SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant Chapter 532: An Important Meeting [III]

After Trafalgar and Caelum concluded their words, Darian held his silence for several moments.

The chamber settled into a hush, though the heaviness lingered. Their discussion had ventured beyond mere politeness, and every one of them sensed it clearly. Darian inhaled deeply, as though pondering if the forthcoming query justified the peril.

Ultimately, he posed it.

"Can I ask you something personal, Trafalgar?"

Trafalgar raised his cup a touch, sipped from it, then set it back down.

"You already started. Go on."

Darian’s ears flicked once prior to his words.

"Do you hate your family?"

Behind Trafalgar, Caelum held his position unmoving. He stayed rooted, wordless, arms folded behind him, the ideal shadow for his young master.

Yet Trafalgar held off on replying immediately.

He sat motionless, one hand close to the cup, the other on the chair’s armrest. Darian observed him intently, yet no provocation showed on his features. Just genuine interest.

At last, Trafalgar responded.

"What they did to me doesn’t have a name."

Darian offered no interruption.

Trafalgar’s tone stayed steady, but chilled further than earlier.

"They don’t deserve to be called family. Blood is blood. That’s all." He hesitated for the tiniest instant. "Being from the same bloodline doesn’t make anyone a home."

Darian dropped his eyes briefly, taking it in.

Trafalgar pressed on, his voice serene yet unyielding.

"I was born among them, yes. I carry their name, yes. I’m one of them by blood, and that won’t change. But that doesn’t erase what they are. Or what they did." His face scarcely altered. "So if you’re asking whether I love them, the answer is no. If you’re asking whether I hate them..." He reclined slightly. "Some of them, yes. Others are simply not worth the effort."

Darian exhaled gradually.

"I thought so," he confessed. "You never speak about House Morgain the way one of them should."

Trafalgar shot him a quick look. "And how should one of them speak?"

Darian nearly grinned, but it didn’t quite emerge.

"With pride and certainty. As if blood excuses everything."

Trafalgar’s lips twitched subtly then.

"Then I disappoint them in more ways than they expected."

That nearly drew a chuckle from Darian, yet the room’s strain confined it to a mere breath.

He regarded Trafalgar a beat longer before inquiring, "Then why stay with them at all? Why keep their name, their place, their side?"

Trafalgar offered no reply.

The ensuing quiet bore substance, pressing down as soon as the question escaped Darian’s lips. Opposite him, Trafalgar stayed composed, one hand by the cup, the other on the chair’s arm, his face revealing scant emotion.

His eventual words arrived with a composure so icy it surpassed fury.

"I think you’re asking too many questions."

Darian’s ears flicked once.

"You’re a curious man, Darian. That isn’t always a flaw. But remember your place."

That marked the boundary.

It struck precisely between them, shifting the room’s air instantly. Up to that point, their exchange had flowed with some candor. Darian had probed deeper, compelled to grasp the figure before him. Trafalgar had tolerated it briefly.

That allowance had expired.

Darian averted his eyes for a split second before meeting them again. He grasped the shift fully. This held no contest of egos or boasts. Trafalgar merely underscored the limit’s position.

"I understand," Darian replied.

Trafalgar examined him another instant, confirming sincerity.

"Good," he stated. "Then keep that understanding."

Quiet reclaimed the space.

Behind Trafalgar, Caelum hadn’t stirred at all. His immobility somehow amplified his presence, rendering him more imposing. He maintained flawless stance as before, gloved hands clasped behind, face inscrutable, though Darian now perceived him more acutely than anytime prior in the encounter.

Trafalgar caught the direction of Darian’s focus.

"Since you’re in the mood to ask questions," he remarked, "let me answer one you didn’t say aloud."

Darian held his tongue.

Trafalgar’s stare sharpened a fraction.

"You want to know how secure your seat is."

A subtle shiver traced Darian’s back.

Trafalgar went on in that measured tone, every syllable chosen with precision.

"You are sitting there because I allowed that path to remain open. Because Lucien died. Because Kaedor fell and because I chose not to let House Thal’zar be buried completely with them."

Those recollections surged back effortlessly. Lucien. His brother. Kaedor. The crushing strain of those times, the bloodshed, the dread, the breakneck pace of the verdicts. Darian recalled the power that had reshaped the game board then. He recalled who wielded it.

He recalled exactly who had executed the deed.

Despite his control, his eyes shifted toward Caelum.

Caelum returned the glance with no trace of warmth. It carried the frigid detachment of someone who had performed the deed once before and remained prepared to repeat it under orders.

Noticing the response, Trafalgar refrained from pushing any further than required.

"I brought Caelum along for a specific purpose," he stated. "Not out of fear that you’d turn on me the instant I entered this castle. You’re far too shrewd for such folly." He paused. "I included him because memories can dim if left unchecked."

Faint bristles rose along the nape of Darian’s neck before he willed them flat once more.

"I haven’t forgotten," he replied.

Trafalgar reclined deeper into his chair.

"I know. Yet understanding and truly sensing are worlds apart."

The quiet that followed dragged out even further.

Darian shattered it himself.

"My loyalty stands unquestioned."

Locking eyes firmly, Darian pressed on, his voice now resolute and free of doubt. "I know precisely why I still breathe. I know exactly why I occupy this chair instead of rotting in the earth alongside the others. I know whose verdict seated me here. I haven’t forgotten, nor do I plan to."

At last, Caelum spoke.

"Good."

A single word.

It sufficed to shrink the room’s space for an instant.

Darian dipped his head in deference.

Trafalgar allowed the tension to ease before grasping his cup anew. He drained the last of the tea, placed it aside, and fixed Darian with a more serene look than earlier.

"Fine," he declared. "The initial crucial step is complete."

Darian stayed silent.

The bite in Trafalgar’s voice softened a touch, though the chamber’s chill lingered unabated.

"And I believe a portion of your inquisitiveness has been quenched."

Darian nearly smirked but reconsidered.

Trafalgar stood from his chair.

"So keep in mind my capabilities," he warned. "It’ll simplify everything ahead for us both."

Caelum shifted aside just sufficiently to let him through, instinctively taking position at his rear without a word.

Trafalgar smoothed his coat once and glanced back at Darian.

"Now," he added, "I think it’s time we visit the site of Icarus’s experiments."