(EP-266.1) Song #3

266 – Cicada’s Song #3

Chancellor Reinhardt Von Lioness of Angmar.

It was said that many trembled in fear at the mere mention of his name. However, at least as a father, Reinhardt was a kind man.

Though he showed merciless claws and fangs to his enemies, he was endlessly gentle and devoted to his family. That was the way of the lion.

Thus, Elga never found her father, Reinhardt, difficult to deal with. Reinhardt had also pampered Elga, who had lost her mother early on.

Thanks to this, Elga grew up to be a young lady who could easily be seen as overbearing and selfish.

But even Elga sometimes found her father intimidating. That was when she had to meet him in his office.

‘When was the last time I spoke with Father in his office…?’

“Huu-.”

Standing in front of the office of the head of the Lion’s Den—the Lioness estate in Angmar—Elga wiped her increasingly sweaty palms on the hem of her long dress.

Thump, thump.

Trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, Elga took a few deep breaths, but her body refused to return to its normal state.

It was understandable. Reinhardt, who thoroughly separated public and private matters, summoning Elga to his office meant he had something to say as the head of the house, not as her father.

And most of the time, such conversations with Reinhardt were harsh. Having this engraved since childhood, it was natural for Elga to feel fear.

━I know you’re out there. Come in.

A deep voice called out from behind the thick door of the office. Elga knew she couldn’t just stand there forever. She finally decided to open the door and put her hand directly into the lion’s maw.

Click, creak.

“First daughter, Elganes Von Lioness. Greetings to the head of the Lioness Ducal House.”

Elga grasped the hem of her skirt and gracefully curtsied.

All Elga could see was the broad shoulders and back of a man sitting in a chair, facing away from her, looking out at the moonlit window.

She couldn’t tell what expression he was wearing, but the bitter smell of tobacco and the pipe in his hand gave her a clue.

For him to start smoking again, there must be a good reason. However, Elga refused to be intimidated and spoke confidently.

“I’d appreciate it if you put out the cigarette.”

“……”

Crunch.

At Elga’s words, the man crushed the pipe in his hand.

Watching the graphite bamboo pipe, said to be stronger than steel of the same thickness, crumble, Elga felt dizzy.

However, without showing any sign of it, she asked.

“So, Father. Why did you call for me?”

“… You should already know the reason, Elganes. I saw the results of the test you requested. It was quite surprising.”

“……”

“Keeping it a secret was a good move. If this had gotten out, the kingdom we’ve worked so hard to stabilize would have been thrown into chaos. But─”

But.

“─the execution was sloppy. Everyone has been taken care of except the butler.”

“Taken care of…?”

“That means only you and I, and the old butler Rowan, who has served the Lioness family for so long, know about this now.”

Seureureuk-.

The man turned his chair to face Elga. His eyes looked more like those of an inquisitor scrutinizing a criminal than a father looking at his daughter. In fact, it was probably like that.

“Elganes. The red mana in that hair clearly exceeds the average. You know what this means. You also know what it means to hide it.”

“……”

“I heard you picked it up from the Bellhawk family’s lab. But there’s no way you would spend a fortune investigating a random hair you ‘picked up’. It must have been a sample obtained under special circumstances.”

Elga felt a lump in her throat.

The situation was suffocating.

“Tell me who it is, Elganes.”

The man’s red eyes pierced into Elga, as if seeing straight through her.

Despite wearing a long, elaborate dress, Elga felt an overwhelming sense of vulnerability, as if she were stripped bare before everyone.

Lying would be useless.

She knew this well from long experience.

She wondered what he would have done in this situation. Drawing courage from the familiar face she imagined, Elga asked.

“What would you do if you found out who it was?”

“You already know. I will eliminate them. It will mark the definitive end of the old king’s era and herald the start of a new one.”

“But you also hid Isaiah Gaspel, didn’t you, Father? And now you plan to eliminate someone similar? Don’t you think that’s contradictory?”

Where had she found such courage? It was the first time she had openly defied her father in his office.

Even Elga was surprised by her own boldness. It seemed Reinhardt was equally stunned, as his brow twitched with clear displeasure.

“—It’s different now.”

“How is it different? Because you’re the Chancellor? Or because my brother Richard is promised the throne? Have you suddenly become greedy for the throne?”

Bang-!

Reinhardt slammed his fist on the desk. The sturdy sandalwood desk shattered as if it were nothing but a flimsy straw.

“Choose your words carefully, Elganes.”

“…….”

“In the Lioness House, nothing takes precedence over family. Do not go against the only lesson I have ever taught you.”

“Family…”

“Even if you don’t tell me, I already know most of it. But I’m showing you where you should stand. I’m giving you a chance to decide. Remember who you are, Elganes.”

Reinhardt’s voice turned unexpectedly gentle, reminiscent of the times he gifted Elga a kitten or gave her piggyback rides during her childhood.

This tenderness made Elga want to reach out and hold his hand. If she took that hand now, they would walk together into a future full of endless glory as father and daughter.

But she didn’t.

“I am only following what you taught me, Father—I’m doing this for my family.”

Family.

Elga chose family.

Not the family she had always known.

But the family she would have in the future…

Edited by: faker