An invisible bond started to form between Albert and Liam.
The fearful Liam’s courage was able to break through Albert’s high walls in that instant.
I realized once more just how formative this period of Albert’s life was.
But at the same time, I knew just how humiliating and disgraceful it was for him as well.
The silent conversation between the two of them was instantaneous. There were still people left that Albert needed to crawl to and kiss their feet.
Staying expressionless, Albert pulled at one sleeve and rubbed his mouth with it.
He kept bowing over and over, and because of this repeated action, his hair had become unkempt. He was merely going through the motions—his eyes were blank.
Not once did he look at me.
Perhaps it’s because he didn’t want to know if I was watching, or perhaps it’s because he believed that I would keep my eyes closed.
Either way, my heart ached terribly.
With my hands tightly folded into fists, my fingernails dug deep into the tender flesh of my palms. Even still, I could not feel anything.
[ Will you truly do nothing? ]
The echoing inner voice revived my guilt once more. It felt as if my entire body was being pushed down to the ground.
Had there been any other time when I felt so helpless.
The next person that Albert was headed for was Belfort.
Though Belfort was smirking haughtily at Albert, beside him, Mercy was visibly uneasy.
Like a signal, Mercy tugged on Belfort’s hand, yet he remained standing tall. His and Albert’s eyes met.
“Good evening, Young Count.”
Greed flowed profusely in Belfort’s gaze as he sneered at Albert. The emotions mixed with that gaze were similar to what Marquis Evnen possessed.
If Marquis Evnen had given even more emphasis on humiliating Albert, Belfort would have gladly taken up the marquis on his offer and would have gone the extra mile.
Both of them had within them such deplorable thoughts.
“Allow me to step forward for you.”
As he said, Belfort offered one foot forward. At that moment, Mercy and the nobles around them hurriedly reached up to pinch their noses. Albert, too, grimaced slightly.
“Dad, what are you doing?”
“Shush. Watch carefully, Mercy. Be a witness to just how great of a person the Young Count is.”
Mercy blinked dazedly as she took in her father’s words, which were dripping with sarcasm. She was looking at him as though he had become a stranger to her.
Mercy gritted her teeth and whispered.
“Dad, you stepped on vomit earlier. If it’s that foot, then—”
“Mercy, I told you. Watch carefully.”
Belfort smiled and whispered back.
“I am this kind of person.”
The humiliation he was bringing upon Albert was not only for the sake of his own satisfaction.
He wanted to show off his position to Mercy.
But he did not know how this would affect Mercy. From the start, he had the same mindset and worldview ever since he had been born, so Belfort was naturally certain that Mercy would look up to him.
He read the shock in Mercy’s wide gaze.
In the first place, Mercy and Belfort were two different kinds of people. She couldn’t have accepted this kind of thing easily.
Albert stared at them, observing the tension between father and daughter.
He looked like he was waiting for the quarrel between them to end, but it did not last long.
As he saw the vein visibly pulsating on Marquis Evnen’s temple, Albert soon knelt down.
This is my ordeal. I need to stay still and do nothing. That’s the right thing to do.
I repeated the same three sentences over and over in my head, trying to brainwash myself. That’s the right thing to do.
And yet, I saw Albert biting his lips. I saw his furrowed brows. It was difficult to endure the stench.
I could not help but feel like a coward.
Even if he would go on and live a life without me, wouldn’t it be enough anyway as long as he could be happy?
No. Blanc was also trying his best. It would be much too selfish of me to make a decision on my own.
…Still, I could not leave Albert as he was.
I’ve been cowardly enough.
The string holding together my rationality snapped right then.
Albert’s request, which had bound me like a spell, also broke.
Even if doing nothing was what I needed to do to pass this ordeal, I would not be able to raise my head and look him in the eye in the future.
Thus far, I had endured it because Blanc’s life was also on the line and because Albert implored me to do so.
However, Belfort’s actions were clearly crossing the line.
I stormed through the throes of people, heading straight to the smirking Belfort. He was waiting for Albert to bring his face to the filthy shoe.
While I was here in this time period, I continued studying magic with the tomes that Albert had let me borrow.
Thanks to that, I now had some spells in my arsenal that could affect several people—as long as I would remove my bracelet.
In particular, I had a confusion spell that could temporarily incapacitate these people, who were so rotten to the core.
If not that, I could also just use water and electricity magic at the same time, and that would cost me less power.
Even if I couldn’t bring down an army of 30,000 soldiers like Albert, it would be enough.
As I raised my other hand to remove my bracelet, my eyes met with Albert’s, who turned his head towards me before I knew it.
At that moment, Albert’s eyes glinted in a deep red hue—as red as the sunset.
With our gazes locked, Albert murmured.
“I told you not to.”
Right after Albert said this, the banquet hall was suddenly turned into a space where only the two of us existed.
Everything around us had stopped.
Even the small stream of wine in the air as someone was pouring from a bottle and to a glass.
All the people around us had gazes that turned cloudy, and their movements slowly halted to a complete stop.
Then, I saw a broken hourglass in Albert’s hand. Golden sand was flowing down through his fingers, fluttering through the air.
And when the sand scattered throughout the entire hall, each grain shone brilliantly with a golden sheen before disappearing.
Albert had stopped time.
An invisible bond started to form between Albert and Liam.
The fearful Liam’s courage was able to break through Albert’s high walls in that instant.
I realized once more just how formative this period of Albert’s life was.
But at the same time, I knew just how humiliating and disgraceful it was for him as well.
The silent conversation between the two of them was instantaneous. There were still people left that Albert needed to crawl to and kiss their feet.
Staying expressionless, Albert pulled at one sleeve and rubbed his mouth with it.
He kept bowing over and over, and because of this repeated action, his hair had become unkempt. He was merely going through the motions—his eyes were blank.
Not once did he look at me.
Perhaps it’s because he didn’t want to know if I was watching, or perhaps it’s because he believed that I would keep my eyes closed.
Either way, my heart ached terribly.
With my hands tightly folded into fists, my fingernails dug deep into the tender flesh of my palms. Even still, I could not feel anything.
[ Will you truly do nothing? ]
The echoing inner voice revived my guilt once more. It felt as if my entire body was being pushed down to the ground.
Had there been any other time when I felt so helpless.
The next person that Albert was headed for was Belfort.
Though Belfort was smirking haughtily at Albert, beside him, Mercy was visibly uneasy.
Like a signal, Mercy tugged on Belfort’s hand, yet he remained standing tall. His and Albert’s eyes met.
“Good evening, Young Count.”
Greed flowed profusely in Belfort’s gaze as he sneered at Albert. The emotions mixed with that gaze were similar to what Marquis Evnen possessed.
If Marquis Evnen had given even more emphasis on humiliating Albert, Belfort would have gladly taken up the marquis on his offer and would have gone the extra mile.
Both of them had within them such deplorable thoughts.
“Allow me to step forward for you.”
As he said, Belfort offered one foot forward. At that moment, Mercy and the nobles around them hurriedly reached up to pinch their noses. Albert, too, grimaced slightly.
“Dad, what are you doing?”
“Shush. Watch carefully, Mercy. Be a witness to just how great of a person the Young Count is.”
Mercy blinked dazedly as she took in her father’s words, which were dripping with sarcasm. She was looking at him as though he had become a stranger to her.
Mercy gritted her teeth and whispered.
“Dad, you stepped on vomit earlier. If it’s that foot, then—”
“Mercy, I told you. Watch carefully.”
Belfort smiled and whispered back.
“I am this kind of person.”
The humiliation he was bringing upon Albert was not only for the sake of his own satisfaction.
He wanted to show off his position to Mercy.
But he did not know how this would affect Mercy. From the start, he had the same mindset and worldview ever since he had been born, so Belfort was naturally certain that Mercy would look up to him.
He read the shock in Mercy’s wide gaze.
In the first place, Mercy and Belfort were two different kinds of people. She couldn’t have accepted this kind of thing easily.
Albert stared at them, observing the tension between father and daughter.
He looked like he was waiting for the quarrel between them to end, but it did not last long.
As he saw the vein visibly pulsating on Marquis Evnen’s temple, Albert soon knelt down.
This is my ordeal. I need to stay still and do nothing. That’s the right thing to do.
I repeated the same three sentences over and over in my head, trying to brainwash myself. That’s the right thing to do.
And yet, I saw Albert biting his lips. I saw his furrowed brows. It was difficult to endure the stench.
I could not help but feel like a coward.
Even if he would go on and live a life without me, wouldn’t it be enough anyway as long as he could be happy?
No. Blanc was also trying his best. It would be much too selfish of me to make a decision on my own.
…Still, I could not leave Albert as he was.
I’ve been cowardly enough.
The string holding together my rationality snapped right then.
Albert’s request, which had bound me like a spell, also broke.
Even if doing nothing was what I needed to do to pass this ordeal, I would not be able to raise my head and look him in the eye in the future.
Thus far, I had endured it because Blanc’s life was also on the line and because Albert implored me to do so.
However, Belfort’s actions were clearly crossing the line.
I stormed through the throes of people, heading straight to the smirking Belfort. He was waiting for Albert to bring his face to the filthy shoe.
While I was here in this time period, I continued studying magic with the tomes that Albert had let me borrow.
Thanks to that, I now had some spells in my arsenal that could affect several people—as long as I would remove my bracelet.
In particular, I had a confusion spell that could temporarily incapacitate these people, who were so rotten to the core.
If not that, I could also just use water and electricity magic at the same time, and that would cost me less power.
Even if I couldn’t bring down an army of 30,000 soldiers like Albert, it would be enough.
As I raised my other hand to remove my bracelet, my eyes met with Albert’s, who turned his head towards me before I knew it.
At that moment, Albert’s eyes glinted in a deep red hue—as red as the sunset.
With our gazes locked, Albert murmured.
“I told you not to.”
Right after Albert said this, the banquet hall was suddenly turned into a space where only the two of us existed.
Everything around us had stopped.
Even the small stream of wine in the air as someone was pouring from a bottle and to a glass.
All the people around us had gazes that turned cloudy, and their movements slowly halted to a complete stop.
Then, I saw a broken hourglass in Albert’s hand. Golden sand was flowing down through his fingers, fluttering through the air.
And when the sand scattered throughout the entire hall, each grain shone brilliantly with a golden sheen before disappearing.
Albert had stopped time.
