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Chapter 266: Rinella’s Destiny is Her Own (59)

The atmosphere of the audience froze at my father\'s confession.

But my father\'s words contained even more fatal information.

They made a deal with the Dark Order.

Regardless of the reason, it wasn\'t surprising that an entire family could face extermination for this.

The Dark Order was an entity neither the Imperial family nor the Holy Nation would tolerate.

The Southern Kingdoms were slightly less hostile, but it didn\'t change the fact that the Dark Order was the common enemy of the continent.

The first person whose face stiffened was the Saintess.

Senior Elsie swallowed dryly and glanced back and forth between Sir Reynold and me.

Her uneasy state of mind was reflected on her trembling pupils..

The Saintess, looking troubled, placed her hand on her forehead and asked,

"Viscount Percus... do you understand what you\'re talking about?"

"That\'s why I tried to keep it hidden until the end."

My father bowed his head deeply and spoke in a sorrowful voice.

"At first, I didn\'t even know it was the Dark Order\'s scheme. But on the day I got \'Ria\' back, they revealed their identity and tried to entice me."

"...They must have offered a price at that time too."

"They said they would give me my real daughter and the world."

Putting aside the daughter, offering the world as a price?

It was madness.

From that point on, it seemed the Dark Order was confident in their ability to dominate the world.

According to Mitram, price was one of the things the Dark Order valued.

It was hard to even estimate how far the Dark Order’s evil influence had spread.

The Saintess continued to probe for more details.

"The Dark Order wouldn\'t just offer such favourable conditions. What did they ask for in return?"

"The lives of the people in my territory."

As if expecting this, a sigh escaped the Saintess\'s lips.

My father kept repeatedly running his hands over his face.

"Only then did I realise how insane my wish was. Fate isn\'t something to be defied. Though there were times I was tempted to cooperate with the Dark Order given the sins I\'d already committed..."

"But you couldn\'t bring yourself to do it."

It was Sir Reynold who spoke.

He rarely sighed and closed his eyes.

"If you had, there would be no reason for those bastards to turn your territory into such a mess."

"...Thank you for believing in me, Sir Reynold."

Arthur, who had been quietly listening until now, swallowed hard.

He was tapping the armrest of his chair with his index finger, looking anxious.

A weary voice escaped his lips.

"So, Viscount Percus, you were deceived. You thought you were getting your real daughter back, but you received a fake instead?"

"That’s how it turned out... The Dark Order claimed they\'d return my daughter, but they never specified it would be \'the real\' daughter."

"Then wasn\'t this a matter to be reported to the Imperial Family?"

Arthur\'s blunt question hit the crux of the matter.

Father\'s head dropped, as if he had nothing to say.

Arthur sighed and continued.

"If you had, none of this would have happened. The Imperial family was well aware that the Dark Order was plotting something. If there just a few investigations had happened, the Percus family\'s responsibility could have been significantly reduced..."

"...And what about that poor child?"

The response came from an unexpected person.

She was a beautiful woman with a youthful appearance, someone who wouldn\'t seem out of place even if introduced as my older sister.

It was my mother, often referred to as Lady Percus.

She seemed quite emotional.

"She was born because of our sins. For a brief moment, we even thought of her as our real daughter... But if we reported to the Imperial family, it was obvious that she would have been treated as a monster created by the Dark Order. H-How could we do that to the poor child...?"

"But she was actually a monster."

Arthur\'s cold rebuttal came forth.

My mother\'s eyes filled with sadness at his seemingly rude remark.

Perhaps tired from the series of incidents, Arthur could no longer hide his true feelings.

"Isn\'t that right?Sir Ian nearly died because of her. What would have happened if the Saintess and the others hadn\'t rushed in at that moment?"

"...It\'s my fault."

Instead of arguing, my father spoke words of apology.

"She was a child who never caused any problems until now, and with the Dark Priest dead, we were afraid to abandon her. Moreover, Dame Irene was with her all the time, so I thought keeping her within sight would allow us to handle any arising incidents."

"That\'s..."

Arthur, who had been about to argue, fell silent.

It was a matter of hindsight.

Logically, my father\'s words made sense.

Who could have known that a sudden assailant capable of overpowering Dame Irene would appear?

The incident was still confusing even to me.

Dame Irene bowed her head in shame, while Arthur eventually let out a deep sigh.

"...In any case, we will revisit this issue later with someone who has more authority. What is the opinion of the Holy Nation on this?"

As he said this, Arthur subtly gauged my reaction.

As the holder of the Dragonblood Script, my opinion naturally held more weight than Arthur\'s.

Of course, I had no intention of opposing.

It wasn\'t as if my family was to be punished immediately, and with time, it wouldn\'t be impossible to separately negotiate with the Imperial Palace.

For now, we had to face an overwhelmingly strong enemy.

Rather than wasting time debating, it was best to prioritise the evacuation procession.

The Saintess seemed to have reached a similar conclusion.

After a long moment of contemplation, she sighed and said,

"...The sin of making a deal with the Dark Order and concealing it is grave. However, the intention to take responsibility for a life born of one\'s sin is commendable."

"Then?"

"We will resolve it according to the Empire\'s will. Further discussions should be done through the consultative body."

Arthur finally clapped his hands together, as if he had resolved one issue.

He summarised the matter with his usual weary look.

"Alright, that\'s settled... Everyone, let\'s get up. Fortunately, there weren\'t many rampaging test subjects and, thanks to the cooperation of the Rinella and Yurdina families, we managed to suppress them with minimal damage."

That was truly fortunate.

There weren\'t many guards protecting the Percus territory. In remote areas, it wasn\'t uncommon for villagers to act as a vigilante group.

However, thanks to the timely presence of the Rinella family\'s mage corps and the Yurdina family\'s private soldiers, the rampaging test subjects were quickly subdued.

Arthur highlighted another significance of this fact.

"In other words, the chaos was less than expected. If we prepare quickly, we can evacuate immediately."

Arthur seemed eager to leave this place as soon as possible.

Given the constant danger, it was understandable.

Perhaps sharing the same sentiment, none of the party members sitting around voiced any opposition.

Just as everyone was about to stand,

A question suddenly pierced through the commotion like an awl.

"...What about Ria?"

It was Celine\'s question.

I stood there frozen, turning my gaze to the one responsible for providing an answer.

It was Arthur, the Imperial administrator.

Arthur stared at Celine as if questioning what she meant.

"What will happen to Ria?"

"Young Lady Haster..."

Arthur only let out a sigh in response to her voice, which was filled with emotions that could have been either anger or fear.

Adjusting his glasses, he spoke.

"Didn\'t you see? She is just a fake. A monster who could turn on us at any moment and stab someone it has lived with as family for years. Why should the Empire tolerate such a dangerous existence?"

"B-But we treated her like a real person all this time..."

"Does treating a monster like a person make it a person? By that logic, if we treated a dog like a person, it would become one. Haha... My dog Pochi would love that."

Arthur stood up, throwing out a joke that wasn\'t funny at all.

A bitter smile already formed on his lips.

"A fake is a fake, a real one is real... It\'s a fate determined from birth. As Viscount Percus said, trying to defy fate only leads to disastrous results."

Celine abruptly stood up in anger.

She had always been known for her fiery temper.

Although usually masked by her sociability, Celine was the second most hot-tempered among us, right after Senior Elsie.

If left unchecked, Celine seemed ready to shout.

However, before she could raise her voice, Arthur\'s cold words cut through.

"...We must let go of what must be discarded."

His words, which seemed familiar, made me pause.

My steps, aimed at mediating between the two, came to a natural halt.

Celine glared venomously at Arthur, but he didn\'t flinch.

He simply offered one last piece of advice.

"If you can\'t make this distinction, you\'ll have to pay the price for your wrong choices... just like today."

No, it might have been a warning.

With that, he turned and walked out of the reception room.

Sir Reynold also, after subtly gauging the mood of me and the others, stood up to follow Arthur.

The remaining people all wore somber expressions.

Even I was merely biting my lips.

The only exception was Celine.

Bang, she kicked the table hard, clenching her teeth.

A fierce voice slipped through her clenched teeth.

"...I can\'t accept this."

Celine stormed out of the reception room with heavy steps.

As she passed by me, she subtly gave me a look.

Signalling that she wanted to talk.

I could only let out a deep sigh.

Leaving Ria as she was wasn’t an option.

For years, I considered her my younger sister. Even without a blood relation, Ria was always the only sister in my heart.

I had to save her.

But I was still contemplating how to do it.

Setting Ria free wouldn’t be difficult. I could intimidate Arthur by showing him the Dragonblood Script and she would be free immediately.

Though of course, someone from the Imperial Family might come later to inquire about my intentions.

What concerned me more was the possibility that Ria might lose control over her body again.

It was undeniable that Ria was a potential danger.

Thus, I had no clear idea of how to deal with her.

After hesitating for a while, I finally made up my mind and turned around.

I decided to talk to Celine.

However, at the last moment, a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"...Ian."

It was my father.

When I glanced back, he sighed and apologised.

"I\'m sorry."

It was the lament of a man who had tried to defy fate, only to end up with an even more tragic fate.

I turned my head in silence.

I had no idea where the path I needed to take lay.

It happened at dawn when the sun did not rise.