“You, who wanted to make your child Crayton’s successor, didn’t have thoughts of killing Meriel? If you’re going to continue lying to the end[Dash].”

“Bake doubted Meriel’s birth!”

I stopped walking and turned around again. Now, it seemed like I could hear a somewhat proper story.

“Bake never intended to pass on the inheritance to Meriel. Of course not. How could he accept the bloodline of Duke Pheiron, whom he so despised? He just tried to please you by adjusting to your likes and dislikes.”

I paused, having tried to deny Meriel’s lineage. I didn’t want to shout such stories at her. Instead, there were stories she needed to hear.

“Then why did you kill her?”

“I told you. It was an accident. It was all a coincidence.”
“An accident? Coincidence? Do you really think you can explain my daughter’s death with just those words?”

As I twisted my face, Margaret quickly spoke again.

“The day Meriel went to the academy, there was something mistakenly mixed in her belongings.”

“What was that?”

“I don’t know either.”

“……. ”

When a troubled expression appeared, Margaret was startled and quickly turned her head.

But I couldn’t wait any longer and took a step back. I had no intention of giving her time to think.

Originally, it wasn’t regrettable for me.

If I didn’t come out of here and never return, she would have to slowly die in pain in the darkness without being able to do anything. That fact would be told by the increasing agony of the wounds.

Eventually, Margaret’s mouth opened quickly.

“H-However, I know this! Bake wanted to find it!”

“He wanted to?”

“As you know, Meriel is a bundle of accidents. Since the child wouldn’t know the value of the object, it would be even more unpredictable how it would be used.”

“……So?”

I tried to suppress my emotions, but I couldn’t help that even my voice was trembling. I took a quick deep breath.

“No matter how hard I tried to find the object, I couldn’t figure out where Meriel had hidden it. So, anxious Bake found me.”

“…You?”

“Meriel followed me well. I thought I could persuade her well.”

“……. ”

“I succeeded in secretly sending notes to Meriel and getting involved, but the problem was what happened after. Even though I surely gave her sleeping pills, the maid stayed awake.”

Rosda. I bit my lips, thinking of her bright smile.

Rosé didn’t betray me. On the contrary, she just wanted to protect Meriel. I felt sorry and grateful.

In fact, I couldn’t fully trust her, and I doubted her.

“There was no choice. I couldn’t avoid making a fuss. There was no other option but to handle it.”

“If you weren’t an opponent you could beat?”

Rose, with her small build, was quite a skilled mercenary. Margaret, who had never held a sword, wasn’t an opponent Rose could beat.

Margaret hesitated and cautiously spoke.

“There was someone who accompanied me.”

“Who?”

“I hired a mercenary. I couldn’t go such a long way alone.”

“Hiring a mercenary for something that needed to be handled discreetly?”

“He originally took care of troublesome things, so Bake often assigned him work.”

Although there were more things to dig into, I wanted to hear a different story now.

I urged Margaret, trying to push aside the emerging questions.

“So? What happened next?”

“It happened in the blink of an eye, so Meriel was a little surprised. Thanks to that, the situation became even less suitable for hearing stories. But, the companion who accompanied me had a somewhat hasty personality.”

“Tell me.”

“…He scared her a bit.”

“A bit?”

I could swear. Those words would be lies. It was just a joke to cover up his own sins.
Knowing that, I still wished those words were true.

My daughter was afraid.

“I really didn’t intend to kill her! I was going to scare her and make her talk, but because he went ahead and…!”

“Then the fire? How did the fire start?”

“If the fact that Meriel died became known, the academy would become noisy. No matter how much Bake tried, there were limits to the influence he could handle, and there was a chance that the sought-after item might be revealed in the process.”

“……. ”

“If it couldn’t be found, it was judged better to burn everything and eliminate the evidence.”

Perhaps realizing that she became fearful after opening her mouth, Margaret quickly added the next words.

“I also feel sorry that Meriel ended up like that. But if Meriel had opened her mouth quickly, or if she hadn’t touched the item before that dash.”

Crash!

The lantern I was holding shattered into pieces and rolled on the floor. The oil spilled from the broken lamp caught fire, but I didn’t pay attention to such things.

I couldn’t endure the building anger, nor did I want to endure it anymore.

“What are you doing! It’s dangerous!”

“Shut up.”

I couldn’t stand that shameless face, more eager to justify himself than to admit he had killed that young one. The sight of my daughter crying and pleading for her life after I had killed her made me feel insane.

“She was just eight years old. Just eight years old.”

Although I promised not to cry anymore, the determination crumbled mercilessly.

I regret and regret again. I blamed myself for not being able to protect that young one.

I picked up a broken piece of the lantern.

I brought it directly under Margaret’s chin.

Only then did Margaret realize what I was trying to do and screamed.

“D-Don’t do this! You promised to let me live if I tell everything!”

“Don’t worry. You won’t die from this.”

“D-Don’t, don’t! Aaah!”

Just touching the fragments on her cheek made her close her eyes, how could I have touched that young one?

I exerted force in my hand.

I got angrier watching her crying and begging for her life.

My daughter must have done the same.

“Live. Live to see your flesh rotting and crumbling, and live in endless agony without even being able to struggle. That will be the punishment I give you.”

“Cr-crack, crack.”

“Until you feel the bone-chilling reality that living doesn’t mean living.”

Just like I did.

I raised the blood-stained hand with a brief sneer.