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Side Story Chapter 291

“Where is he running off to?” Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she leisurely flew up to the top floor.

It dawned on her that Aaron had come here because he was planning something else.

When Aaron reached the end of the hallway, he turned to look at Anna and smirked provocatively before—to Anna’s surprise—diving through the window.

“That shit…” Anna murmured. She ran up to the window and saw that Aaron had landed on the roof, not the ground.

The moment Anna flew after him, Aaron began to speak.

“Our grandfather had an ancient Fifth Circle magic scroll that he treasured. But one day when we were young, the scroll was ripped in half in the middle of our home, devastating the entire garden, despite its size.”

Anna paused and gave him a blank look. “What? Are you seriously walking down memory lane with me right now?”

“Our grandfather was furious and searched high and low to find the culprit. The accident happened in the middle of the night, so, fortunately, no one was hurt. But our grandmother’s favorite garden was literally reduced to ashes because the magic scroll contained a fire spell.”

Anna remembered the day vividly. The servants had frantically come running out of the buildings, screaming about the fire.

“The accident could have been a catastrophe. It was too big to call it a prank that went wrong, so the family’s knights took me away, along with my brothers. Killians are the only people who could have entered the family’s vault where the scroll was stored, so all male members of the family were suspects.”

“I have a feeling this isn’t you being sentimental… What are you trying to get at?” Anna asked.

“My older brother was dubbed the culprit because a golden thread like those usually used to tie up a magic scroll was found in his room. Ultimately, he was disowned by the family,” Aaron went on, his eyes turning cold. “Yeah, that’s when I started to hate you.”

“You…” Anna trailed off, her lips curling into a faint smile. “…You knew I was the culprit, didn’t you?”

Aaron remained silent, which Anna took as a yes. As Anna suspected, Aaron had seen everything because he had been training his sword in the corner of the garden on the day of the accident.

“You’re a wretch, Anna del Killian—no, Anna bel Grace. I loathe you.” Aaron glared at her.

“…That hurts a little. I still like you. We got along well.”

“What?” Aaron frowned, blindsided by her reply. “Are you insulting me right now?”

“Not at all. I’m simply speaking from my heart. Well, let me ask you a question now..”

The knights were looking up at them, screaming something, but they were the least of Anna and Aaron’s concerns right now.

“You saw everything that day, so why did you never speak up for your brother, even when he got kicked out of the family?” Anna inquired.

Anna didn’t miss how Aaron instantly stiffened.

“I’m his brother. Without evidence, it’s no use—”

“I disagree,” Anna interrupted with a smile. “Since your older brother was considered the best candidate to inherit the Killiant duchy when your father passed on, you must have thought that letting the family disown your brother would increase your odds of becoming your father’s heir. And you actually did become the Duke of Killian.”

Anna raised her hand, cutting off Aaron\'s protest before it could begin. “I’m not trying to get an answer out of you, and I know it’s a fact, so don’t try to deny it—and you don’t have to frown like that, because I understand you. Humans are selfish creatures. I framed your brother because I didn’t want to get scolded, and you kept your silence to get power even though you knew that your brother would be exiled. You and I are the same.”

Aaron was left speechless.

“Well, your father was the same,” Anna continued. “My mother is his sister, but when a prince became her husband, he didn’t even think about how vigilant he was.”

“…Speaking of which, aren’t you worried about your mother?”

Anna had recently heard that her mother was alive and was in the Killian family’s care, but…

“She’s probably around her seventies by now, yes? She’s lived long enough, so it’s about time she leaves this world.”

“What? What the hell…!” Aaron choked down a string of curses. Although he called Anna a wretch, he had never imagined she would make such a crass remark about her own mother. His brow furrowed.

“…Well, she’s already as good as dead. You have a tendency to underestimate me, Aaron.” Anna chuckled. “Do you really think I would have done nothing after I heard you had her? It’s been around ten years since my mother became a vegetable, hasn’t it?”

Aaron had believed that Anna’s mother would be a valuable hostage even if she was a vegetable, but, judging from Anna’s reaction, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Aaron frowned. “…I forgot why you’re called the vilest wretch in Swallow.”

“Yeah, I am~.”

Aaron smiled coldly and changed his stategy.

“Don’t you want to know how your mother got like that? After your father, Draxia bel Grace, was declared a traitor and you fled with him,” he continued without waiting for Anna’s answer, “your mother was dragged to the palace. Every fingernail, toenail, and strand of hair was pulled out, but she never told anyone about you and her husband’s whereabouts.”

Aaron chuckled. “When I first heard the story… I admired how loyal she was to her family, but it didn’t take long to realize that I was mistaken. She actually didn’t know where you were at all. Later, she cursed two of you. She called her husband a fucking bastard and her daughter a bitch; by that time, the palace had no choice but to believe that she really didn’t know where you were.”

Anna understood her mother, despite Aaron’s spiteful retelling. Her mother was an ordinary person who hadn’t been physically trained at all, so there was no way that she could have endured such horrible torture.

“She was no better than a walking corpse by the time she was sent back to our family. When she arrived, I spit on her face. It was my way of apologizing to my brother.”

“…That’s low. You drove out your brother because you wanted power but you weren\'t skilled enough to become Duke Killian on your own, and yet you had to get revenge to ease your guilty conscience.”

“Hehehe. Someone’s getting angry. Ever since her return, even the servants treated your mother with contempt. No one in the family considered her part of the family. Everyone spat at her whenever they saw her; her life as a noble lady of a duke’s house could haven’t been worse.” Aaron shrugged. “I’m not sure if I’d call it fortunate, but she had extraordinary willpower and resilience. She didn’t take her pathetic life.

“Hahahahaha! You’ve been feigning nonchalance, but you’re still human! Look at your face! If a witch from the fairy tales actually existed, she’d like you, Anna!”

As Aaron said, Anna’s face was twisted into a vicious snarl.

“You’re right. She’s on her deathbed… Yeah, take her if you still want to, but…”

The lengthy conversation had given the knights time to climb up to the roof using windows and stairs. Of course, Aaron wasn’t going to let them get in his way.

“Urgh!”

“Arghhhh!”

As soon as the knights set foot on the roof, Aaron struck them with his ice aura slashes, freezing them or making them fall to the ground. Then he swung his sword once again, turning the rooftop into a frozen hell.

“…This is…” Anna could feel the cold air on her skin.

She was surrounded by ice like a prison cell, trapping her inside with Aaron. There was a small opening above her head, but the cage was at least twenty meters tall, making it impossible for her to escape from Aaron.

“…You must have all the mana in the world to waste it like this,” Anna grumbled.

“Hahaha. I don’t want any more interruptions. It’s about time we stop running into each other.”

Anna felt a surge of murderous energy surge toward her from Aaron. She quietly gathered her elemental spirit mana. In truth, there was a reason why she had been letting Aaron talk.

‘Slowpokes. They’re finally here.’

Anna felt two vivid presences on the other side of the ice wall and smirked.

Aaron could attack at any moment, but Anna was clever. She knew exactly how to create an opening in battle.

“…Do you want to know something important?”

Aaron stopped, his eyebrows raised, as he was about to charge.

“The brother who got kicked out from the family because I framed him and you didn’t help…”

“What are you trying to say?”

“...is still alive.”

Aaron’s lip quivered, his energy fluctuating for the first time.

At the same time, the Vaikals destroyed one side of Aaron’s ice prison.

Anna didn’t let the opportunity slip out of her hands and launched a compressed gust of wind at Aaron.