Chapter 46
I left the people staring at me behind and approached the head of the family.
“Lord, I…!”
I was about to say I’ve awakened—but stopped. Saying that now might not be in our favor.
It feels like this is something that should be kept hidden.
How could I explain the situation without saying anything that might hurt our position?
While I was caught in that dilemma—
“This girl is a null?”
The head of the family spoke first. He looked directly at Erasinus and asked,
“What made you think that?”
He had understood the situation faster than I did.
Erasinus, unable to take his eyes off me in confusion, finally seemed to realize he had been deceived.
“Ha, haha!”
Instead of answering, he burst out laughing.
It was an eerie and unsettling laugh, yet strangely it carried a sense of relief.
Frightened by the sudden shift, I looked up at Lord Abellus, whose expression I could at least see because he was shorter than the head of the house.
He, too, stood frozen, staring at Erasinus with a stunned expression.
“Kallidora, come here.”
When our eyes met, Lord Abellus pulled me behind his back.
After laughing for a while, Erasinus looked directly at the family head and said,
“You shameless bastard.”
You’re calling someone else shameless?
I scoffed inwardly.
“But it seems there’s nothing I can do now. Do as you please.”
His sarcastic tone made the family head’s brow twitch.
Up until now, no matter the situation, Erasinus had always been deferential toward the head of the family.
Of course, it wasn’t out of respect for the man himself, but because he revered the authority of the family head.
So for him to be this blunt—it meant he sensed this was the end.
“Abellus, take the child to the main house.”
The head of the family ordered.
Afterward, the Ignitus estate plunged into chaos.
The family head imprisoned Erasinus in the underground dungeon of the estate.
The charge: attempted murder of the heir.
He was to be moved to the official prison by morning.
But before that…
“What crime has my father committed to deserve this?!”
“If you don’t release Lord Erasinus immediately, we’ll report this to the Council of Elders!”
“Silence, all of you!”
“Who do you think you are to give orders?!”
We needed to convince them.
News spread fast, and factions loyal to Erasinus were already camped in front of the main house.
Because of that, I couldn’t return to the main estate and had to go back to the Temple of the Goddess Vesta.
Since the temple was a sacred, inviolable space, it wouldn’t be attacked.
Not long after I arrived at the temple, several of the family head’s close aides came looking for me.
“Young lady, please, just light the flame one more time!”
“Yes, that’s right. Even bigger this time…!”
It seemed they had rushed over as soon as they heard I had overcome my natural mana deficiency.
“Okay, watch this!”
I breathed fire again in the empty temple hallway, and their reactions were far more enthusiastic than I had expected.
They cheered, embraced each other, and even shed tears. Most of their words were filled with relief.
Though they hadn’t shown it before, it was clear now—they had been deeply worried about me.
“Young lady, just once more—show us your divine power…!”
“It’s late.”
A young priest, who had never seen the aides so excited before, stepped in to stop them.
“And the young lady must rest now. Let’s go inside.”
With a firm tone, the priest gently picked me up. Our eyes met as I blankly looked up at him, and he gave me a kind smile as if he hadn’t just scolded anyone.
“It’s time to head off to dreamland.”
The priest carried me back to the hearth where I had been lying earlier.
As I quietly listened to the lullaby the adults sang, I suddenly had a strange feeling.
Like I was forgetting something important…
The family head’s aides will explain everything, but… something feels missing. Didn’t that man commit more crimes than just trying to kill me?
Just then, I caught a glimpse of the round moon through the pillar.
And a certain object came to mind.
…That’s right. The ring.
Where did that ring go?
Meanwhile, after sending Kallidora to the temple, Abellus returned to the annex.
Most people had already left, and silence filled the space.
Still, Abellus was sure the person he was looking for would still be there.
“Paulus.”
He entered the darkened library and called out in a low voice.
“I came to finish our conversation.”
Though Erasinus had been imprisoned, there wasn’t yet definitive evidence to convict him.
Only two people had witnessed the incident: Abellus and Kallidora.
But Kallidora had recovered with suspicious speed, and no trace of Erasinus’s mana remained at the lakeside to be used as proof.
If they weren’t careful, it could appear as though the family head and his heir had fabricated an incident to purge rival factions.
That was why Abellus needed Paulus’s testimony.
“M-M-My lord…!”
In the corner, huddled like a corpse under a large cloak, Paulus lifted his head.
Abellus looked at his trembling cousin with complete detachment.
“As the heir of Ignitus, I command you, Paulus. Tell me everything—starting with what happened today, and every crime your father has committed.”
“I, I…”
Paulus tried to speak, but then clutched his throat as if he couldn’t breathe and lowered his head to the ground.
“If you try to defend your father with flimsy lies, I won’t forgive you.”
“…”
In the cold library, where the night wind occasionally swept through, silence hung thick between them.
Abellus waited patiently.
Several minutes passed.
Finally, Paulus, having made up his mind, began to confess everything.
“T-Three years ago, when a servant went missing at the villa—it was actually Scaivola’s doing. I-I helped Father bury the body in the forest.”
Abellus grimaced.
The crimes were worse than he had imagined.
“We used scrolls from the main house to destroy evidence. I have most of the keys. Including the one to your room…”
“How?”
“I-I don’t know. Father had them for a long time.”
“And?”
“It was also Father’s idea to get rid of the youngest son of the Cassius family…”
“Why?”
“Because the boy’s mana was stronger than Scaivola’s or Bellicus’s.”
“How is that a problem?”
“Father wanted to ensure that no other candidate besides those two could become the heir.”
“The same reason he kept obstructing me?”
“Yes.”
Abellus shouted in fury.
“That boy was an infant! He couldn’t even resist!”
“I’m sorry…”
Paulus confessed several more crimes before finally beginning the story of Kallidora.
He spoke of bringing the girl on his father’s orders, and of discovering through Plautus that she was a null.
By the time the story ended, it was already dawn.
Abellus stood silently, leaning against the window.
He needed time to process everything.
To think he had been living under the same roof as people like this… Did his uncle know?
At the same time, another question lingered.
Could he trust Paulus’s words?
Granted, thanks to his confession, Kallidora had been saved.
But why had he suddenly turned against his father and confessed everything?
If what Paulus said was true, then he wasn’t just a passive observer—he was an accomplice who had actively helped.
“I have a few more questions. Why did you come to me?”
“…What?”
Paulus blinked, then understood.
“…Because I began to think maybe the things I believed in weren’t true after all.”
What an abstract answer.
