Chapter 40
Clang! Gopher swiftly changed direction, parried Mixel’s strike with his sword, and drove his knee into Mixel’s solar plexus.
“Urgh! Y-you… ugh!”
Mixel, hunched over, searched for the position of his sword. Unfortunately, it was near his broken arm. As he twisted his body to grab the hilt, Gopher kicked his shoulder, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Moments later, a blade was pointed at his throat.
“I used to need the skill to play around with you, but now I don’t even need that. How did you end up like this?”
A grinding sound escaped between Mixel’s clenched teeth.
“If it weren’t for my broken arm—!”
“Exactly.”
The tip of the blade traced a delicate arc, moving from behind Mixel’s ear, down his neck, and to the other ear as if a brush was painting on a canvas. Gopher’s voice carried a detached calm.
“If you hadn’t bothered to shield someone else’s fiancée, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
Ah, come to think of it, this was supposed to be a duel. He almost forgot.
Still pointing his blade at Mixel, Gopher bit down on the glove of his left hand and pulled it off. With a thud, a pair of jet-black gloves fell onto Mixel’s face. Gopher regarded his cousin’s lifeless expression and engraved the sight into his memory.
“So, don’t make the same mistake in your next life.“
When I was younger, I was too naive to kill Mixel and opted to frame him instead. But now, things are different. I’ve harmed people countless times since then.
They say waiting a little longer will allow me to sever Mixel’s life without causing a stir.
Why should I wait?
Even without personal grievances, he’d planned to deal with him. But right now, he was filled with murderous intent.
The time for deaths in duels has passed. So, this would be recorded as an accident. Gopher tightened his grip on the sword. One quick motion was all it would take. Just as the thrill of anticipation began to spread—
“… Can’t this be resolved without killing him?”
The voice of Bleria, long gone, gripped his arm and drained the strength from his fingers. The blade refused to move. Gopher let out a hollow laugh.
Bleria.
Even if he tried to swing the blade, her face and voice from that moment stubbornly lingered. Gritting his teeth until his jaw tensed, Gopher murmured through clenched teeth.
Bleria Heaven.
He couldn’t bear the thought of letting Mixel live, yet the phantom of her presence was impossible to dismiss.
Should I wound him just enough to keep him from doing anything foolish? Maybe incapacitate his right arm?
Or—
“You used to ignore me, but now that I’ve fed you rumors non-stop, you’ve started to listen to what I have to say.”
“Count Dice broke his arm because of me. I only helped him temporarily. You know we’ve done nothing but argue otherwise.”
Should I confirm it?
There was a way to verify whether Bleria had truly been unaffected by Mixel’s words or whether her concern had been solely for his broken arm. But the method required safeguards.
“What are you doing, Gopher? You always have your underlings do the dirty work but can’t muster the courage to kill someone yourself?”
Ignoring the barking dog, Gopher sharpened his focus. A faint presence caught his attention, and his gaze flickered upward.
“No one will die today.”
Gopher’s brief distraction was all Mixel needed. Mixel dislodged the sword from Gopher’s weakened grip, stabbing the blade’s flat with his fist.
Quickly rolling across the ground, Mixel snatched his fallen sword and immediately lunged, aiming the blade at Gopher’s throat.
With a slight turn of his body, Gopher evaded.
“…Urgh!”
Thud! The very spot Mixel had stabbed years ago flared with searing pain once more. Red eyes gleamed with a mixture of hatred and exhilaration. Mixel withdrew the blade with a grin.
“That was your last chance, Gopher.“
“You… might want to reconsider.”
Sweat dripped from his pale face, but Gopher didn’t grimace. He found the unfolding situation so absurd that it took effort to suppress a laugh.
“Pleading for your life? That’s not like you, Gopher.“
“If you want to show Grandmother your revenge, go ahead. I can’t stop you.“
“You expect me to fall for that lie?“
“If it feels like a lie, then go ahead—cut me down. This is your last chance to end it all. But, Mixel…”
Gopher grabbed the edge of Mixel’s blade with his bare hand and pulled it toward his own neck. Mixel’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Don’t look back.”
Heeding the advice was futile. Someone as weak-willed as Mixel turned his head anyway. At the sight of Stella Allnight’s arrival, all the color drained from his face. He dropped his sword.
Both their appearances—utterly pathetic—amused Gopher.
“Why do neither of us ever improve?”
It was genuinely entertaining.
Stella’s sudden return, accompanied by the butler, swiftly resolved the situation. Mixel was ordered to undergo probation while Gopher, now bandaged, reclined on his bed.
Though a priest had tended to him, Gopher was told he couldn’t leave his bed for several days. He also had to endure the icy glare of Stella, who said nothing for a long time before finally speaking.
“Is it my dignity you mock or your own life?“
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I said it’s neither, would you?“
“I ignored it last time, but did you think I wouldn’t notice you let yourself get stabbed? Can’t you maintain a proper distance from Mixel until you inherit the title?”
As Stella’s voice rose in fury, Gopher offered a sheepish smile. He couldn’t deny her accusation. She was fully aware of the fraught relationship between him and Mixel.
“Grandmother, Mixel can never become one of my subordinates.“
“And?“
“Can he serve as my substitute?“
Stella’s gaze turned icily cold.
Though her irises matched Gopher’s in hue, they carried the weight of her forty years as the family head. Feeling a chill crawl up his spine, Gopher stifled a bitter laugh.
“Don’t get arrogant, Gopher. You’re not the master of Allnight yet. The successor can be replaced at any time.“
“Your decision to spare Eos Liche made it clear to me. Grandmother, you’ll keep weighing the scales until the end, won’t you?“
“Do you think killing someone will cleanly resolve everything? That petty solution only piles up suspicions and creates enemies.”
But hadn’t you solved everything by killing them all? Your children, your grandchildren, everyone who tried to take your power?
Instead of arguing, Gopher bowed submissively. From the beginning, the relationship between grandparent and grandchild was never one of equals. That attitude seemed to temper Stella’s anger, if only slightly.
“Lately, you remind me of Duraic.”
Gopher froze. Duraic, his uncle, and Mixel’s father were the former successors.
“I hope Bleria Heaven isn’t the spark behind your actions. But if, by chance, she is, you really need to reflect on that.“
“Bleria—“
“Were you going to say it’s a different case?”
Stella scoffed.
“No matter how good the terms are, the priorities remain the same. Do you think the Emperor marrying you would give up being the master of your life? You’d better learn to reason if you don’t want to lose everything over a single woman.“
After saying this, Stella left the bedroom without hesitation. Left behind, Gopher slowly raised his head. He touched his lips, lost in thought.
Lose everything over a single woman?
“Me?”
Gopher let out a hollow laugh.
***
The news that Gopher Allnight was injured during a sparring match with his cousin quickly spread across the capital. As soon as she heard, Bleria rushed to Allnight.
When Bleria entered the bedroom, she looked more like a patient herself than someone visiting an injured friend.
Her sweat-soaked cheeks were so pale they lacked any color. It was as if the first winter snow had been spread across her skin.
“Gopher.”
Her trembling voice sounded so weak that it was pitiful yet oddly satisfying. Gopher spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Come closer.”
Without hesitation, Bleria approached and sat on the edge of the bed. The distance she had kept last time was no longer there.
“Is your neck injured?“
“It’s fine now. A priest came by. Turns out all those donations I made are finally paying off.”
Her delicate hand hovered uncertainly near his neck but didn’t touch it. Gopher smiled faintly.
“You can touch it.“
“But it must hurt.”
Gopher took her hand and placed it on his neck. Her fingertips flinched but moved cautiously as if handling a precious artifact.
Even with thick bandages wrapped around the sword wound, he could feel her touch, light as a feather brushing against bare skin.
Gopher slowly lifted his lowered gaze. He could see Bleria’s face. Her expression remained blank, but emotions spilled from other places.
Her slightly parted lips. Her trembling eyelashes. And the heartbeat he could only sense when they were this close. There was no fear or discomfort. Her face was filled solely with concern, completely different from when she begrudgingly helped Mixel Luke.
The test was successful. Now, Gopher could trust in Bleria’s innocence. With that, Mixel Luke’s words no longer mattered.
‘It doesn’t matter whether she smiles or not.’
Aside from that fleeting expression, everything else belonged to him. And hadn’t he been the one to craft that sturdy mask for her in the first place?
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Ugh, please don’t let him be the ML. Please let me be surprised by a new character who isn’t constantly testing the FL and who will truly show her what love is. Not someone who views her like an obedient dog