TOM Chapter 37

What more reason do you want me to squeeze out?

After glaring at Kruelo, I sighed, exhausted.

It's not really a story I want to tell, but I was curious.

"You're making me bring up sensitive topics."

"Go ahead, whatever it is."

"Kruelo, how was it when your parents passed away?"

He paused for a moment at my words.

"Just... both siblings seemed to have a bad relationship with the count, but they were sadder than I thought. I wondered if I was strange."

Since Siora Velvet was in the same situation, I could ask without hesitation.

When my parents passed away, I wasn't sad.

A bit of loss and emptiness. And if I'm being honest, relief.

Even though our relationship wasn't that bad.

"I don't really remember either."

"Ah, that could be."

"I think I was shocked, but it would have been a different kind of shock than grief. It was my first time experiencing death."

"Mm."

"Do you want confirmation that Darling isn't strange?"

Maybe.

It might be a newly formed habit.

Since coming outside, the world was full of things I didn't know.

Since I couldn't appear strange to others, I constantly compared and learned from other people...

Not a very pleasant story.

"You don't need to worry about it. Everyone's strange anyway."

"Is that something the strangest person should say?"

I burst into laughter at Kruelo's casually spat words.

It was carelessly light comfort, but it was just the right weight to place on my chest.

I rolled the remaining candy in my mouth.

The candy, now smaller than a pinky nail, gave its last greeting as it melted on my tongue.

Mm, sweet.

Sweet things are always right.

My mood became refreshing.

"Seeing you smile, you seem better."

Kruelo smiled along with me and straightened his bent waist.

Just then, when his gaze briefly turned to the cleared sky.

I didn't miss that opportunity.

"Ankle!"

The reason I pretended to be weaker—not that being weak was a lie—was for this moment.

I swung the wooden sword mercilessly, but Kruelo nonchalantly lifted his foot and stepped on the wooden sword.

He even showed the leisure of catching me when my body was about to be driven to the ground again by that force.

Looking at his face that showed no sign of being flustered, I grumbled.

"Aw, you won't let me hit you."

"Try aiming for the next opportunity."

Tch.

Could things really go this wrong when they're not going well?

Hearing the news from Ares, the Grand Elder was simply flabbergasted.

"Still no news of the 9th Elder?"

"Julian Minerva continues searching."

"Not a single thing done properly. Really, not a single thing!"

The old man's beard trembled.

After ruining everything, Qudil went missing.

Missing, they say, but she clearly ran away, afraid of being held responsible for the failure.

The harvest festival, the kidnapping of Siora Bonetti to the temple.

With all three opportunities used up, the elder had nothing left but death anyway.

He didn't think for a moment that Qudil was dead. Because.

"The key hasn't returned. You know what that means, don't you?"

Unless someone had extracted the key from that body, a dead person's key was supposed to come into the Grand Elder's hands.

But that possibility was virtually nonexistent.

Key magic was magic created by the founder of the Black Serpent Cult, and even within the cult, it was top secret transmitted only to high-ranking elders capable of keeping keys.

That meant Qudil was alive without having her key stolen.

"I'll increase the search personnel."

Grind, the Grand Elder ground his teeth while glaring at the man before him.

The 10th Elder with a mountain-like huge build packed with muscles, thick eyebrows, and an emotionless face.

Ares had also failed just the same.

"How difficult can it be to eliminate one small wretch!"

Other failures aside, he couldn't understand the Siora Bonetti situation.

No matter how much Kruelo interfered, wasn't there even a moment to handle it?

Ares didn't make excuses and bowed his head.

That straightforward attitude slightly calmed the old man's anger.

In reality, there was no need to be this angry.

The plan to marry off Kruelo was to leave offspring in preparation for possible situations.

Considering the slight possibility that things might go wrong.

So whoever became his partner wouldn't interfere with the grand plan.

However, what made the old man anxious was an instinct built up over decades.

At first, he was angry at that lowly-born woman who grated on his insides, but that feeling gradually changed.

A vague feeling that something was starting to go wrong, that he should kill that woman, urged his anger.

Even to himself, it seemed foolish.

The Grand Elder sighed.

"Why did you kill Count Bonetti?"

"I was discovered just before eliminating the target."

"......He was a spirit user too. He'd be sensitive to presence, so that's understandable."

"Grand Elder, I'd like to use this opportunity."

The Grand Elder slowly stroked his beard.

"Bonetti's Elder Council will try to tame Minuet Bonetti using this opportunity."

"You mean to make that child indebted and order her to kill the wretch?"

"No. Minuet Bonetti's role is only to lure the target to the count's domain."

"Hmm."

"Foolishly, the target seems quite close to the Bonetti siblings."

Does he think she'll come down to the territory just by holding the young Gavotte captive for a bit?

It was a plan befitting a hot-blooded youth.

"Even if you lure her to the territory, assassination would be difficult. The family head intervened even during the 9th Elder incident. He won't let her go alone at this point."

"Please look at this, Grand Elder."

Ares handed documents to the Grand Elder.

The old man slowly read through the contents.

The more the Grand Elder's eyes moved downward, the more his wrinkled lips slowly rose.

When he turned the last page, the anger in the old man's eyes had completely cleared.

"How truly coincidental, how perfectly everything fits together."

It must be His help.

However.

"It's meaningless unless the family head is deceived."

"That's why I'm making this request. Please allow the use of Beatitudo, Grand Elder."

"Indeed."

That would seal all possibilities.

A miracle would occur.

Even if uncontrollable danger befell that land, it wasn't the Grand Elder's concern.

His mood became infinitely refreshed.

The Grand Elder decided to reward his faithful subordinate.

The old man moved toward the wall behind where Ares stood.

When he pushed the wall surface with his cane, the wall rotated, revealing a pitch-black space.

"Come in. Perhaps all recent affairs went wrong because of insufficient prayer."

Ares quickly surveyed the space revealed below.

A female statue carved from pure white boulder and a massive altar.

It was the altar of the demon worshipped by the Black Serpent Cult, the predecessor of the Elder Council, and the altar of the evil god they believed would dwell in Kruelo who had consumed Morion.

"I'm grateful for your grace, Grand Elder."

Ares couldn't hide his boiling ecstasy and rejoiced.

The old man smiled benevolently.

The funeral was over, but that didn't mean everything was finished.

Minuet went down to Whistle—Bonetti's count domain—with the countess.

The lady went for recuperation again, Minuet to receive the Elder Council's approval and inherit the title.

The Elder Council's power was formidable both here and there.

I thought the family head was the highest authority within the family.

Watching that, I prepared in my own way.

Kruelo's swordsmanship class was just for one day, but I had many more days to use this body.

Now the Elder Council would start moving in earnest, so I needed to build up at least my stamina.

So I started running around the training ground every dawn—when the knights weren't there.

Today too, I had barely completed two laps and was panting.

"......Siora."

When I turned my head, someone handed me a towel instead of Betty.

The youth, who had become quite haggard in the time I hadn't seen him, was Gavotte.

"Oh, Gavotte."

I heard he'd been holed up in his room most of the time since the funeral.

The gap of several days made me hesitate as I took the towel.

He said.

"Let's talk for a bit."

I can't breathe. I'm anxious. Why is the clock so loud?

Even when I first became Siora Bonetti, it wasn't like this, but I glanced at Gavotte every 3 seconds.

After calling me, he had nothing to say.

His eyes weren't swollen like at the funeral, but he didn't seem to be doing well either.

Should I have looked after him instead of deliberately avoiding him to keep distance?

No. Gavotte doesn't even know the count died because of me, so wouldn't that also be deception?

He probably doesn't know the count tried to kill me either.

This won't do.

If I keep this up, my head will go strange, so I opened my mouth.

"Not forgetting my original purpose of creating distance, I made my voice cold.

"What's the matter—"

"I think I need to go see Minuet."

My attempt at coldness failed completely.

Gavotte rubbed his weary face with one hand.

"I thought I should tell you before leaving."

"Uh... You mean going down to Whistle? Why?"

"Minuet's situation won't be good. I need to go down and resolve it."

"Mm."

What does he mean? Is he going to comfort Minuet?

It doesn't feel like that's what he means.

His face was too dark to pry further, so I pretended to understand for now.

"Should I go too?"

"You guard this mansion, Siora."

"Okay, I will."

"Please."

And Gavotte left without giving me a chance to stop him.

Bang, the door closed.

'Right, I have to resolve this.'

Coming out of the office, Gavotte steeled his resolve.

It wasn't a problem he could pass off to someone else.

The Elder Council's power was formidable in other families too, but Bonetti was especially so.

Because Bonetti was a spirit family.

Once, its family head could summon spirits powerful enough to be called guardian deities, but that was all in the past.

The spirits' power weakened over time, the family head's prestige fell, and hyenas coveted those crumbs.

At some point, the Elder Council's power became quite strong, and they even tried to control the family head.

One of those means was marriage arrangements, where the count's direct children, especially the next count, had to marry someone designated by the Elder Council.

Gavotte's father did, and his grandmother did.

Wendy Velvet—Gavotte's aunt and Siora's adoptive mother—was virtually exiled from the family for refusing a political marriage.

But Minuet refused to comply.

"What political benefit is there in marrying the 3rd Elder's adopted son?"

She wanted to correct the hierarchy between the Elder Council and the family head.

That was why Minuet had no fiancé until past twenty, and why Gavotte was alone too.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Minuet was an outstanding heir and Gavotte had no desire for power.

Her position as heir was solid, but the power struggle with the Elder Council continued.

The count, who was quite obedient to them, found it troublesome but didn't force Minuet to submit.

If nothing had happened, during the precarious tug-of-war, they would have found a compromise point, and Minuet would have become Count without incident.

However, Count Bonetti died suddenly.

Now the Elder Council would use this opportunity to completely bring Minuet under their control.

They would threaten her with various justifications - that she couldn't inherit the title without their approval, that she needed their support to stabilize the territory, that she had to follow their guidance as an inexperienced young woman.

And Minuet, grieving and vulnerable, might make concessions she wouldn't normally make.

'I can't let that happen.'

Gavotte quickened his pace toward the stables.

He had to reach Whistle before the Elder Council's schemes took root.

Even if Minuet was strong, she was still his sister. And protecting family was his responsibility.

The weight of that responsibility pressed down on his shoulders, but it also gave him clarity of purpose.

For the first time since his father's death, Gavotte knew exactly what he needed to do.

The rain had stopped, but the air still carried the dampness of the storm.

I sat in the empty training ground, absently spinning the wooden sword in my hands.

Gavotte's sudden departure left me with an odd feeling of unease.

There was something in his expression - a grim determination that went beyond simple fraternal concern.

What kind of situation was Minuet facing that required such urgency?

I thought about the Elder Council's machinations, about political marriages and power struggles. About how convenient a grieving, isolated young woman would be for their purposes.

A chill ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the damp air.

"Damn it."

I stood up abruptly, wooden sword clattering to the ground.

Maybe keeping my distance was the smart thing to do. Maybe it would keep me safer in the long run.

But watching Gavotte's worried face, thinking about Minuet facing those vultures alone...

Some things were more important than safety.

Some people were worth the risk.

I picked up the fallen sword and headed back toward the mansion, my mind already racing with plans.

If the Elder Council wanted to play games, they'd find I knew a few tricks of my own.

After all, I'd learned from some very good teachers.

The wooden sword felt lighter in my grip as determination settled in my chest.

Distance be damned.

These people had become my family, and I wasn't about to abandon family to wolves.