Part 2 Chapter 44
“How diligent you are. Training your Gift every single day.”
“Father? What brings you here?”
Krista turned, feigning surprise.
It was rare for Duke Edgar von Bassenberg to visit the main estate.
He handled nearly all his duties at the ducal mansion in the capital.
So why was he here now?
“I came to cheer on my daughter.”
“What? But you’re so busy…”
As always, Edgar’s face carried a warm smile.
For just a fleeting moment, Krista allowed herself to believe it meant nothing.
But only for a moment.
A retainer stepped forward, carrying a sack dripping with the stench of blood. He reached inside and dumped a severed head onto the ground.
“Kyaaah!”
Krista shrieked, clapping her hands over her eyes and turning away. Her entire body convulsed, her mind filling with ghastly images.
“Your father told me to send him.”
Already?
Was that Alex’s head? This quickly? How?
“You oaf. Can’t you see you’re frightening the girl?”
“My apologies, my lord. Forgive me, young mistress.”
Through her trembling fingers, Krista glimpsed her father’s calm face, scolding his man as though nothing were amiss.
Then he stepped closer, as if pitying his terrified daughter, and gently patted her head.
“It’s nothing. I’ve been too busy with affairs in the capital, and security at the research institute has grown lax.”
“……”
“I merely held someone accountable.”
At those words, Krista understood.
She knew.
Her father had seen through her.
Lowering her hands with effort, she forced herself to look at the head.
The man’s eyes were still open. A familiar face.
A researcher she had seen every time she visited the institute for her Gift management.
She had approached him over years, gained his trust, and used his access card to steal documents. She had even smuggled the copies outside.
He had known nothing.
And so her father should have known nothing.
That man hadn’t betrayed her—he hadn’t even had the chance.
And yet—
“Security was lax…? Was there a breach of documents?” Krista asked, swallowing bile.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I simply felt… uneasy.”
Krista froze, then gave a hollow laugh.
“…Ha.”
And then, like a madwoman, she laughed harder.
“Hahaha… hahaha!”
Her father laughed along with her.
“You mean to say… because you felt uneasy… you killed a man?”
“Krista.”
“……”
“The institute’s documents might hold the weaknesses of Gifted, but they’re not secrets worth dying for.”
Edgar reached out, tenderly wiping away the tears welling in her eyes.
“So what if they learn our weaknesses? What can those lowly humans do with that knowledge?”
“……”
“Would ants be able to kill you simply because they know your wrist is broken? Could they even scratch you?”
Krista realized it then: her father knew. He knew she had acted behind his back.
Whether it was suspicion or certainty didn’t matter.
“This man died because he was a fool. Had I spared him, he would only have been used further. I couldn’t allow that.”
Even the fact that she had used the researcher as a tool—her father had seen through it.
“Your Grace.”
Just then, another retainer returned, carrying something in his hands.
Krista’s messenger bird.
Edgar accepted it, probing its rigid body before prying open its beak. Inside was the slip of paper.
An “X.” Written boldly in red ink. A cipher.
There was no way he could read it.
Yet Edgar only smiled.
“Were you worried your brother might die?”
“……”
Krista wasn’t even surprised anymore.
The threat against Alex’s life—it must have been something her father had deliberately let her overhear.
Whether he truly meant to kill Alex or not didn’t matter. Even if she rewound time, she would have made the same choice: taking measures for Alex’s sake.
If she truly cared for her half-brothers, she had no choice.
It was a trap she could never have escaped.
“Oh dear.”
Her legs gave way, and Edgar caught her as she stumbled.
Supporting her like a loving father, he gave the order:
“Shut down Krista’s training grounds.”
It was, in effect, a sentence of confinement.
***
Once again, I was reminded: my father was a man who sat quietly and saw ten, twenty moves ahead.
And I, unfortunately, had no hope of matching his cunning.
So I accepted that truth plainly—and decided there was only one way to cope.
Since I couldn’t keep up with his schemes, I would simply assume the worst, the worst still, and the absolute worst outcome in every case.
By leaking research data to Alex, Krista had given us the chance to meet again, to pool our heads together.
My clever sister wouldn’t have acted rashly. The very way she passed him information proved it—meticulous planning, leaving no trace an ordinary man could follow.
But our father was no ordinary man.
That was the problem.
So from the moment I reunited with Krista, I prepared for the inevitable worst case.
Back in my previous life, when I had suffered his hand, it had been confinement.
That was why I had rushed to see Richard.
Now that everything was out in the open, he too had a role to play, just as we all did.
“Be careful, Brother.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
We agreed to part ways at once.
But Richard lingered, hesitant to let go.
“You said you’re heading straight back to the capital.”
“Yes.”
His worried eyes slid toward Nike.
“……”
Clearly, he didn’t trust him.
An unarmed “bodyguard,” a stranger who would be traveling alone with his sister.
But there hadn’t been enough time to explain everything to Richard—and even if there had, I couldn’t have told him.
The truth of Nike Valensier’s identity as a disguised prince of the Empire wasn’t mine to expose.
So naturally, he played the part of my escort.
“My brother, don’t worry. He’s a reliable man. He’s been guarding me for a whole year.”
“What’s his name?”
Wait. His name?!
“…James.”
I blurted out the most common name on the street in less than a second. Even I was impressed with my quick thinking.
“James, then.”
Richard nodded, hand slipping to his back pocket.
I froze.
Oh no. That looks like…
“Brother—”
“Take care of my sister.”
Before I could stop him, Richard pulled out his wallet, fished out a stack of banknotes, and shoved them into Nike’s shirt pocket.
I was speechless.
Completely aghast.
“Bania, I’ll see you again.”
Richard, blissfully unaware of what he’d just done, gave me a warm, brotherly smile and a gentle farewell.
“…Yes. See you soon, Brother.”
After he left, it was just Nike and me.
I immediately blurted out an apology.
“I’m sorry.”
Nike glanced down at the wad of money stuffed into his pocket, then let out a dry laugh.
The prince of the Empire, tipped like a hired guard.
And not long ago, Richard had nearly slit his throat.
Mortified, I covered my face with both hands.
“I-I really am sorry…”
“It’s fine. Shall we head back?”
Peeking through my fingers, I saw him smiling.
Thankfully, the magnanimous prince seemed willing to overlook the blunders of an ignorant noble’s daughter.
He gently pulled my hands down from my face.
“Come on. Let’s buy something tasty on the way.”
“Snff—!”
