Episode 17
The place I had hidden offered a clear view of the hall's interior while not being easily noticeable. In the past, too, I had hidden in this exact same spot.
“This should be enough.”
I buried myself in the shadows behind a large pillar and carefully surveyed the interior.
The hundreds of chairs arranged inside the hall were filled to capacity without a single empty seat, just as I had expected.
Most of the attendees at the memorial service were nobles from houses with close ties to the count’s family, or collateral relatives. They watched the podium with serious, solemn expressions.
Following their gazes and looking up at the podium, I saw the Countess, dressed in an elegant black gown with a black veil draped over her face.
The Countess was dabbing at her tears with a handkerchief, delivering long and elaborate words of thanks to the guests who had come.
When I shifted my gaze slightly, my half-sister Biateu came into view. She stood a short distance from the Countess, elegant with her hands clasped together.
Beside her, an ornamental stand holding the Guardian Stone had been placed.
Though it was not manifesting, it was meant to impress upon the people just who the owner of the Guardian Stone was.
Everything was exactly the same. Just like the memorial service on the day my power first manifested.
If there was anything different, it was that the Guardian Stone on the podium was a fake, and the real one resided inside my body.
I fixed my gaze on Biateu and waited for her to discover me.
Time seemed to pass more slowly than when I had waited in the room.
A few minutes must have passed before the deep green eyes that had been facing the people slowly turned toward where I stood.
My heart, suffused with tension and excitement, began to beat rapidly.
Stay calm. Stay calm.
I soothed myself inwardly over and over and quickly drew out the Guardian Stone’s power. I had to wrap my entire body in a red aura, as if the stone itself had manifested.
And holding my breath, I waited.
For her to look at me. To be shocked upon seeing my manifested form, just like back then.
The moment Biateu’s gaze finally reached me, this time I could properly confirm it.
A look of disbelief rose in those deep green eyes, soon shifting to bewilderment before vanishing, and in its place surged intense rage and hatred.
I hadn’t seen wrongly in the past. It was simply so momentary that I had missed it.
See, now it had changed into an infinitely gentle gaze, hadn’t it?
I saw my half-sister silently approach the Countess.
Soon she would whisper to the Countess and then approach me. All to hide the fact that I had manifested the Guardian Stone.
I clenched both fists where they couldn’t be seen. Tension flowed down my spine, but I tried to stay calm.
Because this was the beginning. My battle to survive.
Biateu, having whispered to the Countess, descended from the podium. A peaceful smile, as if nothing had happened, still lingered on her lips.
I saw people’s gazes briefly linger on her before returning to the Countess, who was speaking again.
If I stayed like this, the exact same thing from the past would repeat.
I had no intention of letting that happen. First, I had to let the people gathered here know that I was the Guardian Stone’s owner.
Unlike the past, when I had stood there foolishly, I looked at Biateu approaching me and deliberately shuffled backward. I didn’t forget to assume a flustered expression, either.
When she had come close enough, I turned my body. I had to look like someone who had come somewhere they shouldn’t and was fleeing in terror.
Of course, I didn’t forget to deliberately step on the hem of my dress and let the strength leave my body so that I could easily fall.
“Ah!”
Just as when I had seized the Guardian Stone, I deliberately let out a short scream and fell to the floor.
Not too loudly. But enough to draw the attention of the people seated in the back of the hall.
I felt as though I was constantly abusing my body, but it couldn’t be helped.
All I possessed was a meager amount of strength, my head, and my body; I had to make use of everything available to me.
What did a few bruises matter? They would fade naturally with time.
Not missing the opportunity was more important.
When I fell, bewilderment rose in Biateu’s eyes.
I saw her stop in her tracks and quickly look around. But it was already too late to salvage the situation.
Just as I had hoped, the gazes of those seated in the back turned toward me, fallen on the ground.
One young noble who had turned his head toward me looked at me, his expression shocked, and sprang to his feet. Deep disbelief was etched into his gaze, as if he couldn’t accept what he was seeing.
“L-look over there!”
All eyes converged on me in an instant. I could feel gazes sharp enough to sting.
Had I ever in my life received the attention of so many people at once? I had prepared myself, but I couldn’t help my body trembling slightly from nervousness.
The young noble’s cry rang out once more.
“That red aura! Is that not the red aura of Keuroijen?”
The corners of my lips, as I kept my head bowed, rose slightly.
I supposed I ought to give him some kind of reward. He was shouting out to the people only the words I had wanted to hear.
Soon, the sound of people murmuring arrived.
“Goodness! Isn’t that girl the bastard child? For the Guardian Stone’s power to manifest in a bastard!”
“The Countess and Young Lady of Keuroijen are in quite a predicament.”
“Indeed. For the ability to pass down to a bastard instead of the legitimate heir.”
“Will the Keuroijen house now pass to that young lady?”
Listening to their words, a thrill of pleasure welled up from deep within my chest.
How much humiliation must those two haughty, prideful mother and daughter be feeling at this very moment?
After all, I, a bastard, had snatched away the glory they had believed was rightfully theirs.
It must feel like carefully grooming and brushing one’s wings to soar into the sky, only to discover those very wings were incapable of flight.
I hurriedly hid the twitching of my lips and took a deep breath to compose my emotions.
What was truly important started now. In the performance I was about to put on, not even the slightest faltering could be permitted.
My half-sister Biateu was someone exceptionally quick to notice such things.
“O-older sister… this is….”
Raising my head, I looked in turn at my two hands that were manifesting, Biateu standing some distance away, and the people watching me—all with an extremely flustered expression.
Fortunately, since this was my first time receiving the attention of so many people, my body trembled of its own accord.
Thanks to that, it wasn’t difficult to act like someone bewildered by this sudden occurrence.
“…….”
I saw Biateu’s eyes, looking down at me, narrow while soaked in bewilderment.
How complicated her mind must be, having tried to hide the fact that I had inherited the Guardian Stone’s power, only for it to be exposed.
Moreover, unlike in the past, she had revealed hostility toward me once not long ago.
I held my breath and waited for her reaction.
Would she call my name gently, just as I remembered, or else….
“Herna.”
Surprisingly, Biateu calling my name looked exactly the same as in the past.
She was smiling at me kindly, like an angel. But the words that followed were different from back then.
“Stand up, Herna. Do you intend to keep sitting there like that?”
A snow-white hand, each fingernail meticulously groomed, appeared before my eyes.
Like a benevolent older sister helping up her fallen younger sister, she extended her hand elegantly, a smile upon her lips.
If I hadn’t known how black her insides were, I would have grasped it in gratitude. Perhaps I would have even shed tears. The me of the past had been utterly starved for affection.
“…Thank you, sister.”
Maintaining a still-flustered expression and glancing around at the people, I took her hand. As expected, her hand was terribly cold, as if her kindness had been nothing but packaging.
While being pulled up by Biateu’s hand, I heard the people’s whispers again.
“As expected of the Young Lady of Count Keuroijen. To think she could remain so composed even though she must have been surprised.”
“Exactly. God is too cruel. To pass the power to a bastard when he has such a perfect successor right there.”
“What will happen from now on? With the house of Count Keuroijen.”
Listening to their whispers, I invisibly gritted my teeth inwardly.
My enemy wasn’t only the house of Count Keuroijen. I also had to fight against the prejudice, jealousy, and misunderstandings of the people surrounding me.
I had expected that they would send unpleasant gazes toward me, who had snatched away the power the legitimate heir should have received, but having it confirmed directly made me feel filthier.
Of course, the greater enemy than all of them combined was right before me.
My half-sister Biateu, deliberately dusting off my dress with her own hands as if showing benevolence to the people.
She was perfectly reproducing the persona of a saint.
To think she could maintain that gentle smile even in a situation where she had been robbed of what was hers and had every right to be furious.
It was understandable why people admired her.
“Let’s move elsewhere for now. The memorial service must continue, mustn’t it?”
The beautiful deep green eyes directed at me curved as if painted on, and a gentle voice brushed past my ear.
A chill ran down my spine, but I didn’t show it. Right now, I had to show the appearance of a bastard child startled and bewildered by the manifestation of the Guardian Stone.
“…Yes, sister.”
As if I still couldn’t understand what situation I was in, I glanced at my manifesting body and the people around me, then left the hall led by my half-sister.
I didn’t forget to withdraw my power the moment I left the hall.
The place Biateu took me was the reception room. It was a path that hadn’t changed from the past, as expected.
“Sit there, Herna.”
Her elegant voice called my name, filled with kindness.
“Yes.”
I hesitated for a moment as if wondering if it was truly alright, then carefully, carefully sat on the sofa she offered.
When I glanced at her, a gentle smile still lingered at Biateu’s lips.
“You must have been very surprised by the Guardian Stone’s sudden manifestation. Are you feeling better now?”
A soothing voice and a benevolent smile that gave the viewer a sense of relief.
It was no different from the image I remembered, so I held back an inward sneer but lowered my eyes and stammered in reply.
“I’m not sure, sister. What is happening… I’m so bewildered… Did the Guardian Stone really manifest in me?”
Even so, I didn’t forget to observe Biateu’s reaction.
I didn’t miss the completely opposite emotion appearing for a mere instant in her eyes at the word “manifestation,” before vanishing.
Should I call it irritation-laced anger?
She had hidden her emotion so instantly that it felt like an optical illusion, but…
Having confirmed once more that the image she was currently showing was a fabricated one meant to reassure me, admiration came involuntarily.
It was a moment when I realized anew that it was by no means excessive for people to call her the perfect successor of Keuroijen and hold her up.
The thought suddenly crossed my mind: what if the Guardian Stone had manifested in my half-sister instead of me? Then everything might have been peaceful.
Without Biateu ever trying to kill me, I would have lived quietly in that small room as if dead, without needing to wrack my brain to survive like this.
Perhaps this was what they meant when they said fate was cruel.
From the moment the Guardian Stone manifested in me, such an ordinary future no longer existed. Only a future of struggling desperately to survive remained.
So I would overcome it.
I would somehow absorb the Guardian Stone’s power and make it mine, and change the future.
With that resolution, I waited for Biateu’s response.