episode_0315

-Bam.

Arina put aside the papers she had just finished processing.

The important agenda has been completed.

But she still can’t put down her pen.

“…”

Because if you turn your head just a little, there’s a mountain of more important agenda items left.

From the moment I started putting the sheets away one by one, the fluttering sound was no longer there.

The individual sheets piled up one after another soon became a pile of documents. Each sheet piled up, making a heavy and rough sound.

Just then, with a sigh, I tried to grab the documents again.

Suddenly someone came in.

“Miss Arina. Sorry. It’s urgent…”

The one who opened the door without even knocking was none other than the attending physician Shaden.

It’s ominous.

The documents I was holding felt like they were being automatically strengthened.

It was not at all pleasant that the Duke’s personal physician had come so suddenly.

No. I kind of guessed it.

“Madam, Madam right now…!”

“I’ll go right away. I’ll show you around.”

I could tell without even hearing the rest of the story.

Tell Mom something happened.

The two of them head towards Isabella.

The Duchess was now desperately trying to shake off the maids who were trying to hold her back.

“Let go, let go!”

“Madam! Fix it!”

“You must not move now. You must remain absolutely still…!”

“Didn’t you say it wasn’t necessary!!”

It is a sight that makes your eyes dizzy.

The eyes were dull and lifeless.

In those eyes, Shayden and even Arina are not reflected.

‘Shit.’

Yeah, Shayden doesn’t need to explain.

It was madness. Madness caused by the loss of Karn that Isabella had suffered in the past.

They search for and search for people who are no longer in this world, and refuse to accept the fact that they are dead.

Unable to overcome that painful feeling, he was consumed by vain delusions and went looking for Karn.

With a haggard appearance.

With a body that was extremely thin, as if he had stopped eating or drinking.

This appearance of trying to go somewhere was exactly the same as back then.

So I knew what to do.

“Shaden. Sleeping pills?”

“Here it is. You can use it right away.”

“…give it here.”

A pad-type sleeping pill that has been used in the past.

This sleeping potion, which was supposed to be used to put a person to sleep by pouring mana into the pad, was used by Arina again.

“My son, I have to go find Karcein… This… D…”

Isabella’s movements gradually stop.

My eyes close, my body loses all strength and I collapse.

Also, my mother had to be carried to the bedroom while still asleep, just like that.

***

The situation has been resolved.

Isabella fell into a deep sleep, as if the sleeping pill had taken effect.

But Arina had to face another bad news.

“What do you mean? It got worse?”

“…I couldn’t tell you earlier because I was in a hurry, but the situation is a little different than before. The medicine I was using wasn’t working well, so I had to increase the amount little by little.”

The specific figure is about twice as much as in the past.

That meant Isabella was even more mentally exhausted.

That fact made Arina’s headache even deeper.

“Okay. Okay. I’ll make sure to hire more maids to take care of your mother.”

After hearing Shayden’s request, Arina was about to leave the room, but then she looked back for a moment and bit her teeth.

‘Why on earth, because of that kid…!’

It was bustling until just recently.

He showed his passion by holding the most grand coming-of-age ceremony for his upcoming birthday.

Sometimes he was so sincere that he would rub his eyes and lose sleep.

For just one person.

For Karsene, who becomes an adult on this birthday.

He was pouring out his love for his children, devoting his whole body and mind, including sleep, passion, and time.

And that’s not all.

Claire and Flora also helped out by diligently reducing their free time.

Along with his mother, he worked harder than anyone else to give Karsane the best coming-of-age ceremony.

However, as if pouring cold water on that warm affection, Carcein betrayed it.

Flora, who had promised to send a letter, arrived at the duke’s residence without sending any letters, and then fell ill with a terrible cold.

Claire, who arrived at the duke’s house earlier than Flora, took the duke’s knights out and is still searching. She is suffering greatly both physically and mentally.

As a result, the entire dukedom fell ill. The family’s loving preparation schedule for the coming-of-age ceremony came to a screeching halt in the worst possible way.

Because some idiot who didn’t know anything about the subject committed the outrageous act of leaving money of unknown meaning in the room and disappearing without a trace.

My stomach was boiling.

I just want to find that guy who left home without even knowing his place right now and tell him in a heartbreaking way why it’s so hard to leave home.

But that’s not possible now.

“Miss Arina. It’s time for our regular meeting.”

“…Yeah.”

There were so many burdens to shoulder in place of my mother.

***

The regular meeting that comes as always.

Here, important topics of conversation will be discussed among the vassals, including various businesses, and the approval or rejection of the master craftsman.

But today the atmosphere was completely different from before.

Some people are stiff.

Some people smack their lips in disgust.

Some others seem determined.

Marquis Magnuel sighed faintly as he observed the mood of his vassals.

‘This is the kind of thing you’re planning to drink today.’

I haven’t really asked about it until now, but I think it might come up today.

-Click.

The attendants who had been waiting for the meeting to begin all turned their eyes toward the open door.

The person coming in is the eldest daughter with a red ponytail.

There was only one person. Arina Bagrand.

‘Is this really…’

‘Are the rumors true?’

‘This is a big deal. This is really a big deal…’

The vassals begin to stir.

There was all sorts of talk, like why the Duchess wasn’t there, why wasn’t the second daughter Claire there, why wasn’t Flora there, who used to attend the meeting with her.

The Marquis Magnuel was no exception.

There is currently a strange doubt among the believers.

This rumor, which spread throughout the empire, could have been a fatal blow to the Duke of Bagrand.

“My mother is not feeling well today, so I will take her place.”

Arina, who took Duchess Isabella’s place without knowing anything, announces the start of the regular meeting.

A regular meeting that proceeds as usual.

Arina’s progression skills and judgment were quite good.

As the next head of the household, he had all the necessary abilities, and there didn’t seem to be any major flaws in replacing Duchess Isabella right now.

It seemed like the regular meeting was coming to an end, but…

“Princess Ariana. I have something to ask you.”

A man raises his hand and asks.

What was going to happen eventually came.

“What is your question?”

“Where did Prince Karsain go?”

“…Didn’t I tell you earlier? I think it’s because we didn’t take care of ourselves during the seasonal change, so we caught a cold.”

It’s a good excuse. I guess it makes sense if you can’t come because you’re sick.

But to the current vassals, it is the worst lie.

“Your Highness. Why are you hiding this fact?”

“What are you talking about, Viscount Norton?”

“Prince Karsain disappeared, didn’t he?”

“…!”

Arina’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘How do you know that?’

Currently, strict measures have been taken to prevent the information about Karsine’s disappearance from leaking out of the duke’s residence.

Even the maids who knew this fact were being intensively monitored, so no one ever found out that Carcein had left the duke’s house.

But for some reason, the people who went seemed to be confident about this.

“Why is it that someone who has been attending your schedule regularly for the past few months suddenly doesn’t seem to be there? Does that make sense?”

“Besides, we now know that Prince Karsain is not that weak!”

“Are you missing? Or maybe you were kidnapped? You need to tell me exactly what happened!”

The other vassals came forward with the same sentiment, saying, “Right, right!”.

and.

You will hear a crucial story.

“A few days ago, no. It’s been more than two weeks already. Since then, a strange rumor has been spreading throughout the empire. Do you know that there is no one in the empire who doesn’t know this rumor?”

The content of the rumor.

That came as quite a shock to Arina as well.

“There are rumors going around that Prince Karsain, who came from the Duke’s family, is plotting a rebellion against the Peselos Empire with the Westerners!”

-Tiring!

▶This episode is the main episode and overlaps with other episodes.◀

▶Episode IV. The Traitor is in progress.◀

▶Enemy entities appear! The risk of all fields is recalculated, and the intimacy value is also updated!◀

[The lower the intimacy, the higher the possibility of hostility.]

▶Use any means necessary to survive them.◀

***

The spacious living room is illuminated.

This was the living room of an apartment in a high-rise apartment building, which boasted extremely expensive land prices.

This living room is always a place where the family gathers to eat.

It was a place where people could sit on chairs at a table and have small talk face to face.

But the day was getting dark.

A vacancy has arisen at this table.

“Little sister? When is she coming?”

“…”

“Ha, I feel angry again when I think about it. You stupid kid who doesn’t even understand the situation. He should just quietly crawl into a corner of the house.”

The youngest, Eunji, asks why.

Sister Eunseo openly badmouthed Minhyuk, who still hadn’t come home.

But one person thought differently.

“Sister. Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“Little sister?”

“Eunhye?”

“No matter how bad our relationship is, seeing that he doesn’t come in like this, I think we should be worried because he’s family.”

Eunseo laughs sarcastically at this.

“Worried? Why worry about a kid like that? It’s better if you know that he’ll have a hard time once he leaves home.”

“Sister Eunseo!”

“Eunhye, you’re too soft. And so is your mother. That bastard who doesn’t even know how comfortable he is living and keeps causing trouble needs to be properly scolded.”

-thud!

“If he went out, what are you trying to do?!”

“What?”

“There’s such a thing as the worst case scenario. What if you get hacked somewhere? What if you get scammed? What if you get taken advantage of by bad guys!”

“It’s that kid’s fault for running away from home like a retard, not mine?

“K, big sister… little sister…”

A spark lit between the gazes of the two people as the youngest, Eun-ji, hesitated.

A chair that was pushed away with a creaking sound.

There are more empty seats at the table.

“Do you really think of her as family? I don’t know.”

The front door closes with a bang.

The sound of the door locking continued and silence fell on the house.

“Huh. Who would worry about such a idiot?”

Eunseo said that, but…

‘I, I didn’t really go out, did I…? Then… Then…’

The youngest, Eunji, is anxious.

Meanwhile, Eunhye went outside and made a few phone calls from the elevator.

The only message I kept hearing was a voice telling me I couldn’t answer the phone. That just kept making me feel frustrated.

Then, all of a sudden, the younger sibling of the house next door spoke to Eunhye in a subtle way.

“Sister, that got blocked.”

“What?”

“The connection sound is short. This usually means you’ve been blocked.”

“…Blocked?”

“Not necessarily, but have you been in touch with me recently? If you did, I’d assume you were busy, but if not, then…”

does not exist.

Not even once.

I haven’t had a phone call for a week.

“Did you get dumped by your boyfriend knowingly or unknowingly? If you get blocked by your sister’s face… I can’t imagine.”

As soon as she heard those words, Eunhye felt a strong sense of discomfort.

Eunhye ran out of the elevator and tried calling again.

-The customer can’t answer the phone…

It’s short.

As he said, the connection sound is too short.

I tried calling again and again, but the result was the same.

Then suddenly, a sense of discomfort turns towards the garbage dump.

The envelope that Minhyuk threw when he returned after a week. The envelope that landed with a thud and made me think he was going to throw a stone at me felt meaningful.

“No way… No way…”

Eunhye is already heading towards the garbage dump, repeating to herself countless times that it will no longer be like this.

-I’ve done my business, so I’ll go now. You can throw away the rest as you see fit.

I believed that he would come back when the time came. I thought that he was just feeling bad for a moment.

But no matter how long I wait.

Even after dinner, Minhyuk didn’t come back.

I started to get worried because I hadn’t received any calls for the past week. When I tried calling, I couldn’t even hear the ringtone.

I took out the envelope.

Even though it was in a garbage dump and smelled dirty.

“…No way. It can’t be.”

An envelope that is easily torn.

Inside it…

“What… hey? This…?”

It contained a staggering amount of cash.

My heart sank.

I struggled to hold back my choked breath, jumped up, and made a phone call.

“Sister. We need to find her right now. Report her, report her first!”

-What are you talking about all of a sudden? If he’s hungry, he’ll crawl in. It’s a problem that a child who doesn’t know how to earn a penny, doesn’t have a job, and can’t even live in society is found as a homeless person. But don’t let him off easy. You have to give him a good scolding.

“Fuck, I’m not saying I’m letting her off easy, I’m saying she’s really run away from home!!”

At this moment, Eunhye swore at Eunseo for the first time.