Episode 106

Lucerne strode into the room. Upon discovering Lucerne, Marco's face turned white. However, Lucerne did not even pay attention to Marco.

“Lucerne. Why did you visit without contacting me?”

“I came here because I have something urgent to tell you about Marco, but Marco is right here.”

“What do you want to say?”

Gaju laughed. The shallow waters of Lucerne were ridiculous.

“I'm here to avoid misunderstandings.”

“A misunderstanding? You mean the misunderstanding that you ate Marco and his wife and imprisoned Merha? Or are you afraid that I will take your wife?”

Lucerne did not raise an eyebrow. Visiting the family home today was part of the script that I had discussed with Elisha and made in advance.

However, the last of the housekeeper's words was the truth. Knowing that the householder would arrest Elisha and interrogate her, he chose to visit her first.

He hated seeing his woman captured and humiliated. She was the kind of woman I wanted to see only Lucerne herself, she wasn't what I wanted to turn.

“If you have something to say about Arien's death, say it.”

“It doesn't matter.”

“…… What?”

“Marco was greedy for the position of head of household and gave me the wrong offer. I came here today to make an honest confession.”

“What do you mean?”

The housekeeper rose from his seat. Lucerne said briefly.

“Marco sent Arien to make a strange proposal to my wife. Make Marco the patriarch and let me wield power behind the scenes.”

The movement of the housekeeper stopped. A black rage began to radiate from his body. Marco held his breath.

The words spoken again by the head of state were even more sober.

“Tell me in detail.”

“Maybe I was afraid that Marco would come to me and ask for favors himself. Or maybe it's Arien's solo act, I don't know.”

“…….”

“It seems that she approached my wife and asked her to deliver the request. But, you know, I am.”

Lucerne casually opened the bottle of wine that was on the table of the householder. And she poured a drink into an empty glass.

“I'm not interested in the position of head of household, so I came to see what happened.”

It was an explanation that left out a lot of important parts. No matter what the family members did, the family head preserved their lives.

Only two cases were exceptions. To kill a direct descendant. And threatening the seat of the family head. In that case, it was not forgiven.

The family head thought of himself as the emperor of a country, and that was true to some extent. The power of the Cartier family was a little exaggerated, and it was not enough to say that they were the actual owners of the empire. And at least a small kingdom had the power to trample it at any time.

And no king in the world has ever escaped rebellion.

“What did your wife say in response to that nonsense?”

“What does my wife know, what power does she have? It's power, so let's go. He seems very surprised to hear such a story. And she just said she thought she would get away with it and she said she would tell the story and she said she said she would. Elisha is Jericho and naive. She scares such a woman. She was a very greedy woman even Arien.”

At those words, even Marco, who was half insane, couldn't help but flinch.

'Crazy bastard, Elisha, why is that woman naive and fragile?'

It was the most amazing thing Lucerne had ever said. Lucerne continued talking, completely ignoring the housekeeper's strange expression.

“But I heard that Arien died suddenly. I wondered if this might be a trap targeting our couple. To die after tempting us to treason. Isn't that a strange thing?”

Lucerne drank his drink slowly. It was an elegant move.

“So I did some research on this matter. But there was another crime by Uncle Merha. He said he stole the goods by threatening one of the temple's reliquaries.”

Lucerne explained Nazik. Merha stole the holy relics, and the devil's smile poison and its antidote were inside. The evidence brought by Lucerne even included a confession written by Anton himself.

Anton was under the protection of Rosaria. As a condition of that, he agreed to reveal everything he knew about Merha and to make documentary evidence.

“Lucerne. I'm not stupid. The day Arien died, they say you and Elisha were in Yurif.”

“Oh, have you seen Gate's log? But I really didn't do anything. Looking at these documents, it is clear that Marco had an antidote. I went to tell them not to because Marco and Arien are clumsy in trying to conciliate us.”

“…….”

“No, Marco.”

Lucerne asked quietly. Marco was speechless. To come to terms with this, Marco had to admit to trying to poison Elisha with her. No, before that, he had to admit that Arien went to Elisha and tried to appease Lucerne.

Then, he even admitted that he was aiming for the position of head of the household and tried to rebel. Then the family head might cut Marco down with a single knife.

Besides, Marco hasn't been able to turn his head normally the past few days. Even when people asked something, he often gave stupid, slow, and erratic answers.

“Marco.”

The householder opened his mouth.

“Is everything Lucerne said true?”

“That is…….”

It was true that Arien proposed to Elisha. But that was to get Elisha's attention and keep her psychedelic.

Her real purpose was simply to poison Elisha's wine glass. But Marco couldn't deny it. Because what he said was true.

“I'm……. So. I didn't agree with Arien's opinion. So……. I had no intention of colluding with Lucerne. Head of household, please trust me.”

Those were the only words Marco uttered. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. Lucerne drove a wedge with a calm face.

“You never know. Perhaps it was Arien's arbitrary act to bring me into collusion.”

“What?”

Lucerne intentionally misunderstood Gaju. It was enough for him to throw out a few words.

“Marco, say it properly. Did you feed Arien ancient poison?”

“No! Arien ate the poison herself. That, Arien, wore the ring……. The ring contained poison. There will be people who will testify.”

“I heard from Carola that you had an antidote for that poison. Right?”

“…….”

“Didn't you give Arien the antidote?”

Marco's expression collapsed. His limbs trembled.

“Did you kill Arien, Marco?”

“Hey. Lord. I, so…….”

Lucerne laughed at Pic Marco and put down his glass. Marco did a lot of stupid things, so the story seemed to be wrapped up faster than I thought.

“Then, since I've told you everything, I'll leave.”

Lucerne lightly bowed her eyes and left the room.

“What the hell is the reason for Arien's death!”

I heard the housekeeper urging Marco.

*​ *​ *​

“Arien is a suicide, did you kill him? And was it your idea or Arien's idea of ​​trying to rebel against me? Marco. Answer me right away.”

Marco desperately shook his head at that moment. He was under attack from both Jacob and Lucerne.

If it was suicide, then Arien's will and his will would be the same. However, if Arien's will differs from her own……. Arien's suicide is unexplained.

Then, hearing the commotion, Jacob and Carola came in. At that time, the patriarch drew a sword and pointed it at Marco. Marco was crawling on the floor and begging.

“Please save me, the head of the household. I really……. I am innocent…….”

“My lord! What is this! Even if Marco killed Arien, there must be a reason. Calm down! Look at Carola and bear with it!”

“You're right. Lord. Marco is a weakling by nature, so he will have a hard time admitting that he killed his wife.”

Jacob and Carola knew the family head. If Marco killed my wife, I would never see Marco again. Since Arien is not a family member by blood, she should be able to avoid the death penalty. However, the head of household was a person who valued his family to some extent.

Most of all, you would think that a man who couldn't manage his own family couldn't be the head of a household. Knowing that, Carola and Jacob decided to make Marco the murderer of her wife, even though they knew there was a corner of doubt.

“Speak with your mouth. Marco. Was it your will to appease Lucerne, or Arien's will? Yes?”

Carola raised her voice at her quickest.

“Couldn't you have given the antidote to her wife on purpose? It must be because Marco-sama has a will.”

“…….”

“Did you kill her wife because she didn't listen to her? There are too many rumors going around in the world. Carol is scary……. Maybe it's because Arien is trying to coax Lucerne on her own…… ?”

Said Carola, pretending to whimper. Now Marco is in a quandary. So he had only one way left for Marco.

“My lord……. Trying to collude with Lucerne is Arien's arbitrary act.”

In the end, Marco felt his heart break and forced himself to answer. Even at the point where he gave up his life and became a half-dead man, he didn't want to die.

“Not giving the antidote……. Arien is……. So. She tried to threaten me with her life. Collusion with Lucerne……. He said if she didn't listen to her, she would die……. She poisoned herself. So I did not give the antidote. It wasn't my idea to rebel against the head of the household……. I couldn't help it, I couldn't help it…….”

Marco blames himself for Arien's death, but he has no choice but to blame everything on Arien. And that was the worst setback.

“So.”

“…….”

“You killed your wife with your own hands. Ugly guy.”

He said with a cold face.

Changgang. The sword fell to her floor. Marco was relieved for a moment. But soon Marco's cheek was blown.

“You idiot! But since he honestly admitted his guilt, I will spare his life.”

The family head said, kicking the fallen Marco.

The householder had doubts about Marco. Moreover, even if he was cleared of the charges of colluding with Lucerne, the guilt of killing Arien remained. That's how Marco's last shield disappeared.

“In any case, from Gunner to Merha. Things related to the temple are left up to you and nothing goes well. Marco. You don't even approach the temple anymore. And even if Merha gets out of prison, she will not be able to access the power of the temple again. For the time being, I will leave the temple work to Lucerne.”

“Ah, even my father……. Lord…….”

Carola and Jacob quickly exchanged glances, unable to contain their maddening feelings. Getting out of the eyes of the family head was nothing but ruin.

“…….”

“I don't even want to see it. Leave your hometown.”

“…….”

“So……. Okay. Among the estates my family owns, we can go to the Behil estate and do some work. Come back after reflecting on yourself there and recovering your spirit.”

“Behil……. Are you talking?”

The Behil Territory was literally a place attached to the end of the empire. It was an abandoned manor with no specialties and no special features. Sending him there was tantamount to exile.

The householder was sensitive to recent rumors and reputation. Because the scandal related to the temple has become too big. The scandal culminated in rumors that Marco had killed his wife with poison from the temple's ancient evil god.

“…… I'll have to clean up the gunner first. After cleaning the temple once, I'll leave it to Lucerne and won't touch it for a while.”

Gaju muttered. Oddly enough, his recent offspring have let him down. The only grandchild who didn't rise to the enemy. Lucerne was the only exception. Only Lucerne was acting in his eyes.

'Has Lucerne changed? He's not the kind of person who would come to me and honestly confess something like this.'

Gaju paused.

'Is it Elisha's influence?'

The gaze of the housekeeper changed. He was already deep in thought.