Bell carried Tia down from the second floor.
His movements were very gentle.
It was as if he were holding a fragile porcelain doll.
Tia curled up in his arms.
She didn't speak.
Only the knuckles of her hand, which gripped Bell’s collar, were white.
In the hall.
The once expensive furniture had been smashed to pieces.
Bell sat on the only intact main sofa.
Tia sat beside him.
Her head was lowered.
Three people knelt below them.
Theodore.
Aidan.
And Claude.
Except Claude was only on one knee, his posture still maintaining that nauseating elegance.
As for Balte.
The wind on the city walls was quite strong.
Hopefully, it would dry out that layer of fat on him.
“Lord Bell.”
Claude was the first to break the silence.
He straightened his cuffs.
Even in this situation, he acted as if he were attending an afternoon tea.
“Let us end this here.”
“You have won.”
“Since you have deployed power of this level, the Astane family naturally has no right to challenge you further.”
“Why be so aggressive?”
“Leave a way out for others today, so we may meet on better terms tomorrow.”
Bell ignored him.
He picked up an apple from the table.
He wiped it with his sleeve.
He handed it to Tia.
Tia didn't take it.
Bell didn't mind, taking a bite himself.
The crisp sound echoed in the hall.
“Crunch.”
“Why was the First Prince so insistent on having Balte marry Tia?”
Bell asked while chewing the apple.
He sounded nonchalant.
But every word pierced the heart.
“The daughter of a fallen count.”
“A healer with absolutely no background.”
“Is she worth a death order from the First Prince?”
“Was she worth that death fearing waste Balte choosing to offend me rather than break the engagement?”
Claude pushed up his monocle.
The lens reflected light.
It hid his eyes.
“You are overthinking it.”
“The First Prince simply appreciated Miss Tia’s talent.”
“There is no secret.”
“No secret?”
Bell laughed.
The mirth didn't reach his eyes.
“Would things have come to this without a secret?”
“You know better than I do what kind of trash Balte is.”
“Greedy and lustful, but above all, he fears death.”
“I almost crippled him yesterday, yet he dared to challenge me again today.”
“Unless there is a knife behind him more terrifying than my Earth Spikes.”
Claude fell silent.
Theodore, however, seemed to seize an opportunity.
He crawled forward on his knees a couple of steps.
He leaned in toward Tia.
That old face was wrinkled like a withered chrysanthemum.
Snot and tears covered his face.
“Tia! My good daughter!”
“Hurry and tell Lord Bell!”
“Father was also forced into this!”
“Father only did it for the good of the family!”
“Have you forgotten when Father used to buy you candy when you were little?”
“Have you forgotten...”
“Shut up.”
Tia’s voice was very light.
Like the wind.
Theodore was stunned for a moment.
“What did you say?”
Tia suddenly raised her head.
In those eyes that were always as gentle as water.
They were now bloodshot.
It was hate.
A deep, bone deep hatred.
“I said shut up!”
This roar.
It was as if she were screaming out all the grievances of the past ten or so years.
“For the family?”
Tia stood up.
Her body shook violently.
“Our family was living perfectly well in Seaview City!”
“My father was a blacksmith, and my mother was a seamstress!”
“Though we were poor, we were happy!”
“It was you!”
Tia pointed at Theodore.
Her finger almost poked the tip of his nose.
“It was you, you beast, who took a liking to my mother!”
“You set a trap to frame my father for theft and had him beaten to death in prison!”
“You forcibly took my mother!”
“At first, you pretended to be human.”
“But later?”
“You beat her when you were drunk! You beat her whenever you were in a bad mood!”
Tia covered her face.
Tears flowed through the gaps of her fingers.
“Do you know why I wanted to learn healing magic?”
“Because every day, I had to look at the wounds on my mother’s body!”
“I wanted to save her!”
“I tried so hard to save her!”
“But three years ago...”
Tia’s voice choked up.
“That night, you lost money gambling.”
“You dragged her into the basement.”
“And beat her to death!”
“I stayed outside the door and listened to her screams all night long!”
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
Aidan shrank on the ground, not daring to lift his head.
Theodore’s face was as pale as paper.
His lips trembled.
“That... that was an accident...”
“That was an accident...”
Bell stood up.
He walked behind Tia.
He gently embraced her.
It was very warm.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Bell’s voice sounded in her ear.
“Leave all that pain to me.”
Tia leaned into his arms.
She wailed loudly.
As if she were crying her very soul to pieces.
When her crying gradually subsided.
Bell let go.
He walked to a guard nearby.
He drew a long blade.
The edge was snowy bright.
The cold air from it was biting.
He walked back.
He handed the hilt to Tia.
“If you hate him.”
“Then kill him.”
Tia gripped the sword.
It was very heavy.
Her hand was shaking.
Theodore looked at that sword.
His soul nearly flew out of his body in terror.
“No... don't...”
“I am your father! Even if I am your stepfather, I am still your father!”
“Tia! You cannot commit parricide! That is a great sin!”
“You will go to hell!”
Tia looked at the face before her.
The face that had given her nightmares for over a decade.
Her mother’s screams before death echoed in her ears.
Her father’s desperate eyes in prison surfaced before her.
Kill him.
Killing him would bring liberation.
Killing him would bring revenge.
Tia raised the sword.
The blade reflected her distorted face.
“Aaaah!!!”
Tia screamed.
She closed her eyes.
She swung the sword down.
Clang!
Sparks flew.
There was no sound of blood splashing.
No screams of pain.
Only the crisp sound of metal breaking.
Theodore kept his eyes tightly shut.
His crotch was wet again.
He waited for a few seconds.
He didn't feel any pain.
He opened his eyes.
He saw that the ropes binding him had been cut in two.
The sword was lodged deep into the wooden floor.
Tia let go.
The hilt hit the ground with a thud.
She gasped for breath.
As if she had just been pulled out of the water.
The madness in her eyes faded.
Leaving only a dead, ashen calm.
“I won’t kill you.”
Tia looked at Theodore.
Her voice was very cold.
Bell walked over.
He took Tia’s cold hand.
The corner of his mouth curved into a gentle arc.
“Just as I thought.”
“Tia’s gentleness is not fake.”
Even in the deepest hatred.
She had not turned into a demon.
Tia turned around.
She threw herself into Bell’s arms.
She buried her face in his chest.
“Bell.”
“Mm.”
“From today on.”
“My last name is no longer Astane.”
“My name is Tia Olivia.”
“That was my biological father’s name.”
“It means...”
“Peace and light.”
Clap, clap, clap.
A burst of applause rang out.
It was ill timed.
But very crisp.
Claude stood up.
He was clapping.
A smile of admiration was on his face.
“Splendid.”
“What a truly splendid happy ending.”
“Miss Olivia’s magnanimity is truly admirable.”
He straightened his tailcoat.
He adjusted his monocle.
“Since the show is over.”
“May I take my leave?”
“After all, I am merely a messenger.”
Bell turned his head.
His gaze instantly turned cold.
“Did I say you could leave?”
“The secret hasn't been told yet.”
“What exactly is on Tia?”
Claude sighed.
He picked up his cane.
He walked up to Bell.
This time.
He did not maintain a safe distance.
Instead, he leaned in very close.
Close enough that Bell could smell the faint scent of sandalwood on him.
“Do you really want to know?”
Claude lowered his voice.
Only the two of them could hear.
“Actually, it is nothing major.”
“It is just...”
The corner of his mouth curved into a bizarre arc.
A flash of playfulness crossed his eyes.
“Miss Cecilia.”
“Asked me to give you her regards.”
Boom.
Bell’s pupils violently constricted to the size of needlepoints.
All his blood seemed to flow backward in an instant.
His scalp tingled.
His whole body went stiff.
Cecilia.
That name.
That devil.
Claude straightened up.
He took a step back.
He gave an elegant bow.
“Well then.”
“Until we meet again.”
“Brother.”
Those last two words.
He said them with his mouth alone, without making a sound.
That was Cecilia’s favorite way to address him.
Bell stood rooted to the spot.
Motionless.
Tia was still sobbing in his arms.
But he could no longer hear her.
Everything around him seemed to disappear.
Only that name echoed in his mind.
Like a cold, venomous snake.
Coiled around his neck.
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