Purpose of the Visit

A sudden visit from a big shot like the head of the Drake family.

But Kyle seemed to already know why he had come, and headed to the reception room with an indifferent expression.

There, sat a middle-aged man with blonde hair, similar to Vermillion but slightly faded as if weathered by time, tied back in a single strand.

He was Percis Drake, the current head of the Drake family.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Young Master Lyaird. Please forgive my sudden visit.”

“Not at all, Lord Drake. It’s my first time meeting you in person.”

“Indeed. But I’ve heard a lot about your reputation.”

“It’s just an undeserved reputation.”

The initial greetings were ordinary.

So ordinary and bland, in fact, that it made one wonder if there wasn’t some other hidden agenda.

Soon, as Kyle took a seat opposite him, Percis paused in tilting his teacup, set it down, and opened his mouth.

“I hear my son was quite close to you?”

“That’s right.”

“As a parent, I want to express my gratitude. He seems like a decent fellow at first glance, but he’s secretly quite headstrong. He didn’t have many friends who truly understood him.”

“I’m the one who owes Vermillion a great debt, so I should be the one expressing gratitude.”

Several pleasantries were exchanged, but Kyle had already realized that Percis’s words weren’t just to thank him for getting along with his son.

The fact that he asked, ‘Was quite close to you?’ in the past tense was telling.

Since Vermillion Drake is officially missing, he must be aware of that fact and deliberately phrased the question that way.

If so, the reason for his visit was obvious.

“Actually, the reason I urgently sought you out is none other than this. Are you aware that my son, Vermillion’s, whereabouts have been unclear recently?”

“Yes, I’ve heard. Apparently, he went missing after stopping by Artas….”

“Indeed. I’ve had people searching high and low, but he hasn’t been found anywhere. It’s quite peculiar.”

Does “people” refer to members of his household?

Or does it refer to members of the Eyes of Dawn?

Either way, it was none of Kyle’s business.

“But I hear that you and the Lady of the Elenore family accompanied him on his trip to Artas.”

“That’s correct.”

To be precise, Sylvia is currently the head of the family, but Kyle didn’t have the energy to nitpick such minor details, so he nodded indifferently.

At that moment, Percis’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Then you should have returned together, but why didn’t you?”

“Vermillion said he had someone else to meet, so he parted ways with us midway. I did run into him once at the Imperial Palace, but that was it.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Hearing the answer, Percis nodded slightly, as if he found it plausible.

It wasn’t much different from the information he had gathered.

In fact, his son had separated from the two as soon as he arrived in the capital and acted alone, and there were no reports of the three of them being together, although he did stop by the Imperial Palace along the way.

Moreover, the instructions given to Vermillion within the Eyes of Dawn, or rather within the family, were to carry out the orders he received upon arriving in Artas.

More precisely, he was supposed to help Hasel Lyaird kill Kyle and Sylvia.

If such a person had been traveling with the two of them, it would have been even stranger in a way.

However, that’s only when looking at his superficial behavior.

If Vermillion was secretly in league with Kyle, whom he was supposed to kill, the story would change somewhat.

Rather, if he was trying to avoid suspicion and faithfully play the role of a double agent, all the evidence supporting his previous course of action could be refuted.

Furthermore, Vermillion is currently officially branded as a traitor within the Eyes of Dawn.

Knowing this, Percis couldn’t help but feel that Kyle’s words weren’t saying, ‘I have nothing to do with Vermillion,’ but rather, ‘I can’t reveal Vermillion’s location.’

‘I wonder how he’ll react.’

And Kyle was, of course, aware of this fact as well.

Nevertheless, he said this for two reasons.

First, there’s no point in lying anyway.

If they’re going to go to the trouble of visiting someone else’s family to interrogate them, and given the Drake family’s intelligence network, they must know every detail of Kyle and Vermillion’s movements in Artas.

In that situation, there’s no point in telling lies, as it would only arouse suspicion.

And second, it’s to throw out bait by saying this.

Even if Percis comes on stronger here and strongly questions him about it, Kyle can’t be pushed any further if he denies it.

To do that, he would have to reveal the fact that he conducted a background check, that they are involved with the Eyes of Dawn, and even that he knows Vermillion is a traitor.

How could that be possible?

‘How will you react, Percis Drake.’

Kyle pretended to tilt his teacup and watched Percis’s complexion from across the rim.

If he’s trying to find and punish the traitor Vermillion at all costs, he must be sweating bullets right now.

In the worst-case scenario, he might even try to force him to talk.

Kyle was not letting go of his tension in preparation for that moment.

“So, you don’t know anything about my son either.”

“No.”

“…I see. I must have been mistaken. I’ll be on my way now.”

“……?”

But when an unexpected reaction came out, it was Kyle’s turn to be dumbfounded.

As if he was done with his business, Percis downed the cold tea in one gulp and got up from his seat.

‘What? Is he trying to test me?’

Kyle rolled his eyes, unsure how to interpret the meaning of this action.

He’s giving up on the only source of information that could reveal Vermillion’s location so easily?

He wondered if there was some other meaning, but Kyle couldn’t think of a good reason.

He just gave up early because it seemed difficult to get him to talk and is trying to circumvent it in another way, but if that’s the case, he should have done so without coming here in the first place.

In the first place, a person like Percis Drake wouldn’t be so naive as to expect him to open his mouth so easily.

“Young Master Lyaird. May I ask you one favor?”

“If it’s something I can do, I’ll do it for you.”

“Thank you. It won’t be anything difficult.”

Percis, who was silently getting up from his seat and trying to leave the reception room, turned his head slightly and opened his mouth, and Kyle expressed his affirmation while feeling puzzled.

In response, Percis wore a bitter smile on his lips and opened his mouth in a voice that felt somewhat regretful.

“If you ever happen to meet my son, please tell him. Tell him not to worry about the family or his father, and to live comfortably.”

“…Yes, if I ever meet him, I will.”

“I’ll keep that in mind and be on my way.”

Was he trying to gauge whether he was hiding Vermillion by saying that?

Kyle briefly had that thought, but then he met Percis’s eyes, which were visible through his faded golden hair, and sighed.

Because he saw him smiling faintly, like an ordinary father who had heard news that his son was safe.

＊＊＊

Vermillion had taken a separate room and approached Kyle to talk to him when he returned much faster than expected.

“Did my father go back?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s unexpected. I thought for sure Kyle would have noticed that I was hiding me….”

“He probably knows. He didn’t react like he didn’t know.”

At Kyle’s answer, Vermillion muttered, ‘I thought so,’ and nodded.

Well, it would be strange if he didn’t know.

However, since there’s no way to present concrete evidence, he probably just gave up and went back.

“Hey, Vermillion.”

“Yes.”

“What kind of person is your father, Lord Percis?”

“What kind of person…? It’s hard to express.”

“Just say what you feel. What’s so difficult about it?”

Kyle also had the confidence to answer immediately if someone asked him about Dver’s character, so he frowned at Vermillion, who was hesitating to answer, as if he was frustrated.

Unable to resist the pressure, Vermillion stroked his chin for a moment and pondered.

It’s hard to express it in a nutshell, but if I had to say it, it would be something like this.

“He’s the kind of person who would rather break than bend.”

“…….”

“And he cherishes his family dearly.”

“Even though he tried to put you in the Eyes of Dawn?”

It wasn’t meant to be sarcastic, but a question asked out of genuine curiosity.

In response, Vermillion smiled bitterly and said.

“Well, my father actually tried to dissuade me from joining the Eyes of Dawn. However, it was entirely my will to join the Eyes of Dawn. I wanted to have more power at all costs.”

“He dissuaded you?”

“Yes. That’s why I don’t have a token yet.”

“You have a token on your hand.”

When Kyle pointed to the piercing in his hand, Vermillion shrugged his shoulders and shook his hands, spreading them out.

As if to say that this is nothing.

“This isn’t a real token. To put it bluntly, it’s just like calling dibs. Those who truly want to be with the Eyes of Dawn undergo a test and have a black rose-like pattern tattooed on their bodies.”

“A pattern….”

Hearing those words, Kyle was startled as he remembered his memories from before his regression.

Didn’t he also have to go through a kind of test to prove whether he would become a true comrade with them, as Vermillion said?

And those who went through that process were given a black rose-like mark.

The piercing on the hand seems to be allowed even from the apprentice stage.

But after hearing that, Kyle suddenly became suspicious.

It was an important piece of information that could potentially run through not only Percis Drake but also the entire current situation of the Drake family.