Chapter – 15
The direct descendants did not come to the Stone House.
The reason was simple.
Because it felt like they would have bad luck if they got close.
It sounded like superstition—that the aura of someone at the very bottom would rub off on them and affect their performance—but it also meant they were all desperate about their ranking in the line of succession.
‘But why did those two come all the way here?’
I was hiding behind a thuja tree, peering through the branches and leaves toward the other side.
I could hear giggling voices chatting.
“Do you think Grandpa will kick him out again if he cries this time?”
“Father said that frog got scolded by Grandpa again yesterday and cried. A crybaby who bawls like that isn’t needed in Travel.”
Two children who looked almost identical stood there. They were my uncle’s fraternal twins, Hati and Mati. Nine years old this year.
They had curly blond hair and angelic faces.
But they were devils.
- Teacher! The lowest-ranked kid dropped his textbook into the pond!
- Really? That book was bought with money my father earned. Uncle Reitan can’t even make money because he’s incompetent!
- Go fetch it. If you have any shame, you won’t dare ask for a new one.
Suddenly, memories from my other childhood surfaced.
Most of the bullying I suffered during class back then was because of them and my aunt’s ten-year-old son, Calyps.
‘After Calyps entered the academy he completely ignored the other me, but the twins kept picking fights even after becoming adults… Just how badly did they torment me that even grown up, I still hated them that much?’
I must not let them look down on me.
My survival instincts were telling me that.
“And Hati, didn’t they say the frog got scolded for trying to steal Grandpa’s candy? Thieves deserve punishment.”
Mati, the boy of the twins, swung a sack he was holding.
‘…Is the frog supposed to be me?’
Come to think of it, they had mocked me on my first day in Travel when they saw me crying.
“How pathetic. Is that really a Travel? He’s as noisy as a frog.”
“A frog? Then we’ll only see him until autumn. He’ll crawl into a hole for winter.”
I stared at the sack Mati was holding. It was the kind with a drawstring hunters used to catch birds or small animals.
Looks like they had a servant catch something like a bird. The bag was moving slightly—was it alive?
They were planning to throw that at me, weren’t they?
‘Hmm.’
I narrowed my eyes and lowered my body. The twins were too busy talking to notice I was nearby.
Target acquired ahead. Commencing attack.
“Let’s just throw it already. It’s gross.”
“When the frog comes over here. When is he coming? I saw him come out earlier— Aaaaah!!”
“Eek! Wh-what, what’s wrong?!”
“My leg…! Something bit my leg!”
In an instant, the twins’ faces turned pale as they screamed.
Serves you right for planning something bad.
I just grabbed him with my hand.
“Ribbit ribbit.”
“…….”
Hati and Mati looked down toward me.
I stuck only my face out between the bases of two trees, looked up at them, and grinned.
“Did you find your frog?”
“KYAAAA!”
“Wh-what is that?!”
The twins ran away as if they had seen a ghost.
Thud.
The sack Mati had been holding fell to the ground after he dropped it in panic.
“Hmph. That’s nothing.”
Cowards.
I crawled the rest of the way out between the trees and dusted off my hands. The thought that I’d have to attend classes with them starting tomorrow made me sigh.
“What were they trying to throw?”
I bent down to pick up the wriggling sack.
But someone else grabbed it first.
It was Theon.
“Don’t touch it.”
“Huh? Theon. Did you finish training with my dad?”
Theon nodded and silently glanced behind him—the direction the twins had run.
His dark eyes sank low for a moment, then returned to normal when he looked at me.
“I’ll take care of this.”
“What is it?”
“A bullfrog.”
Thump. Thump.
Agitated by all the disturbances, something inside the sack Theon held thrashed violently.
My stomach turned.
Looking around Theon, I asked:
“Didn’t Dad come with you? How was your first lesson? Dad’s an amazing teacher, right?”
I expected him to start talking excitedly about training again, but instead, with his usual blank face tinged with concern, he said:
“The training ended halfway.”
“Why?”
“The Countess sent someone. She said she had something to discuss with Master.”
*
Swoooosh—
In front of the main Travel residence stood a massive fountain.
It drew from a mysterious underground water vein and had never dried up, even during severe droughts.
“The water stream is so refreshing. It’s magnificent no matter when I see it.”
Priscilla, the first wife of Count Travel, admired the garden with the fountain through the large window of her favorite tea room before turning around.
“It is a blessing from the God of the Land bestowed upon Travel.”
In her sight sat a handsome man with wheat-colored hair on a sofa.
He had a fierce impression, yet everything he did looked dignified. He also possessed an innate charm that attracted people.
Sometimes she even regretted not having given birth to him herself.
“A blessing indeed.”
Reitan sat with one leg crossed, his gaze fixed outside the window.
As she sat in the armchair to his right, Priscilla asked:
“Have you been well? You never contacted us for six years, so I heard nothing about you.”
“I’m sorry. I was busy raising a child.”
“I understand. Haven’t I raised quite a few children myself? These days even Yosel keeps begging me to watch his children.”
The Countess’s hands were wrinkled but elegant. Even adorned with precious jewelry that must not get wet.
Click.
Reitan set down his teacup and looked directly at her.
When Reitan first returned, Priscilla had only briefly shown her face before returning to the main house, claiming a headache. She needed time alone to suppress the anger rising from seeing her stepson return.
Reitan was not the type to seek her out warmly either, so this was their first real conversation since his return.
Whenever Priscilla met his blue eyes, she felt uncomfortable.
There was also a trace of displeasure mixed in.
A swordsmanship genius who had reached the rank of Grand Master.
“The second son seems the most likely candidate, wouldn’t you say?”
Many had once considered that child the most promising successor.
Though those words had long disappeared after his ranking remained consistently at the very bottom…
‘A man changes when he has a child.’
The Countess was wary of Reitan, who had returned as a father.
Perhaps he might threaten her own children’s positions in the succession—
“You asked to hold him jointly responsible. If that is what you want, then it shall be done. As you suggested, I will put one of my possessions up for your charity auction.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just a pearl earring after all. But what can I do? If we overlook theft from the master, the household order will collapse.”
“It’s fine.”
With the matter concluded, Reitan stood after a brief farewell.
Priscilla smiled inwardly as she watched him leave the tea room.
Even as a father, that child is still pathetic.
Click.
As Reitan stepped out, his blue eyes glinted darkly.
A charity auction… a trap.
‘What should I do?’
As he walked down the corridor, he considered his options.
He could become the family troublemaker and ruin their plans, overturn them, or repay them…
“How many more years do you think your daughter will live?”
Or endure it.
If Berry’s illness could only be treated here, he could not leave this land.
But this was also a place where any bothersome sprout was crushed.
His own carriage accident 13 years ago.
His brother’s death 7 years ago.
They were connected.
Berry, at least, must live outside the beasts’ line of sight.
“Young master.”
“…….”
“Young master…?”
Pulled from deep thought by a voice calling him, Reitan turned around.
It was Cerber, the head butler of the main residence.
“What is it?”
“Well… um….”
Cerber looked around as if to make sure no one else was nearby.
He knew Reitan hadn’t come out of that meeting with the Countess for anything good, but he still had something he needed to ask.
“About the Ink Company stock Miss Berry mentioned…”
He had asked Baron Mont again and personally confirmed there was nothing wrong with the company.
Yet he still suffered nightmares every night.
The story he heard from that young girl during their first meeting simply would not leave his mind.
That was also why he gave ingredients to Sherry yesterday. Normally he wouldn’t have handed them over even after being nagged all day.
“What about it?”
“Yes…! Miss said she heard it somewhere…”
What would a seven-year-old know? And Young Master Reitan had only recently returned from outside.
Which meant the most likely source of that information was him.
It was ridiculous to ask investment advice from someone known for bad financial luck, but his house and entire fortune were at stake—
“Stop beating around the bush and just say it.”
“Should I sell them?”
Cerber was almost in tears. A middle-aged man begging like this was something Reitan had seen often on battlefields, so he felt no particular sympathy.
Ink Company stock.
What did he care?
“Sell them.”
“…Yes!”
Cerber’s face brightened instantly, as if he had received divine revelation. He quickly tried to compose himself with an awkward cough.
Reitan, having witnessed that brief change, shook his head slightly and walked away, leaving Cerber behind.
