Chapter 39
At my question, Artemene pressed her lips together tightly and remained silent.
It was a completely different reaction from before, when she would flare up with rage and react sensitively at the mere mention of Reia.
Seeing that response only made me more certain.
Because Artemene’s eyes, as she looked at me, were filled with sorrow.
“You figured it out surprisingly fast, Count.
Frezen, you probably realized it too.”
“……Yes, Aunt.”
Frezen, seated beside me, said nothing more and simply nodded quietly.
I thought the family would have already known, but the fact that she asked Frezen made it seem like it had been a secret.
Most likely, the elders did not know either.
No matter how tightly bound by blood they were, the Decart council of elders had been described in the original work as another battlefield entirely.
“And Reia’s necklace.
I wondered why, of all symbols, it had to be a bell.”
“……”
“Since Reia is currently unable to speak, it must have been so she could be found by the sound of the bell if something like today happened.”
And the most decisive point was that, even while groaning in pain from her illness, she had not made a single sound.
Not even when she nearly fell from the tree.
“Yes, you’re right.
She always wore that necklace.
I never imagined something like today would happen.”
Artemene nodded and readily admitted it.
I had expected her to deny Reia’s aphasia to the very end.
Had she begun to trust me, even a little?
Perhaps it was because Frezen, her nephew, was present.
Still, it was not a bad situation.
“I want to make this clear.
Mela being there was a coincidence.
She said she got lost.”
Before sending Mela back to her bedroom, I had briefly asked why she had been with Reia.
Mela said it was just a coincidence, that she had gotten lost in the forest.
“…I mean, really.
I was just wandering around and got lost.
I was trying to hurry back before sunset, and then I heard rustling in the forest.”
When I asked how she got lost, she oddly glossed over it in an obvious way.
It did not seem like she was lying.
What mattered was why Reia had been there in the first place.
“Mela said Reia was curled up and hiding in a pit beneath the tree.
That was when Mela realized Reia couldn’t speak.”
“T-That can’t be.
Reia was clearly up in the tree…….”
“She said she spoke to her, but Reia suddenly ran off with a pale face.
Mela searched for Reia afterward.”
“……”
Artemene’s eyes, which had been firm and unmoving, began to tremble violently.
She suddenly clutched her head, lowered it, and held her breath for a long while.
“Reia couldn’t speak from the beginning.
She was a bright child, cheerful and full of mischief.
She especially adored her older brother.”
Her older brother—the one who had been poisoned to death.
The words that followed left me so shocked I could barely breathe.
“Reia loved running around more than anything.
Among games, hide-and-seek was her favorite.
She always used to hide under her brother’s bed.
And that day, too……”
“……”
“She saw it.
She saw her brother dying.
Reia was so frightened that she hid under the bed and just trembled silently.
That poor child, so scared…….
That’s why, even now, Reia sometimes hides in pits or under beds.
Even now.”
So that was why.
My throat felt like it was being strangled by the shock.
To witness her brother dying at not even five years old.
“In the end, after her brother died, Reia lost her ability to speak.
She developed aphasia.
Because of this useless grandmother…….
I never thought those children would suffer such misfortune.”
It was no wonder she had developed aphasia.
If it were me, I would have been too traumatized to do anything as well.
“That child can’t even speak, and if she’s sick on top of that…….
I can’t live with a sound mind.
I promised I would protect her, but I haven’t done anything at all.”
“……Aunt.”
Overcome with emotion, Artemene began to sob.
Her face looked utterly haggard.
Thinking about how deeply she must have been suffering made my own eyes sting.
In my previous life, I had been ill for a long time myself, so I understood that pain well.
And the pain of the caregiver who watches over them.
Moved by pity, I went to Artemene’s side and gently patted her back.
It had been straight and upright just moments ago, but in my hands it felt frighteningly thin.
“Aunt, she’ll be okay.
Reia is not such a weak child.
As long as you stay by her side, one day she will speak again.”
“……Count Leella.”
As the heavy atmosphere lingered, Frezen, who had been silent, finally spoke up.
“So since when?
Since that nanny started taking care of Reia.
Was it right after Nanny Quina was expelled?”
“Don’t even mention that woman!”
Artemene flared up again, her anger blazing fiercely.
The hostility was so intense it felt raw against the skin.
A shiver ran down my spine.
“You know better than anyone, Aunt, that Nanny Quina wasn’t that kind of person.”
“Shut up, Frezen!
Because of that woman, my grandson died.
If it weren’t for her…… no, ah.”
“Aunt, please calm down!”
Artemene stood up in anger but staggered, unable to support herself.
I barely managed to guide her back onto the sofa.
“Do you truly trust Nanny Grimora that much?”
“No matter how much you dislike her, do not speak carelessly about Grimora, you brat.
Thanks to that nanny, Reia has been holding on.”
Her stance was as firm as a rock.
It was clear just how strong her trust in Grimora was.
I carefully joined the conversation.
“By the way, Aunt, you mentioned this earlier.
Reia has never been prescribed medicine until now, correct?”
“That’s right.
When she’s with Nanny Grimora, she seems stable…….
The nanny said giving her other medicine would harm her body.”
That was when a thought crossed my mind.
Perhaps Nanny Grimora had contributed to the worsening of Reia’s condition.
“When I checked earlier, there were signs that her breathing had been forcibly suppressed.
It wasn’t magic or sorcery.
It must have been through medication.”
“Then are you saying the nanny deceived me and kept giving Reia medicine?
That’s impossible.
Our nanny is not that kind of person.”
Of course, it would be hard to believe.
Especially when it involved someone you trusted absolutely.
And having already been betrayed once by Nanny Quina, she likely wanted to deny it even more.
“At first, I suspected her too.
I even searched her belongings.
But she didn’t have any medicine on her.
That much I can prove.”
I moved toward the flower vase I had noticed earlier, intending to persuade Artemene.
Of course, this was only a hypothesis.
I could be wrong.
The flowers might simply have withered.
“She doesn’t need to carry the medicine on her.
For example……”
Everything has a reason.
With those words, I pulled out the withered flowers and overturned the vase entirely.
“Something like this vase.”
Among the dark brown soil spilling out, certain colors stood out sharply.
Just as I expected.
“The color of the soil……!”
Shock spread across Artemene’s face.
I continued speaking.
“I believe this is a sleeping agent made by grinding valerian root and jasmine.
The nanny must have used it.”
“Didn’t the nanny have a habit she always kept?”
“A habit…….”
Artemene covered her mouth, unable to continue.
Then, as if recalling something, she added urgently.
“Reia always drank tea every morning.
And she slept a lot throughout the day.
I just…… I was happy to see that child finally sleeping after all those sleepless nights.”
“There’s a reason Reia’s room was filled with flowers too.
Some sleeping agents work simply through inhalation.”
At my words, Artemene collapsed back down.
She no longer defended the nanny.
“A sleeping agent can be a good treatment for some people.
But for a child, it’s poison.
Especially for someone who suffers from fevers or seizures, it can be fatal.”
At this rate, Reia’s body would be ruined before anything could be done.
“…Damn it!
Why on earth would the nanny do this.
Count, please, I beg you.
Can Reia recover?
If she can recover……”
Her voice was desperate.
Listening to Artemene plead so earnestly made my chest ache.
It was obvious she wanted to protect her only granddaughter at all costs.
After a moment of hesitation, I gently placed my hand on Artemene’s shoulder.
I felt her stiff body flinch.
In a steady, resolute voice, I spoke.
“Then there is something you must do before that, Aunt.”
“My whole body aches…….”
They say extreme tension can make you fall ill, and it seemed true.
When I stepped outside after the conversation ended, the sky had already grown dark.
As the tension drained away, my body felt completely drained of strength.
“Ah.”
Thinking I should hurry to Mela, I tried to move, but my leg throbbed and gave way.
Just as I thought I might collapse helplessly, a strong arm wrapped around my waist.
“Don’t lose focus.
What if you get hurt?”
