I Have A Damn Family Again - Chapter 345

Chapter 345: Family (15)

Isabella soon took Shaiden’s medicine and fell asleep. Taking advantage of the quiet that followed, I had a chance to slip out of the Duchess’s room.

But I couldn't move any further for now.

▶ A waiting period exists until the next search, proportional to the number of clues found within the manor. ◀

▶ A timer will begin. Hide from pursuers until the next information becomes available. ◀

The status window was hindering me with a waiting period, forcing me to remain within the manor.

An ally was an ally for a reason. As if on cue, Shaiden offered some information. He suggested I shouldn't leave so readily, as night was approaching, and security around the Duchess would tighten.

“But there might be a place for you to hide, Young Master.”

Shaiden offered to use his room as a hiding place, reasoning that no one would question the physician's presence there, at least until the heightened security measures eased.

Harnie expressed her gratitude for the readily offered suggestion.

And so, I was able to stay in the Duchess' room during the waiting period.

…But my mind was still preoccupied with what had happened with Isabella.

“…Why did I do something so stupid?”

Thinking back, it was an incredibly foolish act.

Even if Shaiden had asked, I didn’t have to leave a message for Isabella.

Even if she had found and delivered the note I needed, I didn’t have to hug her.

…Even if she had given me a gift, remembering my birthday and recalling a memory from the distant past, a glass orb I had once desired, I didn’t have to call her “Mother.”

There was no need to let my emotions get the better of me.

Thinking rationally, it was a meaningless gesture.

I should have ignored it.

…That would have been the normal thing to do.

If I were my past self.

My gaze fell on the fourth piece of the note, the one I had received from Isabella.

“…This makes it impossible not to notice.”

No matter how much I thought about it, there was only one conclusion.

To put it bluntly, Isabella wasn’t a good mother.

She was just a woman bound by madness, neglecting the child she had taken in, failing to care for him properly.

Even though she had legally adopted him. Even though he lived a life of luxury, far from the slums. Even though she had given him a new name and a privileged status.

She had only inflicted pain on a child who wasn't related to her by blood.

It was the same for me, and for Carsein.

My adoptive mother seemed indifferent to what happened within the family.

She seemed oblivious to the strained relationships, so cold and distant that I wondered if she even cared.

It was as if a line had been drawn. As if we weren’t related by blood, so we were strangers. She tried to solve everything with money, filling the void with material possessions.

As an outsider, taken in from the streets, I could only see her as an indifferent bystander.

But…

Having experienced it twice, I could finally see it.

The fourth piece of the note.

It was something I shouldn’t have been able to obtain.

Because… I couldn't have gotten it unless Isabella had given it to me directly.

Even if I had managed to obtain the other three pieces, the fourth one was different. While a mission had triggered in the study and at the lamp stand, those were only for the first three pieces.

I possessed mana, according to the system messages, but that information was based on the previous notes. I couldn't see it with the Eyes of Wederos.

Furthermore, this was Isabella’s room. I couldn’t just rummage through her belongings, and the slightest mistake could have dire consequences.

Even if I considered all the other factors, even if I calculated every possible scenario…

It was impossible.

There was no way to obtain this note.

…And yet, it was here, in my hand.

I should have found it strange from the beginning.

She was afflicted with a terrible madness, the Elbern Syndrome, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, grasping at empty air.

She was clutching a doll, calling it her son, asking where he had gone.

How could someone like that, someone who didn’t even know what was going on…

Call out to me, coincidentally, while I was searching for Karn's note? Grab onto me just as I was about to leave, as if she knew there was something I still needed? Retrieve the exact item I was looking for from a specific drawer and hand it to me?

…No.

It would have been impossible.

Unless she was sane.

Isabella's hands were trembling slightly, a tremor she couldn't completely conceal.

While her expression seemed normal, her eyes were flickering. It felt as if something was about to spill from those blue depths.

But her lips didn’t tremble. Not when she called my name.

…Yes.

Isabella must have been lucid in that moment.

She had grabbed onto me, free from the influence of her madness.

There were countless ways she could have kept me there.

She could have called for someone. She could have held onto me and screamed, and someone would have come running.

She could have feigned madness, or acted as if she was in critical condition. She could have caused a commotion, attracting the attention of the knights.

She didn't even have to go that far. Simply saying that Carsein was here would have been enough. This was the manor, after all.

But Isabella didn’t restrain me.

She didn’t use any of those methods. Instead, she pretended to be afflicted by madness, hiding her lucidity.

Instead of calling for the knights, she revealed the existence of the note, telling me she had kept it in the drawer, trying to help me.

And then… she took the medicine and quietly closed her eyes. As if she wouldn’t stop me.

This fourth piece of the note… was proof of everything.

“…So clumsy.”

Because of Isabella, I finally understood what my adoptive mother in my past life had been like.

She always tried to solve everything with money, the worst possible method, but that was the only way she knew how.

I had thought she was indifferent, neglecting me, but… she never forgot to ask if I had eaten, or if I had a good day at school.

She often asked if I needed anything, if there was anything I wanted, and what I wanted to do at her company. Those questions often fueled my youngest sister’s jealousy and my eldest sister’s inferiority complex, but…

At least, there was no malice in her questions.

She simply didn't know any better, making the worst possible choices, but she never harbored any ill will towards me.

Isabella was the same.

She might have said those things, but she never directly tried to harm Carsein.

I vaguely recalled the time I was cleaning Carsein’s room.

When I was calculating the debts I had to repay, the largest portion belonged to Isabella.

Even if I included the ointments and medicines Flora had given me, and the clothes and accessories from Claire, it didn't come close. Even with the reward Arina had grudgingly given me, the amount from Isabella was overwhelmingly large.

…And when I was cleaning my room in my past life…

Most of the things there were given to me by my adoptive mother.

It wasn’t that different.

From my reality.

…Was that why?

I didn’t regret it. That foolish act.

It wasn’t just a calculated move, knowing that there was a chance Isabella might recover… it was… a sense of relief, as if something within me had been resolved.

Just like with Flora. This time, too, my blood didn’t run cold.

***

Isabella drank the sleeping draught and fell into a deep sleep.

She wouldn't wake up again. She wouldn't writhe and struggle, tormented by madness. She wouldn't wander around with unfocused eyes, searching for Carsein.

But the madness continued to consume her.

She couldn't even remember the last time she had been lucid. In the past, she would occasionally regain her senses, but after the relapse, she had been lost in madness.

Her condition had worsened, become more dangerous.

If this continued, Isabella might be completely consumed by madness.

But today was different.

“Thank you, Carsein… for calling me Mother… even though I’m so… so…”

Isabella kept repeating the same words.

It wasn't unusual for someone to mumble in their sleep. Since she had been forced to sleep, she often called out for Carsein in her dreams.

In severe cases, she would even have seizures, as if she was having nightmares… It was enough to make Shaiden’s blood run cold.

But this wasn’t a dream. It was a memory.

A memory of that moment, recalling the conversation and actions perfectly.

She had clearly been lucid in that moment.

“Good heavens… then everything…”

It wasn’t an act.

Even though she had regained her senses, even though Carsein was right in front of her, Isabella had deliberately let him go.

He finally understood why Carsein had done that.

Why he had called her “Mother” and hugged her.

He, too, had known. That Isabella had regained her senses.

“Oh dear…”

Understanding the situation, he felt a pang of sympathy.

Shaiden sighed heavily.

And someone watching from outside…

Quietly wiped away tears, their heart overflowing with emotion.

A single strand of pink hair fell to the floor outside Isabella’s room.

***

“…”

Heron had a visitor.

It wasn’t a particularly welcome one.

Even though he was closely associated with the Bagrand Duchy, he wasn't someone Heron enjoyed seeing.

But his arrival meant that a decision had been made.

“It seems you’ve made up your mind, Marquis Magnuel.”

“…”

Marquis Magnuel.

He was originally a supporter of Arina Bagrand.

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