The sight of Aloys leaning on a cane was a fresh shock to Isaac.
It was undoubtedly a scene he had not anticipated at all.
Thus, the burst of laughter was clearly a mistake, but there was no intention to hold back.
“No, Brother-in-law.”
Aloys was fully aware of this as well. Despite being slightly annoyed and upset, he chose not to mention it further and moved on.
“Sister is acting strangely!”
There was something more pressing at hand.
“I did what I did because I was accused of trying to harm you, Brother-in-law! This is truly unjust!”
Aloys cried out, his eyes brimming with tears.
“Even I have always been on your side, haven’t I? I’ve always helped you when the other brothers troubled you, and it was me who assisted you with the fourth anniversary too!”
“…”
“How could I, of all people, harm you? You wouldn’t listen to even a word of my explanation and left me like this! If I hadn’t been a Helvint, I might have spent my life as a cripple!”
And yet, it should have been this way.
Isaac smacked his lips in regret.
Aloys’ persuasive power was quite strong; indeed, in his past life, he had never doubted Aloys.
But now that he knew all the details, all he could see was how ridiculous his actions were.
‘This much contempt…no wonder it’s not that I’m angry but that I feel utterly disappointed.’
Aloys must be so confident that Isaac would trust him without question, which is why he was acting this way.
Perhaps, after hearing some rumors in the north, he still believed he could persuade Isaac.
That much contempt could be seen as a form of underestimation of Isaac as well.
‘Hmm.’
Isaac pondered for a moment.
Then, nodding his head, he placed a hand on Aloys’ shoulder.
“There’s no way the brother-in-law would do that. I don’t know what you’re talking about suddenly, but I’ll take care of it.”
“Brother-in-law!”
Aloys nodded, sniffling.
Isaac patted his shoulder and walked away.
‘Maybe I’d like to…’
He wanted to tear Aloys apart right now. However, the fact that Rianne broke his leg brought some satisfaction.
Besides, isn’t Aloys, in a sense, the most reliable link to the Transcendental Tribe?
Revenge on Aloys?
Though it would certainly be satisfying, he didn’t want others to think he had spent his whole life focused on this.
It was right to use Aloys to see something greater.
‘I don’t need to align my life’s goal with someone like him.’
Isaac, don’t belittle yourself.
On a personal note, he wanted to make sure to take Aloys’ legs when they were fully healed.
If he did it now, it would seem like a stroke of luck due to Rianne’s help.
While watching Aloys’ back retreating in apparent relief, Jonathan approached briskly and saluted.
“As of this hour, I’ll conclude my bodyguard duty for Isaac Helvint!”
“Alright, good job.”
“Thank you very much!”
Jonathan smiled brightly.
Though the secret of his mixed heritage from the Transcendental Race must be kept hidden, and the harassment from the seniors may not have disappeared entirely, Jonathan would likely do well.
He patted his shoulder again.
This time, it was genuine encouragement, unlike when with Aloys.
“Arrrrgh!”
At that moment, a 17-year-old boy came barreling out of the mansion gates.
The two passed each other, but they didn’t exchange any words. However, judging from the way Aloys gritted his teeth, it looked like he bore a grudge against Sharon.
“Isaaac!”
Bounding up to Isaac, Sharon immediately tilted her head, demanding he pet her.
When Isaac stubbornly stared at her, Sharon stealthily stepped on his foot.
“Shh!”
“Isaac! Big trouble! Big trouble!”
Then, Sharon wildly flailed her hands like a fish and began to explain.
“What?”
Isaac’s eyes widened in shock.
Clang.
It was the first time.
That Isaac had barged into Rianne’s room without any warning.
“Ah.”
Rianne sitting cross-legged on the bed—this was the first time Isaac had seen her looking like this.
She looked unkempt, her crimson hair dry and tousled, her eyes devoid of all life. But when she saw Isaac, her gaze moistened, regaining some of its old vitality.
Finally, the shackle around her ankle caught his eye.
“Isaac, you’ve returned.”
As Rianne slowly got up, Isaac walked towards her and asked,
“What is going on here? I heard you tried breaking your probation!”
“…”
On his way back, Isaac learned there had been a few incidents at the Helvint estate.
Among them, one of the biggest was that Rianne had tried to escape from the house arrest imposed by the family lord.
Having tried to escape, Rianne was caught by the family lord once again.
These two had clashed swords once more, and Rianne was utterly defeated.
That was the consequence.
A warning not to challenge the lord’s authority again.
“You’re not yourself, Rianne. Why?”
Upon Isaac’s question, Rianne’s lips parted. In the past, she might have shut her mouth at this point.
“…I guess I wanted to escape from…my choices.”
“Choices?”
Looking at Isaac’s bewildered expression, Rianne weakly shook her head. Her hand briefly reached out but quickly fell back down, as if she didn’t think she deserved to do so.
On the contrary, her eyes became resolute, completely opposite from her wavering demeanor just moments ago.
“Isaac.”
With Isaac standing right in front of her, Rianne finally seemed to decide something, clenching her fist and declared,
“I will become the lord of the house… and—”
“…!”
“On the day the Sword Festival finishes, you will leave this mansion unscathed.”
Definitely.
“I promise.”
“….”
Isaac couldn’t shake off the uncomfortable feeling.
Walking outside and heading down to the first floor with his lips tightly sealed, contemplating deeply, he was suddenly called out again.
“Isaac! Isaac!”
From the second floor, Sharon was gesturing to him, beckoning him to come up with an insidious grin.
“….”
“Hurry up! Faster!”
“Haa.”
Stepping inside Sharon’s room, there was a spread of sweets laid out.
Kelsey had prepared some tea, and the distinct Helvint rose scent filled the air.
“Here! These are my special collections. Let’s eat them together!”
“Ah.”
I almost forgot.
“The young miss worked hard on this preparation. She refrained from eating the remaining sweets, saying she’d wait until you arrived, Lord Isaac.”
“Ah… don’t say that!”
Watching Sharon’s embarrassed face, Isaac smirked.
Even though he felt a bit heavy-hearted just now, after eating the sweets, his mood lightened.
‘Star cookies.’
At this, he realized that he hadn’t greeted Millie yet.
‘She’s probably busy welcoming the guests.’
He wanted to quickly greet Millie and try her food.
Eating one star cookie, Isaac naturally chided Sharon.
“Exactly where did you go searching for these star cookies?”
“What…why?!”
“Because of you and this single cookie… never mind.”
Would anyone believe that eating one cookie could nearly lead to humanity’s betrayal? Isaac sighed and tried to gloss over the matter, but Kelsey apparently had a lot to say.
“Right, Miss. Do you know how much the servants struggled? They went around every nearby village to find this.”
“Wha- But they taste good…”
Her voice was diminishing.
As Kelsey and Isaac stared at her simultaneously, Sharon eventually nodded her head deeply in apology, looking thoroughly discouraged.
“Sorry… I won’t do it next time.”
Sharon truly has changed.
Impressed, Isaac popped another star cookie into his mouth.
The Helvint mansion.
In the banquet hall, lavish evenings of feasts took place almost every night recently.
It was a way to entertain the guests who had arrived with invitations.
Today, in particular, the conversations revolved around the upcoming main event of the Sword Festival, which would begin tomorrow.
Normally, these gatherings saw the Helvints showcasing their prowess in mock battles, but this year, there were surprising outsiders participating.
One of them was Silbern.
She hadn’t arrived yet, but she had already informed them in advance via a letter that she would be participating.
‘I don’t see Millie around.’
And here.
Rianne Helvint’s husband, Isaac, was participating in the Sword Festival as a Helvint.
Despite being a Helvint himself, no one approached him, nor did Isaac seem to care.
In truth, Isaac much preferred to see his only friend in the mansion, Millie, who was likely holed up in the kitchen.
“Ah, there you are!”
Today’s market voice called to Isaac.
There stood Princess Clarice, dressed in a graceful gown fit for royalty, quite unlike the rough adventurer look she had earlier that day.
The rare scenario of Princess Clarice approaching him.
Nobles around them murmured and glanced sideways at the scene.
It was embarrassing, but Isaac couldn’t exactly ask royalty to leave.
“I was looking for you. I was worried I might have appeared too informal and not princess-like enough.”
Clarice smiled.
Isaac tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, thinking how many unnecessary concerns she had.
“So, did you gather much useful information today? You mentioned that you would personally gather valuable information by going out.”
Upon Isaac’s question, Clarice’s face froze briefly. Then she chuckled awkwardly and nodded.
“The man named Poron in the nearby village was stung by a bee yesterday, you know.”
“…”
“And Jake, who lives next to Poron, had a tooth pulled. It seems he was in immense pain.”
“…”
“And oh—didn’t someone complain about the taste of grilled skewers at that restaurant…?”
“…”
At Isaac’s flat stare, Clarice placed her hand on her chest and exhaled deeply.
“I’ll explain logically, even a fool would understand, why these pieces of information I’ve mentioned are incredibly important. Come with me.”
‘Ah, what.’
Clarice, unwilling to admit that the information she brought was completely useless, was now determined to prove she was right, driven by her competitive spirit. Watching her, Isaac’s face turned pale.
Fortunately, one of her accompanying guards intervened sensibly.
“The matchups have been drawn.”
Since earlier, they had been drawing the Sword Festival’s battle brackets at the entrance to the banquet hall.
Isaac found his name and furrowed his brow.
[Isaac Helvint vs Silbern Caldias]
