I Only Raised Men for Revenge - Chapter 19

“……Huh?”

Lizbeth gaped, dumbfounded, then burst out laughing.

“Really… Milady, you too…”

Just then, the woman who had gone into the children’s room instead of coming out belatedly jumped from the second floor, a shield around her. Sesenia, watching Lizbeth, clapped her hands toward the woman.

“Congratulations on your successful escape.”

“Are you crazy?!”

The woman, who had been moving listlessly like someone without the will to live, shouted with an expression she had never shown before.

“Thanks to the fire, the magic circle on the floor broke. Shouldn’t you be thanking me for getting you out of there?”

“That’s…!”

“Is it time to ask how I knew all that?”

The woman’s complexion wasn’t good as she looked at Sesenia.

“But is this the time to ask that? Shouldn’t we run away before the owner who knows the magic circle is broken comes back?”

“…Where are the children?!”

“If I was going to tell you that, I wouldn’t have done this in the first place. Honestly, you could have escaped if you weren’t bound by the magic circle. So, shouldn’t you just be grateful and run away?”

Lizbeth tilted her head at Sesenia’s unusually confident attitude, but Sesenia didn’t even glance at Lizbeth. She was too busy looking at the woman.

“Or not?”

“……”

“Are you afraid of the future? Afraid of being hunted because of this? But you know, even if the children were alive, even if the children went to the Salmon Kingdom safely, you would have been killed.”

At that, the woman shouted as if she had been waiting for it.

“What do you know!”

“The best way to get rid of the evidence is to kill off the used pawns.”

Sesenia tapped her temple with a long finger.

“That’s the usual thought that comes out of the heads of those in power.”

It was so obvious. First of all, in the future Sesenia knew, in the twins’ future that Lizbeth told her about, this woman didn’t exist.

‘Maybe she was killed for losing the children back then. Even if the children go to the Salmon Empire safely, there’s no way this woman could survive.’

If they had intended to save her from the beginning, they wouldn’t have put a magic circle here to bind her.

Sesenia stared at her silently.

“What do you know?!”

“The orphanage looks like it’s about to collapse. The floor was unusually clean in that dusty place. The orphanage teacher has no interest in the children. She only cares about the head of the orphanage. Isn’t it strange to anyone?”

“Just because it’s strange, how did you know we came from Salmon? Who sent you? Who told you to take the kids away!”

“I didn’t take them away. I just gave freedom to the poor children. If I had taken them away, would I be here with you now? And I said earlier, ‘If you are an imperial citizen belonging to the Empire, or if you run an orphanage in the Empire, even if you are from another country, you must follow the law.’ But you didn’t point out that part at all. So, I realized you’re not from this country.”

“Th, that doesn’t make sense. You figured out the whole situation with just that?”

Sesenia smirked.

‘Absolutely not.’

If she hadn’t seen the past, Sesenia wouldn’t have known anything. She wouldn’t have known there was an orphanage here, or who the twins here were.

She had heard about the children when she was Empress, but there was no way she could have known so much detail. Everything was thanks to Lizbeth. Everything else was what Sesenia had expected.

‘Judging from that woman’s reaction, it seems like everything I thought was right.’

“You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to. But you know you don’t have much time.”

“……”

“Go to the Magic Tower of the Empire. They’ll accept you there, no matter what your background is.”

“Are you telling me to rely on the Magic Tower of the Empire now?!”

“What else are you going to do? What other way is there for you to live, with no power and no one to help you?”

The woman’s complexion hardened at the pointed words.

“Don’t be so proud. You have to rely on the Magic Tower of another country to survive. It’s not so bad because the Magic Tower welcomes anyone with power.”

If the twins, who are Salmon royalty, go to the Magic Tower, they will live a bad life, if not an experiment. But not this woman. A magician with moderate power. And someone who is trying to defect because she is not safe in her own country.

She’s exactly the kind of person the Magic Tower would love.

“……”

Thinking that there was nothing to be gained by saying this and that here, she bit her lip.

The twins are gone. There’s no way she can find them even if she tries. She knows how hard it was to bring the twins here. The runaway Salmon royal twins that others barely caught.

‘I can’t catch them. Then I…’

There was no choice from the beginning. It didn’t really matter how Sesenia Bestel, a noble young lady, knew about her.

What was important was that the old spell that had bound her here was broken. She also knew to some extent.

Even if the twins return to Salmon safely, there is a high probability that she will die. Another friend who took care of the orphanage with her died that way.

“……Erianer.”

“Yes?”

“That’s my name. Anyway, you helped me get out of there, so, I’ll tell you my name.”

“I hope we don’t meet for good or bad. I hope I don’t hear from you anywhere. I’ll pray so earnestly.”

That was the end. Erianer, having said everything she wanted to say, disappeared quickly. She acted like she was going to look for the twins right away in front of Sesenia, but the probability that she would look for the twins was extremely low.

Watching that, Sesenia slowly moved to the carriage.

“Let’s go.”

“Are you okay with this?”

“Of course.”

“Did you do this to release that woman…?”

Ted completely trusted Sesenia. So, he looked like he would believe it even if Sesenia committed murder here. On the other hand, Lizbeth looked like she didn’t understand at all.

“Do I have to have a reason for what I do?”

“Of course. It’s not just anything. If an investigation starts, there will definitely be a problem. The owner of the orphanage will definitely look for the last visitor. This place is remote, but it’s not a place where there are no people at all.”

Sesenia got into the carriage while listening to Lizbeth’s words.

“Ah… Milady…?”

“It doesn’t matter who saw it. Even if I burned this place down, the owner of this place wouldn’t be able to question it.”

“Yes…?”

“You heard it earlier. This is not a real orphanage. There were children, but they weren’t put there with good intentions.”

“…Milady. You seem to know too much. How do you know those things?”

Lizbeth’s expression, which had been flustered, changed little by little.

‘As expected.’

She was starting to see little by little from what she couldn’t see at all. The Lizbeth in front of her was not the Lizbeth she knew in the past. To be exact, she was that Lizbeth, but she also had memories of the future.

“Well. Does it matter? I want to live in the present perfectly.”

“…Milady. Is that included in that perfect thing?”

“Yes. Lizbeth, Ted, and Rohan are included in that perfect thing.”

Sesenia’s expression changed as she said that. She didn’t want to say that her family was not included in that perfect thing. Every time she talked about her family, those people who were only connected by blood, she felt depressed. Sesenia forced a smile.

“I hope you all stay alive and be in a perfect future. So…”

“I understand. I won’t ask any more questions. But I hope you tell me a little bit. The current Milady… seems like a different person. It’s like you’re trying to do everything yourself. You don’t ask anything. I can help you. I want to help Milady create a perfect future.”

“Okay.”

Sesenia, who had climbed onto the carriage first, stroked Lizbeth’s head as if stroking a puppy’s head.

“And Lizbeth. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s true that I was the last person to visit that place, but did anyone see me set it on fire? Ted, did I set it on fire?”

“No? Milady didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, if there’s a crime, it’s Ted’s fault for bringing the cotton.”

Sesenia smiled and looked at Ted.

“Yes. Everything is because of me. If my master just gives me a penny’s worth of attention, I can do anything.”

‘What happened?’

Sesenia was puzzled by Ted, who followed her more than she thought. It wasn’t bad that he liked her, but there was no reason for it.

‘It’s even harder.’

It was even harder to give her heart to unrequited affection and unconditional trust. To him, she may be the benefactor who saved his life, who took him out of that hellish place, and then let him live like a human being, not a slave, and gave him convenience, but Sesenia was not.

All of that was the hypocrisy of a rich man and a choice for her future.

“Okay. Then let’s go. Let’s go to the Merchant Guild.”

“Yes.”

After Sesenia got on the carriage, Lizbeth started the carriage. But the carriage carrying the three people stopped soon after.

“Stop the carriage here.”

“Yes?”

“And open the carriage door. A guest is coming.”

“A guest?”

While wondering, Lizbeth opened the carriage door as Sesenia said. But even after a long time, no one got on the carriage.

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