Chapter 19

“Your Grace! There’s not a single valuable left in the mansion. The vault is untouched, thankfully, but everything else—even the tableware—has been cleaned out…!”

Having returned to the ducal estate, Aiden stared in disbelief.

“What happened to the knights I left behind?”

“They’re all gone. The only person we managed to catch was the butler trying to sneak away. We’ll bring him in immediately.”

A short while later, the butler was dragged before him.

Judging by the large bag clutched to his chest, he’d clearly been planning to flee under cover of darkness.

Pale with fear, he immediately began spewing excuses.

“I-I told them staying at the estate would only bring disaster! A-And with the Feeding Competition becoming so popular, none of the retainers came back either!”

“Henry too?”

“Y-Yes, Your Grace!”

Aiden pressed a hand to his throbbing temple.

A memory surfaced.

‘One of my maids became obsessed with the event as well.’

‘Your people won’t be any different.’

Evelyn’s words.

Now that he thought about it, the vassal responsible for reporting on affairs in the capital had stopped contacting him some time ago.

At the time, Aiden had assumed the man was simply lying low because of the Emperor’s pressure.

But…

‘Was he neglecting his duties because he’d become addicted to gambling?’

Not only that—he hadn’t reported a single thing about the Feeding Competition.

“Lord Henry was the first one to stop coming around!”

The butler hurriedly pointed the blame elsewhere.

Immediately, Scott exploded.

“You bastard!”

His roar shook the room.

“If you lie to us, I’ll wring your neck with my own hands!”

Scott’s threatening tone made the butler tremble.

“It’s true! Your Grace, please believe me!”

Henry was a retainer who had served Aiden for many years, a man who had been like a teacher to him since he was young.

That was why his betrayal was so difficult to believe.

Aiden’s heavily sunken gaze fell upon the bag in the butler’s arms.

“What’s in that bag?”

“T-This is…”

The butler hugged the bag even tighter.

At Aiden’s gesture, Scott snatched it away and turned it upside down.

An expensive candlestick, silver spoons, even porcelain teacups.

The items scattered across the floor were obviously valuable household goods.

‘I see.’

As the head butler, he would know every item in the house down to the smallest detail.

It was obvious that he had hidden them away from the other servants and was only now trying to steal them.

“I’m sorry! Please, just this once, spare me. At this rate, my family won’t even be able to eat properly, so I had no choice…!”

“The wages I pay you are hardly small. Yet you can’t even support your own family?”

“Th-that’s because… I spent all the money on the Feeding Competition…”

At the familiar phrase, Aiden’s brow immediately furrowed.

At that moment, a knock sounded and the study door opened. A knight hurried inside.

He was one of the men who had gone to war against Brang alongside Aiden.

“Forgive the interruption, Your Grace.”

“What is it?”

“Well… we’ve caught an intruder hiding in the garden.”

“An intruder?”

“Yes. However…”

The knight glanced awkwardly to the side.

When he did, another person standing behind him brought someone in from the hallway.

“……”

Silence fell over the study.

“That child… was hiding in the garden?”

“Yes.”

“…”

The child, trembling with fear, stood there with reddened eyes.

The boy’s shabby appearance and thin frame suggested that he had not eaten a proper meal in quite some time.

“Lock the butler up first. Put him under guard.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Your Grace! Please, just this once! Your Grace…!”

Despite the butler’s desperate pleas, Aiden did not spare him a glance.

His voice continued to echo as he was dragged away with both arms restrained, only fading once he had been taken down the stairs.

When the noise finally died away, Aiden rose from his chair and approached the child.

The boy’s eyes widened at Aiden’s imposing stature.

“How did you get into the ducal estate? Why were you hiding in the garden? And where are your parents now?”

“…”

“It may sound like an interrogation, but I’m only trying to understand the situation. If you cooperate, I’ll provide you with food. So tell me honestly.”

“Food…?”

“Yes.”

The boy’s eyes shook violently.

His sunken cheeks twitched as he wrestled with his thoughts.

At last, his cracked lips parted.

“I came in to cook something to eat. The ducal estate still has grass growing in it…”

“My mother used to work here as a maid. I don’t know who my father is.”

“And where is your mother now?”

“Mom is…”

The child’s shoulders trembled as he lowered his head.

It looked as though he was struggling desperately to keep his emotions under control.

“Mom went to the arena.”

“The arena?”

“Yes. To place a bet on the Feeding Competition.”

When he finally lifted his head, his face was badly twisted with emotion.

To hold back his tears, the boy bit down on his lower lip so hard that it had swollen red.

A blue vein stood out sharply along Aiden’s jaw.

“She abandoned his child… for something like that?”

“No, she didn’t abandon me!”

The boy suddenly shouted.

“Mom said if we just endured a little longer, we’d be able to eat all the meat we wanted! She said someone from the next neighborhood bought a huge house!”

His voice trembled.

“So… so if we just hold on a little longer…”

“…”

“Then Mom and I can eat delicious food every day and live happily…”

At last, tears spilled from the boy’s large, glass-like eyes.

The sound of his muffled sobbing echoed through the room.

Aiden’s eyes—colored like melted gold and amber—rippled like a stormy sea.

‘How vile. How despicable.’

His fury boiled like molten lava, as if every vein in his body were about to burst.

There were countless reasons why the Feeding Competition was a tragedy.

This was one of them.

People clung to a possibility smaller than the eye of a needle, holding onto hope as though it were a hostage.

News that someone had struck it rich consumed their minds completely.

So completely that they no longer realized they were throwing away the things most precious to them.

Aiden drew a deep breath, filling his lungs with the heavy air.

“Scott.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Scott’s voice was equally filled with anger.

“Find something for the child to eat. Pack food for him to take home as well.”

“…Yes, sir.”

The fists clenched at Scott’s sides tightened further.

The backs of his hands trembled from the force, his knuckles turning white.

Soon, Scott led the child from the room.

Left alone, Aiden muttered in a low voice,

“D*mn it all.”

An unbearable sense of disgust toward the Emperor surged within him.

The absolute ruler who was supposed to protect the nation and care for its people was instead pushing them into the abyss.

Did she truly deserve to sit upon the throne?

If that was the case, then perhaps…

Running a hand irritably through his jet-black hair, Aiden looked out beyond the tall window.

“The Emperor has no interest in caring for the Empire. She only wants to rule over it.”

“…”

“If this continues, the Empire will collapse in no time. The capital is already ruined.”

His voice darkened.

“In only five months.”

In the center of the vast sky, the moon shone brilliantly, its presence overwhelming.

For some reason, its pale light reminded him of someone’s eyes.

***

A few days later, inside the Imperial Palace arena.

Construction was underway to replace the ruined grand banquet hall, but the new building had yet to be completed.

As a result, the victory celebration for Aiden had no choice but to be held outdoors in the arena.

The nobles gathered in the spectator stands, now thoroughly familiar with the place, chatting amongst themselves about the most recent Feeding Competition.

Meanwhile, Aiden and his knights—the guests of honor—stood in the center of the arena.

Unlike the shaded seating area, there was not even a canopy above them.

The scorching sun beat down mercilessly.

Dressed in formal uniforms buttoned all the way to the neck, they waited for Mary’s arrival.

A short while later, the Emperor entered to the loud proclamation of a herald.

“Glory everlasting to Her Majesty the Emperor! Mary Ares Strovana, Emperor of the Empire, enters!”

Behind Mary, who walked at the front, came Evelyn, Robert, and the Head Attendant.

Every noble who had been seated comfortably rose to their feet and bowed.

Though the occasion was different, the scene looked exactly like the Feeding Competition.

After taking her seat, Mary surveyed the surroundings before directing her gaze down into the arena.

“Duke.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The distance between them was great, but for two people who had awakened their aura, it posed no problem at all.

Amplifying one’s voice was among the most basic applications of aura.

“You’ve made a great sacrifice for the Empire. Are the knights well?”

“Your Majesty, fortunately there were no large-scale engagements in the battle against Brang. Therefore, I believe House Gloucester suffered no significant losses either.”

“Indeed. That was the case. Count, your memory is truly excellent.”

The weary eyes of the absolute ruler drifted downward.

Her loyal subject and fervent supporter, Robert, rose from his seat and bowed.

“I am honored beyond words.”

Because he happened to be seated directly behind her, Evelyn was forced to witness the expression on his face.

The blissful smile spread across his handsome features was enough to make her feel sick.

To keep any change in emotion from showing, Evelyn had to force herself to maintain absolute control over her expression.