T/N: I always get “Is this dropped?” comments. If it doesn’t say dropped/cancelled, then it’s not dropped 🙂  The release schedule of this novel is now every 5 days. This will be updated more frequently (every 3 days) once I get more free time. I’m focusing on completing other novels first. Cheers!

Calain swallowed dryly.

The woman standing before him was not in her right mind.

Beautiful silver hair, shining pink eyes, a gentle smile on her pale face….

She had the perfect appearance of a saintess, yet there was something chilling about her.

The most shocking thing was that she seemed to genuinely enjoy the current situation.

Seeing the peculiar glint in her pink eyes, Calain felt a shiver run down his spine.

“You’re not going to talk? Do you want to wear an eye patch?”

“…….”

“If you won’t say anything, I’ll decide for you. Let’s see… should I go with the right?”

“Alright, alright!”

As Calain shouted urgently, Lize Allenheim spoke softly with a faint smile.

“This is the last time. I won’t wait anymore.”

“Such an impatient lady. Fine.”

Calain grumbled in resgination and gritted his teeth.

‘I can’t tell her…!’

The poison formula that Naran drank had taken over ten years to perfect.

He planned to use it on many people and sell it at an exorbitant price.

He couldn’t lose such a valuable card here.

‘I need to stall for time….’

Until he could think of a way to turn the situation around and pay her back tenfold…!

“Not talking? Do I really get to decide?”

‘Damn it—think of something!’

“I’ll count to ten. Ten, nine, eight, seven….”

‘Ugh, this damn woman…!’

“Six, five, four, three….”

As Lize counted leisurely, Calain’s face grew paler.

“Th… three and a half….”

“Wait—”

“Time’s up.”

Just as Calain shouted urgently, the basement door burst open.

Following the panting Juan was Arkle.

‘I’m saved!’

Calain’s face lit up.

“Arkle! Get this crazy woman off me—!”

He shouted at the top of his lungs.

“She dared to threaten your uncle! Punish this maid who betrayed her master…!”

Arkle silently approached the kneeling Calain.

Lize still held the skewer against Calain’s face.

“Do you see this? This insane woman tried to stab my eye! She’s no saintess, she’s a demon in the guise of an innocent woman!”

Arkle, who had been looking down at Calain, shifted his gaze to Lize.

Lize blinked her large eyes.

“Did you know? This person. He’s been toying with Naran like a plaything.”

“…….”

“It seems he’s been doing it since Naran was young.”

“…….”

After a moment of silence, Arkle slowly spoke to Lize.

“Step aside.”

“…….”

Lize looked at Arkle for a moment, then nodded slightly. She lowered the hand holding the skewer and stepped back obediently.

Sylvia, responding to Lize’s signal, also released Calain’s arm.

Calain staggered as he stood up. He pointed at Lize, speaking sharply.

“Ha, now that my nephew knows your true nature, you won’t escape unscathed! How dare you touch a member of the Cayenne family? Nephew, let me punish her myself. I’ll make her beg for death.”

“A member of the Cayenne family, huh.”

“Yes, those who underestimate the Cayenne family will all…”

Snap—

“Argh—!”

A piercing scream filled the air.

Arkle had broken the finger Calain used to point at Lize.

“It seems the one who underestimated the Cayenne family the most was you.”

His voice carried a weight that could stop one’s heart.

“Are you truly insane? I’m your uncle—! I’ve worked myself to the bone raising you siblings!”

Arkle looked at the shouting Calain with cold eyes.

“That’s right. You did raise us.”

“And you know that, yet you can’t even show gratitude…!”

“What gratitude should I show? For selling me as a mercenary to fight in wars when I was a child?”

“That was…! So you could be recognized—!”

“The condition was that you’d take good care of my brother while I was away.”

Arkle looked Calain straight in the eye.

“I confirmed it with you multiple times, that you’d take responsibility for Naran while I was at war.”

“I-I… all my research was for the Cayenne! For the honor of the Cayenne—”

“Enough. Be quiet, will you? I’m holding back the urge to snap your neck right now.”

Arkle’s forehead bulged with veins as he muttered through clenched teeth.

Calain swallowed dryly, closing his mouth.

Juan, who had been clearing his throat softly, stepped forward beside Arkle.

Adjusting his glasses, he read from the ledger he held.

“Mana stone crafting, food purchases, furniture and mansion repairs… among other things, the total amount embezzled under the guise of Arkle Cayenne’s orders is 36,810,000 sellings.”

This was the result of Juan checking the documents Lize had instructed him to verify.

After reading the ledger, Juan gave Lize a look of acknowledgment.

Lize proudly gave him a thumbs-up.

In contrast, Calain’s face turned ghostly pale.

“How did you….”

But it didn’t end there.

Arkle pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his coat pocket.

Seeing the paper, all color drained from Calain’s face.

It was a confidential document of the Cayenne family, marked with Calain’s seal, intended for another family.

“Was this also for the honor of the Cayenne?”

Arkle spoke with a voice devoid of warmth.

“As of this moment, Calain is expelled from the Cayenne family.”

“You can’t do this to me…!”

“You’re no longer my uncle, nor a subject I must protect.”

“Arkle—!”

“Do you understand what this means?”

Arkle’s red eyes glowed menacingly.

“It means I can kill you anytime I want.”

Calain closed his mouth, realizing Arkle’s words were genuine.

“I’ll imprison you in the underground cell and hand you over to the imperial palace at dawn.”

“……!”

“Judging by the looks of it, you’ve been experimenting with forbidden magic. This room alone is overflowing with evidence.”

“Arkle, please! You know how strict the imperial family is about forbidden magic, I could be executed!”

“Is that so.”

Arkle spoke indifferently.

“Juan, go fetch the knights.”

Juan nodded and quickly left the room.

“Arkle—! Nephew, please…!”

Calain’s face twisted in despair.

“This can’t be happening… damn it…!”

His face contorted, he mumbled like someone who had lost their mind.

Arkle turned his gaze to his brother, Naran, who lay collapsed in the distance.

Lize and Sylvia were tending to the unconscious Naran.

Seeing his brother, who had coughed up blood and collapsed, Arkle clenched his fist tightly.

Memories of his childhood overlaid Naran’s face.

“Naran is a weak child with no power, unlike you. So you must take responsibility and protect him no matter what, Arkle. Your parents would want that too.”

Arkle nodded silently, and Calain smiled with satisfaction.

“When you go to war, you’ll have no choice but to become strong. I’m making you strong.”

“…Then I can protect Naran?”

“Of course. While you’re away, I’ll take good care of Naran.”

“Promise me.”

“Trust this uncle of yours.”

Arkle nodded.

Just before leaving the room, Calain called out to him.

“I’ll give you some special advice. Nephew, it’s best to abandon emotions on the battlefield.”

“What do you mean?”

“You may be young, but you’re monstrously strong, so you’re unlikely to die soon…. Emotions will gradually weaken you.”

“…….”

“Remember. Abandon emotions. The moment you show them, you become weak. If that happens, you won’t be able to protect anyone. Return safely and help your uncle, alright?”

“…Take care of Naran.”

Thus, the fourteen-year-old Arkle went to war.

As he cut down and cut again the rebel forces of other kingdoms, he repeated a single thought with darkened eyes.

‘Abandon emotions.’

Showing emotions makes you weak.

If you become weak, you can’t protect anyone.

Five years passed like that, and as Arkle, a mercenary, traversed life and death, he heard that his sister Martha had become the head of the family and his uncle had left the mansion.

Summoned by Martha, Arkle returned to the Cayenne territory.

When he reunited with his brother, who had grown considerably,

“Step aside, don’t look at me like that.”

Naran’s eyes were filled with contempt as he looked at him.

“…….”

“Why, do you think I’m trash too? A useless burden? Was it so disgusting to face me that you’d rather go to war?”

“Naran.”

“I hate you. I begged you not to go… but you didn’t even pretend to listen.”

“…….”

“Of course, my words probably weren’t worth listening to for you.”

Naran spoke coldly and turned his back.

Arkle only watched silently as his brother’s figure grew distant.

That wasn’t it, he never thought of his brother as a burden, he was happy to see him again.

‘How do I do it again?’

Somehow, he seemed to have completely forgotten how to express emotions.

Perhaps even feeling them was just an illusion, and he no longer had any emotions left.

‘Does it matter either way?’

Arkle thought with indifferent eyes.

In the present, as Arkle stared blankly at Naran’s face, someone’s voice pierced his ears.

“Arkle—”

Lize was looking at him with a worried expression.

“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“…How is Naran?”

“He’s breathing, but….”

Lize’s voice turned grave as she trailed off.

“We need to take action immediately. Otherwise, it’ll be dangerous.”

“…….”

Arkle strode over to Calain and grabbed him by the collar.

“What did you do to Naran?”

“Ugh—”

“Speak. Or you die.”

Calain, gasping for breath as his neck was squeezed, spoke with difficulty.

“Gah—ugh, it’s poison. One that I can control at will.”

“The antidote.”

“There’s no such thing anywhere in the world—it’s bound by a formula I developed myself. Only I can stop it.”

A smirk appeared on Calain’s lips.

“Won’t you make a deal, nephew? I’ll stop the poison from spreading if you release me.”

“…….”

“What are you hesitating for—you have no other choice right now.”

“No, there is.”

Arkle and Calain both turned to the source of the voice.

Lize Allenheim was pointing to herself.

“Me.”