CH 48

Haron detailed all of the words that were said by the Duke to his knight, Sir Icus.

Since all of them were knights that originally belonged to the Duke family, despite their strength, they still weren’t aware of what Duke Blake was capable of doing. 

Even Sir Icus, Hermila, and Kozen were all unexpectedly ignorant.

“Whoa there, we’re no longer working for the Duke anyways, so you don’t have to worry too much about it, young man.”

Haron and Icus, who had finished training the knights belatedly, talked while walking near the gymnasium.

“Thank you for your understanding, Sir Icus.”

“You’re welcome.”

Haron knew how capable and skillful Kozen and Icus were as knights, but he still did not fully trust them yet.

It was a habit that was naturally engraved into his body since it was not just once or twice that those friends or colleagues, whom he believed in, fell for the Duke’s bribes and betrayed him.

But it was different for Lord Icus.

“Do you still have nightmares at night? I’ve heard that you have trouble sleeping well.”

“…Yes.”

“Oh no, but don’t take too much medicine. It’s not good for you.”

“How did you know about me taking medicine?”

“How could I not know about it? I’ve known you ever since you were a kid.”

“…”

Haron turned his head without saying a word. Sir Icus has been one of the main knights of the Blake family for so many years now. At the same time, he was also Haron’s swordsmanship partner and a longtime friend.

The two were very good knights and had similar skills, so they considered each other as friends and rivals.

The only difference was that Icus came from a commoner family, while Haron’s teacher was from a noble one. 

Because of that slight difference, Icus did not become Haron’s swordsmanship teacher.

There was a time when Icus secretly grumbled, saying, “even though I was trained by a commoner, if I rolled in the mud and collapsed, I’m still a nobleman.”

Ironically, as time passed, the result was the opposite.

When Icus returned from fighting in the battlefield, he became a high-ranking general, and Haron’s teacher was already dead.

“Your nanny’s birthday is coming soon. Would you like to go with me?”

“…Well, that’s a shame.”

“You would love it. You’ve been so busy dealing with the Devil’s case over the past few years and you haven’t been visiting her, so I think you should go.”

Haron’s eyes shook slightly when his nanny was mentioned, but he quickly regained his stance.

“I’ll go when the time comes.”

Icus silently watched Haron’s side profile.

‘You’ve changed a lot, really.’

In the past, when he mentioned those two people, Haron would show a sign of weakness. But now there was hardly any sign of agitation.

Others may not be happy by his sudden changes, but Icus thought that Haron changed for the better.

Because before, he looked like a person who had been burdened with a heavy load.

It didn’t look good in Icus’ eyes as he couldn’t escape the guilt he felt towards his teacher and nanny for the past 10 years.

‘It’s a pity that I won’t be seeing those kind eyes again.’

Icus thought that Haron had kind eyes, even in the midst of long hardships. But now it was different. Whenever he looked at him, he could only see darkness within them. 

While the other two men were talking about the training methods of the Knights of Templar, they had already arrived near the entrance of the mansion.  

“Then, Young Master, I hope you have a peaceful evening. Call this old man once you have a bad dream again.”

“Why? Are you going to sing me a lullaby?”

“Hmm… My throat isn’t in good condition these days, so it would be a little hard, but I’m sure I could help create a good night for you.”

While laughing and talking, Icus found something passing through his eyes and he immediately stopped talking.

“Is something wrong, Sir Icus?”

“Ah, it’s that… Young Master, is that the window to your room?”

“Yes. Is something wrong?”

Icus didn’t answer and rubbed his eyes a few times with the back of his hand as he closed his eyes and continued to stare at the window.

“It’s because, it seemed like I saw something strange that came through the window of the young master’s room.”

“Something weird?”

Haron turned his head and looked carefully at the window of his room. But he couldn’t see anything strange.

“Not exactly, but it looked like a white ball of cotton.”

“Well, I don’t have a cat.”

“Rather than a cat… ah, yes. They looked like rabbit ears.”

“White… rabbit ears…”

Haron, who had been muttering to himself until then, immediately opened his eyes.

“I’ll be on my way now, I have something I need to attend to, and there’s no need to have a good night talk, so just go get some sleep now.”

Haron, who spoke as fast as a rapid-fire gun, left before Icus could ask anything and headed into the mansion.

“Wait, Young Master?”

Icus stared blankly at the spot where Haron disappeared. He was in some serious agony.

‘He just…. laughed, didn’t he? It was not just a simple smile, but he’s definitely grinning quite widely.’

It’s only for a very short time, but I couldn’t tell how many years it’s been since I saw him smile so innocently. In particular, seeing such a pleasant smile since he’s been very cold these days, came as a double shock.

‘Did you like rabbits that much?’

Then a big misunderstanding began to build up in Icus’s head.

* * *

(Haron’s POV)

Haron quickly sprinted up the stairs and ran into his room.

“Warrior! Hi!”

“Anne.”

Unsurprisingly, Anne was waiting in Haron’s room with her white rabbit ears pricked up.

She rummaged through her arms and held out a small letter.

“The letter is here!”

“…Who sent it?”

That was a stupid question.

Haron realized it as soon as he spoke. After all, there was only one person who used Anne to send him those letters, but he still waited for her answer.

He wanted to hear her say exactly those words.

“Who else would it be, of course, it’s the Devil!”

The moment the bright Anne gave a definite answer, Haron felt his heart drop. As for what reason, it’s because he felt shocked about it.

“It hasn’t been two weeks since I sent you the last letter…”

He looked down at the letter in his hand as he muttered.

Haron sat on the sofa for a moment and then got up again. He walked around the room with his long legs, leaned against the window, and stood by the fireplace.

Then he hit his head against the wall. His face was already dyed red up to his ears.

[I’m so disappointed.]

Riggs, who couldn’t see what’s going on, grunted and said those words. But Haron didn’t really care.

Haron barely calmed down, as he finally sat back in his chair and carefully cut the envelope with a letter knife.

The content was very simple. Perhaps because the sending cycle was just two weeks earlier than usual, the letter was also shorter, about half the length than normal.

Mostly work-related and one new addition.

“Could you make some connections with the Grand Temple? Because I really need to know more about something of theirs that is extremely top secret. It’s really important.”

A secret of the temple?

He was troubled for a moment. Although he was a Warrior chosen by the oracle, he had no connections with the temple.

To be more precise, the temple’s side constantly tried to establish ties with Haron, but Duke Blake constantly interrupted it.

The Duke cut off all possible connections that he could have made and only allowed Haron to dedicate himself to the Duke’s every need.

[The Temple? What the hell is that empty shell of a Devil trying to do?]

“Empty shell of a Demon King?”

( T/N: Empty shell, Riggs was trying to say that Lucia is not the real Demon King, but rather more like a soul transferred into an empty body.)

Riggs’ words would have normally been ignored by Haron, but he said something slightly offensive towards Lucia, which was why he questioned him right away.

[What? You didn’t know about it?]

“…I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me, since you were always busy making fun of my handwriting.”

[Well, I just thought that you already knew. After all you’re a human as well, but seriously she didn’t…]

At the end of his words, there was a sudden silence.

Riggs, who looked like he was going to stutter, didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

“Why did you stop talking?”

[Thinking about it, I don’t think that you need to know.]

“What?”

[Nope, I don’t think that you need to know about it. I shouldn’t have said such a useless thing, and made the same mistake again.]

‘What, I’m really annoyed that all my plans are messed up.’

Riggs continued to mumble to himself, inside Haron’s mind. To other people, it was known as ‘talking to yourself’, but from the point of view of those sharing their consciousness, it was just plain noise.

[Don’t worry because it isn’t a big deal.]

“Then shut up and stop mumbling, so I won’t get distracted.”

[Oh, this filthy person.]

‘Says the one with a filthy character as well.’ 

Haron clicked his tongue in annoyance and rang the bell on the desk lightly. Anne, who was in the room, went back to the rabbit hole for a while.

Not long after, the old butler of the mansion came to his room.

“Did you call me, Master?”

“I heard that you haven’t decided yet on who’s going to participate in the upcoming visit to the Temple, right?”

“Yes, but…”

The butler dragged on to his words. It’s like telling him that he understood Haron’s intention for asking such a question.

But without even trying to figure out his answer, Haron immediately answered on his behalf.

“I will also participate in this sacred ceremony.”

“What?”

“Tell the Duke that, then.”

At his final order, the old butler couldn’t ask any more questions and immediately turned around to leave the room. The butler went directly straight to the Duke’s office.

While in the Duke’s office, Carl Altor was already sitting as a guest. Carl succeeded to the rank of Marquis after the death of his predecessor, Marquis Altor, about a year ago.

Now, he was in the process of entering into various businesses using mana stones.

Duke Blake, who believed in Carl’s extraordinary abilities, was in the midst of talking to him about investing in some current business.

“What are you talking about? That stupid brain… No, I mean. Why is he going there?”

As soon as Haron’s story came out, Carl reacted sensitively, but he became conscious of the Duke who was right in front of him, which was why he restrained himself from saying such harsh words.

The Duke also glanced at the butler while he was reading the documents.

“He didn’t tell you why? He just suddenly called you and said that he would participate in the sacred ceremony…”

“Hmm.”

“Duke. Absolutely not. Isn’t the Temple the place where the oracles descended? Maybe he has a plan.”

‘What are you up to? If that’s the case?’

In fact, Haron’s rebellion has definitely intensified since two years ago, but nevertheless, he has never done anything that would harm Duke Blake.

It was just the difference between doing what he had been doing before and doing what he wanted. But he’s still a member of the Blake family.

The fame of the Warrior is also the fame of the Blake family. Although there has been some rumors of a quarrel lately, he is still using Blake’s surname.

‘Every time I get information from an unexpected person, I usually get things done.’

No matter how much the Duke thought about it, Haron must have had a special someone that he couldn’t reach. That’s why he ordered to block every letter that was directed to and sent from Haron.

There was even a watchdog on the trail to see if he had any secret contact to anyone either in the capital or outside the Empire, but there was no such thing.

He even tried to search his room using the Matop wizards, but no suspicious magic items were found.

“What would you like to do? Will you allow him to go?”

The Duke, who was troubled by the butler’s repeated question, finally nodded.

‘What are you planning right now?’

Everything related to Haron felt like a danger to the Duke, but at the same time, it made him curious about what he was going to do next.