Chapter 111: The Inevitable
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After he bid farewell to Sean of the Carpenter Shop in the East City, Benjamin quickly left the place.
He did not prolong his stay in the outskirts. Instead, he returned directly to the Inner City with an abnormally complicated feeling. Soon, he arrived at Lithur’s Manor.
If this was an ordinary day, he would go in by the main door and allow the servants by the door to take his coat for laundry, or he would take a turn to the backyard, jump over the fence and sneakily get into the manor through an open window in a random empty room. He would then go back to his room without alerting anyone.
Today, however...
He had no idea how to step into this elegant manor.
He has lived in this world for quite some time since he teleported here. Although he did not really consider them as his family, he still felt some sort of connection with the Lithur family members. He did have multiple meals with them, after all.
That was why he was shell-shocked when the System told him that the pearl necklace was Mary’s.
Mary - the biological mother of Benjamin and Grant, and Claude’s wife. She was famous among the nobles as a loving mother and an understanding wife.
In Benjamin’s eyes, Mary was always his gentle and demure mother. Under Claude’s obvious unfair treatment to his sons, she was the one who always stood up for Benjamin. She even got food for Benjamin when he was under detention in the cellar! From Benjamin’s experiences, she was indeed a responsible mother.
Although she was not in good terms with the madame, but before this, Benjamin would have never put the blame on Mary.
The Benjamin now, however...
The Benjamin now really had no idea how he should think about this.
Suddenly, he remembered the madame’s seemingly meaningless words when she passed him the necklace to open the treasury. "What you see may not always be real," she said. Benjamin thought she was hinting about the matter he had with Michelle. He never imagined that it was referring to the conflict she had with Mary.
In hindsight, the madame’s words seemed to be warning him about Mary.
Be careful of Mary...
Should he really be careful of her? Benjamin still felt as if he was dreaming.
Was all of this real? Why would Mary be the one who ordered the assassination? Why would Mary have the intention to kill him? Also, even if she really wanted to kill Benjamin, why would she make such a stupid choice?
Yes, stupid.
Mary did not seem to be an intelligent person, but this series of actions was too stupid in Benjamin’s eyes. It was so idiotic that it did not seem real.
Why?
Benjamin could not think of Mary’s motive. He did not understand what Mary could gain by hiring an assassin to kill Benjamin; an assassin who left his advertisement all over the city.
There were so many unanswered questions in Benjamin’s heart.
He must get to the bottom of this.
Benjamin came to this conclusion after thorough consideration when he stood outside the door of the manor.
He will take the necklace and prod for Mary’s reaction. Just as what the madame said, he will now make sure whether ‘what he saw’ was true.
He did take some precautions, though. He found a deserted corner and hid while he dug a hole to bury all the suspicious things he had on him. After everything was done, he walked back to the door and marched into the house.
He ignored the servants by the door and walked straight down the hallway. Coincidentally, Mary was standing alone in the living room, her fists clenched. She looked like she was nervously waiting for someone.
At the same time, she raised her head and saw Benjamin.
She was stunned for a moment before she said tentatively, "B-Benjamin? Is that you?"
Benjamin swallowed, tasting bile. "Yes, my….mother." He nodded.
A wave of realisation flooded Mary’s face as she quickly approached Benjamin, "I finally found you! Child, where did you go? I was worried that I couldn’t reach you."
She reached out for Benjamin’s arm, but Benjamin dodged it without realising.
"You…." Mary was dumbfounded, her eyes trailed downwards and finally saw the pearl necklace, half-hidden in Benjamin’s palms.
In a flash, her face was drained of colour as she pounced like a hunting eagle and snatched the necklace.
Her sudden change of behaviour was so shocking that Benjamin was not able to react. The necklace was no longer in his hands.
However, he did not fight after he realised what happened. Instead, he inhaled deeply. He could not care less about the pearl necklace.
He did not expect Mary to give herself away so easily.
...Fine, he would not need to beat around the bush now.
"Mother, will you try to explain the existence of this necklace?" He looked at Mary coldly.
Mary held the necklace, stunned. She backed off as if she realised her misstep. After some adjustments, she was once again the gentlewoman.
She smiled awkwardly, and suddenly became serious.
"My good child, do not trust whatever you hear," she spoke, her voice ‘sincere’ despite her trembles.
Benjamin’s voice was colder, "Oh, really? I did not hear this from anyone, though. I experienced it, first hand. In the middle of the night, someone came into my room with a dagger and wanted to kill me."
If Benjamin was still skeptical about his suspicions, he was now convinced that Mary wanted to kill him after he witnessed her poor acting skills. But he still could not understand why Mary would do that.
What was her motive?
There must be a reason behind every action, right?
"What? Really? But…. I…. No, you…." Mary was agitated after she heard what Benjamin said. She opened her mouth in an attempt to offer some sort of explanation, but could only stammer as she looked more anxious by the minute.
"I’m sorry, my mother," Benjamin said dispassionately as he interrupted her, "I was too brusque. I should’ve gave you more time to make up an excuse to brush me off, right?"
Mary was speechless hearing Benjamin’s sarcastic words. Her hand shook slightly, the necklace still tight in her grip. She stood motionless, quiet. Without warning, her expression changed again - she lowered her head, covered her mouth, and soon sobs were heard.
"...."
Alright, what show was she up to now?
Mary walked up to Benjamin and grabbed his hands. She sobbed, "This is all my fault, I was momentarily blinded by greed. You will forgive me, right? I was stupid at that time, I never thought it was real in the first place…."
Benjamin inhaled.
So, she did not even try to repudiate the claim?
He did not think that Mary would own up to it this quickly. She was only shown the necklace and was slightly questioned by Benjamin. That alone was enough for her to breakdown like this; she did not even plan to deny it.
If you want to put on a show, you should do it properly; at least do the part where you try and talk your way out of things!
Benjamin was suddenly filled with helplessness.
On the other hand...
This was good, too. He did not need to waste his energy to speak.
He shook off Mary’s hand and took a few steps backwards, his face guarded.
"Why did you do this?" He coldly asked.
Mary choked and shook her head, the necklace still tightly held between her fingers, "I… I had no choice! This was all for everyone, all for…. all for Grant."
Grant?
Benjamin only had more questions. "Why would your intent to kill me be related to Grant?" He asked immediately.
Mary behaved as if she did not hear anything. She was deep in some sort of emotion that she could not retract herself from; she cried as she staggered backwards, muttering to herself, "You…. All of you had no idea how hard this is for me, everything I did was for this family, even Claude didn’t care…. Do you know? Grant was nearly assassinated when he was young, but Claude? Claude wasn’t even worried! He told me someone was going to protect him…. But we are his parents! Who else is going to protect him aside from us?"
Benjamin stood at the side as he indifferently watched Mary, who was nearly in hysterics. Benjamin’s face was cold - he looked just like someone watching a particularly disgusting performance.
Mary’s mumbling did not stop. As she continued to lay herself bare, her control over her emotions faltered; the necklace that she clutched on looked as if it was going to break apart under the force of her grip.
"You don’t understand how hard I worked to protect this family! What could the madame do aside from b*tching and criticizing me everyday? She knew nothing!" Her mood was getting out of control, "Do you know? I would secretly switch the number plates on both your door and Grant’s every single night after that incident. I would switch it back before the sun rose…. I did this for more than 10 years. It was me! I was the one who protected Grant from getting kidnapped! But, no one knew, no one…."
F*ck….
Benjamin could not maintain his indifference after that.
What was she saying?
Benjamin’s feelings now could not be described with a simple ‘f*ck’ anymore.
Everyone in the family thought Benjamin ran away from home when he was kidnapped, right? Then, what did Mary mean with this? She knew Benjamin was kidnapped? Then, why did she remain quiet?
What happened to fair treatment? Benjamin thought Claude was biased enough already, he never imagined that Mary, good, gentle Mary, would be worse than Claude!
Also, does this mean that Michelle’s mistake in her kidnapping was not an accident after all?
Benjamin lost his ability to form words.
How could he know that the kidnapping he experienced during the initial days of his teleportation was because Mary changed their door plates every day?
She was indeed a very…responsible mother.
Hah.
"You shouldn’t blame me for this, what I did was all for the family. Do you know how many people are planning to kill Grant in the Kingdom?" Suddenly, Mary’s eyes returned to Benjamin. "That night…. That night when the Holy Knight sent you back, I was the only one at home. I was suddenly struck with the thought…. I - I thought, if Grant wasn’t such an amazing child, if - if he was you, does it mean that he will then be able to live on safely? Then…. I don’t know what happened to me then. This thought haunted me, and when I saw the notice in the streets, I was foolish and….and…."
Benjamin backed off hurriedly and shook his head when he saw Mary approaching him again as if she wanted to beg for forgiveness while holding his hand. Benjamin was perplexed. Never in his life would he imagine that this was the reason why Mary would hire an assassin to kill him.
This woman has gone crazy. Crazy and foolish.
He could not comprehend how obsessed Mary was, nor the amount of pressure she experienced because of Grant’s genius. Regardless, Benjamin was also her biological son! A normal mother would never kill her son off for a reason like that.
In her eyes, was Benjamin just Grant’s cannon fodder?
No wonder... No wonder the madame always treated her with attitude.
"Please, please forgive me. I did this for the Lithur family, for the future of the household…. You cannot blame me." Mary looked at Benjamin, her eyes full of suppressed insanity.
Her makeup was smudged by her tears, her hair no longer put together, her eyes bloodshot. She was trembling. She no longer looked like a lady from a noble background.
"I will not blame you," Benjamin said, his tone chilly as he shook his head, "I will tell everything to father, grandmother, and everyone."
Benjamin believed that Claude will give him a satisfactory answer, at least on this matter. Besides, the madame would probably be very interested in this, too.
This mess should finally reach its end now.
Mary promptly shook her head as she stepped backwards. "Your…. Your father is still in the lands, your grandmother is now having tea with Lady Wood…. There’s…. There’s only me in the house." For some reason, she stopped sobbing. She struggled out of her uncontrollable emotions and slowly regained her usual demeanor - the gentle and soft Mary. With the words she just said, the atmosphere in the hallway suddenly became eerie.
There was…. only her?
A bad premonition rose in Benjamin’s heart. He stood at the hallway outside the living room and scanned his surroundings. Benjamin could not see any of the servants who usually populated the Lithur Manor. The servants who were standing by the door a few moments ago were missing too.
Something was up. What was happening? A chill shot down Benjamin’s spine.
Could it be.. Could it be something happened in the family?
"Where are the others? Jeremy? The butler? The other servants? Where did all of them go?" He glared at Mary as he snapped at her. Then, he stopped caring and started shouting, "Jeremy! Jeremy, come out! Jeremy!"
His voice echoed in the empty house. No one replied.
"I... I sent all of them away." Mary wiped off the remnants of tears in her eyes. She was no longer choked up; her voice slowly became calm and steady. She seemed mysterious, somehow.
"What are you planning to do?" Benjamin stepped backwards. He was prepared to cast some spells.
Mary shook her head as she looked at Benjamin in peace. "I did this for the Lithur family, the church, and the will of God. Everyone will forgive me... Claude, Claude would understand why I did this."
Benjamin cursed madly in his heart.
He had no idea what Mary was going to do, but his instincts were screaming at him to leave as soon as possible. Something very terrifying was going to happen soon.
He turned and prepared himself to leave. At the exact moment, the door to the Lithur Manor was pushed open. Simultaneously, Mary, who stood at the front of the living room, moved. As if she had made up her mind, she held on the necklace with such a strong grip that it broke without warning. She flung the necklace away, sprinted to Benjamin and kneeled in front of him. She then wrapped her arms around Benjamin’s legs and wailed.
Benjamin was dumbfounded. What?
She cried and wailed, "Grant, how…. How could you do this? My Grant, oh, my child….. You, you really…."
With her words, the pearls from broken necklace scattered on the ground. They bounced around the living room, the crisp noises of the pearls falling to the ground echoed in the room.
Outside the opened door, a platoon of people walked in, and the leading two were the bishop and Accius Fulner. Behind them were numerous Holy Knights. It did not take them long to see the stunned Benjamin and the wailing Mary.
The atmosphere was heavy and strange.
Accius suddenly snorted and took a step forward. He shouted at Benjamin, as if he was a judge striking a gavel to announce a death sentence, "Grant Lithur, as an apprentice priest who was fortunate to receive the God’s blessing for your talent with the holy light, you betrayed God’s light and committed a sin with a person of your same sex! I’ve already told the bishop what you did, and tomorrow, you will be tied to the Sinner’s Cross and burnt to death. This will clean the holy light you tainted with your filth!"
After Accius finished, the pearls on the floor stopped rolling around, like corpses who finally stopped their painful struggle and gave in to the eternal darkness.