Chapter 168
“I’m really… Honestly, isn’t this just running around in circles?”
“Shut up and keep digging.”
“Ugh…”
Hans, a retainer of the Wolfbert family, kept wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Irritation was building up.
Probably the other retainers felt the same.
The dazzling sea of Tangmar and the beauties on the beach…
Turning their backs on such temptations and coming to a deserted island, what kind of nonsense is this?
Unable to bear it any longer, Hans stopped digging.
“Sigh… Are we grave robbers now?”
“Hans is right. Gibson, this doesn’t seem right, does it?”
Hans and his comrades voiced their complaints in unison. After all, they, as retainers of the Wolfbert family, were now daring to dig up a grave on the family’s sacred island.
Gibson, the oldest among the retainers, cut to the chase.
“If you have time to complain, hurry up. It’s the lord’s orders.”
“Lord Gale’s orders?”
Hearing that, Hans couldn’t understand it even more.
“Then it makes even less sense. The owner of this grave is Lord Gale’s… well, his mistress, isn’t it?”
Next to Hans stood a tombstone.
[Wild May]
[Eternally resting on this island]
Gibson warned Hans.
“Watch your mouth, kid. Lord Gale’s only wife is Lady Hildegarde.”
“Ah, of course, I mean… she did bear Lord Gale’s child, didn’t she? So they made this grave, and now we’re supposed to remove it? It just doesn’t make sense.”
Not just Hans, but the other retainers nodded in agreement.
Gibson clicked his tongue at their reaction.
“Tsk… What does the reason matter to us retainers? We just do as we’re told.”
“But still, it’s strange. This isn’t like Lord Gale.”
“I’m just speculating, but perhaps Lady Hildegarde pressured him.”
“Ah, the lady of the house…”
“Exactly. The only one who would see this grave as an eyesore is her.”
Indeed, if it were Lady Hildegarde’s orders, it made sense.
While Lord Gale was busy commanding the Imperial Navy, it was Lady Hildegarde who managed the family’s internal affairs.
Lady Hildegarde not only overlooked Lord Gale’s infidelity but also accepted the illegitimate child as a formal member of the family. Although that child had ungratefully abandoned the family long ago…
Still, even the merciful Lady Hildegarde must have been deeply hurt by Lord Gale’s infidelity. That resentment, though invisible, surely existed. After all, Lady Hildegarde is still a woman.
“Ugh… Then there’s no choice.”
Hans and his comrades picked up their shovels again.
Their task for today was clear.
To remove the grave of the lord’s mistress from this island. This was to erase a stain on the proud Wolfbert family.
Thinking that, Hans felt the weight on his shoulders.
“Just do as you’re told. If Lord Gale ordered it, there must be a reason. We just need to cleanly remove this grave from the island.”
Gibson was right.
Sorry to the grave’s owner, but there’s no choice.
“Understood, let’s get moving.”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
Hans and his comrades resumed digging.
Then…
Thud.
As Hans plunged his shovel into the soft ground, it hit something.
It wasn’t hard to realize it was a coffin.
“Phew… Good thing it’s not too deep.”
“Good work. Now, let’s throw the coffin into the sea and smash the tombstone, and our job is-.”
“You’ve worked hard, everyone.”
“Ahhh?!”
A woman’s voice suddenly rang out, startling Hans, who turned around.
Not just Hans, but everyone present was equally shocked.
“What… what? A woman?”
When did she appear?
A woman they had never seen before stood before them.
Draped in a black military coat, she glared at them with alluring eyes. Her eyes were oddly heterochromatic.
“…Ugh.”
Especially her left eye, with its obsidian-colored pupil, emitted a chilling light.
Overwhelmed by her gaze, Hans froze momentarily as Gibson spoke up.
“How did you even get here?”
“Hmm… I don’t think I need to answer to grave robbers.”
“We’re not grave robbers, we’re retainers of the Wolfbert family. We’re moving the grave on the lord’s orders.”
“Moving the grave…? On the lord’s orders?”
“That’s right.”
At that, the woman tilted her head.
Gibson asked about the unexpected guest’s identity.
“More importantly, who are you? Who are you to come to this remote island…”
“Ah, who am I?”
The woman’s lips curled slightly.
It was a beautiful smile, but her eyes were not smiling.
“The daughter of the grave you’re so eagerly desecrating… does that ring a bell?”
*
-Wild… May…?
She barely managed to read the inscription on the tombstone.
That was Helga’s memory from when she was very young.
-Dad, is Mom’s name May…?
-…Yes.
At her young daughter’s question, Gale nodded.
Though the memory was faded, that moment was strangely vivid.
-Was Mom wild?
-…….
Gale remained silent for a long time after her question.
Who knows what he was thinking, but he suddenly gave an unrelated answer.
-Your mother was a woman who loved you more than anyone.
Looking back, that was all Gale ever said about her mother.
Not that Helga expected any romantic answers from Gale Wolfbert, a warrior to the core…
‘But still, lying is a bit much… Father.’
May.
All Helga knew was her mother’s name. Not a single photo remained, so she didn’t even know her face.
Her mother, who died giving birth to Helga, was buried on this island, the Wolfbert family’s cemetery.
Though she was not the legal wife but a mistress, it was only possible due to Gale’s consideration.
Perhaps that was the best consideration the stoic Gale could offer.
He built a grave and erected a tombstone so Helga would remember her mother existed.
The lie that would soon be exposed was also part of that consideration.
She thought so, but…
Before Helga’s eyes was her mother’s grave, mercilessly dug up.
“Da, daughter? Then you’re Lord Gale’s?!”
A stir arose among the men.
The man who seemed like the leader calmed the commotion.
“Why are you all panicking? She’s no longer related to us.”
“Ah, right. That’s true…”
“Hmm… Seeing this, there are only three possibilities. Either you’re truly retainers of the Wolfbert family following the lord’s orders… grave robbers here to loot, or pirates who’ve lost their minds.”
“What? Pirates?”
The man in the middle reacted sensitively to that.
“Hey! Whether you’re really the lord’s daughter or not, watch your mouth.”
“Hey! Hans!”
Before the leader could stop him, the man with the shovel approached Helga.
“Listen up, girl. We’ve served the lord for a long time, driving pirates from the seas. And you call us pirates?”
Genuinely angry, he grabbed Helga by the collar.
“You think just because you’re pretty, we won’t hit you? Huh? Watch your mouth, or else-.”
In truth, Helga knew.
The man probably only intended to threaten her.
But unfortunately, Helga was extremely angry right now.
“Hey… Hans?”
The comrade behind the leader sensed something was wrong.
Thud.
The man named Hans stiffened and collapsed on the spot.
“…You should watch your dirty hands.”
Helga straightened her crumpled collar.
Sparks flew from her body with each movement.
The lightning, reacting to her emotions, crackled threateningly.
“Ah!”
The man, electrocuted by the current flowing from her body, foamed at the mouth and convulsed.
Helga mercilessly stomped on him with her high heels.
“What, what are you doing?!”
“Ah, shut up. Who told you to grab my collar?”
The lightning emanating from her body.
The men, recognizing the purple lightning, a symbol of the Wolfbert family, began to back away.
“That magic power is the same as the lord’s…”
“Then she really is the lord’s daughter?!”
The men, gripped by shock and fear.
Seeing them, Helga thought.
She felt like causing a scene.
Releasing her magic power to incapacitate the man didn’t quell her anger.
If only she could make these people who desecrated her mother’s grave suffer…
If she could make them disappear without a trace with her lightning, perhaps this uncontrollable emotion would vanish too.
“Whoever’s daughter I am, it’s none of your business.”
Helga summoned the magic power within her.
She felt the magic power tingling through her skin.
“You’re about to disappear.”
“…!”
Seeing this, the men’s faces filled with terror.
Just as Helga’s lightning was about to strike them down…
“Enough.”
“…!”
Hearing that voice, Helga quickly swallowed her magic power.
It was almost instinctive.
There was no way to resist that voice.
Helga turned around as if nothing had happened.
There stood the black nobleman she trusted, followed, and ardently admired.
“…You’re here, Count.”
“Co, Count Ruelberta…?!”
“Why, why is he here…?”
The men backing away couldn’t help but recognize him.
Perhaps the most famous noble in the country.
Count Tristan Ruelberta.
Unbelievably, he had appeared before them.
“Co, Count!”
This time, the man who seemed like the leader spoke first.
“Excuse me, I’m Gibson, a retainer of the Wolfbert family! This woman is your retainer, right? There seems to be some misunderstanding, please stop her-!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but good. It’s convenient that the workers are already here.”
“Ah… Yes? Workers?”
Confusion spread across Gibson’s face as he desperately pleaded.
Helga, too, couldn’t follow Tristan’s conversation.
“Uh, um… Count…?”
“Actually, while coming by boat, I was thinking about how to move the graves on this island.”
Tristan stroked his chin nonchalantly.
“Seeing the workers already here, the hotel staff must have anticipated my intentions.”
“Ah, no… We’re not workers… We’re retainers of the Wolfbert family…”
“But it seems you were digging up the wrong grave.”
“…Huh?”
“The grave you’re supposed to move isn’t this one, but all the other graves except this one.”
Tristan pointed his cane at the entire island.
At his bizarre attitude, the leader-like Gibson shouted.
“Wait, Count?! I don’t understand. Why are you moving the Wolfbert family’s graves?”
“Seeing your reaction, you didn’t know.”
Count Ruelberta, Tristan, smiled with ‘pride’ and said to them.
“From now on, this is my island.”
