"What?"
“Why would we kill the hostage we took so desperately?”
The Marquis frowned at my words.
The expression on his face was as if to say, "If not to kill them, why did you bring my sons here?"
Looking at that Marquis, I chuckled and pulled out the sword hanging from the Crown Prince's waist.
“Your Highness, may I borrow this for a moment?”
Then I slowly approached the sons of the Marquis of Zenger.
“Wh, what are you trying to do!”
“Can’t you put that sword down right now?”
They hesitated for a moment like frightened prey, then quickly exchanged glances and began to rush towards me at high speed.
I guess he thought I would be able to subdue him easily since I am a woman... What should I do?
Unfortunately, I am not alone.
“Ahh!”
Delton didn't even need to come forward.
Before he could even get within a meter of me, the Crown Prince overpowered the eldest son who was rushing towards him, and made him kneel on the ground.
“What, what is this? Why is my body...”
Secondly, he was caught up in Bayen's power and became unable to move.
Thanks to that, I arrived in front of them without stopping for even a moment and aimed my sword at the tip of the first one's nose.
As if infected by the cold blade, his body began to tremble like an aspen tree.
“Wh, what are you trying to do?”
“What is it? Of course, it’s torture.”
“Wh, what?”
“You heard a little while ago, right? That your father murdered my mother. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Shouldn’t the death of a kinsman be repaid with the death of a kinsman?”
When I asked with my lips askance, he looked up at me blankly, then quickly shook his head.
“That, that can’t be. Why would our father kill your mother? What grudge does he have? There’s definitely something wrong!”
“You are right, brother!”
The second one also agreed.
“Don’t you know how good our father is? He is willing to show mercy even to a street urchin. How could such a person kill someone? And especially your mother, whom he considered a family member?”
“Yes, he was definitely framed by someone. He was threatened and forced to take the blame, but he couldn’t tell the truth! Isn’t that right, Father?”
“Please be honest!”
They begged desperately.
The eyes looking at the Marquis were trembling helplessly, but deep faith was engraved in them.
They have a strong belief that their kind-hearted father would never have committed such a wicked act.
But the Marquis remained silent despite the children's faith.
“Father! Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Please say something!”
I burst out laughing as I saw a hint of anxiety appear in their expressions, which had been based solely on faith.
“Yes, I thought so too. I thought the Marquis of Zenger, whom I considered my grandfather, was a kind and upright man. But now that I’ve been stabbed in the back of the head like this... I guess you two will have to resolve this betrayal.”
“Eek!”
When I thrust my sword again, the first one was startled and threw his head back.
However, it did not have much effect because the Crown Prince was restraining his body tightly.
“Now, where should we start? Should we cut off your ears? Or should we brand your forehead with a slave mark?”
I, who was swinging my sword in circles in front of the first one's face, turned my head and smiled at the Marquis.
“Ah, perhaps you have good eyesight? It would be good to experience firsthand the pain of a child.”
“...”
“How was it, Grandpa? When the knife went through your eye, did it hurt a lot? I hope it did.”
I smiled brightly and then quickly tightened my grip on the sword hilt.
And then, at the moment when I was about to stab the first one in the eye without any hesitation.
“Stop it, Shayne!”
Marquis Zenger raised his voice and stopped me.
When I stopped what I was about to do, he began to comfort me with a slightly softened expression.
“Shayne, you are a kind and gentle child. Even if it is your mother’s revenge, if you do something terrible to innocent children, it will only hurt you. Please do not do anything that will ruin you. I say this because I truly care about you.”
The expression on his face as he said that was extremely serious.
It seemed like he really thought it was advice for me.
“I’ll just be the one suffering, ra...”
I quietly repeated those words and nodded my head.
“That may be true. It was my grandfather who committed the crime, not these people. Torturing and killing innocent people just because they are blood relatives is not just revenge, it is just another murder.”
“Yes. I’m glad you seem to understand what I’m saying. Honey, please hurry and take my life and send the children back...”
“But Grandpa did it.”
I cut him off in a low, hushed voice.
"...What?"
“For the sake of your family’s glory, you served an evil being as your master, and for that matter, you killed my innocent mother. And yet, far from feeling any pain, you lived well.”
"That..."
He opened his mouth as if he was speechless for a moment, then shook his head again with a firm expression.
“No, Shayne. No matter how much I did it for her, I was someone who treated your mother like family. How could I not have been distressed? After that incident, for several days...”
“Well, it looks so normal to me.”
I muttered indifferently and gently swept the sharp blade with my hand.
“So I’m going to try it too. If the end result is suffering, then that’s something I’ll have to bear. So don’t worry about me, Grandpa. Just watch. Your children’s bodies are being torn apart because of your sins. Slowly, losing your life.”
The Marquis' eyes, looking at the corners of my lips rising up crookedly, trembled madly as if an earthquake had occurred.
Those eyes were clearly conflicted.
Would I really stab his children with that sword? No, that would not be possible. That tender-hearted child would not do that.
Like that.
It was ridiculous that he still had such hopes after seeing me glaring at him so recklessly.
I grabbed the sword with both hands again.
Just before the tip of the sharp sword pierced the first child's tightly shut-eye.
“Stop it! Please stop it, Shayne!”
The Marquis shouted.
Unlike a moment ago, his voice didn't contain any trace of leisure.
When I stopped my hand again, the Marquis said with a look of resignation.
“I will tell you everything I know, so please leave my children alone. I will tell you everything, everything...”
At those words, I put down the sword I was holding.
I roughly rubbed my sweaty palms on my clothes and approached the Marquis.
“It seems that even your loyalty, which was so great that you would kill your close friend’s daughter-in-law without hesitation, is helpless in front of your own child.”
I was snoring, but soon I lightly nodded my chin.
“Please tell me. It will become boring if you mix in unnecessary lies, so please stop thinking useless thoughts.”
He closed his eyes tightly at my words but soon opened his mouth with an expression that seemed to have put everything down.
“Ibis is not human.”
Not human.
It was the moment when what I had vaguely expected became reality.
As I kept my mouth shut with a stern expression, the Crown Prince stepped forward and asked.
“If not human, then what? Do you mean a different species?”
There are not many known extraterrestrial beings in the world.
Hethel, the creator.
An archangel who assists her from afar.
Her children by blood.
And the alien race that only appears in legends.
All the archangels were turned into holy relics by Hethel's command, so that wouldn't be the case, and Hethel's children were also all met by Bayen before, so it wouldn't be the case either.
Then, all that's left are the heterodox races.
But the Marquis shook his head.
“Ibis is not such a trivial being. She is a combination of good and evil.”
“Good and evil?”
“Yes. She is the one who inherited the light that resides in the highest place and the darkness that hides in the lowest place. She is also the only one who can end the life of Hethel who lives forever.”
The more I heard it, the more confusing it became.
I was so annoyed that I hurried him nervously.
“Stop beating around the bush and tell me clearly. So what is the identity of Ibis?”
The Marquis, who had been sighing deeply, opened his mouth again.
“She is Hethel and...”
It was at that very moment that I was watching his lips slowly parting.
“Ugh!”
“Why would we kill the hostage we took so desperately?”
The Marquis frowned at my words.
The expression on his face was as if to say, "If not to kill them, why did you bring my sons here?"
Looking at that Marquis, I chuckled and pulled out the sword hanging from the Crown Prince's waist.
“Your Highness, may I borrow this for a moment?”
Then I slowly approached the sons of the Marquis of Zenger.
“Wh, what are you trying to do!”
“Can’t you put that sword down right now?”
They hesitated for a moment like frightened prey, then quickly exchanged glances and began to rush towards me at high speed.
I guess he thought I would be able to subdue him easily since I am a woman... What should I do?
Unfortunately, I am not alone.
“Ahh!”
Delton didn't even need to come forward.
Before he could even get within a meter of me, the Crown Prince overpowered the eldest son who was rushing towards him, and made him kneel on the ground.
“What, what is this? Why is my body...”
Secondly, he was caught up in Bayen's power and became unable to move.
Thanks to that, I arrived in front of them without stopping for even a moment and aimed my sword at the tip of the first one's nose.
As if infected by the cold blade, his body began to tremble like an aspen tree.
“Wh, what are you trying to do?”
“What is it? Of course, it’s torture.”
“Wh, what?”
“You heard a little while ago, right? That your father murdered my mother. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Shouldn’t the death of a kinsman be repaid with the death of a kinsman?”
When I asked with my lips askance, he looked up at me blankly, then quickly shook his head.
“That, that can’t be. Why would our father kill your mother? What grudge does he have? There’s definitely something wrong!”
“You are right, brother!”
The second one also agreed.
“Don’t you know how good our father is? He is willing to show mercy even to a street urchin. How could such a person kill someone? And especially your mother, whom he considered a family member?”
“Yes, he was definitely framed by someone. He was threatened and forced to take the blame, but he couldn’t tell the truth! Isn’t that right, Father?”
“Please be honest!”
They begged desperately.
The eyes looking at the Marquis were trembling helplessly, but deep faith was engraved in them.
They have a strong belief that their kind-hearted father would never have committed such a wicked act.
But the Marquis remained silent despite the children's faith.
“Father! Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Please say something!”
I burst out laughing as I saw a hint of anxiety appear in their expressions, which had been based solely on faith.
“Yes, I thought so too. I thought the Marquis of Zenger, whom I considered my grandfather, was a kind and upright man. But now that I’ve been stabbed in the back of the head like this... I guess you two will have to resolve this betrayal.”
“Eek!”
When I thrust my sword again, the first one was startled and threw his head back.
However, it did not have much effect because the Crown Prince was restraining his body tightly.
“Now, where should we start? Should we cut off your ears? Or should we brand your forehead with a slave mark?”
I, who was swinging my sword in circles in front of the first one's face, turned my head and smiled at the Marquis.
“Ah, perhaps you have good eyesight? It would be good to experience firsthand the pain of a child.”
“...”
“How was it, Grandpa? When the knife went through your eye, did it hurt a lot? I hope it did.”
I smiled brightly and then quickly tightened my grip on the sword hilt.
And then, at the moment when I was about to stab the first one in the eye without any hesitation.
“Stop it, Shayne!”
Marquis Zenger raised his voice and stopped me.
When I stopped what I was about to do, he began to comfort me with a slightly softened expression.
“Shayne, you are a kind and gentle child. Even if it is your mother’s revenge, if you do something terrible to innocent children, it will only hurt you. Please do not do anything that will ruin you. I say this because I truly care about you.”
The expression on his face as he said that was extremely serious.
It seemed like he really thought it was advice for me.
“I’ll just be the one suffering, ra...”
I quietly repeated those words and nodded my head.
“That may be true. It was my grandfather who committed the crime, not these people. Torturing and killing innocent people just because they are blood relatives is not just revenge, it is just another murder.”
“Yes. I’m glad you seem to understand what I’m saying. Honey, please hurry and take my life and send the children back...”
“But Grandpa did it.”
I cut him off in a low, hushed voice.
"...What?"
“For the sake of your family’s glory, you served an evil being as your master, and for that matter, you killed my innocent mother. And yet, far from feeling any pain, you lived well.”
"That..."
He opened his mouth as if he was speechless for a moment, then shook his head again with a firm expression.
“No, Shayne. No matter how much I did it for her, I was someone who treated your mother like family. How could I not have been distressed? After that incident, for several days...”
“Well, it looks so normal to me.”
I muttered indifferently and gently swept the sharp blade with my hand.
“So I’m going to try it too. If the end result is suffering, then that’s something I’ll have to bear. So don’t worry about me, Grandpa. Just watch. Your children’s bodies are being torn apart because of your sins. Slowly, losing your life.”
The Marquis' eyes, looking at the corners of my lips rising up crookedly, trembled madly as if an earthquake had occurred.
Those eyes were clearly conflicted.
Would I really stab his children with that sword? No, that would not be possible. That tender-hearted child would not do that.
Like that.
It was ridiculous that he still had such hopes after seeing me glaring at him so recklessly.
I grabbed the sword with both hands again.
Just before the tip of the sharp sword pierced the first child's tightly shut-eye.
“Stop it! Please stop it, Shayne!”
The Marquis shouted.
Unlike a moment ago, his voice didn't contain any trace of leisure.
When I stopped my hand again, the Marquis said with a look of resignation.
“I will tell you everything I know, so please leave my children alone. I will tell you everything, everything...”
At those words, I put down the sword I was holding.
I roughly rubbed my sweaty palms on my clothes and approached the Marquis.
“It seems that even your loyalty, which was so great that you would kill your close friend’s daughter-in-law without hesitation, is helpless in front of your own child.”
I was snoring, but soon I lightly nodded my chin.
“Please tell me. It will become boring if you mix in unnecessary lies, so please stop thinking useless thoughts.”
He closed his eyes tightly at my words but soon opened his mouth with an expression that seemed to have put everything down.
“Ibis is not human.”
Not human.
It was the moment when what I had vaguely expected became reality.
As I kept my mouth shut with a stern expression, the Crown Prince stepped forward and asked.
“If not human, then what? Do you mean a different species?”
There are not many known extraterrestrial beings in the world.
Hethel, the creator.
An archangel who assists her from afar.
Her children by blood.
And the alien race that only appears in legends.
All the archangels were turned into holy relics by Hethel's command, so that wouldn't be the case, and Hethel's children were also all met by Bayen before, so it wouldn't be the case either.
Then, all that's left are the heterodox races.
But the Marquis shook his head.
“Ibis is not such a trivial being. She is a combination of good and evil.”
“Good and evil?”
“Yes. She is the one who inherited the light that resides in the highest place and the darkness that hides in the lowest place. She is also the only one who can end the life of Hethel who lives forever.”
The more I heard it, the more confusing it became.
I was so annoyed that I hurried him nervously.
“Stop beating around the bush and tell me clearly. So what is the identity of Ibis?”
The Marquis, who had been sighing deeply, opened his mouth again.
“She is Hethel and...”
It was at that very moment that I was watching his lips slowly parting.
“Ugh!”
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