Turning Chapter 933

"...If you mean support, we've already been sending it. Haven’t you heard how much supplies we've sent out?"

The Duke could still hardly suppress his disgust when he thought about the resources they had been forced to send in silence, swallowing their pride, after Emperor Keillusa used the Crown Prince’s unauthorized departure to publicly humiliate them.

Kiole hurriedly shook his head.

"N-No, that’s not what I meant... I, I heard that although the Hail Day has ended, it might not truly be over yet... If that information is true, shouldn’t we also help respond to it?"

"Information?"

The Duke of Diarca furrowed his brow. Kiole’s attempt to phrase things cautiously was utterly useless before a man as cunning as an old fox.

"You mean someone told you that the disaster isn’t over and you should help? Who said that? Was it the degenerate First Princess of House Hern who ignored her father’s funeral? If not, maybe those beggars from the Temple of the Sun, always whining about lacking funds—?"

"No, no, absolutely not!"

Kiole frantically shook his head.

"Then who? Where could you have heard such information?"

"Well..."

Kiole hesitated, racking his brain furiously.

The information had come from Yuder of the Cavalry. That guy was a twisted mess of a personality, but his work was never sloppy. If he judged that something was about to happen in the South and was taking action, there had to be something real behind it.

If even the Cavalry, full of commoners, was throwing themselves into protecting the country, then surely House Diarca—a cornerstone of the Empire—should do no less.

However, if he admitted it was Yuder who told him, his father would throw him out without even listening.

After an intense struggle, Kiole barely managed to open his mouth.

"Father, what did you task me with? You told me to watch the Cavalry and Duke Pelleta's actions in the South closely, to report back properly, like a true knight of the Imperial Guard and a Diarca."

"I did."

"I followed your orders. I personally monitored Duke Pelleta and the Cavalry, and after the Hail Day, I saw that they stayed to work, not just for cleanup. When I looked into it, I found that they were staying because they believed that... the disaster wasn't truly over yet."

"Kiole. Are you telling me you are blindly trusting information gathered from those people?"

The Duke let out a cold laugh. Kiole's face turned a bit red, and sweat appeared on his forehead.

"O-Of course! I know they’re lowborn and rough around the edges! But even so, their abilities... I truly believe they’re real. Isn’t that why even you, Father, brought in Awakeners to replace our private guards?"

"..."

"If they judged that the disaster in the South isn't over, then there must be a good reason! So we can't just withdraw...!"

Kiole, passionately arguing to the point that Yuder himself might wonder if he’d swapped tongues with someone else, was abruptly silenced when the Duke raised a hand.

"Enough, Kiole. That’s enough."

'He understands!'

Kiole smiled slightly, thinking his father understood him. But the words that followed were entirely unexpected.

"Certainly, I thought it odd that Duke Pelleta had not yet left the South, even after the Hail Day ended. I wondered if he had perhaps found a woman he liked... But if what you say is true, it’s more likely that His Majesty still has tasks for the Cavalry there, keeping him in place. Hm."

"......"

"In that case, House Diarca has even less reason to get involved further."

"W-What?"

"Good. It’s convenient. I've already been frustrated enough dealing with the mess left behind by the idiot Ajihen Tomb, who stupidly got himself killed, and the Crown Prince’s disgraceful scandal. If your information is true, the more we leave it to the Cavalry and House Hern, the better it is for us."

Kiole doubted his own ears. Yet the Duke’s calm, cold face showed no sign of jest.

"Father, but...!"

"Kiole. When you threw a tantrum wanting to become a knight, it wasn’t because I wanted you to spout fairy tales. You do know why you're able to live comfortably and honorably as part of the Imperial Guard, don’t you?"

Kiole felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head, silencing him.

"You may cause as many minor troubles as you like. I can tolerate that. But you must never act in a way that harms the House’s name. Never."

And now, Kiole’s suggestion, in the Duke’s sharp eyes, was exactly that—something that would stain the House's name.

"Of course, as you say, if something terrible happens to the Empire, an old house like ours should help. But protecting House Diarca must always come first. Only when we act for Diarca’s sake does anything have meaning."

The Duke finished, raising the corners of his thin lips in a smile.

"Do you think me cold for saying so?"

"......"

"But bearing the responsibility for a House demands that much. Think about it. Even after the Hail Day, when nothing happened except for the death of that fool Duke Hern, the Cavalry was praised to the skies, Pelleta glorified, and the Emperor celebrated. Meanwhile, how much harder did things become for House Diarca because of a dead fool and a Crown Prince who no longer knows what matters?"

Helping those who were thriving while House Diarca suffered would be idiocy. Especially now, when even the Crown Prince had become more of a hindrance than an ally.

The Duke thought so coldly.

"B-But Father, this new disaster might be even more serious than the Hail Day...! If the South falls into chaos, the entire Empire could be at risk...! I thought it noble for a noble to repay a debt of help...!"

"Kiole."

The Duke looked at his son with a pitying gaze, reaching out to pat his head and then his shoulder. Kiole felt crushed, as if pinned under a giant rock.

"Whoever filled your head with nonsense, you should cool off for a while. What matters most now is ensuring that the bumbling Crown Prince ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ does not strut back into the capital as the Emperor’s handpicked hero and the new owner of the Divine Sword. If your information is correct, I will be busy enough dealing with that."

Even though Duke Pelleta had clearly become the new Swordmaster and the Divine Sword’s wielder, the Duke of Diarca still treated him like nothing more than an appendage of the Emperor. It wasn’t ignorance—it was the manifestation of an aristocrat’s stubborn pride.

No matter how much Duke Pelleta was praised, as long as House Diarca didn’t acknowledge it, many other nobles would act as if nothing had changed.

Pretending not to see even when they saw. Pretending not to hear even when they heard.

That had always been the Duke’s method in opposing the royal family.

"F-Father. Then, if not as House Diarca, could I at least inquire about support through the Imperial Guard...?"

"Don't speak such nonsense. Why are you so narrow-minded? Stop thinking complicated thoughts and stay quietly at the secondary residence for now. I’ll assign someone to watch you. No going out."

The Duke finished speaking like he was scolding a child and waved his hand dismissively, signaling him to leave.

Unable to argue further, Kiole was led out by the servants.

People peeked at him from all sides, watching with curious, malicious interest, but Kiole didn’t even notice.

He entered a small, isolated annex, changed clothes, and collapsed onto the bed.

Only once he was alone did a coherent thought finally surface through his tangled mind.

'What... is this feeling?'

He was seized by a massive disappointment and shock he couldn’t even begin to understand himself.