Chapter 92

092.

Laris’s room was small.

One might call it modest in a generous sense of the word.

To put it plainly, it was questionable whether this young lady was truly the second daughter of the Plache Family.

It’s hard to believe that a room as shabby as Laris’s could exist in such a magnificent mansion.

There were no precious or luxurious items that a noble young lady would usually collect.

It was a small room where all the structures and furniture could be seen at a glance.

If one must compare, it might resemble a room that a girl of a mere baron level might possess.

The fact that everything in the room could be seen at once simply meant there was nothing particularly special about it.

Laris walked towards the old dresser as if it were a familiar routine.

The dresser was old and plain, with a simple design of four vertically arranged compartments.

Laris reached for the last compartment, which seemed to be the only one locked, and opened it.

Click.

The sound of the lock engaging echoed as the drawer opened.

Laris carefully took something out from deep inside and approached Kalen, gently showing him what she held in both hands.

“This is…”

It was, without a doubt, a necklace.

A necklace with a single small pearl embedded in it.

Aside from that, it didn’t seem to differ much from other necklaces.

“Is this a necklace?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

However, Kalen quickly realized that this was no ordinary necklace, noticing how Laris carefully held it, looking at it with a sorrowful gaze.

The request to bury her mother.

The peculiar attitude of the family.

Laris had produced the necklace as a response to all of this.

And Kalen immediately grasped the story intertwined with the necklace and the current situation.

“…Your mother’s keepsake?”

“You’re observant.”

There was no trace of sadness in Laris’s voice.

It was as if she had become accustomed to it after enduring countless hardships.

“This is also the last memento I have of my mother. Now, this is the only item in this house related to the mother who bore my sister and me.”

Her voice bordered on resignation.

Resignation born from being blocked by an overwhelming sense of frustration, a desperate hope that at least this might still be achievable.

“Did I mention that my sister left the mansion?”

“Yes, you did.”

“My sister grew weary and gave up. She was older than me and, being my ‘elder sister,’ she must have endured even more torment.”

“Torment…”

“Yes, exactly that.”

It was reminiscent of the young ladies he had met when they first encountered him.

Eliana, who could not overcome her illness and waited for death.

Serasie, who couldn’t escape the endless swamp of distrust and eventually hid behind a mask.

Sinat, who couldn’t overcome her sad memories and couldn’t dream of the future.

Each of them carried deep wounds.

If Kalen hadn’t healed those wounds, many things might have turned out differently.

“After my mother passed, Father had to find a new spouse. We didn’t protest. Back then, Father, though strict, was still a warm person, and the position of the main lady in one of the Empire’s four great families could never remain vacant.”

Laris’s voice…

Or rather, her gaze, mirrored this.

No matter what, there seemed to be no solution, resulting in countless undesirable compromises.

A gaze that had lost the clarity of the original hope it once held, now fixated on the necklace with the small pearl.

“Father changed… probably from around that time. Though, looking back now, he might have been like that all along. Do you know about the Laile Trading Company?”

“Yes, I do.”

The Laile Trading Company was originally one of the two titanic trading conglomerates that split the Empire.

They sold almost everything, but favored cheaper, easily accessible goods over luxury items, allowing them to compete head-to-head with the Nafig Trading Company almost overnight.

“Yes, in short, they were newly rich. Never having been nobility, they were obsessed with bloodlines, and thus connected with Father, the head of one of the four great families, through a strategic marriage.”

Perhaps it’s a common story.

Newly rich people forgetting their place and succumbing to greed.

Such a common and predictable tale.

“Perhaps due to their inferiority complex, or because of the Laile Trading Company, they started to heavily interfere in our family affairs. Father wanted his every move reported and continuously placed people from the trade company within our mansion and province.”

Even Father, who initially resisted, eventually gave in. The reason was probably due to my younger brother.”

“My step-sibling.”

“Yes. Anyway, since the marriage happened and we had a son, Father must have had many thoughts.”

The fact that Father was included among those who remembered her mother revealed the reason for this.

Laris fondly stroked the necklace with a bitter expression.

“The Laile Trading Company was obsessed with noble bloodlines, making my younger brother the link to them. They were given everything they desired and gradually began to erase my mother and our sisters from the house.”

Laris is the daughter of the Plache family.

In other words, the daughter of the head of the Plache family.

From that perspective, this room simply doesn’t make sense.

How could the daughter of the family head live in such a shabby room in the Plache mansion?

Even receiving such treatment from a mere knight.

No servants greeted her upon her return from the capital.

“Moreover, my mother was born into slavery. Father saved her from that. Yes, perhaps… they had a fated love affair.”

Kalen’s gaze shifted to the desk, which wasn’t very spacious.

There was a bookshelf on the left side.

It did not contain difficult books of general knowledge or complex history books.

Instead, it was filled with what seemed to be low-quality play scripts that could likely be found easily in the marketplace.

“The problem was this. Father faced numerous issues due to my mother’s slave origins, and his remarriage with the Laile Trading Company was far removed from these problems. Erasing my mother and our sisters was not difficult.”

A slave.

That explanation seemed fitting.

Kalen hadn’t been aware until hearing it from Laris that the mistress of the Plache family had changed once.

The fact that the head of one of the four great families remarried is something that should be widely known and not easily forgotten.

But in reality, no one would know.

Because there had never been any mention of such events happening in the Plache family.

“Thus, Laile not only erased my mother’s traces from this mansion but also within our territory. There must be very few people left who remember the benevolent mistress of the Plache family.”

It’s a grim story.

A noble who fell in love with a slave he happened upon, lived through a brief dream of happiness, and then grew tired of the difficulties he couldn’t handle alone, eventually finding a new love.

Yet, it was also an unpleasant story.

At the very least, as long as Laris exists before Kalen.

Because the existence of her and her sisters, along with the victim that is Laris, makes the situation clear.

“Our sisters wanted to hold a funeral for our mother, but the family refused due to face-saving concerns. All her belongings were incinerated, so they don’t know that I have this necklace.”

“Being a slave was the issue?”

“Yes. And as long as my sister and I remain here, it’s impossible to completely erase her traces, and it’s also impossible for Father to fully commit to his current family. Eventually, Father abandoned us, but that’s practically the same.”

In short, this is what happened.

The Laile Trading Company aimed for noble bloodlines through the head of the Plache family.

Seeing Laris and her sister as obstacles to this plan, they tried to eliminate them.

Laris’s elder sister, tired of bearing everything for Laris, left.

Now, only Laris remains, wanting to hold her mother’s funeral.

It wasn’t much different from what was initially suspected.

Kalen almost fully understood the inner workings of the Plache family.

However, there was one thing.

Just one thing that nagged at him.

“I understand. But I don’t quite get why a ‘heart’ is necessary.”

“Heart.”

Laris had mentioned needing a heart.

She said she could even trade her life for awakening a heart.

Now that it was clear her wish was to bury her mother, it was natural to surmise that a heart was necessary for the process.

Laris gave a bitter smile after hearing Kalen’s words.

Her eyes, which were gazing at the necklace, began to waver.

“The only one left here… He told me that if I continued to resist, they’d forcibly drive me out. The head of the Laile Trading Company, my new grandfather, said that.”

“…”

“They said I had some talent for magic, but it wasn’t strong enough to rely on. That’s why I need a heart.”

At the same time, her gaze grew sharp.

As if the inner turmoil was temporary.

Laris raised her head confidently, though she looked somewhat uneasy. It was clear she hadn’t entirely given up.

“At least, if I possess a heart, I’d have sufficient value to be utilized by the family. People already think I’m the daughter of my new mother anyway. So, if I’m used as they wish because I have a heart, then in exchange, I can hold my mother’s funeral.”

However, what followed was somewhat shocking.

Viewing herself like a pawn in a chess game, she was willing to sacrifice herself.

Her statement about trading her life for a heart meant exactly that.

“…This is the most sincere offer I can make, Kalen. Will you help me?”

Laris looked at Kalen with a slightly relieved expression, as if she had never revealed her inner thoughts so openly before.

Her eyes even carried a sense of expectation.

It was unclear whether that expectation stemmed from the possibility of finally holding her mother’s funeral or from some other reason.

But Kalen could sense her sincere hope.