The Villainous Family is Against Independence - i_

Once again, Dad couldn’t break my stubbornness. Thus, the heir education was decided to start in two days.

In the meantime, I went out to take care of some postponed business.

It had been a while since I’d gone out, except for weekend visits to Perdia, while staying at the Severes mansion.

Of course, two knights assigned by Dad accompanied me on this outing as well.

They were the same knights who had escorted me when I went to the mercenary group before.

Although I could understand the need for escorts to protect me, the heir of Severes, it still felt like I was being watched, which restricted my actions.

‘Sob sob. Raeyan, come back soon…’

I had never missed my escort so much.

Before departure, one of the knights asked me about our destination.

“Young miss. Where are we going?”

“To the Earth Hawk Mercenaries headquarters.”

“Ah, there again…”

The knight squeezed his eyes shut as if recalling an unpleasant memory.

Back then, they were dragged away by Urania who wanted to spar, and when they came out after our conversation, both knights were completely exhausted.

I became curious about how harshly the mercenary trio had tormented the two knights to elicit such a reaction.

I pretended not to notice the knights’ obvious reluctance and got into the carriage.

A little while later, as we arrived at the mercenary group as pre-arranged, Urania, along with Stephen and Milo, were standing imposingly.

They looked like grim reapers come to capture the two knights.

“Welcome, Lady Lili!”

Urania hugged me tightly and started spinning around. Suddenly lifted into the air, I fluttered like a paper doll.

“U-Urania… I’m getting dizzy…”

“Lady Lili is too fragile, that’s the problem.”

Urania grumbled as she let me go. As I staggered from the sudden dizziness, Stephen grabbed my shoulder to keep me from falling.

Then, with a sly grin, he said,

“Somehow, every time we see our Lady Lili, there’s always some surprising news.”

Unusually, even Milo opened his mouth.

“…Severes.”

It seems the fact that I’m the real daughter of Duke Severes was quite shocking.

Indeed, the secret of birth has a tremendous impact.

“Leave this to us and go on up.”

Urania winked at me and then, laughing loudly again, grabbed the knights’ arms.

“Let’s go spar!”

This time, as if they were somewhat prepared, the knights firmly refused with stern expressions.

“No, we can’t. We’re on duty.”

But Urania was equally determined.

“What do you mean, you can’t? Come on, let’s go!”

“Ah, young miss…!”

Once again, thanks to the trio’s efforts in detaching my escorts, I quickly entered the mercenary group building.

My steps halted at the private room that Raeyan had prepared exclusively for me within the mercenary premises.

After I knocked, a response came immediately.

“Come in.”

Inside the room, Leon was already waiting for me.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No, Elodie. I just arrived a short while ago.”

I looked at the teacup in front of Leon. Judging by the lack of steam, it seemed to have been poured quite a while ago.

Well, I can’t take up too much of the family head’s time.

I quickly sat down across from him. Then, as Leon looked around the room, he casually asked,

“You seem to be quite close with the mercenary captain.”

“Yes, we’re quite close.”

I guess it’s fair to say Raeyan and I are close.

But it seemed Leon hadn’t expected me to answer like that, as his eyes changed for a moment.

“I see. Is the mercenary captain absent?”

“Yes, he said he’d be away for quite a while. This room is a private room he lent me, so you don’t need to worry about using it freely.”

I needed to be careful about who I met anyway, being the center of attention.

Usually, most business could be conducted through communication magic tools, as always, but today that wasn’t possible.

Because there was something I had to return.

But suddenly, as I looked at Leon, I realized something strange.

“Leon. You look unwell, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

His breathing seemed a bit rough. It looked like he was sweating a little too…

But if he said he was fine, I couldn’t press the matter further.

“Here’s the sealing stone.”

I placed the sealing stone of Sloth, the main subject of today’s meeting, in the center of the table.

Leon, who had been quietly staring at the sealing stone, said.

“As I expected, the person who awakened it was really Duke Severes.”

“Huh? You knew?”

“You resemble him. Duke Severes.”

I’d heard many times that I resembled Dad, but it was the first time I heard someone say they had expected it, which felt strange.

When I didn’t say anything, Leon smiled slightly.

“You’ve found your family too, Elodie.”

“…That’s right.”

Leon had rescued his sister, and I had awakened Dad.

These were achievements that neither of us could have accomplished without each other.

Thanks to that, I also gained a good connection in Leon Kreundel.

“Then I’ll take back the sealing stone.”

As Leon reached out towards the sealing stone, I hurriedly called out to him.

“Ah, wait a moment!”

“Yes?”

“I just want to say a quick goodbye.”

“…Is that really necessary?”

Leon still seemed uncomfortable with Sloth’s existence and tried to stop me.

But it felt unsettling to return the sealing stone without any farewell.

“It won’t take long.”

Although he looked displeased, he withdrew his hand from the sealing stone.

Having been granted a brief moment for goodbyes, I tapped the sealing stone and said:

“Sloth. Want to come out?”

[…..]

“Sloth?”

I called once more, but there was no response from Sloth.

This sin, who had no sense of morality, seemed to have thrown manners out the window as well.

“Where could a knife be…?”

No sooner had I muttered this while looking around than Sloth was summoned from the sealing stone.

A small donkey looked up at me intently. Its eyes seemed empty, giving an alien-like feeling.

Looking at those seemingly emotionless eyes, I said,

“Whether you’re Irkala’s limb or whatever, it was because of your power that I could awaken Dad.”

[…..]

“Of course, it wasn’t your intention.”

[That’s right.]

“Still, I felt I had to say this. Thank you, Sloth. For helping me find my family.”

[…..]

I already knew that my words wouldn’t evoke any emotion in Sloth.

Unlike Greed, who was quite sentimental for a sin, Sloth was the embodiment of sin itself, knowing only impulsive instincts like murder.

Sloth just stared at me blankly while I spoke. Even after I finished, Sloth, who had been staring at me, opened its mouth.

[Strange.]

Then it went back into the sealing stone on its own.

‘Unexpected. I thought it would say it wanted to kill me.’

Perhaps I’ve become a bit soft from playing with Greed.

[I think it’s the weirder one.]

Greed just treated Sloth like a strange sin. Anyway, now that I’ve said my final goodbye, I had no lingering attachment to the sealing stone.

There was just one last thing I needed to tell Leon.

“Leon. You asked about the price the sin demanded last time, right?”

“Yes. What was it?”

His face stiffened noticeably. I answered seriously, hoping Leon wouldn’t be shocked.

“There wasn’t any.”

“Pardon?”

“There was no price.”

“…What do you mean?”

Leon asked in disbelief, then fell silent for a moment. It seemed impossible to avoid shocking him after all.

“Are you saying you made a contract without a price?”

“No. I didn’t make a contract at all.”

“Elodie. …What exactly are you saying?”

“You can use part of the sin’s ability without making a contract. Of course, after making a contract, you can use stronger abilities.”

“……”

Leon pressed his forehead as if he was feeling dizzy. His already poor complexion now looked pale.

‘Is he really okay?’

I wondered if I had made things worse by saying something shocking to someone who wasn’t feeling well.

As I watched anxiously, Leon, who had gathered the sealing stone, staggered as he tried to stand up from the sofa.

“I should get going…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Leon’s knees buckled, and he collapsed back onto the seat.

“Leon!”

I quickly approached Leon to check his condition. He was definitely sweating more than before.

Grunting with effort, I supported Leon and helped him lie back down on the sofa.

“I’m fine-“

“No, you’re not. Lie down.”

I firmly stopped Leon from trying to get up and looked down at him with a serious expression. He was grimacing as if in pain.

Indeed, something had been bothering me for a while.

“Leon.”

“…Yes.”

“There’s something I’d like to check, if that’s okay?”

“What… is it?”

Since I had no intention of waiting for an answer anyway, I grabbed Leon’s arm and swiftly removed his glove.

What was beneath the glove was more horrific than I had imagined. The skin was blackened and dead, as if decayed. I was certain that it wasn’t just his hand, but his entire arm was in the same condition.

“Elodie, this is-“

Before Leon could finish, I lunged at him and grabbed his clothes.

As I started unbuttoning his shirt, Leon, uncharacteristically flustered, cried out.

“Wh-what are you doing?! Why are you suddenly-!”

“Just stay still.”

“…Elodie!”

Though flustered, Leon didn’t resist much, perhaps due to his poor condition.

Taking advantage of this, I managed to partially remove his shirt.

But before I could feel any joy at my success, I frowned at the sight revealed beneath.

“This… why is it like this?”

Strange patterns were densely engraved across his entire chest like tattoos, and the skin had a blackish-purple hue as if rotting.

The affected area seemed to be spreading up towards his neck.

Leon avoided my gaze, unable to meet my eyes. But I persistently stared at him and urged him to speak.

“Leon.”

“…”

“Please tell me.”

“I think it would be best if you calmed down first, Elodie.”

“I am calm.”

Leon sighed as he looked up at me, who was clearly not calm at all.

“It was the price of the contract with the sin. The gradual corruption of the body.”

I had wondered why he was so worried about me, thinking about what he had wagered as the contract’s price, but this was the condition he had agreed to.

No wonder he seemed in a hurry to find Belissa; it was to finish the job before he was completely corrupted.

‘Even so, risking your life is too much.’

I carefully reached out my hand.

As my fingertips brushed his skin, Leon flinched and looked at me. His usually calm black eyes were greatly disturbed.

I didn’t avoid his gaze and asked:

“Can I try to purify it?”

“It won’t work.”

“Why are you so sure it won’t work without even trying?”

“Purifying the price of a sin’s contract with divine power is not an easy task-“

So many words!

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!”

Ignoring Leon’s words, I poured out my purification power. A bright light burst forth, seeming to seep into Leon’s skin.

But after appearing to absorb for a while, the power was suddenly repelled.

This ignited both my competitive spirit and stubbornness.

“…Let’s see who wins…”

Muttering ominously, I firmly placed my hand on Leon’s chest.

“…!”

Leon’s face, which had been pale, now turned bright red as if it was about to burst.

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