Chapter 358: Echoes Buried Beneath Forgotten Memories

Echoes Buried Beneath Forgotten Memories

"A Sword Master."

"Accompanied by two fully equipped knights."

"Was ambushed by ordinary bandits."

"Both your father and one knight died."

"But the remaining knight escaped..."

"...and somehow lived long enough to report everything."

He looked directly into Clara’s eyes.

"Doesn’t that sound strange to you?"

Clara clenched her jaw.

"Of course I doubted it."

"I questioned it many times."

"But because of that knight’s testimony..."

"No further investigation was ever conducted."

She slowly continued.

"Everyone trusted him."

"They said his honor was beyond question."

"When I eventually became an A-Rank adventurer..."

"I searched for him."

"I wanted answers."

Her voice became quieter.

"But I learned he had taken his own life."

"They said..."

"...he couldn’t bear the guilt of surviving when Father couldn’t."

She swallowed painfully.

"After hearing that..."

"I convinced myself..."

"...that he had been telling the truth."

Victor slowly shook his head.

A faint sigh escaped him.

"Naive."

Clara frowned.

"...What?"

Victor’s golden eyes met hers.

"Very naive."

His voice remained calm.

"It never occurred to you..."

"...that someone could have murdered that knight..."

"...and made it look like suicide?"

The words struck Clara harder than any weapon ever had.

Her pupils contracted violently.

She froze where she stood.

The possibility...

Had never crossed her mind.

She knew very few people capable of disguising a murder as suicide.

One of them was Gian.

Another...

Was standing calmly before her now.

Victor continued before she could recover.

"If someone silenced him..."

"Then he knew something."

"Something another person couldn’t allow to become public."

He took one slow step forward.

"So, tell me, Clara..."

"Why did your father travel to the Capital that day?"

Clara stood motionless.

Victor’s final question echoed through her mind.

Why did Father travel to the Capital that day?

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to search through memories she had spent years trying to bury.

For several long moments, only silence filled the room.

"I..."

She frowned slightly.

"It’s difficult to remember."

Victor didn’t interrupt.

He simply waited.

Memories forced out through pressure were often incomplete. It was better to let them surface naturally.

Clara slowly rubbed her temple.

"So much time has passed..."

"I tried my hardest to forget everything about that day."

Her breathing steadied little by little.

Then...

A small fragment of memory resurfaced.

"...Wait."

Her eyes slowly widened.

"I remember something."

Victor remained quiet.

"My father never explained why he was going to the Capital."

"He only told me he was meeting an old friend."

A faint smile appeared on Clara’s face as she recalled the distant memory.

"He even joked that when he returned..."

"...he would bring me a souvenir."

The smile lasted only a heartbeat before fading.

"Before leaving..."

"I remember overhearing him speaking with Mother."

"He sounded... excited."

"He told her that after returning..."

"...there was a chance he would be promoted."

"He believed he could become a Count."

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"A promotion..."

Clara nodded.

"Yes."

"But he never explained how."

"He never told us who that friend was."

"And after..."

She lowered her head.

"Everything happened so quickly."

Victor quietly organized the information in his mind.

"A Viscount unexpectedly travels to the Capital."

"He meets an unnamed friend."

"He expects to return with enough influence to become a Count."

"Then..."

"He dies on the journey home."

He looked at Clara.

"That isn’t coincidence."

Clara slowly nodded.

"I can see that now."

Victor folded his arms.

"Is that everything you remember?"

She tried once more.

Several moments passed before she finally shook her head.

"I think so."

"I’ve spent years trying not to remember that day."

"So..."

"Those are the only memories I have left."

Victor accepted her answer.

Then his expression became even more serious.

"Very well."

"Let’s move to the next question."

Clara looked toward him.

"The day your mother lost her voice."

His calm words caused Clara’s shoulders to tense.

Victor continued.

"I’m almost certain..."

"That was also the day she received the curse."

"I need every detail."

Clara inhaled slowly before answering.

"It happened the same day the surviving knight returned."

"He brought news of Father’s death."

The painful memory resurfaced vividly.

"The moment Mother heard those words..."

"...she collapsed."

"She fainted without saying anything."

Clara’s voice became softer.

"When she finally woke up..."

"...she never spoke again."

"It was as if..."

"...her soul had disappeared."

Victor’s gaze remained unwavering.

"So from that moment onward..."

"She became like an empty shell."

Clara nodded silently.

"Yes."

The room fell quiet once again.

Victor thought for a moment before asking another question.

"When the knight delivered the news..."

"Who else was present?"

Clara immediately searched her memories again.

"My sisters were still very young."

"Our servants..."

"They were nearby."

"But..."

She frowned.

Something felt strange.

Her heartbeat gradually accelerated.

"No..."

"There was..."

She suddenly pressed a hand against her forehead.

Fragments of forgotten memories began surfacing one after another.

Why...

Why had she never questioned them before?

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Someone...

Someone had been standing behind the knight.

But every time she tried to remember...

The face became blurry.

Almost as though an invisible fog covered it.

Victor immediately noticed the change.

"What’s wrong?"

Clara didn’t answer.

She continued forcing herself to remember.

The pressure inside her head became almost painful.

Then...

Without warning...

A face flashed across her mind.

An old man.

His wrinkled face.

His crooked smile.

His cold eyes.

That smile...

It wasn’t sympathetic.

It wasn’t sorrowful.

It had almost looked...

Satisfied.

Clara’s entire body trembled violently.

She instinctively stepped backward.

"...No..."

Her breathing became uneven.

"I..."

"I remember..."

Victor’s expression sharpened.

"Tell me."

Clara stared blankly at the floor.

"The knight..."

"...wasn’t alone."

Victor remained silent.

"There was another man."

"He stood behind him the entire time."

Her voice trembled.

"I don’t know why..."

"...but..."

"...I completely forgot he was there."

She grabbed her own head.

"How is that possible?"

"I saw him..."

"I spoke to him..."

"I’ve seen him almost every day..."

"So why..."