What I Gained by Giving My Body - Chapter 2.6

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Roxias’s golden eyes flashed in the sunlight pouring through the window. He leaned obliquely against his desk and looked up at the sun glowing in the cloudless blue sky. The times he once thought would be eternal, when he used to gallop through that sky with the sun, now felt like the distantly ancient past. In fact, it was the ancient past. To the extent that the humans living and breathing now couldn’t even remember it.

No, it would be more correct to say they chose oblivion themselves. To accept a new god, the humans had burned and destroyed every piece of evidence that they had once believed in and served Roxias and his brothers and sisters. Someone knocked on the door. When Roxias responded, the head butler entered.

“Baronet Hardick requests an audience, Your Grace.”

At the unexpected news he brought, Roxias’s eyes narrowed. It was a completely unforeseen visitor.

“I heard his health was very poor, but he seems better than I thought.”

The head butler’s complexion darkened.

“To my eyes, the rumors that he doesn’t have much longer to live seem true. He couldn’t even move properly.”

“And yet he came all the way here?”

“Yes.”

The head butler nodded.

“Normally I would have turned him away, but…… considering your relationship with Miss Hardick.”

His head throbbed. The relationship with Caitlyn Hardick was indispensable to him, but it was followed by troublesome byproducts. Like Edward Hardick.

“Let him in.”

He thought he would have to see him at least once anyway. The fact that the person who sought out the other first was the opponent rather than himself was quite a surprise, but it wasn’t strange considering the rumors that Edward Hardick cherished his sister quite a bit.

Edward Hardick entered the office after a long while. As soon as Roxias saw his face, he was momentarily speechless and just stared at him. Seeing his panting breath and bloodless face, it seemed climbing the landing had been a great ordeal. However, whether Edward Hardick suffered or not was completely irrelevant to Roxias; the reason he was surprised was for an entirely different reason.

‘……Helenus.’

Just as Roxias had recognized Cathy at a glance, he recognized him at a glance as well. The Prince of Troy, his High Priest, Cassandra’s twin brother…… and a traitor. The traitor was by Cathy’s side. This time, too, as the family member she cherished so much.

‘Fate is truly spiteful.’

But was that any concern of his? Rather, it was a good thing. That man would one day grab Cathy’s ankles and pull her down, plunging her into a wretched abyss. Exactly as Roxias desired. However, Roxias had to admit. The fact that the younger brother Caitlyn Hardick doted on so much was such a person was not a very pleasant thing.

“What grievance brings you here?”

He opened his mouth slowly. Several possibilities lingered in his mind. Caitlyn Hardick had not yet asked him for money. Whether it was because of pride or because she really didn’t need it, he didn’t know, but her brother’s thoughts might be different. Or he might have truly come for Caitlyn’s safety. Because Helenus, too, had been exceptionally devoted to Cassandra before the war. Even so, it was nothing but a pretense that wouldn’t last long. Thus Roxias mocked the opponent. Before a truly difficult time arrived, what on earth did it mean to be exceptionally kind?

“……Please stop playing with Caitlyn using me as a hostage.”

Edward Hardick answered in a voice full of sharp edges.

“I am a dead man anyway. Does it amuse you to deceive my sister with a sick man you can’t even save?”

“It is amusing.”

“……!”

Roxias continued as he looked at Edward’s shocked face.

“The fact that you can’t even fathom that if I truly stop, your sister’s situation will become even more miserable.”

Momentarily, Edward was speechless. Because even in his own mind, it was the truth. It was already a fait accompli that Caitlyn was Roxias’s mistress. But if she couldn’t even become a formal mistress and was discarded this early after having her body defiled…… he didn’t even have to rack his brain to imagine what would happen to her reputation.

“It doesn’t matter. If we go down to a rural village far from the capital and live there, everyone will forget Caitlyn. But if Your Grace continues to call for her, my sister will have no choice but to be a target.”

Edward panted for breath. Pouring out words for a long time was an ordeal in itself, but he couldn’t stop when he thought of Caitlyn, who had returned in a wretched state last night.

“……Caitlyn is suffering, Your Grace.”

He couldn’t bring himself to specifically say why Caitlyn was suffering.

“Living is fundamentally difficult for everyone. I don’t think that’s a story that applies solely to Cathy.”

Edward’s eyes wavered. No matter how he looked at it, Archduke Akbar was treating Caitlyn merely as a woman to play with for a while and discard. It wasn’t too late. He had to make it stop before Caitlyn’s heart was wounded further. The problem was that the method didn’t come to mind at all. By what means could he possibly oppose Archduke Akbar, who held the highest power in the empire after the Emperor?

Was it luck? Or misfortune? It was Archduke Akbar who reached out first.

“In the end, isn’t it that you want your sister not to hear bad things from others.”