Can I really stop a mother like that? If I had lived and struggled so far, I felt lost now. To say that the empress won’t stop me from meeting with Valery means that she won’t help or hurt me at all. Because it was clear that there was also a wish that she didn’t want Valery to know all the facts.
“Please stop Lady Carbella’s mother.”
“…Please stop Luce.”
Only the empress’s voice kept ringing in my head.
* * *
“Uurgh.”
As soon as I got off the carriage and arrived home, I suddenly felt nauseous. It made me run straight to the bathroom.
“Urgh.”
I sat down for a long time at the rising nauseous and vomited up what was inside. I ate a little refreshment and tea today, so even though no food came out, I was constantly vomiting.
“Are you okay, Milady?”
“Bring me some warm water. Hurry.”
Behind me, I could hear Ian and the maids worrying about me.
“It’s done. Everyone, please leave.”
“But, Milady…”
“I told you to leave.”
Only then did the servants reluctantly leave the bathroom.
Having become much calmer, I wiped my mouth and leaned on one side to catch my breath.
“I guess the coachman drove the carriage badly today.” I needed to change the coachman. There was no reason to be so grumpy.
As I leaned against the wall for a while to catch my breath, the nauseous that had risen like hiccups gradually stopped. Later, I became fine as if the nauseous I felt before was a lie, and I got up and then headed to my room.
I sat down in front of the bed and took out the paternity test device I had put below. Why did I hide it so deeply when I had to check it? I pulled open the ring and checked the solution inside.
“…”
There was no surprise when I checked it after I already knew it. The transparent liquid reacted faithfully to the melted hair and became a reddish color.
“…Haha.”
It wasn’t the end. There was one more left. I opened the remaining paternity test device with a hand that no longer trembled.
“…”
Contrary to what I thought would have turned into reddish liquid like the first paternity test, it was transparent. Apparently, the hair was all melted, but it didn’t react.
“Then… that means it’s not Sir Shubart.”
I thought my silver hair came from Sir Shubart. Another man with Perenya’s blood. It means that man was my biological father. Who is it? No matter how much I wondered, nothing changed, so I quickly gave up. It was because I thought it would be better not to think about the man who never appeared in front of my eyes.
Still, there is a way for me to be from all of this. Should I say it’s good? The empress also said to stop my mother, and she would let it slide. She promised in the end that I wouldn’t need to take any responsibility.
There was a time when I thought I might not be able to stop the bloody wind from blowing, but wouldn’t this be better? I had to blame my mother, but in the meantime, I was only thinking about being comfortable with her.
Finishing that thought, I raised my sinking body. And with the hood on, holding the teleportation stone, I headed straight to the Iskar.
“Is Shale here?”
As soon as I arrived at Iskar, I grabbed one of the employees and asked. I was worried because it was my first time seeing his face, but fortunately, he understood it quickly and moved.
“He is in the office. I will take you there.”
“Okay, thanks.”
If Shale wasn’t there, I would go to Mook and ask him to make an appointment with Gabina. Because this was the only place I could meet with her privately. Fortunately, I could ask Shale to do it right away.
When the employee knocked on the door and said that I had come, Shale opened the door himself.
“Your face…”
“Yes?”
When I asked back, Shale looked at me as if I was full of more energy than he thought.
“I was going to say that you looked better than I thought.”
“What do you mean better?”
“Didn’t you come here after you confirmed the results?”
I sat down on the sofa.
“I checked, but that’s not why I came here. I think I will have to see Gabina again. I want to ask her something.”
“She wouldn’t be able to come by today. If I send someone now and the reply says she can’t come, I will relay it to you. Are you in a hurry?”
“No, the time doesn’t matter.”
Then I could see Shale nodding and beckoning the employee to bring the tea. The employee left, and Shale leaned toward me and asked. “So you used it?”
“Yes.”
“The results?”
“What do you think about it?”
Shale shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know. But looking at your behavior, it seems like she’s only your stepmother.”
“She’s my biological mother.”
“Cough!”
Shale coughed as if something had caught in his throat.
“Your mother?”
“She used to be my mother.”
“No, I’m asking if she’s your real mother who gave birth to you?”
“…That’s right.”
I handed over the two paternity tests to Shale. Shale, who received them, checked the inside and said, “Huh.”
“Is only one of them changed?”
“Yes. I thought both of them would change, but it wasn’t like that.”
“But he has silver hair.”
“…That’s right. But I don’t know what happened.”
At least I’ve never seen my mother meet another man when I was with her. Even though we were mostly stuck in the capital and the north, there were more days I wasn’t with her, so I don’t know. However, the mother I knew wasn’t the type to meet someone secretly when I was sleeping. I even had a thought that person might no longer be in this world.
When I said that to Shale, he shook his head and clicked his tongue. “How could you say something like that calmly?”
“There’s nothing to be surprised about.”
“So why do you want to meet Gabina? Are you going to look for your biological father?”
“No. She said before that the child of special blood only inherits one ability. I asked her to find out if anyone inherited both abilities at the same time. She had been researching it, so I wondered if she found something.”
“I don’t know if you can tell that to me. Why are you curious about that?”
I looked at him with a frown. “Why are you so curious?”
“Hey, I’m the one who brought Gabina to you.”
“Why did you become so petty?”
Then, in embarrassment, he averted his eyes.
I wonder if I could tell him. Since I shared pretty much about everything, there would be nothing more to hide.
“I met the empress today.”
“Did she try to catch you?”
“… I’m sorry, but I’m not a criminal right now.”
“Sorry.”
I snorted and continued. “Her Majesty was waiting for me at a mansion owned by the Chartero family.”
Shale asked me, crossing his legs again as if the story was quite interesting. “How did you feel about meeting her?”
“More than I thought…”
“More than you thought?”
“It didn’t bother me.”
Shale raised one eyebrow crookedly. “What do you mean it didn’t bother you?”
“It’s literally what I said. I don’t know. I don’t think she’s a bad person, but I don’t think I like her either. I don’t know which one is worse.”
Duke Rudbihi was already trash. If I get rid of Duke Rudbihi, will it all be over if I bully and harass him to death? As I was talking, something suddenly popped up in my mind. Ah, right, there was one more person to kill. I completely forgot that I had been asked by Blake Ariandel.
“Killing people.”
“What?”
“Is that hard?”
“Why are you so scared to ask me that?”
“I’ve been asked a favor. Should I say it’s a deal? Blake Ariandel said that she wanted to kill her father. I remembered that request.”
“Hu… Do you think it’s easy?”
“Sir Shubart said it was easy.”
Then Shale put on a tired expression again. I never thought that he had a lot of facial expressions.
* * *
Fortunately, I was able to meet Gabina today. Gabina came in the carriage that Shale had sent. I was happy to hear that she had something to tell me, so I needed to know about it, but who knows I already know about that fact. Still, there was good news for me too.
“So what are you curious about to look for me?” Gabina asked.
“You said before that when two special bloods are mixed, only one power is inherited.”
“Ah, that one. I think I need to correct that part.”
“Correct? Does that mean it’s false?”
“I’m still researching about that, but I told you that in the case of a one-time ability like Perenya, their imprint ability would be released when the imprinter dies.”
I nodded meekly at her words. “Yes, you did.”
“The fact remains the same, but I think the powers of other special blood should be explained a little differently.”
“What?”
“In the case of Rohana and Paramasa, there are cases where they lose their life or power if they use too much power.”
“I see.”
“It is said there was an example where they could use their power again later. And.”
“And?”
