Chapter 252
Chapter 252
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 252
Chapter Title: Warning
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Aria Valheim.
Krash's mother, a woman burdened with emotional defects from her excessive thirst for advancement.
She harbored no maternal love.
Her only drive was the selfish ambition to climb ever higher.
Aria Valheim had been broken like this for a very long time.
Krash hadn't given much thought to Aria.
As a child, maybe he would have, but now, he didn't particularly miss his mother's embrace.
As long as she didn't get in the way of his path forward, he planned to leave her alone.
But right now.
Aria Valheim had blown things up in a direction Krash had never even imagined.
It was none other than the matter of his engagement.
Krash had originally been betrothed to Bianca Hardenharts.
But what do you know.
A proposal for an engagement with the Epania imperial family had come directly to Krash from the Epania Empire, and Aria had snapped it up without hesitation.
For her, it was only natural to be tempted.
It was, after all, a chance for her bloodline to directly join the imperial family as kin.
She had no reason whatsoever to let it slip away.
Trivial matters like the Hardenharts engagement meant nothing to her.
The betrothal to the Hardenharts had only been a convenient tool to foster family harmony using two discarded pawns anyway.
It held no real significance.
However, Aria made one mistake.
She hadn't considered the feelings of those involved at all.
"Lady Aria, are you sure this is wise?"
"Wise about what?"
Aria, enjoying her tea time as usual, glanced at the captain of the Valkyrie Knights, the direct guard unit of the Valheim matriarch, with whom she often conversed.
The woman bowed her head and asked cautiously.
"I'm worried that Master Krash might get angry about the engagement."
"It's a good opportunity for that child too. A direct connection to the imperial family, no less."
Aria smiled as if to say good was good.
"Besides, the terms aren't bad. They're sending the Fourth Princess, Sizzly Epania, to the Valheim side, so there's no reason for Krash to be tied to the Empire."
Of course, the child born between the two would be raised in the Empire.
But no better terms could be had.
"From the Staron Kingdom's perspective, it's not entirely bad either. The ongoing tensions with the Empire could be greatly eased by the Valheim family's ties to them."
"Couldn't Staron worry that Valheim's power might flow to the Empire?"
"That's what Charlotte is for."
She gave an emotionless smile and took a sip of her tea.
"It fell through once before, but the First Prince of Staron still has no fiancée, so Charlotte can step into the queen's position.
If that happens, the Valheim family will solidify its place as the bridge connecting the Empire and Staron."
A chance to control both the Empire and the kingdom through a single family.
It was hardly a bad deal for the Valheim family.
That was why even the Valheim leadership had gone along with Aria's aggressive push.
"Of course, there are issues here and there. But that's how things work. Nothing can be perfect."
If you fret over every little problem, you can never make the big moves.
That was the know-how Aria had gained from her years of living.
"So don't worry. Krash is my son, after all. He'll come around."
Aria brushed off the Valkyrie captain's concerns and took another sip from her teacup.
But she was mistaken about one fact.
Krash was indeed her son.
In fact, he resembled her quite a bit.
Most of his innate perceptiveness had come from her.
But one thing she failed to grasp about Krash was...
That he was far more reckless than she could imagine.
"M-Master Krash! You can't do this!"
"Being this reckless..."
At that moment, a commotion started up outside.
Aria turned toward the door upon hearing it.
"I figured he'd come quickly."
But she hadn't expected him to barge in quite this soon.
Maybe that was just like him.
Bang!
Just as Aria predicted, the door to her room flew open.
And there, as expected, stood Krash.
Krash had grown far more mature than the last time she'd seen him.
With sharp eyes inherited from Aria, he irritably scanned the surroundings.
Then, locking eyes with her, Aria immediately flashed a loving smile.
"My son, come to see your mother's face after so long?"
"Yes, I had no intention of seeing you for the rest of my life. But you stirred up trouble again, so here I am."
"Oh my, trouble? What trouble?"
It was clear where Krash got his brazenness from.
Krash strode over, pulled out the chair in front of Aria, and plopped down.
He then crossed his legs brazenly and leaned back against the chair.
"What possessed you to start this mess?"
Canceling the Hardenharts engagement and accepting the one from the Epania imperial palace.
Aria couldn't have pushed this through alone; the Valheim leadership must have approved.
It was obvious she'd swayed them.
"It's all for your benefit, son."
"Where exactly is the benefit for me? It's all for you and the family."
Even as Krash sneered, Aria's expression didn't change.
"Krash, everything you're enjoying now comes from the Valheim family."
"Yes, including being dumped in Green Pine Pavilion."
"What I mean is, your fame has spread this far thanks to Valheim."
Krash narrowed his eyes slightly.
He didn't deny that fact.
The Valheim name had always been attached to every part of Krash's life.
And the power of that name was beyond imagination.
The reason Krash's name had spread so quickly was precisely because of the Valheim label attached to it.
But because it was Valheim, Krash had endured such miserable treatment during his halfwit days.
The Valheim family cared only for results.
It was utterly merciless to those who failed to deliver.
To Krash, Aria's words might have touched a raw nerve.
"Sending you to Green Pine Pavilion was also to give you a break from the family's pressure. Looking back now, didn't it contribute to your growth into who you are?"
And Aria couldn't know that.
Because she didn't know Krash had regressed.
What he'd gone through within the Valheim framework before his regression, and how it had broken him.
Aria had no way of knowing.
From her current vantage point, Krash simply appeared as the man who had risen dramatically while secluded in Green Pine Pavilion.
She was oblivious to the deep-seated inferiority complex and other malignant emotions buried in his heart.
Aria had innate perceptiveness.
And Krash had inherited it from her.
Thus, Krash was adept at hiding his true feelings even from the perceptive.
There had been countless times during his halfwit days when he absolutely had to conceal his state.
"Hah."
Krash let out a short laugh.
The moment Aria looked at him, unable to read its meaning, fury dripped from Krash's eyes.
"Don't spout nonsense."
Aria fell silent at Krash's unexpected demeanor.
"Valheim means nothing to me. Not worth considering."
Before the ruined world.
Not even the splendid Empire or the mightiest family, Valheim, mattered.
They all crumbled before the storm of destruction.
Even Valheim couldn't withstand it in the end—that was reality.
"Nothing in this world is eternal. Not the Empire, not Valheim."
To Krash, who had witnessed that sight with his own eyes, debating Valheim's value was laughable.
"Valheim holds no sway over me."
"...Son, the world isn't that kind. The moment the Valheim frame vanishes from you, all the goodwill directed your way will disappear too."
"Yes, quite a lot would vanish."
There were surely people who viewed Krash favorably solely because of Valheim.
If Valheim cast him out, he'd face disadvantages in many areas.
But.
"What I've built, and the people around me, won't vanish."
The connections Krash had forged were mostly independent of the Valheim framework.
"Besides, the only ones around me are lunatics like me."
People who wouldn't abandon him even without the family's protection.
Krash had reached this point by building bonds with such individuals.
Would someone like that fear losing Valheim's backing?
Krash scoffed.
"And soon enough, Valheim will be begging me to stay."
For a brief moment, black flames rose from Krash's body.
"Master Krash Valheim!"
The Valkyrie captain beside him panicked and reached out to restrain him.
But Krash was faster.
His physical abilities alone had already reached master-level.
Aria's hair whipped in the air.
She stared straight at the fist aimed at her throat.
"Son, you mustn't raise a fist against your mother."
She spoke calmly as she gazed at Krash's fist.
She knew even Krash wouldn't actually strike her.
True to her position as Valheim's matriarch, she had nerves of steel.
"This isn't just aimed at you."
Krash slowly withdrew his fist, releasing the Valkyrie captain's arm from his grip.
"This is a warning to the entire Valheim family. Touch this issue, and I'll tear down the family and everything else. If you don't want to die, handle it yourselves."
Who else could speak to Valheim with such reckless abandon?
Even the Valkyrie captain listening beside them went pale at the audacity.
"Then I'll be going. Tell the imperial palace to cut the crap with their engagement nonsense."
Krash finished speaking and turned to leave.
Aria watched him go impassively, then lifted her teacup again.
"Son, you're getting this emotional because of the Hardenharts girl, aren't you?"
Krash paused at her words.
"Don't worry. The Epania imperial proposal didn't include canceling any existing engagements. They only want a child from you and the Fourth Princess to begin with. They don't care about other personal matters."
She wouldn't reject the imperial engagement even on pain of death.
"This isn't a personal matter."
Krash spoke to Aria one last time.
"It's about my fiancée."
Don't treat Bianca's matter lightly.
With that warning, Krash left.
As the fiery Krash departed, Aria set down her teacup and turned to the window.
The Valheim gardens stretched out before her.
"Goodness, who does he take after to be such a lone wolf?"
The Valheim matriarch muttered to herself.