The Villainess Has Proposed a Contract Marriage

90 – Confession

“Alive…? My mother is…?”

Glen couldn’t hide his shock and remained stunned for a while. Then, he regained his composure and shook his head, denying the truth I told him.

“No, no way. That’s impossible. I’m from Basque Hill, and I still remember. I was very young, but I clearly remember wandering around the palace and having a maid who worried about me. And…”

“And?”

While Glen was stammering, Elpisia let out a sigh.

“With my mother and…”

“With your mother and who?”

“Abba… Mama… Ugh…”

Glen couldn’t continue speaking and groaned.

Next, Glen almost buried his face in his knees, his body curled up in distress. It seemed like a massive wave of confusion was about to engulf him.

Elpisia asked Glen, who was suffering, a question.

“Those people… Do you remember their faces?”

“It’s…”

Glen hesitated for a long time. The silence was suffocating. Eventually, Glen shook his head again, as if giving up.

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“No, I don’t. Nothing.”

“That’s right. It’s impossible for you to have that memory, since it’s a memory that can’t exist.”

“What do you mean, Vice President? What are you talking about?”

“Just open a history book, and you’ll know. You were born after the fall of the Baskhill Kingdom.”

“…”

“At that time, you were just a baby, wandering around the ruined palace of the fallen kingdom with your family and servants… That’s an incredible contradiction, isn’t it?”

Glen immediately countered Elpisia’s statement.

“But…! I really do remember! The palace, the servants, everything… It may not be vivid, but it’s certain. I’m not lying!”

“I think so too.”

“… What?”

Glen looked like he was struggling to follow Elpisia’s words.

It seemed that Elpisia was also hesitant to reveal the truth to Glen.

But it was impossible to keep the secret hidden forever. Elpisia finally began to reveal the truth.

“Your memory is real. You must have had some experience living as a member of the royal family.”

“But… how is that possible? As you said, I was born after the kingdom fell…”

“… It’s still possible. Because… you have the blood of two royal families in you.”

Elpisia knew everything. She had already engraved the truth into her mind, even in the lost future.

As the one who was captured by Glen and executed for violating the Human Protection Treaty, it was perhaps inevitable that Elpisia was the one telling the truth.

“Your mother’s name is ‘Letisha Baskhill.’ She was the princess of Baskhill, as you know.”

“Letisha Baskhill…”

Glen murmured, as if repeating the name of his mother for the first time.

Next, Elpisia fitted the final piece of the puzzle into Glen’s thoughts.

“And Letisha Baskhill’s partner, your father, is… the king of the demon tribe, ‘Stark Rassel’.”

“Wait a minute… Vice President.”

Glen’s eyes widened, and he asked in a single phrase.

“… Is that not true?”

“…”

“President… Did I hear that wrong? Or did you say something wrong? That can’t be, right…?”

No matter what answer Glen wanted, it was impossible to cover up the truth. As I remained silent, Glen quickly spoke as if trying to justify himself.

“I’m human, aren’t I? I don’t have any demonic features.”

“That’s irrelevant. Tina’s case was a rare exception, but originally, it’s not unusual for one of the two species to be born.”

Elpisia countered. Glen then raised another question, trying to rationalize the situation.

“But Tina is an extremely special case. How can a human have a child with another species?”

“The Baskhill bloodline makes it possible. Judging from your black hair and black eyes, you have a strong Baskhill bloodline, so you can have a child with any species.”

“That’s impossible…”

“By the way, Tina’s biological mother was also a distant descendant of the Baskhill royal family. That’s why she was able to conceive a dragon’s child. Although it’s not direct, you’re her distant relative.”

“… “

It seemed to take Glen a considerable amount of time to recover from the shock. And we had a duty to wait until Glen had sorted out his thoughts.

Glen, who had been closing his eyes tightly for a while, asked me with a voice that was about to break.

“Director…”

“Yes.”

“I saw a demon with a similar appearance to me attacking you at the hunting festival.”

His voice trembled as he sought confirmation.

“Is that person… my Abama… the Demon King…?”

“… Yes.”

I didn’t know until I regained my memories from before my rebirth. This time, I met him for the first time at the hunting festival.

Now that I think about it, the two men looked so alike that it was uncanny. If the Demon King and Glen stood side by side, anyone would assume they were father and son.

At that moment…

“Glen?!”

Tears began to fall from Glen’s black eyes.

His face, red from crying, was distorted, and his breathing was ragged.

Glen’s voice trembled as he asked.

“… Am I abandoned now?”

“What?”

“Or do I need to be punished and taken away…?”

Taken away to be punished.

As he asked, Elphisia’s face turned pale.

I was taken aback by Glen’s words, and my heart was filled with anxiety.

Before I knew it, Elphisia had jumped up and was approaching Glen, who was crying, and matching her eye level. Her posture, with one knee bent and her small hand grasping Glen’s, seemed to be seeking forgiveness.

“You don’t need to be punished…!”

“What…?”

Elphisia exclaimed, and Glen asked again.

“Why do you need to be punished… no one deserves to be punished.”

Right after, I read Elphisia’s lips, which were quietly adding.

“I should have been the one to receive the punishment.”

Elphisia was forcing those words down, pushing them deep into her throat.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Glen.”

Elphisia was trying to comfort Glen in any way she could. Her attitude was somehow desperate, and it had the power to stop Glen’s tears.

It was only natural.

I didn’t directly witness Glen’s final moments, but the outcome must have been horrific. At the scene, it was only revealed that Glen was a member of the Basquehill royal family, but even that was a huge sin.

Moreover, as Elphisia’s subordinate, he must have been involved in various dark affairs, so his final moments must have been miserable.

Elphisia must have witnessed his final moments with her own eyes.

“I can understand a little now.”

I realized why Elphisia had treated Glen differently.

She tried to do better for him than for Yurian and Tina, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

She must have felt sorry and regretful, which was why she acted that way.

The guilt of having mistreated him was evident, and she wanted to atone for it. However, even her atonement felt hypocritical to herself.

She couldn’t dare to smile brightly and treat Glen kindly with a carefree face.

“Don’t worry about anything. It’s not a big deal. Even if it’s a big deal, I’ll make it like it never happened… So…”

Elpisia’s voice trembled as she continued.

“I… you…”

She was about to say something, but she stopped and remained silent for a while, then spoke in a tone that seemed to grasp at straws.

“… In fact, I made a huge mistake.”

“Chief…?”

“I committed a mistake that can never be forgiven, no matter how much I devote my life to it… I don’t even know how to resent myself…”

Tears fell from Elpisia’s eyes, which were like rubies. She hastily took a step back, as if it was embarrassing to let her tears fall on Glen’s clothes.

“I keep saying it’s not my fault, but instead, I should be grateful and apologize for being a burden… I’m so sorry.”

“…”

“I was a child who grew up to be so kind, but I… I… became trash, and I didn’t know it.”

“…”

“I need to apologize, but now that child is gone, and I don’t know what to do…”

From that moment on, Elpisia’s confession came to a halt.

Only the woman with the red hair covering her face remained in front of Glen.

Glen, who had been listening quietly, pondered for a moment before giving his answer.

“To be honest… I don’t really know what you’re talking about, Chief.”

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

Glen spoke to Elpisia, who was overwhelmed with guilt and couldn’t lift her face.

“I only know that you, Chief, always take care of us warmly and worry about us… I can tell that what you’re saying is sincere.”

“… You’re being too kind.”

“No, I’m not. Do you know? I sometimes envied Tina. She’s innocent and has a lot of affection… So, everyone likes Tina more… I almost felt jealous.”

I was shocked by Glen’s sudden confession. I had no idea he had such thoughts.

“But I didn’t actually feel jealous. Because I knew you, Chief, paid special attention to me. I’m not like Tina, who was adopted as a child.”

Looking back, it’s natural that Elpisia didn’t bring up Glen’s adoption story. Glen’s parents are still alive, so it would be difficult to acknowledge him as a son anyway.

If a day like today came, it was uncertain what choice Glen would make.

“I mean… what I want to say is… if Chief apologized and asked for forgiveness, I think I would accept it. Ah, of course, I can’t speak for the person who was wronged, but… anyway, I think I would… Yeah…”

Glen bowed his head deeply.

“It’s just… that’s what I think… It might be a presumptuous thing to say…”

“… No, it’s not presumptuous. How could I say such a thing…”

It seems like I shouldn’t be here anymore.

The connection between the two people continued in a place I didn’t know about. If I intervened, it would be a foolish thing to do.

Rarely, Elpisia was being honest with Glen, talking to him with her true feelings exposed…

“I’ll come back later.”

I quietly got up from my seat and left. Glen looked at me with a pleading gaze, but I ignored it with a thumbs-up.

As I turned around and left the room, I caught the gaze of the three little kids, who were staring at me with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

“Dad, is Glen okay? Did he get scolded or something?”

“There’s never been a case where someone got scolded alone, so it’s unavoidable to worry.”

“Director… if it’s my fault, I’ll get scolded together with him…!”

It was Tina, Yulian, and Eco.

Looking at them gathered together, I felt a sense of strange yet wonderful relationships.

I couldn’t help but smile as I approached the three kids and gave them a big hug.

“Oh my, these cute things are really growing up… I hate being spoiled about their growth process.”

Their reactions to my silly behavior were also varied.

“Ah, Dad?”

“What kind of ridiculous thing is this?!”

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“Director…?”

Anyway, I was surrounded by happiness and living life to the fullest.

A warm feeling suddenly welled up inside me.