Special SS ~ 6
Upon hearing the unexpected words from the maid, Calian and Leraie’s faces turned pale.
“Wh-what… why…?”
“Get a grip, Calian!”
If Lexion had come all the way to the baron’s mansion, there was no way to avoid him. Leraie understood this fact clearly.
“I don’t know why Duke Lexion is acting like this, but we had a plan, remember?”
She grabbed Calian, who was gripped by fear, and began to whisper in his ear.
“Deny knowing that Belles was planning a rebellion with Grand Duke Clan. Say we just rightfully inherited Seriniel’s mine!”
“L-Leraie…”
“We just split the profits in a fair share, and had no idea that Belles was gathering private soldiers and…”
Leraie hesitated for a moment.
“…No matter how mad Lexion is, he wouldn’t desecrate Seriniel’s grave. Besides, that poison leaves no trace. That’s why the doctors couldn’t detect it.”
[What did you do to Seriniel Verdellete?]
Lexion’s black eyes, burning with fury, kept flashing before her eyes, but Leraie continued, pretending not to notice.
“He may suspect us, but it’s just a hunch. Don’t listen to or acknowledge anything he says.”
Calian, looking as if he might faint at any moment, barely nodded.
And then…
As soon as Leraie finished speaking, Lexion, with a parched, dry expression, appeared.
“……”
Lexion paused for a moment, quietly staring at Calian and Leraie.
Ironically, that silence made it even harder for them to breathe. They couldn’t say a word and could only watch Lexion.
“Seriniel Verdellete.”
It was Lexion who broke the silence first.
At the sudden mention of Seriniel’s name, both Calian and Leraie flinched slightly.
“Why did you kill her?”
Lexion asked.
“Why?”
In a slightly choked voice.
“Why on earth, why?”
“L-Lord, what are you talking about… we don’t understand.”
“……”
“We’ve explained before, Seriniel simply died of an illness…”
It was at that exact moment.
Lexion quickly drew the sword from his waist.
And swung it immediately.
“Ah, aaaaah! Aaaagh!”
Calian screamed like a beast as his arm was severed in an instant.
Leraie, who had been advising him just moments ago, stood in a daze, staring at Calian’s arm on the floor.
“Next is the leg.”
“Ugh…”
“After that, I’ll cut off your ears, and gouge out your eyes.”
Lexion said in a cold voice.
“As you know, I’ve spent more time on the battlefield than in the Carteia Empire.”
“Hik…”
“So, I know better than anyone how to skin and dismember a person while keeping them alive. I also know how to inflict the maximum pain by gutting them.”
“……”
“If I start butchering you and that woman piece by piece… will my mind change then, Calian?”
Only after hearing Lexion’s dry voice did Calian and Leraie realize.
That no matter what they said, it would be useless.
And that Lexion wouldn’t back down until he got an answer to his question.
“Alright, fine.”
Receiving no response, Lexion walked over to Calian, who was lying on the floor.
Then he grabbed his ankle firmly.
“Pl-please wait… Duke Lexion… Aaagh!”
Once again, a terrible scream echoed through the baron’s mansion.
And then…
Calian’s severed leg was thrown aside with a thud.
“P-please! Please!”
Seemingly losing his mind, Calian pleaded desperately, floundering in the pool of his own blood.
“St-stop… please, s-stop…”
“If you faint already, that would be troublesome, Calian Helcar.”
Lexion said as he grabbed Calian’s hair, bending down.
“You haven’t given me any answers yet.”
“……”
“And you still have your ears and eyes intact.”
“The mine…”
Calian managed to speak in a dying voice just as Lexion was about to cut off his ear with a dagger he had pulled out.
“B-Belles… and… Leraie… together…”
“Speak clearly.”
“I-I just… did what Belles… and Leraie… told me to…”
“……”
“But the poison… it wasn’t me… it was L-Leraie…”
What?
Leraie’s face twisted in horror as she stared at Calian.
“I-I tried to stop her… said we didn’t need to… there were other ways…”
“What other ways?”
Lexion asked again.
“Other ways to kill Seriniel Verdellete?”
“Hic… ugh…”
Lexion’s tightly closed lips quivered.
There was no longer any reason to listen to Calian. Seriniel’s death was exactly as Lexion had suspected.
“Calian Helcar…”
Lexion’s eyes glinted with murderous intent as he glared at Calian.
There had been a time when he envied this crude and stupid man.
No, if it meant receiving even a single glance from Seriniel, he would have gladly become more crude and stupid than this.
But what had this beast of a man done?
He had deceived, mercilessly broken, and taken everything from Seriniel Verdellete, who Lexion couldn’t even dare to look at or speak to.
It was so absurd that Lexion let out a bitter laugh.
The mine?
That woman, Leraie?
A vast fortune?
To kill Seriniel for such trivial things?
Lexion’s hand holding the sword trembled.
“Wait for me in hell, Calian. I’ll be joining you there soon enough.”
“D-Duke Lexion…”
“In hell, I’ll kill you over and over, tear apart your corpse, and gnaw on your bones until both our souls disappear.”
As he finished speaking, the dagger in Lexion’s hand pierced Calian’s heart with precision.
Calian, now a corpse, said nothing more.
Lexion glared at Calian’s dead body with contempt before slowly rising to his feet.
He then turned to look at Leraie, who was backing away, holding his sword.
“I… I don’t know anything! It’s all lies!”
Leraie shouted desperately, her face pale.
“It was all Belles and Calian. Calian approached me first!”
Lexion said nothing.
He just stepped closer to Leraie.
“I’m innocent. I’m innocent!”
“I’ll give you a chance to prove your innocence.”
Leraie’s eyes widened in surprise at Lexion’s unexpected response.
“You just said, Leraie Ifra, that it was all Belles and Calian.”
Lexion slowly raised his sword.
“So go and have a serious conversation with them. They’ll be waiting for you at the gates of hell.”
“N-no! Wait… Aaaah!”
Leraie’s sharp scream pierced Lexion’s ears.
But it didn’t last long. Soon, the baron’s mansion became eerily quiet, as if nothing had happened.
Lexion, covered in blood, sheathed his sword.
He then slowly turned around.
“Leaving you alive isn’t out of pity for you being left alone.”
He said, looking at Benny, who was staring at him with vacant eyes.
“It’s simply because she wouldn’t want it.”
Kind-hearted Seriniel would never have wanted to take that child’s life.
So, Lexion didn’t approach Benny.
Instead, he spoke in a steady voice.
“It’s unfortunate for you, but there’s no other way. Your parents’ sins aren’t yours, but the person your parents killed was also innocent.”
“……”
“That’s all I can say to you.”
That was the end. Lexion turned and walked away from the now silent baron’s mansion without hesitation.
He didn’t look back even once.
