A faint smile lingered on the corners of his lips.
His gaze was gentle, too, but… there was absolutely nothing playful about it.
“I’m sure you’re not only talented in my eyes. And worrying about when you might leave for somewhere else doesn’t suit my temperament, either.”
“……”
“Is there really nothing else you want?”
I carefully set down the lobster sandwich I had been holding so dearly.
Then I cautiously wiped my hands with a napkin, feeling his gaze follow every single movement.
I opened my mouth very carefully.
“I-I don’t dislike money or anything…”
“Is that so?”
“If anything, I’d say I actually like it… I mean, who in the world dislikes money? It’s just that a sudden raise of that much is a little difficult for my financial sensibilities to keep up with, I guess…”
“……”
“To be completely honest, I’m a little worried, too. What if I can’t do work worth 500 million rupen later on…? I haven’t even finished this job yet…”
That was just the kind of ordinary person I was: someone who had never received such an enormous sum of money in her life and was therefore more worried than anything else.
Still, Rashak didn’t laugh at me.
Although he didn’t seem to fully understand, he merely nodded slightly, as if to say he understood for now.
“Then what about a reward? Is that too much for you as well?”
A reward. In other words, an incentive. In other words, a bonus.
That was something I couldn’t turn down. No, I didn’t even want to.
So I looked at him with a hint of anticipation in my eyes.
“How much… would it be?”
“Hmm, a reasonable amount. 500 million?”
You have got to be kidding me.
“I’m joking. Hurry up and eat. The lobster is waiting.”
He chuckled mischievously, speared another piece of lobster with his fork, and placed it on my plate.
I gave him a slightly reproachful look before returning to my meal. As someone who had been obsessed with seafood in both my previous and current lives, I could tell this was unquestionably top-tier.
Just as I was finishing my thoroughly satisfying meal—
“Boss.”
Mr. Fidel had appeared without a sound and was standing at the entrance to the dining room, greeting us.
Unlike me, who returned his greeting in surprise at his sudden appearance, Rashak merely gestured with his chin.
“What is it?”
“…Miss Hiel’s mother has arrived.”
The news was so shocking that I dropped the piece of fruit I had been eating for dessert.
“M-My mother…? Where is she?”
“…At the building where the office is located.”
Mr. Fidel answered in a calm voice.
“She is insisting on meeting her daughter, refusing to leave until we let her.”
I had no choice but to get up immediately.
Now that I thought about it, the building housing the office—the organization’s headquarters—was quite large.
There was the main building, which housed Rashak’s office and the intelligence unit, an annex for the assassination unit and its training facilities, and yet another dormitory where the organization’s members could stay.
That said, it wasn’t so lavish that outsiders would notice anything unusual. If anything, it was rather gloomy. The location itself was somewhere you could only reach after passing through a long stretch of back alleys.
Add the imposing front gate, which resembled iron bars, and the headquarters gave off one clear impression.
Don’t you dare approach.
And the person stubbornly waiting at that very gate, demanding to see her daughter, was none other than my mother.
I thought Renoa had inherited her habit of acting without thinking from Father.
Rashak had business to attend to, so he said he would come later. After getting into the carriage driven by Mr. Fidel, I kept biting my lips nervously.
If the headquarters had been any farther away, my lips would probably have been torn and covered in blood by now.
The moment the carriage stopped, I practically leaped out and ran toward the entrance.
Fortunately, the sight of my mother stubbornly waiting was… far from the scene of chaos I had feared.
She was leaning against a stone wall as tall as a fortress, arms crossed, doing nothing more than waiting.
To anyone else, she looked calm… but I knew better.
That was the expression my mother wore when she was angry.
…I mustn’t run away.
I pressed my lips tightly together.
I was the one who had declared that we were no longer family and walked away.
When she heard that Renoa was pregnant, she calmly remarked, Then Renoa will have to marry Allen instead, won’t she? Disappointed by how casually she had said it, I had stormed out.
No matter how vividly the memories of being scolded by my mother came back to me…
No matter how much those memories still filled me with fear…
I was too old to let her push me around any longer.
That was why I had even run the magic potion shop on my own.
I took a deep breath and approached her.
“Mother.”
My mother’s head turned toward me. She straightened away from the wall and looked directly at me.
“Mother, you shouldn’t be doing this here—”
“Don’t call me that.”
My mother spoke firmly.
“Four months ago, you were the one who left after declaring that we were no longer family.”
Her cold tone made my fingertips tremble before I could stop them.
“You stubbornly refused to welcome Count Brent, and now you’ve even gone after Renoa.”
“……”
“It seems you’ve made up your mind to ruin our family’s future.”
“……”
“So what is it you ultimately want? Did you hope that by dragging Renoa’s reputation through the mud, Count Brent would say, ‘Hiel is the only one for the job after all,’ and come calling for you?”
My mother raised one corner of her mouth in disbelief.
“You don’t seem to care in the slightest how much your younger sister might suffer in the process. Then again, you’ve only ever cared about yourself, even since you were little.”
With fingers trembling like a leaf in the wind, I clutched the hem of my skirt.
For a moment, I remembered how Rashak had snapped back at Renoa on my behalf.
No.
I didn’t want to call him.
This is something I have to overcome myself.
I did my best to reassure myself. It was all right. I had simulated this very situation countless times in the carriage.
More importantly, none of this was new to me.
I spoke in a calm tone, almost imitating her.
“Did you come to see Renoa?”
“Yes. Locking up a pregnant woman? Have you lost your mind?”
“The one who’s lost her mind is Renoa. Haven’t you heard the rumors? She still hasn’t made up her mind about which side to choose.”
“I came to see my daughter. Not you, Hiel.”
She gestured with her head, as if telling me to stop wasting time and open the gate already.
It was as though she were asserting a right that naturally belonged to her.
As though she had every right to find out what Renoa had done to end up locked away here.
“I understand. Please come in.”
When I approached the gate and spoke, the organization member who had been watching us hesitantly nodded and opened it.
I could feel the members’ eyes following me, but I didn’t shrink back as I once would have.
…No, to be precise, I was still terrified. I was just trying not to let it show.
I mustn’t give Mother an opening in this battle of wills. The moment I lose control of the situation, it’s as good as losing.
My mother followed without another word, so I silently led her down to the basement.
Renoa was still behind the bars, just as she had been yesterday.
Her face was as brazen as ever.
And when Mother stood in front of her, Renoa’s eyes lit up even more.
“Mom! Mom, I’m here!”
At Renoa’s call, Mother’s pace quickened, too. She hurried over and caressed Renoa’s cheek through the bars.
“Renoa, goodness… Your face has become half its size in just one day.”
“I’m fine, but I’m so worried because I think my baby is suffering.”
“How on earth did you end up locked away like this?”
“Obviously, it’s all my sister’s fault! What could I possibly have done wrong?!”
From that point on, I let the words go in one ear and out the other without really listening.
There was no point in arguing that it wasn’t my fault but hers. Mother wouldn’t listen anyway, so I didn’t bother responding.
However, Mother’s profile as she listened to Renoa’s explanation had unmistakably stiffened a little.
“…You said that to the Barsen Boss?”
“She looked like she was going to hit me! I was so worried about our baby getting hurt that I just lost control…”
Renoa put on a sorrowful expression and stroked her belly.
But Mother must have known how much Renoa was exaggerating. She must have known that Renoa was clearly in the wrong.
That was what frustrated me most about my mother.
Even when she knew Renoa was at fault, she always took her side.
“Mom, when can I get out? What did Count Brent say? What about Allen?”
Instead of answering, Mother looked at me.
She wanted me to open the cell so the two of them could talk privately.
I didn’t want to argue with her about that, either, so I unlocked the cell with the key I’d been given earlier.
Even if the two women suddenly attacked me, there was no way they’d escape the headquarters with all the other organization members standing guard.
I immediately stepped back, but perhaps my presence still bothered Mother, because she took Renoa farther inside the cell.
I didn’t even look at them. No matter how incessantly I heard them whispering, I continued to ignore them.
Then, at one point—
“What?! Why should I have to do that?!”
Renoa shouted explosively.
“Why should I apologize?! I told you, those people were trying to hit me!”
“But…”
“There were so many people who saw me being dragged away! There’s no need to apologize! If I just hold out, that so-called Boss will have no choice but to let me go!”
After a long sigh, Mother spoke.
“Renoa, I’m afraid… no one is on your side.”
“…What?”
“Anyway, don’t imagine that the Barsen Boss will let you go just because public opinion turns against him. That’s not going to happen.”
Silence fell immediately afterward.
But it didn’t last long.
Renoa glared at me, standing in the corridor outside the cell through its open door.
“You! This is your doing, isn’t it…!”
“I told you. I asked if you were sure you wanted to go through with it.”
“Hiel Cavernon, you crazy bitch!!”
And, absurdly enough, Mother looked at Renoa with pity.
“Renoa…”
“I will never apologize! I did it to protect my child. But demanding that I apologize…! That’s no different from telling me not to protect my baby!”
Renoa turned toward Mother.
“Go to Count Brent and tell him to protect his grandchild’s honor! If he keeps demanding that I apologize…! Tell him that he’s nothing but a coward who bows to power!”
Smack!
The sharp crack echoed through the basement before Renoa could even finish speaking.
Her head whipped to the side, yet she still looked as though she couldn’t comprehend what had happened. I was just as stunned.
Mother had… slapped Renoa across the face.
It was the first time I’d ever witnessed such a thing.
Then, with a cold gaze, she lashed out at Renoa.
“Just try saying something like that in front of the Count.”
“Mo-Mom…”
Her voice was more terrifying than ever.
“Then I’ll personally put you behind bars myself.”
Comments (0)