72 – Her Her (5)
How long has he been hiding?
Illya looked at me and smiled. Her smile was as fresh as the sunflowers blooming in the autumn sky, but I couldn’t bear to smile at her. Not only was I once again impressed by her ability to hide, but I also wondered where I had even heard of it. It was because I was so concerned about that.
And above all, it was not a situation worth laughing leisurely.
There were still countless footsteps coming from beyond the door. Judging by the sound of clanking armor mixed in with the sound, it seemed like armed guards were also coming.
But Illya just smiled brightly even in that situation. Even if you can’t hear the sound, you can clearly feel the ground shaking. Nevertheless, she held out her breasts so proudly. Does she mean to tell you to believe in yourself? But it seemed unlikely that this little deaf elf would be of any help in this situation.
It would be better if it were Ms. Guerro…
Boom!
“Wow! Hey! There are too many!”
As if in response to my thoughts, a large shadow of a girl leaped in from beyond the doorway. She shook off countless pieces of debris from her head, as if she had broken some kind of wall.
“Hey, Ellen! Are there any guards in this mansion? Fifteen of them are rushing in to catch me!”
“That’s right, it’s the duke’s mansion. But why are you here again, Guero?”
“No, Illya told me to make some noise, so I played tag. By the way, aren’t we in big trouble now? I think we should run away, right?”
“Guero…”
Instead of answering, Ellen glanced at the Duchess. Guero then looked at her with a shy expression and bowed his head to her.
“Ah, uhm…You’re all here. Hello, Yuna’s mother. My name is Guero.”
“These… These bastards…!”
Others might have thought it was polite, but Guerro’s greeting was enough to make the already feverish Duchess explode. Contrary to the still calm Duke, the Duchess now screamed, even dropping her hands.
“What are you doing? Instead of coming right away and killing these damn things!”
“…!!!”
To her cries, a series of incoherent responses came from beyond her. Guero, who was heading towards her door, saw the soldiers approaching her and hurriedly backed away from her.
“Hey…How do you do that? Surely it won’t kill you?”
“Well, I have a bad feeling. Shouldn’t we run away now, Yuna?”
“But where? I think it’s already too late to run away, right?”
“How about throwing Guero as bait and running away?”
“No, this crazy bastard is really…!”
We panicked and repeated meaningless words. But no matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with a sharp number. As the guards tried to storm the doorway, Eren eventually felt responsible and stepped forward.
But before that, Illya walked towards the door.
She had such a confident attitude that we couldn’t even think of stopping her and just stared at her small back. In common sense, there was no way that a tiny elf girl who couldn’t even use magic could do anything against the Duke’s guards. Without even having to think about her complexities, it seemed clear that the girl would soon be trampled under her cold iron armor.
But at the same time, I was possessed by the superstitious belief that she might do something for me. Perhaps that small body that fearlessly walked around the academy might be hiding a secret like Ellen’s. Those expectations kept rising.
…Of course. Although the possibility of that happening was significantly low.
“…!”
Illya stretched out one hand towards those who were running. The guards who saw that scene stopped walking. Perhaps because it was his first time seeing an elf, he felt a sense of mystery and awe.
If I was going to reveal something’s secret, now was the time. Just now, the other person was caught off guard after seeing Illya’s cute appearance. I held her hands tightly together as if praying and only looked at her small back.
“…”
And Illya raised both her hands as if she was meeting my expectations.
The people in the room, as well as the approaching guards, looked at her hands as if fascinated. When the two hands, which had been rising in a circular motion as if to form a magic circle for her, landed on her head, she even flinched and shrunk her body. Illya, who had been concentrating so seriously on her own consciousness, suddenly turned her head behind her.
She smiled and gently placed her raised hands on her ears.
“…?”
I tilted her head as Illya, who was deaf, had no reason to act like that in the first place. However, Ellen and Guero, who had been with her for a long time, must have realized the meaning, so they hurriedly approached me and whispered her words.
“Cover your ears, Yuna.”
“Huh? Why?”
When I asked back, Ellen immediately lifted her hands and placed them tightly on both of her ears. Meanwhile, Illya turned her head to face her again. Now the guards seemed to have realized that there was nothing for her Illya and slowly began to move forward.
“…”
Illya looked at them, clenched her fists, and boldly looked ahead of her. Perhaps because she was nervous, her thin chest heaved slightly as she took deep breaths. She took a deep breath for a while and then closed her eyes tightly as her guards approached her.
And she screamed with all her might in front of her.
“Ah!!!”
…
…
…!!!!!
At that moment, everything started to fall apart.
She shook her mansion with such a huge sound that it was hard to believe it came from her tiny body. It wasn’t just a level where my ears were falling off, the magnificent waves of sound went beyond the realm of hearing and affected the material world and began to shatter the world in front of me.
“Ugh…!!!”
Even though I was covering my ears, I unconsciously collapsed to the floor, feeling as if my insides were being twisted. Guero and Ellen saw the sight and tried to run, but they too were not immune from the sound. As I knelt on the ground, a violent wave of the ground hit the floor and hit my knees roughly, like an earthquake.
“Ah!!!”
Meanwhile, Illya continued to scream at the people in front of her. She twisted her whole body and squeezed out the sound with all her might, as if she didn’t know about her own power because she couldn’t hear. The world collapsed in front of that tiny girl, and its insignificant inhabitants also collapsed helplessly. No matter how thick the armor was, it could not block that huge wave.
“…!!!”
Illya’s shouting continued until the last person fell. A small and huge secret that a girl who had been silent all her life was hiding in her mouth. It only ended when her eyes turned completely white.
…
“Ah…Uh…Ah…”
After Illya saw that the last person had collapsed, she fell straight to the ground. She lifted her head and looked at me, her chest heaving as she breathed.
“Ha…Ha…”
“Hey…?”
“Aha…Ahhahahahaha…”
For all his exhaustion, he looked very refreshed. Perhaps this was the first time she had spoken this loudly after having kept her mouth shut all her life. After laughing for a while, Illya gave me a thumbs up and then fell down helplessly. Only then did I struggle to get up from my seat.
“Ugh…”
“Are you okay?”
“Ah…Yeah.”
I stood up with support from Ellen and Guero who had already approached me. Now there was no one standing on two legs in this mansion except the three of us. Even those many guards. Servants too. The maids who were unlucky enough to be among them all collapsed in front of the small elf girl.
“…”
And it was the same for the Duchess. Because she failed to cover her ears in time, she fell to the floor as soon as Illya’s shouts began. There was no trace of dignity in the sight of her fainting with her arms and legs thrown away. It seemed like he would probably sleep like this for a few more hours.
But she was the only one collapsed in this room. There was no one else in sight who was supposed to be by her side.
That said, I didn’t think that fact was that surprising. Rather, he might have been surprised if the man had fallen on the floor like the duchess. So I just calmly raised my head.
And then, I made eye contact with the Duke of Richmond, who was sitting on the sofa in the same way as before.
“…”
He was still looking at me with a calm expression. Then, the moment he made eye contact with me, he slowly lowered his hands that were covering his ears. It seems we weren’t the only ones who understood Illya’s hand signals.
I broke free from Guerro and Ellen’s support and walked towards him. And his eyes moved along my body. When the Duke’s eyes swept over my head, he quietly opened his mouth.
“As expected, he wasn’t just an ordinary friend. Well, elves are not a race that goes well with the word ordinary.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Father…”
“I didn’t expect you to do something so bold.”
The duke stood up from his seat. His collar scraped against the floor and made a shuddering sound.
“He brought his minions to the duke’s mansion, attacked the duke’s employees, and even harmed the owner of the mansion. It’s hard to see it as a simple quarrel between parents and children.”
“…Yes.”
“Furthermore, since you are now old enough to be able to discern between right and wrong, you cannot excuse this as a mere accident. This is not a rebellion by an immature daughter or an accidental accident, but a clear act of terrorism. Is there any room for objection? Are you there?”
“No. There is none.”
“Yes. Now I fully understand what you mean. Then, as the owner of the duchy, I also have to make a decision.”
He took a step and came in front of me. I didn’t back down or anything, I just lowered my head and waited for my final fate to be pronounced. As the Duke’s shadow rose above his head like a guillotine, I looked up again.
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing any kind of scene. I thought he would definitely keep a calm expression like he always did.
But surprisingly, the duke’s expression showed a hint of hesitation. Suddenly, I wondered if he had ever made eye contact with Yuna for this long. He spent most of his time at the front trying to rebuild his family, and even at the moment of his execution, he could not bear to see his daughter die.
So, it was difficult to imagine how he felt when he had to cut off his daughter with his own hands. But fate has already come. Finally, at the edge of the cliff he was driven to, he pulled out the tip of his tongue and cut the guillotine rope.
“I, the Duke of Richmond, expel my daughter, Yuna Richmond, from the duchy.”
“…”
“You are now prohibited from entering the dukedom’s mansion until the end of your life, and you are also prohibited from having any contact with any member of our family. And the same goes for us. Whether directly or indirectly, from this time on, Yuna Richmond “If anyone comes into contact with me, I will personally punish them in Richmond’s name. Do you agree?”
“Yes.”
“Madam. Do you agree to banish Yuna Richmond, who is standing here now, from our family forever?”
“…”
“Ian. As an employee of the mansion, do you swear to be a witness to the banishment decree?”
“…”
Those who lost consciousness did not respond. But silence was always another sign of positivity. Therefore, instead of asking again, the duke took a deep breath. I opened my mouth without realizing it as I felt like I was choking for some reason.
“Father.”
“Don’t call me father. You are no longer Richmond as of this time. You…”
“…”
“…You are free now, Yuna.”
“…!”
At his last words, I raised my head. At that moment, the expressionless mask fell off the duke’s face. And, the emotions that had been hidden in those once heartless eyes began to seep out.
“Now, I will carry the burden of the dukedom. It was ruined in my generation, so it should be collected from my generation. Even if it cannot be collected, if it can only move forward by blaming the young for the sins of the old, it is natural for the family to fall. It would be right.”
“I’m sorry… I couldn’t help you.”
“I will not accept an apology from an outsider. This is our family’s business now. I do not want to extort help from others anymore. If I may add one more thing, as a parent, I am embarrassed to have become a burden to my child.”
“Duke…”
“Yuna.”
The Duke called my name. But he couldn’t bear to stretch out his hand. The fact that the only favor you can give your child is to expel him from the family. The fate of his children, who will only become more unhappy the more they become entangled with him, must be agonizing in his heart.
But he soon raised his head. And once again he put on that expressionless mask.
“Go away. There is nothing more to say.”
“Duke. I…”
“If you stay any longer, we will force you to deport us.”
At that moment, I realized that everything was over. Therefore, instead of holding on to the broken string, I bowed my head deeply.
“Thank you so much, Duke.”
There was still no answer. He just glanced over my shoulder toward the door. Two eyes that seemed to have some lingering regret caught me. Still, I couldn’t help but end it. As he said, me too. And the duke too. If they remained in the same fate, they would sooner or later be headed for destruction.
So I immediately turned back. It felt like I could finally see the end of a long tunnel. Before I knew it, Ellen’s hand was wrapped between my palms. I held his hand warmly and slowly crossed the threshold of the duchy.
And now, I can finally feel the sunlight that only shone through the windows of the mansion on my cheeks.
“Huh…”
After escaping from the thick darkness of the mansion, I let out a long sigh without realizing it. Perhaps because I was bathed in the languid sunlight, my shoulders drooped and I felt as if all the strength in my body was draining away.
“Fuuu…”
And a sigh was heard from the side. When I slowly lifted her head, Ellen was also looking at me with her tired face.
“It’s over…?”
“Yes. It’s over.”
“I see…”
It still didn’t feel real, so we had to confirm it with our own mouths. I awkwardly grabbed the hem of my skirt and turned my head towards Illya.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“…!”
Illya, who was helplessly riding on Guero’s back, smiled faintly and raised her thumb. I nodded and pulled my companions forward.
“Okay. Then let’s go quickly. Where’s the carriage?”
“It’ll probably just stay where it is.”
“Okay. Then…”
“Eren-kun!”
At that time, a harsh voice was suddenly heard from behind. I was so shocked that I almost jumped up like a cat caught by its tail. When I turned my head, I saw the Duke holding a huge sword in front of the mansion’s door. Ellen hesitated and turned towards him.
“Yes?”
“Take it.”
“What…Ugh…!”
Although he hesitated, Eren accepted the sword thrown by the duke. Although it was very old and rough, it still seemed to contain the majesty of a ducal family, perhaps because of its size.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“I may not have recognized you as my son-in-law, but that doesn’t mean I denied your ability as a soldier. It’s rare for someone to be able to show that level of mental strength while suffering from such trauma.”
“No, well… Not that much…”
“The empire needs good soldiers. I do the same. So if you feel like serving the people of the empire, pick up that sword and come back to me at any time.”
“I…”
“I have nothing more to say.”
With those last words, the Duke entered the mansion again. Ellen looked at his back with narrow eyes and slowly opened her mouth.
“You mean, if you don’t leave quickly, they’ll arrest you?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Anyway, let’s jump out quickly.”
“That’s my opinion too.”
As soon as we came to a conclusion, we hurriedly ran towards the carriage. Then the coachman got scared, got on top of the carriage surprisingly quickly, and hurriedly shouted.
“Uncle! Please go quickly!”
“Yes…Yes? Where shall we go, lady?”
“Just go! Anywhere!”
“Ah…Ah, yes!”
When I urged him on, the driver quickly moved the carriage as if he had been whipped. When the carriage crossed the ducal house’s doorway and headed toward the wide streets of the capital, I felt like I could finally breathe.
“Ugh…”
“Ugh…”
We sighed at the same time, probably because it was the same for Ellen. I thought I would be very excited when everything was over, but I felt strangely empty. It felt like an empty wind was filling the place where the accumulated worries had disappeared.
“…”
Ellen seemed to be in the same situation, looking out her window with a somewhat dazed expression. I felt somewhat guilty because I felt like I had once again put all my effort into a child who had been in perfect condition not long ago.
At times like these, it was helpful to be faced with reality. That’s why I intentionally sighed and opened my mouth awkwardly.
“Sigh… Anyway, I’ve become an abandoned child. What should I do for a living now?”
“Hmm… I guess I should graduate from the academy first, right?”
“How do I pay for tuition?”
“If you think like that, this is a really serious problem.”
Ellen closed her empty eyes and seriously immersed herself in her worries. She then suddenly swept down her sword that the duke had given her.
“…Shall I enlist?”
“Don’t even dream.”
“Ugh.”
I playfully tapped Ellen on the head. Then he lightly touched the rough surface of the sword and spoke.
“Okay, let’s try it out. If it’s in good condition, let’s sell it.”
“This? If I sell this, will it pay for lunch?”
“Still, let’s just take a look. Pick it up quickly.”
“Yes. But it’s too tight. Just a moment…”
Perhaps because it was an old sword, Eren whined with difficulty and pulled on the hilt of her sword. Ellen struggled for a long time, and it was only after her tendons were visible on her forehead that she finally pulled out her sword.
But at that moment, what she was pulled out of was not a piece of razor-sharp iron.
What was pulled out, instead of a blade, were dozens of jewels hidden in her scabbard.
“Woah!”
“aaah!”
We were so shocked that we screamed. Meanwhile, jewels continued to pour in. So much was packed that it piled up on the floor of the carriage and continued to flow. After the waves of jewels stopped for a long time, Ellen and I fell silent at the same time.
And then, they looked at each other and smiled.
“Ah…hahahaha…”
“hahahaha…”
“Even if you sponsor a duke, it’s a different level.”
“Yes. Of course.”
My father’s blessing, which was not honest, was expressed in that way. The sincerity that could not be conveyed flowed down from the wrinkled skirt.
I picked up a gem and held it up to the sunlight. The bright blue light shining down made me feel better without realizing it. Some may call me snobbish, but anyway, once I had money, all my worries disappeared in an instant and I felt more relaxed.
“Oh, Yuna. There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
While I was immersed in the lingering scent of the jewel for a while, Ellen suddenly opened her mouth. But, unlike Ellen, she seemed very hesitant.
“What is it?”
“No, it’s not that big of a deal, I just kept worrying about it. You know what you said earlier at the mansion. Is that true?”
“Which one?”
“You know that, that… That she was… Pregnant.”
“Ah, that.”
True. There was that too. As I smiled until her dimples appeared, Ellen fiddled with her fingers as if she was anxious.
“So is it true? Are you really pregnant?”
“Um… Well…”
If you think about it a little, you will know the answer. Ellen, who was always sly, seemed to have difficulty thinking rationally when it came to really important issues. I deliberately dragged out my answer and then gave him a playful wink.
“Well, is it that important?”
“Huh?”
“And well…Even if it was a lie…”
I gently placed my hand on Ellen’s thigh. Then, she whispered in a low voice so that only he could hear.
“Isn’t it enough to make sure it’s not a lie from now on?”