Chapter 24

The fact that her father had taken shelter in the temple was also thoroughly unexpected. This was entirely different from Robert devoting himself as a priest.

A noble who chooses the temple’s embrace instead of facing judgment by law cannot leave the secular world for the rest of his life. He must remain only within the temple, pouring the time granted to him solely into atonement.

It was a choice her father—whose one purpose and goal in life was waiting for her mother, who left without a word—could never have made.

As if denying reality, Lachesis shook her head.

“I can’t believe you. I’ll hear it directly from Father.”

Katrin let out a light sigh.

“I knew you’d respond like this……. Chessie. Consider letting Father go like this, too. Even if Father disappears, our lives won’t change from what they were.”

“Still……. But I don’t want it to be this empty, like this.”

“A father who’s done nothing for you and taught you only how to worry unnecessarily—what’s so good about him?”

The credit for raising you is likely more mine than Father’s.

Katrin muttered softly.

It wasn’t wrong. When Lachesis was young, the one who cared for her wasn’t her father, but Katrin, only six years older.

“It’s because it sits wrong with me. You know the temple isn’t friendly to our family, Sister. The head-of-house seat was already yours, so couldn’t you at least keep Father at home? It’s not difficult.”

“Trust me, Chessie. This is a good opportunity for Father, too. You know it’s hard to get alcohol in the temple. If he quits drinking, won’t he be able to keep his health until Mother returns?”

“……Do you believe, like Father, that Mother will return?”

“Who knows.”

With a casual shrug, Katrin stopped. They were in front of the mansion’s main gate.

“It’s late at night, so even if I tell you to go tomorrow, you won’t listen. Hurry. If you want to get permission to visit the temple within today.”

Just as Katrin said, Lachesis wanted to meet their father immediately and hear his circumstances directly.

Changing clothes was a luxury. As Lachesis tried to leave the mansion with anxious steps, she suddenly asked Katrin,

“I  understand you used some means to get Father out of the mansion.”

Their father, waiting for their mother, had never once stepped outside the mansion. It was because he never knew when their mother might return.

Instead, the hands and feet he commanded with money searched beyond the Asher Empire, even into foreign lands, scouring for their mother.

Likewise, their father maintained the hollow Earldom title on the pretense that he couldn’t show a pathetic state when their mother returned.

Katrin, of course, and Lachesis as well, knew it. If not by this method, Katrin inheriting the Earldom would have been far in the distant future.

“Let’s make one thing clear, Chessie. I never intended this outcome.”

“I didn’t bring it up to blame you. I also don’t think it was right, but…….”

“Ha. You don’t believe me. So what is it you want to say?”

“Why did you drag Marel into it? What did you do to tie Father and Marel together?”

“I’ll say it again: I didn’t do anything. I swear. The one who used underhanded means would be Marel.”

“Marel would never……!”

Cutting Lachesis off, Katrin advised her gently yet firmly.

“Chessie. As I’ve told you again and again, don’t trust some sinister person who goes around hiding her face with a veil.”

Katrin’s distrust of Marel went back a very long time. It had existed since the day they first met.

Lachesis had tried to change Katrin’s mind all this time, but failed every time. Perhaps the result of that was what had led to today.

“It would be good if you could come to understand Marel’s sincerity, Sister.”

Letting out a small sigh, Lachesis left a parting ‘I’ll be back,’ and stepped out of the mansion.

Katrin’s gaze, after personally seeing Lachesis off, moved slowly from the closed main gate to the landing. The eyes that had been deliberately gentle sharpened the moment they reached the upper floor where Marel’s room was.

“Father is settled. Now, shall I go deal with the remaining nuisance.”

***

Retracing her steps, Katrin flung open Marel’s door without even a knock.

When Katrin appeared without warning, Marel unconsciously touched her face. It was the hand checking the veil she had put back on the moment Lachesis left.

Even that small gesture irritated her. With a frown, Katrin stared at Marel for a while, then made a slow circuit around the barren room that held nothing but a bed and a desk.

“Right next to Chessie’s room. Even now, it’s a room too good to give to a mere servant.”

“…….”

“Once you’re gone, I plan to use this as Chessie’s studio. What do you think? Well, Chessie’s hands are dreadful, but……. Skill doesn’t matter when it comes to having a hobby.”

“…….”

Marel kept silent.

After leisurely surveying the room as if estimating how to arrange it, Katrin stopped in front of Marel. Tap—her hand, irritated, flicked Marel’s veil.

“I let you off for far too long because Chessie cherishes you.”

Tap again. The veil did its job faithfully, only fluttering lightly, but each time, Marel flinched with an anxious shudder.

“When I found out you were the only servant who took care of Father’s meals. The day I learned you regularly brought tea into Father’s room……. No, no. I should have done this from the moment I first saw you.”

“…….”

“And the servant who pushes late-night snacks into my office every night must be you, too.”

“…….”

“And this—embarrassingly—I realized only recently. You were the one who told Robert about the family council, weren’t you? Just a maid yet boldly doing something I never even told you to do, acting like you’re something.”

Tap—this time, the irritated touch struck the veil rather strongly. The veil lifted slightly, and the burn mark on Marel’s chin flashed into view.

In that instant, Katrin’s brow furrowed sharply. Her gaze slid off the burn scar and settled on the slim line of Marel’s jaw. It was an outline that felt far too familiar.

“It disgusts me.”

Muttering, Katrin turned away as if she didn’t even want to look at Marel.

“Leave. If you truly care for Chessie, that is. And even if you don’t.”

“I can’t leave like this.”

Marel, who had only been staring at Katrin the whole time, finally spoke. Katrin’s raised eyes swung back to Marel.

“You……!”

“That’s not what I mean by refusing to leave. There must be a reason you are ordering this only now, so I’ll comply. But only after today’s matter is resolved.”

With a straight posture and an upright attitude unbefitting a servant being driven out, Marel continued.

“Please give me time—for Miss Chessie’s sake. If I leave like this, she will suffer. She acts strong, but you know better than anyone that she’s softer than anyone.”

“…….”

This time, Katrin looked at Marel steadily, as Marel’s words grew longer than usual.

Her low, cracked voice, almost as if mixed with a metallic rasp, carried an unusual weight of appeal. Even without seeing her face, it was enough to move the heart. It sounded sincere enough that Katrin could almost understand why Lachesis cherished her.

And it wasn’t only that. Marel always faithfully carried out what she was tasked with, and her conduct lacked nothing. It was obvious she was the sort of servant any employer would like.

Even knowing all that, the reason Katrin still couldn’t shake her aversion to Marel was because she knew the face beneath the veil. She still hadn’t forgotten someone’s face—someone Lachesis couldn’t remember…… and crucially, because the two faces looked far too similar.

“…….”

For the first time in a very long while, Katrin let herself recall her mother’s face.

Even after so much time, she layered that still-vivid memory over Marel’s veil. There wasn’t even a hint of dissonance.

The two were astonishingly similar in height and build.

Only her mother’s bright blond hair and Marel’s mottled brown hair were clearly different. And Marel had a young face, around her own age.

If not for those two decisive facts, she might truly have suspected Marel’s identity.

And it wasn’t merely her own delusion.

‘Father, too, clearly panicked after seeing Marel’s face.’

Katrin recalled what she had looked down on through the window earlier today.

Her father and Marel meeting in the garden. Marel’s veil swaying because of a sudden strong wind. Her father, even with a mind blurred by drink, staring endlessly at the revealed face—and herself, who happened to witness all of it…….

Truly, it was a chain of coincidental accidents.

“……Heir?”

Marel’s call broke the train of thought. Katrin faintly furrowed her brow.

‘Ah. Come to think of it, there’s one more difference between Mother and Marel.’

This shabby, cracking voice. 

It was unmistakably different from her mother’s voice, which had been clear like a silver bell.