"As expected, please take me in, Marquis."
Clara came to a sudden stop.
"Hmm... To live in such a large residence, one would need servants, but unfortunately, my earnings aren't enough for that."
"..."
"I've also already looked at a one-room apartment through a real estate agency."
"...I see."
Clara, who had answered calmly, only turned to look at Adel after reaching the doorway.
"So, you're saying you'll leave right away in three days?"
It was a matter of course.
Adel had lived with the sole goal of leaving the Merriweather family.
There was no lingering attachment left for this place built on lies and indifference...
"..."
No attachment whatsoever.
Yet, for some reason, an easy answer didn't come.
While Adel remained speechless...
"...Um."
Clara hesitated, then opened her mouth.
"Yes?"
But when Adel stared blankly at her, she shook her head.
"Take care."
After a quiet farewell, Clara left Adel's room.
Even after the door closed, Adel stared for quite a long time at the spot where she had disappeared.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Returning to her study, Clara hugged herself tightly with both arms.
It would have been better if Ori were here, but it didn't matter.
The human body has its foolish aspects. Just doing this provided some sense of stability.
'But that day...'
It was useless.
When she had pretended to collapse after taking poison and was put into the sack.
Even though she knew she would be safe with the Duke of Winchester there, her heart, held tight in her arms, thrashed with anxiety.
Just as the fear of being discovered was about to overwhelm her...
"You look busy, Nursemaid."
A familiar voice had reached her.
To be honest, at that moment, Clara had been... glad for her appearance.
"No!"
And when the two of them fell down the stairs together.
At that moment, which perhaps should have been the most frightening of all...
Clara had felt a deep sense of security.
Simply by leaning comfortably into the strong embrace that held her.
The name of that warm emotion she had felt at that moment, Clara understood more accurately than anyone.
"That is... the suspension bridge effect."
She remembered it clearly from a book she read around age three.
It's an emotional mistake.
In a crisis situation, anyone feels palpitations or tension.
But it's the phenomenon of mistakenly attributing this to the person you are with.
"...Let's get to work."
Urging herself on, Clara sat down at her desk.
The book said the suspension bridge effect gradually fades upon returning to everyday life.
So this feeling will soon disappear.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Three days later.
The day arrived when the neck of former Marquis Rufus Merriweather would fall at the execution block.
The execution was scheduled to be carried out privately, with only a very small number of witnesses allowed.
Among those witnesses were, of course, the Duke of Winchester and Clara as well.
Not a few people raised the question of whether it was right for a girl of only ten to witness an execution.
But Clara made her intentions clear.
"I am the next Marquis. I will watch my father's final moments."
Furthermore, no one could refute her statement that it was the duty of the successor.
Early in the morning, on the way to witness the execution.
Seated in the carriage, Clara recalled yesterday's events.
She had gone to see Rufus for the last time.
"You, you...!"
Facing Clara, he revealed his raw anger as it was.
"Father."
"Ha! Father? Did you ever think of me as your father!"
He tried to grab Clara by the hair right then.
But restrained by the guards, he couldn't even properly extend his hand.
"Falling for that cunning Duke's tricks!"
You don't know.
Rufus was misunderstanding.
Thinking that Clara had handed over evidence under the Duke's instigation.
In fact, it was Clara who had first taken the evidence and sought out the Duke.
Because she could no longer stand by and watch.
"I... just wanted to protect it."
What Rufus Merriweather of the era when he knew honor had valued above all else.
"Protect?! You can say that after seeing this state?!"
"..."
"Never mind, did you gather the petitions? Submitting as many as possible will help get the death sentence revoked."
It seemed Rufus didn't know the execution would take place tomorrow.
She felt a tiny bit of pity for him.
"Why are you standing there blankly? If you're the one who brought things to this state, you need to do something quickly!"
...No, she decided not to pity him.
"There are funds with an unverified source."
Clara deliberately spoke more stiffly.
"You sold salt mixed with sand and engaged in black market deals. But even combined, those profits don't match the actual gambling funds."
"...What?"
"Where did you make up the shortfall?"
At her cold voice, not only Rufus but also the guards and the administrator standing nearby flinched in surprise.
Though she was concerned about them hearing the family's shameful affairs, there was no choice.
If not now, there would be no chance to find out.
"Y-you still haven't come to your senses! Are you truly satisfied only after sending your own father to the execution block?!"
Unaware that it had already come to that, he continued to berate her.
"Marquis."
The administrator and guards called Clara in low voices.
Likely meaning it was time to end the visit and isolate him.
They seemed concerned about Clara being a child.
"No, it's fine."
Clara lightly raised a hand to stop them.
"H-ha, Marquis?"
That form of address seemed to further provoke him.
"A child already tasting power and trying to kill her own father at all costs!"
His eyes rolled back as he struggled again.
"Only your mother who died giving birth to something like you is pitiful!"
"So, you have no intention of telling me the source of the funds."
If that was the case, there was nothing more to see.
Clara finally turned to look at the administrator.
"You may take the prisoner away."
"Yes, Marquis."
The guards swiftly grabbed Rufus's arms.
"Let go of me! The visit isn't over yet!"
Despite his pitiful thrashing of his entire body, he began to be dragged away in an ugly manner.
"You can't treat me like this! I am the Marquis of Merriweather!"
He spewed curses until the very end as he was taken out.
"You vile creature! Will you be satisfied after killing both your parents with your own hands?!"
That remark was likely a desperate attempt to leave a scar on Clara's heart somehow.
Who did he think would be hurt?
Clara met his ferocious gaze with a placid expression.
Even after being dragged down the corridor by the guards, Rufus continued to pour out words closer to curses.
Clara truly felt nothing.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The carriage jolted to a stop.
They had arrived in front of the prison.
Lost in thought about yesterday's events, Clara lifted her head and looked out the window.
Beneath the tall grey wall, a familiar face was visible.
The Duke of Winchester.
His family had made significant investments in the Merriweather salt mines for generations.
The reason he actively cooperated with Clara this time was also due to that background.
If the Marquis's corruption were to be purged by the royal family, the salt mines would be wholly absorbed by the state.
In that case, the royal family would subtly pressure the Duke of Winchester to prevent him from exercising his rights to the invested funds.
To protect the ducal family's assets, he had no choice but to cooperate with Clara.
"Good day, Marquis Merriweather."
As the carriage door opened, he greeted her with his always courteous demeanor.
"Good day, Duke of Winchester."
"Shall we go in, then?"
The Duke took a step ahead, leading the way to the execution grounds.
The execution chamber was spotless.
Yet, there was a nauseating smell somewhere.
Perhaps it was the stench of death.
Clara saw Rufus beyond the glass wall.
Kneeling on the execution platform, he displayed his talent for embarrassing Clara until the very end.
"Let go! You damned bastards! I am Merriweather! I am the Marquis, someone you lowly scum cannot treat like this!"
Only after a period of commotion did the executioner recite the verdict.
"...Thus, the prisoner is sentenced to death."
Clara focused her eyes.
'I have a duty to witness this death.'
I will absolutely not close my eyes.
No matter how horrific the scene...
Finally, a sharp sword flashed from a high place.
Now it was truly the end.
Her father's neck...
Thud.
She heard the 'sound' of something falling.
Only... the sound.
She had closed her eyes at the most crucial moment.
'Why did I... run away?'
Even while blaming herself, the girl still couldn't open her eyes.
'I shouldn't be doing this.'
Wasn't it the duty of the next generation to witness the final moments of the previous one?
She carefully lifted her trembling eyelids.
Something black swayed.
Clara blinked several times before realizing it was the hem of the Duke of Winchester's clothing.