Origins Revealed
Translated by: ME
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*****
「That’s a lie! It's all absolute rubbish!」
「No, it is not. The House of Lyloud has been a prestigious lineage of healers for generations, and Crates showed a profound interest in medicine from a young age. Despite being a man of noble birth, he actively volunteered at hospices and assisted with clinical treatments. Records show that prior to his disappearance, he frequently visited the very orphanage where you resided.」
At Eides’s condemnation, Father—held fast so he couldn't flee—turned a dazed, hollow look toward Mother.
「You... you did what...?」
「A man of a Ducal house, and a man of a Count’s house. Was it in the city that you met Ernest? With your beauty as your only asset, you played them both. And in the end, you chose the position of a noble’s mistress over Crates, who was willing to cast aside his Dukedom to be with you.」
Eides pointed a finger at Mother, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips.
「You chose to be the mistress of Ernest—the man who married the widow of the late Count, Lola’s mother, solely to usurp her status.」
That was a fact Wellmy already knew. They had taken a bit of a detour, but she felt inwardly relieved that the conversation had finally circled back to the core of the matter.
Lola was not Father’s daughter. While the records claimed otherwise, she was actually the child of the previous Count, Father’s elder brother.
Wellmy had discovered this after finding the former Countess’s diary.
She had found that red, untitled book in the room that once belonged to Lola’s mother—a room Mother had refused to use and had left to gather dust. Wellmy had grown curious about that room because she often saw Goldray pause in front of it, staring at the door in silence.
Why did her parents treat her sister with such unrelenting cruelty? Not just Mother, but even Father, her supposed biological parent.
The contents of that diary had provided the answer.
The grief of suddenly losing a husband. The anxiety following the birth of her child. And then, the proposal from her brother-in-law—a man far inferior to his brother, who had spent his life idling away in decadence.
(He proposed that if she became his wife and recognized him as the Count, he would make the child of his late brother the rightful heir.)
After much agony, Lola’s mother had accepted the terms. However, her recovery after childbirth was poor; she remained bedridden and eventually passed away not long after her husband.
No doubt the mental strain had played a part.
「Isabella was pregnant before her marriage, and Wellmy was born from her womb. That coincided exactly with the time Ernest inherited the Earldom... However, that makes the timing of Lola’s birth quite strange.」
There was barely a month’s difference between the days Lola and Wellmy were born.
「The predecessor was hailed as an exceptional man, while this dullard over here was nothing but a font of ill repute. I find it impossible to believe the late Countess would be swayed by the likes of him or commit infidelity. Lola is undoubtedly the child of the previous Count.」
And that was why they had mistreated her.
Even so, while Lola’s mother was still alive, there were many eyes watching over the rightful heir. It was only after Mother was welcomed as the second wife that ties with the rest of the relatives were severed. After the social constraints vanished, they showered only Wellmy with affection.
And yet, even she was...
「Ernest. There may be those who carry the blood of the House of Ernest, but not a single soul carries yours. Wellmy is the child of Crates.」
(Ah...)
Wellmy felt a sensation akin to resignation toward the fact she had spent so long trying to ignore.
Why had Master Crates been so kind to her, a girl who had merely brought him cursed items to be decursed? Why had he trained her until she was capable of breaking almost every magical hex in existence?
He must have investigated. And having done so, he chose to remain silent.
He likely thought that as long as Wellmy was living happily, that was enough. Knowing Master Crates’s character, she suspected that was exactly what he had been thinking.
(I'm so sorry.)
He surely never imagined that his daughter had been weaving a web of schemes to save her sister, even if it meant inviting her own ruin.
「That is nearly the end of the tale... but there is one final matter remaining.」
With that, Eides turned his gaze toward Wellmy.
(Now it's my turn to be judged.)
Wellmy felt a complex mix of emotions, including a strange sense of satisfaction.
Even if she was proven to be Master Crates’s biological daughter, Wellmy was still legally a daughter of the House of Ernest. Given the matter of the cursed artifacts, she suspected it might have already slipped out that she had been trying to help the rightful heir.
Regardless, Wellmy’s outward actions were anything but helpful.
She had made sure to behave in a way that suggested she had stood by while her sister lived in life-threatening conditions, acting as an accomplice to the abuse. One might be able to hand-wave that as the folly of a child or a matter of leniency, but...
The fact that she had claimed her sister’s reports as her own.
The fact that she had blackmailed her sister to achieve it.
The fact that she had restricted her sister’s social life.
And above all, the fact that she had deceived the faculty of the aristocratic academy—those were established, undeniable truths.
It was also Wellmy’s crime that she had squandered the Earldom’s assets—money withheld through tax evasion—on dresses and jewels.
She had no right to be forgiven.
However, just as she thought Eides was stepping within arm's reach of her, he suddenly glanced behind him.
Toward Lola, and toward Carla and Leo who stood by her side. Before Wellmy could even form a question as to why, Eides made his declaration.
「Lola Ernest. Here and now, I break my engagement with you.」
At those words, Wellmy’s mind went completely blank.
*****
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