Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 46
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“…….”
“When Head Maid Matilda discovered that fact, I understand that you punished her, sir. Where is she now?”
“…….”
“You’re confining Matilda to hide the fact that you’re keeping Lady Diena with you, aren’t you?”
Count Loshe lifted his head with an aggrieved expression.
“Before I bring the Elder Council, I felt I should speak with you one last time. If everyone learns of this matter, the Elder Council won’t remain idle either.”
Yet the corners of his mouth twitched with barely concealed delight.
At last he could repay the humiliation his son Daniel had suffered at Barcan’s hands not long ago.
Daniel had been disgraced at Lady Bianca’s tea party, and afterward, on his way back to the family estate, he was ambushed by an unknown assailant.
So he still lay confined to his bed. Daniel kept repeating only one thing with an aggrieved face.
“It was surely him—Barcan Kardian!”
Count Loshe had waited for this day.
But Sevar’s reply that followed was completely outside his expectations.
“It’s difficult to tell which family’s Elder you are, Count Loshe.”
“Pardon? I beg your pardon?”
A powerful aura erupted from Sevar’s body. The smiling count’s face hardened.
“It seems you’re an Elder of Rothwell. Am I wrong?”
Count Loshe stammered without even managing a response, crushed beneath the oppressive aura.
His confident demeanor crumbled entirely in mere moments. It would have been a pathetic sight, but Edion could understand the count’s servile reaction on some level.
Before such crushing presence, no one could maintain their composure.
‘Damnably strong.’
He himself was an Ability User of mid-rank caliber.
Yet it was nearly impossible to keep his wits about him against the aura Sevar radiated.
He barely managed to step between Sevar and Count Loshe.
“Sevar, this is not the time for this. If you don’t return Lady Diena, it will escalate into a matter between families.”
“…….”
“I don’t believe it would serve any of the Five Great Families well to provoke conflict among ourselves.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“Pardon?”
“As you say, that maid is indeed Diena Rothwell.”
Edion was left speechless. The sheer audacity with which Sevar said this was astonishing.
“You knew that fact? Then why haven’t you returned her?”
“Because my daughter is so fond of Lady Diena. I think that reason is sufficient.”
Sevar was utterly brazen. Edion clenched his fists tightly and barely managed to open his mouth.
“That’s—that makes no sense whatsoever——”
“I dote on my daughter very much, you see. If she asks, I want to grant her anything. Ah, Duke Rothwell knows better than anyone how much I cherish my child.”
Sevar pulled up one corner of his lips.
“You asked where Matilda is?”
“I did, sir.”
“She’s dead.”
“Dead?”
“She dared to try to kill Bianca. Many have come forward to testify to that.”
Of course, before they came forward, they had to be shown considerable bloodshed—but Sevar saw no reason to explain that to them.
“But that doesn’t mean you had to kill her——!”
“So I interrogated her in the Underground Prison to find out why, but she died while attempting a confession. Someone had placed a curse on her—death to anyone who revealed the truth.”
Shock spread across Edion’s face.
“Aren’t you curious who she was about to reveal?”
“I couldn’t say, sir.”
“Then I’ll tell you.”
Sevar’s cold gaze turned toward Count Loshe.
“Kneel.”
The moment he spoke, the intense Killing Intent of a Supreme-Level Ability User enveloped Count Loshe. Without a word, he collapsed to the ground.
Sevar pressed down on his hand with his foot.
“Bring it.”
The moment he finished speaking, his aide handed Sevar a letter.
“This letter—you exchanged it with Matilda. It seems the two of you maintained your acquaintance over quite a long time.”
Sevar slowly lowered his head to meet Count Loshe’s eyes.
“So tell me—who sent you to plant Matilda in our family?”
“I—I don’t know. Such a person never existed in the first place.”
“I think I do know, though.”
The moment Sevar spoke, a subtle crack appeared in Edion’s expression. Sevar turned his head slowly to regard Edion.
“Edion. Tell him once more.”
“…….”
“Tell Duke Rothwell that my daughter is very fond of Diena. That Diena seems content to stay with our family until she chooses to return to Duke Rothwell’s household on her own.”
Of course, Edion understood what Sevar was doing. He was now issuing a warning to Duke Rothwell: abandon Diena. If you do not, I will expose what was done to attempt to kill Bianca.
Protect Diena while Lady Bianca’s life hangs in the balance? But wouldn’t he lose access to the Side-Effect Suppressant if he disobeyed Duke Rothwell’s orders?
That was clearly strange.
Had he given up on Bianca’s life? Or—could it be that Sevar had found something to replace the Temple’s Side-Effect Suppressant?
Whatever the reason, Sevar’s change in attitude from his previous cooperation was a significant variable.
Sevar threw Count Loshe’s letter at his feet.
“But you still owe a price for troubling me.”
Count Loshe’s face turned ashen. He cried out, staring at Sevar.
“What—what are you doing?! If you act this way, you won’t receive the Side-Effect Suppressant! I heard Lady Bianca has collapsed!”
Sevar didn’t stop there. He drew his sword and swung it without a moment’s hesitation.
“Aaaarrgh—!”
Count Loshe rolled across the floor, clutching at his hand. Sevar looked down at him crumpled at his feet with indifference, then jerked his chin.
“Clean that up. The floor’s made a mess.”
The chaotic conference hall fell silent. Edion kept his head bowed, unable to meet Sevar’s eyes.
“This is my answer. Go tell Duke Rothwell exactly what you’ve seen.”
* * *
Diena stared out the window in a daze.
She had originally planned to leave the Kardian Family immediately after healing Bianca. First, she had to escape from the people sent by Duke Rothwell’s household.
But she hadn’t anticipated losing consciousness from overusing her Ability. The moment she came to, she grabbed Barcan and asked what had happened afterward.
And she heard news she never could have imagined.
“Don’t worry, Diena. Those people have been driven out.”
“Driven out?”
“Yes. Since Father didn’t trust you and that’s why you collapsed, he had to take responsibility. So he took responsibility and drove them out.”
And indeed, through the window, she could see the people from Duke Rothwell’s household leaving the Kardian Family estate.
They didn’t look back a single time. Their hurried departure looked desperate.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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