“Just try saying something like that in front of the Count. Then I’ll personally put you behind bars myself.”
Her voice was ferocious.
After that, silence fell over the basement.
Neither Renoa nor I could manage to utter a single word.
Mother actually hit Renoa…
I had never been struck by my mother.
She had glared at me as though she were about to hit me countless times and had even raised her hand, but I always lowered my gaze and bowed my head immediately, so every attempt had ended before she could actually strike me.
If I was this shocked, Renoa couldn’t possibly be any different.
Her face was swept by an even greater look of horror than when she’d learned that the Barsen Boss was actually the son of Duke Berzen.
“Do you want me to explain all over again just how wealthy House Brent is so you’ll finally understand? Do I have to hammer into that thick head of yours how hard your father and I have worked to make this marriage happen before you’ll come to your senses?”
“Mom. H-how could you do this to me…?”
“Be quiet.”
At Mother’s firm command, tears finally began to trickle down Renoa’s cheeks.
After a long sigh, Mother spoke.
“If you want to protect your child, apologize, Renoa.”
“……”
“That’s the path that’s best for both you and your baby.”
But Renoa didn’t open her mouth. She simply continued to shed tears.
Unable to contain her frustration, Mother raised her voice again.
“How long are you going to keep bringing shame upon your parents?! Do you still not understand what you’ve done?!”
“……”
“Everywhere you go, people are talking about you! Everyone is criticizing you, saying House Brent is taking in a pathetic, foolish daughter-in-law!”
Perhaps the shouting had brought on a headache, because Mother pressed a hand to her forehead.
After another deep sigh, she turned to me.
“Tell the Barsen Boss that Renoa will fulfill the agreement.”
“Mom!”
“You will apologize properly, in your own words, Renoa. Otherwise, your marriage to Allen will be called off.”
She added in a cold voice,
“Don’t blame me. This is Count Brent’s decision.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Renoa crumpled to the floor. Clutching her head, she began sobbing as though her entire world had collapsed.
All she had to do was apologize.
I went a little way up the stairs and relayed Mother’s message to Pierce, who had been waiting there.
“Looks like it’s all settled.”
“Already? Tsk, that’s a shame. It was too quick. Everyone was enjoying the show.”
Neither of us paid the slightest attention to Renoa’s anguished sobbing.
Even while Mother supported Renoa up the stairs, Pierce continued chattering away behind them.
“I think it’d be hilarious if she suddenly shouted, ‘Why should I apologize?!’ What do you think?”
“…Then Mother would slap Renoa across the face again.”
“See? It’s funny just imagining it.”
Silently, I added another label to my mental file on Pierce.
In addition to a researcher who enjoys insane experiments, he was also a dopamine addict.
“Oh, there’s the Boss.”
At Pierce’s words, I raised my head and saw Rashak standing near the entrance to the main building.
Leaning slightly against the wall, he wore an expression as though every last trace of emotion had evaporated from his face.
Nothing could be read in his cold, golden eyes.
But it wasn’t his overwhelming presence that made Renoa’s shoulders stiffen.
There were members of the organization standing beside Rashak.
Not just one or two, either. At a rough count, there were nearly thirty of them. And they were all talking quietly among themselves.
Like spectators waiting for an entertaining show.
The hand Renoa had wrapped around Mother’s arm began to tremble.
She could barely contain her anger at having been reduced to a spectacle.
…She’ll never admit what she’s done. She’ll only keep wondering why everyone’s treating her this way.
And I had no intention of indulging her self-pity any longer.
“Come on, Renoa. Everyone’s waiting.”
I gestured once more, regardless of whether Mother and Renoa glared at me viciously.
Only then did Mother cautiously take a step forward.
Renoa leaned on her, practically being dragged along.
“Renoa.”
Mother straightened her up and made her face Rashak.
“…You need to kneel.”
She even instructed her on what she was supposed to do.
The next moment, Renoa clenched her teeth and lowered herself to the dirt.
In the suffocating silence that had settled over the area, Renoa spoke in a trembling voice.
“I-I was… presumptuous. I dared to fail to recognize the Boss and behaved in a foolish and ignorant manner.”
Her voice was choked with tears.
Yet not a trace of sympathy appeared in the eyes of those watching.
That fact seemed to instill a fresh sense of fear in Renoa.
Wherever she went, Renoa had always been adored, and men had even looked upon her as someone to admire.
She had probably never encountered gazes this cold, bordering on downright chilling.
“I-I know that what I did is a sin that even begging for my life wouldn’t be enough to atone for. I will never forget the mercy the Barsen Boss has shown me today, and I will live the rest of my life remembering it.”
“……”
“I-I swear on my life that I will never again speak carelessly about the Boss or the Barsen organization. I-I will make absolutely certain that nothing like this ever happens again…”
“Tsk.”
A slight sound from Rashak interrupted her faltering speech.
He gave a casual nod.
“Get rid of her.”
His voice was so indifferent that it sounded as though he were ordering someone to move an object.
He then turned and walked away without the slightest hesitation.
That was when Renoa must have realized it.
Her apology… no, her very existence meant absolutely nothing to Rashak.
Even this moment, when she was throwing away every last shred of her pride, wasn’t even worth a moment’s amusement to him.
Overcome by humiliation that sank deep into her bones, Renoa clenched her fists tightly.
“Wait! Just a moment!”
Perhaps a sudden surge of energy had come over her, because she sprang to her feet.
“I’m going this far to apologize, and you…!”
But Rashak didn’t stop walking.
He simply continued up the stairs and left, as though he hadn’t heard her at all.
He had ignored her in the most absolute sense of the word.
Just as Renoa gritted her teeth, a frigid gaze pierced sharply into her.
It wasn’t just one person. Everyone present was looking at her, even those who had been about to follow Rashak away.
They stopped in their tracks and stared at Renoa with piercing eyes.
There was only one message in those gazes.
How dare you?
It was a different kind of contempt from Rashak’s complete disregard.
Under normal circumstances, Renoa would probably have responded with a So what? attitude. But she had already learned what fear felt like just a little while ago.
Sure enough, her face gradually stiffened as terror began to creep across it.
“…Renoa, let’s go home now.”
As Mother led Renoa away, step by step, the organization members finally began to disperse.
“Come on, Hiel. That was worse than a children’s play.”
Pierce started walking, making no effort to hide his disappointment. I was about to follow him when—
“I’ll never forget this.”
A voice, thick with suppressed anger, struck me from behind.
“What you did to me, Sister. I’ll never forget it.”
I turned to look at her.
“Go ahead. I haven’t forgotten what you did to me, either.”
I had nothing more to say to Renoa, so I resumed climbing the stairs.
The afternoon’s work proceeded much as usual.
I reviewed the Sterling Merchant Company’s affairs once again and organized the information the intelligence unit had provided about the people I’d met at the theater a few days ago, cross-referencing everything and arranging it neatly.
It was certainly a busy afternoon.
Yet every now and then, the voices of Renoa and Mother came back to me.
‘What you did to me, Sister. I’ll never forget it.’
‘It seems you’ve made up your mind to ruin our family’s future.’
‘Then again, you’ve only ever cared about yourself, even since you were little.’
A headache began to creep in, and I unconsciously pressed my fingers against my temples.
Knock, knock.
I heard a light tapping on my desk.
I flinched slightly in surprise and raised my head to find Rashak standing there.
“It’s time to go home.”
“Huh? Already? But Mr. Pierce…”
“Pierce left a little while ago. He said he had an appointment.”
“But he said we’d organize everything together and submit the report by the end of today…”
“Pierce’s definition of today includes tomorrow.”
I sighed, wondering what kind of bizarre concept of time that man had, when Rashak pulled over a chair and sat down across from me.
“How far have you gotten?”
“W-well, I’m looking into Count Rasen. There was a report that his recent activities have been strange…”
“Let me see it first.”
I handed him the document I’d been organizing, and he began reading through it.
It wasn’t long before he spoke again.
“…Does your head hurt?”
“Pardon?”
“You looked like it did.”
He meant that he’d noticed me pressing my temples.
Keeping my head lowered, I carefully continued.
“I was the one who declared that I was cutting ties with my family first… But still, something about it feels strange. I wonder if my parents felt this way when I declared that we were no longer family.”
“They probably didn’t feel that way.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re wondering whether you were in the wrong. I’m saying they probably didn’t feel that way.”
His words seemed to see right through my thoughts, and I lowered my gaze again.
“…I suppose you’re right.”
“Making an entire matter disappear with a single apology is something I’ve never done before, either. Even so, I accepted it, and anyone passing by could tell that it was because of your persuasion.”
“……”
“Regardless of how things unfolded, simply giving them a chance to resolve the matter without suffering any losses was already a favor to them. And they stupidly rejected it.”
Rashak lifted his gaze from the document and looked at me.
“Even beasts remember kindness and act accordingly. My older brother always says that those who don’t know how to be grateful shouldn’t be treated as human beings.”
“…He’s very wise.”
“People’s feelings can’t be cut off that cleanly, but keep that in mind.”
He shrugged and turned his attention back to the document.
His tone was casual, but… there was no doubt that he was trying to comfort me.
And the source of that comfort was Evan.
The man who, according to the original novel, was going to die this summer…
After a brief moment of hesitation, I made up my mind and looked at Rashak.
“Um, Boss. About your older brother…”
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