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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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I had thought Yuria would make a move, but I was slightly surprised by how quickly she acted.
The fact that rumors of Father’s senility spread so easily showed how well Yuria had established her position.
If the nobles hadn’t spread the rumors so accurately, they would have been quickly buried as false, but I was surprised they reached me in less than a day.
I hadn’t expected that the family head, who was still considered robust, could be turned into a senile old man overnight.
It seemed Yuria was desperate to obtain the position of family head in various ways.
She should have known it wouldn’t go as planned, so I wondered what her reasons were.
“The situation probably won’t change immediately. She’ll likely be satisfied with acting as a proxy for now instead of directly inheriting the family head position,” Arwen said.
I nodded at her words.
Although she had turned the family head into a secluded old man under the pretext of senility, if she directly succeeded the position, her intentions would be too obvious.
It was probably Yuria who had killed the servant and carelessly disposed of the body, but the nobles who had already sided with her wouldn’t look into it too closely.
“You’ll know from meeting him directly, but there’s almost no credibility to the rumors themselves.”
“I know. I met him yesterday.”
“If you’re going to move now, you should take action little by little. Do you have any methods in mind?”
Methods.
I had already thought about situations like this, so I wasn’t flustered by Yuria’s actions.
I just thought it was unexpected because it was a slightly rougher method.
If my previous movements had been preliminary skirmishes, responding to the news Yuria announced today would be a more full-scale battle.
“I do have some ideas.”
I could respond immediately.
The preparations I had asked Renold to make were complete, and given Yuria’s current mental state, she would likely react quite strongly even to my slight movements.
However, that wouldn’t be the end of everything.
After looking at Arwen for a moment, I shrugged and quietly opened my mouth.
“I’m just curious about something.”
“Yes?”
“Are there any drugs that induce hallucinations?”
If what I wanted was simply to become the family head, I wouldn’t have asked this.
Above all, what I desired was to definitively end our relationship, wasn’t it?
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“You’re here?”
“I’ll probably leave again soon, though.”
Having heard me coming, Adriana, who had been walking near the Moon Tower, approached me.
At this time, she had probably just returned from the cathedral.
Although she had been staying at the Moon Tower, I hadn’t seen her much recently.
It was likely due to being busy with various matters.
However, I now had to leave the Moon Tower again, and Adriana let out a small groan when she heard my words.
“Hmm, it seems you’re quite busy with family matters.”
“I’d like to finish it by this summer if possible. But I’m not sure if it will go well.”
“Is that so? I wish I could help, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“I appreciate the thought. However, I don’t think there would be anything good about getting involved in Taylor family matters.”
While the Taylor family’s fame was widely known, its infamy was also considerable.
The events that occurred when the family head was being replaced were already famous.
Now that the imperial succession was somewhat settled, the nobles were most focused on the Taylor family’s succession.
Originally, many nobles had sided with Yuria, but recently, some perceptive nobles had sent messages of cooperation to me.
Some had even turned neutral.
So the situation wasn’t quite the same as before, though subtle.
If I had to explain the nobles’ support in numbers, it would be about 7 for Yuria, 2 for me, and 1 neutral.
Although the numbers might seem overwhelmingly in Yuria’s favor, the situation wasn’t entirely unfavorable.
Considering Yuria’s mental issues and including other forces besides the nobles, it was about even.
The scales that had been clearly tipped towards Yuria until around this time last year were now probably balanced.
As such, the fight would become rougher.
In this situation, it would be good if Adriana could help me, but it was best if the church didn’t intervene in this fight.
Understanding my words, Adriana let out a small sigh, then looked at me again and moved her lips.
“Then are you planning to return today?”
“Not today, but I’ll have to go back in a few days. And I have a place to visit. I’ll just stop by my room and come back.”
“If you need anything later, please let me know. I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Alright. Then, I’ll see you when I have time next.”
I was worried that I might look like I was moving too hastily, but Adriana just smiled brightly and waved her hand before quietly disappearing.
The reason for me moving like this wasn’t really for any grand purpose.
It was a day that others might not think much of, but one that I alone considered important.
I entered the empty room and headed for the desk.
The room was dark with no lights on, but my gaze pierced through the shadows and landed on something definite.
I carefully lifted the frame that had always been face down in the corner of the desk, revealing an old picture inside.
A woman sitting alone in a chair with her hands folded, the part where her face was drawn was so worn it was almost unrecognizable.
But I alone could clearly recognize who this woman was.
“…It’s already been 15 years.”
Exactly 15 years today, I realized how much time had passed and closed my eyes tightly.
I hadn’t thought this day would overlap with such a time.
Whether it was fate’s prank or not, I felt a bitter taste in my mouth at the fact that this anniversary had come around again.
After looking at the frame for a moment, I placed it back on the desk and turned away.
I had a place to visit.
It was a cemetery that probably no one else visited anymore, specifically where my mother rested.
Today was the anniversary of my mother’s death.
The paladins were a bit surprised that I was leaving the Moon Tower again, but their reaction had become quite indifferent as my outings had become frequent.
Perhaps they were relieved that I wasn’t going with Adriana.
When we were in the South, hadn’t Verod and the others looked at me with suspicious eyes?
Walking for a long time under the darkening night sky, I entered a cemetery that seemed too shabby for the lady of a ducal house to rest in.
I didn’t know why Mother had been placed in such a place.
Although it was a separate area, it was hard to consider it a place befitting the only member of a ducal house to be buried there.
At least the maintenance seemed to have been done diligently, as the area around the grave was clean without a speck of dust, which was somewhat reassuring.
This hadn’t changed even after repeated regressions.
Although Father hadn’t shown any reaction when Mother died, had he at least wanted to give her a final proper burial?
I couldn’t understand Father’s thoughts about Mother.
No matter how many times I asked, he never answered, so perhaps I would never know.
“It’s been a while since I’ve visited. I should have come during the day, but I’ve been busy.”
The dead do not answer.
She had been somewhat taciturn even when alive, so my faint memory of Mother still remained silent.
I thought she probably wouldn’t scold me for coming late.
Rather, she would probably worry if something had happened.
…In that sense, she wasn’t really suited to the Taylors.
The strange thing was why such a person had entered into a political marriage with the Taylors.
She surely could have refused, so why did someone who wasn’t from a humble family meet Father?
It was something I thought about occasionally, but I soon stopped as it was a premise where I wouldn’t exist.
Mother’s name was engraved on the gray tombstone.
After staring at that name for a moment, I then sat down in front of the grave, matching my eye level with the tombstone.
When I was young, I always looked up at Mother.
I remembered being about the same height when the tombstone was first erected, and sitting down now brought back those memories.
I had been quite a crybaby when I was young.
Compared to Yuria who was born first, I had no outstanding qualities, and I would grieve for days when an animal I was raising died.
While hearing that I took after Mother’s personality, on the other hand, I lived with the label of being an heir unsuited to the Taylor name.
Of course, there were a few who had been severely scolded for saying such things in front of Mother, so it was okay when I was young.
Even Yuria, while prickly, didn’t behave as severely as she did later.
However, when Mother died, I was the only one who truly grieved.
Fainting from crying, then waking up to cry again – all that remained for me who repeated this cycle was just the Taylor name.
My first life ended without me being able to adapt to that.
“You’d probably feel I’ve changed a lot. I must be quite different from the me who visited last year.”
Whenever I visited this place after repeated regressions, I would realize how different I was from my past self of the previous year.
Last year’s me was still in his foolish first life, but now I was myself who had repeated the regression.
I wasn’t sure what she would think if she saw me.
I was a bit afraid that she might be disappointed in how cold I had become, unlike back then.
“…This time, I’ll be even more different.”
It was different from my past lives.
I had killed my fiancée, and now I was about to turn my sword towards my sister.
As I was trying to seize the title of family head for the first time, even I didn’t know how much blood would be shed.
It was uncertain what feelings you, who wished for me to grow up rightly away from the Taylor name, would harbor, but it was clear that I would be very different from the son you had hoped for.
Suddenly, a breeze blew, slightly ruffling the sparse grass growing on the grave.
The rustling sound seemed just like an answer to me.
Though I didn’t know what kind of answer it was, I smiled slightly as if it had responded to my words.
It felt just like I was coming to ask for forgiveness after committing a sin.
It happened to be the day Yuria had made her move against Father, and the day I was about to move to become the family head.
If Mother were here, she would probably ask me if I couldn’t guide Yuria back to the right path.
Even when we were young, she had made many efforts to correct Yuria’s personality.
If asked whether Yuria’s nature had shown such madness from the beginning, I could answer no to that.
While her personality had twisted dramatically after Mother passed away, stemming partly from fundamental issues, it was also born from jealousy towards me.
Jealousy over the affection I received, perhaps it was an issue that could arise for any siblings with an age gap.
But the feelings Yuria harbored were even more malicious than that.
“There are no bad people from the start. Everyone has their circumstances, and I think if you understand them, you can always reform them.”
The words I heard as a child had greatly influenced my regressions.
I had thought that Yuria or Theresa could change.
Even if I hated them, I couldn’t hate everything about them.
Of course, this life was different.
Didn’t I know that Yuria’s fundamental nature was flawed?
Even if Mother had said those words, I had learned through death itself that they could be wrong.
After staring at the dully shining tombstone for a while, I then stood up and quietly bowed my head.
“The next time I come, I’ll come not as Robert, but as the Duke.”
So I asked for forgiveness in advance.
Because Mother had wanted our relationship to be good more than anyone, I, who was trying to sever this relationship, could only beg for forgiveness.
I thought that either Yuria or I had to die for this to end.
I remembered the saying that there are no bad dogs in this world.
It was a phrase Mother always used to say, that there are no bad people from the start.
Smiling bitterly at that memory, I then looked up at the empty sky with a small sigh.
Most of what you said was right, but if there was one thing that was wrong, it would be that saying.
There are bad dogs in this world.
Clearly, definitely.
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[Shi boutta get wild GAWDAM]
🤦