Chapter 302
Chapter 302
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 302
>Chapter Title: Can't You... Do That?
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Alfredo's appearance made Leodis tilt his head for a moment. Then, as if he couldn't quite grasp the situation, he scanned the people in the room one by one.
His gaze passed over Evelyn and Chenbi before settling on Alfredo—and it was right then that Alfredo's mouth opened.
"Please, hear out this old retainer."
"Hmm. Speak."
Crackle, crackle—
Amid the faint crackling of magic manifesting and dissipating, mingled with the sound of the campfire, Alfredo's low voice resonated.
"I wouldn't dare interfere in the Patriarch's decisions, but I humbly ask that you hear out young Chenbi and Miss Evelyn. Once water is spilled, it can't be gathered again—once something is done, it's irreversible. So..."
"Listen to the children?"
"Yes."
"Hmm."
Leodis fell silent, as if pondering.
It wasn't that he was swayed by Chenbi, Evelyn, or even Alfredo's sentiments. Rather...
Yes. That one line about how, once set in motion, things couldn't be undone.
It was something that shouldn't have been possible under normal circumstances.
But.
There was still a trace of paternal affection left in Leodis, and that affection recoiled at the thought of his relationship with his son crossing an irreversible line.
No, more than that...
"..."
His heart ached at the look in his son's eyes.
"Then, shall we hear them out?"
"Yes... that's the right choice. Listening to various opinions might lead to a better solution. No, it surely will."
As he spoke, Alfredo glanced at Chenbi and Evelyn.
Chenbi's face was still pale, and he couldn't utter a word. It was Evelyn who picked up the thread.
"Um, then... Patriarch."
"Yes, Miss Evelyn."
"The girl is too dim-witted to understand what you desire. To have a conversation, I need to know that first... Could you tell me?"
Evelyn finished speaking and cautiously gauged Leodis's expression. But it was pointless. Not a hint of emotion showed on Leodis's face.
However, the way his gaze briefly flicked to Damian suggested it was something Damian shouldn't know...
It was just as Evelyn pieced that together that Leodis spoke.
"You're a member of the Tower, aren't you, Miss Evelyn?"
"Yes."
Her heart sank, but she feigned composure and answered calmly.
How Leodis knew that, and how much he knew, were trivial matters now.
But.
Evelyn's gaze shifted to Damian and Chenbi.
It was weighing on her mind.
Whether he knew her inner turmoil or not, Leodis freely brought up and questioned the facts she had been hiding.
"The Tower has its base in the Second Black-White Slums, right? And... you're the Duke? Correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Thank you for admitting it so readily. I was on the fence about it. I had figured out that Aster was the Tower Master, but the connection to the Second Black-White Slums was just a hunch."
...He'd been fishing?
Evelyn belatedly realized her mistake. But what could she do? The water was already spilled.
Instead, she decided to focus even more on the conversation ahead.
"May I ask how you knew?"
"I've been keeping an eye on the Decullan Family since the Trials of the Spire. Even before that, the family had been infested with rats. And then there's Hazen, Parun in Hazen, and that stray proposing deals to the vassal families' patriarchs to protect them... Well, there were plenty of clues."
Hazen? Parun?
She didn't know who Hazen was, but the familiar name Parun made Evelyn's mind whirl again.
"Ah, you didn't know that far?"
"..."
Evelyn held her tongue instead of answering and tried to calm her chaotic thoughts. Parun the professor wasn't the important thing right now.
"So, you pieced together the scattered information and figured it out?"
"That's about right."
"How..."
"Well, it just worked out."
It was one of the benefits of his emotions fading: observing every situation objectively.
Of course, it was possible only because of the countless pieces of information he hadn't shared with Evelyn, but he saw no need to explain that far.
Anyway.
Leodis glanced briefly at Aster before speaking again.
"Your goal is to save Aster, right, Miss Evelyn? Since you're part of the Tower?"
"That's..."
Evelyn hesitated to answer immediately.
The nuance of "save" felt off, and thinking of it as rescuing Aster felt somehow awkward.
But that awkwardness didn't last.
Evelyn shook her head.
"It's not just Aster. I want to resolve this situation. Damian, Chenbi... they're my friends. If anyone's being saved, it wouldn't be just for Aster."
"Hmm, I see. Friends... a good word."
Leodis nodded slowly. It wasn't long before Evelyn spoke again.
"So... if it's not too rude, could I ask what you want, Patriarch?"
"Ah, I haven't answered yet. My goal is..."
He glanced at Damian again. But unlike before, he voiced it readily this time.
"I want Damian to feel a little stimulated."
"Stimulated...?"
At Evelyn's question, Leodis calmly continued his explanation.
It wasn't much different from what he'd told Aster earlier.
Damian's talent, his lack of drive to improve, so he needed stimulation—and for that, he planned to use Aster, Chenbi, and Evelyn as the means.
When the whole story concluded...
"..."
Evelyn stared at Leodis, lips pressed tight.
She just couldn't be sure if she'd heard right. No, she could be sure, but it was hard to accept.
How could it be so twisted?
Could this truly be called love?
"Honestly, I wasn't certain. But it seems like the right approach. Doesn't it?"
Leodis looked at Damian as he asked Evelyn, but even that, Evelyn couldn't comprehend.
Perhaps that's why.
A dizzying sensation made Evelyn sway for a moment. Her sense of balance faltered, the world spinning.
To think he'd use them as stimulants for Damian.
'This... this isn't right.'
She'd thought dialogue might lead to some compromise. But no solution was in sight.
Setting aside good and evil, Leodis's logic was efficient, and judging by Damian's reaction, it was effective.
So, what should she do?
Evelyn's frantic eyes scanned the space.
Alfredo, whom she'd trusted as an ally, stood emotionlessly behind the Patriarch, head bowed.
Damian was exerting himself desperately just to manifest his magic, without even the strength to speak.
Chenbi was...
...?
Evelyn narrowed her eyes at the oddity.
Chenbi was...
Crying.
"That's..."
A choked voice. Not just Evelyn's gaze, but Leodis's turned to Chenbi as well.
"That's just... too pitiful."
Leodis asked,
"Is this reflection on your own situation?"
"Damian. Damian is too pitiful."
* * *
Splash... crash.
The moonlit seaside.
The campfire's glow brightly lit the space, crackle, crackle... the sounds of misfiring magic echoing.
A cool breeze from somewhere tousled hair and brushed skin, but the faint silence that had settled showed no sign of breaking.
Leodis tilted his head, lost in thought.
Pitiful? Damian?
It was a perspective Leodis had never considered. Nor could he understand it.
Why on earth would Damian be pitiful?
"May I ask why?"
At Leodis's question, Chenbi wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked at Damian.
Ice crystals blooming in the air only to vanish repeatedly. Damian had his eyes squeezed shut, fully focused—and Chenbi had seen that look before.
...Baharmut.
That day, in that place, Damian had faced an unbeatable foe while cradling sorrow. He'd vented his rage through magic, fueled by hatred.
That was exactly why Chenbi found it pitiful.
"If we die... who will Damian blame?"
His friends dying right before his eyes. Damian knew why. To stimulate him.
But...
The words etched in blood in Damian's heart probably wouldn't be "friends," would they?
No, surely not.
More like... father.
Those three letters: father.
"Damian, who has to resent his father forever... what then? What on earth should he do...?"
Chenbi had thought about it.
A life of resenting his father eternally.
Loving yet hating, hating yet unable to erase the love harbored in his heart.
His chest ached. Like someone thinly slicing it with a knife. But Damian must hurt more. Yes, far more.
Every time he looked in the mirror, seeing himself resembling his father, today's events would flash back. Blood-soaked hair and face. As he aged, growing even more like his father, he might come to loathe his own reflection.
That was...
"Just too sad."
"..."
"Does reaching a higher realm bring happiness? Why learn magic at all? Is it... worth sacrificing Damian's happiness? Is that what a noble house is?"
Chenbi simply couldn't understand.
"Don't you want Damian to be happy?"
Those clear eyes, the affection that always frosted over whenever they looked at Damian—was it all fake?
To Chenbi, Leodis didn't seem to treat Damian as a son right now, but as the Young Patriarch to lead the house.
In that latter perspective... there was no "Damian."
Just the Blandoga Young Patriarch.
"This... is violence."
Chenbi said.
"Not love."
How could this be for Damian's sake? If it truly was, it couldn't be like this.
"Can't you... just watch a little longer? It might seem too slow and frustrating to you, Patriarch... but let Damian find his own path. Can't you wait just a bit more?"
Was that not allowed in a noble house?
Chenbi had never pitied Damian before—not once. No, he'd even envied that life at times. But right now, his heart ached unbearably.
Damian was just too pitiful to bear.
"Can't you... do that?"
Chenbi asked.
And.
"..."
Leodis didn't answer. No, he couldn't.
Thus, a chill wind swept across the moonlit seaside. And in that wind, a single tear from Chenbi fell, wetting the ground.
Leodis's eyes, following the falling tear, returned to Chenbi.
It wasn't long before his mouth opened.
"Could everyone give us some space?"
Leodis said, then looked at Damian.
"I want to talk alone with my son for the first time in a while."