Chapter 195
A few days after the Siege of Miloam, I was currently at the Cassius ducal residence.
“…And because of those circumstances, I’m only now returning it to you. I’m sorry.”
The Duke of Cassius silently stared at me as I held out the black orb, his family’s heirloom.
“It’s fine. If it helped you, then that alone makes me glad.”
Soon, a heavy silence fell between us.
Just moments earlier, I had explained everything that happened in the beast territory to the duke and his two sons—including Riena’s final moments.
When my story reached Riena’s last words, Reheim and Liandro left the room one after another, unable to keep listening.
In the end, only the duke remained until the very end and received the heirloom back.
“I see… so that’s what happened.”
His eyes reddened as he murmured quietly while looking out the window.
“I’m relieved that you returned safely. And thank you for telling me about our family’s history.”
He likely had more to say, but after that he remained silent.
Since my business here was finished, I gathered my things and stood up.
“Um, Duke…”
Suddenly, a question came to mind.
“There’s something I’d like to ask. If you feel it’s inappropriate, you don’t have to answer.”
“What is it?”
“Will you accept Riena’s apology? Or… have you already accepted it?”
I had also conveyed the apology that Riena asked me to pass on.
The duke stared at his feet before replying.
“…At least I have.”
Engraving the image of him quietly enduring his grief into my memory, I left the Cassius residence.
This was only my guess, but perhaps Liandro and Reheim had already forgiven Riena—or would someday.
However, most of the victims who had their emotions manipulated by her could not.
“I hope that woman falls into hell and suffers forever. Truly terrible suffering.”
The person I met at my next destination after leaving the Cassius residence said exactly that.
Margaret, sitting across from me in her home’s reception room, spoke with cold anger wrapped around her entire being.
A great elder of the imperial family, a renowned monster ecology researcher, and the former president of Lisamo.
After Terrence and I returned to the imperial palace following the Siege of Miloam, we had explained in detail what happened—first to the emperor, and then to Margaret.
Since the signs of the Monster Wave had suddenly disappeared, it was only natural to explain the reason to the Empire’s foremost authority on monsters.
Recently, Margaret had been investigating whether the Monster Wave would truly not occur, just as we had said.
‘It would have been easier if it had simply ended there…’
The problem was that while listening to my story, the thing that caught her attention wasn’t just the Monster Wave.
“Would you tell me more about that woman’s death later?”
Margaret had invited me to her house after saying that.
Though her tone was polite, the hatred within it was unmistakable, so I visited her today with a bit of discomfort.
After hearing the details, Margaret said she hoped Riena had fallen into hell and looked toward one wall of the reception room.
A family portrait hung there.
“That’s me, my husband, and our only daughter. Everyone except me passed away long ago.”
Her sudden topic left me unable to respond immediately.
“My husband conducted the same research as I did, and eventually my daughter said she wanted to follow the same path. Probably because of our influence.”
She continued speaking without pause.
“I should have stopped her more strongly back then. It was dangerous work—you never know when a monster might kill you…”
It was well known that she had once gone on a research expedition with her family and returned as the only survivor.
Even after experiencing such tragedy, Margaret continued her research, which was why so many people respected her even more.
“From the beginning, I felt something was strange. After that incident, my heart became empty—I couldn’t love anyone anymore. But strangely enough, I found that woman lovable. Cute. Adorable.”
“….”
“But the feeling was pleasant, so I pretended not to notice. I was even happy when she said I could treat her like a daughter.”
It was a cruel story.
I couldn’t even imagine what Margaret must have felt after the goddess’s blessing disappeared.
In some cases—like the Cassius father and sons—the emotions created by the blessing had transformed into genuine love.
But those cases were rare.
Most victims felt anger of varying degrees at having been manipulated by false emotions.
Even Isaac Cassius—who had merely described the feeling as “disgusting”—had planned a grand revenge scheme through an investment scam. So how much greater must Margaret’s resentment be?
‘Riena… your sins were heavy.’
No matter what tragic past Riena had, and regardless of whether she repented at the end, this was not a crime easily forgiven.
“It’s a shame. No matter how I think about it, that woman died too comfortably. She should have suffered more.”
Margaret murmured calmly, almost as if speaking to herself, then looked at me and smiled brightly.
“Still, I do like that she died after being attacked by one of the monsters that served her. Yes—monsters are beings that humans can never truly control.”
“…I agree.”
“Thank you for coming to tell me all this, Baron Lucibius. If you had simply disappeared and I never heard the rest, I might have lost sleep over it.”
And so I left Margaret’s mansion after receiving her thanks.
As I approached the carriage waiting by the roadside, Terrence suddenly appeared in front of me.
“Oh! What are you doing here?”
“I happened to have business nearby, and then I remembered that you planned to visit Lady Margaret today. I wanted to return together.”
He gently took my hand, kissed the back of it, and winked.
“My lady, would you grant me the honor of riding in the same carriage with you?”
“With pleasure.”
Inside the carriage on the way back, I asked him:
“So what business did you have?”
“A simple newspaper interview. They asked endlessly about the Siege of Miloam again.”
The sudden appearance and exploits of the Second Prince at Miloam—despite supposedly being in the capital—had become one of the hottest topics among people recently.
Miloam, which had long been quietly looked down upon within the Empire while barely fending off invasions from the Kingdom of Zabika and nomadic tribes, had suddenly achieved a perfect victory against a massive monster army.
‘And with a prince present at the scene, there’s no way people wouldn’t be fascinated.’
Because of that, Miloam received a large support fund from the emperor, and those who distinguished themselves in the battle were awarded medals along with the title of hero.
Of course, I received one too. It was honorable—and I especially liked that medal recipients received various benefits from the state.
Elliott seemed to be aiming for a special pardon… though he’d probably need to accumulate more achievements before escaping prison life.
Terrence sighed and relaxed in his seat.
“It’s nice that people look favorably on it, but being dragged everywhere to recount the battle is exhausting.”
Although there had been no official announcement from the imperial family, many people had accepted the Siege of Miloam as the Monster Wave itself since the ominous signs had suddenly stopped afterward.
Apparently, the goddess Miela had protected humanity, which was why the wave ended up unusually small.
Well, since I had no intention of revealing the truth, that interpretation worked in my favor.
‘More importantly, it’s troublesome.’
Just owning a top-tier magic stone mine and dating Terrence had already brought me more public attention than I cared for.
Anything beyond that was something I politely refused.
But as a prince, Terrence had a harder time slipping away from the spotlight.
Those who didn’t know the truth believed something else entirely.
Rumor had it that His Highness the Prince had foreseen the Miloam crisis with sharp intuition and personally led his forces there.
‘Looking only at appearances, that’s not entirely wrong… but still…’
In any case, the incident greatly boosted Terrence’s reputation.
Perhaps because there hadn’t been a major war in the Empire for nearly a century, the sight of a royal personally fighting on the front lines felt refreshing to the people.
One soldier who participated in the battle even said in an interview that it made him feel encouraged—as if the nation hadn’t abandoned Miloam.
“Well, what’s wrong with that? If it’s good, it’s good.”
I leaned my head on Terrence as I said it, and he smiled softly.
“That’s true.”
“Um, Terrence… about Lady Margaret.”
I confessed the worries that had formed in my mind after meeting her.
“I’m not sure if passing Riena’s apology to the victims is really a good thing. If their resentment is strong enough, they might not even want to hear an apology.”
Terrence stroked his chin and replied thoughtfully.
“I’m not sure. Personally, I would want to hear it.”
“Really?”
“Knowing that the perpetrator felt remorse and forgiving them are two completely separate things.”
Then he spoke about himself.
“To be honest, I wanted to hear the empress’s apology. But since she’s already dead, that’s no longer possible.”
“….”
“Don’t make that face. I only meant it leaves a bit of regret. Besides—”
He paused briefly before continuing.
“My regret isn’t that great anymore, since I already heard an apology from someone else on her behalf.”
He meant Mikhail.
A few days earlier, Terrence and I had met with him.
After hearing about Riena’s final moments, Mikhail remained silent for a long time before thanking Terrence.
“Thank you for honoring my request. And… I would like to apologize in my mother’s place. I’m truly sorry, brother.”
It seemed Mikhail had done a great deal of reflection.
“After my mother died and Riena disappeared, I began looking back at myself. I was so consumed by immature love that I never looked around. I thought I was the most unfortunate person because I was forced onto the path of crown prince—but that wasn’t true.”
Terrence didn’t give any particular reply to his half-brother’s apology, but he didn’t look especially displeased either.
What their relationship would become in the future probably depended on the two of them.
Just then, Terrence wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Idel, if you don’t have other plans, how about spending time with me until dinner?”
“Well… what should I do? I actually have another plan.”
“What plan?”
Well, that plan was…
“Baron Lucibius! Get me out of here! Why on earth should I be locked in prison?!”
Dealing with a certain old man who had been imprisoned in the imperial palace dungeon just two days earlier.
“I’m Roland Cassius!”
Roland shouted desperately from inside his solitary cell.
