Chapter 369 [Illustration]

News spread throughout the capital that demons had attacked Raziern in the southern kingdom of Levaina.

More precisely, they had targeted the Merchants’ Guild branch on the outskirts of Raziern. Even so, the demons had indeed attacked Raziern itself. The damage was not extensive, as the demon force that attacked was rather small. Despite this, the place that was attacked was on the outskirts and lacked proper security forces, which led to significant loss of life.

Among the list of names detailing the casualties from the attack was the name of Duke Arthur de Granz.

I had already heard the report from Sarkegar.

Vertus had used the situation to his advantage. It had seemed odd to me that the imperial family had not yet identified the leaders of the Revolutionary Forces, but it turned out they already had. They had simply refrained from acting, afraid of the immense consequences that might arise from taking rash action.

However, in the aftermath of the attack on the Nameless Monastery, the mere fact that it had been a demon attack had caused so much fear that it had buried all other suspicious aspects of the attack beneath it. This led Vertus to realize that he could eliminate the Revolutionary Forces in the same manner.

The “remnants of the demonic forces” had become a convenient scapegoat. The traces of battle had been manipulated, the bodies of demons strewn about, and the numerous human casualties sustained...

Newspapers carried images of the scene of the attack and the names of the victims, and I took all of it in.

Duke Granz. Arthur de Granz.

He had met his end in a demon attack in a small southern state of the empire.

“Why... why did this happen...” Harriet was crying with her face in her hands as she recalled the day we’d spent at the Granz estate not long ago.

Ellen, too, was staring wide-eyed at the newspaper, as if trying to confirm she hadn’t read it wrong.

“Let’s go see Riana,” Ellen said, gently setting the newspaper down.

***

Swish...

The winter rain was falling.

Cliffman, Adelia, Harriet, Ellen, and I—all of us who had visited the duke’s estate—went to see Riana. It would take time for the duke’s body to be recovered and returned to the estate.

The Granz estate was already filled with people, although I wasn’t sure if they were relatives of the family. The duchess, surrounded and being comforted by many, wore a vacant expression that spoke of her shock.

Riana was no different.

“Oh? Ah... y-you guys came?” Riana said.

Harriet quietly held Riana’s hand, but Riana seemed unaware of it.

She was in a daze. She should have been grieving, but she couldn’t even wrap her head around what had befallen her. None of us knew how to offer comfort in such a situation.

The people around the duchess each had something to say, offering words to the dazed duchess, but none of us knew what to say.

I didn’t know what to say to Riana, who was suffering from a situation that wasn’t my doing, but had become my responsibility.

I hadn’t done it. It wasn’t my doing. But I couldn’t say that.

Harriet quietly held Riana’s hand, while Ellen gently wrapped her arms around Riana’s shoulders.

“...”

Riana stared blankly into space with unfocused eyes.

***

We stayed at the Granz estate.

The duchess, who was sensitive to social status, did not treat us harshly for staying at the mansion. In this situation, at least, she behaved as an adult.

“Thank you, all of you. Please take care of Riana,” she said.

She seemed genuinely grateful that we were staying to look after Riana in her condition.

Unlike Riana, the duchess couldn’t just mourn. When the body was returned, a funeral had to be arranged, and she had to speak with the many people who would visit beforehand. In such a sudden situation, someone had to keep their wits about them, and that was the duchess.

The next day, Duke Granz’s body was returned to the estate. Riana stared blankly at the duke’s coffin as it was carried in, her eyes wide. She knew what was inside, but she couldn’t believe it was really there.

The duchess staggered towards the coffin and opened it to receive the body.

—

Ugh... Argh!

We all watched in a daze as the duchess collapsed on the spot. Riana stared blankly at the scene.

Riana staggered closer to the coffin. “D-Dad... Dad...?”

Harriet watched Riana’s silhouette with a pained expression, unable to stop her or hold her back. Riana looked into the half-open coffin.

Riana didn’t cry. She just stared blankly into the coffin, as if what she saw inside was too overwhelming.

Soon, a suppressed groan began to escape from Riana’s twisted lips.

“Ugh... Ugh... Ugh! Ugh! Aaaah! Aaaaaaaah!”

Riana started to tear at her hair.

Flash!

A lightning bolt etched its way across the pale winter sky.

Flash! Flash!

Rumbleee!

Lightning flashed through the air repeatedly, dozens of times per second, followed by fierce rumbles of thunder. Fortunately, none of the bolts struck the ground.

It was clearly not a normal weather phenomenon. Supernatural powers were often triggered under extreme stress or in extreme situations.

“Aghhhhh!”

Just as my Self-Deception power had leveled up several and I eventually awakened Incantation, it was the same for Riana de Granz.

The lightning bolts crisscrossed the sky, joining and splitting apart, but there was a chance that, at any moment, the frenzied Riana might cause them to strike the ground.

Everyone had already realized that Riana was the cause of this bizarre weather phenomenon. Lighting was raging wildly through the sky, and Riana needed to be stopped.

Zap! Zzzap!

Sparks began to crackle fiercely around Riana’s body as she tore at her hair, tormenting herself. The situation was already dangerous enough. The people around the coffin might be blown away by Riana’s rampage.

Before I could say anything, Ellen dashed through the rain towards Riana.

Thud!

She charged through the currents that had begun to surge around Riana, her body reinforced with mana, and delivered a precise chop to the back of Riana’s neck.

Ellen had leaped into the midst of the crackling lightning, which could have killed her had she been struck just once, without a moment’s hesitation.

In an instant, Riana fell, incapacitated, and Ellen caught her gently. The crowd around them looked at Ellen with bewildered expressions, unsure of what had just happened.

Ellen’s quick judgment had prevented yet another disaster from occurring.

Ellen looked at the duchess. “I’ll take her inside,” she said.

“Y-yes... t-thank you...” The duchess said with a nod, watching Ellen with a complicated expression.

***

A little later, Riana opened her eyes.

“...”

She was in her own bedroom. Her head was buzzing and her body felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton.

She lay there and stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘It might be a dream. It might just be a bad dream. When one drinks too much, strange dreams often occur.’

Perhaps all of this was a dream, though she didn’t know when she had drank that much or when she had collapsed.

Riana felt a vague sensation of hope. Dreams tended to last excruciatingly long. Perhaps all of it was just a very long dream.

After all, hadn’t she felt ethereal, as if floating in mid-air, while her ears had picked up vague sounds?

her father had died suddenly, the coffin had arrived at the estate, and inside it was something she never wanted to acknowledge.

Dreamscapes break when the dreamer experiences too great a shock. She’d seen something like that, and perhaps that was what had awakened her from her terrible dream. She truly wanted to believe that.

“I’m sick of being treated as the only reason for your failed marriage to continue.”

She wanted to take back those words. If she’d known that would be the last time she’d see her father, she would never have acted that way. She resolved, from that moment on, to always consider in her future interactions with anyone that it might be the last time she saw them; to think a little more, and to speak with a little more consideration.

Especially towards her Dad.

She wanted to apologize for those words and to change her behavior, to not be the daughter who worsens an already strained marriage, or at least not be a hindrance.

She regretted all the days she’d ignored Dad’s attempts to connect with her and only rebuffed him. She wanted to change. If only it were a dream, she thought. But it wasn’t a dream. It couldn’t be a dream.

Her right and left hands were being held tightly. On one side of her was Adelia, and on the other was Harriet.

If it were all a dream, these girls wouldn’t have been holding her hands so tightly and looking at her with such worried eyes.

Riana squeezed her eyes shut. If it wasn’t a dream, then she wanted to escape into a dream, but she couldn’t even do that.

Tears of misery leaked out of Riana’s closed eyes.

***

Swish...

Rain fell on Duke Granz’s funeral.

Individuals clad in raincoats were digging a hole in the ground, and a priest from the Ouen Order stood in front of it with a scripture book in hand. He was reciting prayers, praying for the deceased to be at peace, and for the purification of his soul.

After the coffin was laid into the ground, many mourners lined up to throw flowers into the grave. Riana watched it all without sheltering under an umbrella. She stood in the cold winter rain, unable to cry. Harriet tried to shelter her with an umbrella, but Riana stubbornly refused. She seemed to be punishing herself.

Her eyes, exposed to the rain, were filled with a whirlwind of emotions.

Although he had joined the Revolutionary Forces, Duke Granz was still a prominent noble. Many nobles, dressed in black, had come to pay their respects, offering flowers and words of condolence to the duchess.

Among the mourners were also first-year students from the Royal Class.

“Damn demons...” muttered Ludwig, dressed in black, his eyes trembling with pure anger as he stood before the duke’s coffin, biting his lip. “I can’t forgive them.”

I could only watch as Ludwig, his eyes filled with rage, placed a flower and turned away.

Regardless of how close they were to Riana, all the first-year students had turned up to pay their respects. Of course, Charlotte de Gradias was also one of them.

“...”

Charlotte offered a flower without looking at Riana, observed a brief moment of silence, and then left, as though she knew the truth of what had happened. She briefly met my eyes but said nothing. Sabioleen Tana was beside her for her protection.

Sabioleen Tana did not even lay a flower. I saw something in that moment. It seemed Shanapell had carried out the mission. There was no other reason that could explain Sabioleen Tana’s expression. There was no reason for her to look at Riana, standing there in a daze, with that expression. Nothing else could explain her guilt-ridden expression, in a situation where she shouldn’t have felt guilty.

Naturally, Mr. Effenhauser and Ms. Mustang had also turned up. Regardless of the fact that he was part of the Black Order, he was still fulfilling his duties as a teacher properly.

Ms. Mustang, seeing Riana’s dazed state, wiped her tears away with a handkerchief and gently embraced Riana.

After laying a flower, Mr. Effenhauser stood before Riana.

“If you need help, come to me anytime.”

“Yes, sir...” Riana muttered lifelessly. They felt like an automatic response, words that came out without any thought behind them.

Mr. Effenhauser met my gaze briefly as he took his leave. He didn’t say anything to me, but somehow, it seemed he knew this wasn’t my doing.

And then, Vertus de Gradias also came to the grave to pay his respects.

“...”

Vertus, with a solemn expression, tossed a flower onto the grave and quietly looked down at the coffin, then stood before Riana.

He seemed to be thinking about something as he looked at the dazed Riana. Vertus had acted for the sake of the empire. It was something he’d had to do. But he had killed Riana’s father and framed me for it.

I couldn’t say it wasn’t my doing, and Vertus wouldn’t admit it was his.

“I’m sorry, Riana,” said Vertus as he stood in the rain with that solemn expression.

“...”

It was a perfectly normal thing to say. I was the only one here who could understand the double meaning behind it.

Realizing that the First Prince was in front of her, Riana clenched her teeth and took a deep breath.

“... Thank you for coming, Vertus.”

Riana was thanking someone she should never have been grateful to.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at Vertus’s face. Whatever expression he wore, I wasn’t sure I could restrain myself from throwing a punch.

Once the countless mourners had laid their flowers, the coffin of Duke Granz, almost obscured by white flowers, began to be covered with shovelfuls of earth.

“I’m sorry, Dad.” Winter rain flowed down Riana’s face. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

Despite the bitter cold turning her lips blue, Riana watched steadfastly as the grave of Duke Granz was filled in, shovelful by shovelful.

“I was wrong about everything,” she continued.

What exactly she felt so sorry for, what she regretted so deeply, was unclear.

Tears flowed down her face, unmistakable for rainwater.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“I... I was wrong...” she murmured as if casting a spell, wishing for her father to come back, promising to do better and not to act like a madwoman anymore, now that she understood.

She was promising to do better in the future, and hoping that that would be enough to bring him back. But, of course, Duke Granz did not come back.