Chap 41-The Stain of the Family

 

To Serena Bennet, the word “father” was nothing more than a faint afterimage and a cold sense of distance.

Isaac Bennett.

The Duke who led Terra’s strongest family of swordsmen, and the one who had given her blood, but warm memories were almost nonexistent.

In her memory, her father was always holed up in his study or searching for something unknown.

It was somewhat different when her mother was alive.

Her mother wasn’t from a prestigious family, but she was smart and warm person.

Serena remembered.

The moments when a faint smile spread across her taciturn father’s face.

The days when her mother’s laughter filled the mansion.

Clearly, the two loved each other deeply.

But that happiness was short-lived.

Until her mother passed away in vain due to a sudden attack by magical beasts.

After her mother’s death, Isaac Bennett became a completely different person.

Ancient records, forgotten ruins, traces of unknown power.

Like a madman chasing something at the end of the world, he pushed aside his family, his territory, and even his only remaining daughter, Serena.

Even when young Serena approached him, seeking comfort, her father would only push her away with cold eyes.

In those empty eyes, there was only a madness bordering on obsession, instead of affection for his daughter.

‘He never even glances at me…’

And one day, her father suddenly brought a child.

A girl with black hair and an unstable look in her eyes.

Yeon Bennet.

Her father adopted that child, and everything changed from then on.

Her father, who had been cold before, now blatantly ignored Serena.

All of her father’s attention and time were devoted solely to Yeon Bennet.

No matter what kind of accident that child caused, no matter what kind of outrageous behavior she displayed, her father always shielded her.

At first, Serena tried too.

She was resentful that Yeon monopolized her father’s attention, but she still thought of her as a pitiful orphan and tried to treat her well as an older sister.

She spoke to her first, took care of her needs, and tried to accept her as a member of the family.

But Yeon Bennet repeatedly pushed away and ridiculed Serena’s kindness.

Like a child harboring dissatisfaction and hatred for everything in the world, she constantly caused problems and hurt those around her.

Nevertheless, Serena persevered.

It was also her father’s wish, and she believed that one day that child would open her heart.

But that belief was shattered in the worst way possible.

That day, Yeon Bennet summoned a forbidden power, ‘Contamination,’ inside the Duke’s mansion.

Part of the mansion was submerged in Contamination, and an unprecedented situation occurred in which magical beasts were summoned inside the Duke’s family, which was protected by a powerful barrier.

The entire Duke’s family was almost plunged into irreversible danger.

The family’s knights barely managed to contain the situation after risking their lives to fight, but in the process, precious lives were lost.

After that incident, even the last bit of pity for Yeon Bennet disappeared from Serena’s heart.

That child was not just a troublemaker. She was a dangerous and evil being who reached for forbidden power for her own desires, without any regard for the safety of the family.

Under her father’s foolish protection, Yeon Bennet had become a cancerous presence gnawing away at the Bennet family.

It was from that moment on.

Serena decided to seize the family’s power from her father and completely eliminate Yeon Bennet.

Her recent declaration through the Mirage Times to remove her father from the Duke position was the beginning of that plan.

The family’s elders and most of the Knights Order were already on her side.

Because people had come to agree that they could no longer condone the corrupt Duke and his troublemaking adopted daughter.

Now, all that remained was to completely eliminate her father’s remaining influence and completely expel Yeon Bennet from the family.

“Lady.”

The door to the office opened, and a vassal of the Bennet family cautiously entered.

“I have found it.”

His voice was filled with secret excitement. He placed a small magical power crystal orb on Serena’s desk.

The crystal orb was densely filled with complex numbers and transaction details.

A huge amount of money was regularly withdrawn from Duke Isaac Bennett’s personal account, and the recipient was only one person.

Yeon Bennet.

“This… all this money went to Yeon, that child?”

Serena’s voice trembled with anger.

The amount displayed on the screen was beyond imagination.

An amount equivalent to the Duke’s family’s annual budget was flowing into that useless woman.

‘Using the family’s assets in such a way!’

Her father’s foolishness and hatred for Yeon Bennet boiled over at the same time.

“So much money… What on earth did she spend it all on? No matter how extravagant that bitch is, it can’t be this much…”

“That’s the strange thing, Lady.”

The vassal carefully continued.

“We tracked the flow of funds, but there is almost no trace of the money that went into Yeon Bennet’s account being used afterwards. There were almost no expenditures other than the allowance paid by the academy.”

“What? No trace of it being used?”

Serena frowned.

Does that mean that so much money is still tied up?

It’s not like Yeon Bennet isn’t interested in money.

Or maybe she hid it somewhere else, or… did her father have another purpose?

Serena was momentarily confused by the unexpected information.

Everything surrounding Yeon Bennet was always like this.

Full of things that couldn’t be understood with common sense.

But it didn’t matter.

Whether she spent the money or not, it was a clear fact that her father had unfairly used the family’s assets.

This alone could be decisive evidence to completely depose her father.

‘Yeon Bennet… I will recover every penny that flowed into you and use it for the family. And you…’

Serena’s eyes shone coldly.

Yeon Bennet’s existence was a stain on the Bennet family itself.

Something that must be erased.

“Where is Father?”

Serena’s voice was as cold and firm as ice.

The vassal lowered his head deeply, as if feeling guilty.

“…I am sorry, Lady. I have not yet… found any trace of him. The Duke has disappeared as if he never existed in the first place.”

Serena frowned.

At the same time as declaring that she would bring her father down, she tried to secure her father’s whereabouts by mobilizing all her forces in the family.

Clearly, all plans would have been carried out secretly and quickly to prevent him from escaping or preparing a counterattack.

But her father had disappeared without a trace?

Of course, Isaac Bennett was not an easy opponent.

A level 8 swordsmaster.

Even throughout Terra, there were only a handful of people who could face him head-on.

Subduing him and taking him into custody was never easy.

So Serena took the risk and joined hands with the Holy Theocracy.

Thanks to a secret agreement with the Theocracy, she was able to neutralize her father’s remaining loyalist knights and secure enough power to take control of the family.

Of course, the price was by no means light.

It was obvious what the Theocracy wanted.

They would try to expand their power by using the power and influence of the Bennet family.

Perhaps even the family’s independence would be threatened.

But Serena was willing to pay the price.

This was because she could no longer stand by and watch the Bennet Dukedom fall apart due to her corrupt father and evil adopted daughter, and the family’s honor being tarnished.

But the most important part of the plan, securing her father’s whereabouts, had gone wrong from the start.

Even though she had moved quickly at the same time as officially declaring that she would bring her father down, her father had already disappeared.

As if he knew all of this in advance.

A sense of unease washed over her.

Where on earth had her father disappeared to?

Was he simply hiding?

Or… had he noticed her and the Theocracy’s plan and was preparing another counterattack?

If not, could a third force have intervened?

His report did not end there.

He hesitated for a moment, then carefully brought up another matter.

“And Lady, there is one more thing to report.”

“What is it?”

Serena took her eyes off the documents and looked at him.

“This morning, there was an intruder in the Bennet family catacomb.”

“In the catacomb?”

Serena’s brow furrowed slightly.

The catacomb was a sacred space where the Bennet family’s past heads and important figures were laid to rest, and at the same time, it was a special place connected to a different dimension from the outside world.

“Who would dare do such a thing?”

“The exact identity has not been identified, but it is presumed that he had considerable skill. But there is no need to worry. The troops guarding the catacomb are said to have eliminated the intruder.”

He added, as if trying to reassure Serena.

The Dukedom’s catacomb was not simply a place where the spirits of the past were sleeping.

It was also a passage connected to powerful beings protecting Terra.

The founders of the five great Dukedoms.

They were all level 9, beings who had reached the extreme limit that mortals could reach.

They had only been unable to move on to the realm of transcendence because the door to the spirit world had been closed, but their power and status were already halfway to being transcendent.

And they are currently monitoring Calamity-Class Monsters in Terra’s deepest and most secret place, a dimension called the ‘lighthouse’ where the system administration bureau is located.

Each family’s catacomb was a passage leading to that lighthouse.

‘There was an intruder in such a place?’

A question arose.

The catacomb was the family’s sacred ground, but it was not known to the world as a place with precious treasures or artifacts.

Rather, it was a dangerous place where one could hardly survive if one approached it carelessly, as level 9 beings were directly or indirectly involved.

What on earth were they aiming for that they took such a risk?

“Has the intruder’s purpose or background been identified?”

“Not yet. He left almost no traces, and the knights who dealt with him said they didn’t find anything particularly unusual…”

Serena was lost in thought for a moment.

It was unsettling, but since they said they had dealt with it anyway, it shouldn’t be a big problem.

Perhaps it was simply a foolish grave robber who had lost his way, or a force that was aiming for something by taking advantage of the Bennet family’s turmoil.

Either way, what she needed to focus on now was dealing with her father and Yeon Bennet.

The intruder in the catacomb was a secondary issue.

“I understand. Keep monitoring it, and report any other unusual activity immediately.”

“Yes, Lady.”

As the vassal stepped back, Serena looked down again at the financial details that had appeared on the crystal orb.

The suspicion about the intruder in the catacomb soon faded from her mind.

Author’s afterword:

As I mentioned last time, I will be going up to Seoul on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so there will be no updates on Wednesday and Thursday…

Originally, I was going to write this chapter in advance to upload it on Friday, but I thought it would be better to just upload it now, so there will be two chapters today!

I will try to upload it on Friday… somehow…

And as I mentioned in the comments, I don’t think I will be able to come as often as I do now from May.

I have a certification exam on May 29th…

I’m sorry…

But I will try to update three times a week!!!