Chapter 120
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 120
My visit to the Silver Moon Pavilion was over. Heilas sent me back to my room, telling me to rest until dinner.
Luka, we'll discuss the details later.
I turned Heilas's parting words over in my mind.
With time on my hands, I sat alone in my room, idly spinning the Grakken Boot again and again.
Flick, flick.
The blade twirled in my hand, giving off a thin, sharp whisper of sound.
Agatha's words and actions refused to leave my head.
Agatha Custoria.
I took everything she'd said as truth. She was a woman staring death in the face, her mind decaying with age. She wouldn't have had the sharpness left to spin an elaborate web of lies.
And those emotions, condensed over decades... they couldn't have been faked.
I had never in my life felt emotions so deeply saturated. Just being near her, I'd felt as if I were being stained by them. A resentment sharp as a blade, like a curse, had clung to her.
Click.
I pressed my finger against the spinning edge, bringing it to a stop.
Noel Mulrizka. Agatha Custoria.
Agatha had likely loved Noel. And then her feelings were betrayed. So Agatha betrayed Noel in return—and that had probably led to his ruin.
The wealth and honor she gained as her reward for disposing of Noel must have been the very beginning of the Custoria family.
It was all speculation. I needed to know exactly what had happened in the past. But as I'd learned when I dug into it before, almost no detailed records from that era survived.
Thunk!
I drove the Grakken Boot into the wooden table. The blade sank in a finger-joint deep, leaving the table rocking side to side.
Let's organize this, Luka.
First—I am not anyone's clone, nor a genetically modified human. At least, according to Agatha. I'm a man who climbed to this position entirely through my own strength.
The relief that gave me was no small thing. My pride hadn't been shattered. To put it bluntly, it meant I still had the right to look down on those at the bottom.
Second...
Agatha Custoria and Noel Mulrizka had shared a deep bond.
By all appearances, Agatha had betrayed Noel and been made a noble in recognition of her role in crushing a rebellion. And it was highly likely that even that rebellion had been an Imperial conspiracy.
If Noel was anything like me... he probably said and did more than enough to hurt people. No wonder Agatha felt betrayed.
I know I'm a bastard. And if that's true, Noel must have been the same. An idiot who went out of his way to make enemies.
And the third fact was the one that mattered to me right now.
Agatha knew I was a Watcher, and yet she never told Heilas or the elders.
It had been pure debt to Noel. Because she saw me as Noel, she refrained from doing anything that might harm me.
...How weak of you, Agatha. Withholding information even when your own descendants might die because of me.
Still—it worked in my favor.
Agatha, too, must have led the Custoria family to prosperity with an iron will in the beginning. It's only that as she grew old and frail, her mental strength eroded and her judgment clouded.
To think the founder of the Custoria family had come to believe in reincarnation, waiting to reunite with a dead lover.
"Haha..."
I wanted to mock her choices, her judgment—but all that escaped me was a bitter, hollow laugh.
But Heilas isn't the kind of man who stays in the dark just because something's been hidden from him. I can't even guess how much he knows.
I would simply make whatever preparations I could.
Beyond the window, the sun was setting. I closed my eyes where I sat and slipped into a shallow sleep.
Step, step.
About thirty minutes later, a servant's footsteps echoed from outside.
The servant knocked to announce dinner. I opened my eyes, my head feeling somewhat clearer. As I stepped out of my room, members of the Custoria family were making their way one by one toward the dining hall.
With the Storm Season approaching, the mansion was more crowded than usual. There wasn't enough room at the table, so the lower-ranking members couldn't even attend. Within my cousinship alone there were over thirty close relatives.
Heilas rose from his seat before the meal.
"The Storm Season comes for the first time in thirty-four years. As always, if everyone remains faithful to their duties, it will pass without incident. And—"
He never finished the sentence.
Dong, dong, dong.
The windowpanes trembled at the solemn tolling of a bell. The sound came from the Silver Moon Pavilion.
It was the bell that announced the death of an elder.
Rustle.
As one, everyone closed their eyes and bowed their heads in respect.
Agatha Custoria is dead.
Who among those seated at this table would ever have imagined the founder had still been alive until now?
Agatha had lived a life that stretched past the limits of even a full-body prosthetic noble's span. She must have watched countless descendants of hers be born and die. As a military family, many would have fallen young.
The elder's death passed quietly. A brief silence, and nothing more. Most of the family knew only that she existed; they had never once seen her face.
Heilas was the last to open his eyes.
"...Then I shall continue. My son, Lucaus Custoria, has accomplished many great deeds. This time, he even saved Prince Fransek from an assassination attempt. That is no achievement to be dismissed. He has proven his capabilities despite his youth."
Every eye in the hall turned to me. Having drawn their attention, Heilas pressed on.
"Should I die or be rendered incapable, Lucaus will serve as acting Family Head until the next Family Head is formally elected. This has already been discussed with the elder—"
The dining hall erupted. Someone even cut off the Family Head mid-sentence—a rare thing in a household where authority reigned supreme.
Five people shot up, their chairs scraping back, and two slammed their palms recklessly against the table. Even those who stayed seated couldn't hide their shock.
And I was every bit as stunned.
"You—without so much as consulting me..."
The loudest protest came from my adoptive mother, Eva.
Heilas ignored her and stared straight ahead, his eyes gleaming as if to crush the backlash by will alone.
"This is not an arbitrary decision, but the legitimate authority of the current Family Head. And he is merely the acting Family Head, not the next one. The next will be elected according to family tradition."
Even as Heilas leaned on his authority, the uproar refused to die down easily. It was not a statement to be taken lightly.
The position of Family Head in Custoria may be elective, but the current Head's designation of an acting successor cannot help but carry weight. That's why the Family Head has always come from the direct line.
Heilas... what in the world is he thinking?
The confusion inside me swelled without limit. I couldn't read his intentions at all.
Until this very moment, he hadn't dropped so much as a single hint about the acting Family Head position.
Even Jupe—who had called a truce with me only today—was scowling deeply, unable to master his expression at all.
Heilas had chosen me, an adopted son, over his own elder biological son. In that instant, what remained of Jupe's authority collapsed completely. After today, his support base would be halved.
The food was served quickly, thanks to Heilas urging the servants along with a glance. Slowly, the chaos began to settle.
The relatives barely touched their plates. They leaned toward one another, murmuring in low voices.
Clatter.
I, too, worked my utensils mechanically. I couldn't taste a thing. I was too busy watching everyone's reactions.
"During the last Storm Season, a mob of rioters exploited the security vacuum and pushed all the way into the noble residential district."
"So for now, staying at the main estate..."
"The atmosphere's strange, isn't it."
Security and safety were among the reasons they'd gathered at the mansion ahead of the Storm Season. Set in a quiet suburb, the Custoria estate was safe from rebellious mobs. Anyone unauthorized would be turned to Swiss cheese from hundreds of meters out.
"Why would the Family Head choose an adopted son..."
"Enough. In my eyes, he's qualified."
Arguments flared here and there. Not everyone opposed my appointment as acting Family Head. In particular, men like my uncle, Artur Custoria, seemed to welcome it.
Artur Custoria.
He was a man who kept snagging my attention whenever I was about to forget he existed. Though he was Heilas's elder brother, the position of Family Head had practically been snatched out from under him. His petty little ambition was to marry his daughter off to me.
"An acting Family Head is needed when the family faces great trouble. It means the hour calls for a troubleshooter. And hasn't Lucaus learned well how to handle affairs under Heilas? There's nothing wrong with it!"
Artur spoke loudly, making certain the others could hear. He smiled at me and winked. Beside him sat his daughter, looking shy—so faint a presence that I couldn't even summon her name.
Artur's influence within the family wasn't grand, but it wasn't nothing either, thanks to Heilas still treating him as a brother.
...The uncomfortable dinner finally came to an end.
I went straight to find Heilas, who had retreated into his study. I wasn't the only one. Eva and Jupe were already standing outside the door. Glancing down over the railing, I could see other relatives loitering, waiting for their own chance at an audience.
"I'm first, Luka. Don't worry—I haven't forgotten our promise to cooperate."
Jupe spoke from before the door. He, too, was barely reining in his fury while forcing out cordial words.
Since he'd arrived first, I should yield.
I took two steps back with that thought. But when had anything in this world ever gone the way I planned?
"I'll speak with Luka first. The rest of you, come in when I call."
Heilas said this as he opened the door and stepped out. Unable to hold back any longer, Jupe shouted.
"Father! This isn't right. This is too much!"
Jupe's resentment burst forth, pouring out at Heilas.
"...Jupe, act like an adult. Nikolaos would never have behaved this way."
Heilas met his son's emotion with none of his own. Instead, he rebuked him with a chilling calm.
He tipped his chin at me to follow, and went inside.
Step, step.
I had no choice but to walk forward. I gave Jupe and Eva a brief nod of apology.
I didn't know how a son felt when his father shut him out. But in that moment, I pitied Jupe.
Creak, thud.
The study door closed. In the quiet, Heilas stood waiting.
"I know one thing for certain. You've given up on being a good father, Captain."
I said it flatly.
"You and I both know that already, so why state the obvious? There's no room for a good father within the responsibilities and duties of a Family Head."
Heilas sat down first. I stayed standing, watching him.
"Why did you make me acting Family Head?"
"What do you think?"
He answered my question with a question—one of the most maddening ways to hold a conversation. If it had been anyone but Heilas across from me, I'd have grabbed him by the collar and thrown him.
"At first I thought you were trying to back me into a corner. But the envy and jealousy of the people around me mean nothing to me. And there were more supporters than I expected."
"Hmm. My brother especially seems to have taken quite a liking to you. He even brought Anna along, all dressed up today."
Heilas chuckled as he uncorked a bottle of liquor on the desk. Anna was Artur's daughter.
"...I've no interest in my uncle's little schemes. Either way, I don't know why you made me acting Family Head. Not a single clue."
"It's a big gamble for me too. So it's only natural you wouldn't understand."
Heilas poured a glass and downed it in one gulp. He took a second glass from the cupboard and poured two.
A gamble?
What kind of gamble?
My thoughts sank deeper into the labyrinth. No answer came. My forehead only grew hotter. Once Akies Victima's machinery of thought started turning, it was hard to stop by will alone. It couldn't be switched off like a machine at the press of a button.
My head burned. My brain had already been strained from meeting Agatha.
Beeeeep.
Tinnitus rang in my ears. Heilas's shape looked as if it were about to twist into that black beast again. My damn hallucinations were flaring up.
"The elder who passed today... told me to trust you. I don't know what those words mean either. So let us find out together."
Heilas picked up a glass and held it out to me. After a moment's hesitation, I took it.
Heilas knows something. And yet he didn't pry. What on earth is this monster thinking?
There was only one thing I could promise him.
"...When the time comes, I'll risk everything to protect the Custoria family."
"That is enough."
Heilas raised his glass. The rims met with a sharp, clear ring.
...As expected, the alcohol tasted terrible.