Chapter 80

Child of the Witch

Click.

Leinrant Estate, Heinkel’s study.
The fragrance of tea brewed with nameless flowers filled the cool room.

Slurp—.

A relaxed expression spread across Heinkel’s face as he took a sip of his own blend.
A warm scent that stirred up old memories.
For Heinkel, who had spent his entire life wielding nothing but a sword, this was the only talent he could truly call his own.

‘It’s because you hesitated like an idiot that things ended up like this at the very last moment.’

But he only enjoyed that warmth for a brief moment.

The bitter voice echoing in his mind carved wrinkles into his brow.

“... Haa.”

In the end, he hadn’t been able to kill her.
Even after declaring her an enemy of the family, leading the knights to attack, and standing there with her neck right before him.
Even after making all those decisions, at the final moment, he still...

“I figured I’d find you brooding in here again.”

A voice sounded without warning.
Still staring at the teacup in his hand, Heinkel called out the owner of the voice.

“Priscilla.”

Duchess Priscilla, wearing her monocle.
Even late at night, she seemed too busy handling the aftermath of the civil war to catch her breath, a stack of land registries and documents still clutched in her hands.

“There’s a mountain of work waiting to be done. Is it really alright for Your Grace to look this drained?”

As Priscilla approached while saying that, Heinkel placed tea leaves into the strainer.

“I was thinking about the last battle.”
“... About Helian?”

After a brief pause, Heinkel nodded with a faint smile.

“As expected, nothing escapes you.”
“You’re still far easier to deal with compared to some people.”

Her way of speaking was to strip away all embellishment and speak only of the core issue.

After a moment of silence, Heinkel slowly opened his mouth while gazing out the window.

“I was the one who pointed a sword at Helian’s neck... but the one who killed her was Klein.”
...

A topic he had rarely spoken of since returning from the battle.
Priscilla’s expression also hardened at Heinkel’s voice.

“If that child hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have been able to kill her.”

Cracks formed in Heinkel’s expression as he stared at the empty teacup.

“No matter how much of an enemy she became, she was still once your family.”

Saying that, Priscilla cut off Heinkel’s self-reproach, set down her documents, and accepted the tea he handed her.

“No one would blame you for hesitating.”
“I cannot allow it.”

The life of the Duke of Leinrant did not belong to himself, but to the family.
His death would not affect only him alone.

The countless knights, retainers, and nobles tied to the family.
The lives of everyone who followed him were determined by his actions.

“A noble must remain colder than anyone else before the greater cause. And yet I...”
“And nobles are also people who use that greater cause as a shield to kill others without hesitation.”

Heinkel’s self-condemning voice came to a halt.

“It’s true that there are times when cold judgment is necessary.”

Meeting his gaze, Priscilla continued speaking.

“But even so... don’t become a monster.”

Heinkel slowly mulled over her words.
Priscilla’s words were born from personally witnessing and enduring all the filth of imperial politics.
A sharp criticism of the aristocratic society where schemes and conspiracies never ceased.

“If I ever saw you become that kind of noble... I wouldn’t be able to face her.”

As she spoke, Priscilla slowly raised one arm.
On it was a thin leather bracelet.
A worn item that did not suit the dignity of a duchess.

“Claire...”

Seeing the symbol engraved on the bracelet, Heinkel trailed off.
The bracelet had originally belonged to Claire.
A token of friendship the deceased woman had left to Priscilla at the very end.

“I’m sorry, Priscilla.”

Priscilla and Heinkel’s eyes turned toward the window.
The large tree planted before the estate’s front gate.
It was the very tree Claire had always climbed in the past.

Knock knock.

At that moment, the sound of knocking from outside the door pulled Heinkel from his thoughts.

“Your Grace.”

It was the voice of Berkman, the Leinrant family’s head butler.

“Young Master Klein has returned.”
“I see.”

If he had returned safely, then that meant he had succeeded once again.

Thinking of Klein, who was growing stronger day by day, Heinkel straightened his expression and stepped out of the study.

“Have your worries been resolved?”

As if seeing straight through his thoughts, the head butler asked.
A friend who had served beside him since his youth.

“Of course.”

Nodding as he looked at the man’s face, Heinkel spoke with a clear smile.

“Prepare a carriage to the annex.”

The annex.
At those words, Berkman remained silent for a while.

But not long after—

“I shall make the preparations.”

He bowed deeply and obeyed Heinkel’s command.

“I’m starting to worry that every time you return, you bring even more work with you.”

Priscilla’s administrators looked utterly despairing at the newly arrived mountain of paperwork.

‘It’s that bastard...’
‘That guy is the source of all our overtime...’

The glares the administrators shot at me practically said exactly that.

“No, this is excellent information.”

Priscilla clicked her tongue as she pulled out one of the documents.
The Empire, the branch nobles, and the secret dealings between them.
The documents I handed over were packed with expenditure records, ledgers, and lists of everyone involved.

“We don’t currently have the manpower to purge them all.”

“I know. But...”

Priscilla answered my words with a chilling smile.

“This is more than enough justification to mobilize the knight order.”

Once Priscilla finished her calculations and said that, I nodded as well.

There was no need to arrest all of them right now.
If we struck them recklessly without preparation, it would only be like kicking a hornet’s nest.
Amid the chaos, they would simply leave behind more hidden pawns in the shadows.

‘It’s far more efficient to wait patiently for the right moment... and burn the entire nest down at once.’

Just as I was thinking that—

Clunk—!

As the carriage they were riding in shook violently, Delline, who had been dozing off, jolted awake.

“Huh— wha?”

“You’re only waking up now, Delline?”

Priscilla wiped the corner of Delline’s mouth as though she found him hopeless.

“It’s fine, Mother. I can handle this myself now...!”
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen my son. At least let me do something like this. Now hold still and bring your face over here.”
“Mmph! Ughhh!”

Though he was already a married man in his twenties, before his mother, he was still just an immature child.

Watching Delline desperately avoid Priscilla’s persistent hands made me smile without realizing it.

“Klein.”

The one who called me was Heinkel, seated beside me.

“Yes, Father.”
“Do you know where we’re going right now?”

As Heinkel asked while gazing at the scenery passing beyond the carriage window, I shook my head.

“No. I was only told to follow along...”

Even as I trailed off, I had a vague idea.
What Heinkel had said before I departed.
An occasion where the entire ducal household was moving together.
And most importantly, today’s date.

‘Most likely... this has something to do with my mother.’

The third day of the second week of January.
It was the death anniversary of Duchess Claire la Yustia.

“We have arrived, Your Grace.”

The one escorting the carriage was Dunkel.
Along with his voice coming from the driver’s seat, the four of us stepped out of the carriage and looked around at the scenery.

“Haa...”

“Nothing has changed at all.”

As if revisiting the place after a long time, Heinkel and Priscilla murmured those words.

After leaving the Leinrant Estate and traveling for dozens of minutes toward the outskirts of Leinrant City—

The carriage that followed a narrow trail brought us to the yard of a small house built deep within a secluded forest.

“Ah, this place is...?”

Delline also seemed to recognize it, his eyes widening as he looked around.

“Delline probably remembers it too, right?”

When Priscilla said that, Delline nodded and spoke.

“I remember playing here when I was young. This place is definitely...!”

Delline’s gaze turned toward me before he could finish.

“Duchess Claire’s residence...”

The moment he saw my face, he immediately lost the ability to continue speaking.

‘So that was the truth.’

A small space isolated far away from everything else.
And even this faint, nostalgic feeling the place stirred within me.

After gathering my thoughts, I looked at Heinkel’s heavily sunken back and spoke.

“So this is where my mother lived.”
“...”

At my words, Heinkel clenched his fist.
Priscilla. Delline.
Even Dunkel, who had stood at my side serving me all this time, lowered his head without saying a word.

“And now...”

After finishing my thoughts, I silently began walking forward.

Crunch, crunch.

My footprints trailed across the lightly fallen snow, and when I reached the house, I slowly pulled open the wooden door.

Creeeak....

As though it had been maintained until recently, the door opened smoothly.
At the center of the empty house stood a small gravestone.

“... It became her grave.”

There was no place for Duchess Claire in the ducal family mausoleum.
I realized that fact the instant I saw it.

“I’m sorry, Klein.”

Heinkel spoke to me with a grief-stricken face.
The peaceful space looked almost like a cottage from a fairy tale.
Seeing it, Heinkel looked as though he might break down in tears.

“Bringing you here... took far too long.”

After quietly looking around the place for a moment, I spoke calmly.

“You may resent me. This was...!”
“This was the only way it could have been.”

The reason Heinkel had never brought me here after I was released from the correctional facility.

There was no need to think further.

“A duchess of foreign blood. A madwoman. The witch carrying Archimond ’s reincarnation.”

As every slander ever attached to Duchess Claire flowed from my lips, Heinkel’s expression twisted painfully.

“And despite all those titles, Father still declared me a prince of Leinrant.”

But when I said that, Heinkel raised his head and looked at me.

“And because of that, Klein, you became the target of the branch families.”

The one who added the explanation as she entered the house was Priscilla.

“In that situation, if either His Grace or you had recklessly visited this place...”
“The branch families would have used it as an excuse for whatever schemes they wished to weave.”

Back when I was born, Helian was still alive, and the branch families were at the height of their influence.
In such a situation, even the smallest actions could become fatal.

“At the time, we really were that precarious.”

Protecting this place from their hands while also protecting me from them.
Back then, this had likely been the only possible method.

“But even under those circumstances, Father protected it.”

Trying to ease the heavy atmosphere, I spoke to them.

“This place... and me as well.”
“Klein...”

Even after so much time had passed, the place had been kept spotless.
It made clear just how Heinkel—and everyone gathered here—had truly thought of my mother.

“And Father’s actions are what brought about today’s victory.”

As I said that while looking at Heinkel, the tension slowly left his tightly clenched fist.

“So now, it’s my turn.”

I placed my hand upon the gravestone of my mother, Duchess Claire.

“As the child of Duchess Claire la Yustia, I will stand proudly.”

And I continued.

“And Leinrant.”

My greatest rival, and my hope.
Those who had inherited Berkel’s will.

“I will make it into the ruler of the North that no one will ever dare challenge.”