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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“What did you plan to do if I hadn’t responded favorably?”
At the Count’s words, I pondered for a moment, but the truth was that I hadn’t paid much attention to failure from the beginning.
Failing to persuade him?
That could happen.
I had judged that the very idea of turning those who had originally sided with Yuria to my side was difficult.
Still, I had achieved quite successful results, and above all, the Yugress family, where Mother was from, had responded favorably.
What if Yugress hadn’t responded favorably?
Not much would have changed anyway.
Even if it became a bit of a nuisance, it wouldn’t have greatly hindered the plan.
When I smiled without saying anything, the Count seemed to understand the meaning and slowly nodded.
In fact, his support didn’t change much.
It only meant that I had the support of my maternal grandfather.
Even if I gained something, it was just a small justification that I had received recognition from Mother’s forces.
While it might matter for other noble families, it wasn’t a very significant justification in the Taylors.
However, it was quite important to me.
Since Mother’s father was ultimately the Count of Yugress,
I thought it couldn’t be said to be entirely meaningless.
What remained now was either to talk with Yuria or to head directly to the duke’s residence to obtain the family head position.
Even if she tried to grasp my movements, it was likely too late.
Arwen, who had transformed into a maid, was currently reporting to Yuria, but it would probably take at least a few more days to grasp the accurate facts.
“I plan to move quickly. Although I set the timeframe until summer, I suppose I should think of that as the period to stabilize after becoming the family head. Becoming the family head will be over in a few days.”
“It seems things will progress quite urgently. Is there a reason for you moving so quickly?”
Specifically, it was to approach the Crown Prince after becoming the family head, but I had no intention of telling others about that.
The superficial reason was that this unstable state shouldn’t be maintained for long.
As I needed to move while suppressing the nobles using the Taylor family’s prestige, the Crown Prince needed to see my forces as helpful, at the very least.
For that reason, stabilization needed to happen quickly, and that was why I had moved so intensively in a short period.
Of course, the hidden reason was ultimately because of Adele.
Originally, charges of treason against Adele would be brought in the fall.
As it had always been a repeating future, there was every possibility it would happen this time too, and even if it didn’t, it was true that I needed to be cautious.
After stabilizing the family, I planned to entrust the management to Arwen and Renold and head to the North.
The Taylor family was ultimately just a consumable to me.
The Count, having heard the superficial reason, nodded as if he understood to some extent.
“I said you resemble Serena, but it seems you only resemble half of her. My daughter was quite lazy, do you remember?”
“I don’t know much. I only have a few memories from when I was young.”
The problem was that those few memories remained so intensely, but at least they didn’t dominate my entire life like before.
I couldn’t deny that they were precious.
It was also true that I would carry them with me forever, and that I would recall them even at the moment of my death when time had passed.
However, this time I didn’t intend to follow Mother’s words.
She might be sad if she was watching from somewhere, but it was true that Yuria wouldn’t change, wasn’t it?
I couldn’t undo it.
At least, the end of this matter needed to be as clean as possible.
I sighed for a moment and looked at Count Yugress.
There was a lot to talk about, but it would be enough to talk about Mother next time.
After becoming the family head… when I had time.
There would be enough time then.
“Well then, I’ll be going now.”
As there was nothing to ask for right away, I stood up and bowed my head.
I was facing him as a grandson now, but I didn’t know in what capacity I would come next time.
I just hoped things would unfold as I thought.
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Three days after meeting Count Yugress, Arwen informed me that Yuria had found out everything.
It must have been thanks to information provided by servants other than Arwen.
Arwen had managed to escape well, and what remained was just Yuria, full of anger.
A considerable number of nobles she had held had turned their backs on her and sided with me.
She might be pondering how to deal with this situation where she had been caught off guard.
It seemed she had tried to consolidate her forces while I was away, but the problem was that my speed was too fast.
In fact, I hadn’t known at all whether Adele or Adriana would recall their memories.
As those memories came to me as a definite advantage, I was able to consolidate forces at a time neither she nor I had expected.
And it couldn’t be denied that Miragen’s assistance was part of the reason why nobles approached me.
Although I had said I didn’t need help, I hadn’t expected her to deliberately take out an artifact like mine in an official setting.
Some nobles had definitely found out about my connection with the Princess.
Now the scales had definitely tipped in my favor, and Yuria’s situation had clearly become disadvantageous.
Perhaps it wouldn’t take long for all of the nobles to know.
“But now I should start moving. They’re probably desperate to catch my movements.”
“Are you thinking of heading to the duke’s residence?”
“There’s no reason to stay at the Moon Tower anymore. There shouldn’t be any problem if I move now.”
The reason I hadn’t headed to the duke’s residence was that the majority of nobles would remain silent even if something happened to me inside the residence.
While there might be talk about my movements in the outskirts, would it have the same impact as in the center?
So I hadn’t moved.
Even though I didn’t intend to just endure Yuria’s actions, such differences made a big difference in moving towards the position of family head.
Now there shouldn’t be any problem even if I went there alone.
There were quite a few nobles who would move if I was touched.
It was especially important that Yugress was among them.
Recalling its past prosperity, there were hardly any noble families comparable to Yugress.
Moreover, Yuria’s mother was ultimately the same as me.
There was a moral issue.
Even Yuria couldn’t ignore this problem completely, and as long as there was no longer any need to be cautious about me heading to the duke’s residence, there was no reason to stay here any longer.
And wasn’t it also a bother to Adriana?
If an outsider continued to stay at the Moon Tower, it might cause trouble for her, so once I had made the decision, I started to move a bit quickly.
There was no need for goodbyes… well, probably not.
We would meet again in a few days, so there was no need to waste time.
As I left the Moon Tower, I felt Arwen’s magic.
She had been waiting until I came out, and the girl who had been in the form of a paladin returned to her original appearance and opened her mouth.
“The preparations are completely finished now. Yuria Taylor has ordered to investigate your every move in the duke’s residence, and some servants are spread around the Moon Tower. But other than that, there’s almost nothing she can try immediately. If she tries anything, the nobles will check her.”
“The range where the current temporary family head can move is only around the duke’s residence. We’ve taken measures to immediately detect any movements she might show.”
“So there’s no possibility of escape.”
“Rather, she’s probably waiting. Since she can’t do anything unless we move, if she’s aiming for something, it would be now as we head to the duke’s residence.”
That was probably the case.
She had almost lost the foundation she had built through the nobles, and the position she had obtained through Father was merely that of a pitiful temporary family head.
The fact that the family head position hadn’t been officially decided yet meant that things had gone wrong for Yuria in many ways, so this situation itself was advantageous to me.
My expression remained cold throughout the carriage ride to the duke’s residence.
It was to sort out my feelings about what was about to happen.
It was different from when I killed Theresa.
If my feelings were complicated then, now I was becoming surprisingly calm even to myself.
…I had a prepared gift.
I was curious about what expression Yuria would make when she received it, so I smiled slightly as I watched the duke’s residence gradually come into view.
“How will you handle the escorts?”
When Renold, who didn’t know much about my combat abilities, asked this, Arwen made a strange expression as if he had asked something ridiculous.
I knew better than anyone what kind of tricks Yuria might try and I also knew better that she wouldn’t do such things in this situation.
She wouldn’t do anything foolish when all of the attention was focused on her.
If I were to be in danger, it would be when I faced Yuria alone.
I wasn’t lacking in confidence.
If it came to that, the situation would flow even more favorably for me, and Yuria would probably definitely move that way.
Clop-clop-
As the hard-running horse stopped, Renold’s complexion turned pale.
Despite all his talk until now, was he starting to realize what he had been doing now that he saw the duke’s residence?
Once we had come this far, there was no turning back.
Even I was seeing for the first time the outcome of this attempt, made for the first time in my 101st life.
Click-
Arwen stayed in the carriage, saying she would hide her appearance, and only Renold and I advanced towards the duke’s residence.
The garden where I had once seen Theresa off caught my eye.
After walking briefly on the ground that showed a murky gray instead of lush greenery after passing winter, a maid facing the whistling wind approached and carefully bowed her head.
“You’ve arrived, young master. The family head is waiting inside.”
The maid who had conveyed that the family head was waiting inside turned her back, but I just stared at her silently without following.
The maid looked at me curiously, then slightly frowned and opened her mouth again.
“Aren’t you going in? The family head is waiting.”
“It’s about time you realized the positions have changed. Are you being stubborn, or do you still think of me as your subordinate?”
The situation had reversed.
Everything Yuria had built up was now coming under my control in just a few months.
The connections, power, status, and reputation she had built as the young lady.
The nobles no longer wanted to follow a woman suffering from madness, instead choosing to follow someone who had reformed, wasn’t that so?
The North, the Church, and even the Imperial Family were showing their support for me.
There were things that couldn’t be hidden even if one tried to cover them with their palm.
And that could be said of the current situation between Yuria and me.
I smiled slightly and moved my lips.
“Tell her to come out herself. I’ll be waiting here.”
Until now, she might have thought she was close to becoming the family head herself, but now all that would be pointless talk.
It was time for Yuria’s childhood fantasies to be shattered.
Time for everything she had built up to crumble, and for the things that should have been hers to return to my hands.
The maid who had looked surprised for a moment hesitated, but when Renold shouted at her, she disappeared somewhere with hurried steps.
I was curious about Yuria’s expression as she would come out to this garden herself.
But that would only be the beginning.
After today passes, and tomorrow passes again.
Yuria’s time would crumble.
It’s time for you to disappear, in my 101st life.
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