It was when the situation was somewhat settled.
Fedrerick entered the mansion a step late.
Just before entering, he had heard about Aiden’s recollections and the recent events, and since he was also asked for a favor by Erin, he was somewhat aware of the current state of affairs.
As the atmosphere had loosened up, Fedrerick tilted his head slightly to the side and spoke.
“But why did you come out so late?”
“Uh…?”
“The original date you set has passed, hasn’t it?”
Fedrerick’s gaze at Erin and Aiden narrowed.
“That’s…”
Erin turned around awkwardly to look at Aiden.
“Don’t tell me you got the date mixed up?”
“That’s not it…”
Erin trailed off, turning her gaze away.
Then Aiden spoke up calmly.
“We just didn’t want to leave after being together for such a long time.”
It was their reluctance that had made them linger longer before coming out.
“…Huh.”
Fedrerick let out a short laugh as if flabbergasted.
“It’s good to hear you had a pleasant time.”
Isabella said with a kind smile.
“We would also like to enjoy the happiness of a long-awaited reunion, but there is something more important at hand right now.”
“Yes. The real importance starts now.”
Erin’s eyes sparkled as she ignited her determination.
***
The acts committed by the elders could not be excused in any way.
They felt unjustly trapped, having apparently forgotten that it was they who had set a trap for Aiden and Erin.
But they also knew that there was no point in resisting any longer.
The elders confessed to all their misdeeds.
And now they were powerlessly waiting in jail for the time to be punished.
It was during an awkward, uncomfortable silence, thick as a swamp among the elders.
Elder Diarn slowly raised his head and opened his mouth towards Erin and Aiden.
“You have achieved everything you desired, it seems.”
“…”
“Congratulations.”
Elder Diarn had the empty look of a man who had lost everything.
His sarcasm was easily ignored.
After all, his words held no power or meaning anymore.
When Erin looked to the side, Aiden seemed completely uninterested.
“…”
Erin moved her lips slightly.
After some deliberation, Erin tightened her grip on Aiden’s hand.
Then she slowly opened her mouth towards the elders.
“As time goes on, what I have seems natural, and greed grows accordingly.”
Erin continued calmly, but her words carried a sharp critique.
“However, if I truly cherish what I have, I’ll strive to keep it longer.”
If we go back to the elders’ ancestors, or even before that, there must have been an incomparable loyalty and trust.
A relationship closer than family.
Surely the council of Rianstar and the five elders was such a relationship.
Such an influential relationship would not have started without a significant amount of trust.
But no matter how good the intentions were, they could not stay true to their original desire to help each other.
Over time, people’s hearts changed.
Despite knowing they were on guard against each other, they were bound only by the relationship that extended from the past.
The relationship, once a source of help and strength for each other, had become one where they envied what the others had and even harbored hostility.
Erin’s gaze narrowed as she looked at the elders.
“This has been happening for a long time.”
But she wasn’t talking about the relationship between the Lienster house and the council of elders. It was similar, yet different.
Erin brought up something she had been holding back for a long time.
“I know that someone from the Lienster house has been planted long ago to cause internal strife.”
“…!”
A spasm crossed the elders’ eyes.
This was the unforgivable reason they could never absolve the elders, and ultimately, why they had to come to an end.
It was an incident from the distant past.
An incident that even the elders themselves had eventually forgotten about after it ended in failure.
But Erin was pinpointing it accurately.
It was, in fact, something that had been building up methodically for a long time.
Since Logan Lienster had become a duke, the scheme provoked the anger of the previous duchess, creating discord.
Even after Logan Lienster became the duke, the elders continued to scheme from within to cause disunity.
As a result, during a time when solidifying internal control and foundation was crucial, the members of the house failed to understand each other, harboring endless resentment and becoming bitterly divided.
As the discord dragged on, the internal self-destruction was inevitable.
In fact, until ten years ago, it seemed that day was not far off.
Yes, until Erin Lienster appeared. The elders’ irritable glances turned towards Erin.
With their last mask completely removed, the elders looked at her with raw, unmitigated fury. All their plans began to crumble with her arrival. And this was the result now.
“Heh!” The long, perfect plan that had continued from the previous generation had collapsed because of just this one child.
No tears came from the sense of futility. And slowly Elder Diarn’s gaze shifted from Erin to Aiden.
“So why? Why drag my child into this?” Diarn had never once acknowledged Austin as his offspring, yet now, in this moment, he was thus enraged.
It would have been more fitting for him to be angry at being undermined by the one he had himself disregarded.
Elder Diarn’s face twisted with rage. But, in fact, he did not even glance at his own son, focusing only on staring down Erin and Aiden as he continued to speak.
Did you want to see it fall apart from within?
He now understood everything.
That it had been repaid in the same manner as their past actions.
“Heh. Although we crumble like this now.”
A glint of emotion flashed in Elder Diarn’s eyes.
“Do you two feel confident?”
“…?”
Erin’s brow furrowed slightly.
“That no matter how much time passes, there will be no change?”
Elder Diarn spoke with significant implication.
“No. Someday, just as it happened within our group and the Lienster family, the same will happen within the Lienster family.”
His words were taunts until the very end.
Hoping they would etch into the bones of his opponents.
“So don’t be too confident.”
It was his final venomous curse.
He knew there was no turning back now that things had come to this.
If so, he wanted to leave them with a curse they couldn’t shake off until death.
That was his last outcry.
Even if it was ignored now, the day any conflict arose, his words would come to mind.
And the unease would become uncontrollable.
It seemed he had already envisioned the future.
Guffaws escaped him involuntarily.
TL/N: Guffaws means a loud and hearty laugh.
Although he was finished like this, the thought of that future day was, if not entirely untroubling, at least a small consolation.
The corner of his mouth twitched in a smirk.
But with a clear sneer, Erin twisted her lips.
“Is that the last thing you have to say?”
“…?”
“I do appreciate your concern.”
Erin spoke leisurely, her tone indicating that she was not particularly troubled by his words.
Elder Diarn’s face showed a fracture at her demeanor.
“It would be wise not to disregard my words. After all, what I foresee will eventually happen.”
Thus, he warned with more force.
As if it were both a curse and a prophecy.
But the more he spoke, the deeper the curve of Erin’s smile became.
And she slowly separated her lips.
“There is that possibility. We might experience division amongst ourselves in the future.”
“…”
“But why is that?”
Erin asked nonchalantly, tilting her head to the side.
“Ha. You can pretend to be calm now, but you won’t be able to later.”
“No. I don’t think such a thing won’t happen.”
She did not harbor such naive thoughts.
Instead, she had not concerned herself with events that would occur in a distant future.
“That will be a concern for another time.”
“…?”
Erin continued smoothly.
“Why should we worry about the far future? The most important thing is that we trust each other right now.”
“…”
“So, there’s no need to worry about what might happen later.”
Erin said, beaming with an easy smile.
If one cannot live forever, then it is pointless to burden oneself with worries about the far future.
All that Erin and Aiden could do was to cherish the present and strengthen their love for each other.
Even just that was enough to keep them incredibly busy in this lifetime.
***
Thus, the council of elders of the Lienster family was dissolved.
The noble houses that produced each elder remained only as vassal families of the Lienster family.
The elders, along with Gael Zahard, were sent to a labor camp on the border.
For them, who had lived comfortably as nobles all their lives, this punishment would be worse than death.
‘And Gael Zahard too….’
It was doubtful whether Gael, whose body was already broken, would still be alive upon arrival at the labor camp.
As he moved, with every step he took, it was hoped he would writhe in pain and feel the weight of his own deeds.
Each vassal family humbled themselves and took responsibility for their part in the matter.
“Some say the punishment for each family is insufficient. They suggest we should set an example to prevent them from rising again,” Felix reported the reactions of others to Erin and Aiden.
“That’s true.”
It was true that a lenient attitude had been taken towards the families themselves, separate from the punishment of the elders.
As Erin nodded slightly, Felix spoke up.
“Are you considering additional penalties? If we need to settle on a direction concerning that…”
It was then that Aiden met Erin’s gaze and answered in her stead.
“No. There’s no need for that. I have no intention to punish the families now.”
The authority that could have been said to be equal to that of the Lienster family had all been dissolved.
They even assisted in passing on the baton to the new generations, and to oppress them further now would only lead to more problems disrupting the situation that had just been settled.
It was time to strengthen the foundations in light of the changed circumstances.
And it was not only the Lienster family that needed this time.
“The families that have lost their focal point will be overwhelmed just trying to reorganize themselves.”
By the time all the reorganization is complete, the order among the families will already be established.
Understanding the will of the two, Felix bowed his head and concluded his report.
