Chapter 130……………………………………..
Immediately afterward, Roland’s armed subordinates surrounded Isaac.
Isaac let out a whistle.
“Well, this is surprising. To think Father would go this far…”
Even with a sharp sword pointed at the back of his neck, he remained relaxed. As expected, he was no ordinary person.
His snake-like eyes shifted back and forth between Roland and me.
“It seems the reason Father is with this woman isn’t just because you want the mana stones from the Luciviu mine. Am I right?”
“O-Of course not! I have no interest in mana stones!”
Roland shouted indignantly, but to me his reaction only made him look more suspicious.
This old man definitely wants them.
Now that I thought about it, although he treated me as a benefactor who freed him from black magic, he had been strangely friendly.
Before long, I might even receive a letter from Roland Cassius requesting to purchase mana stones.
In the end, Isaac obediently sat in the seat across from me.
“I’m curious now. Let’s hear what you have to say.”
Looking at Isaac, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Do you like Liena?”
“That’s obvious. She’s the light of my life.”
“Have you never thought that was strange? Are you the kind of person who needs a ‘light of life’?”
“…So that’s what you wanted to say.”
Isaac’s smile turned faintly sinister.
“So all you can do is try to drive a wedge between me and Liena? Disappointing.”
“I’m not trying to sow discord. I’m simply asking questions—about you.”
“You talk as if you know me well.”
“I do know this much: Isaac Cassius is a man who didn’t even grieve much when the brother right above him died during childhood.”
Isaac’s eyes narrowed sharply as he glared at Roland beside him.
“You even told her that?”
“Quiet. Just listen.”
“This is a waste of time. I’m leaving.”
For someone who had stayed calm even with his father pointing a sword at him, it was an unusually sensitive reaction.
But it was only natural. Since earlier, my divine power had been flowing into him and colliding with the power Liena had left inside his body.
I can’t let him leave yet.
When Roland snapped his fingers, his men immediately rushed Isaac.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Isaac couldn’t move, and someone quickly brought a rope and tightly bound his entire body.
“Now then, shall we continue our conversation?”
“Shut up! I won’t let you get away with this!”
Isaac shouted at me with bloodshot eyes, and Roland promptly smacked the back of his head.
“You crazy bastard! Watch your mouth!”
…At this rate he might end up holding a grudge against us, not Liena.
And so my one-sided conversation with Isaac Cassius began.
Dealing with Isaac, who kept rejecting everything I said, and constantly stopping Roland from trying to beat his son, I barely managed to keep the conversation going.
Three hours later, Isaac’s resistance finally stopped completely.
“…Yeah. You’re right.”
He spoke with an expression that was hard to tell whether it was emptiness or relief.
“Why did I even like that arrogant little brat?”
Just like his father, the moment the blessing broke he immediately started criticizing Liena.
“When I first saw her, she acted innocent but her words and behavior were oddly cunning. I found her ridiculous.”
He recalled the past with a confused expression.
“But the more I saw her, the more strangely attached I felt. She reminded me of a little rabbit…”
“Same here!”
Roland jumped up and agreed enthusiastically.
“At first I was just curious when Edmund said he had adopted some commoner orphan as a daughter, so I went to see her face—but the more I looked at her, the more I kept smiling and wanting to see her again!”
“Father? Just hearing that gives me chills.”
“You were the same!”
I half-listened to their conversation while thinking about the time it took to break Isaac’s blessing.
Three hours.
In Isaac and Roland’s cases, unlike Duke Cassius or Cecil, there was nothing that could emotionally move them, so I had to break the blessing through sheer conversation.
Compared to the night I spent completely sleepless freeing Roland from the spell, it was tremendous progress.
All those nightly training sessions with the divine beast and practicing how to control divine power were clearly paying off.
At that moment, Isaac—who had been listening to Roland’s rough explanation—spoke up.
“So in summary, Liena is a witch, and our family—including you and me—has been manipulated by black magic all this time.”
“That’s right.”
Roland agreed, and I stayed silent.
There was no need to tell them the truth about the Goddess’s blessing or my regression.
“That’s pretty amusing.”
Isaac smiled slightly, but his blue eyes held no laughter.
“So I’ve been acting like that little brat’s puppet all this time, doing things completely unlike me. What should I say… I’ve never felt like this before.”
…
Regardless of whether these two were villains, their anger was justified.
Liena may have only wanted to be loved, but from their perspective they had been forced to love someone they didn’t truly love for over ten years.
If I hadn’t been a transmigrator blessed by the goddess, I probably would have lived the same life as them.
Even if my marriage was cold…
Even if my in-laws ignored me…
I would have lived happily simply because I could stay by the side of a lovable sister-in-law.
And if someone suddenly regained their senses after living like that—
What emotions would they feel?
Even now, it was difficult for me to imagine.
Isaac stayed silent for a moment as if calming his anger, then spoke readily.
“Alright. I’ll cooperate in bringing down that witch. But…”
He looked down at the ropes binding his body.
“Could you untie this? My arms and legs are starting to go numb.”
Personally, I thought it would be fine, but Roland firmly shook his head.
“No. We should observe a little longer. You might still be under black magic and just pretending.”
His eyes were filled with distrust—even toward his own son.
“I’m thirsty and hungry too.”
“Endure it.”
For reference, Roland and I were currently drinking tea with snacks.
Because Isaac kept staring at us with obvious envy, I started to feel awkward.
Reluctantly, I picked up the teacup that had been prepared for Isaac and walked over to him.
Roland showed no intention of helping, and his subordinates looked intimidated after being showered with Isaac’s vicious insults earlier.
“If you don’t mind, would you like some?”
“Sure. Ah.”
Like a well-behaved child, Isaac opened his mouth, and I helped him drink the now-cold tea.
I also fed him a few cookies before turning to return to my seat.
“That pair looks good together.”
Roland suddenly spoke while watching us.
If I had been drinking tea at that moment, I would have spat it out.
“…What? What did you say?”
“I said you look good together. Seeing you like this, you two make quite the handsome pair.”
“W-What are you talking about?”
“In that case, what do you think about Isaac? He resembles me, so he’s the best among my sons.”
As if. If anything, it’s the opposite.
“Excuse me. You seem to have forgotten, but a few months ago I divorced your grandson.”
“Ah, so what? There’s no law in the empire saying you can’t date your ex-husband’s uncle.”
“No!”
“Come on. I had him late, so the age difference isn’t that big. He’s still in his twenties.”
“Father, I turned thirty last year.”
“Oh, really?”
“Well, as long as she’s pretty, I don’t care if she’s younger, older, or my nephew’s ex-wife.”
Isaac smiled innocently.
“This side does care!”
That father and son had absolutely no sense of common decency.
Even afterward Roland kept suggesting ridiculous things—like introducing me to Liandro’s cousin if I didn’t like Isaac—until he finally stopped after seeing my increasingly cold expression.
He claimed it was because he liked me that much, but it was obvious he had ulterior motives.
“Do you want top-grade mana stones that badly?”
“N-No! That’s a misunderstanding!”
And then he said something unbelievable.
“How disappointing. Aren’t we allies?”
“…Allies?”
“Exactly! I only suggested it to strengthen our cooperation!”
Huh?
I felt like I’d heard something similar from Terence before.
It was fascinating how the same word could feel completely different depending on who said it.
Roland cleared his throat and changed the topic to Isaac.
“Anyway, what’s that witch planning? Why did she suddenly gather all of you?”
“Not sure. I met her yesterday, but she said she’d explain everything once everyone arrived.”
However, Isaac had heard one hint.
“She did say this—she’s planning a business venture, and that business will advance the Asteroth Empire to the next level.”
Roland scoffed at such nonsense, but I had a rough idea what it might be.
That evening, I sat at my desk flipping through a calendar, lost in thought.
Isaac said he would stay by Liena’s side for the time being and act as a spy.
But I couldn’t simply wait until he learned Liena’s exact goal.
Once Liena’s planned business began, it would be too late.
Besides, I finally had some free time, and in three days the month would change.
The first day of every month held a rather important meaning.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
At that moment, Terence knocked on the half-open door of my office and stepped inside.
“You didn’t even hear the knock.”
“Terence.”
Without answering his question, I stood up and walked straight toward him.
“Yes, what is it?”
“How’s your schedule lately? If you can take about two days off, would you like to go somewhere with me?”
“What for?”
“There’s someone I want to bring over to my side. I want to go meet him.”
“Who is it?”
“His real name is Kais.”
His nickname was the eccentric inventor— a wizard.
