Chapter 149: I don’t owe you anything – 4

The Alan family returned after another long day.

I kept ruminating over Scholar Lyle’s words.

Why is there never a clear answer in this world?

Why must we be shaken and tormented like this?

“Lord Kailo.”

As I endured the cold that seeped into my bones, lost in thought, the head butler approached me.

“Lord Kailo, you should come outside. There’s someone claiming to be your friend.”

“…A friend?”

The word felt strange to me.

Who would call themselves my friend?

The only people I could even remotely call friends were my comrades from the Fourth Knights.

I had no friends in this land.

Nevertheless, I followed the head butler outside, and soon, I could hear the commotion caused by the so-called friend at the castle gates.

“Let go of me! I told you, I need to see that bastard Kailo!”

“You filthy bastard! Do you even know who Lord Kailo is, speaking so rudely? You were told to wait! Lord Kailo is coming out, and when he confirms you’re no friend of his, you’d better be prepared!”

A man was struggling against the guards trying to restrain him.

I pushed through the crowd and approached him.

“…Valon.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

I scanned him from head to toe.

The moment I called his name, the guards hesitated and loosened their grip on him.

Valon forcefully yanked his arms free and grumbled at the soldiers.

“I told you, I’m his friend, you bastards.”

Then, he turned to face me.

I asked.

“…Why are you here—”

“What the hell are you doing?”

After months of not seeing each other, my friend didn’t greet me.

Instead, he scowled and immediately started demanding answers.

“You crawled into this freezing land, and now your brain’s frozen too?”

“What?”

Eleanor and Reginald frowned at his rude behavior.

But neither he nor I paid attention to their reactions.

We were already too deep in our own conversation.

“You must have heard by now…!”

“Vivian has been accused of being a witch, and you’re just standing around here doing nothing, you bastard!!”

—Thud!

Without hesitation, he threw a punch at my face.

It was a blow packed with his full weight and strength.

My vision flashed white, and my mind went blank for a moment.

I staggered, losing my balance from the unexpected hit.

Immediately, the guards pounced on Valon, pinning him to the ground.

“This bastard, how dare—!!”

“Bring the shackles!”

Despite the overwhelming force restraining him, Valon only glared at me, his eyes bloodshot and brimming with tears.

“You son of a bitch…! I never thought you’d be like this, Kailo! What, did becoming a noble make you value your life more? You told us to protect Vivian, to do whatever it took! And now that she’s actually in danger, you’re just standing by?!”

His voice cracked as he screamed at me.

“I thought you were injured or something!! I thought you had a reason for not coming to us…! I waited, but you never came! I tried to write you a letter, but I couldn’t! So I came here myself! And what do I find?! Why is everything so peaceful here?! Why do you walk out of your castle so calmly?!”

I shoved the soldiers aside and climbed on top of Valon, grabbing him by the collar.

“Calm? What the hell do you know to say something like that?”

“Vivian has been accused of being a witch, and you’re still here. That alone proves you’re just sitting back and doing nothing! Are you deaf? I’m telling you, Vivian has been accused of being a witch!!”

“She is a witch.”

I stated it plainly.

The surrounding soldiers exchanged uneasy glances.

To those who didn’t believe in witches, our conversation must have sounded strange.

“…What?”

Valon’s eyelids quivered as he processed my words.

“What… are you saying?”

“I saw her standing in the middle of a sorcery circle. Do I need to say more?”

Valon was at a loss for words.

His face, filled with disbelief, trembled with unease, his emotions barely held in check.

“…Vivian was really a witch?”

“Don’t run your mouth when you know nothing!”

“…Brother.”

Eleanor placed a hand on my shoulder.

“…It’s cold. Let’s go inside and talk. And… there are too many ears listening.”

Looking again, I saw that Valon was shivering uncontrollably in this unfamiliar northern cold.

I let go of his collar.

His head lightly dropped to the ground.

As I took the lead, Valon dusted off the dirt from his body and followed behind me.

Even though our positions and circumstances had changed, the air between us remained the same.

I stepped into my room.

Valon followed and closed the door behind him.

“…So, what.”

As if he had finished his thoughts while walking, he snapped at me.

“You’re saying that because Lady Vivian is a witch, she has to die? Is that it?”

“What?”

“Before being a witch, she’s Lady Vivian. The same Lady Vivian who took care of even us commoners with sincerity. The Lady Vivian we grew up with.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

“She treated you well because she had no knights loyal to her. It wasn’t because she liked you. Vivian did whatever she had to do to survive. Being a witch was just part of that.”

“So she has to die because of it?”

“…A witch has to die.”

This time, he let out a bitter laugh.

“Are you serious, Kailo?”

“What am I supposed to do?”

I threw the question back at him.

“She’s already been captured by the Order, hasn’t she? You all surrendered without even trying to fight, and Vivian left because of it, didn’t she?”

“Kailo—!”

“It was your duty to protect her. You were the ones who failed, and now you come running to me like a bunch of kids, trying to blame me? You should’ve protected her better, you bastard!”

“Yeah!!”

Valon shouted.

Tears fell pathetically from his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m an idiot. I’m not like you—I don’t have that much courage, and I’m not that great at fighting either, you bastard. Even though I wanted to protect Lady Vivian, I was too useless to do it.”

“But you’re different. You’re not an idiot like me—you do whatever you set your mind to. If you tried, you could save Lady Vivian even now. You’re the only one who can! But if you say you won’t… then what the hell are we supposed to do?!”

He wiped his eyes with his dirty sleeve and continued his rant.

“And what does it matter if she’s a witch? Has she ever done anything to hurt us? Even if she really is a witch, I want her to live. She reclaimed our land for us! It’s not like she’s ever caused you any harm—”

“Hey.”

“…What do you mean, ‘not like she has’?”

I whispered.

“…That woman cursed me.”

“What curse?”

“…Do you think I willingly threw away everything and suffered for her? That I did all this for the woman who ruined my life… and it just felt natural?”

He stared at me, realizing what I meant.

Then he scoffed.

The look in his eyes was one of pure disbelief, as if he was staring at the most pathetic person in the world.

“You dumbass…”

He muttered.

“That’s not a curse. You just… fell in love with Lady Vivian.”

His words struck my heart like a hammer.

–If it wasn’t a curse, what would you do then?

“Shit, you think you’re the only one? Every single one of us in the Punishment Unit had a crush on Lady Vivian at some point! But the rest of us gave up because we weren’t confident enough! Because we didn’t have the talent like you did! You just had the skills and the courage, that’s all. How the hell is that a curse? If anything, it’s a blessing.”

“You had the ability! You had the guts to stand by Lady Vivian’s side! You were able to protect the woman you loved! And now you’re just dismissing it all as part of a curse? I never thought you were this much of an idiot.”

“Yeah, I get it—you don’t understand. Of course, it doesn’t make sense to you. Because of Lady Vivian, you couldn’t even attend your own mother’s funeral. Because of her, you returned home so late even after hearing your father was critically ill. Because of her, despite being a noble, you ended up living among us lowlifes, and now there’s not a single noble habit left in you. It’s all because of Lady Vivian, so of course, falling in love with her must feel ridiculous to you.”

“…But you bastard, people are fickle like that. Maybe you don’t get it because you always get your way, but feelings don’t work the way you want them to. Even I feel like an idiot, coming all this way to lecture you like this. But I still couldn’t stop myself from seeking you out…”

“Kailo, I… I just want to live like this forever. Working at Rondor Castle… hanging out with the girls I like… fooling around with the punishment unit guys… We’ve built so many memories together, and now it’s all going to end in a sad conclusion.”

“You know that, you bastard…! Hic… You’re going to regret it…!”

Valon sobbed right after saying that.

His words certainly awakened something inside me, but seeing him cry so pathetically made me lose focus.

In the end, even in this serious situation, I let out a hollow laugh.

“…Stop crying. It’s unsightly.”

But the more I spoke, the harder he cried.

I threw a towel at him.

He grabbed it, buried his face in it, and sobbed for a long time.

My mind was a mess, but I knew I had time to think.

First, I had to deal with Valon.

“…Go wash up. You’ve been shivering weirdly for a while now.”

“…It’s because it’s cold. Why the hell is the North so freezing…”

I stepped outside.

As soon as she saw me, Eleanor, who had been lingering near the door, gasped and ran over.

“A-Are you okay, oppa? I-I heard fighting… Should I throw that commoner in prison?”

Wallace and Martin would have burst out laughing if they had heard that.

I smirked and patted Eleanor’s head.

“…Prepare some water for washing. And get some warm clothes for my friend.”

“F-Friend? He’s really your friend? That commoner?”

“Yeah.”

I didn’t bother hiding it.

“…He’s one of my closest friends.”

TL Note:

Translating this is getting torture.