Chapter 12 - Banished

She was banished.

And in glorious fashion, no less.

In front of her two sons, Orelly was banished from the Iphelleta house.

"No. It's a lie..."

"..."

Her father, Tes, followed Orelly from behind and watched her walk in despair.

A wave of regret swept over his mind.

Her spoilt upbringing had come back to bite them in the back.

<...Retreat.>

Tes sent the Mental Message with a dismal look on his face.

He had ordered a full retreat for all the assassins who had invaded the mansion.

"It...must...be a dream. When I open my eyes again, I will be on my bed. Yes...Yes!"

Tes bit his lips, watching his daughter escape from reality.

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

If he had decided not to visit the mansion today, could they have avoided all of this?

He considered it..

At the end of the thought, he shook his head and rejected the idea.

'Even if it wasn't today, it was bound to happen sooner or later.'

There is nothing that can be hidden forever.

Tes knew that well.

His daughter's banishment was just the same.

The truth was bound to leak into the world eventually.

'This is a good thing.'

It was better to be punished earlier.

If they could learn from this, they could get through the situation well.

Tes was a man who had the money and power to make it happen.

'They won't spread the news everywhere, since it involves their honour as well.'

Tes who had finished organizing his next moves put his hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"Father, this is not true right? There's no way. My husband would never abandon me like this! He would never do such a thing when there's Ryan and Lloyd as well!"

"It's alright Orelly. We can still salvage the situation."

Tes tried to reason with her, but she still seemed out of her mind.

"This...this is all her fault."

Her father's words did not reach her as she swore vengeance with her eyes burning with rage.

"Iris...It's because that bitch Iris seduced him!"

Orelly's thoughts carried on beyond certainty, to the point of zealous conviction.

The Lord Stein Finn Iphelleta's concubine;Iris was the cause of her expulsion.

Orelly was convinced that she herself had done nothing wrong to deserve it.

"If she's dead...She just needs to die! That's it!"

Orelly began to emit bloodlust around herself.

A shadow appeared on Tes' face as he witnessed his daughter's menacing look.

'She's going to have a hard time.'

To bring her sanity back.

To re-educate her from the ground up.

To change her lover's mind.

Tes sighed as he judged that none of those will be easy to do.

"... Ah."

For how long did they walk away from the mansion?

A boy's voice abruptly came from in front of them.

"...?"

Both Orelly who had walked with a raging face, and Tes who was following her from behind, stopped.

"Huh, what's this? Did all the fun stuff finish already?"

From out of their sight, the voice inquired.

It was directed at Orelly and Tes.

"...Who is it?"

The night had set and it was difficult to see around the area.

Tes, with his nerves on the edge, sent a question back with a frown.

"Hmm."

Bushes rustle with a different sound when a person walked through them.

Within the peace and quiet, a noise sounded as if searching for something.

It was not harsh, but it wasn't soft either.

"It seems like it's finished."

The voice came from the front, saturated with the feelings of remorse for missing out on the incident.

And once more the footsteps followed.

Munch, Munch

The voice within the darkness seemed to be eating something.

"Wait, this voice... Where have I heard it before?"

Tes' brows twitched as he stood  in front of his daughter.

He remembered hearing this voice very recently.

Where was it?

Where...

'...'

Tes' body froze like stone when he recalled.

The voice was identical to the Mental Message he had heard before the invasion began this afternoon.

"Oh Father... He has a surprisingly soft side to him. How annoying."

The footsteps came closer.

As the noise continued, a boy who had a bag full of 'white cotton' appeared in front of them.

"It's...you?!"

Orelly who was behind Tes pointed her finger with her eyes wide open when she found out who the boy was.

He was someone Orelly knew all toowell.

"Why are you here?!"

It was Riley.

In all of Iphelleta's history, he was the most useless, the most lazy and the most idle man there was, 'Lazy Blade'. He was the third son of the house.

A boy who couldn't even manage to swing a wooden sword properly.

"Hm..."

A handful of cotton balls  left inside the bag.

Riley finished the remaining 'cotton balls' and replied after swallowing.

"... I wanted to see something interesting."

"What..."

Orelly gave an unbelieving look toward him.

'Do you so desperately want to meet your end here?'

Orelly wanted to ask that, but the question could not come out of her mouth.

Tes took his dagger out, fully intent on killing the boy.

The same intent could be felt all around the area.

They were the assassins under Tes' command.

"I wanted to sort out my personal problem."

Riley moved his hand as he continued.

Swish!

Riley chucked the bag behind him and stretched his neck left and right, his gaze increasing in intensity.

He warned them.

"You guys... I can forgive you guys since you didn't come here to piss me off. I'm letting you guys go this time for listening to my warning previously."

The truth was Riley himself had killed some of the hooded men who were attempting to use him as a hostage, but that fact wasn't all that important.

"... It's annoying too."

Riley opened and closed his fists as he continued.

"But... not Lady Orelly."

He added that at the end; Lady Orelly couldn't go unpunished.

"Ah! Hold on, you're not Lady Orelly anymore."

Riley quickly noted his mistake.

He believed it was poor manners to call her 'Lady' since she was banished today.

"What should I say. Hm..."

Even in this dire situation, Riley pondered his head then asked in a relaxed tone, with a smile.

"Ms. Orelly?"

"...You!"

In a fit of rage, Orelly took Tes' spare dagger from his belt and threw it at Riley.

As if she had inherited her talent as an assassin from her father, the dagger went straight toward Riley's lips.

It was to split his cocky mouth in half.

"Yeah, I can't let Ms. Orelly go that easily."

Riley continued as he dodged the dagger by tilting his head.

'H- how did he...?'

For that lazy child to dodge the dagger, and so effortlessly at that?

Orelly opened her mouth wide as she could not hide her surprise.

Meanwhile, despite being surrounded by assassins, Riley looked completely relaxed.

"You...need to pay dearly for hurting my mother. You can always come back for revenge too."

Riley's voice suddenly sunk low.

The leisurely atmosphere around Riley changed, and cold winds began to blow around.

Like sharp daggers, the winds cut deep.

"What...the...?"

Orelly and Tes stood still, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Suddenly, the boy was holding a single wooden sword in his right hand