I Became a Leader in a Wretched Prison - Chapter 181

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 181

Paul said the same thing.

That Mama wanted her to be happy. That those impossible items in the will were proof of that very thing.

Mint slowly nodded her head.

“…Thank you.”

The Marchioness smiled back at her.

“To think you had family even in prison, I’m truly relieved.”

Even though she hadn’t mentioned Mama specifically, the Marchioness said this.

Mint didn’t respond.

That day, the Marchioness quietly passed away in front of the siblings.

Holding tightly onto Mint and Pontos’s hands until the very end.

With a satisfied yet sad smile on her lips.

* * *

The day the funeral was held.

It rained. The sky was gloomy.

“…If only the sky had been clear on the day my lady departed.”

Someone murmured. It was an attendant who had devotedly served the Former Marchioness Limnades for decades.

She had apparently also served as a nanny when ‘Minte’ was young. The elderly maid couldn’t stop her tears.

I wore black clothing with a veil draped over my head, gazing down at the coffin for a long time.

Until the coffin was buried in the earth and could no longer be seen, and a tombstone took its place.

After the attendants and mourners left, only two people remained in this place.

The direct family members – me and Pontos.

Pontos remained silent without saying a word, and I didn’t speak to him either.

Whoooosh.

The rain was still falling heavily.

“…She lived a long life.”

Neither I nor Pontos had an umbrella.

Our shoulders and bodies were getting thoroughly soaked, but we stood there motionless, paying no mind.

“When her condition first worsened, all the doctors said the same thing.”

“….”

“That she wouldn’t live even three more years.”

Pontos knelt on one knee, gently stroking the Marchioness’s tombstone.

“Yet Mother lived stubbornly. Tenaciously for over ten years.”

I looked at the gravestone.

I saw the Former Marchioness Limnades’s name for the first time.

I quietly recalled something the Marchioness had given me.

The item she gave her daughter as a final gift, muttering that she was sorry this was all she could give.

“Be happy.”

The mother who gave birth to me also said the same words as Mama, and went to the afterlife like that.

Pontos slowly rose from his seat.

“Now, what will you do from here on?”

Pontos’s words implied that I would be leaving the Limnades Marquis Estate.

He was looking at me as if it were certain without a doubt.

The figure visible through the veil was completely soaked.

I removed the veil that was already too wet from rain to serve its purpose and also took off my hat.

Smoothly. My flowing hair regained its original color, turning teal.

Before my eyes was a lifeless face. I just suddenly recalled one fact.

If I leave, this man will remain alone.

Just as I had been in prison.

I had no particular feelings about this.

“Would you like me to remain as Limnades?”

“…”

Pontos, who had been dying away, widened his eyes briefly as if surprised.

A face that resembled mine, yet was kinder, smiled faintly.

“No, Minte. I don’t want family… and the noble house to play the role of holding you back anymore.”

The man muttered quietly in the rain. He was clutching his face.

A voice that sounded squeezed out flowed forth.

“…Once is enough for that.”

Pontos atoned for Father’s sins, for what the noble house had overlooked, even though he had done nothing wrong. If left alone, he seemed ready to atone for a lifetime.

Though I had observed him briefly, this man would probably do just that.

He seemed like he would live asking for forgiveness even when it wasn’t needed.

In a way, he also looked like someone who didn’t know what else to do besides that.

Meet his younger sister. Help his younger sister get released. Nurse Mother so she wouldn’t die.

And then what?

I know people who are alive but dying. I also know people for whom living isn’t really living.

Such prisoners were scattered throughout the prison.

If there was something different about my gaunt-faced oppa from them, perhaps it was that he showed stubbornness.

Though I had observed him briefly, this man had aspects similar to Helios. No, I could tell from the documents I had seen more than my brief observation.

Pointlessly righteous and upright.

A person who would break rather than bend.

People who would surely die young if not supported by the given noble house and power.

Before dying, the Marchioness Limnades held my hand and whispered very faintly.

“Please take care of your oppa… He’s a pitiful child.”

It was amusing. Usually, don’t you entrust the younger sibling to the eldest? Perhaps the Marchioness found her daughter, whom she met after 10 years, more trustworthy.

No, she said she felt sorry for the eldest who remained alone and shouldered so much, and pitied the child who had staked their entire life on restoring what was broken.

I looked at the man, now the only family left in the world, and spoke slowly.

“You said you’re dealing with the Imperial Court?”

Madam, if I repay the favor of wishing for my happiness like this, would you be satisfied?

“How long will it take.”

“….”

“I mean the time to restore my true identity.”

Pontos’s eyes slowly widened. He seemed to doubt the truth of what he had heard for a moment, touching his ear.

I kindly added that he hadn’t misheard.

“There are two Limnades in this world.”

Soon the man’s expression slowly darkened.

“I want revenge. Oppa.”

Because of the heavy rain, normally one wouldn’t be able to tell whether tears were flowing or if it was just rainwater falling on the face.

“This isn’t just Father’s fault. There’s a true culprit. The one who led both your and my life into the abyss.”

But now was different.

I suddenly realized.

Though I had never cried, if I were to cry sorrowfully, I would have that kind of face.

I could tell from the man before my eyes.

* * *

Pontos said he wanted to stay longer with Mother.

I left him there and slowly came out of the cemetery.

At the cemetery entrance stood a man holding an umbrella, looking ahead.

The person who had such bearing that just standing there made him look like a temple statue placed in the wrong location was undoubtedly Helios.

He stood there without bringing along any knight or aide.

Though his gaze wasn’t directed at me, I calmly stood beside him.

Then, as if it were natural, the umbrella tilted generously toward me.

“You’re getting rained on. Move the umbrella back.”

“…Is it alright for Master to get rained on?”

A voice that didn’t hide its displeasure returned. I laughed softly.

“Can’t you see? I’m already soaking wet, so there’s no point.”

“What on earth did that brother of yours do?”

“Ah.”

I laughed once more.

Helios’s head tilted slightly as if asking what was so funny.

“No, it’s just funny how you keep politely adding ‘Master’ to everything.”

“….”

“Considering what I did to you, shouldn’t I be stripped of my master qualifications?”

Helios’s gaze returned to me. Displeasure briefly flickered beneath his sharp eyes.

However, his voice remained polite as always.

“…No matter how things end, what Master taught me won’t disappear.”

“I’m grateful you think that way.”

Whoosh. I stared ahead where it was still raining. The distant view was obscured by the rain.

I gazed forward and suddenly blurted out.

“Disciple, when we return, will I be confined again?”

“…”

“Ah, let me say this in advance – I have no complaints. Rather, I think I might be quite willing, and it might even be enjoyable.”

Yes, it would be enjoyable. I spoke without looking at Helios.

“However, the person you confine will no longer be the Illegitimate Child Marquis’s Young Lady, but someone who bears the name ‘Minte Limnades.'”

I turned my head.

Helios looked somewhat surprised.

“I thought I would have no family left, but it seems I’ll be responsible for at least one.”

“…”

“Are you okay with that?”

Helios’s gaze was already fixed on me. The umbrella was still tilted entirely toward me.

Helios’s shoulder was soaked in that brief moment without any chance to prevent it.

“The person you love will still be someone who can’t shed a single tear even when family dies.”

It was a statement that implied the question of whether that was still okay.

Instead of answering, Helios reached out and wiped away the rainwater on my cheek.

“Master probably wouldn’t cry even if I died. So I fully understand not crying even when family dies.”

Kia flowed from Helios’s fingertips. From hands that always created weapons, something with a soft texture covered my head and shoulders.

Only after touching it did I realize it was a blanket.

“…Since I have no family.”

While my vision was obscured by the blanket, a cozy voice reached me.

“It should be fine for you to have some.”

The hand that had been caressing my cheek moved down below my chin, grasped my chin tip, and lifted it up.

The umbrella fell to the ground with a thud.

The rain gradually stopped. Helios’s gleaming gaze quietly looked down at me.

“However, it would be best to always prioritize me.”

It was a gentle warning and a threat.

“If there ever comes a moment when I’m not your top priority, I don’t know how I might behave next time.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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