The double life of a count’s bastard

Chapter 20

“…… little brother!!!”

Lily’s exclamation didn’t stop Aaron from looking up from the paperwork that was being reported to him.

“Are you going to do this?”

Lily’s tone shortened, and for the first time, Aaron’s hand that had been holding the papers twitched.

“You’re telling me this is what your little brother is thinking?”

This time, the eyebrows on the bowed face twitched, but Aaron kept his gaze fixed on the papers.

“……All right, if that’s what little brother means, I won’t say anything more. Just know this. Felento’s guardian necklace was given to him by Russo.”

“What?”

Squeak…… bang!

Lily slammed the door shut as if she didn’t want to talk anymore.

“Russo gave you Felento’s guardian necklace, what the hell does that mean!”

Aaron shouted, loud enough to be heard outside the door, but there was no answer.

“Brother, take this.

“Is this…… Felento’s guardian necklace? Where did you get this?

‘Don’t ask, you’ll hurt yourself! This expedition is different from the last one, isn’t it? Dad and big brother are experienced, so they’ll be fine, but you’re not, are you?

“Because I’m stronger than you.

“Pee-wee, that’s why I’m worried about you. I heard you’re always counting, and that’s how you get hurt.

“Who told you that crap?

‘Here and there? Whatever! The necklace must be worn by Little Brother! Okay?’

I was saved.

Aaron’s life was in danger due to a series of accidents that happened in a matter of seconds, but he was saved by the power of Felento’s protective necklace.

But Russo gave him the Felento’s Guardian Necklace?

“Whoa! What the hell are you talking about…….”

I wanted to chase her down and ask her what was going on, but I was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to make eye contact with me for at least a month now that she was properly pissed off.

Lily was kind and sweet to everyone, especially her family, but once she got angry, she could be completely invisible.

It made Aaron feel even worse because she was the only one who could make him laugh.

“You pathetic bastard, what can I do?”

It’s all Russo’s fault.

It was all Russo’s fault, that idiot who had challenged Colin to a duel as if he were a one-day puppy without knowing the subject matter.

Aaron slowly turned his head and looked out the window, the night sky as dark as his heart.

“I’m just going to be my usual self and drink my ass off…….”

Frowning, Aaron pressed his hands firmly to his temples, his head throbbing.

No matter how much Lily screamed at him to stop and help Russo, there was no reason for him to stop a fair fight between knights.

Nor should he.

“Until the Marquis of Keita is gone, you must never flinch, and you must not be found wanting.

The Earl of Slater pledged himself to his brother and himself.

The House of Slater was responsible for the failure of the first expedition in twenty years, and the cost of even the smallest of pods would be high.

So they lived like rats.

No matter how friendly the Marquis of Keita was, there was no telling what the slightest blemish might bring back to haunt them in the future, so they had to bend over backward.

And so it was that the troublemaker of the house inevitably got into trouble.

“I can’t help it, Russo has to take responsibility for this, so…… don’t do anything.

Karon, his older brother, knew that Russo was in trouble, but he couldn’t help but say so.

Karon, who had once cared for Russo more than his brother, found the situation extremely frustrating.

And it was…….

“Don’t die or be an asshole…….”

Aaron wanted to run out of the room right now, but he could only clench his fists tightly and grit his teeth.

* * *

“I assume you’re done by now?”

Kevin sipped his wine, a pleasant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

It was ten o’clock, and given the difference in skill between Colin and Rousseau, it should be over in half an hour.

“You should’ve looked him in the eye and been a dick about it.”

Since this was all Russo’s choice, Kevin decided to visit him first thing in the morning to see the mess with his own two eyes.

Ding, ding, ding!

“Master Kevin.”

A knock sounded on the door, a pleasant voice that tickled Kevin’s ears.

“Lily?”

He had expected it to be her, so he wasn’t surprised when she opened the door.

“I need your help with Mr. Russo.”

Kevin’s heart began to beat faster as he saw Lily looking up at him with the most desperate eyes he’d ever seen.

At fourteen, she was still a little young for her age, but she certainly possessed a beauty not often found in the capital.

‘In four years, or even three, she’ll be one of the most beautiful girls in the Empire!

It was a statement that no one could refute if they saw her in person, and Kevin had no qualms about taking such a beautiful woman to be his wife, even if she was of low blood.

‘It doesn’t matter, she’s Slater blood, after all!

The Marquis of Keita was just as unconcerned about the fact of birth and blood as he was about the fact of Kevin and Lily’s engagement.

“Come in first.”

Lily hesitated for a moment since it was so late, but this was Rousseau’s business, and no one else’s, so she gathered her courage and entered the room.

Too scared to sit in the chair Kevin led her to, she opened her mouth to plead once more.

“Please, please, please help me make sure Russo’s brother is okay.”

“First of all, I’m sorry, I’m already late, and even if I wasn’t, it’s none of my business, so again, I’m sorry I can’t help.”

Kevin looked at Lily, genuinely sorry.

“But Sir Colin is…….”

“He’s your father’s knight, and even he can’t force you to do this. Lily, you know what a knight’s honor means.”

Lily knows, too.

As the Lady of House Slater, she knows what knightly honor means, what a duel means.

Still, the fact that her only real brother could be seriously injured meant she couldn’t sit on the sidelines like the rest of her family.

Biting her lip, Lily looked anxious, and Kevin gently placed a hand on her shoulder, speaking soothingly.

“Don’t worry too much, dear. Sir Colin isn’t as cold-hearted as you think, and he’s a knight who knows chivalry, so he’ll probably be moderate…….”

Tsk, tsk, tsk!

A loud knock on the door made Kevin frown and glance at the door.

“Sir Colin is badly hurt!!!”

“Yes, Russo is badly hurt…… nose, Colin?!!”

Kevin exclaimed, jumping to his feet, and at the same time, Lily jumped to her feet as well.

“What about Russo?!”

* * *

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

At Jason’s half-stunned question, Russo took a long swig from the bottle in his hand.

“Can’t you tell? I’ve got all my limbs?”

Jason watched in disbelief as Rousseau moved his limbs in different directions to demonstrate that he was alive and well.

“I still can’t believe it! How could Master Rousseau defeat Sir Colin? Sir Colin is a fifth-ranked master, and he’s so close to sixth-ranked!

“Jason, what’s with the look in your eyes? Are you saying that it’s unrealistic for a foolish subject to defeat a fifth-ranked knight, let alone a sixth-ranked one?”

“Hmph, how could you possibly…… ah, no, I mean, that!”

Rousseau chuckled as if to tell Jason to relax, seeing his embarrassment at having been perfectly exposed.

“Everyone’s overestimating Colin, you think he’ll be a rank 6 in a year or two? You’re welcome, I’ve never heard any rumors of him reaching rank six in at least ten years.”

What if Colin was on the verge of reaching rank six?

Even with Excalion’s abilities, there was no way Rousseau would have emerged unscathed.

As expected, the Colin that Rousseau had encountered was a knight below Hans’ level.

Bam!

The door burst open as if it were going to fall off, and Aaron burst in.

“You, you, you…….”

“What, you call me a drunk all the time, and you’re in worse shape than me, who drinks all the time. Don’t you work on your fitness or are you old already?”

At Rousseau’s sneer at how out of breath he was over the distance, Aaron let out a long breath to clear his throat.

“What the hell happened, how the hell did you manage to win against Sir Colin?”

“You’re acting like it’s such a big deal that you can’t see that one little prick beat him, and I’m supposed to be the one who gets slapped around?”

He was being sarcastic as if it wasn’t even funny, but the pride on one side of his face was all too visible to Jason and Aaron.

Jason and Aaron could only stare in disbelief that Russo himself was proud of himself.

“Jason, what the hell is going on?”

Aaron demanded an explanation from Jason, who was more of an observer than Russo.

“It’s…… so…….”

How to explain?

Jason couldn’t explain it clearly, because he had seen it with his own two eyes, but he couldn’t understand it either.

“Straight up, just describe what you saw!”

“Yes! Master Rousseau believed in full body armor and won the battle against Sir Colin.”

A straightforward explanation, just like it was.

Aaron still looked at him in disbelief, his eyes cold.

“Full-body armor? That’s how you won the showdown with Sir Colin? No other cowardly tricks?”

“You may not believe it, but as far as I can see, there were no cowardly traps or dastardly tricks…….”

“From what I’ve heard, are you a little too easy on people, or was it a fight in which I should have been half dead?”

Rousseau glared at him with a furrowed brow, offended, and Jason hastily shut up.

“Is what he’s saying true?”

“What, do you think I would have gone toe-to-toe with a fifth-ranked knight with a single piece of full-body armor?”

“So?”

Aaron still thought there was some kind of trick up his sleeve, but he felt like a fool for expecting Rousseau’s brazen retort that followed.

“You know, I was once called the greatest genius in the continent, so when I held the sword, my old memories came back to me naturally, and after that, it was easy with the help of the armor.”

Rousseau’s lighthearted demeanor, so different from his serious self, made Aaron want to punch him in the face for what he had done.

‘It certainly wasn’t a fair fight, Russo, if that fool had done something despicable…….’

The Marquis of Keita would not stand idly by.

It was after the failed expedition, and the Slater family, which must never be tarnished, was already worried that Rousseau had done something stupid to anger them.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Did he even realize what he was thinking?

Aaron was slightly hopeful, for as much of an asshole as he was, he wasn’t too stupid to realize what was going on.

“You insulted the Slaters with your arrogance, so I chopped off your head clean off and replaced it with an arm. It won’t be easy for you to pick up a sword again, but…… you deserve it, don’t you think?”

Rousseau’s “I did a good job” attitude made Aaron giddy.

“You …… cut off his arm?”

Aaron, who had only heard that Russo had won and that Colin was badly injured, realized that the situation was much more serious.

“You had the good grace to show up before your appointment and wait. Extra credit.”

Aaron resisted the urge to punch Rousseau in the face as he giggled, unaware of what he had done wrong.

Colin was a knight in the Marquis of Keita’s entourage, and he would never pretend to be ignorant of the outcome of today’s confrontation.

‘Worst case scenario…….’

He might try to get revenge on one of Earl Slater’s knights by setting up a showdown with him somehow.

The failed expedition had left many of his knights dead or gravely wounded, and there could be no further loss of power.

But the damage has been done.

Aaron sighed deeply as he looked at Russo, who seemed to have no interest in what trouble he had caused.

“I must have a meeting with my father and brother right now!

Aaron’s heart was pounding with urgency, knowing that the Marquis of Keita would be out to avenge Colin’s death tomorrow morning.

As Aaron hurried to leave Russo’s room, he stopped and asked.

“Russo, I heard that you gave Felento’s guardian necklace to Lily. Is it true?”

“Felento’s guardian necklace? Aaah~ That’s right, I sold it to Lily because I needed some money. What’s wrong with selling my things?”

When Rousseau retorted with a frown, Aaron shook his head as if he knew it, then opened the door and walked out.

“Master, did you sell Felento’s guardian necklace to Lady Lily?”

“Put it on and ask what?”

“My God! What kind of thing is Felento’s guardian necklace!”

Jason looked at Russo and tugged at my hair as if to ask why I had done such a terrible thing.

Russo knows.

What Felento’s guardian necklace means to him.

But.

“It’s what kept Aaron alive, so that’s all that matters.

It was a truth I would never say out loud, and no one would ever recognize me for it, but Russo didn’t care.