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45. Beggar Siblings – Marquis Benard Tatian

[Achievement: Noble Assassination – All nobles feel a slight fear towards you.]

[Achievement: Long Live the Rauno Family – Gain slight favor from the thugs associated with the Rauno Family. Acquire slight hostility from families hostile to the Rauno Family.]

Marquis Tatian’s son, Toton Tatian, was killed by Leo. And after successfully completing a major contract, Leo rose to the rank of an executive in the Rauno Family.

Thanks to Toton Tatian ignoring the ultimatum thrown by the Marquis. As soon as he recovered, he hurried to the royal palace in search of the princess.

“I truly love her. Father, I really do.”

Finally, Marquis Benard Tatian called his son and asked for his intentions, but he repeatedly stated that he loved the princess.

Love? The Marquis thought his son surely had ulterior motives. He must have plotted something with the princess. And also with the people behind her.

The Marquis smiled at his son and replied that he understood, then did not call him again.

After that, Toton Tatian continued to enter and exit the royal palace, while the Swordmaster faction began to look coldly at Marquis Tatian.

Their leader, Count Hermann Forte, had sent his troublesome son to the Monastery Church. So, unless he was prepared for a direct confrontation, the Marquis had to show some understandable movement.

The royalists were also anxiously watching the behavior of their leader, Marquis Tatian, so he seemed to be in a politically awkward position.

However, Marquis Benard Tatian leisurely sipped his drink in his office as usual.

The person he was concerned about was not the mediocre nobles from the royalists or Swordmaster faction. He wasn’t even worried about his son’s actions.

The targets he was keeping an eye on were only the king and the Swordmaster. The scattered documents on his massive desk were all related to those two.

Hermann Forte was a person with extremely far-right tendencies. He was passionate about strengthening military power and often displayed admiration for force.

With him in power, kingdoms without a Swordmaster had no choice but to take a step back diplomatically against the Belita Kingdom, and the citizens and nobles of Belita cheered and supported the Count.

Of course, Marquis Tatian was not someone who judged people only by their appearance. In his view, the Count had just occupied a position where he could politically demonstrate his strengths.

But recently, the Count’s movements were entirely different from what he had expected.

For some reason, the Swordmaster had not dispatched the 1st and 2nd Knights even though war had broken out. He himself was not heading to the battlefield and was quietly holding his ground.

The Marquis gathered the scattered documents, quickly organized them, and tossed them aside. He then picked up his drink and fell into deep thought.

It was hard to understand the Swordmaster’s behavior.

The war was a moment to showcase the achievements of the “prosperity and military strength” that the Count often proclaimed, and it was also a prime opportunity to expand his political position through merits.

‘There must be a greater scheme at play…’

He was convinced that Hermann Forte was plotting something.

He had realized it when the princess and Gilbert Forte exchanged kisses. The Count had stirred up a war using his own son.

However, the subsequent actions of the Marquis’s own son and the princess were completely unexpected.

How had the Count moved the princess? Was the king possibly involved? What kind of reward had his son agreed to with the Count?

The reason for not sending the knights to the battlefield while being at odds with the royalists?

The Marquis scoffed at such an obvious ploy and then tilted his head in confusion.

It was too predictable. If the Swordmaster hastily mobilized the knights, he would meet his end at the hands of the Marquis.

Unless the Swordmaster rushed into this mansion and struck him down before mobilizing the knights.

Of course, that wouldn’t happen.

‘Since information is still lacking, I guess I’ll just keep an eye on this side…’

The Marquis pushed the Swordmaster out of his mind and thought of something else. He approached a large portrait painted on one side of the office wall. It was a portrait of his late wife.

He spoke softly in front of it.

“I’m sorry, but it seems I won’t be able to keep my promise. A better son has come along.”

She had left him with the last wish to take good care of their only son. Still, due to the bond formed through their shared lives, he wanted to fulfill her wish as much as possible, but that had now become a fantasy.

He planned to kill his son and erase the justification for the Swordmaster to strike at the royalists.

The Marquis thought he ought to remove that portrait as well while turning away.

Leaning against the window and looking down, a young man came to mind.

Did that young man have the qualifications to seize the throne?

For now, it was passing.

He entrusted his son’s assassination to the young man, who faithfully carried out the task.

*

The day after his son was killed, the young man who killed him came to see the Marquis.

“Good job.”

The Marquis gestured for Leo to take a seat and opened a cabinet to fetch some liquor.

At that moment, a cold sensation brushed past his back.

[Achievement: Noble Assassination – All nobles feel a slight fear towards you.]

What kind of feeling is this?

This guy really is strange. No, I should say he’s now a usable son.

Even while pouring the liquor and glasses, the Marquis was acutely aware of Leo behind him, and turning around, he asked him,

“Care for a drink?”

“It would be an honor.”

The Marquis personally filled Leo’s glass and handed it over. The young man accepted it with impeccable courtesy. Then an inquiry he had forgotten suddenly surfaced.

‘But why does the sister not know any etiquette? By the way she looks, it’s clear they are siblings…’

The Marquis smiled lightly as curiosity surged up, raising his glass. It was indeed a rare hand he had acquired.

The two lightly clinked their glasses. They each took a sip, but conversation failed to flow, so the two men silently gulped down the strong liquor.

Then the Marquis realized this. Such situations were so rare that his reaction was delayed.

‘Heh heh heh. I see. Now it’s my turn to negotiate.’

Since he had adequately demonstrated, it was now time for his move.

What a cute audacity. The Marquis received that quite refreshingly and gave a light tap on the glass, breaking the silence.

“You mentioned you had knowledge of swordsmanship before. Are you still training now?”

“I practice personally when I can find time. The weather has warmed up, and the night sky has become beautiful lately.”

Practicing alone without a master during the night after working during the day. That meant life was not easy. Such is the life of lowly thugs.

“Spring is almost over already… Soon it will get hot, so you’ll need shade to cool off.”

“That’s right. A place with a cool well would be perfect.”

The Marquis’s thin eyebrows twitched. The well symbolized family or community. It was a request not just for a swordsmanship master but also to take him in as an adopted son.

Chuckling softly, the Marquis replied,

“Haha. A well, huh… That brings back memories. I can’t recall the last time I drew up water from one.”

He was planning to take him in as an adopted son anyway, but he still had questions left.

‘You should at least let me know which household you’re from.’

The only things he knew about this young man were his name, swordsmanship skills, and that he had entered the Rauno Family using some harlot.

He had confirmed that his swordsmanship skills were enough to easily break through a carriage door.

Upon seeing the door, his knight said,

“It’s quite considerable. However, it’s strange. This was not broken through strength. This was purely with swordsmanship, yet given his weak physique, I can’t make sense of it. It seems he has inherent talent in swordsmanship.”

‘Could he be Count Forte’s illegitimate child? Is this part of the conspiracy too?’

But the Marquis soon discarded that thought.

Even if the Count were to have an illegitimate child or a complete stranger, if they had excellent sword skills, he would seat them as his heir.

He could never afford to waste such talent.

The Marquis stroked his thin lips and went through his mental checklist.

‘Which fallen knightly family was it again?’

The body imbued with mana is inherited differently from the sorcerers’ mana sensitivity.

Though swordsmanship talent and physical talent were separate, they were not entirely unlinked to the family, and the Marquis believed that one had to be exposed to something since childhood for talent to sprout.

Yet nothing specific came to mind.

Knightly families were generally weak in etiquette, yet this young man’s etiquette was impeccable, so unless he came from a prominent family, his faultless manners were incomprehensible.

‘Is he really an illegitimate child? No. What kind of fool would neglect such a child to keep the lineage? Yes, he must have been cast out. For some reason or another, it’s clear he was expelled.’

The Marquis was certain.

This person came from abroad. Among the noble families in the Belita Kingdom, as far as he knew, there were no such siblings.

“Haha. Have you personally drawn up water from a well, my Lord Marquis? It must have been a memorable experience.”

The young man gave an enigmatic yet cool response, and the Marquis paused for a moment, seeming to relish the memories, encouraging an agreement.

However, his insides were filled with frustration and questions. This brat was refusing to reveal his past.

The Marquis rubbed his chin lightly and thought.

He truly is a peculiar fellow. Is there some past he wants to hide from me? From Benard Tatian? Why would he need to conceal his past when trying to enter as an adopted son of a great noble who dominates the western part of the Belita Kingdom? More importantly, where did he come from?

He was brimming with curiosity and greed.

The Marquis wanted desperately to adopt this pair as his son and daughter. The card they had presented was quite convincing, making it hard to let go of.

Leo, this young man was tempting, but… Lena, that girl also had immense value.

The Marquis had never seen such a beautiful woman. Even dressed in a shabby dress and cheap accessories, she looked dazzling.

‘Despite the awful attire… a simple outfit suits such a pretty lady better.’

He imposed his preferences onto Lena.

Such beauty does not require extravagant clothing.

Dressing her in colors like a blue backdrop would accentuate her appearance, and using small, nearly invisible accessories would help draw focus.

In fact, whatever she wore wouldn’t matter due to her appearance…

The Marquis’s imaginative gaze traveled from Lena’s toes upwards until it landed on her face.

As his eyes met Lena’s sparkling golden ones, he couldn’t help but admire them lightly once more.

Her golden-hued irises.

There lay immense value hidden within. The golden eyes were the symbol of the Acaian Empire’s royal family.

As time passed, the royal blood dissipated, and the golden eyes faded, making them difficult to find nowadays. However, nobles or royals with blood mixed from the royal family occasionally inherited such eyes.

Rarely, this also happened with commoners, but tracing their ancestry, one would find that they descended from the Acaian Empire royalty.

If that commoner happened to be female, they would likely resent their lineage…

The Marquis examined the young man before him.

Clearly shining golden eyes, but those of this young man appeared to hold little use. They looked nice, yet that was all. The value of a male noble was determined by his abilities, title, and the strength of his family.

In contrast, Lena’s eyes bore value. Besides the strength of her paternal family, the worth of a noble lady also encompassed more factors. For instance, appearance, lineage, personality, and so on.

The Marquis gauged Lena’s worth like a merchant assessing horses in a marketplace and sought a buyer.

‘If I adopt that girl and marry her off to a prince…’

If the prince favors Lena, the royalists would gain immensely, and even if the reaction was lukewarm, at the very least, the Marquis family would maintain its power as an in-law.

No matter how much Count Hermann Forte swayed around the prince, he couldn’t dictate a young man’s reaction upon meeting a stunning beauty.

“I don’t seem to have many good memories. Just that my only sister is precious, and she…”

At that moment, the young man before him slyly refilled his liquor.

The Marquis smiled slyly. The fact that this brat was being cunning while hiding his past didn’t really bother him.

‘That level of loss is something I can tolerate.’

And he would find out eventually.

Marquis Benard Tatian was confident that he wouldn’t suffer even a penny of loss. The reason the scale, symbolizing the Tatian family, had been tilted from the beginning had its explanation.

He clinked his glass against the one extended by the young man, and Leo thought, “Finally, I’ve succeeded,” and smiled brightly.