how good Xavier was at swordsmanship, he couldn’t beat an Erebos, who specialized in martial arts.
“But as far as I’ve heard they’re all…”
“Do you know they’re all dead?”
“….”
“Right. Everyone is dead except for me.”
Keena lightly stirred her tea with a bitter smile. That terrible sight that she’d been struggling to forget still came to mind clearly.
Blood splatter that covered the walls and floors, her ears filled with a mixture of fresh screams and the gasping of the dying. Even though her body was sticky with the still-drying, she couldn’t move because of the knife sticking out of her back.
‘I awakened at that time too.’
Keena’s awakening, which her father had wanted so badly, was after losing everything.
It wasn’t enough that she survived that hell, but she gained an ability too. When she thought about it now, it was a miracle. No, it was her punishment.
“I don’t have to hide what happened any longer.”
Drinking a sip of her cold tea, Keena continued.
“Did you know the cause of the destruction was all because of your father?”
“What…”
“It’s because your father framed us.”
Erebos was definitely a family that contributed to the founding of the country. Thanks to this, they received the emperor’s trust and favor more than any other family. As Erebos family’s fame grew, the imperial family sensed a threat, and immediately began to keep them in check.
It was the Marquis Leroy who took advantage of this estrangement and cut off the strings of their relationship.
“Is that why you approached me?”
Leticia, who’d been quietly listening to Keena, looked crestfallen while she bit her lip.
It was beyond belief. No, it was more correct to say that she didn’t want to believe it.
“Are you going to get revenge?”
Her voice trembled slightly when she asked this question.
Before she was excommunicated, Leticia was confident that she knew her family better than anyone else. Now that everything she’d known had been refuted, she couldn’t confidently say that Marquis Leroy couldn’t have done this.
Rather, if it was her father, he seemed like the type of person who could have done it.
“I think I said this before, but I don’t have a quarrel with you.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. The person I want to take revenge on is your father, not you.”
“Keena.”
“I thought revenge would be easier if I approached you.”
Keena thought that Leticia had the ability to make others unlucky and take away their happiness. Such an ability would’ve been useful for her revenge if true.
“There were moments when I wanted to help you, regardless of your use. I meant it when I said I wanted to become closer to you.”
At first, she’d definitely tried to use her for revenge, but at some point her purpose had become blurred. Leticia was incredibly nice and sincere for a child born into that family, and soon she spent time with her without a second thought.
So she hated it, her extraordinary kindness.
“It’s also true that I wanted to make your father pay by using you.”
Leticia clenched her hands tightly as she quietly listened to Keena. She remembered the day when she encountered Keena as she was being chased by someone.
‘Was she being chased by the people her father had sent? Or did she catch the attention of the Imperial family because she participated in the Swordsmanship tournament?’
Come to think of it, Leticia was the only reason why she’d participated in that tournament.
“Why did you help me?”
“….”
“Why did you help me when you wanted to get back at my father?”
Why didn’t Keena just leave Leticia alone when Xavier ignored her?
Maybe at that time, her help was also a plan to make her look good so that she could use Leticia. Strangely though, she thought that Keena was being sincere towards her at that moment.
“That’s something that you don’t need to worry about.”
“Keena.”
“Also, I will never appear in front of you again.”
As soon as she finished saying that, Keena put down her teacup, and stood up.
“Then why did you come this time?”
Leticia asked Keena as she turned away without a second thought. Keena mumbled under her, without turning around.
“Well…”
Keena couldn’t put into words what she was thinking at such a difficult time, so she grabbed the doorknob, and left the room. As soon as she stepped out, she encountered Enoch standing right in front of her and had to stop.
He looked her up and down, as if inspecting to see if she was a dangerous element. Keena smiled crookedly from the pressure she felt in his gaze.
“I’m sorry for causing a fuss. I can’t say for sure, but I think there are miners who worked at Marquis Leroy’s mine living in your territory.”
What she meant was that he should visit them and make it clear that the nobles hadn’t fallen ill because of the party that had been thrown at Achilles’ mansion.
Enoch immediately understood and frowned slightly.
“Is there a reason why you’re telling me this?”
“Let’s just say that I’m sorry.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Keena passed by Enoch and tried to leave the mansion. However, Ian held something out to her before she could leave.
“Take this.”
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“….?”
“I think it’s something that you’ll need.”
Keena choked up at the sight of the white bandages and ointment for wounds.
“Thank you.”
Keena left the mansion after she’d received Ian’s package. She knew she shouldn’t get entangled with them anymore.
Enoch watched Keena disappear into the distance, then quickly approached Leticia.
“What did you talk about?”
“….”
“Leticia!”
Enoch asked anxiously, but Leticia didn’t answer. The words Keena had said kept repeating in her head.
[It’s because your father framed us.]
[The person I want to take revenge on is your father, not you.]
‘If that’s true.’
What should she do?
Leticia kept quiet, and smoothed down her dress with her fingertips.
She even thought it would be better if it was all lies. However, looking at what her father had done so far, she couldn’t refute it because he was the type of person who would do that.
.
.
.
That evening, they all had a meal together after such a long time, but Leticia didn’t say anything. She still had no idea what to do.
While they were quietly eating dinner, the sound of a horse could be heard outside. Mary was the first to hear it, and opened the door to find a messenger had arrived at the mansion to deliver something. Mary immediately handed over the letters she’d received to Enoch.
“What color is that envelope?”
Enoch’s hand was filled with all kinds of letters. Elle had spotted a golden envelope that stood out among the many letters, and asked with a curious expression.
“It’s from the Imperial family.”
“From the Imperial family?”
Elle blinked several times because she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After he opened the letter Enoch made an unusual expression.
“What does it say?”
When Elle urged him on, Enoch replied with a shallow side.
“It’s asking me how to make it rain.”
“What?”
“It’s raining only on our land, so it’s asking what the secret is.”
Leticia blinked in surprise at what had interrupted them in the middle of their meal.
‘Was there a secret to this?’
She didn’t do anything in particular, she just went down to the land and wished for rain…
Leticia and Enoch looked at each other at the same time, thinking the same thing.
***
“When is this drought going to end?”
Marquis Leroy let out a fierce huff, and threw away the letter. He didn’t know why this was happening lately.
Last year, he even made an artificial lake after suffering from a drought previously, but the drought was so bad the lake had dried up. There were also complaints about people dying, but there was no way to solve this problem.
“Why is it only raining on that ill-fated family’s land?”
In the meantime, what made him even angrier was the fact that it was raining on the Achilles land. It hadn’t been that long since he’d laughed at Enoch, who’d gone down to his land on a tour after being banned from entering the palace.
At first, he thought it was a false rumor, but when news spread nationwide that it was only raining on the Achilles land, everyone went to him to ask them how he’d done it.
‘There’s no way.’
On second thought, Marquis Leroy burst into laughter. It was just a coincidence, but the nobles who were so quick to visit him were pathetic.
As the sound of his frustration wildly rang out from the office, Xavier was passing by, and suddenly called out to Emil.
“Brother.”
“What?”
“Isn’t it a little weird?”
“What is?”
“It’s about our eldest sister. No matter how much I think about it… She’s changed so much.”
When she was excommunicated, he believed that she would return because there was nowhere for her to go. At that time, he’d felt sorry for her and was planning to step up and ask Marquis Leroy to take Leticia back in.
But Leticia didn’t return. Instead, she went to live with the family that her father hated the most.
He laughed when he saw this, and clicked his tongue at their mercy. No matter how close they were, he thought it wouldn’t last long.
Suddenly, the memory of Leticia trying to buy a sword at the weapon shop came to mind. Instead of trying to make a good impression on their father, and trying to return to the family, she was hanging out with that unlucky family. This embarrassed and angered him, so he criticized her by saying something sharper than usual.
He thought it would help her realize that hanging out with that family was causing her real family to turn away from her.
However, his expectations were way off. Leticia was doing very well, to the point where it made his heart sink.
He still had vivid memories of that day when he went to Achilles’ mansion unnecessarily, and locked eyes with Leticia. Her eyes were cold, as if she was sick and tired of seeing him.
He was dragged away by Emil, without any human courtesies.
“Brother.”
“….”
“Brother.”
“Oh, sorry. What were you talking about?”
Emil asked with an awkward look, but Xavier looked at him strangely.
“What are you thinking about?”
“No… Nothing.”
He shook his head, saying that it wasn’t important, but what he’d heard from Marquis Leroy’s office was still bothering him.
[Why is it only raining on that ill-fated family’s land?]
When Leticia had entered the Achilles mansion, he thought it would be more unlucky and unhappy at first. After learning that she didn’t have an ability to make others unlucky, he’d spread bad rumors about her to protect the family. Strangely though, only good things happened to Leticia, to be more exact, around Leticia.
Finally, Emil realized belatedly that he hadn’t thought of a possibility that was all too obvious.
“Xavier.”
“Yes, brother.”
“If there’s an ability to cause misfortune…”
His mouth was dry, and he was having trouble breathing.
“On the other hand, there should be an ability to bring good fortune.”
“I guess so?”
“….”
Emil hardened at the casual attitude.
***
[1] I’m fairly sure this is referring to ducal families.
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