Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 196

I squeezed my eyes shut.

No words came out, so I just tightened my grip on my father’s neck.

* * *

“Princess Paeraton!”

Lady Aisel was pacing back and forth in front of the mansion, waiting. As soon as the carriage stopped, she rushed over.

“Are you alright? How’s your health…?”

She hurriedly checked me over, then saw my father beside me and bowed her head.

“Y-Your Grace, Duke Paeraton.”

Her face was pale as she paid her respects. The hand gripping her skirt trembled slightly.

I turned my head away from Lady Aisel.

Count Aisel stood at the entrance of the mansion.

He was looking at me, but when our eyes met, he turned his head away uncomfortably.

He wore a very complicated expression.

“Please, come inside for now.”

At Lady Aisel’s words, the butler opened the door.

The room we were led to was a neatly arranged tea room.

The room was filled with awkward silence until the tea and snacks were served.

I didn’t bother to speak first.

“…I know an apology is not enough, but I must apologize first.”

Lady Aisel stood up from her seat and bowed to me.

“I am sorry, Princess.”

“…”

“We never imagined such a thing would happen that day.”

Lady Aisel remained bowed, not lifting her head. She offered no excuses.

I sighed and opened my mouth.

“Please raise your head, sit down, and then explain.”

After Lady Aisel sat down, she cautiously began to explain.

“…Lady Chavonne secretly came to us and told us that Princess Paeraton was the one who killed Ophelia.”

‘…Muriel Chavonne.’

I had already expected it, but hearing it from the bereaved family made my blood boil.

How dare she kill Lady Aisel and then blame someone else?

To visit the parents of the person she killed, offer comfort, share their grief, and pretend to reveal the truth about their daughter’s death—how despicable.

At that moment, a large hand landed on the back of my hand.

My father covered my hand and gently unfolded it.

‘Ah…’

Without realizing it, I had clenched my fist so tightly that my nails were piercing my palm.

My father ran his thumb over the marks on my palm and gently held my hand.

As if telling me to stab his hand if I needed to stab something.

“At first, of course, we didn’t believe it. But gradually, the story seemed to fit together.”

“…”

“Your Highness’s attitude at the funeral that day… It bothered me. Why would the Princess, who had no connection to my daughter, show such deep condolences?”

“Was it because of guilt?”

“Yes. That’s what she said. Listening to her, it made sense. That day, Your Highness… looked too gloomy to just be sad.”

I was definitely suffering from extreme guilt.

Guilt for not protecting Lady Aisel.

“You said that you and Lady Aisel had known each other for a long time and that you were at odds because of Her Majesty the Empress. Lady Aisel was highly regarded as a close lady-in-waiting to Her Majesty.”

“Her Majesty the Empress also hinted at the funeral that the relationship between Your Highness and Ophelia was not good.”

Even the Empress.

Did the Empress know that Muriel killed Lady Aisel and still say that?

“Do you think I would kill someone just because we had political disagreements?”

Even if Paeraton has a bad reputation, isn’t that too much?

“Absolutely not. Your Highness is intelligent, but still young… It’s just my feeling, but you didn’t seem like someone who would do such a thing.”

Then why?

“But Lady Chavonne brought evidence.”

At Lady Aisel’s gesture, the butler placed a sword, received from a servant, on the table.

“This is…”

It’s a sword used by Paeraton’s knights.

“She said it was the sword that… harmed Ophelia. It had Ophelia’s blood on it.”

Lady Aisel didn’t die from a sword wound.

Hermes Jjake had told me for sure that it was because of Muriel’s fraud [deceit].

So what this means is…

‘She damaged the already dead Lady Aisel’s body with a sword again?’

She even went to the young lady’s parents and showed them, saying it was the murder weapon?

If I could, I wanted to bring Muriel Chavonne back to life and kill her again.

“…A Paeraton knight, under Your Highness’s orders, killed Ophelia, my daughter…”

Lady Aisel, who had been speaking calmly, turned red in the face.

But she glared and stubbornly refused to shed tears.

As if she thought it was shameless to cry in front of me.

“…”

It was a ridiculous misunderstanding.

In the first place, my conflict with the Empress was not that intense. I was taking a lukewarm stance.

No, even if we were in great conflict, would I have killed an innocent aide?

What would I gain from doing that?

But how rationally could Count and Countess Aisel think, with their daughter’s body and the sword that killed her in front of them?

In this peaceful empire, would they have ever thought that their noble daughter would be murdered?

“I… realized it only after talking to Your Highness at the tea house that day. That Your Highness didn’t kill my daughter.”

“…”

“I felt that Ophelia had somehow changed since the Dawn Festival. It was a subtle change at first… But how could I not know? I’m her mother.”

Lady Aisel smiled through her tears, as if recalling her daughter’s image.

“I had never seen her so full of life and proactive. Ugh… It was all thanks to Your Highness.”

I remembered the Countess’s surprised expression that day at the tea house when I said I had met Lady Aisel since the Dawn Festival.

‘So that’s why.’

As a mother, she had sensitively noticed the changes in her daughter.

“But you drove my daughter to her death.”

A cold voice froze the air in the room in an instant.

My father glared at Count and Countess Aisel with a stern look.

Count Aisel, who had been quietly bowing his head, jumped up and knelt down.

“…I’m sorry. I’m so ashamed.”

“Ashamed? Is that all you have to say?”

“…”

“My daughter almost died that day. And not just almost died.

How much did this little one suffer in a place she could never return from…”

Father paused for a moment.

When he looked up again, his eyes held a light I had never seen before.

Thud.

My heart sank.

“When my daughter returned with her body full of wounds, unable to even walk properly, do you know what I thought?”

“Y-Your Grace…”

“I’m going to kill everyone involved in this.”

Even though my father didn’t do anything, Count Aisel groaned in agony.

“No, that’s not enough. They have to suffer several times the pain my daughter went through. I’ll make them feel that even dying is a luxury.”

Count Aisel, unable to withstand my father’s fierce gaze, slammed his head against the floor.

Lady Aisel collapsed to her knees, trembling, and the butlers and servants standing by turned pale and prostrated themselves.

“No matter who it is.”

My father didn’t even unleash his mana [magical energy].

Yet, a ferocious aura emanated from him.

That overwhelming presence and pressure.

None of them dared to meet my father’s eyes, trembling in fear.

‘But to me…’

Even in this situation, my father was still holding my hand.

I squeezed the hand I was holding with my father.

My father turned his head and looked at me.

‘…Wounded eyes.’

I wasn’t scared or afraid at all.

I was just sad.

Because my father’s eyes looked more painful than ever.

Because his red eyes looked as mournful as if they were bleeding.

Because his ferocious aura felt like the cry of a wounded beast.

My father, who had been quietly looking at my face, cupped my cheeks.

“…Why are you making that face?”

I hugged my father tightly without saying a word.

I felt my father’s aura, which had been as unstable as a ship in a storm, gradually subside.

At that moment, Count Aisel crawled on his knees and grabbed my father’s pants.

“I really have nothing to say, even with ten mouths. It’s all my fault. But my wife, my wife tried to stop me that day.”

Count Aisel continued to speak, sweating profusely.

“I was the one who forcibly dragged her out. I should have listened to my wife, but after hearing the words to cut open my daughter’s body, I didn’t think any further… I misunderstood the Princess. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Misunderstanding? Does the word ‘misunderstanding’ make what my daughter went through disappear?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. My wife really tried to stop me. Please… She’s the only family I have left.”

“Honey…”

Lady Aisel called out to the Count, but he didn’t look back.

“I have no shame in asking to be spared, having tried to harm that young child because of a misunderstanding. I will gladly give up this life. But please, end it with just me…”

Count Aisel repeatedly apologized, banging his head on the floor.

Then he knelt down to me as well.

“I misunderstood the Princess. I was trapped in the lie that the Princess killed my daughter and didn’t listen to anything I said. To participate in such a wicked scheme… I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I quietly stared at Count Aisel.

He seemed to truly regret and sincerely repent his mistake.

The Aisel family had called me out that day in their name.

If they had intended to avoid everything, they wouldn’t have sent the letter in the Countess’s name from the beginning.

Ah, I see.

“If I were really the culprit who killed Lady Aisel and succeeded in revenge, you were planning to die with me.”

“…”

“I received Lady Aisel’s letter that day and went to the meeting place. If I had been harmed there, it would have been difficult for the Aisel family to avoid responsibility.”

“…Your Highness is right.”

“It’s an act of killing a person, especially a young child like the Princess. I had no intention of living happily, saying that I had avenged my daughter’s death.”

“…That’s right.”

“Perhaps the person who killed my daughter is Muriel Chavonne.”

I affirmed with silence.

Count Aisel closed his eyes. Tears streamed down his wrinkled face.

“This is not the time to say this, but thank you so much. For avenging my daughter…”

Count Aisel’s eyes were very clear.

Even in this situation, he couldn’t bear the thought of hating the person who killed his daughter.

“…You truly cherished your daughter.”

“…Of course.”

I didn’t like Count Aisel.

I couldn’t understand why he kept putting down his daughter, Lady Aisel.

In my eyes, there was no one as great as Lady Aisel, but he kept saying she was lacking, and so on.

But Count Aisel loved his daughter very much in his own way.

Even though his method was wrong.

“…First of all, before you give up your life, there’s something you need to do.”

At my words, Count Aisel raised his head.

“What is it? I will do anything to atone.”

“It’s to cut open Lady Aisel’s stomach.”

At my words, Count and Countess Aisel’s faces froze palely.

But this time, they didn’t object.

* * *

Count and Countess Aisel couldn’t bear to watch their daughter’s body being desecrated.

I didn’t want to see it either.

Desecrating a body is an incredibly insulting act, so my father did it alone so that no one else could see.

And.

“…I see why you told me to cut open her stomach.”

In my father’s hand was a sparkling jewel.

“That’s…”

“It’s a video stone [a magical device for recording and playing images]. It was in her esophagus.”

Countess Aisel staggered in shock.

I stood blankly, staring at the video stone.

What was Lady Aisel thinking at the moment when death was imminent?

What was she thinking when she swallowed the video stone?

One thing I can know一.

“I’ve never seen anyone as brave as Lady Aisel.”

She was decisive enough to think about the future, even in the fear of death.

Countess Aisel was crying without even breathing.

The Count hugged his wife and stared blankly at the video stone.

Tears streamed down his eyes as well.

“Because of this…”

He stopped speaking and moved his lips several times.

He seemed to want to see the video stone, but was afraid to see it.

I waited quietly.

I hadn’t forgiven Count Aisel.

Unless Sid returns safely, I will never forgive Count Aisel.

But this was the greatest courtesy I could show to Lady Aisel’s parents.

After a long silence, Count Aisel opened his mouth.

“Please… play the video stone. Please.”

My father activated the video stone.

Then, the images of the Empress and Muriel began to appear in the clear crystal.

The content of their fight.

The content was quite shocking.

Because it contained the information that the Empress’s biological child was Sidrian.

Count and Countess Aisel couldn’t close their mouths.

The video didn’t end there.

Perhaps because she didn’t know how to turn it off since it was her first time touching it, everything was recorded while Lady Aisel was moving with the video stone.