秘密入口

Randy had more or less guessed the reason in a corner of his mind when he heard of Cecilia\'s survival. Eddie should\'ve reached the same conclusion as well, though he was hesitant to put it into words.

There was little they hadn\'t done in their search for a cure. The higher the expectations they placed on the various cures they\'ve found, the deeper the despair they experienced after they failed. The search for a cure for the Mana Collapse disease had been arduous for the Dosperior family. 

To think that the solution had always been present since 20 years ago.

"...Why? If not anyone else, you could have at least contacted me? You should know better than anyone else the human and financial resources that I have at my disposal—"

However, Cecilia shook her head at Randy\'s words.

"There\'s just no researcher better than Bell when it comes to the endangered flora of the Claubia region. And as I mentioned, you couldn\'t harvest too much. We couldn\'t trust others too much, and we had no assurance that the research would bear fruit, even if we counted on your support. Moreover, the bigger concern was that—"

With a pause, Cecilia squinted and stared right into her brother\'s eyes.

"When the solution is right in front of you, would you pretend to not see it? You wouldn\'t have put your faith in a research which could turn out to be useless had you known about it before my departure. You would have done everything you could to try and procure one for me."

Randy faltered in front of Cecilia\'s question.

"...This is by no means a justification. No doubt that many lives that could have been saved were lost since I turned them away myself while I lived a carefree life. Bell had prompted me many times to let you know. But, I— I wanted to cut this cycle for good. I\'ve lived at that moment of sadness with no hope long enough. 

Who knows if my decision was actually correct, or if I was just a frog in the bottom of the well. Nevertheless, this is the path I believe in. I won\'t waver even if—"

Cecilia paused, then quietly delivered the end of her explanation with a resolute gaze.

"—Even if that means going against you, brother. I won\'t let my resolve waver for anyone, not even you, dear brother."

◆◆◆

Randy then broke the depressing silence.

"...Huh, I guess that\'s why your attitude was so cold back at the station. You\'re right, amicable talk doesn’t fit within the walls of the Dosperior family— the family that has grieved over their child or grandchild in these couple of decades...... That is indeed a good resolve."

He looked back at Cecilia with an intense gaze.

Cecilia, too, confronted his gaze and simply nodded.

"But... why now? Why did you stop hiding?"

The question should\'ve been obvious to Cecilia as she replied in a flat tone.

"I couldn\'t bring myself to shackle these kids when they\'ve just taken their flight for their futures just for my determination. When the result came out... when Allen got into Class A, I knew this time would come. It was only a matter of time before you or the others learned about me. The blood of the Dosperior running in Allen was that thick as he made strides to become a knight. 

Admittedly, I wasn\'t expecting this day to come so soon, but it was either now or another day in the near future. I had thought of muddying the waters with another rumor to earn some more time, but keeping a secret and lying are two different things. The lie we told today to keep kids\' identities hidden might give rise to problems when the information inevitably gets unearthed after Bell completes his research. 

It could be used to pull them down in the future. I decided that now was the time to discuss it with the kids, and with you."

Cecilia paused yet again, but this time her face was dyed in pure white as she gave off an intimidating aura.

"You can blame me all you want. However, these kids are innocent, so if you ever have any thoughts—"

Briefly, an oppressive, suffocating silence dominated the room. 

Eddie visibly gulped as he stared at the confrontation between his father and his aunt. 

Surprisingly, it was Bellwood who broke the stalemate.

"Cecilia... She didn\'t turn away from the news of death caused by the disease among the kingdom or the Dosperior people. She lamented and grieved over them just like the others, I\'m sure. It\'s a selfish wish, however, I hope for your understanding in this situation."

At the end of his words, he gently hugged the shoulder of Cecilia, who finally suppressed her aura. 

"......Was it also because of this that we four could grow up?"

Roselia questioned with a reserved tone. Cecilia shook her head at the question.

"No. Neither of you caught this disease. It was no less than a miracle, in fact. There has never been a case where not even a single kid contracted the disease, despite there being four of you, in the history of the Dosperior family. 

I would like to chalk it up to mere coincidence, but maybe it\'s because the Rovenne lineage has been taking the ingredients harvested from that forest for a long time that they’ve built up a resistance against it. I did feel myself drawn to Bell as if by instinct when I met him too. In fact, their lineage has just as much resistance against other illnesses, could go for a long time with little sleep, and has prominently larger mana reserves. I doubt there could be any other reason apart from that forest."

As Cecilia explained this, Allen unwittingly quipped in between.

"Huh, our family lineage is known to have a high mana capacity? I mean, I was told I have impressive mana capacity in the past, but that\'s, you know, mere scraps in the Royal Academy."

"On average, it\'s the minimum capacity that\'s been set on stilts. It might not appear much, but that\'s pretty impressive for a noble family whose marriage partner often doesn\'t have much mana reserves."

Now that Cecilia\'s side of the story had come to an end, Randy adopted a thinking pose and closed his eyes for a moment, keeping his silence.

"...I understand everything now. However, I would like to confirm one more thing. You said there have been some positive results, but what\'s the overall prospect? Well, pardon my words, but while Bellwood-dono has knowledge about all these… exceptional materials, it\'s quite hard to accept that no one is better than him in this field. 

Eddie has three kids. They\'re such adorable grandchildren, I tell you. Now that I know about this, and as the head of the Dosperior family, I certainly can\'t just pin my hopes up on mere faith."

Cecilia unhesitatingly answered his question.

"Bell\'s attempt to grow those materials outside succeeded last summer. Of course, they\'re not on par with naturally grown products. However, they\'ve shown promising results against the disease. But on the downside, Bell believes repeated cultivation of the same in the following years would only yield minor success. They probably aren\'t the type of crop that could be continuously cultivated. 

We would need to change the soil and grow all sorts of crops in the slack timing to ensure a stable growth at best. It\'s not much of an assurance, but we\'ve poured in all of our efforts into getting a result before Julia turns 8."

Eddie showed a surprised expression when he heard Cecilia. 

Since the lineage of the Dosperior family were more prone to Mana collapse disease, the time in which one\'s mana organs developed — that is to say the age of 12 — was crucial for them since after that there was little to no chance of catching the disease. This was why the information about their kids was typically kept in control. 

So unless there was someone prominent actively digging up her information, it was impossible for Julia’s name to come up anywhere.

"......Was it Dio?"

Cecilia nodded at Randy\'s whisper.

"I told him so many times to just return to Rebeldin, and consider me dead. But he instead settled as a volunteer explorer and stayed to support me from the shadows."

Randy let out a long sigh and bowed his head toward Cecilia.

"I failed as a brother. My weak-hearted moment made you bear a heavy burden you should never have needed to… I support you on your endeavor as your brother, and as the head of the Dosperior family. 

It goes without saying, no just cause would be enough for others to forgive me having lost their child. But I swear that I would not let my support waver here, so let us share the burden. And... I hope you forgive this brother of yours."

A rosy look eventually replaced the pale white complexion on Cecilia\'s face as Randy looked at her with a soft gaze. A line of tears streaked down her eyes. 

◆◆◆

With his face scrunched up in both anguish and joy, Randy-san stood up from his seat. 

Aww, this was — I mean, I did say this before too, but this time for sure — definitely a prelude to an emotion-filled hug. I braced myself for a sentimental impact, tears gathering at the corner of my eyes. 

Yet, my mother caught Randy-san\'s face in an iron grip as he walked toward her with open arms, and easily stopped him. 

Neither Randy-san nor anyone else present in the dining room understood what was going on. As we were getting confused, mother casually cast Randy-san away and remarked in a frigid tone.

"I\'m a lady now and also someone\'s wife, brother. As much as we have a blood connection, it\'s preposterous for us to share a hug at our age. This is where the line must be drawn."

An awkward silence drifted among us.

However, Randy-san simply showed a happy look with tears streaming down his cheeks, unbothered by my mother\'s attitude.

"*Sniffle* I’m glad to see you\'re just as frigid— I mean, Cecilia upholding the virtues of the Dosperior family more exceptionally than anyone else. And you must be just as impressive of a person, Bellwood-dono, seeing Cecilia\'s overwhelming love for you. The order of things were reversed, but anyway, I pray for your perpetual happy marriage life. As you brother, I’m relieved to see you have a good match."

A smile blossomed on my mother\'s face.

"Indeed. My meeting with Bell was certainly no less than a miracle, a match made in heaven… He\'s just perfect... as long as he stops eyeing other girls."

The perpetual expression of sincerity and warmth immediately vanished from Randy-san\'s face as he heard my mother\'s tattling, replaced by an appearance akin to a bloodthirsty demon.

"Preposteroussss!!...... How could you have eyes for others with my sister at your side!!?"

Father frantically tried to explain.

"No, it\'s all a misunderstanding. It\'s just, there\'s this girl working at a recently opened bakery. The bread there has a distinct aroma, so I just happen to look her way—"

"How— How could you be like this!? I had been so assured that my brother-in-law is an upright person after I saw Allen didn\'t let himself get fazed even when two lovely daughters from the Marquis families tried to court him, keeping a rigid stance without throwing any suggestive hints. This is unforgivable!!"

Huh, hold on a god darn minute! Of course anyone would avoid them once they saw what kind of landmines they were! 

Also, mother, and sis too. Could you not nod like I was the man he\'s making me out to be!?

"Aren\'t you ashamed for taking a glance at other women, while your son is the literal personification of flawlessness, carrying the three-thousand years of legacy on his back, and is known as the paragon of poise!" 

Hey, hey! Don\'t jeopardize my future love life in the cross-fire!

I was sure the blood of the Rovenne ran thick within me with how my gaze trailed after any cute girl, like any sound, healthy boy.

Alas, the air was too sharp in the dining room to utter my rebuttal.

"First of all, we males are—"

For the following two hours, I watched as Randy-san preached to my father with a hideous visage, accepting no buts or ifs from his brother-in-law.