Episode 131
"But that child ignored the flowery path laid out before her and chose a path without glory. After going to the capital for her debutante ball, she suddenly said she had found soone she loved and stubbornly insisted on marrying into the Lucifer Ducal House... Hah."
As if recalling it still stressed him, the Grand Marquis pressed his head and let out a deep sigh.
"I opposed it. You two probably know better than anyone what kind of family the Lucifers are and how they are treated. I didn't want my child to walk such a path. I wanted her to live happily, you see. But that child refused to yield to until the very end."
Seeing the Grand Marquis's irritated face, the Marquis, who had been listening quietly, added an explanation.
"She went on a hunger strike, saying she would starve herself to death if we didn't permit the marriage. She even tried to run away, but your father, the Duke Lucifer, persuaded her and managed to obtain my father's permission."
It seed to be the first ti Benio had heard the story of how his parents received permission to marry, as he was listening with a surprised expression.
"Useless talk."
"Haha."
The Marquis lightly brushed off the Grand Marquis's reproach with a laugh.
'So what's the point of this story?'
Unlike Benio, who seed very interested, Flora found it utterly uninteresting.
It felt like a waste of ti listening to a story she had zero interest in.
"After marrying, Nersha looked so happy. She was full of great hope, saying she would go to the north and revitalize the territory with her husband. Even though I said I wouldn't offer any support, if she had pretended to be weak and asked, I would have helped, but she refused to hold out her hand, saying she didn't want to burden her family. I was worried, but I was also relieved to see her doing well."
With these words, the Grand Marquis's lips, which had been speaking so freely, clamped shut tightly. It seed what ca before was just the preamble, and the main point was about to begin.
"I thought they were living peacefully like that. That is, until Nersha, heavily pregnant, ca to her parents' ho. It was the first ti that child had returned here in the ten years since her wedding."
'Could the child in her belly have been ?'
Perhaps her thoughts were written all over her face, because the Grand Marquis nodded without any change in expression.
"Yes, she ca here carrying you in her womb. The first thing she said upon coming to her parents' ho after her marriage was that she needed a place to hide the child and asked for help."
"Help? What do you an? According to Father, Mother went to the Marquisate because her health was poor and she needed rest before childbirth!"
Hearing news that contradicted what he knew, Benio urgently questioned him.
"He said he tried to stop her, saying it was dangerous, but she was adamant... He said he had no choice but to permit it... He said he shouldn't have let her go and still suffers from guilt over it!"
Despite Benio's excited state, the Grand Marquis didn't answer regarding that and continued his own story.
"You'll rember I said earlier that many people wanted Nersha? Although she beca the Duchess Lucifer and her reputation suffered, I heard she maintained friendships with acquaintances even after marriage."
The Grand Marquis caught his breath for a mont, then spoke in a voice that trembled slightly, as if he was holding sothing back.
"It seems one of them secretly inford only her that an oracle had been delivered, stating the soon-to-be-born Lucifer child would bring about a calamity."
At the word 'calamity,' Flora's body, which had been relaxed until now, stiffened rigidly.
'...Hearing it after so long startled .'
It was a word she had heard too often in her past life as the Great Demon Morse, so she couldn't help but feel a pang and found it difficult to control her expression.
'Calm down. He only said calamity, not Great Demon. I haven't been found out.'
Of course, even if they called a re seven-year-old a Great Demon, no one would believe it, but it didn't hurt to be careful.
Flora opened her ears wider than before and listened attentively to the Grand Marquis's words.
"She said it was reliable information from an acquaintance connected to the Temple, and she told us while crying. The acquaintance insisted the child should be sent to the Temple, but Nersha said she would think about it and then ca to her parents' ho as if fleeing."
"...The Temple dislikes the Lucifers, so that's a natural reaction. If Flora had been entrusted there, she wouldn't have been able to grow up as brightly as she has now."
In response to Benio's reaction, the Grand Marquis continued his explanation, saying Nersha had thought the sa.
"She said she couldn't let the Temple take her child, that she would protect the child no matter what, and she made a request of for the first ti since her marriage."
Even as he spoke, recalling that ti seed to frustrate him; he downed the glass of cold water in one go.
"So I said no. If it was an acquaintance from the Temple, they were surely soone in a high position, which ant the information about the child in her womb had likely been relayed within the Temple. I thought it would do no good for the Lucifers, who aren't even proper successors of heroes, to make an enemy of the Temple."
As if the cold water wasn't enough, the Grand Marquis grabbed a nearby glass of wine and downed it in one go.
Even though everyone stared in shock, he didn't stop until he had emptied the glass.
"Then she ran away again. I deliberately didn't look for her, thinking she should break this habit of running away when things didn't go her way. And when she returned..."
The Grand Marquis fell silent, unable to continue, so the Marquis spoke for him.
"Her stomach was flat, as if she had already given birth. When we asked where the born child was, she only said she had sent it to a good place, so we all thought the child had died. After that, Nersha fell ill due to postpartum complications and passed away."
This was also a difficult story for him to tell, as his expression was poor. Nevertheless, he felt responsible and didn't stop the related story.
"It seems Nersha must have anticipated her own end. Before she died, she sent a letter to the Duke Lucifer, saying she had entrusted the child to an unnad orphanage and asking him to protect the child."
"...Yes. I heard that from Father."
"Not long after sending the letter, Nersha left her final will and departed from our side. She said to deliver it if the Duke or you ever ca to visit."
Benio nodded with a bitter expression.
"Yes. So that's why you, Grandfather, prevented us from coming to the Eisollen territory, isn't it? Even though you and Uncle learned of Flora's existence through Father's letter, you still didn't grant permission."
Hearing that they had known all along made Flora feel absurd again.
'So he couldn't go against his daughter's final wish, but he hated the Lucifers who, in his eyes, caused her death, so he just banned them from entering?'
It seems even at that age, a person can be childish and petty.
Perhaps seeing Flora's shocked face, the Marquis let out an embarrassed laugh.
"I thought it was right to show the will only after finding Flora. That's why I also followed Father's opinion."
She hadn't expected the Grand Marquis and the Marquis to be in agreent.
'It must an that Mother's death was that shocking and painful for them.'
But wasn't this also a selfish choice?
Even knowing that Nersha's death wasn't the Lucifers' fault, they showed no consideration for the family mbers who were grieving alongside them.
"But hearing the news this ti, I felt it was sothing that couldn't be postponed any longer, and I grew impatient. So I sent the invitation without Father's permission."
She thought the Grand Marquis would say sothing, but unexpectedly, he remained silent and just drank more.
"I thought that even if you were angry with , you couldn't turn away formally invited guests. Were you surprised to receive the invitation so suddenly? I also feel sorry about that."
Despite his kind appearance, it seed the Marquis also had a formidable personality.
"And let be perfectly clear about one thing: we also have not yet looked at Nersha's will. She insisted it must be delivered to Duke Lucifer."
'So he didn't just invite us now because he couldn't keep the will forever?'
Her heart kept twisting at Eisollen's disagreeable behavior.
"The will was originally ant for the Lucifers. I will deliver it to you tomorrow. However, though I am ashad to ask, could you also let us know the contents of the will?"
"Who gave you the right!"
'Ah, there it is.'
She had wondered how long he'd stay quiet.
The Grand Marquis slamd down the glass he was drinking from and spoke angrily.
"It is the precious item my daughter left behind in her final monts. I have nothing to give to the Lucifers who took my daughter away from !"
In that short ti, he had drunk so much that his eyes were bloodshot.
"Father, you say that, but you haven't even looked at the will yourself. I know you've been keeping it safe, waiting for the day to hand it over."
At the Marquis's words, the Grand Marquis angrily pounded the table.
Even considering he had been drinking, his excessive excitent seed to startle the Marquis who had spoken.
'Why is he so surprised? Did he not expect him to get this angry?'
As Flora rolled her eyes, assessing the situation, the Grand Marquis stood up with a furious face and snapped at her.
"After hearing all this, don't you have any thoughts?"
'Does he want to understand? That Mother was this kind of person, and she died making sacrifices for ?'
Seeing her utterly clueless face, his face contorted fiercely.
"Disgusting wretches!"
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