Why Are You Trying to Walk That Path Too?

Ttokttok.

On a dark night, Kyle heard a knock on the door from outside. He got out of bed and approached the door.

“You’ve arrived, Hyung-nim.”

“Yeah.”

As he opened the door himself, the person he expected was standing there.

With a luxurious wine bottle in one hand, Harsel smiled like a generous man. Kyle let him in and guided him to a seat.

“I’ve prepared some simple snacks. Please let me know if you need anything more.”

“Hmm, this should be enough.”

Harsel shrugged and replied, looking at the simple snacks on the table, such as sliced cheese and fruit.

It wasn’t up to par with the wine he had prepared with much effort, but he decided to overlook it just for today.

If it were any other time, he would have found some excuse to criticize his younger brother, but tonight he had enough余裕 (yeoyu – leeway/room) to be a magnanimous man.

“It’s Volguinia wine. I specially procured it.”

Harsel, sitting in his chair, showed off the wine label. Kyle’s eyes narrowed slightly as he checked it.

Volguinia. A place famous as a wine mecca even within the Hespia Empire.

The land itself is so fertile that it is good for growing grapes, and I’ve heard that, perhaps due to climatic influences, pests do not occur often, making it easy to manage the plants.

However, the land is quite small, so the amount of grapes and wine that can be produced is limited, and the wines from there are considered quite precious even among nobles.

“It’s a valuable body. I don’t know if I should drink it.”

“Don’t hesitate. That’s why I brought it.”

“Thank you, Hyung-nim.”

Before opening the wine, the two sat down to have a conversation.

If it were Harsel on a normal day, he would have popped the cork as soon as he entered the door and tried to fill the glass as soon as he sat down, but he didn’t do that today.

There was a reason to stall for time.

“……”

“……”

As they sat facing each other, a cold air hung in the air, making it seem inappropriate for brothers to be sharing a drink intimately.

As if they didn’t care about the expensive wine on the table, the two only repeatedly scrutinized each other’s expressions.

“Speaking of which, are you getting along well with Princess Eleanor?”

Harsel, like a thief with a guilty conscience, took the initiative to start the conversation.

Kyle nodded as if he had been waiting for it and continued the conversation calmly.

“Yes, I’m doing well.”

“I heard the story from Father. Originally, you were going to cut off the relationship, right?”

“I had some circumstances. But I’m doing well now, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief.”

Harsel nodded, pretending to be calm on the outside, but inside he thought it was a shame.

Of course, it wasn’t because he had feelings for Sylvia.

If anyone had such a misunderstanding, Harsel would have immediately swung a wine glass at that person’s head.

For Harsel, who doesn’t change his evaluation of people in the first place, a woman who was once called a witch is a woman who is not even worth looking at.

Therefore, Harsel would laugh at the two of them getting along well, thinking that they were a relationship of losers embracing each other.

Of course, from the fact that he was deprived of the position of the next head of the family by his younger brother, and even now he is judging the woman who has become the head of the Eleanor family as a loser, we can see how narrow-minded he is.

If the people of the world were asked to choose a loser between the two and Harsel based on black and white logic, most people would overwhelmingly choose Harsel.

However, it was a meaningless truth for a frog in a well who was trapped in his own world and believed without a doubt that he was the center of the world.

If someone showed him such a truth, Harsel would surely laugh at that person, saying that he was a blind man who couldn’t see even an inch ahead.

A man who doesn’t know that raising the other person is raising himself, and only knows that he can only rise by looking down on the other person.

That’s the kind of person he is. Harsel Liard is the man.

“How have you been recently, Hyung-nim? I haven’t seen you in the castle often, you seem very busy.”

This time, Kyle’s question followed.

At first glance, it seems like just a normal greeting, but there was a subtly awkward aspect to the question that was exchanged between brothers who lived in the same castle.

Of course, as he said, Harsel has been away from the castle a lot lately, so he may have asked because he had few opportunities to see him.

Therefore, Harsel, who received the question, did not find it strange and replied nonchalantly.

“I’m like that every day. How can I only be in the castle when people are calling me from all over the place?”

“…I see. Well, Hyung-nim has a wide network of contacts.”

Harsel indirectly said that he had a strong reputation, and said to Kyle, ‘You don’t know anyone, so you must be stuck in the castle.’

Kyle, who heard this, was indifferent, but immediately after hearing Harsel’s answer, his eyes narrowed slightly.

As if he had found a subtle part mixed in the words.

“Speaking of which, Hyung-nim, did you hear the news this time?”

“What news are you talking about?”

“The news that the guys who attacked Kaintreche Castle were members of the infamous ‘Eyes of the Dawn’.”

“Of course I heard it. I kept silent because they are not guys worth talking about outside.”

The fact that he kept silent probably refers to when they reunited in the Imperial Palace garden a while ago.

Kyle nodded and continued.

“According to Father, it seems that they spread intelligence in the castle.”

“Intelligence? Intelligence, are you saying that there is an informant in the castle?”

Harsel jumped up as if he had been burned and asked back, and Kyle nodded.

“Yes. It’s not certain, but it seems that the reason why they were able to completely deceive the eyes of the guards, and the reason why they knew in advance the means to penetrate the barrier and prepared for it, is because of that.”

“I can’t believe it. What a wicked guy who stuck with a group of traitors?”

“Father seems to be investigating that point himself. He searched my room with permission, so I think he will investigate Hyung-nim’s room when Hyung-nim returns this time.”

“My room…? Huh, that’s like Father. If that’s the case, I should cooperate.”

Harsel tried to speak more firmly, pretending to be calm and rather revealing his innocence.

“Oops, I’ve been talking too much. Let’s drink and keep talking.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim.”

Then, as if to avoid the topic somewhat unnaturally, he personally opened the cork and filled the glass in front of his younger brother with wine.

“Heh…”

As the reddish wine slowly filled the glass, a faint cynicism formed on Harsel’s lips as he watched.

No one knew whether it was just because of the wine, which had a satisfying appearance, or for some other reason.

Except for Harsel himself.

“Well, drink it first and tell me your impressions.”

“Yes.”

Harsel, who originally liked to take care of useless formalities, unexpectedly recommended the wine to Kyle without even saying a toast or clinking glasses.

Kyle grabbed the handle of the wine glass and gracefully swirled the glass, checking the appearance of the wine swirling inside.

And then, before bringing it to his mouth, he opened his mouth as if he had remembered something he had forgotten.

“…But Hyung-nim, can I ask you just one thing?”

“You’re talking a lot today. What is it?”

Harsel, who was impatient because Kyle didn’t drink the wine, replied in a slightly rough tone.

However, Kyle, who was hit in the face with the remark, asked the being who was his brother without any change in expression.

“You told me before, Hyung-nim. ‘You are a disgrace to the Liard family.’ ‘You, who are eating away at the Liard family, no longer need to be here.'”

“I did. Why? Are you going to whine about the past now? You’re such a petty guy.”

Now that he is sitting in the position of the next head of the family, is he going to act arrogant?

Harsel, who was dumbfounded, let out a ‘Ha!’ but Kyle only shook his head indifferently.

“No, that’s not it. In the first place, at that time, I was a disgrace to the Liard family, and I was a pest eating away at the family.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m just curious.”

Kyle continued, bringing the wine glass, which was still full of contents, to his eyes.

Harsel’s appearance projected in the red wine looked like it was submerged in blood.

As the wine swayed and his face was distorted and grotesquely crumpled, it felt as if this wine was projecting his inner thoughts.

After being immersed in such emotions for a while, Kyle’s mouth finally opened again.

“Hyung-nim, who called me a disgrace to the Liard family, why are you trying to walk that path on your own?”

“…What.”

At that moment, Harsel’s face twisted even though it wasn’t in the wine glass, and his hand went to his waist.

Sswaeeak─!

He drew the sword he was hiding in his coat and swung it at Kyle without hesitation.

Jjaenggeurang─!

With the sound of the window breaking, four figures who rushed in as if they were one person reached out to Kyle without the slightest hesitation.