I gestured with my eyes toward the inside of the cell.
“There’s even straw laid down in there. What’s so hard about it?”
And I widened my eyes as if I were genuinely curious.
“Th- that, that…”
Having lived almost his entire life as a noble, it was only natural that a floor covered with nothing but straw would be uncomfortable for him.
But since it directly contradicted what he had just said, he couldn’t argue back and only hesitated awkwardly.
“I don’t want to stay here long, so speak quickly. Is your request that they put a bed in there for you?”
I knew exactly what he wanted, but I had no intention of reading between the lines and saying it for him.
When I pressed him for an answer, Gerald hesitated, then barely opened his mouth.
“Th- that is… if you could give some testimony… that would be favorable to me…”
It was an even bolder request than I had expected. I suppressed my incredulous expression and asked calmly.
“You think I know things that would be favorable to you, things the investigators don’t know? What would that be?”
“Th- that is, I mean. If you could make your testimony a bit… favorable.”
It was the exact same thing he had just said, but what he was trying to say was perfectly clear.
I deliberately chose blunt words and spoke slowly, enunciating each one.
“Ah. So you want me to give false testimony to reduce your sentence?”
“Well… not exactly false. Just… more favorably…”
Gerald rolled his eyes around with an awkward expression.
‘It seems hearing the words he couldn’t bring himself to say coming out of someone else’s mouth is embarrassing for him.’
In the past, at times like this, I would have considered his or Helga’s feelings and given a nicely rounded answer.
They often made petty requests that they were too cheap to state outright, expecting me to understand instantly and carry them out tactfully on my own.
When serving people like that as if they were one’s superiors, those beneath them naturally become quick at reading the room.
But now, the situation was different.
‘Right now, I’m the one in the superior position.’
There was no reason for me to be considerate and accommodate a request that even the one asking found uncomfortable to say aloud.
I lowered my eyebrows into a worried shape, deliberately putting on a sympathetic expression like Gerald had earlier.
“What should I do? I’m a devout believer, so I can’t commit perjury in court.”
That was because there was a procedure where witnesses placed a hand on the scriptures and swore to tell the truth before giving testimony.
Of course, this wasn’t because I was truly a devout believer, but simply an excuse to comfortably refuse Gerald’s absurd request.
However, he didn’t seem able to let go of this last lifeline so easily.
“Th- then, if you could just lend me a little money…!”
He must have needed money for bail, settlement payments to the victims, or to hire an expensive lawyer.
I kept the same look of genuine helplessness on my face and let out a soft sigh.
Then, facing Gerald, who was looking at me with the brightest eyes he had shown all day, I slowly lifted the corners of my mouth.
At the sudden change in my expression, confusion flickered across his face, and in that moment, I answered brightly and cut him off cleanly.
“No.”
“P-pardon?”
Gerald asked stupidly in return.
“It’s simply because I don’t like you, so I’m not going to help.”
To him, who still seemed unable to grasp the situation, I repeated the words he had said earlier.
“You said it yourself earlier. That we had lived together as family under the same roof.”
Thinking back on the past, a sigh escaped me again on its own.
“Family, sure. That sounds nice. But tell me, during all the time we lived in the same house, was there even once when you were on my side?”
“…”
Perhaps it was a question he had never expected, because Gerald couldn’t answer and only fumbled with his lips.
“Like you said, we were engaged. Then you could have shown consideration for your fiancee, who entered a strange household trusting only you, and protected her.”
“Th- that was… you…”
When I shot him a sharp look, Gerald hurriedly changed his words.
“N-no, my Lady! I trusted that you would handle things on your own…”
I sharply furrowed my brows in displeasure.
“When your mother made absurd demands like telling me to greet her every morning, what did you do?”
This was also a question I was asking the him from my past life.
‘While I was suffering through all of that, how could you turn away so completely?’
“You didn’t even try to mediate. You didn’t care at all.”
“I- I, that was… my mother had to maintain household discipline…”
“Ha.”
I let my contemptuous expression show without filtering it.
Now, in my relationship with Gerald, the one with power was me, so no matter what expression I made, he couldn’t complain.
“I was supposed to become the Lady of that House. Who exactly was maintaining whose discipline? And you weren’t really on your mother’s side either. The only thing that ever mattered to you was yourself.”
“Th- that is… I, I have to stand firmly as the Head of the House for House Lansval to prosper, so everyone has to serve the Head well and bolster his spirit…!”
At that moment, Gerald stopped speaking when he saw a suddenly appearing figure. Rastan was turning the corner of the adjacent corridor and walking this way.
“…Rastan.”
“I came to get you. I was worried since the conversation was taking so long.”
Speaking gently, he turned his gaze toward Gerald.
“Y-Your Grace.”
Gerald looked up at Rastan with eyes filled with fear and a trace of hope.
However, the corner of Rastan’s lips, slightly raised, clearly held mockery.
“That’s exactly why House Lansval fell. Because you did everything backward.”
“Pardon…?”
“The role of the Head of a House is to protect and care for their family. It’s not for the family to sacrifice themselves to prop up the Head.”
“…”
Gerald couldn’t answer, only staring blankly with his mouth slightly open.
“And after doing things that way, what’s left of House Lansval now? Who’s left on your side?”
That was right. Even when someone committed a crime and went to prison, there were many cases where at least their family didn’t abandon them and continued to look after them.
But Gerald had no one left. Not his blood sisters, whom he had treated like little more than parasites clinging to his household. Not his business partners. Not the noble “friends” he had worked so hard to ingratiate himself with.
‘Oh, I heard that Helga, reduced to a shabby state, came by from time to time.’
Apparently, she would come only to be of no real help, merely shedding tears and repeatedly saying the same things every time: “My poor son, what am I to do? What will happen to your life now?”
At that point, it could hardly be said she came to comfort or encourage her son. It was more accurate to say she came simply because she needed someone to pour out her own despair to.
‘I also heard that Gerald, growing increasingly irritated each time, eventually shouted at Helga to stop coming altogether.’
After that, it was said that Helga stopped visiting as well, half out of hurt feelings toward her son, and half because she was too busy just trying to survive herself.
Avoiding even this situation, the mother and son thinking only of themselves in perfect unison looked so alike that it was almost heartwarming to see.
“I’ll answer the question you asked earlier.”
I returned his words to him exactly as they were, changing only the predicate.
“We were engaged, but I don’t feel sorry for you at all. Living together under the same roof, even briefly, was a nightmare to me.”
“Th- that…”
Now Gerald was gripping the bars tightly with both hands, his body trembling violently. Perhaps he was forcing himself to hold back the insults he wanted to hurl at me. Watching that sight, I drove in the final nail.
“Since there’s no lingering affection, there’s no opportunity for you either.”
When I turned away from him, Rastan stepped closer and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
As we left, I could hear the guard roughly striking Gerald through the bars and shoving him back inside.
“Hey, back to your spot! Get back inside!”
Whether it was noisy behind us or not, Rastan focused solely on escorting me.
“Evelyn, the corridor is dark, so please hold my hand and walk carefully.”
Torches were hung here and there, making it quite bright, yet he looked after me as if escorting a Princess.
When I glanced back, Gerald was glaring this way from deep inside the cell, seething with anger.
Like that, Gerald and I ended our brief encounter and returned to our own completely changed worlds.
That night, I entered Gerald’s dream.
‘I thought his mind would be so worn down that even his dreams would be dark, but he’s in surprisingly good shape.’
It was the office of the Lansval Trading Company, with everyone bowing their heads to him. Beside it spread high-end taverns, and lavishly adorned women swayed toward him with alluring smiles.
Gerald wore the same arrogant expression he had as a Baron, women tucked under both arms.
‘Huh. Just look at this guy.’
