Chapter 23

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: What Makes a Pero
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“I heard it was a grand wedding. Surely you weren't stupid enough to have given away your purity already, were you?”

She swept her hair back, looking utterly dumbfounded.

“Seeing as you're not surprised by my appearance, you must have already known she was a fake. I don't know what you were thinking, though.”

Benia gestured. As if shooing away a fly.

“Kill her quickly and prepare the bridal chamber. I'm in a hurry. As for your honeymoon, who's going to say anything if you claim there was an unfortunate accident? They'll mourn for a bit and then move on.”

She shrugged.

“If it's too much for you, shall I kill her for you?”

Clear killing intent was visible in her eyes as she spoke.

Though it was unclear how strong her control over water was, Benia had a history of training alongside Argenta's assassins.

Croire... could be in danger.

The displeasure—no, the murderous impulse—he felt at that moment was startling even for Diello.

“What's the rush?”

Diello asked abruptly. Benia raised an eyebrow.

“Well, there's so much to enjoy as the Duchess of Argenta. Besides, because of you people, I've been on the run for over ten years. And to see a fake usurping my position... No, but wait.”

Benia suddenly felt something was off. She stared at Diello.

“Aren't the Argenta more desperate for a Pero than I am?”

She frowned.

“Prepare my place quickly. Otherwise, who knows what rumors I might spread throughout this peaceful Argenta.”

The Argenta valued the custom of treating fellow Argentas as blood relatives.

Naturally, harming a fellow Argenta, let alone killing one's own kin, was a fatal flaw for the head of the family.

While this was true for other families as well, the Argenta would be particularly inflamed.

But Diello merely tilted his head at the obvious threat.

He didn't look flustered. Rather, he seemed to be slowly mulling over a question Benia had just asked.

Then, he spoke.

“Do you know why I stood by and watched the former Duke and Duchess die back then?”

He was calling them the former Duke and Duchess, not his parents.

As if to create distance.

Benia frowned.

“You must have wanted to become the Duke.”

“No. The title of Duke would have been mine even if I did nothing. There was no need for that.”

Diello smiled coldly.

It was the moment Benia's eyes widened.

Diello leaned slightly toward her and whispered.

“I find it amusing to watch a rabbit that doesn't realize it's playing before the jaws of a beast.”

In an instant, all expression vanished from his face.

“But I don't like moths that fly recklessly into the flame.”

A chilling killing intent filled the room. Diello's cold words continued.

“Do you remember that my life was in danger at the time?”

At his words, the frozen Benia gave a slight nod.

“...You were... sickly, weren't you?”

“No.”

Diello shook his head.

“It's rare for one who has inherited the thick blood of Argenta to be born naturally frail.”

*Fwoosh!*

He said, igniting a flame at his fingertips.

“Because without a fundamental level of physical strength, one cannot withstand this magical power.”

Benia flinched at his words. Diello laughed.

“Who in the world could have poisoned the next Duke?”

It was a question to which he himself already knew the answer.

From his lips, a secret of the past flowed.

The former Duke, Diello's father.

He was an ordinary family head who never particularly stood out. That remained true even after he met his Pero and completed his awakening.

But Diello was different.

The moment Diello began to wield his control over fire, the former Duke recognized his outstanding talent.

Unfortunately, far too early.

‘...Diello possesses too much talent.’

That his own son possessed a power incomparably stronger than his own.

And he knew that in such cases, the mark of the family head could be passed on early.

‘If my mark passes to Diello...’

His father feared this fact. The fact that his own abilities would weaken.

Having excessively demanded the loyalty of the Argenta with his meager power, he was afraid of losing everything.

And his wife, Diello's mother and Pero, was the same.

‘If the family head changes, what happens to me, the Pero?’

When the head changes, the Pero of the former head naturally becomes unnecessary.

Naturally, she did not welcome Diello, who was not only too talented but also not her biological child.

“If one needs to hesitate even when killing those who tried to kill you, life would be quite harsh.”

Diello's chilling words fell as he finished his recollection.

Benia's face turned white as a sheet.

“That's...”

This was something that would turn the Argenta upside down if it became known.

But Diello had deliberately let it slip into her ear.

And in a relaxed voice, no less.

As if it didn't matter if she knew.

As if he was confident he could stop her from telling anyone else...

Benia struggled to suppress her fear.

*I'm the Pero, after all.*

*He can't possibly kill me.*

“...Enough. Just prepare for the wedding. Shouldn't the Argenta welcome their Pero before it's too late?”

Benia said, waving her hand dismissively.

*Before it's too late.*

With a faint smile, Diello rose from his seat.

*Click.*

His clear footsteps echoed as he slowly paced behind the sofa where Benia sat.

“Before it's too late...”

It wasn't late at all; in fact, it was too early.

To welcome the real Pero.

Neither Duke Alloje nor Duke Cartiel had let their guard down enough, and he hadn't even properly sorted out the internal affairs of Argenta.

Above all...

Even thinking rationally, there were many unsettling points.

Benia, who was strangely using the power of the Alloje.

There was no guarantee that she wouldn't use her water powers to contact the Alloje if things went south.

Would a person who has betrayed once find it difficult to do so a second time?

It would be dangerous if she were to leak his plans to the Alloje.

And... could she survive that process?

Would the Duke who sent his own daughter as a fake Pero let her live?

From the moment the real Pero appeared to this very instant facing Benia, his mind had been consumed by one thing.

He gazed out the bright window.

The person who came to mind whenever he saw something shining brightly these days.

‘Use me. Until you, Your Grace, find the real Pero and gain your power.’

The voice that had said those words kept echoing in his ears.

The deadline was... until the real Pero was found.

If she heard the news that the real Pero had arrived, she would immediately ask to fulfill their contract.

Besides, she was still planning to leave Argenta.

It would be nice to have more time to persuade her.

More than anything, how wonderful it would have been if the Pero was someone befitting Argenta, not someone like this.

...How wonderful it would have been if *she* were the real Pero.

The silent Diello opened his mouth.

“The fences of Argenta are sturdy.”

He stopped pacing and looked back at Benia.

“So they do not open easily. Especially not for traitors.”

“...What?”

*No way.* Benia understood his words, yet she couldn't comprehend them.

The family head was going to reject his Pero?

“Why do you think I told you such a fatal secret?”

At Diello's words, all the blood drained from Benia's face.

This was absurd. She once again rolled up her sleeve.

“Surely you're not planning to do something to the real Pero?”

By then, Diello's gaze was outside the window.

*Is Croire still in the flower garden?*

“Why, of all people, did it have to be you?”

Diello narrowed his eyes. Benia flinched.

It felt as if a chilling killing intent was piercing her throat.

“What is the difference between you and Croire?”

He looked back at Benia again.

“What do you possess that Croire doesn't, that made you my Pero...? If only I could figure that out.”

Wouldn't it be possible to make the one I want into my Pero?

A cold gaze fell upon Benia.

“Investigate her thoroughly.”

The ones who answered his command without a word were the knights of Argenta.

Comprised solely of knights from the fourth floor, they were surprised by their lord's plan to reject his Pero, but they followed his orders faithfully.

Because they trusted their lord.

Above all, this woman was far too dangerous and frivolous to become the mistress of Argenta.

Diello looked at Benia.

“Even if you have to dig through that traitor's entire life, find it.”

The cold words fell.

“Find out just what kind of people are chosen as ‘Pero’.”

What makes her different from that woman.

What rules govern who becomes a Pero.

The moment that question arose.

*Swoosh...*

Diello once again heard the sound of the seashore.

It was the sea he hated seeing even in his dreams.

But he didn't dislike the person who uniquely reminded him of the sea.

No, he found himself thinking of her constantly.

What on earth is so different.

The endlessly repeating question left him with a single realization.

*I want her.*

He realized it at that moment.

The reason her ‘future plans’ had always bothered him.

It dawned on him subtly, like a sandy shore slowly being eaten away by the tide, and then all at once.

He found himself laughing.

Soon, his soft voice echoed in the room.

“I've decided I want something perfect.”

Not a ‘Pero I must love,’

But a ‘Pero I cannot help but love.’