novelraw Chapter 209 : Chapter 209
Chapter 209 : Chapter 209
Chapter 209: Household Matters (9)
A year and a half.
That was all it had been.
Yet Ellen had changed beyond recognition.
She had become outright bold.
"Why did you do that?"
"......"
Normally, she would have been more cautious even when looking like this.
Benus let out a sigh and ground her teeth.
"Mom, you're being emotional right now."
"......You seem more emotional."
"I've always been like this."
It was true.
But Ellen knew how to hold back.
Especially in front of Benus.
Right now, Ellen was not holding back.
It was because of Harad. That pretty, cunning cradle robber Mage bastard.
"It was a trivial argument."
"The Annex was a blazing inferno."
"That was magic Harad unleashed on his own. He has quite a temper."
"What are you talking about? Harad is so patient."
"......"
"He's the kind of person who doesn't show it even when he's angry."
Ellen was taking the side of a man she had only known for a year and a half.
"Didn't Mom provoke him first?"
In front of the very person she called Mom.
Blood rushed to Benus's head for a moment.
Benus barely held it back. It's your own doing. It was as if the cradle robber bastard was saying so inside her head.
"I did provoke him a little."
Ellen let out a hollow laugh as if she had expected as much.
Benus felt hurt by that.
No matter what answer she gave, Benus was the culprit in Ellen's eyes.
"Why did you do that?"
"Daughter, it was because of you."
Me? Ellen tilted her head.
Her face was incredibly innocent. She even looked a bit stupid.
"......Is your body all right?"
In Benus's eyes, Ellen had suddenly collapsed.
"What do you mean?"
Instead of answering, Benus looked around.
Ellen had been sleeping just moments ago.
"It happens sometimes. It's nothing serious."
Ellen brushed it off casually.
It must be a familiar phenomenon to her.
She's dreaming.
Benus recalled Harad's words. It seemed Ellen had not experienced this dream thing just once or twice.
"It seemed like an ominous phenomenon."
"It's a good thing. For me and for Harad too."
Ellen said exactly what Harad had said.
"What makes you so certain it's good?"
"It just feels that way to me."
Ellen's intuition was trustworthy.
That too was part of her Innate Strength.
But Benus did not want to acknowledge it.
"Did Harad, that Mage bastard, tell you it was good?"
"I said it feels good to me, didn't I? Harad likes it but also doesn't really like it. Because of me."
Ellen clicked her tongue after saying so.
Benus frowned.
The source of the dream was Harad.
And yet he doesn't really like it?
"So in the end, he's the problem."
"What are you talking about? The problem is some other bitch. Not Harad."
"Some other bitch?"
Benus's eyes widened.
"There's something like that. I can't tell you in detail."
Ellen glossed over it as if she did not even want to think about it.
Benus could not do the same. Her chest grew even more stuffy.
Some bastard approached her daughter, cast strange magic on her, did not particularly like the situation, yet had captured her daughter's heart, and on top of that, there was another woman?
"How dare......"
Playing both sides without knowing his place.
"How did you provoke him?"
As Benus was getting angry, Ellen asked.
It seemed Harad's anger had come first, rather than hers.
"I told him to break up with you."
"What?"
Ellen frowned.
It was very brief. Suddenly her face cleared completely.
"So Harad set the fire because of that?"
"In the end, yes."
Benus nodded slightly.
It was not entirely wrong.
"Heh."
Ellen grinned.
Without realizing it, Benus looked at her with pitying eyes. The smile was so sinister.
"Why though? Hehe."
Ellen grinned foolishly.
After a while, she suddenly scrunched up her face.
"But why does Mom get to decide?"
"......What?"
"Why did Mom say something like that?"
Because I'm your mother.
"I would have said it anyway."
"Would you?"
"Why would I?"
"......"
Ellen's face turned serious.
Benus opened and closed her mouth, then forced out her voice with difficulty.
"It was to test him."
"Thank you."
At that, Ellen smiled brightly.
Benus could not be entirely pleased.
"I'm relieved. Because my mom is different. I guess it really was just a dream."
Ellen dreams.
What kind of dream, Benus did not know. But the source was clearly Harad, and the more Ellen dreamed this magical dream, the stronger she became.
"A dream. Yes, I heard you dream. That it's magic."
She is a special child by nature.
To borrow Harad's expression, the dream is accelerating that specialness.
"Harad said that?"
"Yes. Daughter, I heard you told him."
"That's true."
Ellen had a puzzled expression.
She seemed to be wondering if her identity had been discovered after all.
"That bastard......"
"Harad."
"......Harad said that the more you dream, the stronger you become. He said killing the Tower Master of Meteoric was proof of that."
The Otherworld, one of the masters of the magic towers that ruled over that land.
The Otherworld likens them to kings.
Ellen had killed such a Mage.
For Benus, it was hard to believe.
"It's true."
"That such magic exists."
Benus muttered to herself.
It was unbelievable. But she had no choice but to believe it.
Because it was her daughter's testimony.
If she could not even trust those words, she was not qualified to be a mother.
"What are the side effects?"
Benus's face hardened.
Magic that made you stronger just by dreaming?
How many such convenient stories existed in the world?
"It's nothing serious."
Ellen answered casually.
Benus could not do the same. That meant there were side effects, did it not? Her chest felt stuffy.
"What kind of dream did you have?"
Benus thought she had to start from there.
She would hear about this magical dream and investigate it separately. It was not impossible. She was the Intelligence Bureau Director.
If she set her mind to it, she could gather all the information in the world, and she had the ability to include magic in that.
"In the dream, there's me and Harad. It resembles reality but is subtly different."
Ellen described the dream.
"It feels like seeing a hypothetical scenario of what if I had met Harad only as Elaine and not as myself. Ah, but the Harad there is a bit lacking."
For Benus, it was incomprehensible.
But at least she understood that the Harad Ellen liked was subpar in the dream.
Because of that, Benus felt slightly relieved.
It seemed to mean she did not like him as much yet.
If she liked him madly, things she would not dare do in reality would pop up in dreams.
"What dream did you have this time?"
"Mom appeared."
Benus pointed to her own face.
Ellen nodded.
Benus smiled faintly.
It was supposed to be magic. It seemed she did not only have bad dreams.
"And?"
"You tried to kill Harad. You did."
Benus's eyes widened.
She could not deny it. In truth, she had wanted to kill him just moments ago. Harad was a cradle robber.
"So that bitch, I mean, I stopped you."
"......?"
"I said I would kill Mom if she touched Harad."
"......"
Benus was at a loss for words.
"Mom wouldn't do that, right?"
Then Ellen asked cautiously.
It felt like she was testing her.
'You wouldn't do that either, would you?'
So Benus could not bring herself to ask.
She did not have the confidence to hear the answer.
* * *
They say daughters eventually take someone else's side.
Her chest felt heavy.
But Benus was no longer an impulsive person. She was the Intelligence Bureau Director. She had to do what was right for Ellen.
"Daughter. The reason I came to see that bastard...... Harad was because of you."
Benus had to clear Ellen's suspicions.
She had agreed on this story with Harad.
"Because of me?"
"Yes. I heard through Arika. That you were worried Harad might have discovered your identity."
"......I'm sorry."
Only then could Benus smile.
The daughter she remembered was before her eyes.
"No. It's not your fault, but that bastard...... Harad seems sharp."
"He is."
Ellen nodded readily.
"Harad is smart. The smartest person I know."
What about me?
Benus swallowed that question. Even to herself, it seemed a slightly shameless question.
Becoming the Intelligence Bureau Director was not due to talent but to acquired effort.
Usually, Mages were smarter.
That was the world's average. When those who awakened Aura moved their bodies, Mages moved their minds.
"But he doesn't seem sharp enough to reach your truth."
"So I wasn't discovered?"
"That is correct."
At Benus's conclusion, Ellen stroked her chin.
She did not seem convinced.
"That's why I tested him with the breakup."
"How does that follow?"
"He approaches often and talks a lot. In such cases, it's usually one of two things. He has ulterior motives or he has interest."
Benus quoted Harad's words verbatim.
"If your suspicion was correct, it would be the former."
Ellen nodded.
"But when I told him to break up, Harad suddenly unleashed magic. It must be the latter. He must have interest."
"Heh."
Ellen reflexively smiled.
It was a smile as fast as a spinal reflex.
"Already?"
Then she muttered something incomprehensible.
To Benus, it felt like competitive psychology.
It seemed that daughter was competing with some other bitch.
Benus found that unpleasant.
But she could not show it. If she did, it seemed Ellen would come to hate her.
She'll find it burdensome.
Harad's warning kept echoing in her head.
"So at first it was the former, but eventually it became the latter?"
"It seems so."
"Heh. I think that's right."
Contrary to her worries, Ellen seemed to believe it immediately.
It was not that Harad and Benus had underestimated Ellen, but that Arika alone had overestimated her.
Of course, it did not mean Ellen was stupid, but rather that she trusted Benus that much.
That was why Benus felt her stomach churn.
She was deceiving Ellen, who trusted her so much.
"From now on, he'll have more interest, not less, right? Since I told him not only Elaine but I also dream."
"......"
"Isn't that right?"
"......Yes."
Benus nodded with difficulty.
She said she also dreams. In other words, Ellen had caught him.
To think.
It was not Harad who seduced her, but Ellen who seduced him.
"Then that's fine. Thank you, Mom."
Ellen looked very relieved.
Because she could spend time with Harad without further suspicion.
"Daughter."
Benus became curious about what would have happened if it were true.
"What would you have done if you had been discovered?"
"But I wasn't discovered."
"But you suspected you were. I'm asking how you would have handled it."
If you had been discovered.
Benus wanted to hear that answer.
That response should have been Elaine's, not Ellen's.
"If that bastard...... if Harad truly knew everything. What would you have done?"
"Does that matter?"
Ellen's face turned serious.
"It matters."
Benus's face also turned serious.
In her mind, it was a very important question.
Ellen was spending time with some man.
Actually, that was not a big problem. It would be brief entertainment. Ellen was born to play, after all.
Rather, the fact that there was only one man she played with meant she was playing quite wholesomely.
The problem was that priorities were being reversed.
That was why Intelligence Bureau Director Benus had come to meet Harad in person.
Elaine was primary, and Ellen was secondary.
But since spending time with Harad, Ellen had been neglecting her duties as Grand Heir.
Ellen was becoming primary instead of Elaine.
"Daughter, you are someone who must choose."
"Because I'm the next Grand?"
"Because it's not you, Ellen, but Elaine who is the next Grand."
Because Ellen must disappear someday.
* * *
How would you have handled it?
Ellen realized it was not such a simple question.
She would ascend to Grand someday.
But that person would be Elaine, not Ellen.
If Ellen disappeared and only Elaine remained.
What about Harad then?
Benus was asking that.
Whether she was meeting him while thinking about the future.
Ellen was pleased by that question.
It seemed Benus had acknowledged Harad.
But at the same time, she was at a loss for words.
Because she had never looked that far ahead.
Her thoughts were short-term. To put it nicely.
Objectively speaking, they were vague.
If she had been discovered?
It might have been better. Because it would mean more time together.
She had only been thinking about playing, eating, fighting, sleeping with Harad even when she was Elaine...... She had never thought about what came after.
Ellen was that kind of person.
Above all, the present was important, and she tended to be bound by it.
"......I don't know."
She would beat that bitch.
That was the only future that came to mind immediately.
"I see."
Benus nodded slightly.
Ellen found that unfamiliar.
"You're not going to say anything?"
Normally, Benus would have scolded her harshly.
Asking if she had not even thought about such things.
"Right now, you're Ellen, aren't you?"
Yet she used to scold her even then.
"I would have answered the same even as Elaine."
But she was someone who spoke her mind even when being scolded.
At least when she was Ellen.
"......That's not good."
Only then did Benus furrow her brows.
The Elaine Benus had taught should have cut it off.
"Think about it going forward."
"......That's it?"
Ellen, who had been waiting for a lecture, tilted her head.
The aunt and mother who had always been strict was unusually bland today.
That change felt somehow familiar to Ellen.
"Did Harad say something by any chance?"
People changed after encountering Harad.
The knights had. Even Grand Duke Aratus.
"He did say something, the audacious bastard."
It was the same this time too.
While Ellen was asleep, Harad had changed Benus.
'Because of me?'
It must be. It always was.
For some reason, her body grew hot. She wanted to see Harad.
She had to go see him anyway.
Because he was hurt. She had to check how badly hurt he was. Harad was already frail enough.
"Then can I go now?"
"Where to?"
"To see Harad."
"......Ellen."
Benus's face turned serious.
* * *
Ellen only saw the obstacle right in front of her.
That was the kind of niece and daughter she was.
Ellen could be that way, but Elaine must not be.
It was an attitude the next Grand must not have.
So normally, Benus would have given her a thorough scolding.
But Benus could not scold her.
Today, all she could do was advise her not to go see him and to think about it.
'You're not going to say anything?'
It was because of those words.
When she said that, Ellen had been watching Benus's reaction.
'She'll find it burdensome.'
Just as Harad had said.
Ellen was finding it burdensome.
'That cradle robber bastard.'
Whenever she thought of Harad, she still felt unpleasant.
She could not trust him. Moreover, he was a Mage.
But she could not touch him.
Because Harad's words when he had criticized Baltes Serzila stuck in her throat like a thorn.
Normally impulsive, but now the Intelligence Bureau Director.
Benus knew better than anyone that she had been forcing things.
She had simply turned a blind eye.
Because it was better than regretting it when Ellen died someday.
But Harad's words also had merit.
'Think of him as Grand duke Aratus instead of Baltes Serzila. Do you think he would have died?'
Utterly unpleasant, but it was correct.
That Grand duke would not have died. Nothing would have pierced his back even if something was stabbed into it.
Ellen was a more special child than that Grand duke Aratus.
If that specialness was truly being accelerated through something called a dream, and if Harad would die in her place even if something happened.
'Is there any reason to be burdensome?'
That became a valid point.
There was no reason to be hated.
If Ellen did not die.
That was all Benus needed.
So it was worth believing him once, as if being deceived.
Ellen was actually getting stronger, after all.
'That cradle robber bastard.'
But she still did not like Harad.
'You'll try to be pure from now on?'
Benus was astounded by that.
Did it not mean he had been cunningly playing with her all this time?
'Cunning bastard.'
He would not do.
No, she wished he would not.
'There's a possibility.'
Ellen was certain about the future of becoming Grand as Elaine.
But she had never thought about a future with Harad.
'That's a good sign.'
If she liked him to death, she would have imagined having children and seeing grandchildren.
'Equal to or less than Serzila.'
To Ellen at present, Harad was about that level.
'They're not that sticky yet.'
A year and a half.
It was short, but between a man and woman, it was a long time.
During that time, the Benus of the past had done all sorts of things.
That was the nature of love.
But Ellen was not there yet.
It meant that even though she seemed hot, she was not actually that hot.
Then it would not be strange if she cooled off at any time.
That was the nature of relationships between men and women.
'If it's just playing with fire.'
Benus could endure that much.
As long as that pretty, cunning cradle robber Mage bastard was not by Ellen's side at the very end.
'I said I would kill Mom if she touched Harad.'
......As long as such a future did not come, she could endure anything.
"How was it?"
At the voice that suddenly sounded, Benus bowed her head deeply.
It was before Grand Duke Aratus.
"I do not believe it is a matter for me to judge."
If it were up to her, she wanted to kill him.
That was merely a thought.
Benus could not actually do it. Because Grand Duke Aratus did not wish it.
"I am merely curious about Your Highness's intentions."
She was a free child by nature.
The Grand Duke felt the need to impose restrictions on such an Ellen, but in the end, those restrictions had a line.
It was because the Grand's love for his daughter was extreme.
That was why Benus was harsh only to Elaine.
The Grand did not want Benus to lay hands on Ellen as well.
If Benus had crossed the line, that Grand Duke would not have hesitated to cast out the person called Benus.
"Just leave it."
Such a Grand Duke was letting the cradle robber called Harad be.
Benus could not understand his intentions.
"I must."
His voice trembled.
Without realizing it, Benus raised her head.
The Grand Duke's eyes were bloodshot.
"If the Sun we finally found is an idiot."
The Grand Duke recalled words from long ago.
"If he's an idiot, just leave him like an ornament."
Crack.
The Grand Duke ground his teeth.
His Aura rippled.
Because Harad was not an idiot.
"If he's outstanding."
Without realizing it, Benus nodded.
Yes, Harad was outstanding.
Perhaps to the point where such a trite expression was insufficient.
"If he's outstanding...... let Ellen seduce him......"
Crash!
The Grand Duke's residence shook as if an earthquake had struck.
"That kind of bastard."
The trembling Benus nodded again.
When even the biological father was enduring to that extent, it would be absurd for the aunt to make a fuss.