Armitas Ducal Family (3)
"Ugh…!"
Ashton trembled at his father's roaring voice directed at him, unable to continue speaking.
Abros's flushed face and the pitiful look in his eyes made it clear he was truly disappointed in Ashton over this incident.
"Fine. We'll drop the punishment for that girl in this matter. Bernard was there too, wasn't he? You must have gotten to him as well."
Eunhyeon nodded.
"Of course."
"Hmph. That's settled, then. Now get out. Just talking to you makes my skin crawl."
"You're still as harsh in your judgment of me. Understood. I'll take my leave."
Eunhyeon gave a wry smile and leaped out the window through which he'd entered, departing the scene.
Elenoa surveyed Abros's bedroom, now a total mess as if a storm had passed through, and let out a sigh.
"Hoo…."
"Father, who exactly is that man?"
Alex, now curious about Eunhyeon, asked his father.
"Someone I absolutely never want as an enemy."
Abros scowled deeply, shaking his head as if even thinking about Eunhyeon was unpleasant.
"Do you know him, Father? That man's mana earlier wasn't something an ordinary person could emit. He's no mere commoner like he claimed. How has someone like that gone unnoticed in the kingdom until now?"
Alex recalled how he'd first introduced himself as Iliana's assistant in front of the Wish Tree in Aiter's garden.
"Is the Black Witch he's with really that remarkable?"
One of the scant ten high-rank digit mages on the entire Arkena Continent.
A great hero who, alongside Pernias Kingdom's knight Riod Olivion, had brought the Great War to its conclusion—a true heavyweight whose fame echoed across the land.
"Ha, that's just smoke and mirrors."
"Pardon?"
"He's hiding behind that Black Witch. A snake of a man."
"You don't like him either, Father?"
"What?"
Ashton, still fuming, spoke up again at Abros's retort.
"Isn't it because he mocked and toyed with our family like this that you're in such a foul mood? We should find his weakness and strike back…."
"……."
Abros grimaced, glaring at his eldest son Ashton, then sighed with an even more weary expression.
"Foolish boy, why can't you grasp the problem?"
He gazed at his pathetic son, still trapped in the humiliation and shame, lashing out blindly. Had his education truly failed so badly?
"Elenoa."
"Yes."
"What do you think the issue is?"
Elenoa pondered deeply before answering Abros's question with her honest doubts.
"…I don't understand why he's taking this approach."
"What do you know…!"
"Hmm. Continue."
Ashton bristled, about to shout at Elenoa to shut up, but Abros stroked his chin, considered her words, and permitted her to go on.
Elenoa, who had winced at Ashton's ear-splitting rage, resumed her explanation now that Abros had given the okay.
"His personal strength rivals a kingdom knight order, and he's incredibly sharp. Yet he never steps forward himself. He always orchestrates from the shadows, digs traps, toys with his opponents, and presents them with no choice but to submit."
Elenoa recalled how Eunhyeon had leveraged the principal and magic professors' incompetence, along with the secrets of Pernias's Divine Tree, to blackmail them into handing over Elvin's custody to her.
"No matter the cause or process, from the Hersha siblings' or that man's perspective, our family is a corrupt noble house covering up its misdeeds. Reporting everything to the royal family would have been faster and easier—potentially dooming our entire house to punishment. But he didn't."
Why not? Why spare our family?
He'd even handed over a massive sum of gold under the guise of a deal.
How did he know about the Armitas ducal family's wish for the Holy Sword Durandal?
How did he know the origins of Pernias's Divine Tree—a secret known to only a tiny few outside the royals—and Aiter Academy's founding?
How much did he know? What was he thinking? Why act this way?
Elenoa couldn't fathom any possibilities. That's why she was afraid.
"You can counter enemies whose intentions and capabilities are visible. But against someone whose motives are hidden and strength unmeasurable… I don't know how to fight."
"Exactly. What an utterly loathsome bastard. Everyone dismisses him as ordinary, a worthless commoner slurping scraps from a witch's side—a useless hanger-on. But the truth is the opposite. He's deliberately made himself seem that way. Just like you, Ashton."
"Guh…."
"The more they underestimate, belittle, and scorn him, the more he loves it. It means the impression he's planted sticks, and his thoughts remain unreadable to them. Then they play his game and get struck from behind at the end."
Eunhyeon's mindset stemmed from the role he'd received upon becoming the Norns' Apostle: "extra." It had rooted deeply in his consciousness.
As a mere "supporting character," he was never the story's center. His job was to make the "protagonists" shine.
Though his comrades truly saw him as the leader, Eunhyeon disliked standing out front to lead everyone.
Abros, unaware of this mindset, simply scowled in distaste.
"He likes being looked down on…? That's a bit perverted…."
Elenoa thought the same.
If Eunhyeon—who wasn't doing this out of preference—heard that, he'd be deeply hurt.
"Avoid tangling with him if possible. He's not our enemy, but if we end up opposed, he's a headache for us too."
Abros had met countless people and dealt with them in every way.
But Eunhyeon was the only one who made him more uneasy accepting payment than demanding conditions or favors in a deal.
Exposing his dark intentions to a clear enemy was preferable to facing someone like Eunhyeon—ally or foe unknown, motives inscrutable, beyond his grasp.
Ashton still seethed over the humiliation, but Alex and Elenoa nodded in agreement with Abros's command.
"Uuum…."
Burying herself in the plush cushions, Erin gradually regained consciousness in her hazy mind.
The luxurious feel of the pillow and blankets—comfortable and unfamiliar—jolted her awake like a spring, and she bolted upright.
"Where… is this…?"
The bed, wallpaper, and furniture screamed high-end design. She knew instantly it wasn't her room, but why was she here? The question deepened her confusion.
Why was she in this place?
To figure it out, Erin dredged up her last memories.
"Ah…."
Her mother, who had fallen ill from her father's frequent beatings and passed away.
Her father, who came home drunk, always beat her, and eyed her with a chilling gaze.
Her brother, who protected her from scary people, taking the violence in her stead.
"Aah…."
Each memory brought more groans.
Clutching her head against the surging headache, the girl shed tears.
"Ugh, uuu…."
Someone other than her brother appearing before her, trying to kill her; her frantic escape, tripping, and whatever fate followed.
Erin, head in hands, whimpering in pain, remembered it all and burst into sobs she could no longer hold back.
"Uuuu…."
'I'm always wishing for your happiness.'
Hearing her brother's voice—impossible in this empty room—Erin instinctively realized he was gone from the world.
She truly grasped that she was now alone in it.
Her resolve to hold back tears of joy upon seeing him had shattered.
The flood of sorrow, her endurance unrewarded—no one left to comfort her struggles or praise her resilience—intensified her emotions.
"Hic, hick, why… why only me?!"
Sorrow twisted into resentment.
A desire to curse whoever inflicted such trials solely on her.
Hatred began boiling in the girl's heart.
Creeeak.
The door opened without a knock, and a man entered casually without greeting.
He glanced at Erin, who sat up weeping in her grief.
Walking slowly to the bed, he sat and stroked her head.
"Eh…?"
The unexpected gesture stopped her tears. Wide-eyed with reddened sockets, she stared at him.
Silver hair gleaming in the morning sun, contrasted by vivid red eyes.
She belatedly recognized him from her memories.
In her dreamlike soul state, the mysterious man who'd sensed her presence, used strange arts to find her.
His striking appearance matched his otherworldly skills, etched firmly in her mind.
What did it mean that he was stroking her head so gently?
Dazed and flustered, the man spoke.
"You endured well."
"Huh…?"
"You've really held on all this time."
It felt strange to Erin.
Something in her chest stirred; emotions calmed briefly by the enigmatic man's arrival surged wildly again.
To Erin, who'd stoically survived thus far, this praise fell like rain on parched earth, resonating deeply.
"You've been through so much."
Pulling her head to his chest, he said the words she'd longed to hear most.
In his embrace, Erin unleashed all the pent-up rage once more.
"Hic… hick! Waaaaaah!"
Stroking the head of the girl sobbing bitterly in his arms, the man gazed softly at the ceiling.
A sinister black orb of mana hovered there, seemingly watching.
It sensed the man's gaze upon it, reacting in kind.
"Farewell."
A murmur too faint for the weeping Erin to hear, yet the black orb seemed to catch it.
It shrank gradually and soon vanished entirely.