Ch.7676. Unbroken Shackles (4)

# From: Tristan Kutelli

It’s been a while since I’ve written to you, Silvia. Have you been well?

I don’t know why you’ve had no intention of returning to the Count’s estate since your semester-end evaluation, but I’m sending this letter because I’ve heard so little from you.

It seems you’re enjoying academy life. I’ve heard bits and pieces from other nobles.

News like your promotion to Class B, or how remarkably beautiful you looked when you dressed up. Things like that.

Hearing this makes me realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen your face. Isn’t it causing me much concern?

However, in my worry for my daughter, I made a mistake.

I had strictly instructed against it… but I apologize for the knights trying to forcibly bring you back on their own initiative.

But as your father, I would appreciate if you, as my daughter, could be understanding of my concerns.

The main point of this letter is to ask you to return to the Count’s estate.

Isn’t the third day of the festival the day of your engagement ceremony with your fiancé?

You’re of age now, and it’s time for you to form a family and take your place as a wife.

So I plan to hold the engagement ceremony as soon as you return.

You know best who your partner is, so I can omit that, right? Your fiancé seems quite desperate to see you.

It was quite difficult to dissuade him from coming to the academy to fetch you, convincing him to wait until you arrive.

I finally managed to reach an agreement to prepare a carriage at the designated location and welcome you in your dress at the Count’s estate.

Many people are eager to see you, and with the engagement ceremony prepared, please return to the mansion.

I’m already smiling at the thought of seeing my daughter after so long and holding the engagement ceremony.

Oh, and your friend Hena is staying at the Count’s estate, wanting to support you. So please come as soon as possible.

I’ll end the letter here. I love you, my daughter Silvia.

To: Silvia Kutelli.

“How can someone treat their own child like an object! This Count Kutelli person. He’s not in his right mind.”

After hearing the explanation, Renias looked at the letter with a serious expression and said this.

“I think so too.”

At a glance, the content seems like a letter filled with a family head’s concern for his daughter… but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The troublesome part is that this isn’t something that can be resolved even by requesting help from Princess Ophelia. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with the letter.

While he claims to be worried about Silvia, the underlying content is the complete opposite.

He investigated where Silvia was, what she was doing, and when, then acknowledged sending knights as if it were his mistake, eliminating any grounds for complaint.

Then it’s practically an order for her to return to the Count’s estate in a prepared carriage, wearing a dress, to end her life as someone’s wife. The Count probably intends to sell Silvia off like property, as Renias mentioned.

Silvia must have noticed this too and desperately tried not to return, but the biggest obstacle was the mention of Hena’s name at the end.

Due to her guilt over Hena being captured in her place, Silvia couldn’t ignore this letter.

Moreover, considering her personality… this was practically a threatening letter.

It’s understandable why Silvia said this was something others couldn’t help with.

Perhaps that’s why Silvia was trembling.

‘I have no choice.’

I don’t want Silvia to face the fate of returning to the Count’s estate only to be used and discarded.

So now I have to use a definitive method.

“You won’t be having any engagement ceremony, Silvia. So don’t even think about leaving the hospital.”

“But then Hena will…”

“Of course, I’ll get Hena back too.”

“Junon… no matter what, that’s…”

I don’t want to take risks, but there’s no more certain method than this. There’s a plausible reason for my assertion.

*Knock knock*

“Who is it?”

Renias cautiously asked the visitor outside, wary that it might be someone from the Count’s family.

I thought they might come around this time, and it seems they’ve arrived right on schedule.

“You can let them in, Renias.”

“Senior…”

“It’s fine.”

“…Alright.”

*Door slides open*

Adding more people increases the risk of information leaking out.

For that reason, I just said this shouldn’t be revealed to others, but there’s one exception.

“Somehow we meet again like this, Junon.”

“I never imagined meeting this way either.”

The person who unintentionally encountered me before Silvia was transported with the help of the Disciplinary Committee members.

Someone who likely witnessed the battle in a corner of the night market with their unique magic.

And someone who accurately predicted the situation after seeing me and Silvia nearby, visiting Silvia’s hospital room at the right time.

That person is Senia.

“…I’m asking in advance, but what about the others?”

“I’m alone. It could get complicated otherwise.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Anyway, let’s get to the point. Was that you fighting with the knights there?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you’d answer like that… Wait, what?”

She looks surprised that I’m answering so straightforwardly. Well, I did avoid her quite a bit back then, so it’s understandable.

“Since we’ve openly encountered each other, what’s there to hide? I knew you’d come anyway, so continue.”

“R-right…? Hmm.”

There was no need to think about it as it was immediately understandable. Senia promptly revealed what she had figured out.

“Those knights. It seems they tried to forcibly take Silvia but took Hena instead. What exactly happened?”

She’s already figured out that much. Indeed, her insight is chillingly impressive.

I explained to Senia what had happened in the invisible clearing at the night market over the course of a few minutes.

Seeing me explain everything without missing a single detail, Senia showed a surprised expression, as if she hadn’t expected this.

“Junon… the fact that you’re telling me all this means…”

She might try to think it through, but just the two of them—Renias and herself—won’t come up with an effective solution.

But with Senia involved, the story changes.

That’s why I readily brought up the topic and handed over all the information I knew.

“Now that you’ve heard this, you’re an accomplice too, Senia.”

“What?! An accomplice? What do you mean…!”

The measure I can take is to forcibly draw her into this plan.

There are two reasons why I think this will work.

First, she maintained a friendly stance toward me, including Michelle, until the end.

But that won’t work in this life. It only worked after I had built some rapport with Senia.

“We only have two people available—me and Renias. If we try to get more help, the knights will notice unless they’re fools. And if we just stand by, Hena, who’s being held hostage, will die.”

Second, while she appears tough on the outside, capable of extracting information by manipulating people’s inner thoughts, she’s surprisingly soft on the inside.

When a person’s life is at stake, her typically rational character becomes dulled, preventing her from making normal judgments.

This was also the decisive reason why she couldn’t take the position of Center.

“What will you do? Pretend you didn’t hear anything? Or would you like to hear my plan?”

I don’t say anything about storming the Count’s estate to rescue Hena.

Senia has already figured out that’s what I intend to do.

‘She probably thinks it’s insane.’

Is it even feasible for just the two of us—or at most three, excluding Silvia who can’t move due to aftereffects—to confront the Count’s family?

If others heard the same story, they would shake their heads and suggest contacting the Princess or say we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Other members of Tembris, even Goden, would say the same thing.

But what about Senia? Despite hearing these dire conditions, she doesn’t even offer platitudes. It means she’s already figured everything out based on the context and clues.

It’s just one more person, from two to three, but it’s not just a simple addition.

Senia’s participation could significantly impact Silvia’s fate.

Positive or negative?

I vaguely knew the outcome.

“…What exactly do you want me to do?”

***

I’ve heard the plan, but it still seems insane no matter how I think about it.

Sadly, Silvia was living as an illegitimate child, about to be treated like an object and discarded by her own father.

As she had predicted, this wasn’t just a simple kidnapping case carelessly committed by the Count’s knights.

It was a hostage situation disguised as a kidnapping, a scheme by the Count to sell off his own daughter.

It would be great if the Tembris members could join… but in reality, we can’t even contact them.

If the number of people increases, the Count, not being a fool, will immediately dispose of Hena and try to cover up this matter.

The number of people who can delve into this matter must be fixed at three.

Just three. A desperate number to face a Count’s family.

Stage 1 involves Silvia, who can’t escape the aftereffects of exhaustion.

Hena, the hostage captured in the Count’s estate, who will cease to exist the moment this is made public.

The carriage sent to confine Silvia in the cage of the Count’s estate, and knights mobilized under the name of escorts but actually serving as monitors.

Other conditions also gave us quite a headache.

And to conquer the Count’s family, he took up both sword and shield.

“Urrrgh.”

“Mmm, mmm… I can still drink more…”

“One more round here! *hiccup*”

Three knights are completely drunk and collapsed.

The family they guard is undoubtedly the Kutelli Count’s family. Junon skillfully approached them, engaged in conversation, and even bought them drinks until they were crawling on the ground.

The voices of the three knights, who had been snoring and sleep-talking, soon fell completely silent, and they wouldn’t wake up even if slapped on the cheek.

Before I could even think about what he had done, he stripped the knights of their equipment one by one and handed it over.

“W-what am I supposed to do with this?”

“What else? We tie up the knights, throw them somewhere out of sight, and we wear these.”

“Huh…”

Why would he ask me to wear the plate armor and helm of a Count’s family knight? It sounds like he wants me to impersonate them, doesn’t it?

And confirming that was the answer, Junon was the first to put on the plate armor and helm.

Wearing this means pointing a sword at the Count’s family.

‘How does one even come up with such ideas?’

If I were in a similar situation or involved, I might have given up.

I might be able to identify the weaknesses of magical beasts or opponents in battle, but it’s too much to face a Count’s family, not just one person. It was difficult to grasp the situation.

But he had already identified the key points even in these adverse conditions and methodically created a plan to respond to the Count’s family.

“Does the size fit?”

“…Thanks to you choosing one from a smaller person, it’s not too big.”

“Then that’s fine.”

This was an act of creating an invisible crack in the sword and shield of the Kutelli Count’s family.

A very subtle and secretive crack to prevent their sword and shield from fulfilling their roles.

After tying the knights securely with rope to ensure they wouldn’t wake up and setting them aside, a girl appeared at the prearranged time.

“Ugh… Really, we won’t get caught, right?”

“Let’s hope not. If it doesn’t work, we’ll move to the next plan, so don’t worry and go.”

“Alright. If I scream, you’ll come running right away, right?”

“Yes. I’ll be nearby. If you feel it’s not working, you can handle it yourself.”

The girl moved forward, trembling with anxiety.

This idea is also quite ingenious, or should I say novel?

-‘Silvia. You said you were treated as an illegitimate child in the Count’s estate, right?’

‘…Yes.’

-‘Then, there probably aren’t many people in the Count’s estate who would recognize Silvia’s face now?’

-‘That’s true. The fact that I haven’t been dressed up until now is because the maids all ignored me…’

-‘Wait, Junon, you don’t mean…!’

Recalling the conversation at the hospital, Senia once again wondered how he could come up with such ideas.

***

They were ordered to be ready to take Silvia back to the Count’s estate if she ever decided to return on her own, and to report immediately if she seemed to be up to any tricks.

Because of this, the knights of the Kutelli Count’s family had been wasting a whole day just waiting.

“Yaaawn-.”

“Hey.”

A knight nudges the side of his yawning colleague.

Despite the approaching night, they have to stand here without moving, so yawning is inevitable.

“I can’t help it if I’m sleepy.”

“Well… I understand, but the shift change isn’t far off. Just hang in there a bit longer.”

“Ugh. If only those guys had done their job properly. Why do we have to suffer too?”

They blame the three who failed to properly carry out the Count’s mission, but the boredom and drowsiness don’t easily subside.

As night approaches, the six knights divide into shifts of three to guard the place, thinking nothing will happen.

Little do they know what’s about to unfold.

“Huh? Someone’s coming.”

“Who goes there? Identify yourself!”

The three knights draw their weapons at someone approaching through the night path.

“Hmm? Wait. Is that Lady Silvia?”

“Y-yes. After seeing the letter…! I-I came to return.”

While it’s understandable that she would return after seeing the letter, there was something suspicious.

The three knights eventually put away their weapons and began an urgent discussion.

‘Hey, have you ever seen the young lady’s face?’

‘No. I’ve seen the young master’s face often, but… you don’t know either?’

‘Well, I’ve heard her voice before, but I’m not sure about her face.’

‘Damn it. Did all three who know the young lady’s face just happen to go for the shift change?’

Because she was treated as an illegitimate child in the Count’s estate, her face wasn’t well-known, causing confusion.

‘But from her voice, it seems right.’

‘How do you know?’

‘She always speaks in a gloomy voice, which the maids said they hated to hear. The stuttering must be for the same reason.’

‘Oh! Is that so?’

Although her face wasn’t clearly visible in the darkness, they nodded and accepted one knight’s assertion that the voice matched that of a girl of that age.

“Ahem. It’s a good choice to decide to return even now.”

“Let’s see… The clothes are here.”

One knight rummaged through the carriage and pointed to a box containing a dress, veil, and gloves.

“I’ll go change, so please wait a moment.”

“Yes, yes.”

As the girl left to change clothes, the knights stretched, relieved that they were finally returning.

“If she was going to give up anyway, she should have returned earlier. If the young lady had returned sooner, we could have left work early.”

“What’s with ‘young lady’? Just drop it now. She’s about to be sold off to that pig anyway.”

“True. Heh heh. She might be a half-blood, but at least she’s decent-looking, so that’s why she’s being sold.”

Knowing Silvia’s treatment, they were busy mocking and belittling her.

And soon, having successfully retrieved their target Silvia, there was no reason for them to stay here any longer.

Just as one person was about to fetch the three who were resting, the other two knights returned right on time for the shift change.

“You guys are lucky. How did everything get resolved just during your break?”

“Indeed.”

“Why such a bland response? After having it so easy.”

“Is there a need to say it like that? There’s someone in the carriage now, so let’s just get back to the Count’s estate.”

“Right, right. We need to clock out too. But where did one guy go?”

“He got drunk. I told him not to drink too much considering the shift time, but he didn’t listen.”

“Sigh. Forget it. Let’s leave him. Let that guy face punishment from the Count alone. I don’t know anything about it. You guys?”

“Me neither.”

With the agreement of the remaining personnel, the carriage moved toward the Count’s estate, with the knights following behind.

***

The carriage swiftly arrived at Algenib Province, where the Kutelli Count’s family resided.

“Hmm. I thought she would hold out longer, but as expected.”

Count Kutelli muttered with a smirk.

He no longer cared about the illegitimate child, and even without officially acknowledging her expulsion, he expected her to gradually be eaten away by the wall of society.

But to his surprise, when he heard she was living normally at the academy, he felt he needed to eliminate her as soon as possible, fearing what she might say.

For that reason, he had asked Marquis Flocan to extract the list even during the southern invasion of the Osoptera.

But to his surprise, Silvia, whom he expected to be dead, was still alive? This was completely outside the Count’s calculations.

The Count couldn’t leave Silvia alone as she was a nuisance, so considering that he hadn’t officially expelled her and that she was still his daughter in name, he set up a plan.

He almost messed up in the middle, but the end result was all that mattered.

A man standing beside the Count, hungry for female companionship, licked his lips with a vicious smile as he watched the fiancée descend from the carriage.

The Count was just inwardly mocking him, thinking he could have the half-blood and be done with it.

“Ah, it’s truly an honor that you’re giving me such a preciously raised noble lady, Count.”

“I’m glad you like her. The cost… you know well, right?”

“How could I not? I’ve converted everything to jewels and hidden them well, so don’t worry.”

While engaging in various conversations with the pot-bellied nouveau riche, the Count kept hearing whispers from here and there.

“Strange… the height is similar, but was her chest that big?”

“And doesn’t her hair color seem a bit lighter?”

“You think so too, right? I wonder if such hair texture could come out even with care…”

“Now that you mention it, her skin seems different too. What’s going on?”

The maids who had seen Silvia whenever she returned to the mansion were whispering like this.

Even to the Count, obscured by darkness, there were many ambiguous aspects.

The hair, which was close to ash-white, seemed to have a subtle glow, and looking carefully, the dress seemed more inflated in the chest area than the original size.

There was no way she could have received such care while living at the academy, so how did she maintain such smooth skin and that hair texture?

While the Count was pondering these questions, the fiancé had already gone to lift the veil.

“Hehehe. Let me see your face first…”

*Thwack*

The fiancée pushed away the man’s hand trying to lift her veil with a booklet containing the engagement signing document.

The man frowned in displeasure.

“It’s no fun if you keep doing this. You’ll be busy panting with me tonight, you know.”

“Hmph. How can you say such vulgar things?”

“W-what? Aaaahh!!”

With a reaction as if she was appalled, the girl sent the man flying with magic and removed the stifling veil, revealing her face.

“Ah, I thought I was going to suffocate.”

She was not someone who belonged in the Count’s family.

As the maids had said, it wasn’t ash-white hair. That color was undoubtedly a much more beautiful silver.

There’s only one girl of this age with silver hair in the entire principality.

“Why are you here?”

“Why? If you’ve committed a crime, you should be punished, right?”

The girl who had come in the carriage was not Silvia, but the noble lady of the Lantana Duke’s family.

It was Renias.