Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Deliberately Stirring Up Anger (2)
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The knights had gathered around him as their focal point, risking their lives to defend the border. Without him, the empire would have helplessly surrendered its vast western territories to the monsters.
'Though it's barren land anyway.'
As the son of the lord governing that territory, it would be a lie to say he wasn't disappointed.
It wasn't like the fertile plains of the east, nor could it harvest unique marine products or engage in maritime trade like the south.
The north might be harsh snow-capped mountains, but that also meant monsters struggled to survive there. Thus, the north profited handsomely from mining iron ore and gems.
'Compared to that, this mountain range is just crawling with vicious monsters.'
There were no resources to develop, no technologies to advance, no exceptional talents. There was probably no place in the entire empire as poor as the western territory.
Moreover, after Requiem appeared in the original story, the west turned into a land of death.
Especially while Abel, who had destroyed Ovest Territory, rampaged through the western mountains, the empire didn't dare touch the west.
'Then Cain appeared and started the western extermination campaign.'
He had already been famous as the Crimson Noble, but by defeating Abel, he ascended to the top. The previous top had died by Abel's hand, after all.
"......Hmm."
I stopped a few steps before the dining room door.
'Come to think of it, this meeting today didn't happen in the original story either.'
That fact stirred unusual emotions in me. I was deeply satisfied knowing I was deviating further from the original fate.
'Going very smoothly.'
Swallowing a rising smirk, I arrived at the dining room. The waiting servants opened the door.
Step.
The moment I took one step inside, my eyes met Diego's, who had been looking toward the door.
"Abel?"
In an instant, Diego's blue eyes widened fiercely. They trembled faintly as they took me in.
'......What?'
I'd never seen Diego make that expression before.
The servants attending him froze in confusion at the lord's sudden change in expression. Their gazes flew toward me like arrows.
Caught off guard as well, I stopped in place.
'Is something wrong?'
I glanced down at myself, but nothing stood out. My hair color or eye color hadn't changed, no sword was protruding from my body.
'My clothes are fine too.'
I turned to the servant standing by the door.
"Hey."
"Yes, Young Master."
The servant hurriedly bowed.
"How do I look right now?"
At my question, the servant barely lifted his head. He gave me a quick once-over before bowing again.
"You look exceedingly dignified and handsome."
"I know."
I replied as if it were obvious, then looked back at Diego.
He was still staring piercingly at me. The surprise and shock had faded from his eyes, now churning with disbelief and anger.
"You......"
A voice laced with fury leaked out. But only for a moment—Diego seemed to notice the surrounding gazes and clamped his mouth shut.
He bit his lower lip hard, averted his eyes from me, took a deep breath, and squeezed his eyes shut.
"......"
A silent time passed, as if he were suppressing inner turmoil.
'No, what's going on?'
What was with that look, like he'd seen something he shouldn't?
Finally, Diego raised his head and stared at me. His pale blue eyes bubbled like lava on the verge of eruption.
"......"
For a brief moment, our gazes locked, then Diego looked away first. He gestured to Max, who stood beside him.
"Bring out the food."
"Y-Yes."
Max, who had been watching his mood, pushed a cart over.
"......"
Diego wiped his hands with a pre-meal napkin and stared only at the table.
His eyes were now like a coldly settled lake. He didn't even tell me to sit.
'Treating me like I'm not even here.'
I snorted and walked over to my seat. Max began setting down the salad plates.
"We've prepared a farm-style salad today with fresh tomatoes and avocado."
Diego, who had been silently listening to Max's explanation, turned his gaze toward him.
"Max."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Have you lost some weight?"
"Ah......"
Max flinched and started to glance my way, but
'Tsk.'
At my frown, his eyes snapped back at light speed.
"Yes, well, lately. I've started managing it. At my age, my health isn't what it used to be."
"Is that so?"
Diego smiled faintly.
"Good thinking. Health is something you regret losing only after it's gone."
It was a pleased smile he'd never once shown his son, Abel.
I snorted and eyed the salad plate placed before me.
"Well done."
With his words, the meal began.
"......"
The father-son relationship remained frigid, with no conversation exchanged. Only the faint sounds of servants moving about filled the air.
'Same as always.'
I speared a tomato with my fork and glanced at Diego across from me.
He ignored me completely, focusing solely on his food.
His eyes were sharp like winter frost, his pursed lips as unyielding as hard rock.
I looked away from him and popped the tomato into my mouth, a deep sneer forming.
'Normally, he wouldn't even be sitting here right now.'
In the original story, at this point, Diego couldn't wear such a calm expression.
'Abel. How could you!'
When he returned to the territory, Abel had already become the incarnation of death. Every life in Ovest Territory had turned to a handful of ashes.
'Father, you're back?'
Wielding a pitch-black sword of emptiness, Abel laughed cruelly.
The original described how Diego's heart tore to shreds then, fragments that could never be pieced back together.
He ended up dying by Abel's hand soon after.
'A......bel.'
He couldn't bring himself to strike down his son in the end. The great lord who commanded the empire's western territory met a pathetic death.
'He has no idea it's thanks to whom that he's sitting here unscathed.'
Not that I'd done it to let him know. I didn't particularly crave Diego's affection either.
But seeing him cold-shoulder me like this, oblivious as he was, irked me for no reason.
'Hmph.'
I wasn't hungry anyway. I wolfed down the food roughly and set down my fork.
"Dessert."
I spat it out curtly, and the attendant nearby approached.
"Are you sure you don't want more? There's still plenty left."
He was a regular in the dining room and knew how much I "normally" ate.
But.
"Who do you take me for, a pig who scarfs down three plates? This is enough."
The servants in the dining room stared in bewilderment.
'Has the meaning of dessert changed from what I knew?'
'Didn't he used to eat five plates?'
'Maybe the food wasn't to his taste?'
Their expressions varied colorfully.
"???"
Max wore a perplexed look too. He'd been victim to my monstrous appetite as well.
Still, I couldn't eat like that in front of Diego. I wasn't even that hungry to begin with.
I flicked a finger against a plate and said gruffly.
"Just bring the dessert."
"......Yes, Young Master."
The servant blinked dazedly for a moment before bowing. The other servants hurriedly averted their eyes from me.
Soon, my favorite sorbet was placed before me.
I waited for Diego's reaction just in case, but he didn't spare me a glance and continued eating.
'Will it pass like this?'
Ignoring him in turn, I leisurely scooped some sorbet. By the time I was nearly done, Diego wiped his mouth and leaned back.
"Bring the after-dinner wine."
"Yes, my Lord."
By the time an empty wine glass was set before Diego, I'd finished my dessert.
As I thought to stand and shoved my chair back with a scrape,
"Abel."
Diego's heavy voice stopped me.
"-!"
The servant who had just picked up a plate staggered. Max, about to pour the wine, nearly spilled it.
This was unprecedentedly shocking. Diego speaking to Abel during a meal.
'......What's this about?'
I halted the force in my legs and replied.
"Yes."
"What have you been doing all this time."
Max's hand trembled. The wine he was pouring missed the glass and spilled onto the table.
"Oh no! I'm sorry."
Max wiped the table in a cold sweat, finished pouring, and hastily retreated.
He looked desperate to escape the impending disaster.
"......"
I stared at Diego with an expressionless face.
'Why do something he never does?'
I glanced at Philip standing against the wall behind Diego. Our eyes met, and he subtly shook his head.
'Must have reported as usual.'
Why act like this? Even when I first entered the dining room.
With a sullen face, I opened my mouth.
"Why do you care?"
Diego showed no reaction to my insolence. He was used to it by now.
"I asked what you've been doing."
A similar but slightly different response came back.
I read the quiet undercurrent of anger beneath it. An implication that if I answered honestly, he'd let it slide.
'What does he know?'
Thinking of the report Philip must have given him, I spoke.
"What else would I have to do."
I began listing slowly, counting on my fingers.
"Eat,"
In amounts that made the kitchen staff lose weight.
"Sleep,"
Though the place was Magna Morten, not home.
"And play well."
While severing over ten human heads with resounding chops.
Finishing, I leaned back loosely in my chair and crossed my arms demonstratively.
"That's the answer."
"......"
Diego's gaze froze even colder. What had been like frost now became a raging blizzard.
"Is that really all? Nothing more to say?"
He asked again, as if giving one last chance. But I nodded calmly.
"You heard it from Philip anyway, so why ask me?"
So stop beating around the bush and say what you want.
I didn't voice the last part, but scowled to convey it clearly.
"......"
Creases deepened between Diego's brows. He took a short breath and sipped the wine in his hand.
"......"
The dining room was utterly silent now. Silent enough to hear the wine slide down Diego's throat.
All the servants held their breath, watching the tense standoff between me and Diego.
They were probably imagining shouts echoing through the dining room, the table overturned.
How long did the silence last?
"Everyone, out."
Diego's cold voice broke it.
