A Mess (13)

He felt like he had a long, long-awaited dream. His mother was alive, and he was a good son, but he was on good terms with Rowena.

“Look at this!”

He remembered Rowena, who was running to pick raspberries and give them to her brothers. Although she was scolded for having red juices on her skirt, Rowena smiled generously.

The raspberries were both sour and sweet, but both Matthias and Theo ate them eagerly.

I used to…

Matthias had not regarded them as siblings from the beginning. Maybe he was the only one who realized that his mother was different and felt inferior.

Where did it go wrong?

The belated regret and responsibility weighed on his chest.

Should I have been strong from the start when my father and brother were?

But at the time, he was just a child, too.

What about now?

He remembered the face of Rowena, who at first looked at him as if begging for help. Even so, when Louis got hit, she always covered him…

“Oh, damn it!”

He should have protected Louis and Rowena too. He said he couldn’t do it because he didn’t have the strength when he was young, but that wasn’t the case now!

Rowena, Louis!

Theo shed tears when his younger brother’s face, which would have fallen in the fire, came to mind. It was late. It was too late.

Rowena, I need to protect her!

“Rowena…”

The woman standing by the bed seemed surprised by the sudden scream. Theo opened his eyes and frowned at the unfamiliar ceiling and the face of a Lady, who he had never seen.

“Is this…?”

The Lady flushed her face when she saw Theo with his eyes open.

“Oh, I-I… You’re sweating…!”

Theo suddenly felt that his upper body was empty at the sight of Young-ae stuttering and making excuses. He looked down, but only the upper body was peeled off. His pants are properly worn.

“S-sorry!”

The Lady -ae dropped the wet towel in her hand and ran out of the room as if she had done something she shouldn’t do.

Theo just stared at her blankly.

* * *

…Killing both of us would be something Rowena doesn’t like.

Matthias was to be imprisoned on the island, and Paul was to be exiled to the island as well. Originally, the island had a lighthouse, where the soldiers who managed the lighthouse resided, but there was also a prison.

If it was Cecil’s preference, it would definitely be to kill and get rid of them, but since it was Rowena’s business, he couldn’t treat it carelessly. Like he said to Paul, he could lie to Rowena if necessary, but only when it was directly related to her safety and happiness.

Other than that, he didn’t mean to lie. It’s hard to be hated.

I’m not such a docile person.

At the behest of the docile man, Matthias must now be experiencing the pain of hell, but Cecil didn’t even think that far.

Having roughly concluded the punishment of the two Adelia family members, the rest were Emilia Hasler and Maryen Otis. Emilia Hasler’s subordinate, Kernan, was a man who had been her aide for less than three years, but he knew a lot.

According to him, it was “insurance.”

Aren’t nobles the ones who can betray me anytime?

Kernan replied with a body that couldn’t even sit properly. He knew the gravity of the crime he had committed and was eager to confess everything he knew to save his life.

Kernan knew everything from the Hasler family’s secret slave trafficking business to Otis’ drug business.

Much of the information was already found by Cecil through shadows, but material evidence and testimony were added, making it suitable for prosecuting the two families.

Cecil wrapped the incident up as an attempt to “assault a prospective crown princess” and ordered them to be captured under the pretext of illegal business between the two families.

Marquis Hasler and Count Otis tried to fight back later, but it was too late.

* * *

Externally, Matthias Adelia was known to have helped lure his sister in spite of his plot to harm her. It ended with him being exiled to an island for that crime, and his father also taking responsibility for it, handing the title over to his second son, Theo.

Cecil didn’t delay the exile of Matthias and Paul in the name of distinguishing between public and private matters. He intended to send them out of the capital before Rowena’s and his wedding.

Rowena came down to the dungeon only once during that time, looking up at Paul.

It was the middle of the night.

It was so quiet when she came and went back up that Paul didn’t even notice it. During the day, the guard distributed food and gave him some information.

Paul reportedly dropped his head and shed tears when he heard the story.