Read Novel Full Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Repentance
He bowed his head and spoke in a formal and stiff manner, making Francesca bewildered. But before anything, she didn’t want Graziano to be kneeling on the ground while also being drenched under the rain.
“St-stand up already, Graziano! Why are you even apologizing? Is it because you’re supposed to be my guard?”
Francesca tried to pull him up by his arm as she questioned.
Graziano was just another member of the family but, he was also Francesca’s personal caretaker. When he had just been taken into the Calvino family, the adults had decided it so.
He was still a small child but, perhaps by giving him a duty, he would hopefully not feel uncomfortable being a complete freeloader, or so was the thought process behind the decision.
“Graziano, you don’t need to apologize! This time was all my own fault for getting dragged into this mess, and you weren’t even with me, also…….”
“That’s not it.”
“!”
He interjected, and spoke with his head still bowing.
“That in and of itself is nothing more than a pathetic excuse for myself but, this is an even more fundamental problem than that………..there’s a chance that I’m the reason that your life was targeted milady.”
“!”
Hearing that, she was startled.
The entire reason why Francesca had gone alone was indeed because Graziano was supposedly involved in this incident.
(According to the game’s scenario, Graziano only got shot because he tried to protect me. And to avoid that, I took the decisions I did so he’s not incorrect but……..)
That said, there was no way Graziano could have ever know her true intentions.
“Why do you think so?”
She tried to pull him back up with both hands but he didn’t even flinch. The rain was certainly slowing down but if he staid this way, her little bro was certainly going to catch a cold.
“Graziano!”
“……..it’s all because I have the Savini blood running through me.”
“!”
Water droplets flowed down his wet hair and across his forehead.
“Anybody with two functioning eyes can tell, that I am that man’s son. The moment the son he wanted to hide appeared, it should have been quite obvious what kind of actions that man might take.”
“That’s…….”
“A child he threw away suddenly shows up, he must surely think that I have come to take the seat of the family from him. And if you consider how the Savini family has acted in the past, it was clear that they’d try to eliminate anyone that might cause them a hindrance.”
Francesca turned to look at Leonardo. He simply shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had obviously already considered this possibility.
“It is as your watchdog says no? it you start to loiter around the marquis with that face, it’s basically like flaunting that he’s an illegitimate child of that family.”
She turned back towards Graziano, as he continued in calm tone.
“His majesty, the king………when Luka-sama gave us the order to stop the assassination plot, I should have properly and carefully thought of this all. And yet, I had this stupid pride and stubbornness inside my head and because of that, I was unable to simply refuse it.”
“Graziano…….”
He was still breathing heavily showing how he must have been running for a long time before reaching here.
He must have not used his teleportation skill either because of the usage limit. He was saving it for when he finds Francesca so he can then use the skill to quickly bring help.
(Did Marquis Savini really want to kill Graziano and asked the mastermind to do it for him?)
Francesca ruminated over Graziano’s words and pondered over it inside her head.
(It’s true that that hypothesis doesn’t contradict with the game’s scenario. Could it be that the hoodlums were tasked with making it look like they were aiming for me but the [mastermind] was actually aiming for Graziano on the Marquis’ request…….?)
If Graziano who was technically just a normal member, got suddenly attacked, it would raise a lot of suspicion. Could it be that Francesca being targeted was just a cover for the real target?
(I had already told that Graziano was my personal attendant to his father by the riverside. Normally thinking, Graziano should be with me when going out somewhere………but what I did was beyond the mastermind’s expectations, and it was just me alone in that carriage and hence why, he saved me in the end?)
This hypothesis circled in her head. But right now, there was bigger problem right in front of Francesca.
“——-If I remain beside you milady, I might get you in even more danger.”
Graziano’s words made Francesca gulp.
“If so, then……..It’s better if I don’t remain with—–…….”
“That’s not true at all!”
“!!”
She didn’t even want to hear the full sentence till the end so she shouted to interject him.
Graziano looked back up in shock, as his red eyes wavered. Francesca suppressed her own cowardliness and desperately exclaimed to Graziano.
“Did I not tell you this the very first day we met!? Everyone here will protect you always. And that includes me too!”
“………young miss.”
“Ahhh seriously, it’s not good to get drenched in the rain like this!! All it does is make your thoughts and emotions cold and depressing as well. Just get up and come here inside already!!”
Francesca stood up and pulled at Graziano’s arm once again.
“The responsibility for not realizing the danger that your father may pose to us is on me, not you!”
“……..no, how could the blame be on milady for..”
“Yes it can! You are a member of our family Graziano, and I’m the daughter of the family head. And above all…….”
While pulling at his arm with full strength, Francesca continued her words.
“It’s obviously a big sister’s duty to make sure that her little bro is not in any kind of danger after all……!!
“……….!!”