The Damn Family Is Back Again - Chapter 315



315. CHAPTER 4 (3)

-Thud.

Arina pushed aside the documents she had just finished processing.

The important matter was done.

But, she still couldn’t put down her pen.

“…”

Even if she turned her head slightly, there were still piles of important matters left.

From the beginning, the rustling sound of each sheet being set aside had long since ceased.

The sheets, stacked layer upon layer, had become a pile of documents. They made a heavy, dull sound as they were stacked one by one.

Just as she sighed and reached for the documents again.

Someone entered urgently.

“Lady Arina. I’m sorry. It’s urgent…”

Without even knocking, it was none other than the family doctor, Shayden, who opened the door.

Ominous.

The documents she was holding tightened in her grip.

The fact that the family doctor had come so urgently was never a good sign.

No. She had some idea.

“The madam, the madam is now…!”

“I will go immediately. Lead the way.”

Even without hearing the rest, it was clear.

Something had happened to Mother.

Thus, the two headed towards Isabella.

The Duchess was currently desperately shaking off the maids who were trying to restrain her.

“Let go, I said let go!”

“Madam! Please stay still!”

“You must not move now. You must absolutely rest…!”

“Didn’t I say it’s unnecessary!!”

The scene before their eyes was dizzying.

Her eyes, devoid of life and unfocused.

In those eyes, neither Shaiden nor even Arina’s figure was reflected.

‘Damn it.’

Yes. Shaiden didn’t need to explain.

It was madness. The madness that had arisen from the loss of Karn, which Isabella had experienced in the past.

She kept searching for someone who no longer existed in this world, refusing to accept the fact that they had died.

Unable to overcome that painful emotion, she wandered in vain delusions, searching for Karn.

In a haggard state.

With a body that had become emaciated from refusing to eat.

This appearance of trying to go somewhere was identical to that time.

So they knew what needed to be done.

“Shaiden. The sleeping pill?”

“Here it is. You can use it right away.”

“…Give it to me.”

The pad-type sleeping pill that had been used in the past.

Arina was once again using this sleeping pill, which required mana to flow through the pad to put someone to sleep.

“I have to go find my son, Karsein… I… d…”

Gradually, Isabella’s movements ceased.

Her eyes closed, and her body lost strength and collapsed.

She had to be carried to the bedroom, still asleep as she was then.

The situation was settled.

Isabella had fallen into a deep sleep, likely due to the effects of the sleeping pills.

However, Arina had to face yet another piece of bad news.

“What do you mean? It’s gotten worse?”

“…I couldn’t tell you earlier because it was urgent, but the situation is a bit different from before. The usual medication wasn’t working well, so we had to gradually increase the dosage.”

The specific amount was about twice as much compared to the past.

This meant that Isabella was under even greater mental strain.

This fact deepened Arina’s headache even further.

“Sigh. I understand. I’ll assign more maids to take care of Mother.”

Arina, who had received Shayden’s request, was about to leave the room but then turned back and gritted her teeth.

‘Why, because of that wretched child…!’

Not long ago, she had been full of life.

She had shown enthusiasm by preparing the grandest coming-of-age ceremony for the upcoming birthday.

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Sometimes, she was so sincere that she would rub her eyes and reduce her sleep.

All for one person.

For Carsein, who would become an adult on this birthday.

She poured all her love into her child, dedicating her sleep, passion, and time.

And it wasn’t just her.

Claire and Flora also worked hard, reducing their leisure time to help.

Along with their mother, they put in more effort than anyone else to give Carsein the best coming-of-age ceremony.

But Carsein betrayed that warm affection so thoroughly.

Flora, who had promised to send a letter, didn’t send any even after arriving at the duke’s house, and then she fell ill with a severe cold.

Claire, who had arrived at the duke’s house earlier than Flora, went out with the knights of the duke’s house and was still searching. She was suffering both physically and mentally.

As a result, the entire duke’s house was in turmoil. The schedule for the coming-of-age ceremony, filled with the family’s affection, had reached the worst possible outcome.

Because some idiot who didn’t know any better left meaningless money in the room and disappeared.

Her insides were boiling.

She wanted to find the fool who left home without knowing their place and teach them why there’s a saying that leaving home leads to suffering.

But she couldn’t do that now.

“Miss Arina. It’s time for the regular meeting.”

“…Alright.”

There were too many burdens to bear in place of her mother.

*

The regular meeting that always came around.

Here, where discussions of various businesses and the approval or rejection by the duke’s family took place, important topics were expected to be discussed.

However, today the atmosphere was quite different from before.

Some were tense.

Some smacked their lips as if feeling uneasy.

And some seemed to have made up their minds.

Marquis Magnuel sighed lightly as he observed the atmosphere among his retainers.

‘This, it seems they’re determined to bring it up today.’

Until now, it hadn’t been particularly questioned, but today that topic might finally come up.

-Click.

The retainers, who had been waiting for the meeting to start, all turned their eyes towards the door that opened.

The person entering was the eldest daughter with a red ponytail.

There was only one. Arina Bagland.

‘No way…’

‘Is the rumor true!’

‘This is serious. Truly serious…’

The retainers began to murmur.

Why was the duchess absent, why was the second daughter Claire not seen, and why was Flora, who usually attended the meetings, not present? All sorts of questions arose.

Marquis Magnuel was no exception.

Among the retainers, a strange suspicion was currently brewing.

The rumors spreading across the empire could indeed be a fatal blow to the Bagland duchy.

“Mother is unwell today, so I will be taking her place.”

Unaware of anything, Arina, who had taken the place of Duchess Isabella, announced the start of the regular meeting.

The regular meeting proceeded as usual.

Arina’s ability to conduct and judge was quite decent.

As the next head of the family, she possessed all the necessary abilities, and even if she were to replace Duchess Isabella right now, there wouldn’t be any significant flaws.

It seemed like the regular meeting was about to end…

“Lady Arina. I have one question.”

A vassal raised his hand and asked.

In the end, what was bound to come had come.

“What is your question?”

“Where has Prince Karsein gone?”

“…Didn’t I tell you earlier? He caught a cold, probably because he couldn’t take care of himself during the seasonal change.”

It was a reasonable excuse. If he was sick, and too sick to come, it could be understandable.

However, to the current vassals, it was the worst lie.

“Lady, why are you hiding this fact?”

“What do you mean, Viscount Norton?”

“Isn’t it true that Prince Karsein has disappeared?”

“…!”

Arina’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘How do they know that?’

Currently, Karsein’s disappearance was tightly controlled so that it wouldn’t leak outside the duchy.

Even the maids who knew about it were being closely monitored, so no one should have known that Karsein had left the duchy.

However, for some reason, the vassals seemed to be convinced of it.

“How can someone who has been consistently attending schedules for the past few months suddenly not be seen? Does that make sense?”

“Moreover, we now know that Prince Karsein is not someone who would fall ill so easily!”

“Has he gone missing? Or has he been kidnapped? You need to tell us exactly what happened!”

Other vassals chimed in, “That’s right, that’s right!” sharing the same sentiment.

And then.

They heard the decisive story.

“A few days ago, no, it’s already been half a month. Since then, strange rumors have been spreading throughout the empire. Do you know that there’s no one in the empire who doesn’t know about these rumors?”

The content of the rumors.

It was shocking even to Arina.

“They say that Prince Karsein, who left the duchy, is plotting a rebellion against the Peselos Empire with the Westerners!”

-Ding!

▶This episode is a main episode and overlaps with other episodes.◀

▶Episode IV. The Traitor Proceeds.◀

▶Enemy entities detected! The danger level of all fields is being reassessed, and the intimacy levels are also being updated!◀

[ The lower the intimacy level, the higher the likelihood of hostility. ]

▶Survive by any means necessary.◀

*

A spacious living room is reflected.

A high-rise apartment. It was the living room of an apartment that boasted extremely expensive land prices.

This living room was always a place where the family gathered closely to have meals.

A place where they would sit around a table, face each other, and share small stories.

But as the day grew darker.

Empty seats began to appear at this table.

“Big sister? When is he coming?”

“…”

“Ha, just thinking about it makes me angry again. That stupid kid who doesn’t even know his place. He should just crawl back home quietly.”

The youngest, Eunji, asked as if wondering why.

The older sister, Eunseo, openly badmouthed Minhyuk, who still hadn’t come home.

But one person thought differently.

“Sister. Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“Big sister?”

“Eunhye?”

“No matter how bad the relationship is, shouldn’t we worry about him since he’s family if he doesn’t come home like this?”

Eunseo sneered and laughed at this.

“Worry? Why worry about that kind of kid. It would be a relief if he even knows how hard it is out there.”

“Eunseo sister!”

“Eunhye, you’re too soft. Just like mother. That kid who doesn’t even know how comfortably he’s living and only causes trouble needs to be properly scolded.”

-Bang!

“If he really left, what are you going to do?!”

“What?”

“There’s the worst-case scenario. What if he gets harmed somewhere? What if he gets scammed, or gets used by bad people?!”

“That’s the fault of that idiot who left home, not mine!

“B-big sister… little sister…”

Sparks flew between the two people’s gazes as the youngest, Eunji, hesitated.

The chair scraped back noisily.

An empty seat appeared at the dining table.

“Do you really think of her as family? I don’t know.”

The front door slammed shut with a bang.

The sound of the door lock echoed, and silence fell over the house.

“Hmph. Who cares about that idiot.”

Eunseo said that, but…

‘She didn’t really leave, did she…? If she did… if she did…’

The youngest, Eunji, felt uneasy.

Meanwhile, Eunhye, who had gone outside, tried calling several times in the elevator.

The only message she kept hearing was that the person couldn’t answer the phone. It was increasingly frustrating.

Then, suddenly, the younger sibling from the next door, who was right beside her, spoke to Eunhye.

“Sis, you’ve been blocked.”

“What?”

“The connection tone is short. That’s usually a sign of being blocked.”

“…Blocked?”

“Not always, but have you been in touch recently? If you got through, they were just busy, but if not, then…”

No.

Not even once.

There hadn’t been a single call for a week.

“Did you unknowingly get dumped by your boyfriend? If you got blocked with your face… I can’t imagine.”

As soon as she heard that, Eunhye felt a deep sense of unease.

Eunhye, who had rushed out of the elevator, tried calling again.

-The customer cannot answer the phone…

Short.

Just like the kid said, the connection tone was too short.

She tried calling again and again, but the result was the same.

Then, suddenly, her unease turned towards the trash area.

The envelope Minhyuk threw when he returned after a week. The envelope that landed with a thud, as if it were a stone, felt significant.

“No, no way… No way that could be…”

Eunhye kept repeating to herself that it couldn’t be, already heading towards the trash heap.

– I’ve done my business, so I’m leaving. Do whatever you want with the rest.

She believed he would come back when the time was right. She thought he must be in a bad mood for some reason right now.

But no matter how long she waited.

Even as evening approached, Minhyuk did not return.

She started to worry because she hadn’t been able to reach him by phone at all for the past week. Even when she tried to call, she couldn’t even hear the ringing tone.

She took out the envelope.

Despite the dirty smell from being in the trash heap.

“…No way. It can’t be.”

The easily torn envelope.

Inside it…

“What… is this…?”

It was filled with an amount of cash that took her breath away.

Her heart sank with a thud.

She forced herself to take a deep breath and stood up abruptly to make a call.

“Sister. We need to find him right now. We need to report this, report it first!”

– What are you talking about all of a sudden? If he’s hungry, he’ll crawl back. A kid who can’t earn a penny, doesn’t have a job, and can’t even socialize being found as a homeless person would be a problem. But don’t go easy on him. He needs a stern lesson─

“Damn it, I’m not going easy on him, I’m telling you he’s really run away from home!!”

For the first time, Eunhye swore at Eunseo.