WTARS 72

Chapter 72 …

“This is a specialty of Cornello. It’s a small token of my gratitude for the invitation, so please accept it comfortably.”

“Thank you for the precious gift, Lady Marconi.”

The two people sitting across from each other conversed in the common language, Alter.

The Roblet Kingdom used the same language as the Grastea Empire—Graste.

However, Deborah had been adopted when she was young and raised in Cornello, so she was a little awkward with that language.

Raul continued the conversation in the common tongue out of consideration for her.

“So… you’re Muriel’s biological sister, the one she was separated from as a child?”

“Yes, that’s right. Unfortunately, I was the only one who ended up being adopted.”

“…May I hear that story in more detail?”

“Hmm… where should I start…”

The story Deborah briefly told sounded realistic and trustworthy.

Above all, she had no reason to lie.

Deborah was the sole heir of the Marconi family.

Like her adoptive mother, she would soon enter politics as well.

Why would someone with such a solid position fabricate an absurd lie?

And about Muriel Terni—a single individual from another country, at that.

Therefore, Raul had no choice but to abandon his doubts and believe her completely.

That Muriel… was not a blood relative of the Terni family.

“…You want to meet Muriel?”

“Yes. Could I see her today?”

“…I’m sorry, but that will be difficult.”

“What? Why?”

Deborah had gathered various information about Muriel while in Lafienne, but she still didn’t know about Muriel and Raul’s divorce.

Seeing Raul’s troubled expression, she frowned slightly in confusion.

After hesitating several times, Raul finally lowered his head like a guilty man and confessed.

“The truth is… Muriel and I officially divorced not long ago.”

“…What?”

Deborah’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected revelation.

Blinking rapidly, she questioned him with a slightly pressing tone.

“If you divorced Muriel, then where is she now? It doesn’t seem like she returned to the Terni ducal house.”

By now, the news had probably reached Terni as well, but during Deborah’s stay in Lafienne, no one had known.

Raul let out a small sigh and answered.

“Muriel… as far as I know, she became an apothecary belonging to the Veratis Guild.”

“…What?”

The story she had just heard was so unexpected that Deborah let out an awkward laugh, half surprised and half bewildered.

As for Raul, he tried to appear calm, but inside he was anything but.

He was afraid.

He felt guilty.

And he was confused.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell Deborah that he had once exiled Muriel to the contaminated zone.

A deep crease formed between Raul’s brows as he recalled what had happened not long ago.

“I met an old man who used to work at the Terni ducal estate.”

“…And?”

“It seems his children also worked there but quit recently. The old man said that if we protect him and his children in Winterberg, he’ll tell us everything he knows.”

Raul immediately ordered that the old man and his children be brought to Vintzheim.

Not long after, Raul was able to meet them at the Winterberg ducal castle.

What he heard there was… truly shocking.

“It wasn’t something a human being should do… the things the Terni ducal family did to Miss Muriel…”

They would dig a deep pit, fill it with insects, and throw her inside.

Or they would take her to a frozen lake in winter under the pretense of going boating, then leave her alone in a boat with holes drilled in it.

They were acts that only demons could commit.

“Miss Muriel has a scar on her right side where she was pierced by an arrow… The one who shot that arrow was Young Master Cavil.”

Raul suddenly remembered Muriel calmly showing him her scar.

The story she told him then had not been fabricated.

It had actually happened.

But the “hunting incident” was only the tip of the iceberg.

There were countless times the Terni siblings pushed Muriel to the brink of death.

The old man told Raul everything he remembered, one by one.

“That day was Miss Juliet’s and Miss Muriel’s birthday. Coincidentally, the two of them shared the same birthday. Miss Juliet had always found that extremely unpleasant.”

“……”

“So whenever their birthday came around, Miss Muriel was locked in her room and couldn’t come out. Miss Juliet couldn’t stand seeing her.”

“……”

“But that day… a kitchen servant suddenly felt compelled to… make a small cake for Miss Muriel using leftover ingredients from Miss Juliet’s birthday cake and secretly brought it to her.”

“……”

“Unfortunately, a footman happened to see it and ran straight to tell Miss Juliet.”

“……”

“Of course, Miss Juliet was furious. The kitchen servant had both eyes gouged out and his wrists cut off before being abandoned at the hunting grounds… He was probably eaten by beasts. And Miss Muriel… she was brutally beaten and then tied to the tower for an entire week.”

“……”

“After that incident, none of the servants of the Terni household dared to help Miss Muriel anymore. They didn’t know what would happen to them if they angered Miss Juliet or Young Master Cavil.”

The fact that Muriel wasn’t even an illegitimate child but an adopted one was kept strictly secret under the cruelty of the Terni duke and his children.

No one dared to speak the truth.

Not a word ever leaked outside.

The kitchen servant who had helped her had no family and died alone, but the demons of the Terni family would not have hesitated to punish relatives as well.

So everyone stayed silent.

To protect themselves.

To protect their families.

Their friends.

Their lovers.

They closed their eyes and looked away.

If only Muriel alone were sacrificed.

If she alone endured that terrible hell.

Then everyone else could remain safe, happy, and at peace.

“After several years, tormenting Miss Muriel became a habit for Young Master Cavil and Miss Juliet.”

“……”

“At some point, even if a servant made a mistake, they would punish Miss Muriel. If a retainer committed a crime, Miss Muriel would be the one beaten.”

“……”

“In the end, every sin of the Terni family was poured onto that single girl.”

A child raised in hell had no vitality and seemed to have lost her smile.

Yet, in order to survive, she learned to wear a hollow smile with no meaning behind it.

When she later stepped into high society, people who knew nothing mocked that smile as fake.

“She’s such a pitiful child. It would have been better if she had been adopted somewhere far away, like her older sister…”

“…Older sister?”

“Oh… I suppose you didn’t know. Miss Muriel has a biological sister she was separated from when she was young. Someone from a foreign country took her away, and there has been no news since.”

The old man added something else.

Recently, there had been a young woman in Lafienne asking around about Muriel.

She had green hair and wore luxurious clothes.

Perhaps that woman was Muriel’s older sister.

After hearing that, Raul ordered Michel in Lafienne to find the green-haired woman.

Not long after, Michel located her.

Deborah Marconi, who wished to reunite with the younger sister she had been separated from long ago.

“……”

Returning from his recollection, Raul stared at the person before him with fearful eyes.

After hearing about Muriel’s past, doubts had flooded his heart like a torrent.

All the crimes Muriel had supposedly committed at Winterberg Castle…

Just as she had insisted,

what if they were truly false accusations?

The mere thought made it hard for him to breathe.

Cold sweat ran down Raul’s back.

Deborah’s voice sounded distant, as if echoing from far away.

“How did Muriel end up becoming an apothecary? And she even joined an adventurer’s guild… I’ve heard of the Veratis Guild. Isn’t it an elite guild made up only of rankers? For my sister to belong to such a guild… she’s impressive.”

She chattered in amazement but tilted her head in confusion.

Raul felt his hands trembling slightly as he spoke, mixing truth with lies.

“Muriel wanted independence, so we divorced. If you go to the dungeon hub city east of Vintzheim… there’s a Veratis Guild branch there. You’ll probably be able to meet her there.”

“I see. It’s a shame I can’t see her today, but I’ll go there tomorrow. Thank you for the help.”

“It’s nothing… If you’d like, you may stay at my castle tonight.”

“You’re very kind. Then I’ll trouble you for just one night.”

That night, after confirming that Deborah had fallen fast asleep in the guest room,

Raul gathered every servant, attendant, and retainer in the castle in the banquet hall.

After forcing them all to stand there and interrogating them relentlessly one by one,

he finally discovered it.

The contradictions and lies hidden in the testimonies of those who had accused Muriel as the culprit.