‘Ceres ran away?’
Duke Garcia couldn’t contain his fluster.
For Garcia of Gold, this was not the first time he had solved problems like this with money.
He used to take it lightly whenever they were in trouble, let alone when they had done wrong.
But if his eldest son ran away, it became a problem.
‘Doesn’t he know that it will only make things worse?’
Attempted murder of the royal family of all crimes.
It was tricky to deal with it quietly, and it was impossible to estimate how much money he had to pour out to cover this up.
Even in this situation, the royal family’s finances were becoming stronger.
In addition to money, Garcia might have to brace himself to sacrifice quite a lot.
‘If I make a mistake, the Kaistein royal family may be able to control Garcia from now on.’
Despite the straits he was in, Duke Garcia’s face remained cold.
‘Nothing has been confirmed yet.’
Any other family could have been found guilty without a trial.
However, both Ceres and Heinley were members of the Garcia family, one of the only two ducal families in Kaistein.
There was absolutely no way it would end like this.
He only needed to use everything at his disposal as much as possible until proven guilty.
‘If necessary, appease the judge, the king, and all the witnesses with gold to acquit him.’
Seeing the Duke, Ian’s lips curled up.
‘You’ll definitely try to solve it with money again this time.’
But not even a chance.
Ian had already predicted that the Duke would make such a move.
So, he already had something prepared separately.
Sure enough.
“Your Majesty, that’s not all!”
“Huh?”
With a loud voice, the royal knight added something he had yet to report.
“Young Master Ceres—no, Ceres Garcia was a demon’s pawn!”
“Tell me the details.”
“The moment we were about to transport Ceres with Sir Galon, he turned into a black monster and ran away.”
“!”
Everyone widened their eyes in shock.
He was the son of one of the only two dukes in the kingdom. What was he, the person who would inherit the duchy, dissatisfied with to become the demon’s pawn?
They simply couldn’t wrap their heads around this.
The king, in particular, asked with a stern look.
“This is not the place to joke. Tell the truth, Sir Knight.”
“It’s true, Your Majesty. I saw clearly with my own eyes that he turned into a monster and flew into the sky. Other royal knights have also confirmed it!”
Not only that, even the citizens of the capital city saw it.
King Eloin raised his voice in surprise at his words.
“Is that really true?”
“It’s true. And…”
The royal knight hesitated in saying his next words.
The king urged him.
“What are you doing not continuing your report?”
“B-but…”
The royal knight glanced around.
It was too sensitive an issue to mention here.
Of all people, Duke Garcia, Ceres’s father, was present.
The knight was obviously worried about whether a conflict between the royal family and the Garcia family would arise over this.
But the king remained steadfast.
“All the people here are important ministers of the country, so don’t be afraid and speak up.”
“Not only Ceres, but the Garcia family servants also turned into monsters and attacked the knights. That is why I came alone to report, Your Majesty.”
“!?”
The air surrounding the throne room, as well as that of King Eloin, dropped.
It was inevitable.
“Not only the eldest son of the family… even the servants have become the demon’s pawn?”
This was a report that could drive a family to their demise.
It was also a secret affair of a very important family responsible for the country’s finances.
Naturally, the king’s icy eyes were cast at Duke Garcia.
“How did this happen? Please explain clearly, Duke.”
He didn’t hide his suspicion of Duke Garcia in his gaze.
Duke Garcia responded calmly under the king’s cold eyes.
“What does my family lack to be the demon’s pawn?”
“Then, what about the royal knight’s report?”
“There must have been some mistake. I will surely uncover the truth even if I have to mobilize all my knights and soldiers.”
When Duke Garcia said this, his faction moved.
As if they had been shot with an icy glare from the Duke, they began to defend the Garcia family, sweating buckets.
“That’s right. Is he not Garcia of Gold? Why would he join hands with the demons to sully his own reputation?”
“This must be a conspiracy. Please do not forget how much Duke Garcia has devoted himself to the kingdom.”
However, it wasn’t easy to turn this around.
Regardless of how hard they tried to defend him, the atmosphere was already against them.
No, if everyone in the capital had seen it, it was nothing less than an irrefutable truth.
The ministers shouted in unison.
“What sort of nonsense are you spouting! There is no evidence. Evidence!”
“One of the dukes of Kaistein is a demon’s pawn! How deplorable! Go redeem yourself with death, Duke Garcia!”
The throne room was thrown into complete disarray for a long while.
But only one person was smiling amid this situation.
It was Ian Kaistein.
In fact, it was because of his power that Ceres revealed himself.
Wo-ong!
A new crest shone on his body.
It was the symbol of Patience, one of the Seven Virtues.
Patience, which was absorbed from the 25 chieftains, Olak, as well as the throne of Bahara, was already in its completed form.
And just like Faith and Humility, this power was special.
[If you want someone to be kind to me, break their head first!]
Patience possessed the power to destroy what was corrupted and foul.
And the beholder was able to pass that power to someone for a while.
Ian had passed the power to Galon, one of his three knights.
‘Nathan, who has many connections with the nobles as the son of a marquis, gathered the nobles, while Galon’s role is to bring out Ceres’s true face.’
Galon was his first knight.
At the same time, he was the man who resonated with Faith the best.
Ian believed that he would definitely be able to reveal Ceres’s true face.
It was because of Patience’s hidden power.
‘Patience sheds the light in the darkness.’
What Patience had was the power to destroy the foul and the corrupted.
But to destroy them, it must find them first. That way, Patience was able to reveal what was hidden like a torch in the darkness.
It might have been for that reason that Patience was split into several pieces.
‘If the chieftains found evil, the owner of the throne would personally go and smash their heads.’
But what happened next greatly took Ian by surprise.
“Your Majesty! Royal knight Sir Chaser requests an audience!”
He was the one who tried to arrest Ceres along with the royal knight who had just given his reports.
The throne room was once again set abuzz with the ministers bickering. New news was coming in one after another with evidence.
“These are the items we found while searching the Garcia family!”
“There was a hidden chamber in Young Master Ceres’s room.”
“This is proof! Ceres, the eldest son of the Garcia family, is the demon’s pawn and has been in cahoots with them!”
They were symbols depicting the Seven Sins and the Seven Virtues.
To those who didn’t know, these could easily be mistaken as the demon’s crest.
“Sir Galon found everything himself.”
“Sir Galon?”
“He seems to have some unique magic tools on him. His body glowed, and he found all the hidden chambers.”
It seemed that Patience passed to Galon worked properly.
But that wasn’t important to Ian now.
One of the items brought as evidence was a book.
To be precise, the crest inscribed there was what caught his eye.
‘Isn’t that Faith?’
What was inscribed on the book cover was a symbol painted in dark red.
But something was off.
‘Why is it so ominous?’
It wasn’t simply because of the blood-red color.
An ominous aura seeped out of the book, as if warning he should never get close to it.
Ian shook his head.
‘If there is anything related to Faith written on it, I must obtain it.’
Not much about Faith had been revealed yet.
As long as it belonged to him, it was necessary to know everything.
Of course, that was not what mattered now.
The evidence found by Galon instantly reversed the atmosphere of the throne room.
“I can’t believe that Young Master Ceres—no, Ceres was the demon’s pawn.”
“This is a tragedy! It’s unbelievable that the demon’s pawn came out of one of the only two dukes.”
“Who knows. If even the servants were the demon’s pawn, then could the Duke be…”
Flinch!
Everyone distanced themselves from Duke Garcia.
Although that man didn’t finish his words, the look in their eyes had given it away—that the Duke might also be the demon’s pawn.
It was no wonder they thought so.
If the servants and even the eldest son were the demon’s pawn, there was a high possibility that Duke Garcia, who led the family, was also the ringleader.
Ian smiled coldly at that sight.
‘Now, money won’t be able to solve the problem.’
Sure enough.
King Eloin’s solemn order fell.
“Arrest Duke Garcia.”
“Your Majesty? How can you do this? Don’t you know how hard the Garcia family has worked for Kaistein?”
Duke Garcia refused to allow the royal knights to take him away.
He then spoke impassionedly, pleading that he should at least have a trial.
But the king was merciless.
“The circumstantial evidence is already clear. We must detain you until all doubts and suspicions are cleared.”
“!?”
“If you refuse, I will consider you the demon’s ringleader.”
King Eloin rose from his seat and unsheathed his sword.
Shiiing!
The legendary sword handed down only to the king of Kaistein.
That very same sword was pointed at Duke Garcia.
As the oppressive aura of the king, who was once called Blood Lion in the past, swelled up, the throne room was instantly engulfed in thick killing intent.
King Eloin asked in a cold voice.
“Do you refuse to comply?”
Crack—
For some reason, Duke Garcia could hear his heart breaking.
Duke Garcia bowed his head, his eyes chilled.
“I shall follow your order, Your Majesty.”
It would have ended differently had it been in the past.
If it had been the King Eloin who coveted Garcia’s enormous wealth, he could have just overlooked it.
However, King Eloin had no more qualms as the royal finances were solid and the circumstances of the Garcia family were clear.
Right at that moment.
‘This is the end of Garcia.’
Ian smiled at Duke Garcia, who was being taken away.
The eldest son was the demon’s pawn.
The second son hadn’t had a formal trial yet, but he was a traitor to the kingdom.
All who was left was Karan.
‘Of course, Karan is not completely mine yet.’
Duke Garcia’s resourcefulness could have turned him around.
However.
‘It won’t go your way.’
Ian recalled the last knight he had entrusted with the task.
***
Prince Louis had just recovered from his injuries from the Balrog incident.
However, it took him too long to recover. Because of this, he only managed to arrive just in time to attend the victory ceremony as well as the conferment of honors.
But something unbelievable greeted him right after.
“What on earth is this…”
After leaving his troops outside the castle and walking inside, astonishment filled his expression.
It was no wonder.
This was because smiles were blooming on the faces of the people all over the castle.
Kaistein might have emerged victorious in the Northern Expedition, but they could not escape the aftermath of the war. In spite of that, however, the faces of the people were so bright.
He could hardly believe it at all.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Louis called up a man over.
“Hey.”
“Gasp! Prince Louis!”
The man recognized Louis’s face and immediately planted his head on the ground.
Although it was usual for Louis to travel around the royal capital, he was still a royal. As a commoner, he was someone that man couldn’t even imagine meeting face-to-face.
But Louis was too hurried to ask to care about that man’s manners.
“What is going on here? Why is everyone smiling?”
“Th, that is…”
“His Highness asked you. Answer quickly.”
Louis’s aide scolded the man who stammered his reply.
The man jolted in surprise and hastily answered.
“This is thanks to the Seventh Prince, no, His Majesty Ian, who became the king of Bahara.”
“What?”
“Tell me the details.”
The man sweated at Louis’s urging.
“His Highness gave consolation money to the people who were suffering.”
“What?”
“They say the amount alone is equivalent to several years of the kingdom’s budget. Thanks to this, gold coins were given to everyone in the kingdom, including the bereaved families of those killed in the war.”
It was ridiculous.
All the war spoils of Bahara belong to Eloin, the king of Kaistein.
But what kind of money did Ian have to do such a thing?
However, the next second, Louis’s face hardened.
‘I’ve been had.’
He couldn’t help thinking so.
The most important part of the victory ceremony was distributing a portion of the war spoils to the citizens and people.
However, Ian had already won the hearts of the people with gold coins even before the victory ceremony was held.
‘Something is wrong.’
Louis exclaimed urgently.
“We must hurry to the royal palace!”
“Let’s go, Your Highness.”
Leaving behind the people praising Ian, Louis hurried to the royal palace.
But an even more surprising thing was waiting for him.
“What does this all mean?”
What lay before his eyes was absolutely unbelievable.
An enormous amount of wealth piled up in front of the royal palace.
That wasn’t all.
“What did you just say? Where is he now?”
A man whom he thought he’d never see again.
‘Ceres ran away?’
Duke Garcia couldn’t contain his fluster.
For Garcia of Gold, this was not the first time he had solved problems like this with money.
He used to take it lightly whenever they were in trouble, let alone when they had done wrong.
But if his eldest son ran away, it became a problem.
‘Doesn’t he know that it will only make things worse?’
Attempted murder of the royal family of all crimes.
It was tricky to deal with it quietly, and it was impossible to estimate how much money he had to pour out to cover this up.
Even in this situation, the royal family’s finances were becoming stronger.
In addition to money, Garcia might have to brace himself to sacrifice quite a lot.
‘If I make a mistake, the Kaistein royal family may be able to control Garcia from now on.’
Despite the straits he was in, Duke Garcia’s face remained cold.
‘Nothing has been confirmed yet.’
Any other family could have been found guilty without a trial.
However, both Ceres and Heinley were members of the Garcia family, one of the only two ducal families in Kaistein.
There was absolutely no way it would end like this.
He only needed to use everything at his disposal as much as possible until proven guilty.
‘If necessary, appease the judge, the king, and all the witnesses with gold to acquit him.’
Seeing the Duke, Ian’s lips curled up.
‘You’ll definitely try to solve it with money again this time.’
But not even a chance.
Ian had already predicted that the Duke would make such a move.
So, he already had something prepared separately.
Sure enough.
“Your Majesty, that’s not all!”
“Huh?”
With a loud voice, the royal knight added something he had yet to report.
“Young Master Ceres—no, Ceres Garcia was a demon’s pawn!”
“Tell me the details.”
“The moment we were about to transport Ceres with Sir Galon, he turned into a black monster and ran away.”
“!”
Everyone widened their eyes in shock.
He was the son of one of the only two dukes in the kingdom. What was he, the person who would inherit the duchy, dissatisfied with to become the demon’s pawn?
They simply couldn’t wrap their heads around this.
The king, in particular, asked with a stern look.
“This is not the place to joke. Tell the truth, Sir Knight.”
“It’s true, Your Majesty. I saw clearly with my own eyes that he turned into a monster and flew into the sky. Other royal knights have also confirmed it!”
Not only that, even the citizens of the capital city saw it.
King Eloin raised his voice in surprise at his words.
“Is that really true?”
“It’s true. And…”
The royal knight hesitated in saying his next words.
The king urged him.
“What are you doing not continuing your report?”
“B-but…”
The royal knight glanced around.
It was too sensitive an issue to mention here.
Of all people, Duke Garcia, Ceres’s father, was present.
The knight was obviously worried about whether a conflict between the royal family and the Garcia family would arise over this.
But the king remained steadfast.
“All the people here are important ministers of the country, so don’t be afraid and speak up.”
“Not only Ceres, but the Garcia family servants also turned into monsters and attacked the knights. That is why I came alone to report, Your Majesty.”
“!?”
The air surrounding the throne room, as well as that of King Eloin, dropped.
It was inevitable.
“Not only the eldest son of the family… even the servants have become the demon’s pawn?”
This was a report that could drive a family to their demise.
It was also a secret affair of a very important family responsible for the country’s finances.
Naturally, the king’s icy eyes were cast at Duke Garcia.
“How did this happen? Please explain clearly, Duke.”
He didn’t hide his suspicion of Duke Garcia in his gaze.
Duke Garcia responded calmly under the king’s cold eyes.
“What does my family lack to be the demon’s pawn?”
“Then, what about the royal knight’s report?”
“There must have been some mistake. I will surely uncover the truth even if I have to mobilize all my knights and soldiers.”
When Duke Garcia said this, his faction moved.
As if they had been shot with an icy glare from the Duke, they began to defend the Garcia family, sweating buckets.
“That’s right. Is he not Garcia of Gold? Why would he join hands with the demons to sully his own reputation?”
“This must be a conspiracy. Please do not forget how much Duke Garcia has devoted himself to the kingdom.”
However, it wasn’t easy to turn this around.
Regardless of how hard they tried to defend him, the atmosphere was already against them.
No, if everyone in the capital had seen it, it was nothing less than an irrefutable truth.
The ministers shouted in unison.
“What sort of nonsense are you spouting! There is no evidence. Evidence!”
“One of the dukes of Kaistein is a demon’s pawn! How deplorable! Go redeem yourself with death, Duke Garcia!”
The throne room was thrown into complete disarray for a long while.
But only one person was smiling amid this situation.
It was Ian Kaistein.
In fact, it was because of his power that Ceres revealed himself.
Wo-ong!
A new crest shone on his body.
It was the symbol of Patience, one of the Seven Virtues.
Patience, which was absorbed from the 25 chieftains, Olak, as well as the throne of Bahara, was already in its completed form.
And just like Faith and Humility, this power was special.
[If you want someone to be kind to me, break their head first!]
Patience possessed the power to destroy what was corrupted and foul.
And the beholder was able to pass that power to someone for a while.
Ian had passed the power to Galon, one of his three knights.
‘Nathan, who has many connections with the nobles as the son of a marquis, gathered the nobles, while Galon’s role is to bring out Ceres’s true face.’
Galon was his first knight.
At the same time, he was the man who resonated with Faith the best.
Ian believed that he would definitely be able to reveal Ceres’s true face.
It was because of Patience’s hidden power.
‘Patience sheds the light in the darkness.’
What Patience had was the power to destroy the foul and the corrupted.
But to destroy them, it must find them first. That way, Patience was able to reveal what was hidden like a torch in the darkness.
It might have been for that reason that Patience was split into several pieces.
‘If the chieftains found evil, the owner of the throne would personally go and smash their heads.’
But what happened next greatly took Ian by surprise.
“Your Majesty! Royal knight Sir Chaser requests an audience!”
He was the one who tried to arrest Ceres along with the royal knight who had just given his reports.
The throne room was once again set abuzz with the ministers bickering. New news was coming in one after another with evidence.
“These are the items we found while searching the Garcia family!”
“There was a hidden chamber in Young Master Ceres’s room.”
“This is proof! Ceres, the eldest son of the Garcia family, is the demon’s pawn and has been in cahoots with them!”
They were symbols depicting the Seven Sins and the Seven Virtues.
To those who didn’t know, these could easily be mistaken as the demon’s crest.
“Sir Galon found everything himself.”
“Sir Galon?”
“He seems to have some unique magic tools on him. His body glowed, and he found all the hidden chambers.”
It seemed that Patience passed to Galon worked properly.
But that wasn’t important to Ian now.
One of the items brought as evidence was a book.
To be precise, the crest inscribed there was what caught his eye.
‘Isn’t that Faith?’
What was inscribed on the book cover was a symbol painted in dark red.
But something was off.
‘Why is it so ominous?’
It wasn’t simply because of the blood-red color.
An ominous aura seeped out of the book, as if warning he should never get close to it.
Ian shook his head.
‘If there is anything related to Faith written on it, I must obtain it.’
Not much about Faith had been revealed yet.
As long as it belonged to him, it was necessary to know everything.
Of course, that was not what mattered now.
The evidence found by Galon instantly reversed the atmosphere of the throne room.
“I can’t believe that Young Master Ceres—no, Ceres was the demon’s pawn.”
“This is a tragedy! It’s unbelievable that the demon’s pawn came out of one of the only two dukes.”
“Who knows. If even the servants were the demon’s pawn, then could the Duke be…”
Flinch!
Everyone distanced themselves from Duke Garcia.
Although that man didn’t finish his words, the look in their eyes had given it away—that the Duke might also be the demon’s pawn.
It was no wonder they thought so.
If the servants and even the eldest son were the demon’s pawn, there was a high possibility that Duke Garcia, who led the family, was also the ringleader.
Ian smiled coldly at that sight.
‘Now, money won’t be able to solve the problem.’
Sure enough.
King Eloin’s solemn order fell.
“Arrest Duke Garcia.”
“Your Majesty? How can you do this? Don’t you know how hard the Garcia family has worked for Kaistein?”
Duke Garcia refused to allow the royal knights to take him away.
He then spoke impassionedly, pleading that he should at least have a trial.
But the king was merciless.
“The circumstantial evidence is already clear. We must detain you until all doubts and suspicions are cleared.”
“!?”
“If you refuse, I will consider you the demon’s ringleader.”
King Eloin rose from his seat and unsheathed his sword.
Shiiing!
The legendary sword handed down only to the king of Kaistein.
That very same sword was pointed at Duke Garcia.
As the oppressive aura of the king, who was once called Blood Lion in the past, swelled up, the throne room was instantly engulfed in thick killing intent.
King Eloin asked in a cold voice.
“Do you refuse to comply?”
Crack—
For some reason, Duke Garcia could hear his heart breaking.
Duke Garcia bowed his head, his eyes chilled.
“I shall follow your order, Your Majesty.”
It would have ended differently had it been in the past.
If it had been the King Eloin who coveted Garcia’s enormous wealth, he could have just overlooked it.
However, King Eloin had no more qualms as the royal finances were solid and the circumstances of the Garcia family were clear.
Right at that moment.
‘This is the end of Garcia.’
Ian smiled at Duke Garcia, who was being taken away.
The eldest son was the demon’s pawn.
The second son hadn’t had a formal trial yet, but he was a traitor to the kingdom.
All who was left was Karan.
‘Of course, Karan is not completely mine yet.’
Duke Garcia’s resourcefulness could have turned him around.
However.
‘It won’t go your way.’
Ian recalled the last knight he had entrusted with the task.
***
Prince Louis had just recovered from his injuries from the Balrog incident.
However, it took him too long to recover. Because of this, he only managed to arrive just in time to attend the victory ceremony as well as the conferment of honors.
But something unbelievable greeted him right after.
“What on earth is this…”
After leaving his troops outside the castle and walking inside, astonishment filled his expression.
It was no wonder.
This was because smiles were blooming on the faces of the people all over the castle.
Kaistein might have emerged victorious in the Northern Expedition, but they could not escape the aftermath of the war. In spite of that, however, the faces of the people were so bright.
He could hardly believe it at all.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Louis called up a man over.
“Hey.”
“Gasp! Prince Louis!”
The man recognized Louis’s face and immediately planted his head on the ground.
Although it was usual for Louis to travel around the royal capital, he was still a royal. As a commoner, he was someone that man couldn’t even imagine meeting face-to-face.
But Louis was too hurried to ask to care about that man’s manners.
“What is going on here? Why is everyone smiling?”
“Th, that is…”
“His Highness asked you. Answer quickly.”
Louis’s aide scolded the man who stammered his reply.
The man jolted in surprise and hastily answered.
“This is thanks to the Seventh Prince, no, His Majesty Ian, who became the king of Bahara.”
“What?”
“Tell me the details.”
The man sweated at Louis’s urging.
“His Highness gave consolation money to the people who were suffering.”
“What?”
“They say the amount alone is equivalent to several years of the kingdom’s budget. Thanks to this, gold coins were given to everyone in the kingdom, including the bereaved families of those killed in the war.”
It was ridiculous.
All the war spoils of Bahara belong to Eloin, the king of Kaistein.
But what kind of money did Ian have to do such a thing?
However, the next second, Louis’s face hardened.
‘I’ve been had.’
He couldn’t help thinking so.
The most important part of the victory ceremony was distributing a portion of the war spoils to the citizens and people.
However, Ian had already won the hearts of the people with gold coins even before the victory ceremony was held.
‘Something is wrong.’
Louis exclaimed urgently.
“We must hurry to the royal palace!”
“Let’s go, Your Highness.”
Leaving behind the people praising Ian, Louis hurried to the royal palace.
But an even more surprising thing was waiting for him.
“What does this all mean?”
What lay before his eyes was absolutely unbelievable.
An enormous amount of wealth piled up in front of the royal palace.
That wasn’t all.
“What did you just say? Where is he now?”
A man whom he thought he’d never see again.
