Chapter 28…………………………..
He narrowed his sharp eyes as he looked at the gun barrel.
A moment later—bang. A single gunshot rang out.
The servants hurried out.
His skill was always flawless—never once had he missed.
Seeing this, the eyes of the other brothers turned sharp with tension.
Getre raised his hand—he intended to continue shooting.
A servant released another bird into the clear blue sky.
Getre’s hand reached the trigger.
But his mind was completely consumed by different thoughts.
Reines, Fried, Bron… Which of them could possibly benefit from this?
There was a time when Getre had suspected all his brothers.
Reines—who never let go of the cigar in his hand.
Alcohol, women, gambling. He had a strong streak of addiction.
Because of the trouble he constantly caused, Reines had voluntarily surrendered his right to succession.
Bang—another shot.
Then what about Fried?
He was lazy by nature, never wanting to do anything.
Flutter—another bird plummeted to the ground.
Bron enjoyed art and spent most of his time playing with artists.
Servants in the distance waved a flag, signaling they had retrieved the fallen bird.
But regardless of how they pretended otherwise, the desire for wealth and honor ran in every member of the Kereis bloodline.
It was instinct.
Ron’s disappearance… Who among them stands to gain from that?
Every time he met his brothers, Getre’s mind swirled.
It was as if someone had deliberately torn Ron away from him.
But all of it was merely suspicion. With so many people coveting the Kereis family, anyone could be a suspect.
“……”
Thoughts that filled his head every year since Ron’s disappearance.
Getre exhaled lightly and set down his rifle.
Bron, who was next, stood up.
“By the way, someone said they saw Geratius not long ago.”
“What? Are you saying a dead man is alive?”
Reines asked while tipping his glass.
The other brothers and cousins also looked intrigued.
“They said the man had one eye covered, and that he was exceptional with the sword.”
Geratius had once been commander of the Kereis family’s knight order.
But when the succession war between the four brothers began, he sided with no one and instead focused on evacuating nearby imperial citizens.
For that crime, he was severely punished and executed.
“They gouged out one of his eyes back then, sure… but didn’t Getre’s sword finish him off?”
Reines’ gaze turned to Getre.
After remaining silent the whole time, Getre picked up the rifle and asked coldly:
“Bron. Who told you that story?”
At the murderous intent in his voice, Bron instinctively averted his eyes.
“T–that is…”
“Don’t tell me you heard it from some wandering gypsy?”
“H–how did you know!?”
Laughter burst out among the brothers at Bron’s flustered reaction.
“Bron, I knew you’d do something like that.”
“He’s been hanging around starving artists so much, he’s lost his senses.”
Bron’s face flushed red as he frowned.
“Still, that gypsy gives me pretty decent information. He’s not someone completely untrustworthy.”
“Right.”
Clack—Getre hefted the rifle onto his shoulder with force, making Bron tremble.
Soon Bron’s story dissolved uselessly into the air, replaced by other conversations.
Standing before the gun barrel, Getre let out a barely audible breath no one noticed.
Geratius, the knight commander of the Kereis family.
A man said to have died by Getre’s own blade.
But Geratius… was alive.
After the hunt, the meal began.
Getre seated at the head, with brothers and cousins around the table.
Disturbed by the silence broken only by clinking cutlery, Cousin Hait was the first to speak.
“I heard something bad happened to Shevert recently.”
All the Kereis brothers fixed their red eyes on Hait.
Overwhelmed by their presence, Hait dropped his fork.
“Haha… I—I only heard late because I’ve been living so far away, that’s all.”
Since Hait had grown up with the Kereis brothers, such an excuse was just barely acceptable.
Other relatives wouldn’t have dared to speak at all.
Getre broke the silence.
“He was attacked by assassins in Rogerta. Thankfully, Marianne saved him.”
Silence pressed down even harder—no sound of utensils, no murmurs.
Fried was the first among the brothers to respond.
“That was close. If Shevert had died, it would have caused serious trouble for our family.”
Despite his words, Freed’s lips curved into a sly smirk.
The other brothers chimed in.
“Indeed, he’s the legitimate heir of Kereis, after all.”
“Right. Only Shevert and Krimu remain as heirs.”
Venom laced every word they spoke.
Getre knew that better than anyone.
If both Shevert and Krimu—his sons—were gone, the position of successor would be left vacant.
The spot each and every one of them coveted.
“That girl, Marianne… I hear she’s not someone with ordinary energy.”
Bron’s comment prompted Getre to answer.
“She’s just an ordinary child who lost her parents.”
“Hah! When did you get so soft-hearted, brother? At this rate the Kereis family will start sponsoring orphanages!”
Their mocking laughter filled the room.
Only the relatives noticed Getre’s icy expression and dared not join in.
“Marianne will become Shevert’s fiancée.”
Everyone at the table went still.
Reines asked with an incredulous look:
“You mean to tie our noble bloodline to a girl from such an insignificant family? Father would regret making you the head of the family.”
The fourth brother nodded and added:
“I truly cannot understand what you see in that girl to make such a decision.”
Bang—!
Getre slammed his cup onto the table and rose with a cold expression.
He issued a chilling warning:
“If anyone speaks of Marianne with disrespect again, he will not take a single step into this estate.”
Disgust roiled inside him as he walked away from the dining hall.
How dare they insult Marianne—the one who saved Shevert and Krimu.
He calmed himself by softly touching his chest.
Inside his clothes was the glittering brooch Marianne had given him.
The mansion felt eerily quiet.
Events for the Kereis family were held not in the main estate but in the villa across the hill.
I noticed the drastically reduced number of attendants inside as I read a letter Britta had delivered.
It was from Adel, an employee of the boutique that supported the Beljur merchant group.
The merchant group is doing well.
Too well—so much money was coming in that it was becoming a problem.
At this rate, I’d never manage to spend it all.
A few days ago, I had instructed Adel to send a portion of the earnings to Kauts.
He needed funds if he was going to track down information about Ron.
At the end of the letter, it said the money had been successfully delivered two days ago.
Night had fallen before I knew it.
I was picking at my dinner as I waited endlessly for Kauts.
Suddenly—boom, boom!—someone pounded on the door.
At such a late hour, only one person would dare barge into a lady’s room like that.
“Kauts!”
The door burst open, and Kauts rushed toward me with a bundle slung over his shoulder.
“My lady!”
It had only been a few days, but our reunion was filled with relief.
“Did everything go well? You weren’t in danger, were you?”
“My lady! How have you been? You’ve been eating properly, right?”
Only after nodding to each other several times did we settle down.
His appearance told me he’d been running all over the place.
Even the jeweled pin he always wore was dangling precariously at the edge of his hair.
Had he been eating at all?
I quickly ordered them to bring warm soup.
Kauts kept insisting he was fine, but he finished the entire bowl in one go before finally speaking.
“I found the child.”
“You found him? Truly?”
“Yes! He’s alive!”
“Really… truly? He’s not hurt?”
“No. Those Devel bastards still have him, but they haven’t beaten him or starved him. They only keep him locked up and make him do small errands. Here—this is where he is.”
“Western Hezar?”
Western Hezar wasn’t far from the Kereis duchy.
“I didn’t know he was this close, so I went all the way to the south! Their main base is down there, you see. But for some reason, they settled in the west recently. I can’t believe he was right beside us.”
“It’s a relief he’s close.”
I wished my body would heal faster.
I wanted to see that child as soon as possible.
Kauts opened his bundle like a traveling peddler.
“This is from my old student at the magic academy. This I snuck out of my former house. Oh, and that one—I bought it for a high price at a clinic used by mages.”
Medicine to speed healing, a rabbit-shaped doll, a whisper-thin cloak, a long-tipped hat—he had brought all sorts of things.
“But why did you have to sneak into your old house?”
“Because the house was taken.”
“Oh… right, you mentioned that.”
I recalled the day we met at the gambling den.
Then I pointed at a small glass bottle.
“What’s that?”
“This? It’s powder used for disguise magic. I must have grabbed it by accident.”
Kauts approached and handed me the bottle.
“If you take it, you turn into someone completely different.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Except… well.”
“Except?”
“I found it at home, so… it’s kind of old.”
He laughed awkwardly, and I smiled softly.
“It’s fine. I appreciate everything you’ve done. Thank you, Kauts. You worked so hard.”
Embarrassed, Kauts shrugged and continued unpacking.
He separated out only the medicine meant to heal my wounds and placed them on the table.
A month passed like that.
Shevert, who injured his thigh, recovered quickly thanks to his naturally strong constitution.
I wasn’t as tough as Shevert, but I had mostly healed as well.
There was still a faint scar on my stomach, but the duke and Kauts had painstakingly found excellent medicines to minimize even that.
As I jogged in place to prove my recovery, Kauts clapped enthusiastically.
“Kauts! That means I can go to Hezar now, right?”
The child who was in western Hezar.
I had eaten well, slept well, and worked hard to recover just to go there.
Kauts often visited the edges of the organization’s territory, but as always, he couldn’t get too close.
He could only keep watch from afar.
“My lady, are you absolutely sure you’re well?”
Kauts, who used to forbid me until now, finally smiled and told me:
“Yes! Really! The duke said he’s going to the imperial palace in two days. We’ll prepare things then.”
Time passed quickly.
And at last, the day approached.
