Banished Villainess

78 : Darck Sereknight Part 4

On that exact day, I stormed towards the reception hall and met Margrave Whitey and his daughter Shiela, whom I both have not met in several days. Shiela was looking as healthy as ever and yet still looked considerably worn out. Although it made me feel even guiltier knowing what I have done recently, I thought that it would be more unfortunate to put a lady with a good disposition as Shiela, through a loveless marriage.

“Excuse me, lord….”

“Do not talk yet. We do not know who is listening…. do it Shiela.”

“Yes, father.”

As instructed by her father, Shiela puts up a barrier around the room. It wasn’t made out of sacred mana but rather that of a magic stone. House Whitey’s domain is the only one that specializes in the magic within the entire Coloflare Kingdom. Their fief provides the know-how in using magic as well as creating magic tools to its people. Hence, this degree of use should be a trivial thing for the daughter of the house.

“Now then, it seems to me that you might end up wreaking havoc again adducing your philosophies on love as a reason. Even the Saintess is just a human who makes misjudgments. Don’t you think that putting a stop to such mistakes would show her your love the most?”

“W-Wreacking havoc!? Not at all, sir! If we leave such a witch alone, it would put the kingdom at great risk! Which is exactly why Momo will…”

“You fool! Have you forgotten that the lady you call as a witch is your one and only younger sister!?”

“M-My younger sister is Momo and no one else. As long as my beloved adorable sister remains by my side, I do not need anything else. I will not love anyone else…”

Margrave Whitey deeply sighs, while Shiela only kept her eyes on me, listening to my words without saying anything. Behind her was a similar mirror to the one installed in Prince Leddorio’s room, which reflected both her back figure and my pale face. Margrave Whitey crumpled his eyebrows for a moment, and after seemingly coming to a decision, he spoke again.

“For goodness sake, you have never even met him, yet, you spoke the same words nevertheless… The blood never lies; you are very much like your father.”

“Huh?”

I was not able to comprehend what he was talking about immediately. My father was none other than Blackia Sereknight, and my mother was a former maid of the house. I was born from the two of them…; was I?

“Your true father was Blackia’s older brother, Volk, whom despite having a fiancée, laid his hand on a maid. He frequently visited his fiancee’s house in order to apologize and plead for the cancellation of his engagement. The noble house that was subjected to shame protested to the House Sereknight and asked for them to take him home. That’s when Heath, who was coincidentally visited the House Sereknight, said that he would take Volk’s fiancee for his own and suggested that the two were to be forgiven. Of course, he promised that marriage filled with love to Volk’s fiancee.

This incident had been discussed by House Whitey and House Sereknight with the royal family several times. Although the matrimony with the margrave house was beneficial to the royal family due to their advancements in the field of magic, it elicited the ire of the sacred church at the same time. Still, as the influence of diplomacy is growing stronger, there was a need to reform the views of the kingdom on magic. That’s when Heath proposed conditions to wipe the incident regarding Volk’s engagement clean, and for his new marriage to be allowed. When Volk becomes the lord of the house, his child that was about to be born shall be wed to either the royal family or the margrave house depending on its gender. If the baby born was a boy, it shall be wed to the House Whitey; if it was a girl, it shall be wed to his son, instead.

Volk, who was overjoyed by this, head off to hold the ceremonies with Clara immediately. But on that day, the weather was rough enough to hamper the visibility the surroundings. He was told to give it a rest because the road was too muddy but he brushed them off and still drove a carriage himself leading to an accident that resulted in his death. Just as rash as he ever was, he bequeathed his lover and the son she carried and passed away. Considering the end result, perhaps his younger brother becoming the lord of the house was better for the benefit of the ducal house and the country itself in the end.”

As the Margrave said that, he placed a single picture on the table. It was the picture of the Margrave in his youth, my father, a man who looked just like me….and, his majesty!?

“Uhm… about what Lord Margrave said about House Whitey discussing with the royal family, the person called Heath who kept on resurfacing earlier, and Volk’s fiancee. Do you mean…”

“That’s right. We are all in the same academic year and we looked for a private place to spend our time. As you may have surmised, Heath is his majesty himself, Flareon Heath Coloflare, and the fiancee I was referring to was my younger sister, the queen herself, Neju Whitey Coloflare.”

Whaat!?

So father was actually my uncle and my real father had rejected his engagement and laid his hands on a maid!? So my engagement with Shiela was the consequences of that. If that’s the case, then was his highness Leddorio and Chloe’s engagement also the same thing? All these sudden revelations are coming one after another that I can’t even follow them all. All the times I had spent studying was of no help at all.
All I understood is that my father was unthinkably stupid, and as if having passed it on me, I ended up doing something similar to him. I can’t believe it…

“If that’s the case, why did father took my mother as his mistress? Because of that, we shrunk to ourselves in shame.”

“I also think that Blackia’s methods were poorly done. That man is quite obstinate so he is rather overly fixated on many things. He may have thought that the one who should be inheriting the house should carry the eldest son, Volk’s blood. He consulted that with his wife Yona and thus took you as his son; all to ensure that you’ll be the one to inherit the house.

The one who suggested that Blackia should marry Clara and take her as his second wife was Lady Yona herself. She always had a weak body and she knew that she would not live that long. Still, she pitied Clara’s circumstances, likely considered preventing the mother to be separated from her own child. For that, she even went to her own house and begged them to take guardianship of Clara after her death. Of course, she must be having complicated feelings regarding all of these circumstances. After all, she had also failed to conceive a son, and considering Volk’s former fiancee, the current queen, who gave two healthy sons, she likely feared that Chloe might end up taking all the brunt of that blame after her death.”

We were not father and son; that was far shocking than the circumstances of my birth being more than just a mere mistress’ son. Father took the two of us, not out of love, but out of responsibilities… I understood why the queen must’ve thought that it was not the time to reveal all of this. Having only recently graduated and becoming full-fledged adults; our heads would be too cramped with many things. I cannot see a younger child receiving such an outlandish story well either.

Still, I do know that my father had raised me as his own son. He had always told me that I will be the one to succeed the house, putting his actual daughter on the side. The gratitude and responsibility out of that is something I must never forget.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Yes… But, still, a sinful existence such as mine does not fit Lady Shiela. She should be wed to someone much more…”

I was about to agree to Margrave’s word but changed my mind. Even if this is a promise between my real father and them, I still disagree with sacrificing a lady’s life in order to cover up for a man’s foolish actions. Margrave who heard that only muttered, good grief, and placed his hand on his daughter’s shoulder.

“I can’t do anything further than this. Accompany him as much as you want.”

“Yes, father.”

And so the Margrave left the room, leaving the two of us.