Episode 126
Fwoosh!
Black dust scattered from the Tower Master’s fingertips and burst into flames.
“Ahahahaha!”
Cyril laughed, utterly unhinged.
It was only fair that Louise should lose everything, just as she had.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
Enraged by the baby’s cries, Cyril yelled.
“Burn it now, Ren! A noisy, dirty bastard child—a disgrace to the Imperial Family!”
Ren let out a short, derisive laugh.
It happened as he blew a gentle breath.
The black flames leaped onto Cyril’s hair.
“Ah! What is this?”
Panicked, Cyril grabbed at the curtains.
The large, heavy curtains didn’t tear easily, so she frantically flapped the ends, trying to smother the flames.
Finally, Ren drew Prilis close and held her properly.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
His clumsy efforts were insufficient to calm the startled baby, but Ren did his best.
The flames burning Cyril’s hair had now spread to the curtains and her clothes, blazing fiercely.
“Aaaah!”
Cyril screamed, rolling on the floor.
Len blew another breath, extinguishing the flames on the curtains.
However, the hair and clothing of the convulsing woman continued to burn.
She let out a hellish shriek.
“Len Daphte, you fool! That’s not your child!”
“…So what.”
Ren laughed as if it were absurd and awkwardly patted Frilly.
“Waa! Waaah!”
He whispered tenderly to the crying baby.
“I’m sorry, little one. Let’s get you to your mother now.”
Even while burning and moaning, Cyril desperately crawled towards Ren, reaching out her hand.
“Give her to me! She’s not even your blood!”
She grabbed Ren’s ankle, but he shook off her hand as if it were mere dust.
Cyril shrieked with malice.
“Let me take her and die! Then you can start over with Louise!”
“That’s quite…”
Ren glanced down at Chirilla once, then effortlessly stepped over her.
He then glanced back over his shoulder.
“A pitiful story. Very much like you.”
“Aaaagh!”
A piercing scream echoed.
Ren looked at her with exasperation and asked,
“Did you really think I would kill you?”
The next moment, the two layers of defensive barriers isolating the room simultaneously dissolved away.
“How foolish. How could you expect such mercy from me? I know just the way to make you most miserable and suffering.”
With a mere glance, Ren opened the door.
There, collapsed and crying in the doorway, was Louise, whom he had missed so desperately.
A short while earlier.
A knight of Babenberg hurriedly ran in to report.
“Your Grace, an additional barrier has been erected outside the building.”
“What?”
Callisteon frowned.
The Babenberg knights, having given up on the impenetrable barrier in the hallway, were scaling the outer wall to enter the room through the window.
Everyone had nearly fainted when the baby suddenly popped out of the open window, but the defensive mages waiting below quickly pooled their strength to deploy a protective barrier beneath her.
It was then that another barrier suddenly appeared.
“Our wizards say it’s an intricately crafted barrier, impossible to replicate. It seems the Tower Master has indeed arrived. The problem is, because of it, we can no longer ascend to the top-floor window…”
The knight flinched under the Grand Duke’s piercing gaze and barely continued.
“We believe it shows the Tower Master’s resolve to protect the young lady! Furthermore, the hand holding the baby inside is visible, and it’s definitely not the Tower Master’s. Judging by the sleeve, it appears to be a woman’s.”
“…A woman?”
At the Grand Duke’s cold query, the knight gulped.
“We can’t see the face clearly, but… red hair is visible.”
As Callisteon’s expression darkened further, the knight added cautiously.
“B-but the young lady’s cries can be heard loudly from outside! Nothing must have happened yet!”
Only then did Callisteon issue the next order.
“…Have the remaining personnel conduct a thorough search of the surroundings.”
“At your command!”
Callisteon returned to the hallway, where Louise was leaning her forehead against the door, breathing painfully. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Lou. They’ve put up a barrier outside too, and fortunately, it seems the Tower Master is on our side. They say Frilis’s cries can be heard from outside. Everything will be fine, okay?”
Louise closed her eyes without answering.
Transparent tears rolled down from beneath her soft, pink eyelashes.
“It’s because of me… I…”
Callisteon pulled Louise into a tight embrace.
“It’s not because of you, it’s because of me. That day a year ago, it was my fault. You did nothing wrong.”
He held Louise and repeated the same words over and over.
Even though her sobs didn’t subside.
After a long while, Leander’s voice was heard.
“Your Grace, the barrier is being dispelled.”
“What?”
As if confirming his words, the sound of a baby crying began to be heard from inside.
The moment Callisteon released Louise, her legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor.
The door swung open unnaturally, as if repelled, and the man who was so welcome in this moment walked out, awkwardly holding the crying baby.
“…Ren.”
Callisteon shook his head helplessly, seeing the man immediately kneel before Louise.
“Thank you, Ren.”
Louise sobbed and clung to him, embracing him.
“Thank you for protecting my baby… for coming back to us.”
This time, Callisteon couldn’t help but agree.
He was indebted to the Tower Master yet again.
So, he briefly looked the other way as the man held his child and the woman who would be his wife.
Then, unexpectedly, Ren looked up and met his gaze.
Their eyes met, forcing Callisteon to speak.
“This debt… I will repay it for a lifetime.”
From inside the room, the Second Princess’s agonized scream could be heard.
“Aaaaagh!”
Ren chuckled softly and pointed into the room.
“Is a debt of that magnitude worth a single lifetime? Looks to me like you’ll be repaying it into the next life too.”
Callisteon’s lips twisted wryly.
“Even until the next life, fine.”
As if finding the familiar comfort of her mother, Frilis finally stopped crying and fell asleep as if passing out.
The Babenberg knights rushed into the open room.
The night was just beginning.
When the knights patrolling outside dragged in a shabby-looking man, the woman who had pretended to be the First Princess, arriving by carriage, shouted excitedly.
“That’s the man! He’s the one who paid me! He said it was just a prank! I truly didn’t know it involved starting a fire or causing a big incident!”
The man dressed as a coachman also pleaded tearfully.
“We’re just actors from a troupe! These clothes are just for plays, and the wigs are for performances too! We just hung the Marquis’s family crest as he told us to!”
Sure enough, a red wig lay disheveled beside the woman.
Upon closer inspection, it was clearly a wig, but it seemed the darkness outside had prevented them from seeing it properly.
“Their crime is impersonating royalty. Escort them to the Imperial Palace immediately.”
“My lord! My lord! Please have mercy… We never dreamed it would lead to something this serious!”
The two begged desperately, but the knights dragged the criminals away.
Callisteon stared terrifyingly at the man who was brought in later, then raised an eyebrow.
“Isn’t that Lord Gideon, the Duke of Damiani?”
Gideon flinched.
He hadn’t expected the Grand Duke to recognize him so instantly.
Callisteon shook his head in disbelief.
“So, you’re the one who let that thing into my castle.”
Cyril was on her knees, her wrists and ankles bound.
Gideon, unable to offer a single word of excuse to Callisteon, spat towards his niece and cursed.
“Useless wretch! You stupid fool!”
Leander immediately kicked Gideon with his boot.
“Shut up. How dare you act so recklessly?”
Her uncle’s saliva dripped onto Chirilla’s face, which was already swollen and red.
Perhaps one of her eyelids was injured; her golden eyes flickered strangely.
The sight of tears mixed with blood flowing down was truly grotesque, but Callisteon paid no attention to Cyril, as if he were invisible.
Cyril felt as if she were suffocating.
The burns covering her entire body didn’t hurt as much as Callisteon’s utter disregard.
