Chapter 166: Chapter 166

TL: Zimmings

I went back to the mansion with Trigon and Cecilia.

Because Cecilia hadn’t recovered even after a while.

People were surprised because they recognized Cecilia.

Lea was very surprised to see her again after a long time in that state.

“How could the Lady…….”

“Where’s dad?”

“He’s in the office.”

“Lea, come with me.”

I headed to his office immediately.

Dad, who was talking to Nos, narrowed his eyes when he saw Cecilia.

What’s the matter?”

“I have something to tell you. It’s urgent, so please everyone leave.”

“…….”

When dad signalled, Nos and the others left.

Everyone was confused as to why they need to go.

Dad sat at the sofa, as me, Cecilia and Trigon sat around him.

Lea also sat near us.

Then, my dad started the conversation.

“So, what do you want to talk to me about, bringing me to Olga?”

My dad and others seemed to be a little impatient, but I was calm.

I think my dad felt instinctively where this was going.

“The day Dubbled lost Lisette and the youngest child.”

The moment I mentioned it, the tense atmosphere was even prominent in the room.

Dad’s eyes hardened at once.

Even Lea bit her lips and called me urgently, “Lady.”

I quickly asked my dad.

“Do you remember that day?”

“……Blaine.”

“Do you…remember it?”

Dad, who closed his eyes for a moment, replied.

“Yes.”

“What about Lea?”

“……I remember.”

“Tell me.”

Lea glanced at my dad.

Only after dad nodded did she cautiously bring up the memory of the day.

“Master abruptly vacated the mansion due to the attack on our border. At that time, his predecessors took this chance and attacked the mansion.”

“Yes.”

“The knights came to the mansion, as Lisette’s escort and my older sister, who was the head maid, escaped Lisette.

That was what all the Dubbled people remembered.

“Just as we were about to run away, Lisette was about to give birth. We had no choice but to go into the mountain, so while my sister helped Lisette give birth in the cave, the guards fought at the mountain. The guards ended up dying. So I’m the only one…….”

From here, the memories of Lea and Cecilia are different.

I put the magical contract on the sofa table.

“Do you remember?”

“Of course, it’s the relic that Lisette had, isn’t it?”

“How do you know that?”

“I have always served her, of course I know…….”

When Lea answered with a puzzled expression, my dad’s eyes shook.

“No. You wouldn’t know this.”

“What?”

“The relic was known after her death, she didn’t even tell me how to use it!”

“Then…….”

I bit my lips tightly

‘How did she know?’

Dad and the people of Dubbled at the time would never have known how to use magical contracts.

If he had known, there’s no way someone as thorough as my dad wouldn’t have used it to his advantage.

If its existence was known, his ancestors would not have attacked him in the first place.

This is a great leash. Either by threatening his predecessor, or other, he could have used it to keep his predecessor from harming Lisette and the children.

“Lea, how do you remember? Did Lisette ever show you this at Dubbled?”

“Ah……. No. That…….”

She frowned as if she was confused.

As she was looking at it, her eyes narrowed as she grabbed her forehead.

“No. Yes. She showed it to me. Where… When was it? A bed… a room? Was it a bedroom? Ah, yes, I think it was a bedroom.”

Lea murmured as Trigon said with a pale face,

“As expected, it’s magic.”

“Are you sure?”

“Fabricated memories are bound to fail. When an error occurs, their memory is re-established, as is the case with Dame Lea Shavanol. In short, it means, “When a person who was under the influence of magic notices something suspicious in their memory, their memory is re-manipulated in real time.”

Trigon gritted his teeth and added, “Just like Dame Lea Shavanol now.”

Dad asked me with a stiff face.

“Fabricated memory.”

“Lea, Cecilia, and Reina, Lea’s older sister, must be under the influence.”

“What?”

“The day she died. They risked their life to protect the newborn baby.”

“…….”

“Cecilia was there. But neither Lea nor Cecilia were able to remember because of it. It’s because the real Trigon manipulated their memory with magic!”

Dad, Lea, and Cecilia’s eyes turned to Trigon.

Trigon said with a face as white as a sheet.

“I’m the one who watched his experiment the most. I know best how his memory manipulation is flawed.”

“What flaw?”

“The memory of a person with a big amount of divine power cannot be completely manipulated.”

This means that, like Lea, when a memory error occurs, it is not re-manipulated in real time.

So, unlike Lea, Cecilia was able to question the fabricated memories.

After thinking so, I looked at Cecilia with a smile.

“……Tri’s mother, Cecilia’s sister.”

“What?”

“Are you sure she died of the plague?”

“What, what are you saying…….”

“It’s weird. Cecilia’s sister died and Tri went missing. The timing is so perfect…….”

In my words, everyone in my dad’s office was speechless as if struck by lightning.

‘It was weird.’

It was said that the real Trigon died after failing in an experiment.

He must’ve never thought that Cecilia, who was a knight, would have had divine powers, so he manipulated her memories.

‘He must have realized after failing it.’

A person with divine power cannot have their memory completely manipulated.

If Cecilia is in Dubbled, the people of Dubbled may discover the truth of the matter.

That’s why he had to let Cecilia leave on her own by killing her sister, abandoning her niece.

Cecilia’s expression completely collapsed.

“……It’s ridiculous. That can’t be true. No! No! There’s no way my sister died because of me!”

She cried desperately.

“Cecilia!”

Lea ran over and helped her.

The blood vessels in her eyes burst open, and her tears were like tears of blood..

“No… No. Oh, please, sister…!”

I looked at my father amidst the chaotic situation.

As if time had stopped, he stared blankly at his feet.

He couldn’t even breathe properly.

I couldn’t even speak to my dad, who was about to collapse from the revelation.

The wind blew and caressed us, but our hearts felt uneasy.

The curtains fluttered, and the picture frame of Lisette, which always occupied one side of dad’s desk, fell.

Over to the youngest child’s shoes.

***

That night, it was very dark in the mansion, the only light on the room was from the moonlight outside my window. I turned back and watched Trigon and Lea, as Cecilia was on the bed looking like a corpse.

The whole room was quiet, and I could only hear the sound of soft breathing in the darkness.

As I carefully rubbed my cold hands, I heard someone said,

“Why am I like this?”

“…….”

Cecilia opened her eyes and turned her head towards me.

“I should have followed my sister’s words from the beginning….I shouldn’t be greedy. I should’ve never been a knight.”

“No…….”

“My stubbornness killed my sister.”

“It’s not like that.”

Her body was trembling alongside her silhouette. She was like a sad, poor lamb who didn’t know what to do.

“It’s late at night. It’s time for a child to go to sleep.”

“…I’m not a child, so it’s okay.”

Cecilia’s eyes slowly moved towards me.

“I died three times, this is my fourth life. As a child of fake fate, I was betrayed by my family and sacrificed, I was also abused and killed in the next life. In my third life, I lived as a beggar and was betrayed by my friends. Including Tri.”

“……!”

Cecilia’s eyes widened.

“You…”

“But Cecilia. I can still live.”

“…….”

“Even if I don’t have anyone by my side, even if I feel guilty, I can live.”

“…….”

“Do you think today’s pain is the biggest pain you will go through? No. Tomorrow may be more painful.”

Cecilia cautiously got up as I cried and forced a mischievous expression on my face.

“I thought about destroying the world to erase my pain.”

“…….”

“But, I still have a slight hope that the world isn’t that bad. Isn’t that weird?”

As I said that, she asked me,

“What hope can I have? I killed my older sister and couldn’t protect Lisette… … .”

“I will be Cecilia’s hope.You can become a knight without raising a sword.”

“…….”

“Protect me. I’ll be your older sister, your family, and your master.”

She laughed a little.

“How can I have an older sister as small as you?”

“Is it weird?”

“It’s weird. But why do I feel comforted?”

I tried not to cry, but no matter how hard I tried, tears continued to flow.

As I rubbed my eyes with my hands, Cecilia gently pushed my hand away and wiped my wet cheeks.

She got up from bed and knelt at my feet. She kissed my foot very slowly.

Stepping back in surprise, Cecillia didn’t mind and said,

“Let me pledge my allegiance.”

Even if I die, I will never forget this moment. It was the moment when the most powerful empress in the history of the empire, a symbol of peace recorded in history, came to my side.

***

Theodore looked quietly at Leblaine and the kneeling Cecilia through the gap in the slightly opened door.

“Father.”

As he turned his head at Johann’s call, they glanced at each other.

“I found the records of the magical contract you mentioned.”

“…Am I right?”

“Yes.”

There was a faint gleam in Johann’s eyes.

“The fact that those who survived risking their lives to protect the youngest child are still alive means that the youngest is also alive.”

“…….”

Theodore clenched the couple ring he had with Lisette.

“Send a search party to the mountain where Lisette died.”

“Yes.”

“And…….”

Turning his head to Leblaine for a moment, he said in a low voice.

“Find the orphanage where Leblaine was at.”

“Why is Leblaine……?”

“I keep having these speculations.”

That maybe Lisette might have led the youngest child to him already, there is such a possibility.

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