CH 23

Considering the importance of the matter, Blanchett had to send a vassal to apologize formally, even if he couldn’t come personally.

But all that arrived was a letter and a small box.

The contents of the letter was also extremely simple.

[Dear Marquis Turin.

House Blanchett express our deepest regret for the recent incident.

Regarding my unworthy daughter Marianne’s punishment, being kicked out of sorority has caused her to lose a very important opportunity in her life, so I ask for your understanding.

We send Turin’s Lady a gift as compensation.

I wish Lady Lilian a speedy recovery.

Yours sincerely, Hugo Blanchett.]

Without a breath, Cedric calmly tore the outrageous letter in half.

No one dared to say anything. Tier High, a 7 tera’s huge anger was spreading in all directions, riding on mana.

Everyone felt the pressure almost strangle them.

“What was in that box?”

“Inside…was a necklace.”

The sound of grinding teeth leaked from Cedric’s cheeks.

The intention of choosing a necklace among many things and sending it was impure.

It was as if they’re saying they didn’t care about Marianne starting a fight.

Or even her ridiculous actions at all.

“The letter is bullsh!t, the box is also trash…”

The air in the room was stuffy and started to get cold.

Cedric slowly said, glaring at Duke Blanchett’s errand boy who was trembling but didn’t dare say anything.

“Allen, burn this bullsh!t immediately.”

“Yes, I understand. What to do with the trash?”

“As soon as you leave the gate, give it to the first wild dog you see.”

“Do we send the interest alive?”

When Allen pointed to the errand boy and asked, Cedric shook his head.

“Take it to work. That way, they’ll hear how I was compensated.”

This disrespect, perpetrated by Duke Blanchett, was immediately heard by the Great Feudal Lord Hemenlinna.

“This guy…ever since he was little, he was terribly jealous of the former Elector of Turin, but this…”

He couldn’t stand it any longer. The Count immediately summoned Lord Blanchett.

“I heard you called, brother-in-law.”

At the call of his brother-in-law, Lord Blanchett appeared very proudly.

“This nasty bastard…!”

Great Feudal Lord Hemenlinna, who thought he might have a sign of self-reflection after doing something like that, had his eyes wide from the beginning.

“Brother-in-law, you’re being too much…”

“I don’t want to hear that, you bastard! I can’t believe you act like that even though you’re this old! After seeing this, my wife was fine, but how can you be the only son of a b!tch!”

“No, it’s just a trivial quarrel between girls!”

Even at this point, Lord Blanchett surprisingly still had something to say.

“Why do you blame our Marianne for the girl over there who collapsed like her father who died early…ouch!”

The ink bottle thrown by the Great Feudal Lord hit Duke Blanchett with a loud sound.

The Duke, covered in ink in an instant, became irritated.

“Brother-in-law!”

“How dare you!”

Even in his 80s, the strong-built old man’s roar was very loud.

Lord Blanchett was so startled that he shut his mouth.

Compared to the Great Feudal Lord’s anger right now, his anger felt like that of a kitten’s.

The Great Feudal Lord declared with a glint in his eyes.

“After taking care you all this time considering my deceased wife, the generosity I showed you was enough.”

“Brother-in-law, that.”

“If I had left it alone because you couldn’t tell the difference between heaven and earth, you would have eaten the whole house long ago! If that were the case, none of this would have happened today…!”

“Brother-in-law, come to think of it, I’m all good…”

“I don’t want to hear it, so get out of here!”

Alas, Duke Blanchett belatedly realized his mistake, but this time, the Great Feudal Lord picked up his staff.

“…!”

Lord Blanchett, who knew very well that a sharpened sword was hidden inside the staff and that the Great Feudal Lord Hemenlinna’s exploits were enormous in his youth, eventually tucked his tail and ran away.

From that day on, Great Feudal Lord Hemenlinna cut off all support to his in-laws.

Cedric kept his mouth shut so that such a mess would not enter Lilian’s ears.

The came to visit Lilian to apologize for the rudeness of their existing members.

Among them, Lilian became particularly close with the grown-up Illasia and the cute Solaria.

With all sorts of twists and turns, spring gradually deepened.

So it’s summer now.

In the first year of King Claude I, the Emperor ordered the remnants of the rebellion in the Northern Kestals to be destroyed.

Grand Duke Damian was appointed as the vanguard and commander.

5. End of Childhood.

The remnants of the Kestal tribe’s rebellion were smoothly wiped out.

‘It’s going so smoothly, that it’s a bit inhuman to call it a war.’

Ivan made a bitter sigh.

This war was not even at the level of actually being called a war.

The Kestal tribe, which once summoned monsters to this land, had long since been completely defeated by Damian, a child soldier, three years ago.

‘They don’t have any more fighting power left.’

Nevertheless, the situation in the army was very poor.

The Emperor controlled the gates and didn’t allocate a budget. He even forbade them from procuring supplies on their own.

His desire to kill Damian was revealed too blatantly.

“Damn it, I’m going crazy.”

The army was in dire straits.

Even today, Ivan was in a position where he had to punish the soldiers who robbed the warehouse of a private house with military law.

The soldiers, clearly exhausted from not eating properly, begged not to return the food they had stolen, but to give it to the wounded, as it would be fine if they were punished.

“Knight, the child is only 15. This 15-year-old was dragged to the battlefield and had his legs cut off. Can’t you give valuable food to someone who’s about to die!”

In response to the cry of wanting to feed him something even if he was dying, Ivan gave up his share of food to the wounded soldier.

However, no decision could be made regarding the punishment of the soldiers.

Reluctantly, he was on his way to visit Damian.

“Damn, damn it…”

Declaring war to opponents who do not have the strength to fight and not giving supplies to allies.

There’s a limit to being narrow-minded.

Half of the army were Damian’s men, but the other half were the Emperor’s subjects.

‘It’s not a standing army on purpose, it’s master’s army that picks out the ragtag people…!’

It’s the worst. There’s nothing left but to curse.

Ivan headed for the commander’s barracks.

“Your Highness, may I come in?”

Again, there was no answer.

Ivan sighed and went inside.

“Your Highness, it’s about the soldiers who robbed the private house that I reported this morning…Your Highness?”

There was no answer.

On the cot in the barracks, Damian laid down with his eyes closed, bent over and motionless.

‘As usual, he’s obviously pretending to sleep…’

“You’re Highness!”

He was suspicious and called one more time.

But there was no response.

‘It looks like he’s really sleeping.’

That was a big deal.

Damian never slept soundly, even in times of peace, as well as during turbulent times.

He was always napping or not sleeping at all, often with his eyes closed.

He had to be. It wasn’t widely known, but in fact, Damian was the only patient diagnosed with congenital hypermagic syndrome.

The exponentially increasing mana even before the body adapts, presented him with a variety of symptoms along with a mighty force that couldn’t be compared with anyone else in the world.

Headache, tinnitus, auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, burning sensation…

The only consistency in the many symptoms was that they were painful.

It felt like his limbs were on fire in his sleep, but when he woke up, nothing happened.

That was a daily routine for Damian.

But he’s sleeping so much that he couldn’t even wake up.

It was also the first time Ivan saw him like that.

‘Well, is he feeling better…’

Sleep, which everyone took for granted, was possible only when Damian was in an exceptionally good condition.

Damian was asleep with his forehead resting on his belt and the hilt of his sword unfastened.

The ornamental knot hanging from the belt was strewn across his white face.

He.

Really is sleeping.

What a miracle…

“How long are you going to watch?”