Chapter 76: A Guilty Heart (part 1)
Chapter 76: A Guilty Heart (part 1)
“My darling son Colt, my dear daughter Mina you have finally arrived!”
Countess Faerith Edgeworth’s smile could not be any bigger as she saw Colt and Mina stepping out of the carriage. She was a Countess known for her prestige and elegance. It was said that she remained unshaken when the Count went to war. But that myth as soon as she learns of Colt suffering an injury.
But now that she can see Colt before her, the Countess calmed down.
Seeing them made the Countess’ worry disappear but it also made her emotions burst out.
After a while, Faerith let go of the pair. But it was not over yet for a loli came running from behind and hugged onto Colt’s leg with expectant eyes. The ever-oblivious little twerp that is Lyra was pleading to Colt.
“Older Brother…your promise.” She looked at Colt with dazzling eyes. The five-year-old was very deadly as it got Colt having a heartache.
‘Too…cute.’ Colt was on the verge of just hugging his sister without care about how it looked, ‘No…you must resist! Don’t go to the dark side…in public.’
Lyra and Colt locked eyes, and Colt quickly nodded his head. With a snap of the finger, he had Sera walk from behind with a basket of sweets and bags of ingredients.
“The sweets, as promised, for my dearest youngest sister.”
Colt handed the basket of sweets to Lyra and gave her the best head pat he could provide.
“Thank you, Older Brother! You’re the best! I love you!” The lass raised the basket over to her head. She was ecstatic, truly like a child that had been blessed with riches, this basket will become the offering that shall bring the siblings together.
With that basket given, Lyra turned to the sacks of ingredients. She pointed at it and asked, “What’s that for? Older Brother?”
Colt smiled, but he didn’t give an answer as Mina, who was by his side, crouched down to meet the young Lyra face to face. Lyra took a step backward. She was both anxious and shy around Mina.
“Do you like sweets, younger sister Lyra?”
Lyra nodded her head. Not getting an answer was not something Mina took offense about. She continued smiling at Lyra.
“How about a pudding that’s the size of a bucket? Do you want to eat something like that?”
Lyra’s eyes shone at the idea of a bucket size pudding.
“That’s good. I brought these ingredients to prepare you just that. Do you think you can finish something that big?”
“Yes, yes, I can.”
She profusely nodded her head at Mina at the anticipation of eating such monstrosity.
Mina, on the other hand, kept her smile all the same as she lured the lass with food. She will become a part of the family in the near future, and with that in mind, Mina must befriend everyone.
Take them on their side so everyone will be accepting of her as a whole. To embrace your lover is to embrace their family, that’s just how it is. Mina was determined to reel in every single one of them to her side.
‘This is for our future.’
Colt watched Mina and Lyra getting along and smiled. He then saw his father, Count Shickly, looking at him with a smile. He nodded at him and received the same gesture.
With the mother acting so energetically; the youngest sister getting baited by food, and the father acting like some hardened veteran as he tried to keep himself awake, the first-born daughter Risa was calmly looking at Colt.
Eyeing Colt with a mix of worry and a hint of hostility. She had confirmed that he is fine. Now that no longer matters, the worrying heart of a little sister disappeared. What surfaced is the face of a hostile enemy.
Colt smiled as he ignored her for some time as he began talking to Faerith. But ignoring Risa was not possible.
Risa’s gaze gradually became hazy from irritation towards Colt. Blue smoke rose from her body as she mouthed off to him, “You didn’t send me the Pillow!”
Risa had a much more developed Aura than him. While the original was lazing around, Risa was forced to become the face of the Edgeworths, and made to train in a harsh training regime, unlike her older brother. Made to train a harsh training regime, she was someone strong for someone who wishes nothing but sleep.
At the moment, she is 16-years-old, but she’s already a Rank-3 Warrior. Her swordsmanship and spearmanship are already top-notched for someone her age. Colt knew that he could not beat her in a fight, so with a snap of a finger, Sera walked out from behind carrying a white pillow.
Risa held it and quickly felt the high-quality materials used to create the pillow. Hugging the gift, her anger slowly dissipated. With anger being replaced by bliss, Risa’s eyes returned to normal.
“…Thank you…and it’s good to see you’re okay, Older Brother.”
The reunion of the Edgeworth family did not end simply with this meeting. The time was perfect for lunch and as the family gathered in the family dining area. Lunch was served, and Colt looked at everyone present.
They were talking about his exploits, carefully weaving around the topic of the assassination attempt.
“I heard you had beaten the second son of some Duke Household after unearthing their schemes. Hehehe, I heard those guys were jealous of your relationship towards Mina.” Risa stated.
Laughing, Colt shrugged his shoulders, “It was not that big of a deal. Those guys had stopped training a long time ago. Their skills were simply not up to par against mine.”
“Is that soooo. Then, what about that little cutie over there, is that the Fluff Reaper? The one who holds the legendary paws of fury? The smack can send any Soul Partner flying the opposite direction!?”
Fluff was eating on beside Colt’s plate. It was tearing through meat when its name was mentioned, and after listening to the showering praises it was given, it turned to Colt with a smug expression!
Puffing out its chest, the cat proclaimed, “NYAA…MEW!”
“It said that, “You’re right, that is indeed I…the Lord Phat Fluff!”, or so it says.” Colt translated.
“Cute and strong, the perfect beast of legends…wait, you can understand the cat!?”
“I don’t know how I learned how to talk to cats…Mina can understand it too. Also, I want to argue about its capabilities, but it saved my behind a week ago, so let’s just say that this guy has some particular sets of skills.” Colt said as Mina laughed whilst nodding her head.
Lyra who was sitting across Colt, listened to the stories and was now looking at her Older Brother with reverence. It was clear she was in awe at the fact that Colt can talk to cats.
While the young ones were conversing, the Mother and Father of the family watched them with a soft smile. Faerith looked at Shickly and softly spoke, “He has changed, has he not?”
“That he had, his maturity had also improved to a point where even I am impressed.”
With Shickly being in the military, he knows full well of overcoming the hardship of almost dying. Fear will settle in the hearts of those who almost met their end, and there are many occasions where they break down.
There was also the fact that he had taken his first life. The blood in your hand is something that can be washed, but the stigma birthed from blood remains for a long time, and for other people, it never leaves.
The fear of taking a life overshadows any actions you create, and you wallow in the darkness of guilt…Colt had not shown them such symptoms.
He is showing courage, laughing as if it was normal. It made the Count smile at this sight. Everything was at peace; everything was in place. The future of the family is secured with Colt a part of it.
“Colt, my son, you have done well. It appears that you have truly changed from your previous ways.” From amidst the loud voice of Risa and Lyra’s laughter, Shickly’s voice pierced the room when he finally decided to speak up.
He showed a rare smile at Colt as he continued his words, “You have abandoned your ways of drinking all day and waiting the day away. I have heard of your exploits and the tribulation you have undergone, the harsh training that you kept on doing, and everything that you have done.
“It appears that having Mina by your side has truly changed you for the best. You have changed for the best, and right now, I can say that you have become a fine man.”
Whether he succeeds in the position of Colt or not didn’t matter, what matters is that he had finally grown out of the mistakes he had done in the past.
Colt looked at Shickly, and his heart wavered. He held the original’s emotions and his thoughts, of course, he would be affected by the loving words of his father. After all, he was now Colt Edgeworth, not Leo of Earth.
He looked at Shickly and smiled. Everyone around him was smiling at him and accepting his change. It was peaceful, but he felt that those smiles…they are hallow. They only knew the surface of Colt Edgeworth.
He looked at them, and then his lips quivered. He wanted to speak, but it felt like he was lying if he did so. His hands trembled for reasons unknown, and he didn’t know how to react.
Colt tightly held her hand, and she looked at his family with a serious expression. He wanted to thank them for their words, for accepting him and the change he had done. With a slightly trembling voice, he called out, “Father, Mother, I want you to know…”
“Yes, son?”
He wished to say the words “Thank you” but for some reason, he felt like he can’t. The words were stuck in his throat. It was not coming out; it was as if he felt some sort of guilt in his heart.
When the words “thank you” could not come out, the words he had been meaning to say overtook it and were blurted out.
“…that I have a daughter long before I met Mina.”
These are the words that haunted the original. The truth that picked his heart for the past years that result in him wishing for death. Finally, they were uttered in front of his parents.