Chapter 116

Chapter 116Episode 116. Harmony (4)

From the beginning.

I knew Kushan Adrian would attack me.

But why?

I’ve seen similar scenes in game.

I wasn’t worried at all.

I didn’t hear any poison at all, and it wasn’t hard to spot the signs.

Besides, I have Christopher lurking nearby. He can jump into the fray at a moment’s notice if something happens that threatens me.

And I have the Knights of the Black Sword, so I’m practically invincible.

And so, as I waited for night to fall, he approached.

The dagger stabs at me.

I gritted my teeth, stood up and told him.

“You are a fool. Trying to murder a member of the Reinhafer family.”

Pupils flutter.

Lost, wandering eyes meet mine and scatter dizzily.

I turn the dagger in my hand.

His face crumples as a slight pain shoots through his wrist. I look at him and ask.

“Who’s plan was this?”

“I... did this all on my own accord...”

“You think you’ll hide it until the end. Christopher.”

“Yes. Master. Your faithful Christopher is standing by, ready to do whatever you ask of him now.......”

“The first thing I want you to do is to keep your mouth shut. The second thing I want you to do is get this guy on his knees.”

“Chong!”

Christopher replied immediately, kneeling down.

I walked over to him, grabbed the black sword I kept at my bedside, and spoke again.

“You have eyes that want to accuse me. Let me ask you something: ... what do you think destroyed you, this kingdom, and your sister?”

“.......”

“You won’t answer that either, so how about this?”

“Are you sitting where you should be?”

Kushan couldn’t help but jump at the question.

Of course, in the face of the enormous, unknowingly powerful Christopher, even the slightest movement would be met with resistance.

“What do you think you... know...! You, the youngest child of a huge family who has never been a burden...!”

“You don’t know a burden until you carry it.”

This may be a cliche answer.

I said it even though I knew it might not resonate with him. I know it’s the best I can do now to influence Kushan, to make him my unit.

“Do you know why I won’t kill you?”

“That’s it...!”

“For there is still value in that faded throne of yours.”

“I never wanted... such a value...!”

“You were born with it, even if you didn’t ask for it. If you don’t take it, who else will, and who else will replace you?”

“That’s...”

I watch his eyes go blank and then they connect.

“Become the new king of Tahalin, and if you do, I will tell you the truth.”

With a cold smile, I give him the most important facts first.

He probably doesn’t know.

[The target’s loyalty to the Kramser is 80 percent.]

What a despicable lie you’ve been deceived by.

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But I made sure to prioritize the first part.

“First, let’s get one thing straight. I didn’t do anything to your sister.”

I don’t identify as a womanizer.

This is surprisingly hurtful.

No matter how bad Nox is, this isn’t it.

I’ve never even made eye contact with a woman, and this is how I’m judged?

It was unbearable.

* * *

The basement of a palace in the kingdom of Tahalin.

It’s a very secret place that’s been under construction for a few years.

“I will devour it, mouthful by mouthful... When the Archduke is soon to appear on the continent again, there will be a bloodbath once more.

Kramser smirked at the thought.

One, he didn’t know.

Someone asked if [Silver Scorpion’s Tail] should have a stamina boost, as well as other effects.

That is, they have the ability to enhance [invisibility], and of course some brilliant alchemist could create a drug that would erase their invisibility.

They realize that their story is being heard by a large, unspecified number of people.

Before long, all the nobles and kramsers are scattered.

The curtain lifted, revealing Nox, Kushan, Christopher, and others.

“How’s that.”

Nox continued, looking at the spot where they had been.

“What’s the truth in your face?”

“......Disgusting, vile bastards.”

Kushan Adrian gritted his teeth and stared at the floor, at the food the nobles had eaten and left behind, at the dregs that littered his stomach.

Knowing that his people were still starving in shantytowns, it was shocking that they were being pampered in these places.

Some were nobles who under-reported their taxes because they hadn’t had a good harvest, while others were accused of beating a commoner slave to death and got off scot-free.

“I believed everything that ......Kramser said: if he was right, it was right, and if he wasn’t, it wasn’t.”

“Blame it on your weak nature to leave judgment to others.”

“That’s why it’s so painful, and now I’m wondering what the hell I can do... to make this all right.......”

“Well, ask these two, not me.”

Nox spoke in a calm voice and cast his gaze in one direction.

There were two women walking there.

The first was his sister, Aria Adrian, who he thought was unmistakably sold to Nox, and the second person to walk out was a girl he didn’t recognize.

“Arya.......”

“Hyung-nim...!”

Kushan shuddered as he pitifully called Aria’s name.

I felt uncomfortable. Wasn’t this the distanced sister that’d been calling him Crown Prince lately, allwhile distancing herself from him?

So why is she calling himself big brother today? (hyung-nim)

“Brother, are you okay...?”

The voice slowly extends beneath the surface, like paint dipped in water, and begins to worm its way into his mind, for it belongs to the brother he once remembered.

Kushan felt the corners of his eyes flush.

“Aria... how the hell is this.......”

“You’ve been brainwashed by Kramser.”

Nox crossed his arms, as if it were no big deal.

But Kushan still didn’t understand. A man who could manipulate the minds of men by manipulating curses in this way could not possibly.......

“Okay. You’re right.”

Nox answered his own question.

“He’s a demon. A devil worshipper.”

At that moment, everything that had seemed so disparate began to fit together like a puzzle.

His outrageous demands on himself in the past.

Also, how his parents had been quarrelsome since his father’s time as king, and the war with House Reinhafer.

Plus... a change in her sister, Aria.

That’s weird.

As he thought about it, a sudden headache began to pound through his head.

“Ugh...!”

Nox looked at him, staggering to his feet.

“You, too, have been somewhat brainwashed. Now that you know the truth, some of it is coming loose, and it’s giving you a headache. It’ll all be over in a little while. And you’ll know what you need to do to calm down.”

It was at this point that Nox spoke up.

Vwoosh!

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand flew toward Kushan, and his head snapped back. It caught Nox off guard.

Who the hell...?

It’s strength was actually meaningless to Nox.

There was only one human, or elf, who could give him a run for his money.

“If you don’t think straight by now, I’ll hang your head from the top of the city clock tower.”

Liese.

Under the rule of Regent Kramser. Having lost her own friend to tyranny and Kushan’s weakness, she spoke coldly and clenched her fists.

Tears pooled in her eyes, but they didn’t fall.

Nox and Christopher know what’s going on. Kushan’s sister, Arya, watched the scene for a while, unmoved.