Chapter 88

The atmosphere in the True Martial Palace, where Glenn Zieghart's fourth son Balder Zieghart resided, was as cold as the northern ocean.

The reason was simple.

Balder's Zieghart's son, Raden Zieghart, had recently returned to the house. He had been in a bad mood ever since.

Slam!

Raden Zieghart grit his teeth and punched the wall.

"Damn it!"

He swore in frustration.

He had returned after destroying one of the White Blood Religion's branches, yet his name wasn't being praised anywhere. It was as if his achievement had been completely forgotten.

And that guy was the reason behind all that. The trash living in the annex building, Raon Zieghart, whose name was spreading throughout the house.

In the banquet hall, in the training ground, and even in the cafeteria—everything was about Raon. Raon! Raon Zieghart, who had killed the Green War Demon, was the only thing people were talking about.

"That little fly!"

He couldn't control his anger. A little bug that he had never even paid attention to was overshadowing his achievements.

Raden Zieghart left his room, a distorted expression of irritation on his face.

"Are you going out?"

The butler standing in front of the door bowed and asked.

"What else do you think I'm doing?"

Raden slammed the door and frowned.

"I will make the preparations. Please tell me your destina…"

"I'm going to the annex building."

"Pardon? Why are you going there so suddenly?"

The butler's eyes widened upon hearing that he was going to the annex building.

"I'm going to check out how great the guy that outweighed my name looks."

Raden's orange eyes flared up intensely.

***

While tending the garden, Judiel kept glancing to the right, where Sylvia was personally trimming a tree.

'This is a really strange place…'

They weren't lacking maids, yet Sylvia often did the gardening work by herself despite being the master of the annex building.

'And Sylvia isn't the only strange one.'

Despite hiding their expressions, she could see it in the eyes of the maids working in other places. They usually worked reluctantly in order to live, yet the annex building was different.

Everyone sincerely trusted each other as they happily did their tasks, and they considered Raon as their son or little brother.

Judiel had lots of experiences working in different places as a spy, and the annex building was a peculiar and mysterious place among all of them.

"Haa."

Judiel sighed, looking at the annex building.

'He is the most special person, though.'

She was still unable to forget the day she met the monster living in the annex building, when she had seen Raon Zieghart's true face. She still had nightmares about that night at least once a week.

"Haa…"

Cold breath came from her mouth.

'How can such a man exist?'

Raon was still in his early teens. He was at an age where he should be acting like a spoiled child and complaining about food, yet his eyes looked like he wanted to kill everything in the world.

Remembering the red eyes floating on the lake still gave her goosebumps.

'But…'

The way Raon behaved was different from her impression of him. He acted like a shy boy towards the people in the annex building, and he treated every single maid as his family.

And she wasn't an exception.

Except for when he asked her about the Central Martial Palace or Karoon, he treated her the same as the other maids in the annex building. He even helped her out of her predicament recently when she was ordered to return because she was considered worthless.

Judiel even wondered sometimes if she was really a double agent, and if she really had a rage worm inside of her body.

'He is such a great man…'

It felt like he was on a completely different level as a person when she compared herself to him. She was just an average human being. Though, she didn't dare betray or defy him because she was too scared of him.

"Phew… Hmm?"

As Judiel sighed quietly and was about to take care of the grass, a black shoe entered her sight.

Upon raising her head, she could see a middle-aged man with his hair neatly combed back.

'This man is…'

She had seen him before in the Zieghart registry. He was Merkin, the butler in charge of Raden Zieghart, belonging to the True Martial Palace.

"My name is Merkin, butler from the True Martial Palace."

He wasn't bowing to Judiel, but to Sylvia behind her.

"What can I do for you?"

Sylvia stepped forth, putting down the gardening shears she was holding.

"We sent a letter yesterday. I came to check if you are ready."

"Letter? What letter are you talking about?"

"You must've received a letter stating that Sir Raden Zieghart wanted to visit the annex building."

"I didn't get anything like that."

Sylvia frowned and waved her hand.

"I'm sure I heard they gave it to the maids in the annex building."

Raden's butler, Merkin, tilted his head. He looked flustered, but his eyes were calm. Judiel was certain that he was lying.

"Hmm…"

Sylvia turned around to look at the maids. Naturally, nobody knew about the letter.

"When is he coming?"

"He is arriving in thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes?"

Helen, who was standing behind Sylvia, widened her eyes and approached them.

"How are we supposed to prepare ourselves in that short time?"

"We sent the letter yesterday."

Raden's butler, Merkin, smiled as if he was making fun of Sylvia.

"We didn't receive such a letter…"

"Even if you didn't receive one, our young master isn't really considerate about something like that. You'd better prepare as fast as possible."

Merkin's expression was completely laid-back. It looked like he was asking them what they could do when they were mere collaterals.

A member of the direct line that was qualified as a swordsman had the same rank as a vice squad leader. It looked impossible to refuse as they were pretending to have sent a letter beforehand.

Tsk.

Judiel silently clicked her tongue, looking at Merkin. The reason Raden was acting dirty like that was as plain as day.

Raden Zieghart had recently returned with the accomplishment of destroying a branch of the White Blood Religion, yet he was almost forgotten because of Raon's great deeds. It was obvious that he was visiting in order to vent his anger.

'Pathetic men.'

Glenn's fourth son, Balder Zieghart, and his sons all had violent personalities.

Karoon and the Central Martial Palace's swordsmen were also violent, but they weren't foolish enough to make their move in public.

However, the True Martial Palace was different. They straight up picked a fight and didn't hesitate to cross the lines they shouldn't. They weren't any different from bulls charging at a red cloth.

'This is going to be annoying.'

Even among Balder's children, Raden was famous for his negligence. He wasn't going to listen to Sylvia just because she was his aunt, so the situation was bound to become complicated.

'Moreover…'

Raon was currently in the annex building. If Raden ever harmed Sylvia or the maids, the matter was going to escalate.

"Helen, it can't be helped at this point. Make the preparations and tell Raon not to come out."

Sylvia didn't waver despite hearing she had only thirty minutes. She stopped tending the garden and gave her orders while dusting off her clothes.

Considering she mentioned Raon's name, she seemed to be aware of the reason that Raden Zieghart was visiting them.

"…Understood." 

Helen bit her lip and walked towards the annex building. As Judiel was about to follow her along with the other maids, footsteps could be heard from behind her.

She slowly turned her head.

* * *

An elegant blond man wearing a full dress uniform was walking towards them. He had narrow shoulders, a rather slender body, and a long face and nose. He looked exactly like a thug in the back alley by the way he was walking with his hands in his pockets, dragging his shoes.

'He is already here…'

Judiel swallowed. The guy that looked like a hoodlum was Raden Zieghart. Instead of thirty minutes that Merkin had mentioned, he had already arrived in the annex building before five minutes had even passed.

"Oh no! The young master arrived earlier than I thought."

Merkin winked with a nasty smile. As the saying goes, like master like butler.

Spit!

Raden Zieghart spat on a garden flower and stood in front of Sylvia.

"Shall I call you aunt?"

"Young master, Lady Sylvia is at the rock bottom of the collateral hierarchy. You don't need to call her that."

"Ah, that's right. I don't need to."

Raden giggled and tapped the sword around his waist.

"It's dirty even though I told you yesterday that I was going to visit. I guess it can't be helped since worthless people live here."

He trampled the garden's flowers that Sylvia and the maids had been tending with his muddy shoes. He then spat on the road in the center. It looked like it was his habit.

"I'm sorry. We are cleaning up right now."

Sylvia smiled at his nephew, who had reached a different level of rudeness. She was simply looking at Raden.

"Hmph."

Raden frowned in displeasure and spat on the ground once again. He came up while kicking the flowers on the right side.

"Are you telling me to walk on this dirty road?"

He frowned, spitting at the soil covering the road.

"Hey, clean it up right now."

"Alright. Please wait a moment."

Keeping her smile on her face, Sylvia leaned forward to personally clean up the soil.

"You…"

"Hmm…"

Both Raden and his butler Merkin were wide-eyed at the sight. They looked like they didn't expect her to endure such provocation.

'Was she more amazing than I thought…?'

Judiel narrowed her eyes. Even Judiel was angry despite being a spy that only came to the annex building recently, yet Sylvia was enduring it with a smile. Judiel admired her, realizing that Sylvia was the definition of the iron hand in a velvet glove.

The maids that were helping Sylvia clean up the soil had calm expressions, but they couldn't hide the way their hands trembled in anger.

The reason that they were all holding back was for Raon's sake. They were enduring Raden's provocation because they didn't want Raon to cause issues with Raden.

"Hah, how long do I have to wait?"

Raden Zieghart frowned and spat once again on the soil Sylvia was cleaning up. The spit was flowing down her hand.

"Young master!"

Helen, who was heading to the annex building, came back upon witnessing that sight. Her black eyes were hazy with anger.

"That's too much! Even if you are a member of the direct line, the main building won't allow you to pick a fight like this in broad daylight!"

Since Helen had been with Sylvia ever since she was born, her head wasn't filled with reason but emotions coming from the long years they'd spent together.

"H-Helen!"

"Aha."

Raden pushed Sylvia, who was trying to block his way, aside and stood in front of Helen.

"Right. You are right. This is going to be troublesome."

Raden stuck his hand out at Helen. He slapped her cheek with a smile.

Slap!

He didn't look like he was using much strength, yet Helen was pushed back until she hit a tree.

"Sniff…"

Helen trembled, grabbing her cheek.

"But I'm a member of the direct line of this house, which means I'm the master. Even if I do something like this, or even if I kill you, a two-day probation in my room is all I'm going to get."

Raden's pressure increased exponentially. A chill ran down Judiel's spine, as if she were looking at a beast about to devour her.

"Stop!"

As he was about to trample on Helen, Sylvia and the maids stepped in to stop him.

'Eek.'

Judiel bit her lip and stuck next to Sylvia. She was planning to thrust herself into her to take the blow in her stead if that happened.

"You shouldn't say stop, but 'please stop'."

"Ugh…"

Sylvia grit her teeth. She didn't back off, facing Raden's violent pressure.

Clench.

Judiel clenched her fists. She was angry despite being a spy. It was as she was thinking of a way to stop that ruffian that she heard it.

"Ah…"

A murderous intent that made her hair stand on end burst from the annex building. She knew who it was, but she was too scared to look back.

"Ah, the guy I was looking for finally came out."

Raden spat on the ground and grinned.

"Ugh…"

Judiel reluctantly turned her head. The man with crimson flame in his red eyes was Raon, just as she had expected. He was walking towards them with an expressionless face.

Threatening pressure.

She couldn't help swallowing.

'His murderous intent isn't weak…'

Raon's pressure was thin. However, it wasn't because he was lacking in energy. It was because he had concentrated all his murderous intent, resulting in a small pressure.

"Raon Zieghart. I wanted to see that great face."

Whether Raden was aware of that fact or not, he grinned and pushed Sylvia and the maids standing in front of him away.

"..."

Raon's expression was serene. He slowly walked towards him, mouth as firmly closed as a doll's.

Clank.

He drew his sword when he was less than ten steps away from Raden. A clear sound rang out despite the situation.

"Oh, are you going to swing that scary thing to me? Even though I'm a member of the direct line?"

Raden gave a sly smile, believing that Raon would be unable to swing his sword.

"Direct line."

Raon halted his steps and frowned.

"Kuhaha!"

Thinking his words were effective, Raden burst into laughter and walked towards Raon.

"I'm Raden Zieghart, the son of the True Martial Palace's master, Balder Zieghart…"

"So what?"

Raon's sword stormed down at Raden like red lightning.

____

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