The Counselor’s Fee of a Tribute is Quite Expensive

Indeed, is that so.

As Kyle listened to Sylvia, he could find himself nodding ‘indeed’ somewhere in his head.

Perhaps it was a truth he had been guessing all along.

It was just that hearing it from a third party made him more certain, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

‘A sacrifice, huh.’

Yes, it could only be described as a sacrifice.

When Kyle deliberately linked the inside story of the Drake family with the affairs of the Eleanor family and pondered the differences between the two, that word must have inadvertently come to mind.

He doesn’t know exactly what kind of karma he is carrying.

However, even he thought that Persis Drake was carrying something alone without telling his son the important facts.

“At least if Kyle’s eyes weren’t wrong, and if the look in Drake-kyung’s eyes that Kyle saw at the end was his father’s… I think this is right.”

“Then it means that we might not have been the only ones trying to hide Vermillion.”

“That’s right. Maybe Drake-kyung also returned relieved, no?”

That’s right.

Besides, thinking like that, Kyle had one thing that came to mind.

It was the whole story of the incident he had heard from Vermillion not long ago when he came running to the Lyaird family after dying and coming back to life.

‘Those bastards didn’t try to get rid of Vermillion halfway for no reason.’

At that time, Kyle had one question.

That was the question of ‘Why did those bastards have to go through the trouble of trying to get rid of Vermillion halfway?’

At the time, Vermillion was unaware that his double-agent act had been caught by the Eyes of Dawn.

That’s why he was trying to return with the thought that his main family was safe, and that choice was not a wrong action if you think about it.

On the other hand, the Eyes of Dawn had internally confirmed early on that Vermillion was a traitor.

Here, there is a gap in information between each other.

If those bastards had approached as if they didn’t know that Vermillion had betrayed them, they could have dealt with him even more easily.

But they couldn’t.

They deliberately tried to kill Vermillion, even taking the dangerous risk of assassination along the way.

‘I didn’t understand it. There’s no need to go through such trouble.’

At the time, Kyle couldn’t understand that point at all.

There’s no need to go through such trouble, just wait for Vermillion to return to the Drake family’s main castle, use someone in the family, or secretly cut off his head while he’s asleep.

But it turns out that wasn’t the case.

Knowing that he couldn’t, he deliberately took the trouble.

And perhaps the reason for that would be explained by Persis’ actions.

‘Persis was also trying to hide his son, huh.’

Of course, he doesn’t know the exact details.

But this much is certain.

The Eyes of Dawn judged Vermillion as a traitor and told Persis about this fact, ordering him to kill him or at least leave him to die.

In the process, Persis disobeyed the order, or even if he didn’t openly disobey, there is also the possibility that he sensed something somewhere.

Perhaps they also realized that Persis was not friendly to them, guessed that he would not carry out their orders, and may not have mentioned it to him separately in the first place.

Either way, what is certain is that the opinions of the Eyes of Dawn and Persis differed.

And all the penalties for that may be borne by Persis, and furthermore, the Drake family.

If that’s true, it means it’s too early to rest assured that Vermillion is alive.

“If everything is true, it means that it’s not just Persis-kyung who is in danger.”

“That’s right. But isn’t there also a fortunate point?”

“A fortunate point?”

A fortunate point in this possibly urgent situation?

When Kyle asked back with a puzzled look, Sylvia answered with a soft smile as if trying to reassure him.

“It means we’ve bought time. After all, unless it is certain that Drake Gongja is alive, they won’t be able to scold Drake-kyung any further.”

“Ah…!”

At those words, Kyle let out a low exclamation and clapped his hands.

That’s right.

Anyway, they have not yet visually confirmed the existence of Vermillion, who was saved by the skin of his teeth.

To be exact, there was someone who confirmed it, but they are no longer people of this world.

Just looking at the fact that the Archbishop asked ‘How did you survive?’ when he reunited with Vermillion, it must be true that the Eyes of Dawn internally treated him as a dead person.

Seeing that they deliberately sent Persis to the Lyaird family to ask about his life or death, they may be somewhat suspicious or may have guessed that there is a possibility that he is alive.

However, in this situation where it is not certain that he is really alive, there are many ambiguous aspects for the Eyes of Dawn to further pressure Persis.

At least, he has bought time until Vermillion faces the Eyes of Dawn again or returns to the Drake family.

Of course, it’s still too early to rest assured.

If all these guesses are true, then Persis must have not carried out the orders of the Eyes of Dawn or was uncooperative with them.

After all, if the Eyes of Dawn continue to oppress them using this as an excuse, it will be difficult for the Drake family to just stand up and endure.

Anyway, if this fact becomes publicly known, the very existence of the family will be threatened.

But to interpret it positively, the Eyes of Dawn will not be able to easily dismiss them, who they have barely brought in.

‘Because each pair of hands is urgently needed. If they turn the Drake family into an enemy, it will be tiring for those bastards as well.’

It’s not just because of the power the Drake family has.

Anyway, the current situation is that the Emperor has massively circulated official documents, declaring war on the Eyes of Dawn.

If the Drake family really turns against the Eyes of Dawn here and starts spreading as much information about them as possible while acting crazy?

That is a situation that the Eyes of Dawn cannot help but feel chills down their spines.

They are only hiding their swords behind their backs because they have not openly pointed them at each other.

If one side starts to openly point a sword, the other side has enough power to draw a sword as well.

Then, while this cold war state buys time, Kyle had something to do.

Of course, the first of these was to completely dig into the inside story of the Drake family.

The second was the plan contained in the story he had shared with Vermillion today.

“Sylvia.”

“Yes, Kyle.”

“I heard last time that you have quite a bit of knowledge about mythology and religion, so could you answer a few questions?”

“Of course. If it’s something I know.”

Even though she felt it was quite an abrupt question topic, Sylvia nodded with a smile.

At that, Kyle narrowed his eyes, and then opened his mouth cautiously, recalling a phrase that had been lingering in his head for some time.

“Actually, when Hyung-nim passed away a while ago, he left me with these words. Please, don’t chase after the light.”

“Yes? Really?”

“……? Yeah.”

He had only conveyed Hasel’s will, not his will, but why was she so surprised?

Kyle, who had asked the question, was rather dumbfounded by her attitude and blinked his eyes.

In response, Sylvia stroked her chin with a serious expression.

“…That’s unusual. That must be the last words that the goddess Lethe left behind.”

“Are you talking about Lethe, the goddess of dawn?”

“Yes. Did I tell you before? From some point on, the goddess Lethe disappeared and stopped answering the calls of her believers.”

“You did.”

Recalling the short snippets of common sense he had heard in the Imperial Palace, Kyle nodded, and Sylvia added to it.

“But there was such a rumor among the believers. That the goddess left a message just before she disappeared. That word was this. ‘No one should try to chase after the light.'”

“Is it a coincidence?”

“Well, it could be a coincidence…”

If coincidences overlapped as they were, there would be nothing strange, but neither Kyle nor Sylvia guessed that it was a coincidence.

“Besides, the light refers to the authority of Erze, the goddess of peace in mythology. After that rumor spread, the relationship between the two religious orders became even more strained.”

“……”

Of course, it’s somewhat strange, but it’s not a story that can’t be understood.

Besides, according to Sylvia, Erze’s oracle was cut off about 40 years ago, and after she returned.

Didn’t she say that she threw words that seemed to guess that Lethe was the culprit of all this?

After that, on the contrary, Lethe’s oracle and message were cut off, and just before that, Lethe disappeared after leaving such words.

If you speculate based on the context alone, it’s just that the relationship between the goddesses went wrong, and as a result, they threw words to check each other, which is roughly understandable.

However, why did Hasel leave those words just before his death?

What on earth did he know?

“…Sylvia.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry, but I have to go back to Ruben again tomorrow.”

“Ruben? Is it because of that informant?”

Sylvia asked cautiously, recalling that he had bought information from an informant when they had visited Ruben together before.

In response, Kyle shook his head and answered.

“No, there’s someone else I need to meet.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

Then Sylvia expressed her intention to accompany him as if she had been waiting.

How many days has it been since he came back after saving Anise, and he’s trying to go on a journey together again.

Kyle was just worried, so he tried to refuse with a difficult expression.

“You’d better stay here…”

“It’s not a good thing to leave a woman alone and leave suddenly. Besides, I won’t just be a burden anymore.”

“…Okay. Do as you please.”

But because Sylvia’s stubbornness was so strong, he had to surrender obediently in the end.

Seeing that, Sylvia smiled contentedly and covered his hand on the table with her own.

“The story is over, shouldn’t we go back and rest?”

“I even gave you counseling after all this time, are you going to be so heartless? At least let’s go for a walk together, shall we?”

“Haa…”

Maybe this was the main purpose.

Still, feeling that the counseling fee was quite cheap, Kyle got up from his seat with a bitter smile.

Even so, he knew it inside.

If he left himself alone like this, he would obviously be racking his brains even more, so she was deliberately doing this.

Thanking her for her thoughtfulness, he took a thin coat separately and draped it over Sylvia’s shoulders.

The weather was colder than he thought, but he felt a warmth in his heart.