“…That, well…”
“…Hoho! Oh, honey, really! Why are you getting so flustered over something like that? So, kids, listen. Your father went through a bit of a late-life wild phase…”
I asked back,
“A wild phase?”
“Y-Yes! He suddenly got addicted to gambling! He actually blew all our money at the casino, so we couldn’t even keep the lord’s castle anymore and ended up living here…”
“Gambl—? Madam, what are you talking about—”
“You keep your mouth shut! Aren’t you ashamed to say such things in front of the children? Putting on airs like that…. it’s pathetic! Absolutely pathetic!”
“……”
It’s a lie.
“Strange. Where exactly is a casino in the Bliss territory?”
“W-Well, one popped up after you two enrolled in the academy?”
“It’s only been about a month since I enrolled, you know. Are you saying he gambled away everything, including his cane, in just one month?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right.”
“You mean that special magical tool, the ‘Staff of Wishes’?”
“I’m sorry to be such a disgrace of a parent. I should’ve stopped your father…”
I took Camilla’s hand again. She had been staring blankly at the exchange and now looked at me with confusion in her eyes, not understanding.
It was time to drive the nail in.
“That’s odd. According to the auction house records, it was sold two years ago. Not one month ago.”
“……!!”
Neither of them answered.
“The territory’s currently being governed by an imperial appointee, isn’t it? Because of what happened back in Grandfather’s day. You managed to hold on to the lord’s castle for a while but eventually couldn’t keep it up, right?”
“…Adel.”
“Well, you’ve been magicless for three generations now. It’s not like the power was just on hold… it’s all gone. No way you’re getting it back now.”
Still no response. But that didn’t matter.
I began laying out the results of my investigation.
“It’s a lie, isn’t it? All this talk about a casino.”
“You suddenly needed cash but had no liquid assets, so you sold off what you had. And among those, the most well-known item, the cane, didn’t even need its value appraised.”
“Sale date: November, two years ago… How strange.”
“That would be exactly the time tuition payments for Tane Academy are due, wouldn’t it?”
“Sold for 200 imperial gold coins… Exactly the amount of the Tane admission fee.”
Camilla looked at me. Her face was full of confusion.
“Adel…?”
I ignored her soft whisper and continued.
“Your daughter who ran away suddenly announces she’s enrolling in the academy, so you needed money in a hurry. That’s why you sold off the family heirloom, isn’t it?”
At those words, silence fell.
“……”
Even the dining room in this mansion is furnished entirely with wooden furniture. The only things that give off any noble air in this space are the candlesticks, the dining table, and the chairs.
No matter if the territory was temporarily confiscated, the Bliss family is still a noble house of count rank.
There’s no reason they need to live this frugally, yet the Count and Countess of Bliss didn’t seem to harbor a hint of dissatisfaction.
And yet, the excuse they offered was gambling. Of all things, that’s the excuse they came up with? They couldn’t have picked a worse one.
“……Answer me, Father.”
In other words, this is how it goes.
They sold off the heirloom to pay for Camilla’s academy tuition. Because the news of her enrollment had come suddenly.
Camilla was never just some “adopted daughter for political marriage”.
It was merely a mishap. She happened to overhear the Count and Countess discussing how to turn down the proposal.
In fact, the one who arranged for Marquis Damir, Awen’s father, to become Camilla’s sponsor was none other than the man in front of me, Count Bliss, working behind the scenes.
And yet, he now denies all of it.
“……I don’t know what you’re talking about. I may look like this, but I’m still the head of House Bliss. A magical noble family that even contributed to the founding of Tane Academy. Camilla’s admission was handled as a noble privilege. There’s no way I’d sell off a family heirloom over something like that.”
A plausible excuse. But I had already investigated every detail.
“That admission privilege only applies to the Department of Magic, doesn’t it? Camilla is in the Knight Department.”
Only then did Count Bliss’s face turn troubled.
“And you applied for my early admission on your own, didn’t you? So I could be by her side and look after her.”
“……Th-That…”
Again, silence.
But this time, something was different. Maybe he had accepted that there was no use hiding it anymore.
“Father. Why did you hide the truth about our family’s situation from my sister?”
“……”
“What about this talk of a political marriage? Did you bring her in just to sell her off? Was that the purpose behind adopting her?”
“…What? Watch your mouth, Adel. How dare you say such outrageous things!”
He had remained silent through everything until now… and this is what makes him snap.
I glanced to the side. At some point, Camilla hadn’t even noticed I’d let go of her hand. She just sat there, staring blankly at the Count and Countess of Bliss.
“That was a promise made by the crazy previous generation! I was planning to refuse, even at a loss, because of that brat’s arrogant reputation. It’s already been rejected, anyway. Dear, did you say something?”
“N-No…”
“Was it the brat on their side who said something? How dare he insult my daughter…?”
The face of Count Bliss, who had appeared cold and composed all throughout, turned red with anger. I gave a small chuckle at the sight and added,
“Well, who knows? Maybe someone overheard. A young lady who couldn’t sleep that night, perhaps.”
“……!”
The night he had discussed rejecting the arranged marriage with the Countess—
Was it possible that young Camilla had overheard their conversation?
With those words, Count Bliss widened his eyes and turned to look at Camilla.
“……”
Camilla met his gaze, blankly, without looking away.
“…Don’t tell me… the reason you suddenly disappeared back then…”
“……”
“…No, that wasn’t it. I would never… how could I ever…”
A single tear slid down from one of Camilla’s eyes. The Countess, already beside herself, had broken into sobs.
“……”
“Wh-What… what is all this… this nonsense…?”
“So it was all… a misunderstanding…?”
“…Camilla.”
Camilla stood up, trembling.
Step by step, she approached like a cat slowly letting down its guard.
“What Adel said… is it true? Is it really…?”
“……”
“Then all of it, all of it was just my foolish misunderstanding…?”
“…I’m sorry. I never imagined you’d heard that… I’m sorry, Camilla. So that’s why you… I’m so sorry…”
At last, Count Bliss began shaking his head violently and clutching his hair. Watching this, I slowly rose from my seat.
The adopted daughter, despite all the love poured onto her, had harbored deep insecurities.
The Bliss family’s situation, hidden in hopes that she wouldn’t feel small or inferior, had instead become a pressure that crushed her.
In such an environment, that one conversation she had overheard as a child stayed with her for years… and in the end, it led to something that couldn’t be undone.
If you don’t express it, no one will ever know.
All I did was draw out their unspoken feelings.
“……”
But even so, I didn’t have it in me to keep watching.
I gave a silent bow and left the dining room.
They would need time. As long as the years their misunderstandings had lasted.
This is good.
I may be Adel, but I am not truly Adel.
That being the case, I have no right to stand between the three of them.
I, the complete outsider, should quietly step away.
***
The fall of House Bliss.
There was no need to investigate further into that.
With just a little asking around, it would’ve been easy to find out what had happened back then.
They said that over several generations, the Bliss family’s innate magical talent had dwindled, and by Adel’s grandfather’s time, children unable to use magic at all had begun to be born…
And so, the magical techniques once considered the very source of Bliss’s power gradually began to fade into obscurity, and even the number of mages trained within the territory started to dwindle.
Proper magical research became harder to sustain, and eventually, even their remaining knowledge began to leak outside.
It seems the previous generation made various efforts to reverse the situation, but what could one do in a body that couldn’t use magic? There was no way to fix a condition so severe that it was even called a curse.
In the end, they were swindled by con artists and caused damage to neighboring territories through half-baked magical experiments.
It even escalated to the point where problems arose in the river flowing into the capital, prompting the imperial family which was no longer able to stand by to issue a punishment: temporary seizure of the territory.
That probably wasn’t all.
Even a tiger with no teeth is still a tiger. There were likely more hidden circumstances.
The Bliss family doesn’t even appear in the original story. That must mean they were meant to fall like this from the beginning.
The mansion’s garden.
After leaving the dining room, I sat down on a suitable rock and continued thinking.
“…….”
And then, a sudden emotion rose within me….satisfaction.
It felt like I’d resolved one major issue.
And with good reason. This meant that every last lingering emotion Camilla had been holding onto was now resolved.
There was no longer even a speck of instability left in her mental state.
“…How lonely.”
But at the same time, I felt a bit like I didn’t belong.
It was hard to suddenly see the count and his wife who didn’t even look that old as my parents.
…Will I be able to go back if I clear this? Should I go back?
Thoughts I’d kept putting off began to surface. Thoughts I’d deliberately ignored to adapt to this world.
I’d already come to understand that this world wasn’t just a simple game. But that didn’t mean this world was my true home, either.
If I do go back, what will happen to the bonds I’ve built here? Will they forget me? Or… will I even be able to go back in the first place?
It didn’t feel like I’d been brought here by some transcendent being. If that were the case, surely it would have made contact by now.
It felt more like I’d been caught up in some kind of phenomenon.
“…What now.”
I thought maybe spending a peaceful life here with my sister wouldn’t be so bad.
But seeing the three of them break down in tears like that made me realize, again, that I was an outsider.
No matter how close we became or how many connections I built, maybe no one would ever truly understand the real me…
It was at that moment.
“…Adel.”
A voice called out. It was Camilla’s.
I turned my head while still sitting.
And just then…something soft enveloped me, knocking the breath out of me.
“Mmfh?!”
Camilla suddenly pulled me into a tight hug. I froze in place, still sitting. Her chest was so large that I couldn’t breathe at all.
“…Thank you, Adel.”
Her usual stiff tone was nowhere to be found. I struggled against the tightening pressure.
“Thank you. Thank you… If it weren’t for you, I…”
It must have slipped out while she was crying. Warm tears touched my forehead.
The Count and his wife, who had followed her out, were watching us.
“Thank you for telling us the truth. Thank you for noticing my foolish misunderstanding.”
Camilla now whispered as she rubbed her face against mine.
“…Thank you for saving me.”
“……”
That one line brought a rush of emotion.
Maybe I’d been worrying for nothing.
The Camilla standing here now, different from the one in the original story, clearly sees me as her brother.
Even if I’ve ended up with the name Adel… the one who saved her wasn’t anyone else. It was me.
“…Sister. Are you planning to wipe teacups again later?”
“…Huh?”
“Back then, at the Robine dorm… urghghgh…”
“Wh-Wh-What are you talking about—?”
Maybe it was the lack of air. My mind began to fade…
Leave a Reply