Zich simply snorted when he heard that an envoy representing Count Flaud had come and didn’t place much attention to it. He didn’t care even when he was sure that the envoy had come to the Steelwall Estate to take his side.
‘Of course, it’s not for my benefit, but for theirs.’ Their plan to make Zich—who was related to them—Steelwall’s Count and use him somehow for scheming was so transparent that it only made him laugh. Zich felt even less affinity or bond to the Flaud family than he did for Steelwall.
‘Why would I care for the guys who declared war when their daughter and grandson were in enemy territory?’ Due to that, his mother—with her already terrible temper— had exploded into new proportions and made him a complete outcast in his youth. Zich had no plans to go out of his way to beat down the Flaud family for this reason, but he also didn’t plan on heeding to their words either. In the end, Zich led Lyla and Hans back into the Steelwall Estate. Zich cleared all the thoughts he had about the envoy from the Flaud family and he assumed that Count Steelwall must have chased the envoy away by himself.
“I finally found you, sir.” Somebody hastily approached Zich. It was Trell.
Zich stared at Trell and asked, “What is it, sir?” After his tense conversation in front of the Count where many rude words had been exchanged, Zich and Trell addressed each other politely now that the situation was settled. In the first place, the two held no ill feelings toward each other.
“I’m sorry sir, but could you stay in your room for the rest of today?”
Zich smirked. “Is it because of the envoy from Count Flaud?”
“…You knew?”
“Hans told me.”
“If you know already, this would make things easier. Could you stay in your room until he is gone…?”
“Would that really be necessary?” Suddenly, they heard an unfamiliar voice. Trell scowled while Zich turned around. An unfamiliar man, who seemed to be the owner of the voice, walked slowly toward them while leading a couple of people. The Steelwall soldiers near the man had the same expression on their faces as Trell. With the people’s clear responses, it was easy to tell that this man was the envoy from Count Flaud.
“What are you here for?” Trell asked a question first. He slightly blocked Zich with his body as if he was unwilling to let the envoy converse with Zich. Meanwhile, Zich decided to watch the situation for now.
“I was on my way out after finishing my conversation with the Count. Who guessed that I would come upon an unexpected encounter like this right before leaving?” The envoy’s eyes shot toward Zich. “To think that Young Master Zich Steelwall would have returned…”
Trell’s eyes turned cold, but on the other hand, Zich was impressed.
“He has come prepared.” Zich was surprised that the envoy recognized him at first glance. Even if the Flaud family was his mother’s family, they didn’t know Zich well. After all, the Steelwalls weren’t so foolish to show a potential successor to a family who had offered their daughter in the name of peace and blown it all away.
‘I guess they managed to get their hands on a portrait and memorized my face. Although I’ve aged a bit, it’s not like my face became unrecognizable,’ Zich thought to himself.
Then, the envoy complained to Trell. “But isn’t this too much? You knew I came to see Young Master Zich, but you tried to hide him.”
“We never hid him. Since Sir Zich is no longer a member of the Steelwall family, we simply thought it was unnecessary to cause a commotion around him. Above all, aren’t you all no longer allowed to stay in the Steelwall Estate anymore?”
Although the Count had ordered for the envoy to be chased away this instant, he lingered around the estate with all sorts of excuses. The Steelwall family was a rough military family stationed on the border while the man was an envoy from the enemy’s territory. Knowing that the Count could use physical force to drag him out, the envoy treaded upon very thin lines to not step over the Steelwall soldiers’ patience. Thanks to these efforts, he managed to stumble upon this current situation.
The envoy walked past Trell and approached Zich. Trell attempted to block him, but the envoy avoided this obstruction like a mouse going through an obstacle course.
“Nice to meet you for the first time, Young Master Zich. I am Klint Jude, and I serve Count Flaud.”
Zich didn’t answer. He simply crossed his arms and stared at Klint.
“I thought you would come back for sure, young master. I’m sure your grandfather, Count Flaud, would be overjoyed to hear this news.”
“Why would that guy be happy?” Zich asked.
“Sorry?” Klint asked, taken aback. He was taken aback by Zich’s rough and brazen speech which was unfitting for the eldest son of a noble family. On the other hand, Trell and the soldiers guiding the envoy blocked their mouths to keep their laughter from seeping out. Seeing the damn annoying envoy’s stunned face melted all the rage and annoyance they felt. Then, a strange sense of expectations began to rise in their hearts. Count Steelwall had been shaken by Zich’s unexpected words and behavior, so they hoped that this bloody envoy would become his next victim.
“What do you mean why, sir? Of course, Count Flaud would be happy because he treasures you, his grandson, very much,” Klint said, purposefully avoiding the fact that Zich had addressed his grandfather as ‘that guy’. Yet, Zich simply snorted again.
“You say that a guy who used his daughter and grandson as shields to backstab his son-in-law treasures me? Wow, that makes me so happy that my body is trembling.” Zich then proceeded to shake his body in exaggeration. Klint’s face stiffened. Even though he had to be on Zich’s good side, Zich was clearly mocking him now.
“…I understand how you feel, young master. The world of nobles can’t help but be heartless. Yet, as for the one affected by it, I’m sure they would have a hard time accepting the way things are. However, I assure you that our Count felt tremendous pain for that decision. He wants to support you specifically because of that in many…”
“No thanks.” Zich judged that he needn’t listen to the envoy any longer and cut Klint off. “Support my ass. What’s the use of support when he used his daughter and grandson to ambush the Steelwall Estate, got crushed, and got chased out instead? I don’t need it, and even if I need it, I’m doubtful of your side’s ability.”
“…” Klint tightly shut his mouth. The event that Zich had referred to was a topic that was never mentioned in the Flaud Estate. The Flaud family had ambushed the Steelwall Estate, using peace as a cover, but contrary to their expectations, they had been completely crushed under the Steelwalls’ retaliation. Even though the Count had used his own blood to fabricate peace, the only thing left for him was mockery and insult that he still lost after committing such a dishonorable act. Thus, this incident was forbidden from even being mentioned in the Flaud estate. However, Zich shattered this rule without a care in the world.
Klint wanted to immediately shout in anger, but he couldn’t do that. He also no longer stand to see the people of Steelwall looking at him with eyes full of mockery. “…I understand your sentiments, young master. I congratulate you on your return, and I hope to see you again. Then, please excuse me.” Contrary to how he had used any means to push off his return date and explore the Count’s internal matters, the envoy quickly left with his companions.
Steelwall soldiers immediately moved closer to them; they were spying on the envoy and his group while they were leaving. However, the soldiers’ footsteps seemed strangely light. When Klint, his group, and the soldiers disappeared from view, Trell began laughing. He didn’t laugh in a boisterous way, but it was enough to express his intense joy.
“Heeeheheh! Ah, that’s the funniest scene I’ve seen in a while.” Trell had witnessed a scene that he could talk about with his friends and laugh about.
“Sir, I didn’t expect that you would side with us. I sincerely give you my thanks for that, including how I was able to watch a funny scene.” Perhaps... did Zich have any lingering attachment to Steelwall? Trell became slightly hopeful.
“Hmm? What are you saying about siding with who?” Zich blinked his eyes as if he had no idea what Trell was talking about.
“…Didn’t you insult the envoy from Flaud and take our side?”
“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t? Why would I side with Steelwall? All I did was just give a light-hearted warning since that guy was saying so much nonsense.”
Warning? How could such viperous words full of malice be just a warning? Trell became lost for words. He slightly glanced towards Zich’s side. Lyla was holding her head and letting out a small sigh. Then, he moved his gaze back towards Zich, and he was calmly standing there as if he had said nothing wrong.
‘…As the Count says, it might be better to just exclude him as the successor.’ This was the first time since Zich revealed his skills that Trell lowered his high opinion of the latter.
* * *
Klint left the Steelwall Estate and arrived at the Flaud Estate. As soon as he entered the Flaud Estate, he was relieved. Even though he had acted confident at the Steelwall Estate, he had been extremely tense the whole time because Count Steelwall could cut his neck off at any time on a strange whim. The relationship between Steelwall and Flaud was that bad. However, even that ordeal was finally over.
After Klint returned to the Flaud Estate, he could not take a breather. Even though Count Flaud’s forces were weaker than Count Steelwall’s, they weren’t so weak that an outside force could do whatever they wanted inside their estate. The first thing that Klint did after he took a break was organize what happened at the Steelwall Estate inside his mind. Most of the things were similar to before; Count Steelwall’s rudeness was still at its peak, and it was the same for the rest of the Steelwall family.
‘Those impudent bastards.’ Even though Klint maintained politeness at all times to Count Steelwall, as a member of the Flaud family, there was no way he had favorable thoughts about Count Steelwall. Honestly, he had wanted to refuse to go to Steelwall despite his lord’s order. ‘However, since I made an achievement this time, my efforts haven’t been in vain.’
Klint smirked and recalled the unexpected meeting he had at Count Steelwall’s mansion. He had met Zich Steelwall, Count Flaud’s grandson and Steelwall’s eldest son, who had left after no longer being able to endure the discrimination in the Steelwall family. However, he had returned recently. The Flaud family had been carefully looking for his whereabouts, so this was definitely good news.
‘Even though he’s extremely rude.’ When Klint recalled the conversation he had with Zich, annoyance crept into his mind again. ‘Since he grew up in that trash-filled Steelwall Estate, I guess his vulgar and lowly behavior can’t be helped.’
However, this did not matter; he had fulfilled his purpose. ‘Count Flaud really is trying to achieve a goal that has a low possibility.’ Making someone of his bloodline as the next Count Steelwall and exercising his influence sounded like a good plan, but everyone knew that this was no easy task. Count Flaud also probably didn’t think this had a high possibility of succeeding either.
‘It’s not a bad idea to just poke around a bit. It won’t take a lot of guards to do this either, but I really wish the Count would think of the people who have to risk their lives.’ Klint let out a sigh. The carriage that he was riding on continued to move, and he eventually reached the Count’s mansion.
Even though it hadn’t been that long, it felt as if he hadn’t returned in ages since he’d been at Steelwall. Klint was about to go into the mansion to give a report when he heard a familiar voice.
“Is that you, Mr. Jude?”
Klint turned around and moved his head towards the voice. “Ah, it’s been a while.” He exchanged a handshake while calling out the person’s name. “Mr. Zenard.”