It wasn’t until she’d been rambling for a while that she regained her composure. She took a few deep breaths, calmed herself, and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. She don’t know if they were completely gone, but there was no more time to waste. Now she had to find someone who could, as she’d told Cedric, ‘turn things around’. She didn’t mean the Duke of Berta. He wasn’t given the option of turning a blind eye to the abuse.

Estella pushed open the door and stepped outside. She didn’t have a destination yet, but she would find out soon enough. The Duchess was in the mansion, so it was likely that Diego hadn’t left yet.

Estella grabbed a passing maid and asked her about Diego’s whereabouts. The maid stammered and replied that Diego was still on the second floor. With that answer, Estella’s steps quickened. As she stepped onto the stairs, she thought about what she should do, what she could do.

At this moment, she had a few options: First, she could stop Diego’s plans of murder. It was a matter of how, and if it was just a matter of stopping it, she could do it. If the Duchess of Berta survived, at least Cedric and Cecilia’s lives could be guaranteed.

Secondly, the Duchess of Berta would take the blame for her children’s education failures. Now that the Duke would be dead, at least for a while, the Duchess would not be able to be bothered with petty things like the nuns’ haughty behaviour. Diego will not spare the Duchess either, so use the opportunity to leave the manor to escape his pursuit.

If there was one thing Estella should prioritise at this juncture, it was the survival of the children in her care. The day her nine-year-old student fell from the second floor and was taken away in an ambulance, she held the unconscious child’s hand and thought to herself, “This child will grow up.

Let this child grow up safely and see countless tomorrows.

“Little Duke¹this got me confused. I guess there was a typo as the raws said “?? ??.” which means Duchess.”

Estella had just rounded the corner of the stairs when she spotted Diego at the end of the corridor. Estella called out to him in a breathless voice. Diego stopped walking and turned to face her. Estella’s heart rose and fell rapidly, and she barely managed to steady her voice. Then she thought of two options she hadn’t considered.

Surely she could save Cedric and Cecilia, but…….

“Little Duke, you will need a black bow tie.”

What about the man who hadn’t had a proper upbringing and had grown up alone?

His frosty eyes rolled slowly towards Estella. Then a fake smile appeared on his face. The human expression he’d shown earlier in the garden was nowhere to be seen.

“Thank you for your concern, but the clothes I wear are my own concern, Miss Margaret.”

His tone seemed to pu up a wall, and he turned away from Estella without the slightest delay. Estella stood still and waited for him to pass. Diego walked away without a single glance at her. The tension finally eased from her shoulders.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t listen to her right now. Estella had merely planted the ‘what if?’ clue. The most extreme way she could prove herself worthy of the Duke’s business was his death.

She wasn’t worried about failure. Diego had sealed the deal every time. In the novel, when he demanded an arranged marriage in exchange for Adriana’s secrecy, he proposed granting her outings in exchange for the name of a traitor.

She felt sorry for Adriana, but it was fair to say that she had the upper hand. Estella had known that even before Diego killed his father.

Estella clenched her fist and made a firm determination. She vowed to save Cedric and Cecilia. However, she would not turn a blind eye to the pitiful man who was slowly dying at the hands of his own father.

And that evening the news of Gazoo’s death reached the Duchess Berta.

* * *

Diego double-checked the clothes he was wearing and the heavy feeling in his sleeves. Thanks to his precise measurements, the concealed object did not stand out through the fabric. What’s more, the dark-coloured uniform, buttoned up to the neck, would not show any foreign substances that would smear on it. Anyone could tell he was dressed for the occasion.

After going over a few final precautions, Diego headed to the meeting. When he arrived, he was greeted by one of the priests he’d bought in advance.

“The crowd?”

“They have mostly moved to the inner waiting room.”

“Have the guards left?”

“I’ve staggered their shifts, so they won’t be around for another half hour.”

The officer answered quickly, then looked up at Diego with a furtive glance. He looked as if he expected to be paid more. Diego glanced back at him and replied.

“We’ll talk about it later, if the plan succeeds.”

The shamelessness of his attitude bothered him, but not enough to put him off the job. It’s not a problem that money can solve in the first place. He had to give him credit for being available for such an important event.

“You won’t fail, Your Grace.”

The priest smiled wryly in reply. It was a title that already envisaged Diego’s succession to the family name. The man seemed to think that Diego had planned this out of greed for the title. He wasn’t wrong, but that wasn’t the crux of the matter. Instead of blurting out his confession to the corrupt priest, Diego walked right past him.

The corridor was empty, just as the priest had said. Diego stopped in front of the third room. Before he opened the door and stepped inside, he remembered the woman who had stopped him in his tracks at the manor. It was the tutor of his half-siblings. At first he thought she was being cheeky and commenting on his outfit, but the more he thought about it, the more it bothered him.

A black bow tie, as if to announce that there will be a funeral today.

It seemed worth going back and talking to her, even if it was a bit of a stretch, so that he could discern whether or not this chill was just his imagination.

With that thought in mind, Diego reached out and took hold of the doorknob. There was no trepidation. He stepped inside and saw the familiar figure at the end of the room. He looked straight ahead, as if he hadn’t heard the invitation. Diego closed the door behind him and spoke quietly.

“Father.”

Calling out a familiar yet unfamiliar title, Diego pondered its meaning. Why would someone become more precious to another person than their own life, even though they may be considered insignificant compared to others? What could be the difference between them and himself that could lead to such a phenomenon?

Perhaps it wasn’t his fault. He was a normal son who could only tell his mother that he loved her without falsehood. An early death is all he has against her.

“Father.”

It took two calls before Duke Berta turned around. The private prayer chamber was gated so that no one could enter or exit on the way. When he spotted Diego, he looked mildly surprised.

“……Diego?”

What would have been different if the Duke of Berta had not been the kind of person who would have been wary at a time like this, if he had at least shown his wife a modicum of respect, if he had left his motherless son alone instead of driving him mad, if he had at least gone about the business of calling for his son’s death unnoticed.

Diego kept imagining what if he hadn’t had to come here. But Diego knew well, not everyone who goes through the same thing acts the same way. The Duke of Berta had provided the cause, but it was up to him to draw the conclusion. The reason he came to stab him was simple. There was a part of him that was like the man he so despised.

“Why are you here?”

The Duke of Berta continued, his face full of disapproval. Diego stepped forward and answered.

“I have something very important to tell you.”

“Why have you come all the way here to tell me something that can be told later? You should leave immediately!”

Duke Berta exclaimed, and clicked his tongue accusingly at Diego. Diego shrugged lightly. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out the dagger in its sheath. The Duke of Berta raised an eyebrow. Diego asked.

“Do you know what this is?”

“I don’t have time to deal with your things one by one…”

Duke Berta’s mouth dropped open in annoyance. The object he thought he couldn’t possibly know was actually in his memory.

He had seen it somewhere. It must have been recently. As a civil servant, he was not intimately familiar with blades, and it was the first time he had ever encountered such a sharp piece of iron…….

“Wouldn’t it be polite to at least reap for yourself what you sow,. My father was a coward to the end.”

Diego pulled at the corner of his mouth smoothly. The Duke of Berta’s face grew white.

It was the killing knife he had promised to use to slit his son’s throat. He had drawn it from the scabbard in the blink of an eye, as if showing off his swordsmanship skills, repeatedly practicing drawing and sheathing it in the scabbard until it became second nature.

The Duke of Berta swallowed slowly, avoiding Diego’s gaze.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I see. You don’t remember.”

With that, Diego unsheathed his sword and tossed it to the floor. Duke Berta reflexively flinched back. But Diego held the blade to his throat.

“Perhaps this will help you remember.”

“…….”

“Surely this is the picture you wanted.”

Duke Berta slowly stepped back. He instinctively knew that even if he were to deny it, his opponent wouldn’t believe him. Diego’s eyes were already full of conviction. He had probably already done his research on the man who had commissioned the job.

The best swordsman in the South had discovered his client’s identity and fled. Duke Berta muttered an expletive under her breath.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“Ba, back off. You are about to commit the deed of stabbing your father in the back under the guise of a misunderstanding…….”

“Father, are you truly my father?”

Diego asked, genuinely curious. He did not suspect his mother of infidelity, but he would rather have an answer that would convince him.

Diego slowly approached Duke Berta. As he continued to walk, he bumped his back against a structure and froze in his tracks. Duke Berta shuddered.

“Diego, put that blade away.”

“It seems that as a dutiful child, I should be present to witness my father’s final moments, so I have come personally.”

“There, is anyone there, answer me!”

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  this got me confused. I guess there was a typo as the raws said “?? ??.” which means Duchess