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IBP 20
My mouth fell wide open.
‘She said she had something to say. This isn't "saying" something.’
All sorts of things began pouring in behind my sister!
“A bed and blankets. I brought some curtains and a magic tool for catching bugs.”
Bugs are my friends, you shouldn't catch them...
I could hear the soldiers frantically trying to stop her.
“Lady Chloe. It is truly problematic to bring a bed into this annex...”
“Why? It’s cold.”
My sister spoke while looking down at Ruth, who was crouching on the freezing floor.
“Hey, Ruth. Move.”
“No, on this mossy stone floor... What is with that pink silk blanket? Do you think that fits here, huh?”
“It fits perfectly.”
“I’ve seen some crazy people in my time, but this...”
About ten minutes passed.
Unable to break sister Chloe's stubbornness, the inside of the cell became filled with a bright, cheerful atmosphere.
“How is it?”
I looked at my sister, who asked me after finishing everything.
“I-I’m okay...”
I checked her expression again with a slightly anxious heart.
‘Is sister okay?’
Is she not very afraid of the darkness she doesn't know anymore?
As I tilted my head in worry, I saw the corners of her mouth twist.
“What do you mean, okay. I heard you cried. Though there are no tear stains.”
“Hmm? I didn't cry at all! I had a great time playing with my mantis friend and spider friend. And I thought I'd be able to get out of the cell anyway, so I was even more fine!”
“...You can't get out on your own. What would you have done if I had just ignored you?”
“But you didn't ignore me!”
You came to me in the end.
At my words, my sister remained silent for a long time before speaking.
“...Aren't you cold?”
It was coldest when sister didn't recognize me.
Now, she bravely defeated the darkness she feared and came to find me.
That's why I'm happy. I'm not cold at all.
“It’s super warm!”
“Cover yourself well with the blanket. Don't let it fall on the floor.”
I lay on the bed and wrapped myself tightly in the blanket.
Then, I heard Ruth's scolding voice.
“Theresia is going to absolutely flip out if she finds out about this.”
Regardless of that, my sister whispered coldly to me.
“Now that you seem to have regained your senses, I'll tell you what I wanted.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Is it true that you didn't kill the tiger, like you said earlier?”
Meeting those eyes that shone vividly even in the dark, I nodded vigorously.
“I didn't kill it! The tiger will wake up soon!”
“Right, I see.”
My sister turned around and left the cell.
Ruth shouted at her back.
“Hey, the tiger is dead! I saw it! But what about you? What are you planning to do now?”
“Why should I share my plans with a blockhead like you?”
“Hey, where are you going! Answer me before you go!”
* * *
In front of the main gate of Duke Ardos's estate.
In a quiet atmosphere without a speck of dust, Chloe stood rigidly.
“Did you all hear that story?”
“I heard Lady Chloe cooperated in killing the tiger spirit beast.”
The voices were coming from beyond the doors of the annex.
The soldiers on guard duty chattered away, not imagining that Chloe could hear them.
‘I can hear everything.’
Ability users tended to have keen five senses.
In particular, Chloe, who had lost her sense of taste, had a more developed sense of hearing as a trade-off.
‘Theresia must have intentionally linked me to that incident.’
However, it was strange that the rumor had spread so quickly.
‘Well, if Theresia pulled the strings, it makes sense that it spread this fast.’
Since she was the one who gave the hydrangea to that girl, it wasn't entirely wrong.
But there was something more important.
The return of her father.
“Why is Lady Chloe standing so close to the main gate?”
“I don't know. Maybe she's waiting for His Grace the Duke.”
“...Huh? His Grace just left the Grand Duchy, didn't he? Is she planning to stand here for two days and nights?”
“Who knows. How are we to know the mind of a shadow caster.”
There was something those soldiers were overlooking.
Chloe gazed beyond the horizon again.
If her calculations were correct, her father's carriage would arrive within 30 minutes.
Exactly 30 minutes later. A black carriage, arriving faster than light, stopped in front of the main gate.
It was the return of the head of the house, something no one expected.
Chloe knew.
Her father, Duke Ardos, was not sane.
To increase travel efficiency, he had densely embedded hundreds of small mana crystals into the carriage wheels.
‘It was faster than a teleport scroll.’
“W-we greet His Grace the Duke!”
The soldiers standing at the gate hurriedly bowed their heads.
“Greetings are unnecessary. Is this a time for leisurely greetings when you couldn't even protect a single spirit beast!”
“We are deeply sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“Yes, we are truly s-sorry...”
“Your answer is wrong from the start. You shouldn't have done something to be sorry for in the first place.”
In an atmosphere filled with silence, where everyone shut their mouths in unison.
Chloe quietly approached her father and offered her greetings.
“I greet His Grace, Duke Ardos.”
The Duke did not answer her. He only stared with a displeased gaze.
Then, he gestured with his chin to the carriage driver.
Behind Duke Ardos was the pitch-black carriage with hundreds of mana crystals attached to its wheels.
The carriage looked the same as usual.
However, it was peculiar that the windows were covered, as if it were secretly transporting something.
Glancing at Chloe, Duke Ardos spoke to the driver.
“Move the guest's carriage to the annex located at the northernmost part of the estate.”
Seeing him use the term "guest," it seemed someone quite significant had entered the family.
Likely someone who aligned with her father's interests.
Chloe gazed at Duke Ardos again with indifference.
“I say it again. I greet the head of the house.”
“Ahem! You've been shut away in the annex like a wreck; what brings you outside today?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Come inside first.”
Chloe straightened her shoulders.
The great being who made the House of Ardos twice as prosperous as the previous generation.
She stared straight at the man who had never once embraced her as a daughter.
“If you wish to become the successor, I will treat you not as a daughter, but as one who wishes to be the successor.”
“...Yes.”
“Because lives will hang on a single gesture of your hand.”
“From now on, I shall call you Duke or Head of the House.”
In front of him, Chloe had always felt small.
But today, with a child to save, it was different.
It wasn't because she liked the child.
It was because she hoped the child, who shared the same name as Coco, would not be forcibly broken by someone's hand.
“It is regarding the blessed child.”
Duke Ardos's gaze instantly became piercing.
“You mean that child who captured the tiger and killed it because they couldn't wait?”
As expected, he seemed to have heard all the news already.
It seemed Duke Ardos's eyes were everywhere within the household.
“I intend to interrogate the criminal as quickly as possible, so stay out of it.”
“No, Father. That child did not kill the tiger.”
“The evidence?”
“The child said they didn't kill it.”
His gaze sharpened.
“That's it? I heard you became a wreck, but it seems your head isn't working properly.”
“At least for now, it is working.”
“Then you must have completely lost it. This is not for you to interfere in, so do not meddle.”
“Once the matter is settled appropriately, I will step back.”
A tense confrontation continued between the two.
Duke Ardos glared at Chloe, who was as much of a stubborn loner as he was.
“You really never lose a single word... Fine, follow me. I will interrogate the child myself.”
“...”
“I mean you may observe.”
“I will do so. However, before that.”
“...Before that?”
The corners of Chloe's mouth twisted wickedly.
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