Episode 5: Not Falling for It Twice (1)
“Brother?”
Ghislaine suddenly grabbed my face and shook my shoulders, causing Elena to show a slightly frightened expression.
This was because ‘brother’ was the kind of guy who could go crazy anywhere, anytime, throwing fits.
“Huh? Ah, no! By the way, it’s been such a long time!”
Ghislaine exclaimed with an ecstatic expression as he opened his arms wide.
Elena’s death had been a painful memory that haunted him for life.
But now, seeing her alive like this, he was overwhelmed with joy.
He wasn’t the type to express himself with endless words. Like the king of mercenaries he was, he expressed it all with his body, full of vigor.
“Elena!”
As Ghislaine approached, arms spread wide, Elena’s face turned pale for a moment.
“W-what? Why?”
“I really missed you!”
“But we saw each other a few days ago… Wait! Why all of a sudden?! Don’t come near!”
Suddenly!
Ghislaine tightly embraced Elena and closed his eyes. A rush of overwhelming emotion enveloped him, nearly bringing him to tears.
“Ugh! Why are you suddenly creeping me out like this?!”
Elena was genuinely confused.
She and Ghislaine had never really had a good relationship.
Consumed by inferiority, Ghislaine always threw fits, making things difficult for everyone. So there was no way she’d have treated him warmly as her older brother.
“What kind of joke is this? What trouble are you planning to cause?”
Elena twisted her body and tried to push Ghislaine away.
Just as she was about to retort, the moment she looked at her brother’s face, she froze.
A soft gaze, a smile, and an expression brimming with inexplicable longing.
Seeing a look on Ghislaine’s face that she had never seen before, Elena felt her heart tighten.
She herself didn’t even know why she felt this way.
“Why is he acting like this? Did he cause some trouble again? Why are his eyes so needlessly misty?”
Elena scrutinized Ghislaine with suspicious eyes.
He was smiling widely, seemingly pleased with something.
Though she didn’t know why, that expression felt sincere right now.
“Could he be like the old brother I knew?”
Since their father was always away on campaigns and their mother had passed away when they were young, the siblings had relied on each other for a time.
As time passed and Ghislaine became a ruffian, the bond they shared had grown a bit distant.
As Elena squinted and continued to stare, Ghislaine cleared his throat.
“Uh-hum, I’m just happy to see you. But why are you in my room?”
“Wow.”
Elena’s expression turned to one of disbelief.
Just a few days ago, Ghislaine had not reacted like this when she came to visit.
– Get lost. I really don’t want you invading my space like this. Your breath is super unpleasant.
It was normal to talk like this.
So, I honestly didn’t want to come, but out of courtesy, I showed up after hearing that I almost got killed by an orc.
“No, Belinda told me to come and check… You got attacked by an orc, but you seem fine?”
Belinda tended to think about the world a bit too simply.
She probably expected that if Elena came to visit, their sibling bond would improve.
Since Belinda kept asking, Elena had no choice but to come, but once she arrived, Ghislaine’s condition was surprisingly fine.
I thought he’d be sweating it out in his room, but I had no idea he’d welcome me so warmly.
“Orc? I took care of that myself. No big deal. I’m very strong, you know.”
Seeing Ghislaine shrug with an air of superiority made Elena chuckle.
“What? You’re saying that while you came back all beaten up?”
“Oh, what are you talking about? Listen closely. Let me tell you how I took them down…”
Suddenly gesturing and playing up his tales, Ghislaine made Elena burst out laughing.
It was funny how he was bragging, and seeing her brother’s cheerful side after so long wasn’t so bad.
“So I called Ricardo over….”
“Oh, I know that guy. The womanizer soldier, right?”
“You know him? He is quite handsome.”
“He’s famous. He’s super popular with the ladies.”
“Hm, sounds like a bad guy like Aiden.”
“Aiden? Who’s that?”
“Oh, just a really bad guy.”
Ghislaine briefly flashed a fierce look. Elena had a ‘just as I thought’ expression.
She thought he was fine, but clearly, he wasn’t normal again.
Still, it was a relief he was doing at least this well. Who knew when he’d get moody again; they’d have to keep an eye on him a little longer.
“I’m heading out now. Take care of yourself.”
“Yeah, next time, I’ll tell you about the dragon I caught.”
“Did you catch it in a dream? You know what a dragon is, right?”
After hearing all of Ghislaine’s exaggerated tales, Elena left in a good mood.
Though it was a bit weird, this boasting was definitely an improvement over his previous state.
In the past, it was almost impossible to talk to him even for a moment due to his temper.
After Elena left, Ghislaine stared at the door for quite some time, then smiled slightly.
“I’ve never forgotten you for even a second.”
Ghislaine could never forget how he found Elena, brutally mutilated.
“And I’ve never forgotten the others either.”
He couldn’t erase the images of his father and retainers hanging by the castle gate after they returned to their territory.
“I was a coward and a cowardly traitor.”
He remembered how he ran away, too scared to do anything.
Suddenly, a chilling atmosphere began to surround Ghislaine’s smiling face.
“Now that the opportunity to set things right has returned…”
He was no longer the pathetic loser from his previous life.
“I will prevent Perdium’s downfall.”
Ghislaine grabbed a pen and paper and hurriedly scribbled down the future information he remembered.
He had a rough idea of the major events that occurred on the continent.
He didn’t remember the exact dates, but he had a general idea. This would greatly help him decide on his future actions.
“First, saving Elena is the priority, but…”
In a week, the festival begins. This festival, wishing for abundance, is also a celebration marking the start of the harvest season.
Even in the barren northern territory, where fights with barbarians never cease, people hold the festival to pray for prosperity.
“Let’s think about it. Back then, certainly…”
At that time, Ghislaine had made up his mind to leave the family due to being constantly blamed and ignored.
Meanwhile, the festival had started, and at Elena’s invitation, he went out to enjoy the festivities with her.
However, in such a messed-up mood, there was no way he could pay attention to the festival. Ultimately, Ghislaine returned to the castle alone.
After all, it was a festival happening within the territory, and with a Guard Knight by Elena’s side, he didn’t care at all.
“And then Elena disappeared…”
Elena and the Guard Knights were found dead not long after they went missing.
With that accident occurring, Ghislaine couldn’t stand it any longer. He fled the castle, avoiding the whispers of the people.
That was the last time Ghislaine saw Perdium.
“I should have been there with her.”
In truth, it wouldn’t have mattered even if he had been there. At that time, Ghislaine was pathetically weak.
But the guilt of leaving Elena behind and returning to the castle alone haunted him for a lifetime.
“Could it be that Elena’s death was a scheme by the Duke Faction?”
In his past life, it was revealed that the one who killed Elena was a noble from another territory who had come to watch the festival.
Naturally, those accused protested, claiming it was a false accusation, and Perdium suffered great losses embroiled in the territorial conflict.
Since then, both major and minor incidents followed, and the situation only worsened.
“I smell something. Like goblin dung.”
Since Ghislaine left before the territorial war began, he didn’t know the details of what followed.
He only grasped the general flow of events through the information he belatedly learned in his quest for revenge.
Initially, he thought that the territories opposing him were destroyed beforehand to prevent rebellion.
But realizing that Aiden had intervened in Perdium’s downfall, now everything seemed suspicious.
“Why would they destroy this poor, useless territory? Even if they took it, they’d just have to fight the barbarians on our behalf.”
There were hidden resources nearby, but at this time, no one was aware of them.
He’d confirmed that a few times in his past life, wondering if that was the reason.
“Well… the reason doesn’t really matter. I can just kill them all.”
Ghislaine’s expression hardened chillingly.
In his past life, he had only targeted the Duke Faction, whom he believed was behind everything, but now things were different.
Whoever “we” was that Aiden spoke of, he planned to eliminate every single one of those who opposed Perdium from now on.
He absentmindedly tapped his chin with his fingers, deep in thought.
“I heard Elena and the Guard Knights’ bodies were found in the Poor District.”
There was no reason for them to seek out the Poor District during the festival. They must have been lured there or forcibly taken.
“One thing is certain.”
Elena’s death was indeed the starting point of Perdium’s downfall.
“Then I can just correct this from the very beginning.”
He organized his thoughts and immediately left the room.
“I need to get my body ready urgently. Time is the issue. A week… ugh.”
Ghislaine started roaming around the lord’s castle.
It had been so long since he lived in Perdium that he couldn’t quite remember the castle’s layout or the faces of the servants.
Every person he encountered along the way greeted him, but their expressions were not favorable. They mixed indifference with disregard.
“I’m not such a bad person.”
At this point, he must have been the prickly type, always angry and someone people wouldn’t want to run into.
It must have been a formidable opponent.
“Young Master! Ghislaine Young Master!”
While wandering around, someone came running, flustered and calling out to Ghislaine.
‘Oh… Fergus, the old man?’
It was Fergus, the Guard Knight. Even though he was already at an age to relax after retirement, he remained at the castle to protect Ghislaine, a loyal retainer.
Fergus stood in front of Ghislaine, bowed his waist, and gasped for breath.
‘Seriously, how much have you been running?’
If an assassin had charged in right now, no one would know who was guarding whom.
Still, his loyalty was commendable. Later I learned that Fergus had been worried only about me, even though he was supposed to be gone for good.
“Gasp, gasp… Young Master, where are you wandering off to alone? I couldn’t find you for quite a while because Belinda didn’t know either.”
Fergus continued gasping while speaking. He must have been in quite a hurry.
“Come on, how old am I that you still call me Young Master?”
“Haha, to this old man, you still look like a child.”
With his health declining, he probably looked even younger.
Ghislaine sighed. Since his mercenary days, he had been hearing things he never imagined he would hear.
“If you see me that way, I guess that’s how it is. But why were you looking for me?”
“Haha, it’s only natural for me to follow you when you’re moving about. Why ask that now?”
The old knight looked warmly at Ghislaine. As he met that gaze, Ghislaine flinched for a moment.
‘That’s right.’
At this time, Ghislaine had rejected even the Guard Knight due to his inferiority complex and rage. It felt like everyone was an enemy, and they were all laughing at him.
But Fergus and Belinda, who had cared for him since childhood, were exceptions.
Realizing that preciousness only after it was lost—it was utterly foolish.
Suddenly, tears pricked at Ghislaine’s nose as he tightly hugged Fergus.
He tried to control such an obvious action, but he couldn’t help the joy of reuniting with a valued person.
“Old man, live a long life. Let’s live long together. Dying… well, that really feels awful.”
Taken by surprise at Ghislaine’s sudden act, Fergus laughed and said.
“Haha, why this all of a sudden? It feels like you’re meeting someone after a long time…”
He noticed that! Age really isn’t wasted on people, it seems.
Right, with Fergus, he could say anything, because he was the only loyal knight who defended him even when he was criticized over the Orc subjugation incident.
Having resolved his mind, Ghislaine said firmly.
“Old man, listen well. It’s really important. In fact, I died and came back to life…”
“Haha, please stop that.”
So he doesn’t believe me after all.
“…Yeah, anyway, live long. Coming back to life isn’t easy.”
“Of course, I must live until you get married, Young Master.”
“Hmm, marriage, huh.”
Ghislaine suddenly smiled wryly.
Right now, pondering love and marriage isn’t really an option.
With the destruction of the territory right around the corner, who would he blame if he died worrying about that?
Shaking his head to brush off the thoughts, Ghislaine began to stride forward.
Fergus hurriedly followed behind and asked.
“But where are you suddenly going?”
“To the Training Ground. I’m going to do some training.”
Fergus gasped in shock, clutching his chest.
“Y-Y-Young Master is… training… Gasp, cough!”
“Ugh! What the hell! Old man, get a grip! Breathe! I said breathe!”
Why does nobody believe me?
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