Chapter: 14
Too Much Karma to Confess
The executioner, who had been staying down in Sailbrums the entire time, finally returned to the council.
“Ahhh! Lord Executioner!”
A superior as unpredictable as a rubber ball, bouncing who knew where.
His aide, Cameron, who had been anxiously waiting, came running in a flurry.
“You’re here right on time. I was worried you might not come back!”
Cameron immediately grabbed the black judicial robe and rushed to his superior.
“The council meeting begins in ten minutes. We must hurry.”
“Hmm…”
The answer he received was vague.
The law enforcement officer whom everyone feared.
Unless it was business, Brandon—his superior—rarely engaged in small talk.
To begin with, he found conversation bothersome.
More precisely, he didn’t pay much attention to other people.
“This way, please.”
Used to such situations, Cameron headed toward the assembly hall together with Brandon, now changed into his robe.
“Cameron, what do you think?”
“Pardon?”
“What do you suppose Dorothy said about me?”
“…Excuse me?”
It wasn’t strange for Brandon to smile.
But today felt different.
There was something oddly pleased about him.
“Ahem. We’ll be arriving at the chamber shortly.”
Cameron had served as his aide for years.
At times like this, the best strategy was to smoothly change the subject.
It wasn’t as though his superior was actually expecting an answer.
“It’s the weekly regular meeting, so it likely won’t run long.”
Within the Gorsout Council, he was the only man who directly stained his hands with blood.
Assisting such an executioner was by no means easy.
The danger aside, there was chronic understaffing, and overtime was routine.
Even so, there were several reasons Cameron remained by Brandon’s side.
“Lord Executioner. I’ll open the door.”
The moment the door opened, silence fell over the once-noisy chamber.
Among the council members in gray robes,
Brandon’s black velvet robe stood out sharply.
Even in a council dominated by nobles, only the highest ranks could wear such attire.
Serving someone of such high standing brought Cameron an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
As if, even without wearing the robe himself, he too had become someone special.
The chamber fell quiet at Brandon’s entrance.
“Well, if it isn’t Viscount Arneon! Long time no see!”
“Y-Your Grace…”
As expected, his superior didn’t give a damn about the atmosphere.
He even greeted one of the senators in a friendly tone.
“It’s been a while, Y-Your Grace…”
Most, however, feared Brandon.
Capricious, and utterly ruthless.
The chairman’s loyal hound.
“‘Your Grace’? Come now.”
Whether he noticed the cold sweat on Viscount Arneon’s face or not,
Brandon casually slung an arm around his shoulders.
“Just call me Brandon. We’re close enough for that.”
There had once been a brave soul who tried to befriend Brandon.
Foolish would be the right word.
Far from gaining favor, he drew Brandon’s ire instead—and his family was utterly ruined.
Naturally, no one wanted to get involved and risk being caught in the fallout.
“I already think of everyone in this council as family.”
“Haha… ha. I’m honored.”
“And of course, you think of me as family too, don’t you?”
“O-of course. F-family.”
“We’ve spent years together. At this point, we’re practically kin!”
Though I’m not quite sure what family really means.
“Since we’re family, let me suggest something.”
The wider Brandon smiled, the paler the viscount became.
Who knew what faint-worthy thing the duke might say next?
“How about visiting the Kaishuner estate next time?”
“Pardon? Me? The Kaishuner estate?”
“Well, it’s only natural for family to visit one another.”
“B-but…”
Entering the Kaishuner estate alone? Who knew what calamity might befall him.
At this rate, Viscount Arneon might truly faint.
Cameron realized this was the moment he had to intervene.
“Lord Executioner. The Chairman is waiting for you.”
At the word Chairman, the smile vanished from Brandon’s face in an instant.
His expression hardened so suddenly that the viscount hiccupped.
“Right.”
He spoke lazily.
“I should go.”
Brandon gave the viscount one more smile and patted his shoulder,
then headed toward the second floor, where the chairman’s office was located.
Cameron, who had been waiting beside him, followed.
“…Thank you. Truly.”
From behind him came the viscount’s tearful voice.
Saving lives.
That was the second reason Cameron refused to leave his post, despite the risks.
Whenever they went up to the second floor where the chairman’s office was located, a chill crept down the spine.
“For a mere second floor, there are an awful lot of stairs. Making the underlings suffer.”
On the way up, Brandon was even more talkative than usual.
“The Chairman does enjoy looking down on people, after all.”
By the time they reached the second floor—
The chairman only stayed at the council about three hours a day.
Yet the second floor was more splendid and extravagant than most imperial palaces.
It felt less like approaching an office and more like an audience chamber.
“I will wait outside.”
Not even aides were allowed inside the chairman’s office.
Cameron bowed and stepped aside.
Left alone, Brandon stood before the door and took a deep breath.
Then he knocked.
“Enter.”
There was no one inside but the Chairman.
Yet a strange tension filled the room.
“Come in.”
Chairman, Grand Duke Tavelon, welcomed Brandon.
“It’s been a while since I last paid my respects.”
Brandon bent one knee in greeting.
“You need not be so formal.”
The Grand Duke patted his back.
“You are no different from a son to me.”
“…”
“No father asks his son to kneel. Rise.”
After the Kaishuner ducal house had fractured due to divorce,
it was Grand Duke Tavelon who had taken in the abandoned Brandon.
Swordsmanship. Strategy. Accounting. Even the philosophy of kingship.
Childless, the Grand Duke had raised Brandon as his successor.
Thus Brandon had decided to think of the Chairman as a father.
Of course, it wasn’t so simple.
“Thank you for always welcoming me kindly, Chairman.”
Brandon rose with a faint smile in his eyes.
“Now then, I summoned you because there’s something to discuss.”
Formalities between them were always brief.
“I’d like to see Rose’s face again after so long.”
Straight to the point.
“There will always be a place for that child in the Gorsout Council, so tell her not to worry…”
With a snake-like smile, he tossed over a box.
“But I’d prefer not to be kept waiting too long. Take it. It’s a robe Rose may wear one day.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Chairman.”
Then he added,
“I hear Count Allot, who has long been recuperating, is finally returning to the capital.”
The Grand Duke gestured with his chin.
“You’ll take charge of him.”
“…”
“Keep watching him from the side. See if he’s plotting anything.”
“Understood.”
“And if, as you watch him, you think he may become an obstacle… it wouldn’t hurt to kill him in advance.”
After all, the man was nothing more than a puppet with its strings cut.
“You can do that for the father who took you in, can’t you?”
“…Of course.”
“Good. That is all.”
The Grand Duke dismissed him.
“I shall take my leave.”
Having said what he needed, the Grand Duke didn’t even spare him a glance.
After leaving the office, Brandon tilted his head back and let out a low laugh.
“Father… how amusing.”
No matter how he tried to compose himself, a hollow chuckle kept slipping from his lips.
“What kind of father orders his son to kill someone…?”
He had known from the beginning that the Grand Duke did not see him as a real son.
But he never tried to escape.
He didn’t even consider it unfair.
So what if he was being used?
He had nowhere to return to anyway.
With a faint smirk, he left the second floor.
“You’ve returned, Lord Executioner.”
“Yeah, I’m back.”
Diligent Cameron was holding something.
“I’ll have a servant take care of the clothes you wore yesterday.”
“Do as you please.”
“However… what should we do about the item you had?”
“Item?”
Brandon blinked.
“There was something inside your clothes.”
It was chocolate.
“Ah, this…”
Judging by the wrapping, it was from the confectionery shop he had visited yesterday.
He remembered Dorothy staring intently at it last night.
At first, he thought she simply wanted to eat it.
But—
“…I see. That wasn’t it.”
“Pardon?”
Had she set aside the chocolate just for him?
He couldn’t suppress the smile creeping onto his face.
He’d thought she only cared about her older sister.
It seemed she had spared him a thought as well.
“I can’t bring myself to eat this… It feels too precious.”
He suddenly remembered his sister saying that once.
“Then I suppose I can’t eat this either.”
“Pardon? Has it gone bad?”
It wasn’t that he lingered by her side simply because she was interesting or amusing.
Rather…
Hmm. Even after thinking it over, he didn’t know the reason.
But one thing was certain.
“It’s not something I want to stop.”
He rolled the chocolate around in his hand.
