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Volume 3 Chapter 1 Part 9

It was not until about ten years ago, when the grown-up Matthias became an Archduke, that the Factory Alliance managed to once again regain the strength it possessed during Jürgen Kraische’s time.

Once the Factory Alliance’s power has been sufficiently restored, Mathias Kraische began to make preparations for another decisive battle against the Fantasia Union so that the entire continent could be united under the Factory Alliance’s reign as it was always meant to be. If he succeeded with that, then he would have every right to tell that he managed to do something that his father had failed to achieve. However, he was also forced to abandon the plans of conquest that he had made because of a happening that no one could have predicted.

Mathias Kraische’s only daughter, Marine Kraische, who has been sent abroad in order to study in the Magic City of Elam ended up falling in love with Alexis Doucet, the heir to the leader of the Fantasia Union at that time, Archduke Silvester Doucet. It was a love that could never come to fruition because of the complicated situation between the two lovers, but even though she knew that it is not going to be easy for them, Marine still did not give up. First she began to pester her father for days about the potential benefits of the marriage between her and Alexis that would unite the two opposing forces as one, and she even had the entire Lord’s Conferences of both the Factory Alliance and the Fantasia Union approve of the idea of the marriage of the two great houses.

However, during the wedding ceremony that was finally supposed to unite them, an incident that would come to be known as 「The tragedy of the Grand Cathedral 」occurred. Up until recently it was unknown who was the perpetrator responsible for the summoning of the Demon Lord that killed both of the Archdukes, but after the recent incident in Artuk it became known that the one responsible for it was a woman known as The Black Witch Yana, who was associated with a secret society of the Dark Mages known as Pandora. But she could not have been the only one who was behind the murder of the Archdukes, because the security around the Grand Cathedral and the entire marriage ceremony was too strict to miss something as significant as the summoning of the force as destructive as the Demon Lord, which also required a tremendous amount of Chaos converted into magical energy, so it was deduced that the Black Witch must have had other people who have been collaborating with her.
Unfortunately, to this day neither the Factory Alliance nor the Fantasia Union managed to detect and apprehend anyone in their midst who would have had connections to Pandora, the investigation was stuck at a dead end. It also meant that the simple future where there would be no conflict over which of the two major forces would come out on top in the war for Grancrest and had their Emperor rule the entire continent because both the Factory Alliance and the Fantasia Union would rule together had collapsed without any hopes of returning, and even Margaret could not possibly predict how would the upcoming war for the Grancrest unfold.

While staring at Floria’s portrait, Margret thought about the continent’s past, present, and future… but then she realized that if she is going to go back to her community in order to become the shrine maiden at the Temple of the Holy Fire, then she would no longer be involved I the matters related to the continent’s geopolitical situation. Such a life might not be all that bad considering how peaceful it would be, but it was exactly that peacefulness and uneventfulness that made her think that such a life would be nothing but boring.

Keeping these thoughts to herself, she just looked up at the face of the woman in the portrait

「She is beautiful, is she not? 」

Villar said proudly when he noticed what Margaret was looking at.

Margaret nodded silently. She really thought that Floria was a truly beautiful person, but she was also painfully aware that in Villar’s eyes she must have been glorified even further than that.

「I heard rumors that the previous Lord Richuan imprisoned Lady Floria after she defected from the Factory Alliance? 」

What Margaret was talking about right now was not a fact recorded in any of the historical chronicles that were being kept in the library of Castle Unicorn. It was something that she heard about from the really old servants who worked in the castle, and she also heard the townspeople whispering stories about it on more than one occasion.

「I believe that is not something that is necessary for you to know… 」

Villar said as he looked back at the portrait of his mother as if he was trying to turn his face away from Margaret.

「Because she broke the pact with the Kraische family, my mother should have by all means been sent back to them so that she could be punished for her transgressions properly. And yet, even though he was supposed to, my father did not send her away to them… because he did not want to let go of her and keep her all to himself. 」

It was a story that Margaret was familiar with as well. She heard that the real reason for why did Vilar’s predecessor betray the Iron-Blooded Earl Jurgen Kraische was because he became so possessive of his wife that he did not want anyone else besides himself to have her. The marriage between Vilar Constance’s parents was supposed to be an entirely political one, but it would seem that only one side of the marriage viewed it as such.

「And so your predecessor was able to confine Lady Floria successfully? 」

「He did, even though my mother tried to run away on more than one occasion, but he was always there to bring her back. Eventually, my mother started hating him so much that she was spitting curses not only at him, but towards the entire Constance bloodline throughout every waking hour of her life. 」

「And what was happening with you at that time, Lord Vilar? 」

「I was born shortly before these events transpired, but their aftermath carried over well until I was young. When I stopped being a helpless child, my mother, who had been very kind and caring towards me until that time suddenly had a change of heart and began to distance herself from me, and she even started abusing me. I did not understand why she was doing that back then, so the only thing I could to was to continue to apologize to my mother for whatever I did that ended up offending her so much, but for her it was never enough. She was always telling me that no amount of apologizing will ever be enough for me to apologize for the curse Constance bloodline that was flowing through my veins, and that I was no son of hers. 」

Villar said calmly, but the look that he had in his eyes while talking about his past was the one of deep sadness. It was the first time in her life when Margaret has seen him making such a face.

「It cannot be… 」

Margaret was at a loss for words. She has never heard about that detail of Vilar’s past. It was probably a piece of knowledge that even the most gossip-loving servants were not privy to.

「Those are the earliest memories that I have of my mother. I was coming to visit her in the room where she was being kept in confinement several times, believing each time that perhaps today is going to be the day when she will finally forgive me, but each and every time my mother’s madness was only growing deeper and she was cursing me with increasingly vile words, driving me further and further away from herself. Because of that, I eventually grew to hate my mother as well, and stopped coming to see her in her room altogether. 」

Villar then drank the contents of the glass he was holding in his hand in one gulp and proceeded to refill it again. He liked drinking alcohol, but he was never drinking for the explicit purpose of getting himself drunk, always making sure that he would stop drinking before the drinks in his glass would lose their taste. But right now, it looked like he was drinking precisely to get himself drunk, and he was not that far from that goal.

That was also the first time that Vilar had spoken to Margaret so openly about the matters related to his private life ever since she first signed the contract with him seven years ago.

Margaret thought it might be because she was no longer his contracted Mage.

「Just as my mother cursed Constance’s blood, I cursed Kraische’s blood in return and I respected my father, and my father loved me for it and raised him as the heir to the Constance family. When I was ten years old, my mother finally died in that confined room… 」

Margaret unintentionally held her face with both hands. That was too cruel of a fate, she thought to herself.

「My father then took in a new wife and had children with her, who became my brothers and sisters. But my father left me as heir to the family, and I made sure to get along well with my stepmother, brothers, and sisters. 」

One of his brothers is Serge Constance, Count of Regalia. Vilar’s stepmother, brothers and sisters all lived in the castle of Count Regalia after his predecessor died of illness and Vilar took on the duties of the head of the Constance family.

「Lord Serge is now your subordinate Lord, and I saw that he admires you greatly, Lord Vilar. 」

「That is because my stepmother has a kind personality, and Serge and my brothers and sisters have inherited it from her. It is perhaps because of that reason that father was worried about letting any of them rule over Artuk. When I was fifteen years old, I followed my father unto the battlefield, captured Regalia for him and then occupied Kirchs, Haman and other neighboring countries and brought them under our control. 」

「I heard that you achieved many spectacular victories during that time, and that was when people first began to notice you and your talent. 」

「There were even rumors that I was the reincarnation of Iron-Blooded Earl Jürgen Kraische. However, when my father heard those rumors, he began to look at me with suspicion. I guess he never must have forgotten that I had the cursed Kraische blood flowing through my veins after all. 」

Villar smiled to himself and stared at his left palm.

「But soon after, my father fell ill and I inherited the title of the Earl of Artuk from him. As his illness worsened, my father seemed to be seeing hallucinations of my mother. He was constantly calling out my mother’s name, and he cried and apologized to her over and over again, telling her that it was all his fault. In the end, he ended up dying of madness just like her. 」

「I have heard rumors that it was because of a curse that Lady Floria placed upon him before she died. 」

She thought it was a simple rumor, but when she heard the truth from Vilar, she certainly wanted to think so even more than before.

「However, in light of all that, I do not understand why you respect Lady Floria so much, Lord Vilar. 」

「It’s not that difficult to understand if you think about it carefully, really. 」

Villar gently looked at Margaret.
「She realized that my father had no intention of returning her and me, her child to the Kraische family. And she also knew that father would one day come to be afraid of the Kraische blood flowing in me. And also, ever since I was little, I was told that I look exactly like my mother… 」

「No way! 」

Thinking about what Villar was trying to say, Margaret shook her body violently.

「Did Lady Floria was rejecting you because she knew that you will not be harmed that way, and my making you curse the Kraische blood of your mother, she wanted to ensure that your father would accept you as his child?! 」

「It took me way too long to realize that this was the truth. 」

Villar smiled sadly.

「But I heard that my mother loved my father when they were just married. She was a beautiful, intelligent, and devoted wife. She also took good care of me. Whatever the truth may be, rather than cursing the woman who gave birth to you and raised you for so many years, would you not rather love her? 」

Villar said so, and he presented a pure white handkerchief to Margaret, who suddenly burst into tears.

「Lord Vilar…!!! 」
Margaret did not receive the handkerchief. Instead, she jumped into the Earl’s chest and cried aloud.

「Please, do not cry. That is exactly why I did not want to talk about this too much. 」

Villar gently caressed Margret’s back and tried to comfort her.

Margaret seemed to understand now why the Earl, while cherishing women, seemed to keep his distance from them, and why he did not took a wife and had an heir at his age already. That is why she chose not to stop crying. Because if she did not cry for him, then he would definitely not cry for himself.

「I have always admired you… 」

Margaret thought she would never say those words, because she never wanted to be the same as the women who only aimed for the rank of Countess when they were approaching Vilar.
「I am glad to hear that. 」
Villar nodded while still hugging Margret.

「You have beauty and intelligence unlike my mother. You are passionate but very kind. To me, you were the woman I could trust more than anyone else. But as you said, even though I respect women, somewhere deep down in my heart I might be afraid of them. I am afraid of being betrayed, and I am afraid of being hurt. It was clear to me from the beginning that I could not make you my wife. 」

「I never wanted to be Countess Constance, but I ended up falling for you anyway, and all that I ever wanted was to be with you forever, Lord Vilar. 」

There were still tears in Margaret’s eyes, but she felt like she had said what she wanted to say, and her chest was not as tight as it was before anymore.

「Thank you for taking care of me for such a long time. 」

Margaret said with a smile on her face.

「I pray for your happiness. 」

Villar nodded his head and replied. That is what he said to all the Mages with whom he had cancelled their contracts.