Chapter 146. Engagement – Insight (1)
“Get out. This mansion now belongs to the Klaus royal family. It’s no place for the likes of you.”
The royal guard pointed with a domineering attitude. The boy, the target of such harsh words, trembled, unable to endure the rising sense of humiliation.
This is my home.
This is my parents’ legacy, the property our family has protected for generations.
But based on his experiences over the past few months, he already knew. He understood that if he were told to leave, he had to leave, and if ordered to kneel, he had to bow his head to the ground.
Gritting his teeth, the boy turned around. He felt pitiful that he had to leave his home without uttering a single word of rebuttal to an ordinary soldier’s rude demands, but that was not all the soldier’s impudence entailed.
“Wait. Take off those clothes too.”
The guard ordered the boy with rags dripping in filth. Although the rags were expensive clothes hastily draped over them, the boys in rags pursed their lips but obediently took off and threw the clothes away since they weren’t theirs to begin with.
However, the boy with the vermilion eyes couldn’t do so. He held back the tears of resentment threatening to pour out.
Ultimately, with trembling hands, he took off his damp brown corsage. As he untied it and removed the overcoat, a pitiful sight of his thin and white naked body was revealed along with dirty undergarments.
While the other boys in rags searched for and changed into their tattered clothes, he stood in despair, unable to find anything to wear. Although all the clothes strewn on the ground were originally his.
Finally, Yuan lifted his head. With tears streaming down his gaunt cheeks, he recalled the events from a few months ago.
+ + +
“Mother! Father!”
Yuan shouted upon returning from a long journey. He ran around the ransacked mansion looking for his parents, but there was no sign of anyone.
“What, what is going on here? You! Find my parents. Right now!”
Yuan screamed shrilly.
But the servants who had always attended to him did not respond. Looking around in a daze, a servant finally spoke bluntly.
“Damn it. So they really are ruined. No wonder I’ve had no living expenses.”
“What should we do now?”
“What do you mean ‘what should we do?’ The family is ruined, and the country is in this mess. We just have to gather what we can and leave.”
“Don’t you hear me! Go find my parents…”
– Slap!
The servant turned to look at Yuan with cold eyes. He strode over and slapped Yuan across the face forcefully.
Startled by the servant’s sharp hand, Yuan held his face and stared blankly up at him.
“Isn’t that a bit harsh?”
“Harsh? Just thinking about all the cleanup we’ve had to do for this spoiled noble brat makes me grind my teeth. Hey, your house is ruined. You still haven’t come to your senses.”
“What, what, what is this? How dare you…! You want to die…”
– Slap!
“And what are you going to do about it, huh? What are you going to do? You want to cry and call the knights? There ain’t any left.”
The servant leaned in close, pushing against Yuan’s forehead with his finger, sneering. There was no trace of the familiar smile Yuan had often seen; only pure contempt filled the servant’s face.
A maid standing behind spoke up.
“Stop it. Let’s pack quickly. We need to salvage something. It’s already been looted.”
With a scoff, the servant turned away. He and the maid ignored the terrified Yuan and started rummaging through the mansion.
“Damn it. Even the jewelry box is gone. Hey, find anything over there?”
“The display case is empty too. All the paintings are gone. Do you know anything?”
“Let’s check the kitchen. I saw the head maid sneaking in there.”
The maid and servant hurriedly moved. Comically, Yuan had no choice but to follow them.
“What the… there’s nothing here.”
“It looked like it would be here… Ah! Here it is. Push it; see how it shakes a little?”
“You’re right. But how do we open it?”
“Is muscle just for show?”
“Oh, right. We can break it.”
The servant looked around for something to break the sturdy wooden wall with and saw Yuan standing aimlessly by the door.
“What’s with him?”
“Ignore him and find some tools.”
The servant passed by Yuan. The maid started feeling around the area, trying to figure out how to open the wood panel that jiggled slightly when pushed but didn’t open.
Once the scary servant disappeared, Yuan said in a trembling voice:
“Do you… do you really think you can get away with this? My parents will never forgive you. So, even now… I’ll forgive you if you find my parents.”
The maid, who was standing on tiptoe to rummage through an empty cabinet, turned her head.
The usual confident demeanor had vanished, leaving a shrunken boy. In fact, calling him a boy might be generous; he was more of a child.
The maid’s heart softened. After all, he had been her young master for several years.
Three years ago, the King had mysteriously died. As competition for the empty throne began without a clear successor, the Count had sent his only son, Jerome, to the Holy Kingdom to prepare for any eventuality.
At first, they traveled in a carriage, escorted by mercenaries.
Jerome traveled across various regions of the Holy Kingdom, visiting the nobility. Yuan, the heir to a flourishing count family, was treated generously. However, for some time, the living expenses sent via messenger had not arrived. An entire year passed after the gold coins disappeared from the pouch given by the count, and even the silver coins were depleted, but they couldn’t return hastily. A civil war had broken out in the Aslan Kingdom.
“You expect me to ride in such a small carriage? How insolent!”
In the end, they sold the horse and carriage. Hoping that the war would soon end, they placated the complaining young master and switched to a smaller carriage. But the civil war showed no signs of ending. With the money running out, the servant and maid had to make a decision. They sold even the small carriage. With the money, they recklessly joined a caravan heading towards the Aslan Kingdom, and the enraged Yuan shouted.
“How dare you treat me like this? You will face dire consequences when we return!”
Too young to grasp the situation, the young noble’s pride remained lofty. Yet, the maid and servant endured. Even though they suspected something had happened to the count’s family, they had no choice but to tolerate his tyranny. Their parents were tied as tenant farmers to the count’s estate far to the north; if the count was alive, they might face severe repercussions.
However, after narrowly escaping the war and returning to the mansion in Bernoulli, they were met with this wretched sight. The maid approached the young master with heartfelt resentment and advised.
“You should change your attitude now. It will be tough to survive otherwise.”
“…What are you saying? It’s your attitude towards me that needs changing. Quickly, find my parents…”
“Young master!” The maid shouted, “Get a grip. You are no longer the young master of a prosperous count family. If you don’t stay alert and lower yourself, you’ll get slapped again, like just now. Understood?”
“How dare anyone slap me. Such acts against a noble are…”
– Slap!
The maid slapped Yuan. Although it wasn’t a hard slap, it was deliberate, signaling her intent clearly. Yuan held his slapped cheek with disbelief, his small chest heaving with shallow, rapid breaths.
The maid, who had been crouching, stood up. The advice ended there. She looked down for a moment at the small boy who didn’t even reach her waist before resuming her search in the kitchen.
She found it. Pulling a small lever inside the hearth, a clicking noise came from the wooden wall, which slid open like a door, revealing a narrow pantry filled with well-dried spices.
“Hey! I found it,” the maid called the servant. The servant, who had been searching for any remaining valuable tools like an axe to no avail, smiled with joy.
“This is plenty. Enough to escape abroad with our parents.”
The servant grabbed a sack from the kitchen and began filling it with bundles of spices. When the small pantry shelves were nearly empty, the maid tapped his shoulder.
“Why?”
“Leave some behind.”
“Why?”
The maid signaled with her head. The servant frowned seeing Yuan standing vacantly behind but followed his girlfriend’s words.
With the sack, they exited the desolate mansion. Yuan followed them helplessly but could not cross the main gate and cried out.
“Don’t leave me behind!”
“What’s he saying, that damn brat.”
“Leave him. Poor kid.”
“Poor? It’s all his karma. The gods have punished him.”
“Please… I beg you. Please don’t leave me behind…”
Kneeling and pleading in terror, Yuan cried, but the maid and servant didn’t look back.
+ + +
Chased out by the guards, Yuan left the mansion. Wearing his friend’s rags, he wandered aimlessly. His mansion had become a refuge for orphaned boys and girls due to the war, and he lived with them for several months.
At first, he was beaten a lot. Yuan, who shouted for them to leave his house, was beaten by the boys, retreating to a dreary room with his toys, crying for days. Luckily, the street boys and girls did not throw him out. They extended a helping hand to Yuan, who crawled out unable to bear the hunger.
There was even a boy who honestly apologized for beating him. The humble peasants’ touch. Yuan didn’t want to acknowledge it, but he realized he was no different from them now. Realizing he had to live with such peasants in the future, he showed them the pantry where the spices were.
Though not much remained, the expensive and easily sold spices gave them sustenance. But that too ended today.
The civil war that lasted three years was finally over. The Aslan Kingdom split into the Astin Kingdom in the west and the Aster Kingdom in the east. Bernoulli, slightly westward, became part of the Astin Kingdom, and naturally, the properties of nobles who sided with the Aster Kingdom were confiscated.
Yuan’s mansion was no exception. His parents had sided with the Aster Kingdom.
How should he live from now on?
Yuan came across a bulletin as he aimlessly walked away from his beggar friends. It listed the names and achievements of nobles, knights, and soldiers who had distinguished themselves in the fierce civil war, and his parents’ names were among them—listed not as heroes but as products of their achievements.
“Noel Dexter…”
A name that resonated throughout Barnoul during the entire war.
The civil war was an era when it was impossible to distinguish who was on whose side, leading to endless intrigue in the capital. Many knights concealed their identities and beliefs, plunging into these intrigues, bringing fear to the city.
The most famous among them was Noel Dexter, whom even Yuan had heard of—a ‘noble slayer’ who had murdered his parents.
Yuan stood bewildered in front of the bulletin. Something surged deep within his chest, but the young boy could not identify what it was.
After standing there for who knows how long, the boy in tattered clothes quietly turned and vanished into the bustling crowd.
* * *
“How did you know?”
Yuan asked calmly while fiddling with an expensive crystal glass. He didn’t even look at Leo Dexter.
“I saw you picking up Radimu pickle with your bare hands. And then you reacted to my display of etiquette. You claimed you couldn’t read… but you’re a noble. Why would a noble be hiding here?”
“…Remarkable.”
Yuan put down the crystal glass. Only then did he look at Leo and speak.
“I did think you were a significant person, but to recognize my status from such details? I underestimated you.”
Nobles did not eat lowly foods like Radimu. It was food that only commoners consumed for mere sustenance, and consuming it would damage the pride of any dignified noble.
Yet, in circumstances where they had no choice but to eat such food, they used their bare hands.
To use refined etiquette with such crude food would be truly shameful; thus, they ate it coarsely, almost playfully.
Leo had seen through Yuan’s yet unshaken pride.
After tapping the glass for a moment, Yuan spoke in a low voice.
“I suppose I should share a bit of my story. If you would be willing to listen, that is.”
Leo Dexter didn’t reply. But he crossed his arms, which Yuan took as consent.
On a night when everyone had gone to bed, the complex glances exchanged between the two young men sitting opposite each other across the dining table. One’s gaze never let go of its wariness, while the other’s eyes quivered tumultuously.
