Chapter 9.7

“Um, Sir Herace, what should we do with the luggage?”

“Put it back in the carriage. We’ll return to the Holy Kingdom as soon as we’re done here.”

“Huh…? Really, right away? Not even a day’s rest?”

Aaron, holding the bags, looked at Herace in dismay. Not only had they come by express cargo ship, now they had to leave immediately. Aaron blinked pleadingly for mercy, but Herace ignored him, pausing to look up at the Belif mansion.

Ever since leaving the Holy Kingdom of Roeta, Herace’s time without Brienne had passed quickly.

He’d chosen the fastest route, not resting for a moment.

He had to return to Roeta before the entrance ceremony began, so there was no time to waste.

“Let’s go in.”

Herace glanced at Aaron to follow and headed straight inside. He nodded to the servants greeting the Young Master’s return after so long, and with quick steps reached his father’s bedroom.

The butler waiting in front bowed his head.

“It’s been a while, Young Master.”

“Where’s father?”

Herace’s indifferent gaze turned toward the butler.

“Is he very ill?”

He had read several newspapers on the way, but after Duke Belif’s fall from his horse, there was no new news about the incident. Finding this odd, Herace stared at the butler, but the butler only led him inside as if hiding something.

“Please, go in. He’s waiting for you inside.”

‘He’s waiting, huh.’

Herace sensed from the butler’s reaction that his intuition was correct.

Without even knocking, Herace opened the door, his face colder than ever.

“Herace…! It’s been so long.”

The first ones visible in the Duke’s bedroom were the Duchess and Kenis Belif. Without a word of greeting, Herace turned his head and frowned as he looked at the bed.

“…Since my brother is here, I’ll be leaving now, Father.”

Unable to bear the chilly atmosphere, Kenis left the room. Soon after, the Duchess, left alone, also rose, glancing at Herace.

“I’ll be going as well. Herace, I hope you have a good talk with Father.”

Tap.

With a gentle farewell, the Duchess left the room, leaving only silence in the Duke’s bedroom.

“…….”

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

As the sound of the clock grew louder, the Duke of Belif spoke first.

“Now we finally have a real chance to talk alone. It only happened after I got hurt.”

“…Father, are you enjoying this situation?”

Finally, Herace, who had still been standing by the door, turned his gaze to the Duke’s smiling face.

As expected, he wasn’t in critical condition at all.

‘So the secrecy after the accident was only to call me here.’

“Did you really have to go this far?”

Herace sighed and approached his father’s bed.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding, but my injury is not a lie. Because of Duke Bannon, that clever old man, I nearly lost my life.”

“…Duke Bannon?”

Herace’s expression grew colder as he raised his eyebrows. At his question, the Duke pulled back the blanket covering his legs.

“A few days ago, there was a horse race at the Bannon mansion. Duke Bannon gifted each participant a horse. He said it was a famous horse raised on his own estate.”

“So you rode that horse?”

“If it’s from that old man, there’s no reason not to.”

Herace’s gaze shifted to his father’s leg. Judging by the bandages, his ankle must have been broken.

It was pure luck.

It was not uncommon for people to die falling from a horse.

“…What happened to that horse?”

“It died. After throwing me off, it rampaged for a while, then collapsed and died right there. Duke Bannon blamed the stable master and had him executed on the spot, but I’m not sure. I don’t know.”

For nobles, especially renowned high nobles, executing someone for deliberately injuring them wasn’t unreasonable.

But it was suspicious.

It felt like they were trying to cover up the incident without any investigation.

This went beyond suspicious—it was practically advertising that he’d orchestrated the whole affair.

Herace’s sharp gaze turned to his father.

“Have you recently made an enemy of Bannon?”

“Can’t you guess?”

The Duke looked up at Herace with a puzzled expression.

But Herace had a vague idea.

Bannon wanted to make an example out of this. No matter how prestigious the Belif family, if you cross Bannon, you’ll end up in trouble.

It was Herace himself who said that a childish fight had become a fight between families.

Maybe he was too arrogant.

Realizing that Bannon threatened his father because of him, Herace’s eyes dropped to the floor.

The Duke, who had watched his son’s face for a moment, pointed to the chair beside the bed.

“Sit down. It’s rare for me to see your face up close, so stay a little longer.”

“…All right, but only for a short while.”

With a faint sense of guilt, Herace reluctantly agreed to his father’s request. The Duke managed to prop himself up against the headboard.

“So, after causing all this trouble, are you just watching from the sidelines?”

A smile, unfitting for the atmosphere, spread across the Duke’s face as he recalled the past from his grown son’s face.

“I remember so clearly how you used to look in the mirror and fuss over your face. On weekends when there were Bannon family gatherings, you’d wake up at dawn and make a big fuss.”

“…When are you talking about?”

“I just think I should’ve noticed earlier. Even though my son, who claimed to hate his family, kept coming back to Rontiano, I didn’t realize it. Only after hearing Duke Bannon’s warning did I figure it out. How foolish of me.”

“…….”

At Herace’s silence, the Duke leaned in slightly.

“Herace.”

“…….”

“I was originally planning to hand over the dukedom to you as soon as you returned from the Academy.”

Herace’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the floor.

“…What do you mean?”

It was the first he’d heard of it.

Since his mother’s death, he hadn’t spoken to anyone in the family, so maybe it was natural.

The Duke sighed as he looked out the window.

“Maintaining a family like this was always too much for me.”

“…Father.”

“People are strange. They think it’s natural to s*ck the blood of the poor, but if you earn money fairly, they call you a merchant.”

“…….”

“Whenever that happened, I always wanted to run away. When I had to decide what was best, I’d block my eyes and ears and hide deep inside. Even though you can’t avoid things that way.”

The Duke turned to Herace, his smile gone.

“I’m sorry. I knew you suffered after your mother died. But I didn’t know how to comfort you. And I’m still someone who only knows myself.”

Hesitating, the Duke took Herace’s hand.

Herace didn’t reject the hand. He only stared at his father’s aged hand with an unreadable expression.

“My son.”

The Duke gripped his son’s hand tightly and spoke softly.

“Abandon Bannon.”

“…….”

“Once you inherit the family, I won’t interfere with whatever choices you make.”

Herace’s eyes wavered as he faced his father, who had aged so much in just a few years.

What was his father thinking now?

Wasn’t he supposed to scold him for returning to the Academy on his own?

As Herace tried to grasp the unexpected situation, Kaiden’s request echoed in his ears.

<What I want is for Belif to turn its back on Bannon. If you go one step further, you could absorb the scattered factions and isolate Bannon.>

<That’s not as easy as you say.>

<I know it’ll be hard. That’s why I’m asking for your help.>

When he first heard that absurd request, he thought it was nonsense.

He thought his father would never turn his back on Bannon.

But—

“…Weren’t you following Bannon’s wishes, Father?”

At Herace’s quiet question, the Duke smiled kindly and shook his head.

“I only followed Bannon for the position I wanted to pass on to you. The only thing I could give you was the family, so I chose the safest option.”

“…….”

“And it seems my choice has already expired.”

In a calm voice, the Duke admitted he could no longer lead the family.

“Come home, Herace.”

The Duke’s eyes shone with determination as he told Herace to give up the path of a mage and choose the life of a head of family.

“Return and reclaim your place.”