Chapter 31
Chapter 31
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Yonas Sion's Visit
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Sir Long Oblas Sailun...”
“Yes. Though a collateral branch, given that he bears the crest of the Oblas royal family, he must be a person of considerable status.”
“So that’s why my brother sent him personally.”
Yonas Sion, the half-brother of Gede Sion, stroked his shortly trimmed beard and stared sharply at the lord’s castle of the August Barony.
“Is that fellow who came with him, some Kilburn or whatever, truly confirmed to be Lady Maria’s grandson?”
“We’ve verified it. The only child Lady Maria bore in her lifetime is the current Baron Kilburn, and Piet Sion Kilburn is his youngest son.”
“Sion? Hmph! It’s been so many years, and he’s still pretending to be a Sion. And not content with that, he dares to come all the way here?”
He wanted to hurl even harsher curses, but Yonas held back his temper for the moment.
His father’s generation seemed to have been close to their aunt Lady Maria in childhood, but to him, she was just a great-aunt he’d never even seen.
Moreover, this wasn’t even her son, but her grandson—same generation by rank or not, he had no intention of treating him with any special regard.
If he’d been born and raised in the Sion Dukedom and stayed by their side, that’d be one thing, but a relative cut off for two generations was no different from a stranger.
“But aren’t you curious, Uncle? I heard Lady Maria was someone Hero Duke Highness cherished deeply.”
The boy who appeared to be in his late teens spoke innocently, and Yonas Sion’s expression grew even sterner.
“Don’t even think about acting friendly, Sirban. You and he are of different stock. I won’t tolerate the proud direct line of Sion mingling with some rootless baron family from the northeastern boonies as if they were kin.”
“Yes, yes.”
Yonas felt a vein throb at his nephew’s half-hearted response, but with so many eyes watching, he held his tongue.
It was obvious the kid would just let it go in one ear and out the other anyway.
‘Gede asked me to bring him along so he could toughen up and get his head on straight away from his stepmother. This might backfire instead.’
If that was the goal, he shouldn’t have brought over thirty men in the first place—he should’ve stuck to ten or fewer, just the essentials.
But Yonas himself, as a direct descendant of the ducal house unaccustomed to rough living, had brought four personal servants, though he didn’t reflect on that and merely clicked his tongue at his nephew.
* * *
At the arrival of the Sion ducal family, flying the twin-headed eagle banner, Sion allowed everyone into the village but had the soldiers wait there, permitting only knights and higher nobles into the lord’s castle.
Even for a ducal family, marching dozens of armed troops into a neighboring lord’s castle was a grave breach of etiquette, so Yonas readily complied.
‘Yonas, huh...’
Sion walked slowly, reviewing the report he’d received from Jenna, whose eyes had turned panda-like from the intensified workload since arriving in the August territory.
For now, Sion didn’t know Yonas.
He was a child of a concubine among his great-grandsons, after all.
But his father, Brien, knew him very well.
Up to the age of five or six, he’d been the firstborn of the family that Sion had personally raised, and as a child, he’d loved playing with his grandfather’s mask—even throwing tantrums in official settings to take it off, often putting them in awkward spots.
Gede knew him a little.
He’d received reports on the births of his great-grandsons and had coincidentally seen him once when visiting the dukedom in the past. He remembered being quite pleased with the clever-looking boy.
However, he knew little about Yonas, a son of his grandson’s concubine, as no reports reached him.
In any case, the issue was that Yonas had come at the behest of his half-brother Gede.
‘Sending his half-brother whom he treats like a retainer, along with his youngest son, huh. Gede’s planning to test the waters first.’
Sion’s gaze turned icy.
Sion had only kept a brief watch over his grandchildren from birth to marriage, deliberately avoiding and ignoring the generations below.
He worried about unwittingly interfering directly in their lives or shaking a family that already had its own head with unnecessary actions.
Yet despite his deliberate distance from the dukedom, the family had been shaken. Even the worst-case scenario of the duke’s poisoning had erupted.
In the end, Sion’s judgment had been wrong. If he’d kept watching and intervening, the current situation might not have happened.
‘But that’s exactly why I can stay cold about it now.’
Would anyone grieve at the funeral of a distant relative they’d never met?
How many would truly rejoice upon reuniting with a cousin they were close to in childhood but hadn’t contacted for decades after growing up?
To Sion, all descendants beyond the great-grandsons he’d yet to meet meant exactly that.
‘So you must prove it. That you have no connection to Brian’s death, and that you’re still useful to the family.’
To me, the alpha and omega of the Sion ducal family.
* * *
“Sir Long Oblas Sailun.”
“Sir Yonas Sion.”
After exchanging greetings while seated, Sion sized up Yonas.
He was in his late thirties, resembling his grandfather Theo more than his father Brien.
And the young great-grandson beside him, smiling with eyes full of curiosity, took after Brien strongly.
As Sion thought this, Yonas closely observed Sion in turn.
‘He looks familiar somehow... Must be because he takes after Great-Grandmother’s side?’
Sion’s wife had been a princess of the Oblas Kingdom, and one of her middle names was Sailun.
Thus, it wasn’t strange for Yonas to think the current Sailun-bearer Sion resembled her.
‘Guess blood is blood, distant or not?’
Having convinced himself, Yonas heard Sion speak first.
“I’m glad we could meet like this. I was planning to head to the Sion Dukedom as soon as things here wrap up. Did you come out to greet me after hearing that news?”
“Ahem! Well, a distant relative showed up, so I came to check what’s going on. And with trouble brewing in the August territory, our longtime neighbor to Sion, I couldn’t just sit idly by.”
“Fair enough on the checking, but August is an independent barony. What business does the Sion ducal family have meddling? Besides, this is an issue between me—and by extension, the royal family and the August family. The Sion ducal family has no right or duty to intervene.”
“......”
Yonas flinched, his gaze turning fierce in an instant.
But Sion’s words were irrefutable logic.
Of course, the world doesn’t always follow logic—sometimes customs or long-standing unwritten rules hold more power.
Yonas decided to teach him that.
“You’re still young, so you might not know, but the August family is our in-law through marriage to the Sion Dukedom. We’re connected by blood. So when problems like this arise in our......”
“Baron Lyle August’s first wife, Lady Roana, passed away long ago. There’s not a single person in this castle with Sion blood. So calling them blood relatives seems absurd.”
“......!”
Cut off mid-sentence, Yonas’s face flushed red.
‘This bastard?’
He was angry, but he had to admit it.
The collateral royal before him was no ordinary foe.
“And yet.”
At the interrupting voice, Sion turned his gaze.
The young great-grandson, still smiling, continued nonchalantly despite all eyes on him.
“Where is this relative of ours? Don’t we need to verify if he’s real or fake first?”
“Sirban.”
Yonas put on a stern tone, but Sirban just shrugged.
“No, isn’t that right, Uncle? It’s been nearly fifty years. A so-called relative claiming to be Sion shows up after fifty years. Isn’t confirming that the most important thing?”
Sirban turned to Sion and smiled again.
“So I’d like to see him. This person who might become our dear cousin in the Sion family.”
“......”
Sion stared silently at Sirban for a moment, then slowly leaned back in his chair.
“No.”
As Sirban’s mood soured slightly at the relaxed attitude, preparing to say more—
“Who’s that kid? Is he the one representing Sion here?”
“......!”
The smile vanished instantly from Sirban’s face.
But Sion ignored him, fixing his gaze solely on Yonas.
“As far as I know, the Sion ducal family grants titles only to the direct line of the current duke, and they don’t pass on upon death. Does that kid have a title? Or some official position in the Sion Dukedom? If so, what is it?”
“......”
“I, I...”
Sion cut in once more.
“Looks like nothing. So he’s just some noble brat? Then why’s he sitting here ordering people around? Is this how the Sion ducal family greets me and the August barony?”
“No, what do you......”
“Sirban. Step out for a bit.”
“Uncle!”
“I said step out!”
Yonas bellowed.
Seeing his uncle’s rare true anger, Sirban bit his lip.
Clunk!
Pushing his chair back noisily, Sirban stormed out.
Soon, the door closed, and the room fell into brief silence.
“Now can we talk?”
Yonas, glaring at Sion, finally spoke.
Sion lifted his back from the chairback, leaned forward over the table, and interlocked his fingers.
“Fine. Let’s talk about Sir Piet Sion Kilburn.”
Yonas’s face twisted slightly at the words.
“That’s secondary. What matters now is the issue in the August territory, our in-law to the dukedom...”
“Interesting choice of words.”
Sion cut him off curtly, and Yonas’s expression hardened instantly.
“......What did you just say?”
“I said interesting.”
“Watch your words. Even if you’re royal, there are things you can say and can’t.”
“Not curious why I found it interesting?”
“Sir! Your words......”
“Sir Yonas Sion. Are you truly here representing the Sion Dukedom? Do you even have the qualifications?”
“......!”
Hearing the exact same line Sirban had moments ago, Yonas’s eyes widened.
“I sent your nephew out because he seemed clueless. So answer me. Sir Yonas Sion, can you truly represent the Sion Dukedom? Can you make decisions on the August territory issue on behalf of the Sion ducal family and dukedom?”
“......”
As expected of someone with experience, Yonas’s expression didn’t change, nor did his gaze waver.
But his failure to answer immediately was the end.
And Sion had known from the start that his great-grandson Yonas couldn’t represent the family or the territory.
“Sir Gede Sion, who sent you here, is the Paloma Governor. Since when could the Paloma Governor speak for the Sion Dukedom?”
“You......”
Seeing Yonas finally lose control of his expression, Sion sneered inwardly.
‘Did you think I wouldn’t know I told your grandfather Theo to keep the Paloma Governor out of dukedom administration?’
I designed and implemented every aspect of the Sion Dukedom’s administration and organization from start to finish, you fool.
(To be continued in the next chapter)