NOVEL NEXT #59
#59
After Marchioness Elmerila left the room, Kain Starchis, who had been leaning against the other wall, reappeared with a stern face. He carefully placed the injured bird he was holding onto the table and said,
“Jersian.”
“There was no need to hide. If you had honestly said you had some business to attend to briefly, she would have understood right away. Anyway, now I should get up-“
“I have something to say.”
“…Something to say?”
Jersian, with his hair slightly disheveled after helping Kain right after waking up and inadvertently finishing a conversation with the Marchioness, tilted his head slightly and said,
“What is it?”
“…”
Kain Starchis didn’t open his mouth immediately. He knew how much Jersian trusted and followed the head of the Gerold family. He pondered how to speak in a way that wouldn’t hurt Jersian, but in the end, he concluded that there was no way to convey this fact without hurting his feelings.
“…What’s wrong, why did you stop talking?”
Strangely. Jersian stared at the quiet Kain with strange eyes.
“Marchioness Elmerila already knew about that letter.”
“What?”
“The conversation with the Marchioness just now, there were far more lies than truths.”
“…”
What… Jersian’s red eyes immediately distorted. The muscle on his jaw, somewhere between a boy’s and a man’s, tensed slightly. He frowned, bit his lip lightly, then smiled and shook his head.
“…That’s nonsense. You must have misheard.”
The first response was denial. That can’t be. The next feeling was self-defense wrapped in betrayal. Jersian shook his head once more and said,
“You must have misheard. If she knew about that letter, there’s no way Aunt wouldn’t have told me until now.”
“Jersian.”
“Marchioness Elmerila is the benefactor of my life who took in my mother and me. She has no need to lie to me to test me.”
“I’m sorry, but no matter how much you say it can’t be, lies don’t turn into truth.”
“…”
At Kain’s firm statement, Jersian raised a sharp gaze. As if he couldn’t have been mistaken, Kain Starchis was looking down at Jersian with a calm face. He could point out the truth in front of him forever, even if Jersian denied it several more times.
“…What lies did she tell?”
Jersian asked, furrowing his brow. His character was well revealed in the fact that even if it was difficult to accept immediately, he needed to verify the facts first. And Kain quite liked this aspect of Jersian’s nature.
“The first lie was that Baron Basiz was the one who first disclosed about that letter.”
Kain conveyed the facts he had heard clearly so that Jersian could hear properly. Then, raising one more finger after his long index finger, he said,
“The statement that there was no need to hide anything from her was also a lie.”
“…”
Jersian’s red eyes trembled slightly. Unable to hide his bewilderment, his Adam’s apple bobbed. Until now, she was the person he believed to be thoroughly on his side, second only to his mother. As Jersian slightly tilted his head and frowned as if asking if he was serious, Kain continued speaking as if telling him to listen more before deciding.
“Even the words that she’s always on your side, Jersian. That was a lie.”
“Ha.”
Haha, Jersian couldn’t stop the hollow laugh that naturally flowed from between his lips. That meant the entire conversation just now was a lie. It was something he had never even imagined.
It was Marchioness Elmerila, to whom he had devoted his life in loyalty. Sometimes she was infinitely cruel, and like a sword that cut through anything, but he had always thought she was essentially on his side forever.
“You’re saying all that was a lie?”
This can’t be. Jersian muttered softly.
“From now on, you are Jersian Gerold. Do you understand?”
“…”
Black hair and red eyes, as if stolen from the imperial family. And a boy who looked nothing like his mother, Cynthia. The child looked up at the adult who was slightly bending over in front of him, pursing his lips and shaking his head slightly from side to side.
At the gesture of refusal, Cynthia was about to call the child’s name as if to persuade him.
“Jersi-“
“You don’t like it?”
At Elmerila Gerold’s voice, the child’s small body flinched.
Unlike Cynthia, who had always treated the child warmly and gently, it was a cold voice the child had never heard before. Tears slightly welled up in the child’s red eyes. Cynthia Gerold noticed this and wanted to embrace the child, but she was held back by Elmerila Gerold’s restraint.
“…”
Elmerila Gerold, looking down at the child, clicked her tongue and said,
“If you don’t like it, say so right now. After all, we don’t want to accept a child of unknown lineage into the family either.”
“Sister! How can you say such things to Jersian and me?”
“Cynthia. Then tell me the truth. Whose child is he? You know that if you don’t tell me the truth, I have no choice but to believe the rumors.”
“The rumors are not true. Of course, it must be His Highness Crown Prince Alseides Del Claude! What other man could I possibly have!”
“Then why did you leave the imperial palace in the middle of the night as if you were being chased out?”
“…”
When Cynthia couldn’t say anything, Elmerila pressed her again.
“Why did you return to the Gerold mansion with the child? Throwing away the queen’s position you so desired. All these facts point to a single truth, so why! Why are you the only one saying the rumors are false! And you’re asking me to believe that? No way! I’m not such a fool.”
“…”
Cynthia’s red lips turned pale from biting them. She gripped her dress tightly, unable to answer Elmerila’s words that were almost like shouts. Elmerila sneered at Cynthia as if to say, ‘See, I told you so.’
“See, you still can’t say anything. Cynthia. If you’re going to lie, you should do it properly. Such methods don’t work on me.”
“…I didn’t think you would believe me anyway, sister. Yes, I admit the rumors sound plausible. But someday the truth will come out, and then everyone will know that I was right.”
“What?”
Elmerila Gerold’s expression crumpled. It was a face that couldn’t understand her stubborn younger sister.
But after saying that, Cynthia Gerold turned her gaze away from Elmerila and gently stroked Jersian’s back, who was still stiff, and whispered,
“Jersian, don’t be too scared. The family head may seem very cold on the outside, but she has always been a good sister to me.”
“…But.”
Jersian’s red eyes were filled with Cynthia, who was smiling with a sad face.
“Even when she’s angry like this, it’s all because she’s worried about me, no, about us.”
“Who decided that on their own?”
Elmerila Gerold’s cold voice was heard from another direction, but Cynthia neatly ignored it with her characteristic brightness.
“So… let’s greet her with a smile. To your aunt.”
“…Yes.”
“Come on, with a smile.”
Listening to Cynthia’s words, young Jersian tried hard to hold back the tears that were about to burst out and pulled up his lips. Then he bowed his head towards Marchioness Elmerila, who was looking down at him with her arms crossed and a grumpy expression.
“Hello… I’m Jersian Gerold.”
Marchioness Elmerila tilted her head at the bold voice that came out of the child’s small mouth. She had thought he would just cry and follow his mother around, but his ability to do as he was told with some composure moved her heart ever so slightly.
It was awkward, but this was their first meeting.
Peep— Peep.
Even after hearing the truth, it took some time to digest it.
Jersian was lost in thought for a long time, keeping his mouth shut.
Then, looking at Kain Starchis who was changing the bandage of the injured bird, he muttered,
“I understand that Elmerila lied to me. But what benefit does she gain from it?”
“…”
It was closer to talking to himself rather than wanting an answer. So Kain glanced at Jersian once, then focused on treating the bird again without interfering with his contemplation.
Jersian was lying on the sofa with his head on the armrest, shoes still on. His raised chin pointed towards the ceiling, and he occasionally wiggled his feet, lost in thought.
In his mind, a complex relationship diagram was drawn, sequentially weaving together the letter, Marchioness Elmerila, and the face of Kemirun Del Claude he had seen at the engagement ceremony.
Jersian pressed his lips together and twisted them.