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Marquis Phanya was silent for a moment. She looked at Damian sitting next to Catherine and said.
“Catherine, the fact that you brought the Black Lion here, do you mean you don’t mind the story being told to the outside world?”
Catherine also turned her head at the words of Marquis Phanya. Damien rolled his eyes and looked at her and the Marquis of Phanya.
To be honest, she had just forgotten that Damian was here. Damian gave a stiff smile.
“Haha. The family story is about to come and go, so as Your Excellency Marquis said, I’ll leave you alone—”
“Damian will be the only one who knows, right?”
Damian looked at Catherine with an anxious look.
“Of course, if I hear it, I’ll forget it as soon as I hear it! But just in case it’s a people affair, I’m going to leave my seat—”
“Phanya’s family pursues their enemies until they die. So, Damian, it will feel comfortable for you to think that it’s also Damian’s secret.”
“Yes, yes, so I’m going out and doing something else—”
“Catherine is right. We never leave our enemies alive. If this story spreads out— Black Lion, your tongue won’t work anymore. Do you understand?”
Damian put his half-standing butt back on the chair with a sullen face.
His gaze toward Catherine contained a desperate desire to ‘Please let me out’, but Catherine deliberately pretended not to know. This is because she thought knowing the secrets of the Phanya family was a choice for the future.
“I knew the day would come when I would say something like this to you. I didn’t know that day would come so early.”
Marquis Phanya laid her back comfortably on a chair. The opening expression contained a little longing as if bringing up an old story.
“As you may know, Catherine. Panya has maintained the power to defend the northern borders of the Empire by accepting talented people from generation to generation as members of the family.”
“Yes, I know.”
The Iterana Empire is obsessed with military force.
In order to maintain a strong wizard bloodline from the Iterana Imperial family, the great wizards were brought in as marriage partners.
In addition, there was a saying that the battle for succession to the imperial throne was a battle for talent recruitment from generation to generation because of the priority of ability rather than lineage.
“Your biological mother, Grin Panya, was not the daughter I gave birth to. And she wasn’t a human.”
「Whoa! It’s exciting from the start.」
Damian covered Meow’s mouth. Catherine was listening to the story of Marquis Phanya with a more calm feeling than expected.
“The time was about 40 years ago. There was a time when a group of monsters came down to the border without missing a single day. We set up expeditions nearly 10 times in half a year, but none of them came back. I thought I should know the truth before the winter came, so— I went into Abyss Land myself.”
Hmph! Meow shook its head eagerly to say something, but Damian never let go of it.
“At that time, I was just entering the stage of semi transcendence, so I was full of confidence in many ways. However, in less than a week, all of the expeditions that moved together were wiped out. A powerful devil that I’ve never met blocked my way.”
“Don’t tell me
”
No way could it be that the devil is her mother?
“So I fought him all day and cut off his head.”
It wasn’t her mother.
Catherine coughed in an awkward mood.
“But the wound was too deep to go back to Phanya. I had no choice but to die there. If only Grin hadn’t shown up.”
“Mother?”
The Marquis of Phanya lowered her head at Catherine’s question. The voice of the Marquis Phanya, looking back on the past, was not fast but slow.
“It’s still clear in front of my eyes. She was a young girl I’d never seen in Abyss Land. She was wearing a very neat dress at that time. The monsters circling waiting for me to die couldn’t even breathe and ran away.”
Only a few parts of Abyss Land, the land of the monsters, have been discovered.
Also, since ancient times, many expeditions have left to find artifacts and uncover secrets, but very few have returned.
“The girl asked me if I wanted to live, and I said yes. So suddenly, the broken bones attached, and the blood stopped flowing. When I returned home, a girl who claimed to be my daughter was waiting for me. It was the girl I met in Abyss Land. She arrived two days earlier than me.”
Damian, who was listening to the story, whispered to me.
“It’s like listening to a ghost story told by my nanny when I was young. It gives a chill.”
Although Catherine knew it was her mother’s story, she felt a strange feeling the whole time she heard it.
‘Me too, but is Damian really like that?’
The Marquis of Phanya continued.
“I took the child as my daughter, and I named her Grin. Since then, Grin has been recognized for her talent and has become a prominent wizard. She married the Viscount OrlĂ©ans and gave birth to you, Catherine.”
A brief silence fell.
The Marquis of Phanya never married. She had known this fact since she was young, so she had already noticed that her mother was born outside.
Although she knew her mother was a devil, Catherine was not sure if the Marquis of Phanya knew it.
In a variety of ways, the devil blends into human life.
Among them, Catherine predicted that her biological mother had killed the character “Grin Phanya” and replaced it with a new one. She went to Busperfield in the first place because she thought there would be no outcome in Phanya.
‘By the way, my grandma knew my mother’s identity from the beginning.’
Come to think of it, the relationship between her mother and Marquis Phanya wasn’t quite right for a mother-daughter relationship. Rather, Marquis Phanya seemed to give all the affection she had only to her little granddaughter.
Even though she knew Catherine wasn’t her real granddaughter.
“Just in case, don’t think stupidly that you and this grandmother are strangers. You are the biological daughter of Grin Phanya, whom I raised, and the only descendant left of the Marquis of Phanya. You know I’ll be upset if you get caught by this grandma while thinking nonsense.”
Catherine flinched and shook her head.
“Don’t worry, Grandma. I don’t think like that.”
I’m my grandmother’s biological granddaughter. I’m my grandmother’s biological granddaughter.
Catherine brainwashed herself in order to not make a mistake in front of the Marquis of Phanya. This is because she was grateful to her grandmother for telling her so, but she didn’t want to disappoint her.
After thinking for a while, she again expressed her curiosity, which was not resolved even after hearing the story of Marquis Phanya.
“Then you don’t know exactly the identity of my mother?”
“I don’t know. But I have some guesses.”
The fourth drink is poured into the empty glass. However, Marquis Phanya’s complexion was still intact. It is said that Emperor Shagweed II is the only one who can beat the Marquis of Phanya.
“If it’s a guess, how?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Dragon, or the devil.”
Catherine blinked her eyes blankly. Come to think of it, there was no guarantee that her mother was the devil because she had the power to nullify magic.
The mixed race of dragons and humans also have the power to nullify magic. However, unlike the Nephilim, half-blood dragons were almost non-existent, so they were hardly mentioned.
“But there’s a high probability that it’s a higher level devil than a dragon. You must have learned it, but the dragon race is—”
“They hate humans.”
Dragons despise humans without magical powers. Because of this, the dragons didn’t interact with humans.
Rather, they hated it so much that they only harassed humans for years, but the most representative was the evil dragon Warsalov, who was hunted by Cesare a while ago.
Because of this, people feared dragons more than devils. At least the devil doesn’t treat humans like worms.
「Fuaah! Then what is it? Was Catherine a Nephilim and not a human?」
Meow, who had escaped from Damian’s hand, asked with wide eyes in surprise. Damian was also very surprised. Catherine replied with a calm expression.
“That’s right, I’m a Nephilim.”
Perhaps it would have taken quite a long time to accept it if she had heard it through someone else’s mouth other than Cesare.
Because he, the Great Evil, told the truth, she was able to understand it without much fuss. She promised to spend eternity with Cesare, but she can’t help but be shaken by the fact that she’s a Nephilim.
“It seems you already knew.”
Catherine told the truth at the sight of Marquis Phanya asking for an explanation.
“From Cesare
 No, I got to know it naturally while taking magic classes from His Highness Cesare.”
Marquis Phanya narrowed her eyes when she heard the truth.
“Was it true, not a joke?”
“You mean about what His Highness Cesare told me?”
“I mean about him teaching you. Hey, Black Lion. Is Grand Duke Cesare really teaching my granddaughter?”
Damian, who was suddenly caught in a fire, nodded stiffly.
“Yes, that’s right. The Lady and Grand Duke Cesare are—”
Don’t call us lovers. Don’t ever do that. Perhaps he noticed the burning gaze right next to him, Damian faltered in his answer.
“S, Sir Cesare and Lady have a strong spiritual relationship! Haha!”
Marquis Phanya muttered as she stroked her chin in surprise.
“I can’t believe it. He’s teaching you, Catherine! I know you don’t have any magic talent—”
Catherine gave an awkward smile at the heart-breathing conflict.
“I think that stimulated His Highness’ win-win spirit. Anyway, unlike when I was young, I’m learning well now, and I’m happy to see the results.”
“Yeah. Looking at your face, it sure looks like that.”
Did I smile like such a fool? Catherine patted her cheek with her own, feeling her embarrassment.
“Then it’s enough for this grandmother. I’ll have to talk to the Grand Duke sometime later.”
The Marquis of Phanya stood up from her seat. Now it was time for Catherine to return to her own room.
Catherine, who had just opened the door, stopped her for a moment and called the Marquis of Phanya.
“Grandma.”
Marquis Phanya, who was wiping the blade, blinked lightly instead of answering. Catherine asked the question as if she had become an immature child.
“Why did my mother give birth to me?”
Marquis Phanya put down the sword she was holding and asked.
“Is there any reason to see your own child?”
“Even if she didn’t, then did she come to Phanya?”
While asking such questions, Catherine determined exactly what answer she wanted to hear. Perhaps the Marquis of Phanya is like that too.
“Even if she gave birth to you for a clear purpose, she must have loved you as a mother. This is undeniable to anyone who knows you. Not even your father. Did this answer your question?”
“
Yes.”
Marquis Phanya raised her sword again and polished the blade. Catherine carefully closed the door and left the room with Damian.
It’s strange. She felt much lighter inside, even though it was an obvious answer.