Chapter 8
Chapter 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: What Happened at the Ball (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jamie sat at the dining table with a weary face.
Even knowing it was coming, enduring something painful to himself was incredibly agonizing.
His younger sister Sara was giggling happily beside him for some reason.
"My dear daughter, what makes you so happy?"
Sears rubbed her cheek against her laughing daughter's.
The soft, plump baby's cheeks jiggled up and down.
Jamie had no particular feelings for his sister, but every time Sears did this, he sometimes felt an urge to rub his own cheek against hers.
A baby's skin was just that soft.
'What am I thinking.'
He let out a deep sigh and picked up his fork and knife.
"Come to think of it, it's tomorrow."
"Yes—it's already tomorrow."
Sears replied to the count's words with a bright face.
What was happening tomorrow?
Having heard nothing in particular, Jamie looked at the two with a curious expression.
"What's tomorrow?"
"Didn't I tell you?"
"Oh, I forgot. Our son made me worry so much."
Sears shot her son a prim glare.
It seemed she was referring to the time he used the Full Body Breathing Method.
He had heard that she had been extremely worried when he spent half a day straight like that.
Apparently, she had wanted to rush to his side, but the count had blocked her, causing a huge fuss.
Given her personality, there was no way she could stay put if something happened to her son.
"I'm sorry..."
Jamie apologized in a meek voice, and Sears chuckled while shaking her head.
"Mom's just happy our son is fine. But if you push yourself like that again, Mom might really get upset and start crying."
Sears might be the only mother in the world who spoke to her son this way.
"I'll be careful."
Family love was still annoying and tiring, but he knew full well that Sears was a good mother.
The Welton Count was the same.
"Anyway, there's a ball tomorrow. Our family is planning to go there for fun."
"A ball?"
He knew what a ball was, but Jamie had never attended one.
It had always been just the Welton Count and Countess Sears who went.
He and his sister stayed at the mansion under the nanny's care, and the ball period had been one of his rare free times.
But this time, they were going together.
His free time... was gone!
'No way to get out of it...'
A seven-year-old boy had no say in the matter.
And this ball wasn't just any ordinary one.
It was a massive party attended by virtually all the nobles in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Selden.
The hosts were his father, the Welton Count, and the Simon Count, known as the 'Crimson Lotus Mage'.
Since the ball would last two full days, Jamie was already sighing.
That night.
Jamie finished preparing to head out.
He was going to the ball tomorrow, but he still had things to do tonight.
"Black."
Kreek!
Black's wings puffed up greatly.
As he gripped its legs tightly, the creature took flight.
Kreek!
No sooner had Black signaled its ascent than the scenery shifted in an instant.
Jamie gazed at the star-filled black sky.
The deep night felt somehow cautious, yet it brought a sense of liberation.
A rare smile crossed his face as he gave Black its orders.
"Let's go to those two."
Kreek!
Black flapped its wings vigorously with a spirited reply.
The two were in a small house on the outskirts of Hys.
Jamie perched Black on his shoulder and entered.
"Master!"
"You've arrived."
The two who had been waiting inside greeted Jamie with disciplined voices.
"How did it go?"
The two swallowed dryly as they exchanged glances at Jamie's immediate question about their task.
Raiza was the one who answered.
"We're sorry. We haven't found out anything about the Zenith Church yet. The order was just completed, so we couldn't even determine how many priests are affiliated."
"Hm."
Of course. The Zenith Church in Hys had only just been newly built.
No matter that they were former mid-level executives of Rival, it was unreasonable to expect the desired information in just one day.
"What about the other matter?"
"Here."
Azad dragged in Pep, Rival's executive who had been locked in the next room.
With his limbs bound and a gag in his mouth, all he could do was wriggle like a maggot.
"This guy?"
"One of Rival's executives. The one who knew we were going to be assassinated by Hanni."
A perfect insider.
"Remove the gag."
"This guy knows nothing."
"I'll find out myself."
At his master's cold voice, Azad apologized and removed the gag.
"Cough, cough! P-please spare me. I really don't know anything! Sp-spare me and I'll find out. I swear!"
Pep babbled incoherently in terror.
He probably didn't even know what he was saying.
He was just spewing whatever came to mind like garbage to survive the moment.
"Kid."
Jamie called the kneeling adult man—who was about his own height—that way.
Pep was initially dumbfounded, but being quick on the uptake, he realized the child before him was no ordinary being.
He had no choice but to realize it.
He could feel the ominous aura emanating from the boy, one that no child should possess.
"I have no intention of killing you."
"...Really?"
"You just need to run one little errand."
"A-anything! Anything! If you tell me to find the boss, I will! Just give the order..."
"But don't make too much noise about it."
His voice cut off abruptly.
Jamie smirked and placed his small hand on Pep's half-bald head.
His emerald eyes turned violet.
"You have only one task."
"...Yes."
"Go to the count's family right now and report the crimes your organization is committing."
Pep's eyes went pitch black.
Like a quiet doll, he responded to his master's command.
"Understood."
Then he rose silently and left the house.
Azad and Raiza swallowed dryly as they watched Pep's retreating figure.
With his mind manipulated, he would become the organization's whistleblower.
A whistleblower was a traitor, and traitors were never forgiven.
Especially since it wasn't even a betrayal by his own choice—how could one not pity Pep?
"No need to pity him."
As if reading their thoughts, their master spoke.
"The count won't let him live anyway."
Azad and Raiza thought once again that their master was truly terrifying.
"You two, leave the city and hide for a while."
"Understood."
"You're not asking why?"
"Master's command is absolute. We obey."
"Good."
He had asked yesterday just to confirm, prompted by Black's concern, and the response was pleasing.
"And I think I know why you're saying this."
It was Raiza who spoke.
Once Pep headed to the count's family, they would completely uproot Rival from Hys.
Azad and Raiza had already been abandoned by the organization, but the count wouldn't care about that.
He would seek total eradication.
"That's right. I'll be away for a few days. Stay hidden obediently until then."
"Understood."
Jamie called Black to his shoulder and left the house.
Then Azad called out to him.
"M-Master!"
"What?"
Daring to casually stop his master—a grave disrespect for a servant—but there was something he absolutely had to confirm.
"That is..."
"You can speak."
"We... what have we become?"
He knew he was a corpse.
He couldn't not know, since it was his own body.
He had been conflicted at first but accepted it anyway. Refusing wouldn't take him back to before death.
Above all, gaining overwhelmingly greater power than in life was quite satisfying.
Still, he wanted to know.
At least what kind of undead he was?
"What exactly are you curious about?"
"...Our power is ridiculously stronger than in life. Have we become high-grade undead?"
Jamie couldn't help but laugh at the question.
"Most would just ask if they've really become undead, but you're unique."
"S-sorry."
"No need to apologize."
In his long life, this was the first servant to accept his situation so quickly.
Usually, they denied their reality.
That made them even more despairing, losing their minds and becoming mere monsters due to the absolute contract of servitude.
From Jamie's perspective, those were easier to handle.
But they were just monsters with clear limits.
These two, however...
'Raiza seems much the same as Azad.'
Only Azad had asked, but Raiza's eyes were similar.
'This might be like finding a gem.'
They had overcome the reality of becoming undead in just one day.
Jamie grinned and said,
"Unfortunately, you're zombies."
"...Zombies?"
"Your appearance is just preserved as in life. Normal zombies get overwhelming physical strength compared to ordinary humans. That's it."
"..."
"..."
The word 'zombie' clearly disappointed them greatly.
Truly mad fellows.
Anyone in the world, turned into a zombie—a low-grade undead—wouldn't be disappointed.
They'd just despair at the fact.
Jamie found their reaction amusing, but conversely, quite to his liking.
"But who knows."
"Pardon?"
"What do you mean..."
"Depending on what you do, you might become higher-grade undead?"
Azad's scarred eyes sparkled.
Raiza looked pleased too, though not quite as much.
Kreek—
Black let out a pathetic kreek, as if finding them pitiful.
Even to it, the two seemed quite odd.
But Jamie knew.
The stronger the ego, the greater the potential.
'Not quite to their level, but there was one like that.'
Though after long ages, it had probably eroded away.
"Then I'm off."
"Rest well!"
They saw Jamie off in high tones.
Late into the dawn.
The Welton Count's mansion was thrown into chaos.
An executive of the massive organization Rival rooted in Hys had turned whistleblower.
Jamie used the commotion outside as a lullaby and fell into a deep sleep.
"Sorry. I'll make sure not to be late."
"My love, don't worry about us. Handle things thoroughly and come back."
"I will."
Early in the morning, the count and Sears gazed at each other affectionately before sharing a light kiss.
Behind them, Jamie grimaced at their display of affection.
He hadn't expected the night's events to snowball into tormenting him from morning onward.
The problem was that the torment hadn't ended yet.
"My son, come here."
"Yes, Father."
Jamie walked over to the Welton Count, who was beckoning him with a bright face.
The count lifted him up with one arm.
"When Dad's away, you're the man of the house."
"Yes."
"Of course, Dad will be back soon, but until then, protect Mom and your sister well. Got it?"
"Don't worry!"
As Jamie replied boldly in a spirited voice, the count and Sears burst into fond laughter.
The one in question was dying inside.