The Dispute Ends

In the corner of the room.

Rudeus and Hilde watched the three sink into silence, and began thinking about what they could do in a situation like this.

"Hilde, what do you think?"

Rudeus asked, "Do you think Lilia should stay, or should she leave?"

"...Leave."

Hilde spoke in a low voice.

"You heard what Lilia said just now, didn't you? Dragging a body that's just given birth, along with a child, across a long journey back to her hometown all alone—do you think that's fair to Lilia?"

"Then is letting Lilia stay fair to Zenith?" Hilde asked in return.

It was just like the creed she had always held to.

On the two tracks of a tram, between the unruly children and the well-behaved children, which side was it reasonable to sacrifice?

Either side was reasonable, and neither side was reasonable.

But if Hilde had to choose, she would definitely sacrifice the unruly children. She firmly believed that if someone did something wrong, they ought to pay the price, even if that price was their life. If people could do wrong without paying any price, then who would still follow the rules after that?

So wrong was wrong, and the size of the price paid should not be the basis for whether something was right or not.

However, Rudeus, who had always shown obedience to Hilde, shook his head this time.

"It really isn't fair to Zenith, but leaving right and wrong aside, do you really think Zenith could drive Lilia away with a clear conscience?"

"..."

"At the end of the day, after all these years, Lilia and Zenith's relationship isn't as simple as employer and maid anymore, is it? Making Zenith make a decision that's practically the same as killing Lilia—would that really be good for Zenith? Would that let Zenith feel at ease and believe this matter was over? I'm afraid not. If anything, it might be even more torment for Zenith. And after making such a cruel decision, there might even be a crack in the relationship between Paul and Zenith."

"You mean that, in this matter, who's right and who's wrong doesn't matter?" Hilde asked back.

"It's not that it doesn't matter, but what matters more is how to resolve the situation in front of us."

"...Rudeus, I have to admit, you have a point on this matter."

Hilde gave a slight nod.

"You actually seem a bit like an older brother."

"Hm? What did you just call me?"

"Shut up."

On this matter, Rudeus and Hilde reached a consensus.

The corner of Hilde's eye flicked toward Paul off to the side.

"But if we're talking about right and wrong, the person who made the biggest mistake in this matter wasn't Lilia..."

"Hilde, you mean..."

"Yeah. Leave it to me."

Hilde already had an idea.

Meanwhile, Zenith was agonizing over what to do with Lilia.

Putting aside whatever that guy Paul was thinking for the moment.

She was a follower of the Millis Faith, and the doctrines of the Millis Faith required believers to practice monogamy and remain faithful to their partners until death. Affairs and betrayal were absolutely forbidden. Let alone keeping the person one had an affair with at one's side.

So Zenith should drive Lilia out.

But how was that any different from killing Lilia? Even setting aside Paul and Lilia's feelings, her own relationship with Lilia had not reached that point either... In fact, even in this situation, the other party had still thought of helping her give birth before leaving alone.

No, she simply couldn't do it...

Just as Zenith was torn every which way.

A voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Mother, this matter shouldn't be blamed on Lilia."

Hilde stepped forward.

"Huh?"

Not only Zenith, everyone instinctively looked at Hilde.

Under everyone's gaze, Hilde continued:

"In the end, why does Lilia have to leave?"

"Because she did something she shouldn't have," Zenith said quietly. "Hilde, this matter..."

"Wasn't that because Lilia had no way to resist Father, the head of the household?" Hilde said.

"What..."

Zenith froze for a moment.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, Father was clearly the one who raped Lilia, yet the result is that Lilia gets blamed and has to take responsibility. Isn't that strange?" Hilde said.

"Huh?"

"W-wait a minute..."

Lilia looked up in shock.

Paul, meanwhile, rose to his feet on instinct. "Hilde, I didn't..."

"Father, are you about to say, 'I didn't rape Lilia'?"

Hilde looked at Paul. "You should think carefully before you speak. Otherwise, you really won't have even a shred of a father's dignity left in front of your daughter."

I didn't rape Lilia...

That was indeed what Paul had been about to say.

But under Hilde's calm gaze, Paul found himself unable to speak.

So that's it. That's what this is...

Thinking about it carefully, perhaps today's result had come about precisely because of the mistake he had made many years ago.

Hilde was right. He had brought all of this on himself.

What a headache. To think his own daughter was lecturing him about matters between men and women... And she even mentioned a father's dignity. Hadn't that been gone long ago?

No, that wasn't right.

What Hilde meant was that even if he had made mistakes in the past, what mattered was taking responsibility from this moment on. If he kept running away, the mistake would only grow bigger, but as long as he had the courage to shoulder it, it could be resolved—just like the situation before them now.

As countless thoughts churned through his mind, Paul took a deep breath.

Then, under everyone's gaze, he dropped heavily to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor.

"Yes."

"Hilde is right!"

"I did rape Lilia!"

"It was all my fault!"

"So whether you want to blame me or curse me, direct it all at me alone. I'm sorry, Zenith. I betrayed your trust. This was all my fault!"

Paul practically forced those words out through gritted teeth.

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent once more.

Hilde turned to look at Zenith.

We've come this far...

This should be enough, right?

In the silence, Zenith bit her lip hard. As if struggling through an agony of hesitation, she finally let out a long sigh.

"Honestly... there's no helping it. Lilia, you may stay for the time being."

"Lady Zenith..."

Lilia rose to her feet in a daze.

"You don't need to say anything, Lilia."

Zenith slowly stood, gently embraced Hilde and Rudeus, then let her gaze fall on Paul.

"As for you, Paul, you're going to explain exactly what happened to me afterward."

"Ah, right..."

Paul swallowed and rose to his feet in fear and trembling.

With that, this incident finally came to a barely passable close.

Lilia did not have to be driven out of the house, but until both women had given birth, Paul had to abstain.

A happy ending for everyone... well, it wasn't quite that good.

Still, in the end, they had reached an answer that everyone could more or less accept. That seemed to be the best possible result.

At the same time, Lilia carved into her heart everything Hilde had done during this incident.

Even if she spent her entire life repaying this debt, it would not be too much.