Chapter 53

The weather had recently turned quite chilly. As early autumn came and each day passed quickly, winter soon approached.

Nevertheless, the sky was still clear, blue, and so beautiful that it overshadowed the summer sky which most claim is the most beautiful among the four seasons.

Edwin paused for a moment and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Naturally, his gaze turned to the sky. White clouds were floating in the clear, wide sky.

‘It looks like a mouse. The long clouds of thread behind it look like rat tails…’

Edwin who looked at one of the clouds and thought absently became perplexed.

Mouse? Rat tail? He wondered what he was thinking now.

He remembered having a conversation with Herietta some time ago. They were lying on the lawn and watching the clouds floating around. He didn’t think deeply about it that time, but it seems he had been tainted by her way of thought unconsciously.

He grinned. It was clear that people who knew him in the past would be terrified if they saw him.

Edwin turned and looked up the window on the second floor of the mansion. Just like yesterday, the windows in her room were tightly closed. A thick curtain was also drawn so that one could not see inside.

The smile on his lips disappeared. His encounters with Herietta these past few days were so scarce that he could count the times they met with his fingers.

‘It’s probably because she’s worried about her brother.’

Edwin thought.

The friendship between the two siblings was so good that they made him jealous. Perhaps because of their age difference of six years, Hugo often treated Herietta like an idol. Acting like an old man, he even made a fool of himself in front of her. Herietta was also familiar with him, so she accepted and guided him well.

Although Herietta’s only outward expressions were smiles, she was still an innocent child. It was understandable that such a Herietta was worried that her brother would be dragged into a life-and-death battlefield overnight.

‘Still, I thought she was getting better lately.’

After meeting Hugo, Herietta had been muttering that she must find a way to save him somehow. He only knew that her anxiety had subsided a lot after he managed to meet Duon, and she obtained his verbal promise that he would fix the situation.

Well, she probably wouldn’t be able to relax for a second until her brother returns safely to Philioche. It wasn’t unusual. It was a situation anyone could understand.

So Edwin was just hoping that Duon would do what he had promised him as soon as possible.

‘The Duke of Redford in the prophecy was not you, but Iorn, your father. So there was no reason to take your life.’

Suddenly, he remembered Duon talking while looking at him with bitter eyes.

‘I deeply regret that I said hypocritical words to you that day.’

A man who was destined to become a king who could not even properly say he was sorry. At one time, there was a time when he promised to keep this country by his side and make this country more prosperous under his rule.

Perhaps, it is not much different from what his father, Iorn, promised when he saw the current king.

Edwin’s expression hardened.

Everyone asked how he could not lose his composure in this situation. They also asked why he wouldn’t want to find out more about this. Wasn’t he curious about the story behind it? No matter how much it was ordered by the master, he didn’t even get angry when his whole family was brutally murdered. Some people asked why he acted like that and scorned him.

Even in Edwin’s eyes, he was very different from others. Most people looked at him and praised him for being the perfect and wonderful next-generation head, but very rarely, some considered him like a puppet with no emotions.

Even though he was given the freedom to think, he was like a being who never learned how to use it.

Iorn said the uneducated people were foolish. He also said the people can’t see others doing well, and will somehow find fault with them, no matter how perfect they may be because of their twisted personality.

Iorn’s attitude was so firm that Edwin remained silent. He knew that what he was saying wasn’t quite wrong, but he was not as perfect as Iorn thought. He couldn’t pinpoint it, but something was lacking.

However, he didn’t know what it was, and even if he did, he didn’t know how to fix it, so he just stood by.

The rebellion of a great noble family, known to be more loyal than any other family in history. And, as if waiting, the order was given to them without a proper investigation. The irreversible fall of the family.

There were not one or two suspicious parts. But even so, Edwin did not actively seek out the matter.

The reason was simple. To do something, he needed a purpose for doing it, and appropriate measures to counteract the consequences.

However, that action was the problem here.

What if he finds out the truth?

What if everything turns out to be wrong?

So what should he do?

‘Love your family, take care of your people, and defend your country. But more important than that is to obey the king’s will.’

Edwin had been educated in this way from a very young age as if he was brainwashed.

He was curious, but he did not dare to find out what it was. He was angry, but he couldn’t get it out, so he had to swallow his emotions.

Whatever the reason, it was the king’s will. But if he had to find out what happened to him and he came now, what could he do by himself?

He had such clogged-up emotions that it was frustrating to even think about it. Even though he was called the best fool, it was a stupid idea.

However, it was very difficult for him to change the way he thinks in an instant.

Even now, after finding out that all this was due to just a few words from a prophet.

‘Serronac. Why you had to make such a prophecy, I do not know.’

Edwin said to Seronnac, who was somewhere in the distance.

‘But you are wrong. My father, Iorn John Debussy Redford, was never one to go against the current royal family and destroy his country. He loves Brimdel more than anything, and I do not know anyone who has been as blindly loyal to the king as he was.’

A cold wind blew from somewhere and stroked Edwin’s hair.

Soon, the wind blew away the fallen leaves around him and the leaves seemed to move along a circular line was as if they were dancing round and round.

‘But I guess it doesn’t matter now.’

He thought, swallowing his bitter thoughts.

‘Because the dead cannot speak.’