Chapter 26

As Lachesis tugged his sleeve to hint at him, the movement must have been noticeable, because the guard craned his neck and looked at Lachesis, who had been hidden behind Kadenic’s body.

“And this person is…….”

“She is the young lady of the Deate family……. Would you like to greet her directly?”

Before even asking Lachesis’s intent properly—without waiting for her answer—Kadenic stepped aside. Left with no choice, Lachesis gathered her dress and offered the guard a formal greeting.

“Excuse the disturbance. I am Lachesis Deate.”

Even while doing so, her eyes kept moving without pause. Since she couldn’t rely on Kadenic, it seemed better to look for a small gap in the gate instead.

She carefully searched for any space between the spiked iron bars that she might squeeze through, when a big reaction came from the front.

“Pardon? The Deate family? Do you mean that Deate family of the Deate Merchant Guild?”

Mm. She was used to this reaction by now.

“Yes, yes. That’s right. That Deate family.”

That upstart family that didn’t resemble nobles at all, buying their title. Swallowing the rest, she nodded vaguely, but the guard’s gaze boring into her face was unusual.

At the stinging sensation, Lachesis flicked only her eyes toward him. His expression was far more agitated than when he’d recognized Kadenic.

“My goodness. I didn’t recognize my benefactor and committed a grave discourtesy! F-first, a greeting—no, perhaps I should even bow…….”

“Huh? W-what are you doing. The ground is cold. Don’t do that!”

Lachesis, startled out of her mind, stopped the guard as he tried to drop to his knees on the ground.

“The relief work the Deate Merchant Guild does saved my family, so what could be the problem with kneeling on cold stone?”

Relief work. The moment she heard that, Lachesis understood the guard’s reaction at once.

‘He must be common-born.’

During the monster war, the Deate Merchant Guild poured out enormous funds for relief.

It had been something Lachesis personally planned to minimize those harmed by the war, and Katrin had disliked it. Since the Imperial Family and the temple also carried out relief efforts, it didn’t draw much attention.

And, as Katrin predicted, it didn’t earn much of a good reputation in high society either. Because it had targeted only commoners, there were somewhat unfair whispers of ‘birds of a feather.’

Even so, Katrin hadn’t crushed Lachesis’s will. Even while she recalled that past, which now felt like a very long time ago, the guard kept going on at length.

In short, it was the story that when his younger sibling had been badly hurt, he survived thanks to the Deate Merchant Guild’s support and treatment.

She hadn’t done it to receive thanks, but being greeted by someone who had directly benefited from it felt unexpectedly moving.

“I’m glad it helped. Um, then…….”

And although she hadn’t meant to use it like this either……. It was only human to not waste the opportunity she’d been given.

Lachesis strode up to the guard and grabbed his hands tightly.

“Could you grant me one request?”

***

The guard gladly let Lachesis and Kadenic through the temple’s iron gate. Not only that—he personally led them all the way to the room where Alfred was staying.

“Then I’ll be going now. Please speak comfortably.”

Hesitating, the guard ended up adding,

“I believe in you two……!”

“Thank you. We’ll only speak quietly and return, so don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried. I trust you both greatly……!”

Despite his words, the guard’s eyes wavered. If Lachesis and Kadenic caused trouble, he wouldn’t be able to escape responsibility either, so it took immense courage on his part.

Lachesis kept glancing back and waved at the guard as he went farther away, as if to reassure him. When the guard finally disappeared, Lachesis turned to Kadenic.

“Did you introduce me to the guard on purpose? Because you knew the guard would be favorable toward the Deate family?”

“The Deate family has a very good reputation among commoners. I only thought ‘just in case.’”

Kadenic replied lightly, as if it were nothing, as though it had merely been luck. Only now did Lachesis think she understood why the sharp-witted Kadenic hadn’t stepped forward to persuade the guard himself.

“I hadn’t intended to come this far with you, Your Grace…….”

It felt awkward to tell him to go back now, and even if she did, Kadenic clearly wouldn’t accept easily.

“Would you wait outside for a moment? I have something urgent to discuss with Father…….”

“No.”

Before Lachesis could even finish, Kadenic cut her off. It wasn’t like his usual unhurried self.

As her eyes widened in surprise, Kadenic’s hand lightly caught Lachesis’s wrist.

A hand large enough to wrap her entire wrist, warm enough to heat skin chilled by the night air…… and trembling faintly.

Thinking she must be imagining it, Lachesis lowered her gaze to check Kadenic’s hand, then looked back up at his face. Kadenic’s face was so calm it was hard to believe he was the one whose hand was shaking.

“I’d like to go in with you……. Is that difficult?”

His smile as he tilted his head was gentle, and his voice was soft. But the trembling of his hand against her skin remained.

That incomprehensible gap bothered her unbearably.

‘Is this, too, the manifestation of guilt?’

Just as she had helped the guard, she wished she could help Kadenic too.

She couldn’t ask why his hand was trembling when he was trying so hard to act fine. Lachesis parted her lips, then looked away from his face as it drew closer and muttered,

“It’s not…… difficult.”

Only after she subtly stepped back and put distance between them could she meet his eyes again.

“Instead, please promise me one thing. Everything you hear here—you’ll forget it all.”

“Do you intend to ask your father today to grant permission for our marriage?”

“What? No!”

“Then that won’t be difficult.”

Since his trembling had eased, perhaps he now had room for jokes. Lachesis nailed it down once more, firmly.

“That will never happen. Don’t expect it!”

“I told you not to make promises.”

With a small laugh, Kadenic nodded toward the door.

“Then, shall we go?”

When Lachesis stared at him suspiciously and then nodded, Kadenic knocked on the door with force.

The tension she’d briefly forgotten surged back. Lachesis spoke carefully.

“Father. It’s Chessie.”

***

Alfred opened the door only after a long while, and he didn’t seem pleased by Lachesis’s visit. He paid no attention at all to Kadenic who had come with her.

Was it because he had relinquished the Earldom title? His cheeks looked gaunt after only a day, and a pervasive exhaustion clung to him.

“You look very worried, Chessie. Good child. I’m not even someone with the right to make my daughter worry…….”

With his head bowed deeply, he muttered, and a heavy sigh leaked from his lips.

Lachesis quietly observed her father. His miserable appearance didn’t look like a sinner repenting for some vile act. Nor did he look like a father wounded by his daughter’s betrayal or scheme.

“I came because I wanted to hear it directly from you, Father. This situation makes no sense, and I have the right to know. What on earth happened today, while I wasn’t at the mansion?”

But Alfred, face buried in his trembling hands, wasn’t listening to her. He was only murmuring to himself.

When she listened carefully, she realized he was repeating the same words again and again.

“How could I ever face Aisa again…….”

“Father!”

Alfred slowly lifted his head. His eyes were dull and vacant. As if searching for a wine cup, he fumbled across the empty tabletop again, then sighed once more.

“Ah. I said I would quit drinking. Yes, I can’t anymore, I can’t. Can you believe it, Chessie? That I dared look at another woman and think of Aisa. I can’t believe myself for doing that. I can’t forgive myself, either.”

“……Pardon?”

“I’ve committed an unforgivable sin against Aisa. Even spending my entire life in the temple repenting won’t be enough. I’m a sinner, Chessie. Please leave me here.”

Lachesis blinked her large eyes once. She knew ‘Aisa’ was her mother’s name, but she couldn’t follow her father’s words at all.

‘The woman Father means, given the circumstances, must be Marel. So he looked at Marel and thought of Mother…….’

And for that reason alone, he had devoted himself to the temple?

He hadn’t laid a hand on Marel, nor harbored any l*st. Just because he thought of his wife—only that one reason…….

He would abandon the family, abandon his children?