Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: First Steps Toward a Dream (5)
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Rian spat out the water he was drinking.
Shirone was in danger? It was completely out of the blue. He was even more bewildered because he was about to see his friend off in just a few hours.
“Shirone? What's going on?”
“Well… um…”
“Spit it out! What happened?”
“It seems Head Butler Louis reported to the family head. I don't know the details, but I heard that you and a boy named Shirone were acting like friends...”
“That bastard!”
Rian immediately grabbed his clothes, which had been drying on a rock, and put them on.
Kite, who had been watching, asked.
“What's going on? And who is this Shirone?”
“He's a friend. I didn't tell anyone because he's a commoner, but it looks like Louis snitched. That despicable bastard! Master, let's end today's training here. I have to get back to the mansion.”
“No. I can't allow that.”
Rian, who was about to storm out of the training ground, turned to Kite with a look of disbelief.
“What are you talking about? My friend is in danger.”
“Did you not say he was a commoner?”
“What does that have to do with anything? Master, are you that kind of person? You're the one who told me! Anyone you can converse with through the sword can become a friend!”
Kite clicked his tongue.
His foolish disciple had finally gotten himself into trouble. He didn't know the specifics, but having lived a long life, he could piece together the general situation.
“What do you plan to do when you get back? Are you going to whine and cry? Or do you think you can change your father's mind by acting cute?”
“Master!”
“Rian, anyone can become a friend. But that is a matter between you and the boy. Your friend has directly challenged the Ogent family's hierarchy. This isn't something that can be solved with childish pleading.”
“So you're telling me to just stand by? I was the one who reached out to Shirone first. I don't want to be a coward!”
Kite stared into his disciple's eyes.
They were truly good eyes. Devoid of falsehood, full of passion, and above all, pure.
Kite unfastened his beloved sword from his waist and handed it to Rian.
Rian's heart pounded as the real sword was presented to him.
He didn't know what he was supposed to do with it, but the meaning behind the gesture was clear.
If he wanted to save his friend, he had to be prepared to draw his sword.
“If you can enter the mansion with this sword, I will let you go. But if you lack that resolve, do not move from this spot. The matter is already out of your hands.”
“Master.”
A warm smile touched Rian's lips as he looked at Kite.
When he bowed respectfully and held out both hands, Kite handed over the sword without a word.
“Thank you. I will never forget this kindness.”
“Remember this. To abandon a friend is to abandon a part of yourself.”
“Yes!”
Rian fastened the sword to his waist and ran toward the mansion.
Kite watched him go with a pleased expression.
This was the end. Their farewell had come a little sooner than expected, but he was glad they could part in a manly fashion.
May fortune favor his disciple's future.
* * *
A chilling atmosphere filled the mansion.
Work had ceased, and the butlers and maids stood in their places, not daring to even make a sound with their footsteps.
Behind the sofa where the direct family members sat, Head Butler Louis adjusted his glasses.
Beside him, Deputy Butler Temuran glared at Shirone with a stern gaze.
Shirone knelt before the direct family members, the sole recipient of countless hostile and contemptuous stares.
It felt like he was standing in the middle of the Colosseum.
“Head Butler, report.”
“Yes, Lord Head. Shirone, who was hired by Temuran, is accused of insulting the authority of the Ogent family while residing here for the past year and a half. Numerous butlers have witnessed the young master associating with Shirone, and I myself have heard Shirone speak informally to him. I will attach the detailed circumstantial evidence in a document of butlers' testimonies prepared by Temuran.”
Bischoff silently held his hand out behind him.
Taking the documents from Louis, he flipped through the file with sharp, rough motions.
While her father read the documents, Reina quietly approached Shirone and whispered to him.
“Shirone, don't worry too much. I'll try to persuade Dad. Everything will be alright.”
Shirone slowly lifted his head, his expression utterly composed.
It was so composed that it was actually chilling.
Even in a situation like this, his face showed no trace of anxiety.
'He's not pretending to be calm. He's genuinely not afraid.'
Shirone was not afraid.
His mind was currently floating outside the edge of a cliff.
The future was nothing but a non-existent illusion.
Nothing had been decided yet.
After glancing through the papers, Bischoff spoke.
As befitting his black-haired lineage, he had a pale complexion, and his voice carried a chill that could freeze a person to the bone.
“Arian Shirone, is the content of these documents true?”
“Dad, Shirone and Rian are…”
“Reina, I was not asking you. I will give you a chance to speak. For now, be silent.”
Reina knew this would not be easy.
Bischoff, who drew his strength from principles and cold logic, was not a man who could be swayed by emotion.
“There is one thing I would like to ask.”
Shirone said in a calm voice.
The watching butlers were surprised by his abnormal composure, but it had no effect on Bischoff.
“Speak.”
“If the young master and I are friends, what will happen to him?”
Reina's expression softened with affection at Shirone's kindness, worrying about his friend even when facing death.
“It will have no effect on him. This is a hearing to interrogate you, a commoner. Whatever crime Rian may have committed, as long as it is a family matter, we will protect and defend him.”
Bischoff's words were barbed.
He was making it clear that a nobleman's son would not be treated the same as a mere commoner.
But Shirone was satisfied with that.
Shaking off his last lingering worry, Shirone gave a bright smile and readily confessed the truth.
“Then that is a relief. It is true that Rian and I are friends. We have built a good friendship over the past year, and we will continue to do so.”
Though no one showed it, Shirone's words sent ripples through the room.
The shock was especially immense for the butlers who had lived with them, as what they had half-doubted was now confirmed as truth.
The son of a noble family and the son of a mountain man had been friends for a year.
Something that seemed to belong in a play had actually happened.
“The family's authority has been dragged through the mud. Shirone, as the head of the Ogent family, I sentence you to death.”
“Dad! Wait, just listen to me! You said you'd give me a chance to speak!”
“He confessed himself. Dragging this out any longer is meaningless. Head Butler.”
“Yes, Lord Head.”
“Carry out Shirone's execution. And this matter must never leak outside.”
“Understood.”
Reina grew frantic.
She almost resented Shirone for being so calm even in this situation.
But how could she stop this?
Her father had never once reversed a decision he made as the family head.
“Who the hell do you think you are, ordering an execution!”
Rian burst in, throwing the mansion doors open as if to break them.
His mere presence seemed to raise the temperature in the mansion.
It was because everyone knew his personality, and that was the very power of fire that Rian possessed.
“Who said you could execute my friend without my permission?”
“I did.”
Bischoff stated flatly.
“Why are you doing this? It's not like he committed a capital crime! We just became friends!”
“One does not have to commit a capital crime to die. The affairs of the nobility are complex. It is because we bear the weight of those complexities that you, too, have grown up with the privileges of a nobleman's son.”
“If these are privileges I have to gain by killing my friend, then I refuse them!”
“You are so naive, Rian. A friend is someone with whom you share a bond as equals. Do you think that boy considers you a friend? How can you believe that? Let's say, for example, he approached you for money. Even then, you would never know. And you're saying you can still trust him?”
“Shirone is not the kind of person to do something so low!”
“That's what I'm asking. How can you believe that? Show me proof that Shirone is not that kind of person.”
Listening to the exchange, Reina bit her lip.
He had been ensnared by Bischoff's rhetoric.
There was no proof that Shirone was a true friend.
Whether he had approached with ulterior motives or with genuine friendship, Shirone's attitude would have been exactly the same.
Rian, too, felt a chill at his father's logic.
It was cold. Demanding proof of friendship. It was so cold he felt like he would freeze.
Rian gripped the real sword at his waist.
He could feel his master's warmth flowing through his hand.
“Hahahaha!”
And then he laughed, a laugh of relief.
He had realized his master's true intention.
This sword wasn't given to him so he could throw a tantrum.
“I really can't win against you, Dad. I almost fell for it. Proof? I believe in him. Even if Shirone doesn't think of me as a friend, as long as I believe in him, he is my friend. That is the clearest proof there is!”
This time, it was Bischoff who grew heated.
After all, what Rian said was also true.
“So, you intend to defy the head of the family? This is not a matter between father and son. If you disobey the family head's command, you could be disowned from the family.”
Bischoff played his final card.
To disown his own son.
Not just the butlers, but even the direct family members were stunned by this declaration.
But Rian didn't even bat an eye.
As if addressing a superior officer rather than a family member, he expressed his will with unprecedented formality.
“If I must accept being disowned to protect my friend, then I will accept it with a smile.”
*Thud!*
Bischoff slammed his shoe against the floor.
It was unacceptable.
His son, a mere seventeen years old, was willing to be disowned?
It was childish. It was insolent behavior. He was taking advantage of their father-son relationship to throw a tantrum.
“Draw your sword. To accept being disowned means you are willing to abandon even your family, correct? If you are truly for your friend, then risk your life.”
Rian drew his sword.
That action infuriated Bischoff even more.
“Are you truly raising your sword against your own father?”
“This sword is not meant to strike you, Father. It is a sword to protect my beliefs.”
“Since when did you care so much about friends? You never associated with nobles your own age. Was it because they seemed to shine? You're just using a commoner less fortunate than you as a sacrifice to find comfort.”
“No. This time, you are wrong, Father. Shirone is a friend who shines brighter than I do. I want to help him shine even more.”
Bischoff was dumbfounded.
Just who was this boy? What words had he used to bewitch his simple-minded son so completely?
“Was it you? Did you do this to Rian? Did you convince him that a commoner and a noble could be friends?”
Even as the family was on the verge of tearing itself apart, Shirone remained calm.
“Yes. I did say that.”
Rian stepped in front of Shirone and said.
“Shirone, stay back. I'll handle this. No matter what, I'll protect you…”
“Rian.”
Shirone cut Rian off.
Hearing a cold tone he had never heard before, Rian turned around with a bewildered expression.
“You take responsibility for what you must.”
His voice, his tone, his attitude, the intent behind his words.
All of it was so cold it could rival Bischoff's.
It was enough to send a chill not only through the family, but through Rian as well.
“Huh? R-right. Of course.”
“But…”
Shirone continued.
“There's no need to take responsibility for things you shouldn't. We've always done everything together to get this far. We just have to overcome this together, too.”
As if it had never happened, Shirone's expression softened into a gentle one.
“Even if I die, I will never regret becoming your friend.”
Shirone's final words were enough to make Rian's already burning heart explode.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
At this point, he was seeing red.
“That's right! Even if I get kicked out, we're still friends!”
The butlers began to murmur amongst themselves.
Even those who had been cynical at first could no longer tell whose side they should be on.