'Yeah, that's what it used to be like.'
Although Marquis Zenger now possesses enormous wealth that is in no way inferior to that of our Duke Veloce, I knew that his circumstances were not very good until a dozen years ago.
It was all thanks to the trash in our house that would call him Marquis, Marquis in front of me as if he was his uncle, but then when he turned around, he would grumble with a disgusted expression, saying, "How on earth did those beggars make so much money?"
I just thought that his family's luck had turned around belatedly, but it was all thanks to Ibis.
'Ha, by the way, this garbage isn't going to help anything for now.'
According to Marquis Zenger, he had no intention of becoming Ibis's henchman from the beginning.
But the current situation arose because the trash in our house mocked and despised the man who came to visit my grandfather.
'Anyway, I guess you're a useless person.'
I gritted my teeth as I recalled the lumpy cheeks of trash, and then I let out a deep sigh.
I never thought I would meet the man I thought of as my grandfather as an enemy.
I was dumbfounded and my vision went dark.
As I was rubbing my throbbing forehead, Marquis Zenger opened his mouth.
“I never thought I would meet you like this, someone I considered no different from my granddaughter. Ha, a saint. A Saintess...”
He looked at me with a smile on his face as he chuckled a little.
“Well, Shayne, you were a bright and resourceful child since you were young. It was wise of you to not submit to the fate that awaited you and to save your life by claiming to be a Saintess. Thanks to that, you were able to enjoy some interesting spectacle.”
“...Is it an interesting sight?”
“Didn’t you see your father, who was so proud of his family origins as the Duke of Veloce, reduced to a lowly slave? Thanks to your false revelations.”
“...”
“Looking at that miserable sight, I felt like all the chronic illness that had been going on for a thousand years had gone away. Thanks to that, the Marquis’s liquor warehouse was completely empty that day. It was the first time since my hair grew that I had such a happy night. I was so grateful that you gave me such joy. So I appeased my master’s anger and left you alone...”
He had been laughing heartily, but his expression suddenly hardened.
“You’re more troublesome than I thought. Not only did you take possession of Hethel’s favorite and two holy relics, but you even saw through my true nature.”
It was the first time I had seen his face, which usually had a gentle smile, completely lose its expression, so I was momentarily dumbfounded when the Marquis muttered softly as if talking to himself.
“Is it because of Eze’s influence?”
Eze.
Although Marquis Zenger now possesses enormous wealth that is in no way inferior to that of our Duke Veloce, I knew that his circumstances were not very good until a dozen years ago.
It was all thanks to the trash in our house that would call him Marquis, Marquis in front of me as if he was his uncle, but then when he turned around, he would grumble with a disgusted expression, saying, "How on earth did those beggars make so much money?"
I just thought that his family's luck had turned around belatedly, but it was all thanks to Ibis.
'Ha, by the way, this garbage isn't going to help anything for now.'
According to Marquis Zenger, he had no intention of becoming Ibis's henchman from the beginning.
But the current situation arose because the trash in our house mocked and despised the man who came to visit my grandfather.
'Anyway, I guess you're a useless person.'
I gritted my teeth as I recalled the lumpy cheeks of trash, and then I let out a deep sigh.
I never thought I would meet the man I thought of as my grandfather as an enemy.
I was dumbfounded and my vision went dark.
As I was rubbing my throbbing forehead, Marquis Zenger opened his mouth.
“I never thought I would meet you like this, someone I considered no different from my granddaughter. Ha, a saint. A Saintess...”
He looked at me with a smile on his face as he chuckled a little.
“Well, Shayne, you were a bright and resourceful child since you were young. It was wise of you to not submit to the fate that awaited you and to save your life by claiming to be a Saintess. Thanks to that, you were able to enjoy some interesting spectacle.”
“...Is it an interesting sight?”
“Didn’t you see your father, who was so proud of his family origins as the Duke of Veloce, reduced to a lowly slave? Thanks to your false revelations.”
“...”
“Looking at that miserable sight, I felt like all the chronic illness that had been going on for a thousand years had gone away. Thanks to that, the Marquis’s liquor warehouse was completely empty that day. It was the first time since my hair grew that I had such a happy night. I was so grateful that you gave me such joy. So I appeased my master’s anger and left you alone...”
He had been laughing heartily, but his expression suddenly hardened.
“You’re more troublesome than I thought. Not only did you take possession of Hethel’s favorite and two holy relics, but you even saw through my true nature.”
It was the first time I had seen his face, which usually had a gentle smile, completely lose its expression, so I was momentarily dumbfounded when the Marquis muttered softly as if talking to himself.
“Is it because of Eze’s influence?”
Eze.
Eze Bruns.
It was my mother's name.
“Why are you suddenly talking about my mother?”
The Marquis opened his mouth wide as I looked at him with eyes that said I couldn't understand.
And then he said something absolutely unbelievable.
“Why? Because your mother was a candidate for sainthood.”
What?
What was my mother like?
I just blinked dumbly at the unbelievable remark.
A candidate for sainthood.
My mother?
As I kept repeating those words, something Bayen had said a long time ago suddenly flashed through my mind.
“That is not your power. It is the power that your ancestors left behind.”
“There is one of your ancestors who, for unavoidable reasons, was unable to become a Saintess. In such cases, the holy power is transferred to the next candidate for sainthood, and some of the holy power that was unable to escape is then passed on to you through the blood.”
At the time, when I asked Bayen who it was, he didn't give me an answer.
But that's...
'That was my mother?'
I quickly turned my head and stared at Bayen.
His eyes met mine for a moment, and his pupils trembled, then quickly fell down as if avoiding me.
Anyone who saw it could see that it meant acceptance.
"Ha."
It turns out this ridiculous story was true.
'My mother really...'
Yeah, I get it now.
Bayen, who had been shutting himself away from the outside world and staying at home, also suddenly attended my mother's funeral.
When I was reexamined as a Saintess in front of all the people of the empire due to Melina's trickery, my mother appeared to me in a dream.
The ability to see through the essence and weaknesses of things was also because my mother was a candidate for sainthood.
'I feel like I got hit in the back of the head.'
As I was laughing in vain, Marquis Zenger snickered and opened his mouth.
“I guess you have a guess.”
“...”
“Yes, your mother was a candidate for sainthood. She was supposed to succeed Margaret as the 29th Saintess. Unfortunately, she passed away in a carriage accident, so it didn’t work out as planned.”
I was biting my lip reflexively when he mentioned my mother's death, but then I stopped for a moment.
'Something feels strange.'
Being chosen as a candidate for sainthood meant that the goddess's grace had reached her.
But how could my mother like that die so easily?
That too, was due to a carriage accident or something.
'No way...'
I stared at the Marquis quietly.
I wondered if my mother's death might have something to do with interest.
But I still thought that wasn't the case.
Although he joined Ibis' hand for his own salvation and the prosperity of his family, he was originally a good person.
I believed that there was no way he would do something like that to us, who had been like family to me.
But.
“You’re smart, Shayne. Yes, I killed her.”
He betrayed the last bit of trust I had left.
I was frozen in shock, and Marquis Zenger knitted his eyebrows together in pity.
“Eze was too precious to rot as the wife of that bastard Mushikan. She was kind and affectionate, and she treated her subordinates well, so she was not lacking as the mistress of the Veloce family. She was also very sympathetic to me.”
“...”
“When my family and I had our birthdays, she would send us precious gifts. She knew that I was embarrassed to go to your grandfather every time and ask for help, so she was considerate. Thanks to her, we were able to overcome many crises when we needed money urgently. I was very grateful for her kindness. That’s why I also loved that child very much...”
The Marquis, who had been sighing, shrugged his shoulders slightly.
“What can I do? For my master’s dream to come true, there should be no more Saintesses on this land. Fortunately, she was still a candidate, and she didn’t know she had saintly powers, so it was easy to deal with her.”
There was not a hint of guilt on the smiling face of the Marquis.
“How, how could you...”
It felt so unrealistic, so unlike the old man I knew, that I kept mumbling those words even when I was confronted with the truth about my mother's death.
At that moment, a large hand grabbed my wrist.
He was the Crown Prince.
He met my gaze quietly as if telling me to calm down, but soon he blocked my path.
As if to block the Marquis from my sight.
“Not only did you dare to disturb the empire’s tyranny, but you also murdered two daughters of the goddess. Marquis Zenger, do you know how serious a crime you have committed?”
He held nothing in his hands, but his voice had a sharper edge than any sharp weapon.
But the Marquis didn't show any sign of fear and just laughed lightly.
“I know, Your Highness the Crown Prince. But I couldn’t help it. It was what my master wanted.”
It seemed like he neither regretted nor reflected on his mistakes.
At that sight, belated anger surged through my chest.
How can someone be so shameless?
At that time, my mother was only twenty-eight years old.
How could you stand before me with such an indifferent expression on your face after killing so mercilessly a woman of such a young age, a benefactor who had thoughtfully looked after your pride?
Are you saying you could laugh?
‘I didn’t even know that...’
I couldn't help but resent myself as a child, chasing him around, munching on snacks and gifts.
As I clenched my fist, I caught the Marquis' hand moving slightly.
I looked closely to see what he was doing, and he was touching the ring on his right index finger.
'I'm sure I saw that during Count Gus' time...'
As expected, a sharp poisonous needle protruded from the ring.
It seemed as if he was suggesting suicide.
“No! Stop!”
I rushed to Marquis Zenger without even having time to think.
I couldn't let the man who killed my mother, ruined my childhood, and toyed with my grandfather die in peace like this.
“Shayne! No!”
The moment when he grabbed me by the collar, ignoring the Crown Prince's cries.
“Oh, you took me too lightly, Shayne. I’m not foolish enough to take my own life.”
Haha, the laughing Marquis grabbed my hair.
“Even if I die, wouldn’t I be able to show my face to my master if I cleared away the obstacles in front of me?”
Then he quickly aimed for my neck.
But.
“I am not so foolish as to fall into the hands of the enemy, Grandpa.”
Before the ring's stinger could reach my neck, I stabbed him in the eye with something I was holding in my hand.
It was the dagger that Marquis Zenger had been using during the fight a little while ago.
“Ahhhhh!”
I watched him scream in pain, blood pouring out of his left eye, without blinking.
“I am not so foolish as to fall into the hands of the enemy, Grandpa.”
Before the ring's stinger could reach my neck, I stabbed him in the eye with something I was holding in my hand.
It was the dagger that Marquis Zenger had been using during the fight a little while ago.
“Ahhhhh!”
I watched him scream in pain, blood pouring out of his left eye, without blinking.
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