“Hmm, so that’s how it was.”
Having moved to a different location and finished hearing the story from Jared and the others, Ricardo closed his eyes and let out a big sigh.
“Have you ever asked why Young Lady is trying to revive the Progenitor and what she wants to do?”
To Clawence’s question, Ricardo opened his eyes and replied, “I know. But I don’t know if that answer is correct right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Cassandra confided in me. As her older brother, when she was troubled about the path she should take. It’s ironic. It wasn’t until my mother tried to kill me that I truly became like siblings with my sister.”
As Ricardo wore a self-deprecating expression, everyone found themselves unable to find words to say.
“I know she is trying to revive the Progenitor. However, I can’t find a reason to detain you, Jared. Rather, I believe you should cooperate with her if she wishes to achieve her goals. ”
“Cooperate with me?”
“Yes. Cassandra is trying to revive the Progenitor and kill them. See, there’s that child named Rasmus, whose age is unknown. She wants to revive the Progenitor for his sake.”
“For Rasmus? But Rasmus is trying to stop Duke Hagedorff.”
“Yes, that’s why I don’t understand what Cassandra is thinking right now.”
Seeing his troubled face, Jared and the others also made similar expressions.
They knew that Rasmus, the sole survivor of the Magician Empire’s royal family, was trying to kill the Progenitor. He had decided to take the life of his ancestor, the Progenitor, with the sole desire of letting him rest in peace. However, the method was difficult, involving reviving the Progenitor by using a woman with the Progenitor’s blood as a vessel. In other words, the killing of the Progenitor would also result in the death of the woman who served as the vessel.
Cassandra Hagedorff is believed to be using herself as the vessel. Therefore, Rasmus, unable to sacrifice a woman he had known since childhood, was trying to stop her even by seeking help from Jared and the others.
What is terrifying about reviving the Progenitor is not just the sacrifice of someone, but the complete unknown regarding what the revived Progenitor would think and do. Would they try to revive their fallen homeland? Or would they intend to wage war against non-human entities, as they had in the past?
Jared wished that the dead would simply remain dead. Perhaps the Progenitor had unfinished business, or perhaps they were worried about their descendants. But that should be left to those who are living now.
“Lord Ricardo, do you know how Cassandra intends to revive the Progenitor?”
“Of course. She intends to use humans with the Progenitor’s blood, including Cassandra, as vessels. Honestly, I’m against it. Even if the Progenitor were to inhabit her body, what would happen to the owner of that body?”
“…I can’t even begin to guess.”
“Neither can I, Dennis. That’s why I opposed it. Even so, she seems determined to repay Rasmus and has no intention of stopping.”
“I’m sorry,” Ricardo apologized softly.
“It’s our fault. Her suffering is because of me, my siblings, and our mothers. Jealous of that mother and daughter who received Father’s favor, and out of fear of losing the family inheritance, we did countless terrible things. Now, I can only feel ashamed of my actions.”
Ricardo confessed his inner thoughts, and Jared and the others were unable to find words to comfort him.
While they thought he was right, they also felt that those were not the only reasons for Cassandra’s actions. The ones who should truly be blamed were not the ones who were now hurting, but the people who were still trying to take Cassandra’s life along with her son.
“Father always watched Cassandra closely. No, he watched all of us closely. That’s probably why, when Cassandra, who continued to strive diligently, was chosen as the head instead of us, who had poor conduct, I thought, ‘Ah, just as I expected.'”
“Lord Ricardo, you…”
“Clawence, you must understand. The pressure of inheriting the Ducal Family. The pain of being demanded to become the head by my mother and her family. And the moment of failure, being called a failure, and no longer being a son. It was none other than Cassandra who saved us brothers, with nowhere to go and even facing threats to our lives. She was the only one who accepted us.”
Being cut off from one’s parents simply for not being chosen as the next heir was something even Jade, born into the Daum Barony with its lower aristocratic title, had rarely heard of. Was Ricardo’s mother extreme? Or perhaps, unknown to him, such things were commonplace.
It was also rare for the eldest son to lose in a succession dispute to a younger sister whose mother had a lower status, but it was not a mistake that would warrant losing one’s life.
Perhaps his mother, looking down on Cassandra’s mother, simply couldn’t accept the reality of her defeat. However, even so, it did not justify killing her son.
“If only I alone were to be killed by my mother, I would understand. I wouldn’t like it, but I would accept it. However, I couldn’t accept the deaths of my other siblings.”
“Is that why Young Lady acted as if she was holding you captive?”
“Yes. Considering what we had done, everyone around us seemed to accept it, thinking it was only natural. However, our mothers became even more frantic to take our lives. Well, that’s understandable. They probably feared that Cassandra might threaten their families by using our lives as leverage.”
“Even so, is there a reason to kill them?”
“Jared, you said you are from the Daum Barony. My mother is not as capable as Baron Daum or his wife. She was born into a family with a high aristocratic title, grew up spoiled, and only desired her own child to become the heir of her marital home. People like her cannot tolerate failure and cannot admit it. And more than anything, she lacked the magnanimity to leave a son who had become a stain on the family.”
Even so, Ricardo thought it was a terrible story.
There were many children who couldn’t inherit the family estate. But if they were to kill all of them, it would be endless. Even if the eldest son couldn’t inherit the family estate, he could serve as an assistant to his siblings. He could be entrusted with territory. He could be married off to connect families.
Even Jade, who had lived a life unbefitting a noble, could think of these possibilities. Depending on how it was handled, there were ways to make effective use of Ricardo and his siblings. However, their mother did not do so. She could not accept her children as a stain and tried to pretend they didn’t exist.
It was exceedingly shortsighted and foolish.
“By the way, what happened to your other siblings? Besides you, Lord Ricardo, there were only guards and maids in this mansion.”
To Dennis’s question, Ricardo replied with a smile,
“Yes. My other siblings have already obtained new identities and have begun their second lives.”
He stated the astonishing fact with an air of nonchalance.
