Turning-Chapter 851

Even from the slightest traces left at scenes, the residual emotions were always tangled, rough, and horrific enough to exhaust whoever read them. Yet now, at this final moment, came only calm.

‘Lady Mayra. If you’ve said what you came to say, it’s time to go back now. Do you have anything more you wish to say?’

‘...Can I say more?’

Kanna glanced at Naham, then sighed.

‘Technically, no... but I think it might be fine. Just a little.’

If there had been even a hint of danger from Naham, she wouldn’t have allowed it. But this silence stirred complicated feelings. It was similar to what Yuder had felt when thinking of Mayra and Naham.

With Kanna’s permission, Mayra hesitated briefly before opening her mouth again.

‘You probably don’t care... but the funeral held here today was for my half-brother, Ashlav. He was on his way to meet the Cavalry when he was murdered by some Awakeners. And now, I’ve met the death of another half-sibling in the same place. That person is an Awakener. ...It’s strange, isn’t it?’

Mayra didn’t cry as she said that. But her whole figure, soaked in sleet, looked like someone who had cried a great deal.

‘Honestly, right now... I keep thinking what if I’d gone to see them both just a little sooner. I’ll probably be living with that thought for the rest of my life.’

‘......’

‘If there’s ever a chance... I never want something like today to be repeated again under the name of Hern...’

‘—I wondered why you were in such a rush to sneak away alone, Mayra. And what is this nonsense you’re doing now?’

In the middle of Mayra’s fragile but earnest words, a sharp voice cut through.

‘It’s dangerous here! You shouldn’t come any closer!’

‘Are you saying there’s a place in the South I can’t go?’

Turning her head, Kanna scowled as she saw Duke Hern appear without warning. Even when they’d crossed paths earlier, she’d felt repulsed—his rotten core clashed horribly with his beautiful facade. And now, of all times, he had to show up again.

And worse, he wasn’t alone. Two servants were holding up an enormous umbrella that could almost be called a tent, shielding him from the hail, and a ring of burly knights surrounded him.

Someone was even laying cloth on the ground to prevent his shoes from getting muddy. The whole procession was so excessive it was hard to believe her eyes.

‘You sneak off alone and come here just to apologize in Hern’s name to a criminal? Do you already think yourself the head of House Hern?’

‘You came all the way here just to say that?’

‘“Just”? That’s quite the thing to say. The ones who trusted you would be very disappointed to hear such words. Amusing, really.’

Even when Cavalry members tried to make Duke Hern retreat, he refused. Perhaps he saw this as a perfect chance to exploit the moment and damage his rebellious successor. The Cavalry, unable to carelessly act against a non-Awakener noble, were momentarily flustered—and then Mayra shouted, her voice rising with emotion.

‘Father! Any other time, I might hold back, but please, just for today—stop. Do you even know who that person is?’

‘Why should I know?’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

‘That person is also your child! Don’t you remember the Southern-born illegitimate child you locked away so thoroughly that they couldn’t even step outside? One of your countless bastards?’

For the first time, Duke Hern turned his haughty gaze toward where Naham lay. It was hard to see clearly through the bad weather and the Cavalry standing in the way, but he could make out some identifying features.

A ruined face marred by burns on one side, and hair color marking him as of Southern descent.

Then the Duke turned away, his expression indifferent, and spoke.

‘...A Southern bastard? You should be careful not to disgrace your parents too much. If someone else had said such a thing, I wouldn’t have forgiven it—an insult to the Duke of Hern.’

‘Do you truly think you bear no responsibility at all for Ashlav’s ruined funeral or any of what’s happened here?’

‘Mayra.’

‘If this is an insult, then punish me however you wish. But until you apologize to him, I’ll keep saying the same thing. Hern has sinned against far too many children. Children who had no say in where they were born. How do you intend to bear that guilt?’

‘Mayra!’

Smack. Mayra’s cheek /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ was struck.

Everyone around held their breath. Duke Hern, who had slapped his daughter, sneered coldly.

‘Ridiculous. I suppose you thought you could spout this nonsense here because you have the backing of the Duke of Peleta and the Cavalry. The moment we return, you’ll be confined. And that Southern bastard? Even if such filth exists, do you think anyone would bother remembering it?’

‘Don’t think I’m speaking out in ignorance. You can try to silence the world to pretend nothing happened, but the truth always remains in someone’s memory. That person’s existence too—’

Kanna stepped in front of the Duke, blocking his raised hand as he prepared to strike Mayra again. He glared at her as if she were some insect in his way, then turned his back.

‘You claim you want to be Hern’s successor, yet you have no idea what weight Hern’s blood carries.’

‘......’

‘If every lowly creature with a drop of Hern’s blood could become Hern, then today’s Hern would never exist. And now, a worm with filthy Southern blood thinks it can invoke the family name to receive an apology? You’ve dragged our name through the mud.’

Turning away, the Duke stepped outside the umbrella’s cover. His servants hesitated in confusion over whether to follow. The Duke took several steps toward Naham and looked down at his blood-swollen, broken body with clear disgust.

‘Don’t come any closer!’

‘What is the Cavalry doing, keeping a captured criminal alive? Do you think you’ll uncover some weakness of House Hern from him? Then I’ll—’

As the Duke began to speak, Kanna made her decision.

This couldn’t continue. Even if he was a noble and a non-Awakener, they would have to drag him away.

‘Escort the Duke of Hern outside, now—!’

‘Father!’

‘Everyone—!’

The Duke’s knights.

Mayra.

Kanna.

All of them spoke at once, trying to act, trying to stop—

At that moment, a massive surge of power exploded from Naham, who had lain motionless until now, and struck the Duke of Hern.

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