TOM Chapter 4

The audience murmured at the sudden situation.

However, the masked nobles froze like stones. Were they even breathing?

Even without opening those masks, their pale faces seemed visible.

"That, that person is...!"

"Why on earth is he here?"

"Shh, be quiet!"

Bewildered whispers crawled across the floor like ants.

The puppeteers must have been startled as well—their marionettes went limp and crumpled into grotesque positions.

Kruelo strode forward with measured steps, savoring the chaos, each footfall reverberating through the stunned silence.

Within those echoing steps lurked something cold and menacing.

Shing, a blade emerged.

"Aaaaah!"

Someone screamed in terror.

Kruelo's target, who had been frozen in shock, finally seemed to come to his senses.

Baron Genium and the person who had received the bag from him tried to flee in panic.

Kruelo didn't let their retreating forms escape—his arm swept through the air in a vicious arc. 

Crimson bloomed across the space.

"That madman..."

I muttered in lamentation, pressing my forehead.

The fragile silence splintered in an instant, and shrill screams burst from every corner. 

People shoved past one another in their desperate flight from the theater. The thunder of stampeding feet rang out like cries of terror. 

Yet through it all, one man stood utterly at ease.

"What's the use in running away now? He was so frightened he even unsheathed his sword."

"Why, why are you doing this to me, Your Grace?"

"Why? Is that important?"

"What nonsense!"

Ignoring the baron's words, Kruelo looked down at the floor.

He flicked his foot under the nearby bag, sending it up in a smooth arc before catching it

"What's this cumbersome thing you brought to watch a play?"

"That's...!"

"Come to think of it, you were trying to hand this to your friend."

"Give it back!"

The baron rushed at Kruelo, but was knocked down with a single kick.

While the baron writhed in pain, Kruelo tore open the bag and dumped out its contents. 

Clatter-roll, pearl-white granules scattered and bounced across the floor. The trapped onlookers fell into an even deeper hush.

A smirk played across Kruelo's features as he twisted his lips into a sardonic curve.

"Such deep friendship?"

"Grr!"

Baron Genium drew his sword-cane in desperation, lashing out with reckless abandon. 

The concealed blade hidden in the walking stick shot toward Kruelo without pause, but... 

"Kraaak!" 

The baron's attack was over before it truly began.

From my side, I could mostly only see his back, but even that was like a mouse before a cat.

That's not what I taught him swordsmanship for.

I achieved my immediate goal while gaining information I didn't want to know.

Kruelo Whitedesert had gone so far astray that calling him "wayward" seemed cute.

He had grown exactly as described in 《Destiny》.

Oh, Phebula.

"A man whose face is known throughout the capital as Count Bonetti's right hand, reduced to this. Pathetic."

This isn't the time to be spacing out. Let's be satisfied with the achievement and return for now.

I didn't want to see more of that spectacle, so I stood up from my seat.

At that moment.

"Just right, Count Bonetti's daughter is here too. What do you think she'll say about you?"

Kruelo dropped a bombshell.

He turned his head toward me, and following the man's gaze, stares rushed over like waves.

I had also worn a mask when entering the theater, but if my name was exposed, it would be meaningless.

I muttered curses under my breath, but the madman didn't know how to stop.

"Won't you come here, Lady? You should guide your father's subordinate."

At this point, it was almost laughable.

"The young countess... is here?"

Baron Genium, who had been bleeding profusely, raised his head in confusion.

However, the moment he spotted me, his bewilderment changed meaning.

Just from my hair color, it would be obvious I wasn't Minuet.

"Siora Velvet?"

Kruelo heard that muttering mixed with absurdity and contempt.

He immediately took the bait.

"Do they usually call their master by name so carelessly at Bonetti's?"

"No, that person is Count Bonetti's daughter—" 

"Ah yes, come to think of it, you're right. How you treat your master is your own affair. However." 

Kruelo cut him off without so much as pretending to listen. 

Then he abruptly raised his sword hand high above his head. 

Wait, he's not actually going to—?

"But my fiancée being treated like that? Well, that's just something I can't ignore."

"Your Grace, that's not it, please spare me!"

"Lord forgive me, for I am but a fool in love."

"Wait!"

"Aaaaah!"

Before I could even think to intervene, the blade came crashing down.

The sword exploded into jagged pieces that scattered in every direction.

One shard must have struck the stage rigging—the lights above began to flicker erratically.

The hushed, terrified breathing of the remaining audience hung trembling in the air.

Directly in front of where the blade had struck, the baron lay curled in a tight ball, arms wrapped around his head, shaking violently.

Somehow, he was still breathing.

"Pfft."

Suddenly, laughter rang out.

Since the space had become suffocatingly quiet, it was easy to find the source.

Kruelo.

Kruelo Whitedesert laughed with his back curved.

It started as a low chuckle, then grew steadily until his laughter echoed throughout the entire theater.

Everyone still trapped inside watched him in horrified fascination.

Baron Genium's face had gone ashen as a corpse.

Kruelo gave him a light tap on the back.

"It was a joke."

He said in a voice still tinged with laughter.

In the next instant, armed figures poured in from the exits.

White armor bearing sun crests—the Imperial Knights had arrived.

They moved straight toward Baron Genium, who could barely keep himself upright, and his accomplice who had taken the bag.

"We're in a theater, after all—I simply gave a little performance of my own. Your actual execution belongs to His Imperial Majesty."

Kruelo didn't spare the baron so much as a glance as he closed his eyes.

He spread his arms wide in a gesture of mock reverence.

Then—

"For His Great Majesty the Emperor."

I'm pretty sure everyone else wanted to punch him in the back of the head too.

"Knowledge accumulates, money piles up, and history advances. But why does power alone gather and disperse repeatedly within a human's short lifetime?

Someone in ancient times thought: 'If we could gather even specks of power for hundreds of years, we could reach the gods.'

Thus Morion was created. Originally finite human magic accumulated and became immense. However, a considerable amount of impurities mixed in, and the energy became corrupted. There was no one who could handle the power.

So someone thought again: 'Let's create a vessel to handle Morion.'

They sought bloodlines familiar with corrupted power, binding, mending, and connecting them. After hundreds of years of effort, a suitable candidate was finally born.

The born child's name was Kruelo."

"And the world was destroyed."

I came out of the temple to change that outcome and worked hard for several years.

But everything is the same as in 《Destiny》. All that effort for nothing.

Sitting on the bed, I sighed.

The problem has three components:

The weapon = Morion
The forge = Whitedesert Council of Elders
The wielder = Kruelo

Even if I stop the immediate catastrophe, the same disaster could strike again at any moment unless all three elements are destroyed.

That's why during my time as Amy, I worked to rehabilitate Kruelo while simultaneously hunting for Morion.

The plan was elegant—destroy that vile artifact, then dismantle the council of elders for good measure.

Naturally.

"It wasn't anywhere in the ducal estate."

I'd torn the place apart searching, but found nothing.

Presumably, Morion is somewhere in the Whitedesert duchy.

"So I have to get married."

I need an appropriate status to rummage through the duchy without suspicion.

In the end, the conclusion is the same and the path is unchanged.

Let's not get needlessly angry at Kruelo's behavior.

I took deep breaths and tried to forget what I saw at the theater.

Once, twice, three times.

At that moment, the door burst open.

Since I had already sensed the presence, I greeted without being startled.

"Hello, Minuet."

It was Minuet Bonetti.

"The Imperial Knights just took Father away. What happened at the theater?"

"Well, your father's subordinate's transgression? I heard he brought in smuggled goods."

Minuet slightly frowned.

"Baron Genium went too far. Of all places, why make a deal where he'd meet the duke?"

 "Only I knew that accepting the marriage proposal meant meeting at the theater."

"Hm?"

"You didn't read it carefully? It was written at the bottom of the invitation."

"So the duke set this up as a trap from the very beginning."

He really was determined to turn Minuet's world completely upside down.

I shook my head in grudging admiration.

"That's fine then, I already knew he occasionally dealt with smuggled goods."

"You speak of it so lightly."

"He'll have some trouble, but would the family really collapse? It's just a matter of cutting off the tail."

Even though the subject was her own father, Minuet's tone was cold.

Suddenly, I remembered what Gavotte had said at the dinner table.

"You should have lived honorably! At the very least, you shouldn't have let them catch you with weaknesses! Why should Bonetti become the duke's plaything because of Father's corruption!"

Seeing that she wasn't shaken by mere smuggling, the count's corruption must be on a larger scale.

Anyway, there are too many bad people in this world.

When I go back, I should thoroughly investigate and report all the crimes.

"But there's something more important."

"Important... Oh, you mean did I manage to switch marriage prospects?"

"Tell me."

"Hello there, sister."

Well, I even heard "darling," so he wouldn't change his mind.

I decided to keep quiet about not having heard the terms yet.

I'd expected her to be shocked, but Minuet just smiled.

"Actually, I know that too."

"Huh?"

"This came a little while ago."

She handed me something.

A letter bearing the Whitedesert seal.

It contained words about being happy to establish a good relationship.

Crucially, the greeting that concluded the letter was this:

"Please give my regards to dear Lady Siora Bonetti. Kruelo D. Whitedesert."

A confirmation kill.

The fact itself wasn't surprising since I expected it, but Minuet's expression was surprising.

She was smiling like a completely different person.

"Aren't you angry? He called you to the theater and then exposed your father."

"Well, it's better than giving Bonetti to a dog."

Did she think the family would be completely stolen if she married?

Such is Kruelo's reputation.

Minuet's attitude even became friendly.

"Since Father has entered the palace, it'll be easy to process the adoption papers too."

"Oh. You've become really kind."

"Should a passing guest and family be treated the same?"

She curved her eyes gently.

"Congratulations on becoming a Bonetti."

Hearing those words, I realized I had taken one step forward.

I won't freeze to death on the streets.

"Let's start education tomorrow."

"...Education?"

"Well, you're Count Bonetti's second daughter, so you can't disgrace the name."

"Uh..."

"Don't worry, I'll assign someone proper to you."

Minuet's touch as she held my hand felt ominously foreboding.