Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

After moving to a reception room, Tullius and Count Cartan began their meeting. The observer for the meeting was Marquis Lavallée. It was something they have to be extremely thankful for, since the matchmaker for the newlyweds had to leave the ceremony temporarily to bear witness to this. Count Pierre Cartan sank into the sofa and called out to Uni who stood behind Tullius. “What are you doing, Anrietta? Sit beside me.” “Sir Count. Please forgive me, I am –” Tullius waved his hand to cut off Uni who was trying to reject the offer. “I am just a Viscount while he is a Count.” In short, Tullius’ court rank was inferior. Regardless of whether Uni was really Count Cartan’s long lost daughter or not, Count Cartan was superior in terms of social standing. The order he gave his slave was effectively an order to Tullius. “……I have acted thoughtlessly, master.” Uni bowed down to Tullius – demonstrating that she was, in fact, the slave of Tullius. Count Cartan glared at Tullius as though he had murdered his parents as she did that. No, Due thought about it again and decided that it was as though Tullius had murdered his child. If what he said was right, Tullius had effectively turned the Count’s daughter into his slave. Moreover, though the Count might have been oblivious, he had sent her to dangerous places as an adventurer which exposed her to perils. If it was possible, surely the Count would want to shred him into pieces. Though if it came to that, Uni would protect Tullius at all costs while Due himself would follow the orders planted in his brain to protect him too. Count Cartan finally relaxed after Uni obediently sat beside him. Instead of his usual sharp glares, his eyes were now filled with compassion and love as he looked at his daughter.

“Count Cartan.”

Marquis Lavallée sat on a recliner that was placed in between two sofas.

“Tullius is also perplexed by this issue. Could you summarise what has happened again?”

It was extremely irritating to hear it from the mastermind himself. One cannot help but think that he should simply explain it himself since he already knew what was up.

“Pardon me. I understand.”

Cartan nodded with a stern expression.

Gradually, he started to speak.

“This all began 11 years ago —”

He sounded long-winded, like an aristocrat and also like an old person.

To sum it up, the story was like this:

Count Cartan was originally an illegitimate child of a Baron. A person of similar origin to Laubert. However, Pierre Simon Cartan had a talent that Laubert did not. He was skilled in magic.

He became a court mage, and with his shrewdness, he was given the peerage of a Count after making a name for himself as a consultant in the royal palace.

It was a big rise in status. Majority of nobles would meet with failure and disappointment in their lives even if they had talent in magic. The power struggle in the in the palace was intense. My own humble beginnings were also fraught with hardship. It should be fair to say that Cartan’s success in life was a miracle.

He gained prestige and authority that exceeded his own family’s. He even managed to be pushy towards his elder brother, who used to boss him around. He was truly in the pinnacle of his life. However, even he had a weakness.

Children.

After much difficulties, he finally became a Count. It was human nature to want to pass on this peerage to the next generation if possible.

Nevertheless, his wife who had followed him through the years when he was lowly ranked, could not bear children for the longest time and they continued to grow older. It was only a matter of time before Count Cartan’s family name would disappear in a single generation. As a last resort, he could adopt a child from a relative, but he wanted his own since he worked hard to achieve all this. He disliked the idea of having an adopted child inherit the family estate.

What if the child does not get along with me? With that in mind, Cartan secretly kept another woman. She was a lowly commoner.

Apparently, Anna Marie was a beautiful woman. She had a graceful look that was rare for a commoner and while she bore some resemblance to nobles who got on Cartan’s nerves, she was totally unlike them and had a kind heart and a gentle disposition. She was supposed to be a tool for giving birth, but Count Cartan fell head over heels for her in an instant.

He frequently visited the home he gave her and spent time intimately with her…...it was not long before Anna Marie gave birth to a girl.

Her name is Anrietta Pola Cartan. That was the real name of Uni, the Count’s first child, according to him. Count Cartan danced in joy. He was at an age when white hairs started to grow and finally, he had a child. She was an adorable child that bore resemblance to her mother. Of course, he doted on her. He loved his daughter so much that just thinking about her would numb any pain.

When she was born, somehow, his first wife, Madam Joséphine became pregnant. She was already in her mid-forties then. Was his youth rejuvenated because of the Count and Anna Marie’s tryst, or did Joséphine’s efforts finally come to fruition? Either way, it was strange. The Count’s crying mistress and her daughter were detained in their home against their will. It was to prevent his wife who was pregnant at an advanced age from suffering a shock. After trying so hard for a baby, what if a woman with comparable beauty to her appeared with an adorable baby at their home? Surely, she would be angered and a premature birth or a stillbirth could happen. It would mean endangering both the child and mother.

Furthermore, Joséphine was a woman with a bad temper. Surely he could not let Anna Marie and Anrietta get too close to her. And finally, Joséphine gave birth. This time, it was a boy. Count Cartan was relieved. Since it was his first wife giving birth to a boy, he would be the heir. As the mother of the heir, Joséphine’s position was secured. If that is so, surely she would not be overly perturbed by the existence of his mistress and their daughter. As long as the boy grows up in good health, he could one day quietly bring Anna Marie and their daughter into the household.

However, that did not come to pass. Yes, both his illegitimate daughter and heir son grew up healthily. But with Joséphine’s disposition, she did not become gentler after experiencing pregnancy and in fact, she became even more stubborn. Possibly because she was already old, she became an overprotective mother. Apparently, jealousy and suspicions built up over the years as his wife.

She would go red just at the sight of the Count speaking to maids and would suspect adultery. In the worst of cases, she would show her jealousy to wives of other families. It was not just once or twice when she fired a maid without consulting anybody. Once, she even beat a maid till she had permanent scars because she had a bad mood that day. While they were not maids, there was still no way he could bring up the topic of his mistress and daughter like that.

Little by little, time passed without the Count talking about them and it happened when Anrietta became 6 years old……