﹡ ⊹ ⊰ Chapter 237 ⊱ ⊹ ﹡
"Huuk! Cough!" Shocked, Vieze, who was drinking water, coughed until his face turned red.
Rulhac waited silently, saying no more until Vieze's commotion was over.
"Get out of the mansion?!" Vieze yelled at Rulhac and continued.
"Where am I supposed to go when I leave the mansion?!"
"Well, that's up to you to decide."
Even with the raging Vieze, Rulhac did not respond hastily. From beginning to end, he reacted with a lackluster and thoroughly indifferent attitude.
Vieze was quite unfamiliar with this image of his father. He was also scared.
Those brown eyes always looked at them siblings unpleasantly. However, even with those strict eyes, Father's compassion or affection has always existed.
But now, Rulhac was looking at him as if he were dealing with a complete stranger.
"I've already told Roulier. He said he would go to Ginefolk Street at his wife's house."
"But Father..." Vieze balked, fidgeting on the edge of the chair. This was no laughing matter.
"I don't even have a wife anymore! And then Angenas..." Vieze spoke in a manner that had always touched his father's weak side.
'Surely, you're not going to throw away your eldest son, right?'
"How are Serral and Bellesac doing?" Rulhac asked.
"Huh? Oh, those two..." Vieze couldn't answer easily.
It was expected. He was told that Bellesac was released, but he had never seen his face ever since. The same was true of Serral.
One day, he came back from drinking at the pub and found that all of his wife's valuables had disappeared from the mansion.
"....Pathetic." Rulhac said as he clicked his tongue.
"You don't even know what's going on with your wife and children... You should have thought of taking care of your family."
"Do you have any idea where Serral and Bellesac are?"
"You don't deserve to know." Rulhac clicked his tongue once again.
"I won't say much, Vieze. I'm thinking of handing over Lombardy to Tia sooner or later. So you get out before then. This is the last thing you can do for Lombardy's future."
"Tia! Tia! It's always Tia! Father only notices that girl who has no roots!" Vieze screamed as he leaped to his feet.
"That girl will lead this family? You gave her everything! Ha! The whole Empire will laugh at us! You handed over the family to a granddaughter who was born from a nomad! Have you gone senile!?" Vieze spat and drew blood around his neck.
"It's all a lie that Pellet is hers! She's been greedy and wicked since she was a child, so you don't know what she might be capable of!"
His body, soaked in liquor, couldn't scream for long.
"Haah..hah.haa.."
Using his sleeves, Vieze harshly wiped his mouth covered with an untidy beard and said as he pointed a finger at his father.
"You are ruining this family with your hands! This great family! You are ruining Lombardy!"
"Do you really think so?" Rulhac asked in a low tone.
"What do you think would have changed if it's you, Vieze?"
"That's..." Vieze tried to say something. But he was suffocated. He didn't know why.
However, no matter how hard he tried, the words 'I would have done better' did not come out of his mouth.
Rulhac sighed in sadness as he watched Vieze, whose mouth was puffing like a goldfish. At that moment, he pulled out a letter in the drawer of the table and handed it to Vieze.
"This is Bellesac's handwriting..." With his trembling hands, Vieze opened the letter.
It contained the current situation of Bellesac and Serral, which he conveyed calmly in finer writing than what he'd known in his memory.
"Tia looked after Bellesac to the end." Rulhac said to Vieze.
"The Empress ordered a Knight to kill Bellesac and was trying to disguise his death as suicide."
"....What...suicide?"
"It must have been intended to make Bellesac a scapegoat for Astana. But Bellesac was able to get away thanks to Tia."
"Then..."
"That was the first thing she did after she became the successor to the household. Not only that but Serral and Bellesac also found a house to live in peace."
Rulhac pointed to the letter in Vieze's hand.
"It's a letter from Bellesac to thank her for that."
Vieze finished reading Bellesac's letter with shaky eyes.
Although it was a low-quality paper that was incomparable to the ones they used in the Lombardy mansion, a few lines of writing were enough to tell that Bellesac's life was much more stable than before.
[...I'm sorry and grateful. Please make sure to deliver my apology to Firentia, no, the Deputy Head of Lombardy.
I hope from a distance that only peace will be in the road ahead of Lombardy....]
Bellesac was sincerely apologizing.
"Tia has done a better job than anyone else."
To embrace and protect the family members, leaving her personal feelings aside.
That was the most important duty of the Head.
"So, Vieze, I'll answer for you. You wouldn't have made a good householder. And Lombardy will become even greater under the leadership of Tia." Rulhac's words contained unwavering conviction.
Troubled, Vieze hung his head. And he sobbed.
"I wasn't good enough...I am lacking..."
Vieze was truly repenting. But it was too late.
"When the next Head is chosen, those who compete with them can choose. Either to leave the family or work for the family with the head's permission."
Half of Rulhac's brothers also left the family, and the other half remained. It is an inevitable process.
"But now you don't even have that choice. It's your punishment for the stupid things you've done."
Rulhac calmly continued his remarks against Vieze.
"People don't change. The slight enlightenment you have right now that will make you a different person is just a foolish hope. Go now, it's already raining."
At this moment, Rulhac only thought of Tia to succeed him. He chose for his granddaughter to inherit the family.
"Before Tia takes over the family, pack your things and leave the mansion. You don't have to say anything more."
Vieze looked at Rulhac for a moment in despair. Only now did he realize that he had nothing left.
No house, no family.
It was an unforgettable fact even if he drank all the alcohol in the world.
Vieze quietly laid down Bellesac's letter in front of Rulhac.
At the last moment, he bowed to his father and took his leave.
He was about to walk out of the main office with leaden steps when Rulhac called him.
"Vieze."
"Don't drink too much alcohol. Take care of your health."
It was the last request a father could make to his son.
***
I and Crenny had dinner together as promised.
Gillieu and Mairon, who were on holiday, also came after hearing the news and now, we have gathered together for the first time in a long while.
"Is Perez still that popular in the Academy?"
"Of course! The Second Prince is a legend! A legend!"
Even straight out of the Academy, Crenny's fanboying still lingers.
He completely forgot that Perez couldn't recognize him and showed him a terrifying aura.
"The Second Prince remembers my name!"
So it's like this, huh.
Yes, of course. Isn't it a fan's dream to be receiving attention, whatever form it may be, from his idol?
While stroking Crenny's head like I did when we were kids, I said.
"I should've attended the Academy. It sounds fun listening to you talking about it."
"If my sister went to the academy... that would be great."
Crenny covered his mouth and muttered what he might have imagined.
Mairon fills a glass of red wine in front of Crenny and said.
"If that happens, we will also follow you. Isn't that great?! Right, Gillieu?"
However, the amount he kept pouring was quite large.
Crenny just celebrated his coming of age this year and has a very weak tolerance for alcohol.
Looking at his face turning red, I said while pulling Crenny's glass aside.
"Mairon, if Crenny gets drunk, you have to give him a piggyback ride."
Mairon took away the glass he had poured for him and poured less than half of that amount into a new glass in front of Crenny.
"Hehe." Crenny smiled, took the glass, and drank the wine.
Then I asked the twins.
"So, will you two continue to be in the Knights of Lombardy?"
"Us? Well, I guess so."
"I don't know about Mairon, but my goal is to be the Commander of the Knights of Lombardy."
"What? You're weaker than me."
Gillieu and Mairon began to argue again. However, Crenny's face looking at the two is strange.
He looked envious, and he also seemed sad.
"What's wrong, Crenny?"
"Yes? Ah..." Crenny replied after sipping the wine again.
"I just wish we could stay like this forever. That would be a little difficult, right? I want to see sister Laranne as well." Crenny smiled bitterly.
I had a rough idea of what was going on hearing his words.
"I guess Grandfather had a conversation with your father."
"Uh, how did you know..."
Crenny opened his eyes wide, apparently surprised. Soon, he said in a somber voice.
"My parents are thinking of taking me and my brother to Ginefolk street."
I nodded.
At least he has a wife to go back to. It's not such a bad situation for Roulier.
Crenny wolfed down his wine again.
"I still want my sister to come to my graduation ceremony...Heup!"
"You're drinking too much. Try and eat this." I pushed a cheese cracker into Crenny's mouth, smiling with a bitter face.
"Oh, thank you."
"So, what do you want to say, Crenny?"
I rested my chin with one hand while looking at Crenny.
"I'll listen to you, so say it."
"Sister..." Crenny hesitated.
However, his hesitation didn't last long. Soon, he looked straight at me and opened his mouth.
"When I was young, why did Sister make me read a lot of books? I just go along with it because I like being with you in the library, Sister." Once he started talking, he goes on without stuttering.
Indeed, I purposely educated my younger cousin quite early.
"But when I studied at the academy, I realized that the things my sister taught me were helpful for my future."
The voice that seemed a little shaky at first also gradually stabilized.
"And the more I studied, the more I thought it wouldn't do. Because my studies had no purpose. So I thought about it. Where do I want to spend my knowledge?"
"So what answer did you find?"
"I want to work for Lombardy, Sister." Crenny's red face turned even redder as he answered. However, his bright eyes didn't shake at all.
"I want to help my sister even after she becomes the Head of Lombardy. Please allow me, Sister."
I looked at Crenny for a while and then slowly nodded.
"So be it."
"I...really?"
"Why do you think I educated you early, Crenny?"
Just like my grandfather needed me in my previous life, I also need someone I can trust and leave my work to that person, too.
That's why I thought it would be nice if Crenny, the brightest among my cousins, could fill the spot.
"Instead, you shouldn't miss being the first place until you graduate. It means, do not neglect your studies."
"Yes! I can do it well!" Crenny replied aloud.
"Great! It's a good day today, so let's drink to our heart's content!"
"I'm opening one more bottle!"
As if the twins had waited, they pulled out two new bottles of vintage wine and said.
"What should I drink first?"
"I don't know. Anything will do!"
"Wait."
The jolly twins, hoping to pour more wine stopped at my words.
I peek at the bottle.
"Not that one, that one."
They don't know anything.
"That's more delicious. Open it quickly."
"Okay!"
As the twins opened the new bottle, I told Crenny, recalling the letter that arrived this morning.
"We will be able to meet Laranne soon."
Elated, Crenny smiled widely and nodded.
Will you believe me when I say that that smiling face was the last memory of that night?
***
At the same time.
Perez was walking down the stairs to the dungeon.
The sound of heavy shoes ranted about the humid, cold air.
"Oh, you're here, Your Highness!"
"What about the sinner?"
"It's over there!"
A Knight who was guarding the door of the prison answered with a rigid voice and walked ahead.
Shortly after walking, Perez stood in front of a cell.
At once, he said to the person sitting with her back upright in a shabby chair.
"Are you having a peaceful night, Empress?"
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on
March 07, 2022
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