136. The sudden turnabout

“Good to see you’re doing well, Trist. As your older brother, I’m proud to see you find a friend outside of Grant.”

“Peh, who’s friends with this guy? He’s someone who disrespects us, Royal. If not for his backings I would have already had him whipped a hundred times.”

Trist did not hide his distaste for Colt’s sneaky ways.

Colt only snickered at his words.

“You don’t sound convincing if you’re standing by my side.” Trist seemed to be using him as a shield against the Crown Prince.

‘What are you, a kid? Even Filla had gotten over using the Sparkly Shield…I kinda miss that to be honest.’ Colt laughed.

From the time Trist saw Feriar, this Prince whose age was not that behind Colt’s started acting like a disturbed chicken. Not that Colt was too surprised about this.

‘I don’t know much about Royalty, but considering his shallow view of the world, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a kid. Trist seemed more ignorant than most. He’s smart, but his mind is too flimsy.’

In short, Trist to Colt seemed nothing more than a kid. His emotional intelligence was impressive, but it was only at that. 

Feriar, on the other hand, seemed craftier and more complicated. Colt couldn’t get a read on him, ‘He’s created to become a perfect King all right.’

He was more dangerous than Terial. It was unsettling. 

But Colt had no time to worry about his view. Things needed to move forward. He stood up to take a seat behind the study table. Trist was forced to sit across a smiling Feriar.

Trist was creeped out.

“Ahem, I do not want to waste our time, Baron Uresa, Viscount Mesas, Countess Vishu, Marquis Farley,…”

Colt listed about three more Nobles, and this roused a smile on Feriar. He quietly took a sip of the tea, and as for Trist, he was in a complete and utter state of confusion as to what Colt’s words signified.

“…lastly, Baron Gerad, your highnesses, might I ask what significance these names hold to you? Especially to you, Prince Trist.”

Colt and Feriar directed his sight to Trist. Both awaited an answer from him, causing Trist to feel an invisible pressure.

It felt like if he answered incorrectly, then these two would swallow him whole.

“Only three of them have a connection with me, Baron Uresa, Viscount Abel, and Marquis Kinson are all my current supporters.”

“Oh ho, your supporters, eh. What are they supporting you with? Are they cheering for you in the upcoming Spring Hunt?” Feriar was enjoying every bit of this. He was gloating and snickering.

‘Oh, he is relentless.’ Colt took a sip of tea as he waited for Trist’s answer. He was not going to stop them; this is too good of an entertainment.

Trist directed a subtle glance over at Feriar to which he met eyes with—Trist could only laugh, “Yes, they are.” 

Feriar was gloating. He was enjoying every second of Trist’s expression. 

“Is that the only thing you can say about them?”

“…Yes, what do you want me to say? How much they bribed me into accepting them?”

“You’re slipping, your highness. Do you really want the Crown Prince to hear your words?” Colt warned as he found his words to be bordering unnecessarily informative.

Colt glanced at Feriar, who was signaling him that it was fine.

“Humph, who cares anymore? If older brother hears them, so be it. He’ll take care of it sooner or later once he becomes King. I don’t know about the others, but you must be asking me this to extract information about them, correct?” 

Trist did not know Colt enough to get a good read of him, but considering how Feriar’s question, this was the only possible end he could come up with.

“If older brother is here and you’re telling me this, then Young Master Colt must have already made his decision to back him and end the conflict. Helping me must also have been a pretense. As for you, older brother, I told you so many times, don’t look down on me.”

Trist glared at Colt. He was being looked down upon by Feriar. Of course, he was angered. 

It ceased to be entertaining for Colt. Trist read too much into it and was imagining too much useless information.

However, he had no plan of stopping them.

He had yet to get a full grasp of their relationship. This was a good chance to see and understand.

‘Their relationship is vital to me.’

“Don’t you dare laugh at me, my struggles to you may not look like anything, but I still did it because of my beliefs. Others may see me as inferior compared to you, but don’t you dare laugh at me, older brother.” Trist had a sword with him, but Colt felt a trace of mana flowing about.

‘Trist is a Mage, huh; I didn’t know that. I thought he was a Warrior stronger than me. I now know why I couldn’t gauge his strength.’ That’s one mystery cleared. 

“Trist, that’s enough, forgive me if I had wronged you. My actions were not befitting of me; I was in the wrong. Now, that’s enough.” Feriar apologized, but Trist gritted his teeth in response. But seeing Feriar apologize in such a manner shut him up.

Despite being humiliated, Trist could only stomp his foot. He then directed his anger at Colt, who had yet to apologize, “I too am sorry, your highness, but worry not for what I have in mind is not meant to look down upon you for I genuinely want to make you into a Hero who will be looked up to by the people.”

Colt apologized to Trist, but the one who reacted was Feriar, who placed the tea cup down with a clink.

“Young Master Colt, that’s enough. I think I know where this is going. I came here because I thought you would help me with this problem, I thought you, being the Hero of the South, would act on it, but if you want to pull Trist in your plans, then forget it.”

Taken aback by this sudden reaction, Colt creased his brows, “What do you mean, your highness? You must have already known my intentions since I brought him here.”

“With all due respect, Young Master Colt, but I had thought that you were simply trying to question Trist regarding the Marquis and his connection. It would also be best if we inform him before we do anything. The thought of having him do it had not even crossed my mind. I know you asked for me because you wanted my permission to do it, but do you think I’d have you give it a go with this?”

Trist watched Feriar lash out at Colt. Anyone would have backed away, but Colt didn’t.

“Your highness, you know, this is the best solution. If he accepts and you give the go signal, then the current status of the Kingdom would be settled even with the current situation. 

“You must be aware of the rumors circulating about my supposed intent. If I do it, then many others may think some may even rally behind me without my knowledge. The Second Prince also wants to step out of your shadow. Do you really want him to stay behind you forever!? If we let him do this and you show your fervent support for him, then we’ll be able to pacify any unwanted thoughts to the three of us.”

“But he will be the one to carry everything else, so in the end, only the two of us would gain anything. I don’t want to have him suffer. He is not cut out for this.”

Feriar grew silent as he and Colt locked eyes. They were in a state of disagreement. Logically, Feriar knew what Colt was proposing was the right choice, but he didn’t want Trist to go through what he would experience.

“Older brother, what are you and the Young Master talking about?”

As for Trist, the one in the middle of it all was left without an idea what the hell these two were talking about. Colt said he had a way for him to finally become someone away from being an ordinary brother, but Feriar’s disapproval was so heavy that it shook his heart.

He asked a question, but no one gave an answer.

“Your highness, you see—”

“Young Master Colt, don’t say anything, this meeting is now over. Trist, let us go. Young Master Colt, we’ll have this talk one you decide to tackle this yourself. We already have the evidence, and with your very own investigation, we can cover every hole, I would approve of it without a problem.”

Feriar finished the tea and stood up. He walked to the door, ready to leave, “Let’s go, Trist, I apologize for what I said earlier, but would you please leave with me now?”

However, Trist didn’t move. He was staring directly at Colt’s eyes. He was still waiting for an answer to his question.

‘TELL ME!’ 

His desire to become someone aside from a brother to Feriar and his replacement was screaming as he urged Colt through his eyes. 

“Trist! We’re going!” Feriar did not like how this was turning out. His usual calm demeanor was broken.

“I’ll do it, I don’t know what it is, but I’ll do it!”

“Trist, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t even know what you’re—”

“Brother please!” Trist turned his head to Feriar, “Stop, I don’t know what you and the Young Master is talking about, but I know that I can do it! Stop looking down upon me, I want to do this, let me be free from you, let me find a new path that I can tread because if you don’t, the only path I would be able to take would be to go against you or in a downward spiral that I would not be able to escape. Please, let me do it, whatever it is that you want me to do.”

Feriar could see the fire under his eyes. He knew if he rejected him of this moment and snuffed out these flames, then Trist would truly come to hate him. 

As Feriar gave Colt a nasty glare, he let out a deep sigh, “Before you decide, at least hear what it is about. You had always been shortsighted of the bigger picture.”

“Older brother, trust me and tell me what it is. No matter what it is, I’ll do it.”

“…of the names the Young Master listed earlier, we want them all, slaughtered for Slavery, force Prostitution, and Kidnappings.”

Trist had a stunned expression, as he uttered, “What’s so bad with that?”

He was more than happy to slaughter such people.