The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Family Wants A Divorce - Chapter 66



65. Supplication

*Fwoosh!*

The moment he cleanly severed one of Alois’ arms, Isaac, frankly, couldn’t deny a small upturn of his lips.

If someone had told Isaac to avenge himself on only one person from the Helmundt family…

He would have chosen Alois without a moment’s hesitation; he was the one who had inflicted the deepest wound.

“*Kuaaak!*”

Alois’ scream echoed long and loud through the mansion.

Isaac’s senses weren’t particularly keen, but he could already hear the commotion from outside.

“You! How dare youuu!”

“His tone’s not unlike Loengreen’s. Must be a brother thing.”

Isaac resettled himself with brisk efficiency. The haphazard jolts of electricity made his waist and sides sting a little.

His sleepwear was light; it seemed he’d suffered some collateral damage from the electric surge.

“After all this, you really think you’re going to walk away unscathed-!”

“Indeed. I had hoped to use you for something… different.”

Isaac charged.

Alois, still clutching his severed arm, was caught off guard, slow to react.

*Thwack!*

Isaac flew forward, landing a kick square against his chest. Alois was sent sprawling out of the room.

A line of blood connected the severed arm to the ground, like a dark red brushstroke.

“Gyaaack!”

Alois screamed again. He landed hard on his rear, the impact seemingly exacerbating the agony in his arm.

“Eek!”

“A, Lord Alois!”

“What is it? What’s all the commotion?”

Those preparing for sleep emerged, one by one. Servants who hadn’t yet retired, and even members of the Hellmundt direct line, trickled out to assess the situation.

“Tch, what a wretch.”

“Alois, your arm…”

Typically Hellmundt.

Even with their brother’s arm severed, the eldest, Loengreen, and the second, Armin, could only click their tongues or shake their heads.

No sorrow, no rage.

On the contrary.

*Thud!*

Rihanna leapt down from the second floor, landing between Isaac and Alois in a swift, single motion.

Though changed into her pajamas, the palpable pressure emanating from her body seemed to crush the very air.

“Sister! That dog made me like this! Just because he’s leaving, the madman-!”

Alois sobbed, desperately trying to rally his sister to his side.

But Rihanna’s expression grew colder, her red eyes radiating a chilling iciness.

“More to the point, Alois, I’m curious as to why you were in Isaac’s room in the first place.”

“Sister? I… I lost my arm! To some dog of a commoner! Lost it! I tell you!”

Even as the servants scrambled to recover Alois’s arm and staunch the blood with cloths,

he only managed to spill more crimson with his strained shouting.

Yet, thanks to Helmunt’s physiology, not a shade shifted in his complexion.

“That’s a matter of determining fault, isn’t it.”

“It’s your brother’s hand! Surely-!”

“You still have Isaac’s attempted murder hanging over you. It was only delayed because of the Sword Emperor, don’t forget that.”

“Ah.”

Alois gnawed at his lip.

He tried desperately to fabricate some excuse, anything.

*Kiii-eek.*

Isaac’s wardrobe creaked open, and the boy emerged, looking composed yet grieved.

“Brother, I saw everything.”

“…Ethel? Sharen?”

“Alois barged in and tried to snap Isaac’s neck! Even using *Jeokgang*!”

Sharen pointed and shrieked, causing Alois’s expression to curdle.

“You verminous wretches-! Don’t you forget who your brothers are, you hear me?! To turn on your own blood like this-!”

Alois roared, but

Rianna didn’t hesitate.

Instantly, *Jeokgang* coalesced in her right hand, and she lashed out with it as if wielding a whip.

*Pah-aak!*

From noble mtl dot com

Alois’s body flew up and slammed into the wall, knocking him unconscious on the spot.

“…Wasn’t that a bit much?”

“Our sister’s really angry.”

“S-Sister…”

“Ugh.”

Amidst the shocked reactions of the direct line, Rianna stood expressionless.

It was a warning, of sorts, that her responses going forward would be different from anything they had seen thus far.

Then, heavy footsteps echoed from the top of the stairs.

In the Helmunt estate, there was only one being capable of exuding such overwhelming pressure.

“What is all this commotion?”

Arundel Hellmunt descended, already looking thoroughly displeased, and with that, the matter was settled, for the moment.

* * *

The Hellmunt training grounds.

“Let’s go again, Isaac! aaargh!”

Loengrin, voice strained to the breaking point, screamed the challenge.

“Come and fight, dammit! aaargh!”

As he shouted, consumed by a frantic fury, the princess beside Isaac shot him a look of clear irritation, and he faltered, just for a moment.

“I’ll go.”

Rianna, who had been seated next to Isaac, hefted her greatsword and stepped forward to face Loengrin.

“Yippee.”

The moment Rianna vacated her seat, Sylverna promptly plopped down, bottom first.

Seated beside him now, she smiled and urged Isaac to continue his story.

“So, Alois suddenly attacked you yesterday? The Hellmunt’s third son?”

“Yes, he came to find me at night.”

“……”

Claris, arms crossed, sat opposite him, her eyes narrowing.

Seemingly lost in thought, she didn’t even consider drinking the rose tea on the table, completely absorbed in his account.

“He’s been trying to harm me for a while. Even on our fourth wedding anniversary.”

“Fourth wedding anniversary?”

“It was the day the chandelier fell. If it had hit me, I would have been seriously injured.”

Having actually experienced it, Isaac felt an even more chilling sensation.

“Not only that, but he’d rigged traps in the cake and the rose bouquet as well.”

“So, where is Alois now? What, because he’s a Hellmunt, is the Hellmunt family just judging him and confining him to his room or something?”

At Sylverna’s incredulous question, Isaac shook his head.

“He was transferred in the early hours. To the dungeon in the royal capital.”

“The Hellmunt sent him to the dungeon? I didn’t think they’d do it.”

“He probably didn’t want Alois getting involved and complicating things when he was already swamped with work.”

It wasn’t for naught that he had slashed his own wife.

Arundel had mercilessly cast Alois aside. As if he held not a shred of interest in him.

Conversely, Alois, too, appeared to hold no lingering affection for either Arundel or Helmund.

[Sister! Siiiiiister! Oh, this is a misunderstanding! I’ll explain everything somehow! Yes?! Siiiiister!]

The sight of him calling out to Rianna, his voice cracking, even stirred a sense of disgust.

Any remaining affection withered away in that instant.

“But Helmund is truly cold as steel. One of their brothers gets an arm chopped off and hauled away, and they appear to feel nothing.”

“Alois simply never held any affection for his family or his house.”

Except for Rianna, that is.

Thump!

“By the abyss!”

Loengreen, soundly defeated by Rianna, knelt on the floor, sobbing openly.

Leaving him to his despair, Rianna approached and frowned at the sight of Silberna in her seat.

“That’s my place.”

“Childish. He who sits, owns.”

“……That’s even *more* childish. When are you going back?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about—”

“What could be the reason?”

The Princess interjected, cutting Silberna off.

After a lengthy deliberation, Clarisse, wearing a truly bewildered expression, asked.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? Why would anyone bother targeting Isaac?”

Clarisse’s question, piercing the core of the matter, caused Isaac to hesitate a moment. What sort of answer should he give?

He glanced at Rianna, then sighed, dredging up a truth best left buried.

“Alois… held affection for Rianna.”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

“Therefore, he detested me, her husband.”

All three stared at Isaac simultaneously. Isaac sighed, conveying that he hadn’t *wanted* to say these words, but—

“But aren’t you two siblings?!”

“They *weren’t* siblings?!”

Clarisse and Silberna shouted at the same time, and Isaac, as if awaiting this moment, nodded.

“Isaac, are you certain of this?”

“Certain. It’s why Alois kept the motive for the crime a secret until the very end.”

Isaac sipped his rose tea, a trace of bitterness on his lips. The tea, once warm, had cooled to lukewarm, but still held tightly to its fragrance.

“Do you have proof?”

He couldn’t produce concrete evidence at this very moment.

He’d first heard it as rumor after Isaac departed, only to find it confirmed during a later reunion.

Times like this called for an appeal to emotion.

“I was her husband, after all. You quickly notice the way a husband looks at his wife.”

He’d honestly thought it lacked persuasive force. Yet the ladies seemed to gain even more conviction from it, placing their faith in Isaac’s words.

“……Urgh.”

Rianna covered her mouth, seemingly without conscious thought, and fled as if escaping.

The revelation that her own brother had feelings for her must have been quite a shock.

“Urgh-eh-eh-eh!”

“Never seen Rianna like that before.”

He wordlessly watched Rianna rush into the mansion, unable to contain herself.

It was a novel sight, and he found himself unable to look away.

Once Rianna had gone,

Clarice posed another question.

“Isaac, perchance, were you bullied in Helmundt?”

“…….”

“Tell me the truth. And does it have to do with the divorce?”

Isaac gave a wry smile and nodded.

“Indeed. I’m utterly sick of Helmundt by now.”

Silberna reacted to Isaac’s honest confession with wide-eyed surprise, while Clarice calmly sighed.

“So, that’s what it was?! Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Why would I tell *you*?”

“Those wretched b*stards.”

Silberna fumed, glaring at Helmundt who was practicing in the training yard.

Sharen was sparring with her brothers; her skills were still lacking, but her movements held a striking potential for growth.

“……Forgive me.”

Then, Clarice offered a sudden apology.

“Pardon?”

“Not knowing such a thing… I stubbornly insisted you couldn’t divorce, forcing the matter.”

“…….”

“Ahem. You see, I am a princess, am I not? So, the truth is, I am quite capable and erudite, tending to oversee things in a well-rounded manner, in many matters, that is?”

The two listening thought.

Not quite that impression.

Unmatched in her competence at gathering information, to be sure, but still lacking the experience to properly collate it, to bring it to a polished finish or conclusion.

That much was now almost publicly acknowledged.

“But of course, there are things I miss as well. For the kingdom’s safety, I missed you, in truth. You are our subject, too.”

“……I understand. You wished to avoid unnecessary discord in Hellmunt before the battle with the Transcendent.”

What knight would intentionally flaw his own blade before facing the enemy?

Moreover, it was a case of a noble of the kingdom having defected to the Transcendent.

A moment when the great nobles like Hellmunt needed to hold the center, steadfast.

“For the greater good, after all.”

At Isaac’s bitter smile, Clarice’s eyes grew faintly moist.

She sniffled and nodded, then carefully took Isaac’s hand and spoke.

“Actually, I came to persuade you as well. This crime of Alois’s, in addition to the divorce… No matter how I consider it, it cannot possibly have a good effect on the war effort.”

The vanguard and the kingdom’s sword, Hellmunt.

That the third son there attempted to assassinate the eldest daughter’s husband could only lead to ill tidings, any way you looked at it.

“Until Blackthorn is subjugated, just until then, please turn a blind eye. Both to Alois’s punishment, and to the divorce. I implore you… please.”

That was why Alois had been secretly transferred at dawn.

So that no one would know.

“I know it’s distressing. You’re likely resentful. I am sorry to be a woman who can only make such a request of you.”

Clarice clasped Isaac’s hand with both of hers, pleading as if in prayer.

“I, Clarice Evangel Regardia, shall surely remember your sacrifice for the greater good… and on the day all is finished, I will pay the due recompense.”

“Princess.”

“I am not suggesting your efforts be compensated with mere material things. If you would tell me what you desire, I shall fulfill it. It is regrettable that the best the royal family can offer is only this much… I am sorry.”

“…….”

At Clarice’s request, Isaac gave a bitter smile.

“There’s no need to bow your head, Princess.”

Alois is loathsome, but the Transcendent Ones are naturally more important.

From the beginning, the reason Alois’s head wasn’t cleaved clean off was also because of the Transcendent Ones, wasn’t it?

“I shall accept it.”

“Ah.”

Claris exhaled a sigh laced with relief, and lowered her head.

“Gratitude, for your generous spirit. Merely gratitude.”

“Might I ask one thing first?”

Isaac subtly withdrew his hand, smiling. Silbena’s gaze was slowly becoming rather menacing.

“Yes, anything.”

“See that Alois is watched thoroughly.”

“There’s no need to worry about that—.”

Claris, about to answer, cut herself off and closed her mouth. Perhaps she sensed something chilling, even unspoken, for she nodded.

“I shall make special mention of it.”

‘As I thought.’

Her instincts are sharp.

In his past life, Alois, after being abandoned by his family, became a familiar of the Transcendent Ones.

The possibility of the Transcendent Ones approaching Alois this time was also exceedingly high.

Especially since they were exceedingly concerned with Helmunts.

“But Isaac, your intuition is keen, wouldn’t you say? Would you perhaps consider working with me?”

Claris, her expression brightening, asked almost teasingly, and Silbena, who had been silent in the grave atmosphere, interjected.

“Isaac promised to guard the barrier with me in the North, so he cannot!”

“…I did?”

Silbena and Claris, their argument over who would take Isaac growing heated…

Alas, Isaac’s destination after leaving Helmunts was already decided.

‘He’s probably at the Rocky Mountains by now.’

The Grand Master.

He intended to seize once more the chance he had bitterly missed.