The Marquis of Lagarea tore at his gray hair.
“Ha-ha, isn’t it ironic? My mother was royalty, but she was treated like a whore and sent from the royal palace. Later, a woman with the heart of a whore became royalty as a concubine. Let it be known! This is the shameful conduct of the kings whom you look up to as supreme beings! …Beasts have more humanity…! What lengths won’t you go to to ruin my life, you Fanoren filth?!”
His dry laugh was the lament of a long-suffering man’s life.
“…I decided then that I would destroy everything that had to do with Fanoren, especially the future of its men. I would take everything away from them so they couldn’t ruin the lives of any more women, and no one would ever have to see women reveal their true nature the way I had…! I would take away all that George had inherited from my real father!”
The old man turned his eyes, gleaming with hatred, on Joachim and Gravis.
“I wanted to make his sons, you…and you! I wanted to make you all miserable!”
How could he have concealed such loathing in his mild demeanor? Leorino was heartbroken.
“…Was that why you started that war while my father was dying?” Joachim asked. “To keep me from succeeding this country…and to take something precious from my brother?”
“Yes…but your younger brother was the problem. Because of you, I failed to destroy this country nineteen years ago, but I succeeded in taking from you the one person you cared about most!”
The marquis’s confession brought all the men who knew Ionia to despair. The marquis roared with laughter, his eyes bloodshot.
“…Your Highness, Prince Gravis. How did it feel to watch that man die? How did you enjoy the agony of not being able to save him when he was right before you?! …Yes. You look so much like George. Whenever I saw you, I thought to myself: You should suffer the pain of having someone you love taken from you…!”
The roar of a beast echoed through the office.
It was not Gravis who screamed. Lucas was wailing to the heavens.
Joachim stepped forward and knelt in front of Lagarea. The men were startled by the king’s unexpected movement.
“Your Majesty?! Please, stand back!”
“Brother!”
Joachim stared into the old traitor’s light brown eyes with a calm gaze.
“…You have supported my reign for nineteen long years. You supported me, even when everyone said I was mediocre compared to my brother. Even before that…you were never cold to me, even when I was a child. In fact, you have been more affectionate to me than my father.”
“Your Majesty…”
“Why did you serve me so long if you carried all this hatred the entire time? …You could have just poisoned me. That would have been easy for you.”
Joachim inclined his head.
“…Is it because I look like my mother?”
At that moment, Leorino saw an equal amount of hatred and heartbreak welling up in Lagarea’s old eyes.
“…Yes. Because you…looked like Brigitte…!”
The twisted love of an old man who now held his face in his hands and wailed. The resulting hatred.
“I loathe that woman who left me and chose that foolish king. I loathed her with all my heart! But when you were young and as you grew older, you bore the face of Brigitte when she was perfect… I could not bring myself to loathe you.”
Why was it that he had wanted to kill Joachim so badly, but could not do so directly? Why did he want him to be destroyed by the enemy?
His sincere friendship toward August and his protection and support of the king were also what this man had originally wanted to be.
Leorino could no longer bear to witness the consequences of decades of twisted love and hate.
Gravis tightly embraced Leorino’s shoulders.
Not wanting anyone to see his tears, Leorino rested his forehead on the man’s chest. Gravis’s lament poured into him from where their bodies touched.
Gravis showed no tears, but he must have been crying deep inside.
Both August and Lucas were crying with unspeakable frustration.
Pointless.
The reason why the Marquis of Lagarea committed the horrible crime of selling his country to its enemies. The lives of those who became his victims.
It was all so painful and so pointless.
When they reached the end of the treachery that Ionia’s memories had revealed to them, they found nothing at all.
There was no sense of accomplishment, no relief, nothing.
Only the pointlessness of it all, lying there like a corpse.
It was Chancellor Ginter who dealt the final blow.
“Bruno Henckel, you are under arrest for treason for having betrayed our country for so many years.”
Thus, Bruno Henckel, the Marquis of Lagarea, who had long enjoyed great prosperity as a high-ranking official of the royal court, was apprehended.
The arrest of a leading nobleman sent shockwaves throughout Fanoren.
Bruno Henckel was imprisoned in the palace dungeons and given special treatment to prevent him from using his Power as he awaited his punishment. He would likely not escape the death penalty.
As for his accomplice, Smirnov, his real name and his origins were never discovered. The man was also sentenced to death, and no one came to his defense.
In the midst of the rush to deal with the aftermath of the war at home and abroad, Leorino had already left the Brungwurt estate and moved with Hundert and Josef to Gravis’s palace. Leorino and Gravis discussed the matter and petitioned the king and Chancellor Ginter to hold only a small wedding ceremony, unusual for the royal family.