My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 119

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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So this man was Cesare’s older brother.
There was quite an age gap between them. Even accounting for Cesare’s somewhat prematurely aged appearance, there had to be at least ten years between them.
This man had appeared in the portrait I’d passed earlier.
Cesare, small as a chestnut back then, and his brother already grown. How enormous an adult he must have seemed to Cesare in those days.
The man gripped Cesare’s hand firmly and shook it.
“I heard you drowned in the river and died, but here you are—alive. You haven’t forgotten my face, have you?”
Cesare went rigid for a moment, then laughed a beat too late. His expression was its usual cheerfulness.
“Of course not. You’re still the same as ever, Gorden.”
They looked like close brothers reuniting after years apart. The man broke into a hearty laugh.
“Ha ha, I’ve aged, but you—you’ve really shot up.”
“Damn right I have.”
The handshake stopped abruptly.
“Your speech has changed, Cesare.”
“Ah. Well, I picked it up during my days as a mercenary…….”
“I’d prefer you regain the habit of speaking like a nobleman.”
His tone was gentle. Cesare remained suspended in an awkward posture, having missed the moment to let go of his hand.
Gorden patted Cesare’s shoulder. It was a tender gesture.
Then he turned toward me. A hand extended for a handshake appeared before me without preamble.
“Pleased to meet you. I am Gorden Boydfields, a minor noble. My father is away, so I’m receiving guests in his stead.”
“Dein Balanus, head of Balanus Domus.”
We shook hands lightly. His grip was remarkably large and thick.
The Count was absent. The Countess was dead, I’d heard. Part of me had wanted to meet their faces at least once.
“Please, this way. I’ll show you to the parlor.”
As we entered the parlor, the table was already set. The dishes and refreshments alike suggested meticulous hospitality.
Once seated, servants approached and poured Black Tea. The sound of the hot water trickling seemed unusually loud.
As steam carrying its fragrance rose between us, Gorden opened his mouth.
“First, Cesare—I’m glad you’ve come home. But separate from that, you have business here, don’t you? I heard you had something to discuss with the family.”
……
“Cesare?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry. What did you say?”
Cesare, who had been fidgeting with the Teacup handle, lifted his head abruptly. His fingertips trembled faintly.
“I asked what brought you here.”
“Oh, the Bloodline Enhancement Secret Technique—you know? I wanted to see it.”
“You’ve had your Ability Awakening? That’s wonderful news! Father would be delighted to hear it.”
“Undoubtedly.”
Before his words even finished, Cesare lifted the Teacup. The Black Tea was still steaming.
Cesare drained it without making a sound.
The cup emptied in an instant. Even so, he licked his lower lip as if still parched.
“I’ve had my Ability Awakening. That’s why I need the family Secret Technique.”
“Yes, the family Secret Technique. Of course I can show you.”
Gorden personally refilled Cesare’s empty cup. Along with a bright smile.
“If you’re coming home, I can give you the Secret Technique freely.”
The cup was full again in no time.
“Since you’ve awakened your Ability, Father will gladly welcome you back.”
Cesare drained the second cup. As if drinking spirits. Tea spilled from the corner of his mouth; he wiped it away roughly with the back of his hand.
“What if I don’t go back?”
“Ha ha! What an odd question.”
A third cup was filled. Higher than before, to the very rim. Gorden’s green gaze fixed on Cesare.
“How can I share the Bloodline Secret Technique with someone who isn’t a family member?”
Cesare didn’t answer. He only stared at the cup. The crimson surface trembled finely. Yet Gorden remained composed.
“Now that you have your Ability, you really must return to your real family.”
“I don’t intend to go back…….”
“Then why did you come here? Were you hoping to cowardly take the Bloodline Secret Technique and slip away?”
The warmth drained from his voice. Gorden’s expression hardened as he continued.
“You were cowardly as a child, and you’re cowardly still. That timidity of yours hasn’t changed at all.”
……
“You’ve always been afraid. I’ve made considerable effort to break you of that habit.”
Cesare’s shoulders curled inward as he dropped his head. Not even a breath escaped.
“Even when I tried to make you awaken your Ability, all you’d do was cry. You were so scared. I only put you in a box.”
I recalled the portrait I’d seen moments ago. The face of the adult Cesare overlapped with the image of the child he once was.
Had that boy been dragged away by Gorden’s hand? There was no way Cesare could have resisted it.
Cesare’s teacup teetered on the edge of spilling. The only thing keeping it from overflowing was that he was holding his breath.
In this house, Cesare had learned to hold his breath instead of learning how to breathe freely.
Then Gorden suddenly reached out his hand. Cesare jerked back in alarm, his chair scraping against the floor with a violent screech.
Clang!
The teacup shattered in the process. Gorden didn’t even glance at it. He simply adjusted Cesare’s collar once.
“You’ve made a mess again. Clean it up at once.”
The moment he finished speaking, Cesare bent forward at the waist. It was a reflex, an urgent movement.
“Ugh…”
Blood trickled from Cesare’s palm. He’d been cut by a sharp shard of porcelain.
“Still so clumsy.”
Even as his younger brother’s hand bled deeply, Gorden let out a smirk, regarding Cesare as though he were a child.
“If you want the Secret Technique, there’s only one way. Come back home, Cesare Boyd…….”
“Cesare will not return.”
At my interruption, Gorden turned his head toward me. As if only now realizing there was another person present.
“I believe you said your name was Dein Balanus. Outsiders should stay out of this.”
“Cesare’s family name is Balanus. Not Boydfields.”
There had been multiple moments when I wanted to step in. I had held my tongue only because Cesare had asked to handle this himself before we came.
But I could remain silent no longer.
Meanwhile, Gorden’s thick brows twitched. The voice that had been maintaining courtesy shifted.
“A pup inserting himself where he doesn’t belong. Cesare belongs to Boydfields. Do you think a name from Domus takes precedence over bloodline?”
He’d dropped the formal speech. So this was his true nature. Then I had no reason to be polite either.
“You were the ones who abandoned Cesare first.”
“Even so, our blood flows through Cesare’s veins. It’s not your place to meddle, stranger.”
I reached for the Dessert Knife lying on the table.
I removed my glove and drew it across my palm. Blood beaded up with a sharp sting of pain.
Gorden’s face, which had been so composed, twisted.
“What in the name of……”
“Cesare. Your right hand.”
Eyes wide, Cesare hesitated before extending his hand. I grasped it.
The wounds met. Our blood mingled. Both our palms were stained red.
I opened my reddened hand and showed it to Gorden. The fresh cut across my palm gaped open.
“Now Cesare and I have shed blood together.”
Cesare’s hand was as red as mine. My blood was mixed in with his.
“From this moment on, I am Cesare’s blood kin.”
If blood is what qualifies one as family, then I would willingly share all my blood with my disciples.
“Cesare is Balanus. I will never let you take him.”
Drops of blood trickled down the edge of my hand, falling onto the teacup. It was impossible to tell whether it was mine or Cesare’s.
Gorden’s face shifted from shock to wariness, and from wariness to fury.
“What sophistry is this……! The boy’s already lost his mind, it seems.”
Even as he raised his voice, Gorden pushed his chair back, creating distance between us.
The disdain in his eyes—the look with which he’d regarded me as a mere child—vanished.
I kept my hand extended. Drops of blood fell, staining the table.
He didn’t rebuke me for soiling the table. Instead, he spoke in a coarse, threatening tone.
“If you won’t return Cesare, then get out. I won’t give you the Secret Technique.”
“Your children never awakened their Abilities, did they?”
Gorden’s shoulders stiffened. He’d tried to hide it, but it was already too late.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because your children weren’t painted in the portraits.”
In one of the portraits, an adult Gorden stood with his young children. Five of them in total. Their ages were all different.
But in the most recent portrait, there wasn’t a single child. Only an older Gorden stood alone.
No rebuttal came. He simply remained frozen like an unfinished painting. Then, slowly, he spoke.
“…… Even if my children haven’t awakened their Abilities, what concern is that of yours?”
“If you give me the Secret Technique, I will help one of your children awaken their Ability. Just as Cesare has awakened his.”
Hostility faded from Gorden’s face, if only briefly. No matter how much he despised me, this was a tempting offer.
Gorden’s gaze moved between Cesare and me. He was calculating, weighing the price.
“If the condition is that you hand over the Secret Technique after my child has awakened their Ability, then I’ll agree. As for the timeframe……”
“I’ll set the timeframe. You don’t understand the method—you have no right to dictate terms about the deadline.”
It didn’t matter if I received the Secret Technique later. The child would be with us. Without the Secret Technique, the child couldn’t leave either.
After a long silence, the sound of Gorden’s sigh reached us.
“……Soon I’ll send my son to Balanus. Once he awakens his bloodline, I’ll share the Secret Technique with him then.”
Even as he gave his consent, his gaze remained fixed on Cesare. Like watching an auctioned item being carried away.
I left the mansion with Cesare. Only after we’d completely cleared the building did I stop.
I took out a bandage and treated Cesare’s wound. It was a deep cut. Cesare stumbled over his words.
“You should treat yourself first, Master.”
“Mine isn’t very deep. I’ll treat it shortly as well.”
Fortunately, Cesare settled down. He watched my expression carefully and asked hesitantly.
“Master, will it be all right? The way I awakened might not work……”
“That’s true. But even if it fails, it doesn’t matter. There’s no loss, and failing to obtain the Secret Technique won’t be a catastrophe.”
Strengthening his Bloodline Ability would help, but it wasn’t strictly necessary.
“If there’s no Secret Technique, we’ll simply find another path.”
Even at those words, Cesare’s expression didn’t brighten. He was feeling the weight of responsibility.
“Perhaps if I just returned to Boydfields for a while……”
“I will never send you to Boydfields.”
I recalled my student standing before Gorden, unable to even breathe. The teacup that threatened to overflow yet never did.
“You are Cesare Balanus. Don’t you know that?”
“……Yes, Master.”
Cesare nodded obediently. Yet his expression remained dark.
He looked down at his own palms. His hands wrapped tightly in bandages. Cesare gnawed at his lower lip.
* * *
A few days later.
The day arrived when Gorden would send his son. Since a guest was coming, the house was in a flurry of activity.
We’d tidied the adjoining building early in the morning. I was grateful that the expanded house now had a guest room to offer.
Jenia, who’d been peering out the window to check outside, asked a question.
“So the kid coming today is Cesare’s nephew, right?”
“You could say that.”
“How interesting. I wonder what kind of kid he is. Will he be huge too……? Oh, he’s here!”
Jenia dashed over and opened the door.
The Boydfields butler, who’d been about to knock, froze in place. He coughed awkwardly.
“As promised, I’ve brought the young master of Boydfields to entrust to your care.”
A boy emerged from behind the butler. I’d heard he was twelve, but he was a bit smaller than children his age.
His red hair resembled Cesare’s. Though his expression was entirely different.
“Is this Balanus Domus? I heard there was a failure here.”
Cesare was never this rude. Jenia glanced sideways at me.
“Can I hit him?”
“No.”
I couldn’t kill the kid the moment he arrived. The boy, as if he hadn’t heard that exchange, lifted his chin.
“My name is Rian Boydfields. What are you all doing? Don’t you bow your heads immediately?”
I could see the students’ hands itching for action. A rather poor first impression had been made.
But to my eyes, Rian was simply adorable.
I had raised a sadistic murderer, a Demon Hybrid, a regressor child. There was also a child with separation anxiety.
The remaining one had wanted to kill me.
A twelve-year-old noble’s tantrum? Merely sweet. His showing off would last only for now.
I would craft not just a Bloodline Awakening, but also a person, as a bonus. Rian Boydfields.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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