Time passed helplessly.
Ainz Rainswain found a daily life that could be called peace. At least he did. That day was a day when time seemed to pass strangely more slowly than other days. It must have been because it was the day of the Count Liev’s memorial service, he thought. On the desk, he could see the invitation to the memorial event with a red seal. Ainz has never once responded to this invitation. It was when Ainz pressed his tired eyes that he heard an urgent knock on his door.
“Sir, we have a guest from the Marquis of Hawes.”
Ainz raised his eyebrows at the two words ‘Hawes’ and ‘Guest’. It is already time for the sun to set. Soon, Hawes’ errand boy, out of breath as if he was in a hurry, entered.
“What brought you here?”
“Master and Mistress…”
The errand boy took a moment to catch his breath.
“On his way back to the mansion, he was caught in a landslide and passed away.”
The clock ticked. Ainz slowly lowered his eyelids, and then she lifted them. The sound of the second hand raising the room feels louder than before.
“Again.”
The errand boy bowed his head at the quietly spoken voice. It felt like my body was shaking slightly.
“My master and my mistress passed away after being swept away by a landslide on their way back from a memorial event. In addition to my master and my mistress, there were also Count E Diaz and Baron Ryan.
The errand boy explained the situation in more detail and recited the name. Ainz tilted his head. The fact that he changed his name doesn’t mean he’s dead. Who?
Sirena Liev and John Hawes.
Bang-
The full ink bottle fluttered and jumped onto the white paper. The messenger stopped him.
“Why are you dying? Why are you dying?”
The red eyes were looking at the messenger as if they were genuinely curious. Aren’t these friends who have found happiness and enjoyed even greater happiness?
“Why?”
The messenger did not answer that question. It was not a question that could be answered.
“His Excellency Repaz, the great elder of the Marquis of Hawes, told me to tell you this.”
Ainz raised her hands and covered her face as if she didn’t want to hear it. He pressed down on her tired eyes and dismissed it as something she had heard because she was exhausted from work. The messenger took out a letter with a red seal from his arms. After putting it down to the recipient who had no intention of receiving it, the messenger bowed his head. After a while, Ainz raised her head and opened the letter in front of him.
Okay. That errand boy brought wrong news. Even though he tried to console himself, he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking.
It took time to discover, but I thought it was okay. The carriage that John and Sirena were riding in was sitting before entering the mountain road. So it wasn’t seriously swept away by the landslide. But, why?
“The children had deep stab wounds on their necks and chests. The injury was not caused by a landslide.”
Ainz’s eyes stopped for an instant as he read her letter.
They were alive. They had to be alive! They were alive, but they killed them. He slowly caught his breath and read the text again.
“Even if the landslide hadn’t happened, they would have tried to kill them! Maybe even a landslide is their plan.”
“I don’t know.”
He read a sentence full of anger.
“Ainz, it was clearly an assassination.”
Ainz’s eyes were fixed on the makeup. There was already blood in his red eyes. The corners of his eyes were red and puffy, like a child who lost his parents and burst into tears. Blood pooled on his broken lips.
* * *
“You become the children’s godfather.”
He couldn’t go visit them with the excuse that he was busy, no, he didn’t have the confidence to face that happy face.
“I would like to organize Marquis Hawes’ affairs and bring the children.”
He would bring the remaining children of Sirena and John to the Marquis of Hawes. Those words were purely his own thoughts. Those words did not convey the meaning of Berson, the children’s grandfather, at all. There was only one reason why Ainz made up his mind. Sirena and Johan were killed by someone. If that’s really the case,
“Please do so.”
He had to go. Ainz left that path as the Marquess of Hawes.
“Ainz!”
Berson Repaz, who was the owner of this mansion before Johan became the owner of Hawes, welcomed Ainz, who came running day and night. The horse was welcoming, but his face was gaunt and the corners of his eyes were red.
“Where are Sirena and John?”
As soon as he arrived, Berson saw his son and his wife looking for him, so Berson silently guided him to the annex of the mansion. It was Ainz who broke the thick silence.
“The children…”
“You don’t know anything. I’ve made sure to speed up the recruitment of employees, so please be careful.”
Relying on a single candle, they went down to the basement of the annex. A white mist appeared out of Berson’s mouth and then dissipated. Ainz also saw the steam forming on her own breath. Soon the stairs stopped and an iron bar appeared. Berson pushed open the tightly closed iron bars. Ainz couldn’t figure out why his hand was shaking, whether it was because of the cold or fear. He clenched his shaking hand into a fist. The darkness was brightly illuminated by the lot holding the candle. But the cold air remained the same. Maybe Ainz Rainswain feels that way. Faded silver hair was neatly arranged on the bed. Ainz took a deep breath. Brown hair was disheveled to the side. Ainz lowered her eyelids. In the cold air of the basement, no one thought about opening their eyes. Ainz lifted his eyelids with difficulty. He had a deep wound, as if his throat had been pierced. He quivered his lips and let out his breath. Then, he finally collapsed into his seat. The candlestick fell from his hand and made a sharp sound and the flame died out.
Darkness has come.
Ainz covered his face. She hid her distorted face. He held his breath without holding on to either of them. That’s how he faced the death he didn’t want to admit.
* * *
“Mister, are you crying?”
Sirena Liev, those were the first words spoken by the child who resembled that name. Ainz slowly shook his head. He said she wasn’t crying. She couldn’t believe it, so she lifted her hand and swept her face, but there was no moisture coming off her.
“Liev, please excuse me.”
John Hawes, a boy who looked like him, pulled his sister towards her and scolded her. Ainz looked at the children. The funerals of the two masters who led the Marquess of Hawes were held quietly. Very quietly, without the children noticing,
“What is your name?”
“Ainz, Ainz Rainswain.”
The children muttered their names several times as if they were memorizing them.
“Can I call you Ainz?”
The question the child asked was a voice he heard sometime back when he was young. Ainz just nodded at her. Her big, folded eyes remind me of her dazzling beauty.
“Then why is Ainz at your house?”
‘…Please, I want someone to tell me what to do in times like this.’
His two friends taught him the knowledge he couldn’t get from the book, but everything he thought was enough for me became mixed up and tangled up. Suddenly, he remembered the child with a faint face who left without even making a sound. It was the same back then.
“Ainz?”
When there was no answer, the child grabbed the hem of his clothes. He has small hands holding the hem of his clothes.
“His Excellency Rainswain, the elder is looking for you.”
Ainz turned her head away from her children at the voice of Haweshu’s butler calling. The children looked just like the two friends. Those two people who loved each other.
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Translator Note:
Sorry for last week’s mistake. Today you will have double chapter ^^,
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released in a bit.
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