Reincarnated Dragon Goes to the Academy!

Chapter 169 : Suspicion.

The awakened Skir stared blankly ahead and shed endless tears.

'If only I hadn't forged my father's letter...'

If Stun hadn't imitated the Duke's handwriting and sent the letter, he would have been able to find out a little earlier.

'What's the use of that...'

But it was already too late by then.

"Mother..."

The child he had carried in his own womb and had never let go of until the end. They, who had always tried to give him only the best, saying he was the eldest son, had met a gruesome death at the hands of their own child.

"Father..."

He, too, would have died if it weren't for Lucas.

The pain when his chest was pierced was indescribably terrible, but now a pain greater than that was washing over him.

'If it weren't for Lucas...'

He could have gone with his mother and father.

'No.'

But he soon dismissed the thought.

'If that had happened, it would have taken longer for all of this to be known. And I wouldn't have been able to kill my brother... no, that bastard Stun.'

He didn't know what he was thinking, but he remembered begging Lucas not to do it.

Tears flowed endlessly, but for some reason, not even a sound came out. All sorts of emotions were mixed, and his chest was so hot, but his head was rather cold.

'Skir. Have pride. You are the second son of the O'Neil ducal family.'

It was what his father had always said, patting his shoulder.

'How can you be so handsome? Your mother lives because of you these days.'

The face of his mother, who had stroked the head of Skir, who had now grown much taller than her.

'Mother. Don't worry. I'm here.'

The words he had said when Stun had gone half-mad.

'If your brother is gone, remember that you are now the one to succeed our family.'

The words his father had called him and said when Stun had left home. All of those things flashed through his mind like a panorama.

Skir, who had roughly wiped away his tears with his dry hands, got up from the bed.

'I have to hold a funeral.'

He stood in front of the mirror.

'I am Skir O'Neil, the second son of the O'Neil family.'

He pressed down his messy hair with his stiff hands.

'I cannot be a son who brings shame to my father's name.'

A single tear flowed down Skir's cheek.

***

"The ducal family? No, that O'Neil ducal family?"

"This person? Then where else is there another ducal family besides the O'Neil ducal family here?"

"My goodness..."

The rumor, which had spread as much as it could, had already spread uncontrollably.

"Then all the servants who were inside...?"

"Right. All of them, without a single one left!"

They say that a person who had visited after being unable to contact all the servants who worked at the ducal family had discovered the scene.

"The culprit? Who is the culprit?"

"Ahem..."

"Oh my! You know. Hurry up and tell me."

"It's not certain yet... but you know the eldest son of that house, right? The one who is rumored to be mad..."

At that, the people's faces turned to expressions of horror.

"M-my goodness!"

"No matter how mad he is..."

"The eldest son of that house... is a mage."

"Oh my! How gruesome."

The gruesome patricide and matricide committed by the eldest son. And not only his parents, but all the servants who worked there were also brutally murdered.

"Isn't this a case of a shrimp's back breaking in a whale fight? What sin have people like us committed!"

"It's just bad luck. Why do you have to say things like that?"

"It's true! If you're going to go mad, you should go mad gracefully!"

A woman shouted in outrage.

"No, then what happened to that eldest son?"

"That's a little strange. They say that eldest son was also found dead at the scene."

"Hmph. What's so strange? He must have been a human too. He must have taken his own life."

At that, the man shook his head.

"I'm telling you, no. No, what mage would cut off his own head and die? And they say one of his arms was also cut off."

The people stirred.

"The Mage Tower will investigate it on their own."

"The Mage Tower did go out to investigate, but they just said that it was all the eldest son's doing. But I heard something on the grapevine..."

As the voice grew smaller, the people gathered their ears.

"They say it seems there was another person. Whether someone just killed Stun and left... or whether they framed it as Stun's doing and killed everyone... they say they actually don't know."

The people's mouths dropped open.

"Right... no matter how mad the eldest son of that house was, would he have killed his own parents?"

"That's true too. That's right."

"And there's the second son there too. Ah, I think I heard that the second son is also a mage..."

The people's eyes darted around quickly.

"Eh. That's not it. They say the second son of that house always goes to Sitata when the academy's vacation starts. And they say his skills are definitely not that good."

"Really? Then who could have done it?"

It seemed that the thought that it was Stun's doing had already drifted far from the people's minds.

"No one knows that. But with the emperor's seat also vacant right now, the central nobles must be in an uproar."

"The place I work at is also in an uproar. My lady is nagging the baron so much to leave the capital quickly. We're the ones suffering because of it."

"A funeral will be held at the ducal family soon, so we'll see something then."

The people nodded their heads.

"Tsk. The second son of that house is the only pitiful one. To be left alone in the world overnight..."

"Oh dear. Is losing his parents and brother a big deal? I think the future is a bigger problem."

The people clicked their tongues as if in pity.

***

Lucas felt like he was going crazy these days.

Skir's matter was not easy, and on top of that, Nella had also joined in.

"I'll stay here."

He didn't know what had happened to the child, but the atmosphere was unusual. The changed look in her eyes and her cold attitude. It was on a different level from the appearance she had shown a while ago.

"Still, Nella. It's Skir's matter."

"No. I don't want to."

Nella, who was refusing to go to the funeral held at the ducal family.

"Right. Then can you just tell me the reason?"

"I don't want to."

It was a situation that would drive one crazy.

"Nella."

Lucas sat down next to Nella, who was sitting blankly and just shaking her head.

"I'm always on your side."

"..."

"No matter what you do, no matter what you think. You are my younger sister and my family."

Nella slowly lifted her head and looked at Lucas.

"So don't just keep it in your heart, and tell me anytime."

Nella's head slowly nodded.

"Right. Then I'll just stop by for a moment and come back soon, so stay at home."

Just as Lucas smiled and was about to get up, Nella lightly grabbed his sleeve.

"Let's go together."

Lucas smiled and nodded his head.

***

The funeral held at the ducal residence was held modestly, unlike the fame of the ducal family.

"They were really... very good people."

The people who approached Skir each offered a word.

"Thank you for coming, madam."

Skir spoke with them with etiquette, and a few nobles who saw that gossiped about Skir, saying he had no emotions.

"Skir."

In fact, the real funeral had been held the day before. A few close people, including Count Cibie, had come a few days in advance and had helped with the funeral preparations.

"Count."

"Are you okay? Are you not tired?"

Cibie asked gently, looking at Skir's complexion.

"I'm fine."

"Now, drink this."

Cibie took out a small potion vial from his bosom and handed it to him.

"There's nothing like this for recovering from fatigue. The owner of the Gold Nine merchant guild made it herself."

Skir, who had received the vial, smiled faintly and bowed his head slightly.

"Thank you. I will not forget this grace and someday..."

"Hey! Don't say things like that. Aren't you like family to me?"

In fact, if it weren't for the funeral of his friend, Duke Cirus, Cibie would not have come to the capital.

The fact that he had come to the capital, which was teeming with those who had driven out his family, and the fact that he had remained until now even after holding the funeral the day before, were all because of Skir.

The funeral held the day before had been a real mess.

Skir's sadness, which he had thought he had controlled well, had finally exploded, and Skir's mana had also gone berserk.

If Lucas and Aman had not been there, the ducal residence might have been blown away.

"Is the Count okay?"

Skir asked, glancing around.

"Ahem. What's there for me not to be okay with?"

"Your wife..."

"I sent her back in the morning. She said to tell you she was sorry for not being able to stay until the end. As you know..."

At that, Skir quickly waved his hand forward and said.

"No. There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm just... for coming like this..."

"Hey! Cirus was my friend before he was your father. So if you say things like that one more time, you'll be in big trouble."

At Cibie's scolding, Skir smiled awkwardly and nodded his head.

"Yes."

The others, who were watching Count Cibie and Skir from a distance, began to whisper.

"See? Didn't I tell you?"

The ladies who were gathered together covered their mouths with dark-colored fans and talked.

"That's right. You were right, madam."

"How the Rodrigo Count's family left in the past... there's no one who doesn't know, right?"

The lady with the ashen fan said, narrowing her eyes, and the other ladies nodded their heads.

"But to shamelessly show his face here..."

"But they say the young masters of the Count's family and the ducal family are friends."

"Hmph. No matter how much the two of them are friends. To the Count, isn't the Duke no different from the person who drove him out in the past?"

The other ladies also agreed. The central nobles who knew that Duke Cirus and Count Cibie had started to get along again had whispered that they were aiming for the imperial authority.

It was understandable. If the ducal family's wealth and the Count's family's wealth were combined, it would be more than enough to establish a country, so it was not a completely baseless statement.

Therefore, the Duke and the Count, who knew their thoughts, had tried their best not to get involved in such groundless rumors.

The Count had tried not to even speak with the central noble families unless it was an unavoidable matter, and conversely, the Duke had tried to appease the central nobles and had consistently appealed that he had no interest in the imperial authority.

"But you know... I don't know if I should say this."

One of the ladies carefully opened her mouth.

"It's okay, so tell me. Have we only known each other for a day or two?"

"That's right."

The other ladies urged her on.

"The rumor I heard this time... as you know, my family is deeply connected to the Mage Tower, right?"

"Oh my, that's right."

The ladies' eyes shone.

"They say that it might not have been the eldest son who killed the Duke, the Duchess, and the servants."

"Oh my!"

"Then is the investigation report issued by the empire correct?"

In fact, the empire and the Mage Tower had announced that it was the crime of an anti-noble faction, not Stun's doing, to protect the honor of the ducal family until the end. Of course, they said the culprit had not been caught.

But everyone knew that the investigation report was not true. And it was common for them to say different things to protect the reputation of a noble family like this.

"No. That's not true. That's why they would have told the obvious story that it was the crime of an anti-noble faction."

"Then?"

"They say the magic that killed the people was not black magic, but an impure magic. You know the incident where many people died in the Sitata area before, right?"

The ladies nodded their heads.

"They say it was similar to the magic used then..."

At that, the ladies gasped.

"My goodness..."

"To think it would be Sitata of all places..."

Their wide-open eyes turned to Count Cibie.

[End of Chapter]