Chapter 1246

Kiole had always lived with pride in being born into House Diarca.

Everyone around him envied him, and he had been taught that it was only natural, so he never once questioned it.

His father, despite being a high noble, was a magnanimous man who would accept even commoners or foreigners beneath him if they were capable. Though his elder siblings didn’t particularly like Kiole, they still always acted with nobility and followed their father’s orders well.

The countless people who came and went through the Diarca estate were active in such a wide array of ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) fields that they seemed like part of the Duke of Diarca’s vast collection, and all of them would say that House Diarca was the greatest pillar supporting the Orr Empire. Dozens, even hundreds of people came to see the Duke of Diarca every day to seek his wisdom, and he never refused them—he would give help and receive it in return.

Kiole respected his father, who didn’t turn away from earnest pleas and moved for the good of the country.

And the Crown Prince his father had brought and raised—how beautiful and intelligent a boy he had been.

A house that aimed not to step forward directly, but to lead all while maintaining noble dignity.

A bloodline of true loyalists who quietly prepared for the future, in place of the royal family of Orr, which had grown ever more negligent and declining, unable to think of the nation.

A line descended from the second daughter of the First Emperor, who was said to have been warmer and more embracing in spirit than anyone.

That was the House of Diarca as Kiole la Diarca had been taught.

In such a family, Kiole becoming a knight had been a somewhat unusual path, but even that his father accepted with open arms. Though he would at times become fiercely angry at Kiole’s reckless behavior—fueled by his overconfidence in his lineage and status—that was all it amounted to. The worst punishment he’d ever received was being sent away for training or being put on temporary confinement. Compared to House Apeto, where life-and-death battles between kin were considered routine, his father’s love overflowed.

Besides his lack of swordsmanship, which never quite improved, Kiole had nothing to worry about.

His father was always right, his house was solid, and so the nation would remain peaceful without change. He believed this without the slightest doubt.

That is, until one day, a stone fell from the sky and strange, unheard-of power-users began to appear—until those people blocked Kiole’s path and even dared to take over a branch of the Imperial Guard.

“......”

Yuder let out a short sigh, as if for Kiole to hear, while staring at the crown of his head as the latter remained bowed, face still buried in his hands.

“Hu.”

Kiole’s shoulders gave a slight tremble.

“Your father. You don’t know a thing about what kind of person the Duke of Diarca really is.”

The Kiole of the past would have screamed, asking what kind of insult that was. How could the son of the Duke of Diarca not know his own father?

But the Kiole of now couldn’t say anything in response to Yuder’s words. Because it brought to mind that moment when his father had felt unfamiliar.

The father who had grabbed Kiole’s wrist that day and so casually spoke of death—was that truly the same ‘righteous loyalist’ Duke of Diarca that Kiole had known? The old man who spoke of removing whatever was ‘bothersome,’ without any particular justification or cause, had shown not a trace of awkwardness in his expression.

His demeanor had been utterly natural, as though he had said such things hundreds, thousands of times before.

“...Maybe. That might be true.”

Kiole muttered, voice heavily subdued by such thoughts.

“My father... and my eldest brother... they don’t seem like the people I used to know. Even the Crown Prince. All of them...”

They had all, at some point, become strange. They had changed into completely different people.

When did it all go wrong? And now, what could he do, where could he even begin, to find out who they truly were? Could he even realize what the real problem was?

Would going into the secret vault with the heir’s seal given to him by the Duke of Diarca help him find those answers?

Even Kiole knew that wasn’t the answer. The truth he sought wasn’t going to come just by blindly following his father’s orders like before. His head was filled with nothing but a deep, instinctive rejection and fear at the idea of entering that vault in this state.

“Do you want to know the truth?”

As if reading his thoughts, Yuder Aile asked the question. Kiole jerked his head up in shock. Those dark eyes, so deep they didn’t even reflect light, were staring straight at him. Kiole had always felt that if he met those eyes head-on, all his thoughts would be sucked in, and it terrified him—but this time, the feeling was a little different.

“From the look of you now, it doesn’t seem like you’re planning to follow the Duke of Diarca’s orders anytime soon. Am I right?”

“......”

“If you need time to make your decision, I’ll help you. So you can judge for yourself what kind of people your father, your brother, and Diarca truly are.”

“...H-How?”

The way his face betrayed every thought, reacting reflexively even as he tried to resist—as if tempted by the devil. Yuder gave the faintest upward curl of his lips.

“Wait patiently. I’ll send the method soon.”

“What?”

Leaving behind that incomprehensible line, Yuder disappeared before Kiole could even think to stop him.

“What the hell am I supposed to do when you say something like that and just disappear?!”

The answer came the next day.

Bang bang bang! Startled by the loud pounding on his door, Kiole opened it to meet the cold expression of a hotel staff member.

“Sir. It’s past time to settle this month’s lodging and meal expenses. We haven’t received any contact, so I’ve come up.”

“What? That’s something the person who sent me here should be handling.”

Kiole looked down and spoke as if it were only natural, a tone that would’ve frightened most, but the staff member remained firm.

“It was agreed the payments would be made monthly, postpaid. But nothing has come in. So the responsibility lies with you, sir.”

“What did you say?!”

This was a place the Emperor of the Empire himself had arranged for him to stay—what did they mean the lodging fee hadn’t been paid? It was absurd.

“Don’t tell me... you don’t have any money?”

The staff furrowed their brow and asked. Kiole shouted back reflexively.

“How dare you speak to me like that! Just wait! I’ll fetch it right away!”

Fuming, Kiole began rifling through his clothes.

But... there was no money.

All he found in his wallet was a single gold coin and a few silver ones.

‘Uh...’

Come to think of it, ever since the day he had nearly died and woken up in the palace, he hadn’t once thought about gathering money or luggage. He’d been living outside this whole time, and since he rarely left the lodging, he’d never felt the need.

He’d had a single wallet he always carried with him, but the money in it had gone to buying a few temporary outfits and covering a carriage fare. It was nowhere near enough to cover the amount listed on the bill the staff had brought.

‘Wait a minute. How... how was I supposed to get paid again?’

He’d been transferred under the Crown Prince’s command, and though that was now practically defunct, Kiole was still officially a knight of the Imperial Guard.

‘No, I’m currently listed as on sick leave, so maybe I’m not getting paid at all...?’

He had never once paid attention to how his salary was distributed, so he had no idea where his pay was even going right now.

For Kiole, money had always just been something that was in his wallet. He had never thought of it as something he had to manage himself.

The next thing that came to mind was the Duke of Diarca’s secret vault... but that wasn’t somewhere he could go right now.

He didn’t know. His head was spinning.

‘Should I have asked the steward for money when I saw him...?!’

While Kiole was flailing in confusion and disbelief, the staff member pressed him with a voice as cold as frost.

“Sir. That will be exactly 23 gold coins.”

“W-Wait! I... I’ll go get the money from somewhere else. Just wait a little.”

Up until now, whenever Kiole had said something like that, no one had dared say no.

But that was back when everyone knew him as the youngest son of House Diarca. Now, he was nothing more than an anonymous, long-term guest whose identity was unclear.

The staff member looked at Kiole with a face colder than ice and sighed.

“I’ll be filing a report.”

“What?!”

“Do you know how many times we’ve heard that same excuse?”

“What are you talking about?! It’s not like I said I wouldn’t pay! I told you I would!”

“Those are the hotel’s rules. There’s nothing we can do. If you can’t pay, we have to report it. Once someone else comes and pays on your behalf, you’ll be released—so think carefully about where you might find that money.”

You dare treat me like some beggar?! Kiole was struck with immense shock. But by the time he came to his senses, he had already been thrown out and was sitting in a temporary holding cell managed by the local security force.