novelraw Chapter 124 : Chapter 124
Chapter 124 : Chapter 124
Chapter 124: Big Uncle (2)
Grand Duke Aratus looked surprised.
Quite surprised, at that.
So much so that the Grand Duke's face was completely relaxed.
His wide eyes were larger than I'd thought.
Looking at him like this, Grand Duke Aratus had a rather handsome face.
I imagined he might have resembled Elaine in his youth, though not so much now.
Harad was surprised too.
It was because he hadn't felt Ellen's presence.
It was proof that she had awakened her Innate Strength.
Power isn't just about wielding it.
One must also know how to conceal it perfectly.
Only then, they say, can you handle it freely.
Ellen had learned to handle her Innate Strength properly. Its effect was incredible. Even Grand Duke Aratus hadn't noticed Ellen's presence.
The corner of the Grand Duke's mouth twisted.
It looked like he was smiling, and also like he was angry.
He seemed pleased with Ellen's growth, yet unable to be completely happy about it.
‘It must be because of me.’
It seemed to be in the same vein as wanting Harad and Ellen to interact, but inwardly disliking it.
“What do you think you're doing?”
Usually, a paternal uncle is more difficult to deal with than a father.
That's just how relationships with relatives tend to be.
But for Ellen, it seemed her big uncle Aratus was easier to deal with than her father Aratus.
Harad found that surprising.
-My father was a fool too.
Grand Duke Elaine of my past life would badmouth Grand Duke Aratus whenever she was bored.
-Though he couldn't say a peep in front of him.
That had been funny.
Because Grand Heir Elaine had found Grand Duke Aratus particularly difficult.
-I did it all.
-I've never seen it, though.
-I did it when you weren't around. Without anyone knowing.
I had thought it was a bluff.
In reality, when she tried to save Cassion, Grand Heir Elaine couldn't utter a single word.
Then and now, that Grand Heir found Grand Duke Aratus more difficult than anyone.
“He just got back from the Boundary.”
“…….”
“You shouldn't be crushing a person like that like a bug. You should at least praise him for his hard work.”
But Ellen even had a fiery glare in her eyes.
‘Want me to say something?’
After her convalescence.
When she was ordered to go to the 3rd Knights, Ellen had gotten angry, saying that.
Saying it was no problem since he was a relative.
‘I thought she was joking.’
It was real.
That meant what she said in my past life was also true.
Grand Heir Elaine finds Grand Duke Aratus difficult, but his niece Ellen does not…….
‘Is she crazy?’
Laughter escaped me at the absurdity.
Harad buried his face in the deeply dug-up floor.
‘She's really like a dual personality.’
If that was an act, Ellen was the world's greatest actress.
‘Is she like that when it's just the two of them?’
It was a side of her I hadn't known.
The crushing aura had long since disappeared.
Harad slightly raised his gaze.
Grand Duke Aratus had a rare look of bewilderment on his face.
It seemed that the usual Ellen didn't reveal her personality to that extent.
She might act comfortably, but she had probably never gotten angry.
“This one crossed the line first.”
That Grand Duke Aratus offered an excuse.
‘Not just crushing him?’
It was a sight Harad had never seen in his life.
When it was Elaine, he'd powerfully say 'not permitted' and not even let her speak.
“What line?”
“…….”
Elaine can't say a peep to Grand Duke Aratus.
And… Grand Duke Aratus can't say a peep to Ellen.
‘The father and daughter are a pair of crazies.’
It was a sight an ordinary person couldn't understand.
Harad wished this spectacle was a play instead.
* * *
‘Because I want to live.’
Before going to report to the Grand Duke, Harad had said that.
It must be a joke.
I'm going to my death! Even 1st Knights Commander Toremot would sometimes joke about his audience with the Grand Duke like that.
Because the North respected the Grand Duke, but also feared him.
Elaine had to be the same.
If Elaine were to complain, the vassals would think the Grand Heir was pathetic.
And they would look down on Grand Duke Aratus for accepting him.
Therefore, to Grand Heir Elaine, the Grand Duke had to be an object of respect and fear.
She had to learn his every move and be cautious.
Ellen didn't need to do that.
She was from a collateral branch, a figure who would one day disappear.
She had no responsibilities, only the right to enjoy privileges.
No one would say anything. In the first place, it was a status and a deviation suggested by the Grand Duke.
You wished for your daughter to be free sometimes. And sometimes, to be honest.
And it was the same in their family relationship.
Ellen often thought that perhaps the reason he had suggested the deviation was for that very reason.
Others might not know, but Ellen knew.
The most precious thing to Grand Duke Aratus was family.
And it was the same for her.
The thing Elaine loved most was the North, but the thing Ellen loved most was family.
But right now, her mind was blank.
And there, Harad was lying face down on the floor alone.
The area around his face was soaked with blood. He was already a person who got hurt easily.
“What line did Harad cross?”
Ellen was reminded of Cassion.
To be precise, when she went to see Grand Duke Aratus to save Cassion.
Back then, Harad had suddenly laid down on the floor.
And then he had said.
‘Do it. Aren't you going to crush me anyway.’
At the time, she had wondered what he meant.
“So this wasn't the first or second time this has happened.”
Every time he reported to the Grand Duke, Harad had been treated like that…….
“It's a misunderstanding.”
“What kind of misunderstanding?”
“…….”
The Grand Duke didn't answer.
Ellen knew he was that kind of person.
He was a man of few words by nature.
He was a father who was dignified in front of his son, Elaine, and cautious in front of his daughter, Ellen.
“What line did he cross that you beat him into a pulp like that? A person this weak, no less.”
Harad wasn't a knight.
Though his body was on the sturdy side, his opponent was the Grand Duke Aratus.
He would get hurt even if he was crushed by a finger, yet he was crushed by aura.
“He's a person who gets hurt at the drop of a hat, anyway.”
Psina… no, she didn't even have to go that far back.
Just this time, Harad had been in danger.
If it hadn't been for the orb, he would have been back in convalescence.
“I'm fine.”
It was then. Harad spoke.
His face was pale.
“You shut up and lie down.”
“Alright.”
Harad started to get up, but then lay back down.
“This one crossed the line first.”
“What line.”
“…….”
* * *
Grand Duke Aratus just kept repeating what he had said.
“This one crossed the line first.”
Ellen had turned Grand Duke Aratus into a parrot.
“So, what line.”
“…….”
“I think I have a rough idea of what happened. Harad must have said everything that should and shouldn't be said. I heard from the Grand Heir that he did the same last time. Reporting like a madman.”
Even while angry, Ellen didn't forget her role. It was an impressive display of acting.
Grand Duke Aratus nodded his head.
Harad found that passive demeanor unfamiliar.
To him, the real Iron-Blooded Grand Duke was not Elaine, but Grand Duke Aratus.
The Grand Duke Aratus before him resembled Kubel.
If Shura were to go through puberty, Kubel would probably be like that too.
‘No. I don't think Shura would be like that.’
Shura was a kind and good-hearted child.
On the other hand, Ellen was dependable.
So dependable that it was actually scary.
The back of my head tingled.
Grand Duke Aratus must be glaring at me.
“But I heard you were aggressive too, Big Uncle.”
“…….”
“You said that to the Grand Heir. That if the Grand Heir hadn't been there, he would have died.”
Me?
The back of my head tingled even more. Am I bleeding?
“How have you been treating Harad all this time.”
“…….”
“Don't you think his treatment has been wrong?”
Ellen was fiercer than when she was dealing with Avery Aquins.
“How many merits has Harad established? He established a merit this time too.”
“…….”
“If he established a merit, you should give him a reward. Not a punishment. Big Uncle, you weren't that kind of person, were you?”
“It's a misunderstanding.”
It felt like the back of my head was about to be pierced.
But Harad didn't intervene.
It wasn't because he was afraid of Ellen.
“It also doesn't make sense that Harad is still a hostage. How many merits has he established? Does it make sense that he doesn't even have a salary?”
It was true, though.
‘You should at least give me money.’
At this point, you should give me a new status too.
“Right, that merit is also a problem. Why do you think he has so many merits? Big Uncle, you're overworking Harad too much. Even the 1st Knights Commander doesn't work this hard.”
The analogy didn't quite fit.
A Sword Master stationed at the wall was semi-unemployed.
1st Knights Commander Toremot was at the wall just in case.
For when the Otherworld advanced.
For a moment, the air trembled.
It wasn't the air, but Grand Duke Aratus's aura encroaching on the void.
Harad sensed that he had to get up now.
Otherwise, he would die during the next report.
No, perhaps soon.
“Calm down.”
Harad immediately got up.
Ellen's brow furrowed when she saw him.
“You just stay…….”
“It's true that I crossed the line.”
Then the back of my head stopped tingling.
‘He fears Elaine, and is afraid of Ellen.’
Indeed.
Grand Duke Aratus was also a strange person.
Who became strange first?
‘A daughter with a dual personality. The father who made her that way?’
Or the father who made her have a dual personality. The daughter who got caught up in it……. Harad didn't want to think about it.
As I had felt in my past life, Aratus and Elaine were too similar.
Like father, like child.
‘They must have wanted it for each other.’
Elaine must have wanted freedom, and Grand Duke Aratus was a doting father.
But neither of them was in a position to show it.
The identity of Ellen was both Elaine's deviation and Grand Duke Aratus's deviation.
Harad, who had learned Serzila's true nature, felt his breath catch for a moment.
Ellen's identity was not just her own secret.
‘I'll have to hide it until the Grand Duke dies.’
If he found out that I knew, Grand Duke Aratus wouldn't leave me alone.
“What line did you cross?”
Ellen asked.
By now, even if I hadn't crossed a line, I had to have crossed one.
“I asked His Highness the Grand Duke if he was on the Otherworld's side.”
“Who did?”
“His Highness the Grand Duke.”
“……?”
Ellen stopped dead in her tracks.
It was like looking at a broken clock.
“This one is a real madman too?”
At that, Grand Duke Aratus nodded with a satisfied look.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
In the eyes of mad people, the normal Harad was the madman.
* * *
An explanation was needed.
Harad explained the conversation they had earlier.
Grand Duke Aratus seemed reluctant, but he didn't stop him.
Perhaps he couldn't stop him.
That fearsome Grand Duke was afraid of being disliked by Ellen.
“I understand.”
Ellen, who had heard the explanation, slowly nodded her head.
“Big Uncle ordered you to meet Aroshu because you needed confirmation.”
The Grand Duke nodded his head.
“And Harad thought it was a trap.”
“That's right, it was too much of a coincidence.”
Grand Duke Aratus glared at Harad with a look of disbelief.
“My expression was harsh, but I wasn't actually suspecting His Highness the Grand Duke. I was suspecting the Mage called the Elder.”
“So that's why you asked if he was from the Tower of the Deep Sea.”
“That's right. From the Deep Sea's perspective, they profit as long as I live.”
Harad and Ellen's gazes shifted to the Grand Duke.
Now it was the Grand Duke's turn to answer.
“He's not that kind of person.”
“In detail.”
“……He has nothing to do with the Tower of the Deep Sea.”
Harad secretly smiled.
If he had been alone, he wouldn't have been able to hear that answer.
“What was the confirmation for?”
The Grand Duke's eyes lit up.
It was brief. As Ellen's eyebrow twitched, the Grand Duke relaxed his eyes.
“The known prophecy is different.”
Grand Duke Aratus was still a man of few words.
However, Harad couldn't help but light up his eyes.
‘The Grand Duke knows the moon's prophecy.’
Harad had never reported the moon's prophecy to the Grand Duke.
But the Grand Duke seemed to know about the prophecy.
It wasn't strange.
Grand Duke Aratus was obsessed with the Moon Tower, and he even had a 6th Rank friend called the Elder.
But for it to be different.
“How is it different?”
“Not permitted.”
Even though Ellen was glaring at him, the Grand Duke didn't answer.
It seemed even Big Uncle had things he couldn't yield on.
Harad threw another question.
“Why did you try to confirm it?”
“If the prophecy had been the same, the moon would have descended.”
Not just some Star of the Deep Sea.
‘So he was aiming for the moon.’
The Moon Tower is related to the sabbatical year.
Grand Duke Aratus is obsessed with the Moon Tower.
“So I was the bait.”
Grand Duke Aratus had hoped that the moon would take the bait that was Harad.
If the moon had come instead of Avery Aquins, Grand Duke Aratus would have personally entered the Boundary.
‘The one called the Elder would have given the signal. That the moon had descended.’
But things went wrong.
Because the known prophecy was different, as Grand Duke Aratus had already said.
‘He seems to know more than me.’
The Grand Duke said it was a confirmation.
It's a choice that can be made by someone who knows more.
“It seems there's a verse that only Your Highness the Grand Duke knows. Seeing as the moon didn't descend.”
The Grand Duke didn't deny it.
There are more verses to the prophecy.
Does the Otherworld know that?
The Grand Duke had intended to confirm that.
‘But the Otherworld doesn't know.’
If they had known, the moon would have descended.
It would have resolved the Grand Duke's personal obsession.
‘There's nothing to lose.’
It's good if the moon bites, and if not, so be it.
Either way, the Grand Duke had nothing to lose.
“What's the hidden verse?”
Harad also asked, with the feeling that he had nothing to lose.
“……Not permitted.”
As expected, the Grand Duke didn't answer.
The Grand Duke briefly turned his gaze to Ellen.
Ellen was looking at the Grand Duke with a displeased expression.
But in the end, the Grand Duke's mouth did not open.
“I understand.”
Soon, Ellen let out a sigh.
It seemed that even a fearless niece couldn't open all of her big uncle's mouth.
“Big Uncle is always like this. You always stop talking in the middle.”
It seemed the Grand Duke could be both a parrot and a mute.
“I won't ask any more.”
The Grand Duke was openly relieved.
To Harad, it was a shock, if you could call it that.
He just couldn't get used to the reversed relationship between the father and daughter.
“From now on, crushing is forbidden.”
“…….”
“That doesn't mean you can hit him.”
The Grand Duke flinched.
“Don't hurt him.”
“…….”
“Give him a salary too. And a proper status.”
“…….”
The Grand Duke's lips trembled.
“Do you understand? I'll be watching.”
“…….”
“Answer.”
“……I'll think about it.”
“Tsk.”
To think I would live to see the day I'd see that Grand Duke Aratus being scolded.
“No. It's fine. I'll decide on the status. Big Uncle, you just take care of the salary.”
“……Understood.”
Harad lowered his gaze.
The last time he had met his eyes, a vein had popped in the Grand Duke's eye.
“But was it like this with Kubel too?”
“It was. Saying he was just a mere Mage.”
Harad answered with his gaze still lowered.
“Even though you have a friend in the Otherworld, Big Uncle?”
“…….”
If I laugh, I'll die.
That was all Harad was thinking.