“Continue, Lily.”

“…I, I really tried to stop her. But in the end, mother insisted and told me to keep quiet, so I had no choice but to come here. I truly had no intention of harming Craig at all. Please believe me.”

“My, so all of this was done by the Countess.”

“No! It wasn’t me, it was that man, Gerard Abrams who planned all this! I just, to Craig, Craig, Craig!”

Helena screamed incoherently. Leonard silenced her with just a raise of his finger.

“So, is there anyone else who objects to me becoming the Count? Baron Lancaster, what do you think?”

“…Of course, I believe Lord Craig is the rightful successor to the Count’s title.”

“Is that so?”

As soon as Leonard heard Baron Lancaster’s words, he abruptly stood up and strode over to fling open the dining room door.

A few servants waiting outside flinched and stepped back in surprise.

“Then it’s time for punishment. Beluce, bring them all here.”

“Yes, Master.”

Upon hearing the word ‘punishment,’ Beluce grinned and dragged Arnold and Gerard by the backs of their necks. It was astonishing how he effortlessly lifted two adult men with one hand, though they were on the slender side.

“Oh my, we’re short-handed. You.”

Beluce pointed at one of the servants.

“Y-yes?”

“Drag that old woman lying over there.”

“Do you mean the Countess?”

“Yes, that woman.”

Beluce gestured with his chin towards Helena, who was slumped on the floor. The servant hesitated for a moment before grabbing Helena’s arm and following behind Beluce.

“Tell everyone in the castle to gather at the main gate.”

“Yes, sir.”

Another servant who received Leonard’s order quickly ran off. But that command was actually unnecessary.

Everyone in the castle had already witnessed Arnold and Gerard being dragged away by Beluce and were whispering among themselves.

Leonard arrived at the main gate and climbed onto a platform. People had already gathered like a swarm of bees, having heard the news. They guessed the situation upon seeing Helena’s disheveled appearance and Arnold with a knife in his thigh.

“An unfortunate incident occurred during today’s meal. My mother and uncle here, along with Gerard Abrams, tried to kill me.”

At Leonard’s chin gesture, Beluce perceptively dragged the two men and Helena in front of Leonard.

“To betray one’s own blood. How grievous.”

He muttered softly. It was unclear whether he was speaking to Craig or to himself.

At that moment, someone in the crowd shouted, “Kill the traitors!” The silence was brief; soon everyone began chanting “Kill them” in unison.

Gerard, Arnold, and even Helena turned pale.

In Ershe, it is illegal to kill nobles without a trial, but Craig Abrams has a justifiable cause.

Arnold was the first to quickly crawl on his knees to the front of Leonard and prostrate himself.

“My Lord, please forgive me. I must have been blinded by greed.”

“Is that so?”

“Don’t you know how much I adored you since you were young?”

Arnold tried to appeal to Leonard by bringing up his childhood. Of course, these words did not stir any emotion in Leonard.

“Do the others have anything to say before they die?”

“Craig! Please, at least spare mother. Please spare mother. Please, I’m begging you.”

Lily’s face was already streaked with tears. She too was prostrate next to Arnold, wailing. Gerard seemed to have already resigned himself to his fate and was just staring at the ground.

Only Helena glared at Leonard with eyes full of resentment, her head held high.

“Lily.”

At that moment, Cordelia placed her hand on Lily’s shoulder with a benevolent smile.

“Could it be that this happened because the Countess is not of sound mind?”

At this, Helena quickly raised her head with a snap to glare at Cordelia.

“Poor thing, she’s always been lost in delusions since the late Count passed away. So it’s not strange that she fell for Gerard’s tricks.”

“Is that so?”

Leonard found this situation quite amusing and responded appropriately to Cordelia’s words.

“Yes, of course. Isn’t that right, Lily?”

“…”

“Lily, when someone asks you a question, you should answer.”

“…That’s right. Mother is not of sound mind right now. That’s why she fell for Gerard’s words.”

Lily mumbled, lowering her eyes. Cordelia clapped her hands.

“Well, that makes sense. Come to think of it, even though the Countess knew about my peanut allergy, she put peanuts in my meal, didn’t she?”

“W-why bring that up?”

“I told her several times, but she deliberately put peanuts in it. So either she had ill intentions or she wasn’t in her right mind. What do you think, Lily?”

“…W-well, that’s…”

Lily’s face turned completely white. It was obvious she was racking her brains to figure out what to say to survive this situation.

Cordelia suddenly burst into laughter.

“Why are you so scared? Just say that the Countess wasn’t in her right mind, that’s all.”

“…Th-that’s right. Mother wasn’t in her right mind, so…”

“Lily! You wench! You’re calling your own mother insane?”

Helena screamed. Even so, Lily kept her body hunched, only looking at Cordelia for cues.

“There are people trying to kill me, but everyone denies it. How should I handle this? What does the Countess think?”

“Why don’t we hang Gerard Abrams, the mastermind behind all this, and move the rest to the northern tower?”

“The northern tower?”

“Yes. After all, it wouldn’t look good to others if we killed your mother and uncle. We can move them to the tower and give them time to reflect there.”

“Hmm.”

Leonard pretended to ponder for a moment, stroking his chin. But his deliberation wasn’t long. He actively adopted Cordelia’s suggestion and decided the fate of the Abrams.

“Gerard Abrams shall be executed for attempting to kill me, the rightful heir to the Count’s title. Arnold Dylan and Helena Abrams, who aided in this evil act, shall be confined to the northern tower. Lily Dahlia is hereby permanently banished from the Abrams territory, effective immediately.”

Everything was carried out according to his will.

The soldiers below immediately dragged Helena and Arnold to the northern tower.

Until the very last moment, Helena struggled and cursed Leonard and Cordelia, but no one paid any attention to her words.

Instead, people gossiped about the grandeur of Craig Abrams, who had reclaimed his rightful place despite the threats from his stepmother.

Once the situation was more or less settled, Leonard, along with Beluce and Cordelia, returned to their room.

The entire way back, Beluce was full of complaints and grumbled openly.

“Why did you let them live? It would have been easier to just kill them rather than deal with the hassle of silencing them.”

“Because I never intended to kill them from the start.”

“Why are you deciding that on your own?”

“If Master really wanted to kill them, he wouldn’t have asked for my opinion and would have done as he wished. Isn’t that right?”

Leonard stared at Cordelia intently.

She was right. Even for a rural count’s family, it would be suspicious if most of the family members were suddenly killed, and the central government would certainly find it strange. It wasn’t time to draw attention yet.

What surprised Leonard was that Cordelia had read his mind and acted accordingly without any prior discussion.

He had felt it before, but Cordelia had an excellent ability to read situations. Just as she had figured out that Leonard was the head of the Atilei family with just a small clue.

“You understand well. But even if you had said to kill them, I would have done so.”

“Then all the more reason to keep them alive.”

“Why?”

“Death is too generous. They should experience the hell I’ve tasted.”

“Now you’re talking like my disciple.”

Because Leonard looked at Cordelia with pride, Beluce felt urgent.

“I wasn’t thinking of just killing them either. I was planning to torture them as much as possible before killing them.”

“Come on. Beluce, you haven’t even been wronged by those people.”

“Do I need to be wronged to kill someone? If I want to kill, I just kill.”

“…”

Cordelia was a bit taken aback by his matter-of-fact response. Though she hadn’t known Beluce for long, one thing was certain.

He’s crazy. Completely so.

“By the way, thanks to Master’s clean handling, I can leave here with peace of mind. I was worried about what would happen if I divorced and they sought revenge.”

Leonard asked in response to her words.

“Why worry about that?”

“Of course I worry. You’ll leave, but I have to stay here.”

“Why are you staying?”

“Where else would I go?”

“You’re going. To the Wilias Islands. To be precise, to the Ropel Magic Association.”

“Why would I go there?”

The more they conversed, the more questions arose for both of them. Leonard spoke as if in disbelief.

“Aren’t you my disciple?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then you should go. Wherever I go. We need to follow the proper procedures too.”

“Huh? I thought you were just going to teach me magic and then we’d part ways?”

“What are you talking about? Don’t you know what a magician’s disciple is?”

Beluce, who was standing nearby, interjected, apparently finding it quite frustrating. Cordelia blinked in confusion and stammered:

“Um, well. Isn’t it someone who learns magic from a magician? Once you’ve learned all the magic, you say ‘thank you for teaching me’ and go your separate ways.”

“What are you saying?”

“Is that not it?”

Because Beluce spoke as if he found her pathetic, Cordelia hunched her shoulders a bit. Leonard let out a long sigh.

“You know, I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a while. Do you really know nothing about magicians? This is common knowledge that any noble would know.”

“You’re the first magician I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“It’s possible that I’m the first. But even if you lived in the countryside, you must have received some basic education, right?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by basic education…”

“Things like what a magician is, what a magic association is, stuff like that.”

“Not at all. My father didn’t even want to teach me how to read and write.”