Noarizen involuntarily felt a chill.
“Count Talos?”
Fearful, Noarizen lit his small lighter and cautiously turned his body to shine the light around.
“Don’t play games. I’ll get angry.”
But no matter what he said, no sound came in response.
Terrified, Noarizen shouted,
“Honey!”
The moment he called, a face appeared right in front of him...
“Gah─!!”
Noarizen dropped his pouch and collapsed.
Because that face was...!
“F-Father...”
It was Duke Astra!
At that moment, the light suddenly blazed on.
Noarizen squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden brightness with all his might.
When his eyes gradually adjusted, he saw where he was.
There were shelves, but the place was vast.
Th-this place...! It was the courtyard of Daymond jurisdiction.
The courtyard was packed with people.
Seeing them, Noarizen turned pale, his mouth moving wordlessly.
It was no wonder — everyone gathered was formidable.
Duke Astra.
Daymond Astra.
𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞 Balzac Astra.
Joshua Astra.
And... even Blizen.
Peeking from behind Blizen’s back was Erilot.
With a pop! Erilot appeared, scowling and said,
“Honey?”
I was dumbfounded and let out a nervous laugh.
So those two were an item? No wonder he was cozying up to some guy like Count Talos.
It always felt strange. There was no reason Noarizen would partner with Count Talos.
There were more prestigious families, so why pick Talos, who only had land in a rural backwater?
His territory was so poor it was hard to farm.
With no money and plenty of greed, he oppressed his tenants, causing rebellions every year.
A poor family struggling just to maintain a mansion in the capital.
The mystery started with why Noarizen contacted such a Talos. Now it was clear.
They were lovers conspiring in wrongdoing together!
Noarizen dropped to his knees with a thud! on the courtyard floor.
Then, he crawled toward the old man.
“F-Father. Father!”
The grandfather’s eyes were colder than ever.
His gaze was so sharp it seemed as if Gaho would burst forth any moment.
Noarizen’s face went pale as he clasped his hands and begged.
“O-Oh, it’s a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!”
Idiot. From the moment he sneaked into Daymond jurisdiction using the Gaho stone, there was no excuse.
And he was caught stealing Baecksoojeong...
The grandfather spoke in a flat voice.
“You teleported to where the Baecksoojeong was, filled sacks with it. Is there any part of my accusation that’s wrong?”
Noarizen, looking corpse-pale, stammered.
“W-Well...”
He had no words.
The facts were pointed out plainly.
Now the question was how he would spin it.
He’ll surely twist the truth cleverly. “So what happened was... to support B-Blizen, I needed money─”
That blasted bastard.
He used Blizen so badly, and now uses him as an excuse? Before Noarizen could finish, I cut in.
“Honey.”
Thud! At my words, Noarizen looked like he’d been hit by a rock.
Swallow. Only the sound of his dry swallow echoed through the courtyard.
As the silence deepened,
Noarizen spoke again.
“So, the misunderstanding is that Count Talos...!”
“Honey.”
Noarizen’s face went pale.
His shoulders trembled.
His hands shook.
Then he shook both hands dismissively.
“No, no... it’s not like that!”
“Honey.”
I smirked inside.
He’s too shocked to come up with excuses to cover his relationship with Count Talos. After I repeated those explosive words several times, Noarizen was nearly out of breath.
I walked out softly from behind Blizen and approached Noarizen.
With wide eyes and an innocent expression, I asked,
“You say ‘Honey’ when you’re lovers, right? So why does Uncle call Count Talos ‘Honey’?”
“No, no, it’s just a friendly nickname...!”
“But then why does Uncle call out his friend’s name when he comes to steal Baecksoojeong?”
Focusing on ‘Honey’ made us miss something important. Though the sum was astronomical, stealing isn’t the worst crime.
Moreover, if he tried to excuse ‘doing dirty work for his son,’ some might even feel pity.
But Count Talos got tangled in that. That was betrayal of the family.
He should’ve completely denied the relationship with Count Talos, idiot. But I provoked him with ‘Honey’ and got him to admit they were friends.
Noarizen’s face went pale, then white — a complete mess.
It seemed he finally grasped the situation.
“You came with a friend to steal Baecksoojeong?”
“T-That’s...!”
“Why? To give it to your friend?”
“No! No, that’s not true!”
Noarizen’s hands and feet trembled like aspen leaves.
He darted his eyes, trying to think of excuses.
Trying to escape? I cocked my head, then suddenly clapped.
“Ah! Were you threatened by Count Talos?”
“What?”
“Threatened and forced to do it. That’s it, right?”
When a person is cornered, their mind freezes.
If a small escape opens, what happens?
“Y-Yeah!”
In most cases, they seize the chance without calculating the cliff ahead.
I’ve seen this countless times as an aide. Noarizen fell completely into the trap I opened.
Because he clenched his fist and shouted as if determined.
“Count Talos caught my weakness... I had no choice. I committed a grave sin!”
Balzac chuckled.
“So the reason Uncle tried to embezzle the family’s Baecksoojeong was all Count Talos’ fault?”
“Y-Yeah...”
Joshua added with a lazy smile.
“Count Talos dared to threaten a member of Astra.”
“...That’s right.”
Noarizen shut his eyes tightly and nodded.
I said, “Hmm.”
“Then we should punish Count Talos, right?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“You know Astra’s way of punishment is different from ordinary places. Right now, a death sentence will be passed to Count Talos. Are you okay with that? Since you say he’s a friend?”
“I said I am!”
Noarizen shouted angrily.
Immediately, I stiffened my face and said,
“Bring him here.”
At my words, soldiers dragged a man out.
Of course, it was Count Talos.
“...!”
Noarizen froze stiff.
Understandably so.
He was trying to pin all the blame on his lover and escape himself. Count Talos glared as if to tear Noarizen apart.
“Noarizen... How could you...?”
“...”
Noarizen only stammered incoherently.
What now? Count Talos is not only the culprit but also the witness. He would testify everything about what you did.
I looked sharply at the grandfather staring at Noarizen and said,
“Grandfather, there’s one more accusation.”
Suddenly, everyone’s gaze focused on me.
I rolled up Blizen’s sleeve.
“The Gaho stones they used were made by cruelly experimenting on Blizen.”
The grandfather quietly stared at Blizen’s horribly scarred arm.
After a long look, he raised his gaze to meet Blizen’s eyes.
“...”
“...”
Neither said a word.
Still, Noarizen remained garbage.
“Please, Blizen, please...!”
Despite seeing the awful scars with his own eyes, he begged Blizen to fix the situation.
My family and I looked at Noarizen like a beast.
I grabbed Blizen’s sleeve.
“Speak.”
“...”
“Brother Blizen, you can’t live like this forever.”
“...”
“No matter how much you endure, your heart won’t be rewarded. Don’t waste your precious heart on such a demon.”
“...”
Silence fell over the courtyard.
Blizen stared blankly at me.
I held his hand tightly with both hands.
“Brother.”
Blizen closed his eyes tightly.
After a moment,
“Erilot is right...”
Blizen mustered courage.
“Brother!”
“Blizen─!!”
I shouted with joy, while Noarizen howled in despair.
The grandfather’s expression twisted like a demon.
“Father, please listen to me. Everything was for Astra’s sake. Yes!”
“I knew you were embezzling Aisa jurisdiction’s funds.”
“...!”
“I only let you go because Blizen desperately defended me.”
“Father...”
The grandfather looked at Count Talos.
“I’ll give you a chance to survive. Confess everything you did with your own mouth.”
Noarizen snapped his head to look at Count Talos.
His eyes begged, but Count Talos curled his lips.
“Noarizen and I have been meeting since before Lady Aisa died!”
“Nonsense! Nonsense, Father!”
“Why would I do such things to Astra if I were crazy? Noarizen tempted me.”
“Shut up!”
“Making Gaho stones, offering them to the Emperor to enter the central tower — it was all him!”
“No, no─”
“Selling all Lady Aisa’s belongings to make Gaho stones was that bastard!”
“Shut up! Shut up!”
“I have plenty of proof we met since Lady Aisa was alive!”
“Shut your mouth─!!”
Noarizen yelled.
Count Talos ignored him and kept spilling the crimes.
The two villains making noise like a mad band.
The grandfather silently listened to Talos with deeply sunken eyes.
“You enjoyed everything your child built with my child’s money in my child’s castle, and even did that to my child’s child.”
“Father...”
The grandfather hissed in a low voice.
Noarizen trembled and begged for mercy.
“Please, please spare me! Please... Even though I did crazy things, I am Blizen’s father. I cared for Aisa until she died...!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”
Noarizen’s face brightened for a moment.
Of course, until the grandfather said,
“I’ll make you beg to be killed.”
— That’s when Noarizen’s face turned pale again.
Dawn’s dim light.
The criminal transport carriage was scheduled to arrive in the morning.
To bring Noarizen before everyone’s eyes.
A warning that even the journey won’t be easy. Noarizen was now at the mercy of the grandfather.
But I couldn’t sleep and tossed and turned in bed all night.
Noarizen, I’ll probably only fall asleep once I see you leave... Just then,
Knock, knock. “It’s me, Erilot.”
It was Blizen’s voice.
I immediately got up and opened the door.
“Blizen?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s up?”
“... I want to go underground. They say I need the permission of Daymond jurisdiction’s lord.”
The word ‘underground’ immediately made me understand what Blizen intended.
Noarizen was down there.
He wanted to see him.
“You probably shouldn’t go.”
“I want to go.”
I quietly looked at Blizen and nodded.
“Okay.”
I took Blizen and descended.
The stairs down to the underground were still dark.
A little scary. I was glad I wasn’t letting Blizen go alone.
At the bottom was a creepy room barred with iron grates.
Inside was Noarizen.
Noarizen, crouched with his head bowed, slowly lifted it.
“Blizen...!”
Seeing Blizen, Noarizen hurriedly crawled and clung to the bars.
“Save me. Please save me! You have to speak well for me. Say it wasn’t true, that the experiment was agreed upon! I only experimented on you out of loyalty to Astra...!”
When Blizen said nothing, Noarizen clung more desperately.
“I had no choice. You know how hard it was for me too!”
“...”
“Loving your mother at first was real! Remember how happy we were?”
“...”
“I must have been so desperate to do those things to you. It was all to raise you...! Yes! Meeting Count Talos was also for you...! I made connections because you’d go to the center when you grew up...!”
Now he was rambling nonsense.
Noarizen, the epitome of gaslighting, begged but never forgot to gaslight.
“I don’t think you understand how hard it was for me raising you in Astra. That’s why I...”
I had enough.
I grabbed the keys from the guard and opened the barred door.
Noarizen’s face brightened.
Bang! I kicked him hard.
Though Noarizen had already been through severe torment, he collapsed weakly, powerless even against a child’s kick.
“What, what are you doing...!”
“Stop your nonsense.”
“What, what?”
I bent down and looked him in the eye, speaking clearly.
“No abuse toward a child is ever justified.”
“...!”
“Because the child did wrong? Because it was hard because of the child? Because you struggled to raise them and it was just once?!”
“You...”
“No! Such things can never be justified! It’s Blizen who suffers and [N O V E L I G H T] struggles because he got tangled with such a demon!”
I kicked Noarizen again and again.
“Ah! Ah!”
Unable to dodge, Noarizen took every kick as it came and groaned.
I also made sure to kick his foul-mouthed mouth.
Blizen watched me with wide eyes.
Blankly, endlessly.