“Wait a minute, my head isn’t following.”
Katarina, who had heard everything from me, said, processing it while cradling her forehead.
I could understand.
How could she easily accept being the daughter of an aristocrat, and that her younger siblings are half-brothers and half-sisters that her mother gave birth to through eloping with a gardener?
Not a problem.
Because there is plenty of time anyway. We took one of the many rooms in Lonwell’s mansion, so she didn’t have to worry about people staring at her.
I waited for Katarina, stroking her back.
After a while, as if she had finally pulled her thoughts together, Katarina spoke with a sharply addled look.
She drawled, “…I understand everything you say. That Lonwell is my biological father and has been supporting me without my knowledge. But one way or another, he is my parents’ murderer.”
“Yes.”
“He killed my parents right in front of my eyes and that scene is still vivid in my eyes. I will never forgive him.”
“Yes.”
“I will kill him.”
“Then do it.”
Katarina’s eyes, which were sharp, sank. She looked at me with a slightly puzzled look.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Weren’t you trying to stop me from killing Lonwell?”
“Not really..? Why would I stop you from avenging your parents?”
Katarina narrowed her eyes and gave me a look of incomprehension.
“Then why did you stop me earlier?”
“Thing are different now than then. You didn’t know then that Lonwell was your real father, but now you do.”
“…does it matter?”
“Maybe it doesn’t. However if you hadn’t know, you may have came to regret it later.”
“I would’ve had no regrets.”
“Really? Are you sure you wouldn’t have regretted it hence? Are you confident that you would have brushed it off as something inconsequential?”
At my question, her mouth closed tight and it did not open again. Even as it was now, she seemed to have no confidence.
I patted her on the shoulder.
“From what I can see, you are in a state of confusion from accepting many things at once. Even at this moment when I am speaking, your head is only full of question marks, right?”
“…”
“That’s not bad actually. If you don’t take enough time to think and just act emotionally, you may end up regretting your actions, all those question marks you have would become exclamation marks.”
I gently jabbed Katarina in the middle of her chest with my forefinger.
“You are to dig in here. It’s a hard choice, a very hard one.”
“…then.”
Katarina’s expression blurred.
“Then what should I do now? I’ve only been looking at this so far…”
Her voice turned gloomy.
I put my hand on the back of hers and replied seriously.
“Let’s put it off until later.”
“…yes?”
Katarina’s eyes widened.
“You don’t have to decide now. Let’s go on a trip, and think slowly. You know what, there are so many wonderful places in this world to visit… For example, let’s see… the World Tree worshiped by the elves in the corner of the continent, those sweeties don’t come out of the forest… or the Dragon Nest where the dragons hoard everything…”
I said whatever came to my mind, but Katarina’s expression was a bit dazed when she heard my travel plans.
“Would you not like to go on a trip with me?”
“Uh..? Uh? No no. It’s not like…”
Katarina hurriedly shook her head. And then she spoke in a low, grating tone.
“…According to what you said… Lonwell, you’re saying, he tried to make me kill him out of guilt?”
“Right.”
“But what if he changes his mind later? When I decide to kill him, if he resists, if he doesn’t want to die…”
“That won’t happen.”
I chuckled.
He is a human being who gladly jumped on the bandwagon to quench his daughter’s — his sole blood’s — hatred.
Will such a person change his mind in a few days when he hadn’t in years?
But Katarina seemed uneasy.
“That’s not going to happen, but if it does, I’ll help you kill him. Didn’t I say? I am always on your side.”
“Really..?”
“Really.”
“Really… are you really going to do that? Will you still be by my side?”
Katarina’s eyes flickered with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.
I took her in my arms.
“Yes. Always.”
“I’m sorry…”
Her body, leaning against me, quivered slightly.
The pent up pressure inside her released as the sound of sobbing reached my ears.
Lonwell had let out a bitter laugh when I had stopped Katarina and had explained the hidden intricacies to her.
Katarina had quivered but she did not let go of her saber.
She was afraid, but she glared at his face all the way.
Because of that, I had thought Katarina was emotionally a rational woman.
But it wasn’t so.
She didn’t let go of the saber, but her hand had been trembling.
She glared all the way, but was afraid inside.
Katarina had shown a strong exterior so far, but that was a false image created out of vengeance. In reality, she is just an ordinary woman with a soft heart.
She is a precarious person with no pillar to lean on.
I stroked her hair gently.