Chapter 124: Take Care
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124: Take Care
A carriage came to a halt before a villa nestled in the forest on the outskirts of Nerha.
Men in black robes, already waiting, opened the carriage door. The person who stepped out was Gerard, also dressed in a black robe.
Gerard accepted their bows and asked, “Are the preparations complete?”
“Everything has been prepared as you commanded.”
Upon entering a room on the second floor of the villa, a fireplace came into view. The man leading the way pulled a single brick, and what had appeared to be a fireplace swung open, revealing a staircase leading down to the basement.
Leaving the men behind, Gerard descended into the basement alone.
In the center of the vast space, which was as wide as the villa itself, lay a massive magic circle that looked as if it were drawn in blood. At its very heart sat the severed head of a black goat.
This was the place where the revenge he had planned his entire life would finally be completed.
“That boy… He resembles my brother to a terrifying degree. His face, twisted in agony, will surely look just like my brother’s.”
Gerard—no, Logan Delmark—smiled chillingly as he thought of Casion, the target of his revenge, and Casion’s son, Herdin, who was his spitting image.
They were truly hideous, loathsome faces.
Faces he had utterly detested from the moment he first set foot in the Delmark Ducal Mansion forty years ago.
‘What is that filthy thing? I don't need a brother.’
Logan had lived alone with his mother in the slums. After she died when he was five, he was brought into the House of Delmark.
Esmeralda took pity on Logan and accepted him as her brother, but Casion denied and hated the very existence of this boy who had appeared out of nowhere.
He must have instinctively seen Logan as a threat, fearing the younger boy might steal his place.
At the time, Casion was only seven years old.
Though Casion’s resentment was born of childish petulance, he began to look out for Logan in his own begrudging way as he grew older.
But Logan did not appreciate Casion's gestures.
To him, Casion's newfound generosity felt like the smug complacency of a victor who knew Logan could never surpass him, no matter what he did.
In a class-based society, Casion was the predetermined winner, and Logan was the predetermined loser. Casion was the legitimate eldest son who would inherit the family's power, while Logan was a powerless bastard.
That outcome could never be overturned.
When Logan realized that even surpassing Casion in academics and training in swordsmanship day and night would never be enough to defeat him, he made a decision: if he couldn't change the world, he would change himself. He would discard his own body and steal Casion’s.
With these grand dreams, Logan began researching black magic, but he was quickly discovered.
‘Dabbling in black magic, which is forbidden by Imperial Law, and using it to harm the heir of Delmark—your crimes are severe. However, out of pity for your youth, you shall be imprisoned in the Delmark Main Castle instead of facing execution.’
Publicly, Duke Delmark claimed he couldn't execute his own son—bastard or not—and instead sentenced Logan to imprisonment in the Delmark Main Castle.
But that was merely a punishment for show, enacted for the sake of Casion, Esmeralda, and the others.
Duke Delmark had sent assassins after the carriage bound for the Delmark Main Castle, ordering them to kill Logan and make it look like an accident. He had judged that leaving Logan alive would pose a threat to Casion's future.
As the head of the family, it was a wise decision. As a father, it was a display of heartless cruelty.
Yet, as if God had not completely abandoned him, divine power manifested within Logan as he lay dying.
Having miraculously survived, Logan faked his death, vanished, and began researching black magic once more.
In the end, while he never found the black magic to swap bodies, he did discover a way to bring ruin to both Casion and the House of Delmark.
It was a form of black magic that could bypass the broken Second Constraint.
Upon reaching adulthood, Logan changed his name to Gerard and entered the Temple as a cleric.
For someone with a talent for relentless effort, becoming a high priest and then the youngest Pope was not particularly difficult. It was a stark contrast to the Ducal Mansion, where no matter how hard he tried, he could never become the heir simply because he was a bastard.
Once he became Pope, Gerard first approached Casion's wife, Eloise. Through her, he also became acquainted with Casion.
Even Casion failed to recognize the face that had changed over more than twenty years, and with his guard down, Gerard cast the black magic on him.
The black magic exploited Casion's love for Eloise, carving an imprint upon her. Casion was ultimately swept up in Gerard's scheme and suffered a mana rampage.
Everything had been so easy. Almost disappointingly so.
Or so he had thought—until an unexpected variable arose.
‘The Young Duke survived after killing his father.’
‘...What?’
‘It appears the Duke regained his senses before dying and allowed himself to be killed by his son's hand.’
The variable was annoying, but he figured it no longer mattered.
Casion was dead, and the reputation of Delmark had fallen so low from the incident that it would be difficult to ever recover.
But that thought changed the moment he first saw Herdin at their funeral.
The child resembled his father to a terrifying degree.
So much so that, for a brief moment, it transported Gerard back to the day he first met Casion.
‘...You resemble His Grace greatly, Young Duke.’
This was an opportunity.
An opportunity to plunge the child who looked just like Casion into the same despair, a chance for his own heart—still unsatisfied despite his revenge—to finally find peace.
Gerard cast the same black magic on the unstable Herdin that he had used on Casion. He thought that this time, too, he would only need to wait quietly, just as he had with the father.
However, a hitch appeared in his seemingly perfect plan.
It was caused by Esmeralda, who had begun to question Casion's death and dig for the truth.
Gerard killed Esmeralda and covered up the truth by playing on the fears of Katrina, who had always been Esmeralda's political rival.
Katrina, now an excellent pawn, eventually handed over her own daughter to be used as a piece in Gerard's revenge.
After weathering so many trials, his goal was finally within reach.
“If only you had killed that child back then, Brother,” Gerard muttered as he stepped closer to the magic circle. “Even if he had died by his father's hand, he wouldn't have been fated to threaten the life of the one he loves.”
He smiled.
“So, that child's misfortune is entirely your fault, Brother.”
This time, he would truly sever the twisted fate that had spanned decades.
* * *
Blair, who had been napping, opened her eyes to the feeling of a hand gently caressing her stomach.
With the arrival of late autumn, the sun had set early, and the room was already dark. Her gaze met a pair of familiar blue eyes in the dim light.
“...What are you doing?” she asked.
“Greeting the baby.”
Still half-asleep, Blair wondered what he meant, but the sight of his formal attire reminded her of the banquet being held at the mansion tonight.
“Will you be back early?”
“Do you want me to be?”
He met her casual question with a playful one of his own, and Blair furrowed her brow at his deliberate misinterpretation.
There was no way she would wait for him. Why would she care about a hateful man who had kept her by his side against her will?
Even after seeing her reaction, Herdin chuckled and added, “Then I'll come back quickly.”
Blair drew a firm line, rejecting his self-serving interpretation. “In that case, I'll just go to sleep first.”
“Then I must return even faster, since my wife is waiting for me so anxiously.”
“I didn't say—”
Before Blair could refute his teasing, Herdin stood up, cutting her off.
“I'm off.”
His deep voice was followed by a large hand that gently stroked her hair before pulling away.
Blair watched his retreating back in sheer disbelief.
Was he a simpler man than she had thought?
The only thing that had changed was her resignation to her fate, yet he had grown tender, as if nothing had ever happened between them. Just like that spring day when he had handed her a toasted marshmallow.
She hated this man for giving her hope when all she wanted was to let go. She resented his handsome face, which had hurt her countless times.
With long strides, he quickly left the bedroom.
Staring at the door he had just exited, Blair finally muttered a belated farewell.
“...Take care.”
* * *
“Welcome, Your Grace! I was worried your busy schedule would prevent you from attending. Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence, Your Grace.”
The moment Herdin arrived at Count Nerha's Mansion, Raymond rushed over to greet him as if he had been waiting.
Around them, the nobles of Clania who had arrived earlier gathered with delighted expressions.
Raymond, the man responsible for bringing Herdin to Nerha, introduced him to the other nobles one by one, as if showing off their close relationship.
“This is Bernard, who rules the County of Slate. He is an old friend of mine.”
“It is an honor to meet the empire's greatest magic swordsman. I have only ever heard of you in rumors.”
Herdin shook hands with them, listening to the formal greetings that no longer stirred any emotion in him.
Once the introductions were over, one of the nobles looked around and asked slyly, “By the way, did the Duchess not accompany you? I was greatly looking forward to meeting her.”
When Blair's name inevitably came up, the light in Herdin's eyes turned cold as he sipped his wine.
He had wondered when they would bring it up.
‘How fast rumors travel.’
Whether in the Empire or some distant foreign land, the sight of jackals catching a scent and swarming to a rumor was always irritating.
Herdin set down his wine glass and answered their curiosity.
“I didn't think the recent wild rumors would aid in my wife's recuperation, so she is avoiding social engagements for now.”
His words instantly turned the atmosphere icy.
Though Herdin spoke with a relaxed smile, the look in his eyes was anything but gentle.
It was a gaze that made it clear to anyone that they would not escape unscathed if they dared to bring up ‘that rumor’ again.