Chapter 18
Belzeon hurriedly wiped away his tears with the back of his hand.
But once the tears had burst forth, they refused to stop easily.
Instead, they poured out in a torrent, as if they’d been waiting for this moment.
Both Belzeon and Cheshire were startled by the endless stream of tears.
“Hic…”
Belzeon was so surprised that he even started hiccuping.
With his face flushed red, hiccuping and shedding tears in big drops, he looked every bit the thirteen-year-old boy he was.
Not the eldest son of the Basilian family…
Cheshire gently patted Belzeon as he cried earnestly.
Belzeon clutched the silver bellflower tightly in his hand and sobbed with hiccups for a long while.
Only after his eyes were completely red and swollen did he finally stop crying.
“…”
Belzeon pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his messy face.
The small cloth quickly became damp with moisture.
Perhaps the embarrassment hit him belatedly after he’d cried it all out.
The tips of Belzeon’s ears turned reddish.
As he idly poked at the silver bellflower with his fingers, Belzeon suddenly muttered.
“Father and my siblings are all so willful. They’re like wild colts.”
Cheshire couldn’t help but agree.
Except for Belzeon, the rest of them were impulsive and violent, like untamed beasts.
“My siblings need to learn that the capital is different from the east. In Basilian Territory, they could act like dogs and get away with it, but here, they’ll pay the price if they do that.”
Belzeon pressed his lips together firmly for a moment.
“I want to protect the Basilian family. So that the count doesn’t ruin it, so that my siblings don’t tarnish it… I want to protect it.”
His fingers slowed as they stroked the silver bellflower.
“But things don’t go as I wish…”
Belzeon scrunched up his nose deeply.
Suppressing the tears that threatened to come again, he looked at Cheshire.
It seemed even he couldn’t believe he’d revealed feelings he’d hidden from everyone for so long, spilling them out in front of this little kid.
‘Calling me a kid, huh.’
Cheshire grumbled inwardly but generously forgave Belzeon.
After all, at that age, everyone thinks they’re all grown up.
Cheshire vaguely remembered thinking the same around thirteen.
“Before the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly, I’ll get you out of the Basilian household.”
Belzeon looked straight into Cheshire’s eyes and spoke slowly, as if savoring each word.
“So don’t get too attached carelessly.”
Cheshire nodded slightly and thought to himself.
It seemed like Belzeon was the one getting attached.
“Stop with the pointless stuff and go now.”
“Yes…”
His bottom was already sore from sitting on the cold stone floor for too long anyway.
Cheshire pretended to be listless as he quickly stood up.
Then he toddled out of the study.
Finally, as he stepped out of the study and was about to close the door.
A very small, faint voice reached him.
“Thanks for the flower.”
Click.
The door closed.
Standing in front of the door that had shut before he could even hear it properly, Cheshire blinked for a moment.
He felt a bit strange.
If he had to compare it, it was like his heart was tickling.
As that soft, swelling sensation filled him, Cheshire took a deep breath.
Then he hardened his gaze firmly.
“Count Rudin.”
This guy was the root of all the problems.
‘Annoying…?’
Seeing Belzeon cry had only made him angrier.
Recalling the boy sobbing uncontrollably, Cheshire furrowed his brows deeply.
‘This is really pissing me off?’
Maybe it was because he’d been living too tamely lately.
The urge to cause a real stir bubbled up fiercely inside him.
Cheshire clenched his small fist tightly.
His soft pink eyes sharpened with intensity.
“I won’t let this slide!”
For the first time in a while, he planned to pull off a proper witch’s trick.
The Rudin count family was a prestigious house that had amassed wealth and power through generations under a long-standing tradition.
The current Count Rudin served as the Emperor’s attendant, enjoying his full trust.
In recognition of his loyal service to the imperial family, he was soon to be granted a new title and territory.
It could be said to be the most注目-worthy family among the nobility.
Thus, not only ordinary nobles but even the empire’s dukes and marquises couldn’t treat Count Rudin lightly.
Backed by this well-founded confidence, Count Rudin grew more arrogant by the day.
But an unexpected obstacle had suddenly appeared before him.
It was none other than the Basilian count family.
The Basilian count family had originally been famous in the empire.
In a not-so-good way, that is.
People’s assessment was that they couldn’t understand why on earth the Basilian count family was called one of the empire’s three great houses.
And for good reason—unlike other families, the Basilian count family had absolutely no outstanding qualities.
They didn’t even involve themselves in the capital’s social circles or politics.
They simply holed up in the gloomy Black Forest of the east.
Rumors about the count family ended with tales of strange things happening in that Black Forest.
Then, just once, the Basilian count family suddenly caused an uproar that shook the entire empire.
Out of nowhere, the count had brought some woman of unknown origins to the capital and petitioned the Emperor for a title so he could marry her.
The capital’s social scene buzzed for quite some time over the Basilian count’s declaration that he would marry a woman of unclear status.
Especially regarding the woman’s background—there was much speculation.
Guesses that she was a slave were the basics.
There were even rumors that she was a high-class courtesan from abroad.
The rampant gossip reached its peak when the Basilian count brought the woman into the palace.
On the day of the Basilian count’s palace entry.
Nobles, driven mad with curiosity, gathered in swarms like clouds.
Count Rudin, the Emperor’s attendant, pretended otherwise but eagerly awaited the count’s arrival.
The moment he finally saw the woman, the count couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.
“Good heavens, this is something else. Truly remarkable…”
She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
Her elegant aura was like that of an untouchable goddess of beauty, making one dizzy just from looking at her.
Everyone who saw her praised her, saying it wasn’t human beauty.
The Basilian count, who appeared alongside her, was also a strikingly handsome man.
To the point where several young ladies and noblewomen who laid eyes on him fell ill with lovesickness.
It was expected that this would herald the arrival of a new figure to shake up the capital’s social scene…
But for some reason, as soon as he obtained a title for the woman, the Basilian count headed straight back to the east.
The capital’s social circles, which had whispered about the Basilian count and his wife for a while, gradually forgot about them.
And then, several years later.
News spread that the countess had died.
Just like her origins, the cause of her death was unknown.
The romantic love story, like something out of a fairy tale, ended in tragedy.
Upon hearing the obituary, Count Rudin clucked his tongue in brief sympathy, but quickly erased it from his mind.
He was far too busy a man to concern himself with such things one by one.
The Basilian count, whom he had forgotten, suddenly barged into his daily life when he received an imperial command.
“Bring the Basilian count to the capital immediately!”
After meeting the holy knight dispatched from Hilderd, the Emperor, his face pale as a sheet, issued the order.
To think he’d been sent to fetch a mere Basilian.
Though his pride was wounded, Count Rudin dutifully followed the imperial command.
Seeing him again after so long, the Basilian count hadn’t changed much.
He’d hoped that, having lost his wife, the man would have aged dramatically, but his face was taut without a single wrinkle.
There was no time to puzzle over his ageless appearance.
He was too busy fuming over the Basilian count’s arrogance.
This eastern bumpkin had no fear whatsoever.
The way he acted so insolently toward him, and even toward the holy knight—every time the count opened his mouth, Rudin’s vision flipped with rage.
It was a situation where throwing him in prison wouldn’t even satisfy, yet the Emperor cherished the Basilian count.
He even summoned Rudin quietly after the count had left the palace and gave him instructions.
“He’s staying in the capital for a while, so you take care of the Basilian count.”
Count Rudin couldn’t suppress the boiling jealousy.
He lost sleep at night, consumed by the desire to crush that arrogance of his.
Fortunately, the gods were on Count Rudin’s side.
An opportunity presented itself right away.
“Haha! Today was utterly satisfying.”
Count Rudin burst into hearty laughter.
Every time he recalled the Basilian family’s eldest son, frozen stiff in front of him, a smile crept onto his face unbidden.
Thinking of using this incident as leverage to extract an apology from the Basilian count himself made him feel full even without eating.
Unlike the delighted Count Rudin, his wife kept fretting anxiously.
“But will it be alright?”
“What do you mean?”
She was dousing his good mood with unnecessary worries.
“Those red eyes keep bothering me… It’s unsettling.”
“You’re worrying over nothing. They’re just kids, after all. I’ll handle the Basilian count myself.”
“If that’s the case, then good…”
Count Rudin soothed his wife, who was needlessly anxious.
That night, the count raised a solitary toast with wine in his study.
Thoroughly drunk, Count Rudin didn’t even make it to the bedroom and fell asleep on the study sofa.
He was deep in a sound sleep.
Suddenly, the count’s eyes snapped open.
It was due to an inexplicable sense of threat.
“…!”
He jolted awake, senses sharpening.
And then he realized he was standing in a strange space.
It was a vast chessboard, with black and white squares alternating in a grid pattern.
