Chapter 98

—————————————————————–Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: FusionX

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Thinking back to my childhood, I couldn’t deny that Mother had harbored something unusual.

That was why I thought she didn’t suit the Taylors.

She prioritized family over the house, people over honor.

While I had grown up influenced by such a mother, Yuria could be said to have been more influenced by Father than Mother.

It might have been rebelliousness.

I wasn’t sure if affection was important to Yuria, but it was clear that she had sought Mother’s attention.

There were certainly times when she obediently listened, and it was true that her bullying of me intensified after Mother passed away.

Although I couldn’t fully understand human psychology to know the exact reason, I thought that Mother might have been part of the reason why her personality became even more twisted.

However, thinking about it now, all of that was futile, wasn’t it?

She had been twisted from the beginning.

Yuria’s madness had been planted within her from the start.

It was something that had been predetermined, not anyone’s fault.

Perhaps it was problematic that I had tried to resent Yuria in the first place.

While it was true that my feelings towards Yuria were negative, I now tried to forget such emotions.

I didn’t want to ruin things due to personal feelings.

Shouldn’t I be as cold as possible, at least until I saw the end with my own eyes?

After staring at the tombstone alone, I let out a small breath.

By the time I came here next year, everything would be over.

I could only hope that things would unfold as I thought.

I’ll be waiting in a secluded place.

Probably somewhere quite high.

When I unfolded the last letter from Renold, there was a description of the meeting place.

I thought it was probably the same place where we had seen the willow tree before.

Below the willow tree, in an alley in the high ground where buildings were clustered there was one wall with the Taylor family crest embedded in it, so I realized it meant that place and turned my steps.

It had been a while since I had met Renold.

Although I had met him before going to the North, I needed to check how he was now.

Whether he would continue to follow me as time passed, or if he was planning to side with Yuria.

With someone like Renold, I could discern such intentions just by looking at his eyes.

As I entered the alley, a figure caught my eye among the gloomy shadows.

The figure, having spotted me, bowed politely and opened his mouth.

“You’ve come, young master.”

Renold’s appearance, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, had changed quite a bit.

He seemed to have become more diminutive, as if he had aged several years, perhaps having gone through many hardships.

Nevertheless, the fact that he had come this far probably meant that I could fully trust him now.

I could read many emotions in Renold’s eyes.

The most noticeable among them was his faith in me, which was simply unexpected.

Whatever thoughts he had harbored while I was away, they probably weren’t harmful.

“This is just the beginning. Now that Yuria Taylor has gotten her hands on the family head position.”

“There’s nothing we can do right away anyway. Did she put Father in the basement?”

“It doesn’t seem like she’s taken any drastic measures yet. The family head probably knows how things are progressing, so he likely didn’t say much about the temporary family head position.”

After all, Father had known in advance that Yuria would do something.

At least he wouldn’t do anything to harm himself.

If so, his body should still be intact, and it was confirmed that Yuria had succeeded to the temporary family head position.

Since she had taken control of the duke’s residence, we couldn’t enter from the inside.

Then what should I target?

Naturally, it would be the outskirts of the duke’s residence, the surrounding areas where Yuria’s influence hadn’t fully spread yet.

“You’ve done quite well in your own way.”

“That’s right. Since the center is so tightly controlled, there’s nothing to aim for except the remaining areas, isn’t there?”

That’s true.

If we were to target something, we would choose the method of slowly eating away at power from the outskirts, but it was also true that we didn’t have such leisure.

The preliminary work to move as quickly as possible had been done quite well by Renold, so we could save as much time as possible.

Although I wanted to see a bit more about how Yuria would move, I thought it was now time to start moving little by little.

Rather, if I showed no movement at all, Yuria’s side might move more boldly, so it would be better to make her be as wary of me as possible.

Anyway, I needed Arwen’s help for that.

It wasn’t for nothing that I had entrusted her with surveillance.

Since Arwen could observe Yuria’s movements more secretly than anyone else, after waiting for a moment, I felt the magical power around us moving.

A woman appeared through the blurred wall of the building.

The face of the woman, who looked like a maid of the duke’s residence, contorted, and then her appearance changed, and a girl who looked like a young child peeked her head out.

“So you were here. Are you not coming to the general store today?”

“…Oh my, you had another helper?”

“If I mention the alchemist Jay, you’d recognize her. I’ve entrusted her with surveillance of Yuria.”

Renold, surprised by Arwen’s sudden appearance, eventually nodded while carefully stroking his chin.

He must have judged that she was trustworthy since I had entrusted her with a task.

There was no need for them to know each other in detail.

It was enough for me alone to know the name Arwen, so I called her Jay again and asked about her recent achievements.

“How are Yuria’s movements?”

“She hasn’t taken any notable actions yet. She occasionally goes to the office where the duke would stay, and it seems the family head is in there. There’s no blood scent, so it seems he’s probably taking a submissive attitude.”

If that was the case, it seemed that Father wasn’t strongly resisting Yuria’s words, as Renold had predicted.

However, he wasn’t someone who would be easily swayed in such a situation without any countermeasures, so I couldn’t understand what he was thinking.

As someone who knew Father quite well, he certainly wasn’t a person who would easily give up the position of family head.

At least within the constraints of the Taylor name, he was more unyielding than anyone.

There must be something he was hiding.

Yuria would be wary of that too, and I was also thinking about it.



“I think we should meet with the nobles who have sided with Yuria one by one first. Is there a better way?”

“I don’t think they’ll listen even if we meet them. Are you planning to try?”

“We don’t necessarily need to meet and talk.”

I smiled slightly, and Arwen’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

To clarify, I didn’t think we needed to limit our communication to just words.

What I had learned from the Taylors was blackmail and scheming, so why not use that?

In this situation, Adele’s name was quite a good tool.

-Use my name as you see fit. It’s fine to say you’ll poke them a bit if they don’t listen.

-…Aren’t you telling me to use it too freely?

-If it helps you, that much is fine. How you use it is up to you. You can use it however you like, just come to the North later and tell me about it.

I had permission from her, so I saw no reason not to use it.

It wasn’t like I had no experience with blackmail, so what remained was to face them in person.

I wondered what expressions the nobles who had confidently let me in would make when they heard Adele’s name.

Smiling slightly, I moved on with Renold, who was looking at me suspiciously.

Arwen, who had been eyeing me suspiciously, followed as well.

Although she seemed to be seriously thinking about what I would do, she would probably know soon.

I wasn’t sure how she would react to it, though.

The only sound in the empty room was his own breathing.

The Duke smiled slightly at his breath, which was unlike before, somewhat rougher.

He never thought he would be called senile.

The feeling of hearing such words from his own daughter was quite peculiar.

Although he had raised them for the family rather than for the children themselves from the beginning, he wondered if this was how his own father had felt.

The position of family head was quite a hollow place.

It was only fierce when climbing up, but once at the top, one couldn’t feel as much joy as expected.

He had climbed up stepping on the corpses and blood of his siblings.

Knowing that this tradition would repeat eternally, perhaps he had unconsciously chosen to give everything to one child.

How could he have known that the son who seemed to have no interest in being family head would covet the position?

He knew that Yuria’s current actions stemmed from Robert’s change of heart.

“…I’ve grown old too.”

To be caught up in such a scheme.

Perhaps he had been somewhat shaken by Robert’s words when they met at the bar.

Who would have thought that the boy he hadn’t even expected would rise this far?

The Robert of a year ago and now were completely different people. Sᴇaʀᴄh the NƟvelFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Had he been sharpening his knife in his heart all this time? For what purpose?

The Duke thought it was because of the boy’s mother.

Serena Yugress.

The woman he had married, who had given birth to Yuria and Robert.

The child who was the spitting image of a woman who didn’t fit the family, he had been optimistic that Yuria would eventually take everything, but reality was flowing in the opposite direction.

He could only chuckle at this ridiculous reality.

“She must have thought she could easily take the family head position if she made me out to be a senile old man.”

The position of Taylor family head was coveted by anyone who inherited the bloodline.

Did she think he wouldn’t have thought of such a scheme himself?

Ha, it was obvious that she was underestimating him too much.

In the past, he had even thought of just handing it over.

But Yuria’s recent actions had been quite disappointing, so what came to mind was the image of Taylor with Robert as the family head.

To say he would tear down the Taylor family he had built with his own hands.

Did he think he would really give him the position of family head if he uttered such nonsense?

However… there was nothing he couldn’t give.

If he showed the ability to become family head, even if he said he would tear down everything Taylor stood for, Robert was qualified enough to become family head.

Did it suit him?

That remained to be seen, but this suddenly protruding corner stone seemed quite interesting.

How far would the knife harbored by the child who was the spitting image of Serena point?

The Duke smirked as he saw the desk, usually piled with documents, now completely clear.

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“Perhaps you were right.”

He recalled the words of the idealistic woman.

He remembered the woman he had been politically married to, but to whom he had briefly given his heart and thinking of his child who was the complete image of such a woman, he then smiled bitterly and closed his eyes tightly.

“He resembles you more than I thought.”

Duke Arthur Taylor smiled slightly.

He had already known how Yuria treated Robert after Serena’s death.

The reason he had just watched despite knowing was to see how Robert, who resembled Serena, would overcome it.

Whether he would crumble unable to endure till the end, or whether he would struggle to gain everyone’s trust or whether he would attempt something unimaginable, just as Serena had done.

Whether by coincidence or not, in the end, it was Robert who was acting in a way that resembled his mother.

So he intended to watch a bit more with a somewhat joyful heart.

Until the day Robert would come here again and demand the position of family head.

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[Translator Notes]

[Man this family is fucked up goddamn]

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