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âWill you keep saying that until the very end? No matter how you hate this stepmother of yours, how could you make me bear all of your sins?â\n\nâWhat? I can be considered as a kind stepdaughter because I never use you as a scapegoat for a murder case.â\n\nI impulsively replied her while looking around to observe the situation. I saw a familiar face which I didnât notice before at a few steps at the back, behind other guards. It has been awhile since the last time I saw that bastard Cain. Suddenly I feel more annoyed than before. AndâŠ\n\nââŠ, What are those?â\n\nThere were two men wearing masks that covered up more than half of their faces, quietly hiding behind the Countess. I didnât notice them right away so they shouldnât be part of the mansion guards. Could they be the reinforcement that Ortzen had previously mentioned before? Other than that bastard Cain, I also need to deal with those two. Thatâs too much for me to handle if all them come to me at once. Did I unintentionally reveal my abilities much more than I originally thought?\n\nI took one step behind as natural as possible. Even though there were three of them, itâs still hard for them to catch one enemy if they went altogether in one direction. From this distance, I should be able to run away easily.\n\nâYou might havenât known about it, but actually⊠Silla, you canât live for long.â\n\nWhile I was looking around to see if thereâre any hidden danger, the Countess began to talk nonsense.\n\nâThe doctor said itâs hard for you to live past the age of twenty.â\n
Perhaps they planned to cover up the contract they made with the Demon King that way. Ever since I was born, I have weak constitution, so in the end I died young~ Iâm sure theyâll most likely use this kind of excuse to fool everyone.\n\nâIâm perfectly healthy as someone who wonât live past the age of twenty.â\n\nâI sent you to a secluded pavilion for your own good so that you can have a good rest in a tranquil place. Itâs all due to my swift decision that youâve finally regained your health. You donât know anything, thatâs why you resented this motherâŠâ\n\nSheâs really good at making excuses. If I were a bystander, not the involved party, I would have definitely cursed at the real Silla for being unfilial. The Countess wiped out her tears from the corner of her eyes using her handkerchief.\n\nâIâve cared for you with all my heart but you misunderstood it and instead want to sell out this Earldom. Even though youâre my precious daughter, I wonât let you do that.â\n\nââŠ, sell the Earldom?â\n\nAlthough I intended to take over the Epheria family, I never thought of selling it. Hearing my question, the Countess coldly glared at me as if she never shed any tears before.\n\nâFirst it was the Special Task Squad, then you also got the First Princess Aranea involved in your plan while you put on your innocent facade. All this time, the leader of Special Task Squad has done all kinds of dirty tricks to devour our family!â\n\nOh, this is new. Iâve never heard of it before. It sounds interesting, and if I didnât know Captain Jullius well, then perhaps I would believe it. Itâs quite a common practice for the nobles in the Central Capital wanted to swallow up rich countryside nobles. However, Captain Jullius isnât that kind of person. If he had that bit of brain to brew up that kind of scheme, Ortzen wouldnât have sighed and offered me to be his marriage partner.\n\nâIâm just dating someone I love, but you have jumped into a false conclusion.â\n\nâYou are the only legitimate descendant of Epheria family. If you marry Captain Jullius Rizar, then the succession rights to inherit this family will naturally belongs to him. How could you not feel worried in the slightest?â\n\nI stared at the Countess who acted as if she was a protagonist in a tragic drama, then I just shrugged.\n\nâThen, canât I just renounce my succession rights to inherit the title?â\n\nAnyway, the Count title is useless now, I want to get some money as compensation instead. Hearing my words, the Countess widened her eyes disbelief.\n\nâNow⊠did you just say you want to cut ties?â\n\nâYes. If you give me a sufficient amount of money as compensation, I can do it for you anytime.â\n\nItâs good, isnât it? Quickly accept it! Then your son will be the next Count Epheria. But of course, by that time, he wonât be able to inherit the lands and even the Count title and he will have nothing left. However, contrary to my expectation, the Countess had a distorted eyes and she bit down her lower lips.\n\nââŠ, I just had a hard time accepting your relationship with the leader of Special Task Squad, it doesnât mean I want to throw you away. Iâm⊠We can never let go of our precious eldest daughter just like that.â\n\nHuh? So all this time, you caused troubles for me not because of the succession rights⊠no, it canât be. The Earldom is important for her, but the most important thing is her contract with the Demon King. But thereâs no evidence though? And since the contract has already completed, there will be only one person who can recognize it. Thatâa why, you donât need to be that nervous- Darn it!\n\n(T/N: ìì°š basically means âoopsâ, but itâs weird to use oops in the sentence so after I did some research, itâs also equivalent to âomgâ, âdamnâ, âgoshâ, and any others similar remarks)\n\nâI can meet with the High Priest if only I get engaged to Captain Jullius. Of course the Countess knows about this fact.â\n
Wait, then perhaps the Countess thought that I tried to get engaged to Captain Jullius as a means to meet the High Priest instead? The Special Task Squad thinks that Iâm not the sacrifice object because they know nothing about it. Then it does makes sense that the Countess will never let me go no matter what. I glanced at Cain and the two mask men, somehow I felt a bit tense.\n\nâSo thatâs why the Countess had those guys just to catch a Countâs daughter.â\n\nI wonder why she called for three wolves, instead of foxes, to catch a rabbit. And if by any chance they missed the rabbit, the rabbit might even attracted a tiger to deal with them. Actually, the rabbit isnât your usual rabbit either though. I pretended avoiding the Countess anxious gaze while looking out for an escape route. Fortunately there wasnât any prominent danger from those bastards.\n\nâYou donât have to care for me dearly. Thatâs why you can let me go so I can live independently. Iâm already old enough, so itâs time to let me go.â\n\nâDonât say such depressing words.â\n\nâIâve already decided. I have no need of inheritance rights, Iâll only take one maid out from here to leave with me, so please just give up already.â\n\nInitially, I thought I could get some compensation money for giving up my inheritance rights, but in the end I got nothing. The Countess inconspicuously sighed in relief after I was indirectly asking about Sofia whereabouts.\n\nâI have that kid. Sheâs with me. Do you want to see her?â\n\nâIt doesnât matter if I donât see her.â\n\nI deliberately gave a curt reply. I doubt she wonât use Sofia as hostage. I wish that Sofia wonât become a hostage, but Iâm sad to know that thereâs no way the Countess would leave her alone. If I guess it right, the Countess who even prepared a large number of guards to prevent me from running away, would use any necessary means, included taking a hostage. As expected, the Countess gestured with her hands and two servants came out while holding Sofiaâs arms at both of her sides.\n\nââŠ. MissâŠ.â\n\nWhen I saw Sofiaâs almost-crying-face and bewildered state, I subconsciously tightened my grasp on the sword. Although right now a storm is brewing inside my heart, I kept my head cool to think clearly about the situation.\n\n(T/N: ìžì»„íë€ is mostly translated as âa feeling as if you want to cryâ but actually itâs best to describe aâ strong feeling such as longing, grief, anger, etc., and lead to be nearly or actually in tearsâ. I donât know any equivalent words in English (or perhaps I know it but canât recall it atm) so I just use any idioms with almost similar meaning that comes to mind.)\n\nThis whole situation is a mess and I feel really disgust by it, but itâs not like I havenât faced any similar situation before. For the Countess, and also⊠the unlucky Sofia, this kind of situation would never happened if I were still in my previous body.\n\nNot long after I was promoted as the new Captain of Holy Knight Squad, my deputy told me this, âThere is always an obvious gap that canât be narrowed down between a leader and the subordinates. People can live on with just one leg or one hand, but they canât live without their head.â My deputy also reminded me for countless times that itâs fine to make mistakes or any little accidents while we were in the Capital because he could covered it up for me cleaned up the mess, but no mistake should be made on the battlefield.\n\nI let out a short sigh. The fellow knights were allowed to save the hostages. They could also wreaked havoc the enemies after seeing their comrades and civilians who had died miserably with their own eyes, because I always got their backs so everything would be alright. But thatâs not the case with the leader. Unless I was in the Capital, on the battlefield there was no one whose position higher than me with authorization to make a decision. That being said, I had already made many ruthless decisions over the time.\n
Compared the gains and losses, and also the possibilities and impossibilities, then took them into consideration to make the most appropriate decision. While I was going to make the decision, I had to push away all my emotions to the bottom of my heart. One life for another life, that kind of sacrifices could only be made because of your own selfishness. I was more than willing to sacrifice my own life for tens of times, or even more for the greater-good. But in the end I couldnât do that because I still have many people waiting for me, I was responsible for all my colleagues lifes. And if I were to make such a hasty decision, I could endanger dozens of life so I had to turned a blind eye and kept moving on.\n\nâI still went rampage a bit in the end, though.â\n\nInadvertently I let out a bitter laugh. Well, I was alone at that time. Hmm, come to think of it, Iâm also alone even now. What should I do, the escape route is still there so I can just directly escape whenever I want. For now, letâs take a look at the situation more before I decide my next move. But before that, I should also prepare for the worst possible situation.