Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 138

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

Chapter 31. In the Dead of Night

“I’m afraid my expression betrayed my joy at seeing Your Highness.”

I settled onto the sofa before the video communication device and spoke.

-Judging by what you’re saying, you’re still in your right mind.

I paid no attention to Crown Prince Albert’s curt remark. Instead, I studied his complexion carefully.
Crown Prince Albert’s appearance was not good. Though the golden hair and blue eyes typical of a prince had not lost their luster entirely, he looked considerably exhausted.

“You appear fatigued, Your Highness.”
-Will you help?
“I shall prepare a medicinal remedy and send it to you.”

Alberu let out a scoff at my response. He raised his hand and rubbed the corners of his eyes.

The power structure within the Roan Kingdom had shifted considerably compared to a year ago.
The Sten Marquis House of the Northwest Region now supported Alberu rather than the Third Prince, and the Northeast Region largely backed him as well.

Furthermore, the Naval Base under construction on the Northeast Coastal Area was an accomplishment achieved by Alberu’s own hand, and considerable power was flowing in his direction.

And several members of the Royal Court, including the King himself, knew that Alberu had brought mages from the Wipper Kingdom and secured them to his side.

‘And I achieved this conference as well.’

It was Crown Prince Alberu who had united four kingdoms—Roan, Breck, Wipper, and the Jungle. Alberu felt the kingdom’s power gradually flowing into his hands.
It had to be this way.

‘We must stand united to prevail.’

To survive war and chaos, we must become one. Alberu was methodically taking each step necessary to achieve this.
That was what astounded him.

Alberu’s gaze turned toward me.

‘All of this is thanks to that bastard.’

Kale had heard from Amir about his dealings with Taylor, the eldest son of the Sten Marquis House. According to Amir, the Naval Base was also established on Kale’s advice.
The Wipper Kingdom, the Four-Nation Conference—all of it owed much to this man’s efforts.
Alberu’s mouth fell open without his realizing it.

-What exactly do you do?
“…I may appear to be idling, Your Highness, but I assure you I am quite diligently gathering information.”

Inwardly, I winced at the question, but I maintained my composure and insisted that I was accomplishing considerable work. Naturally, the Crown Prince didn’t believe a word of it. Instead, he said what was on his mind.

-Rosalind hasn’t returned from the Breck Kingdom yet?
“No, Your Highness. She departed a week ago and has not yet returned.”

The Crown Prince nodded and spoke to me.

-The conference will convene soon. You’re coming with me.

Alberu announced this as if issuing a decree, though he subtly observed my reaction. I was smiling.

“This will be my first journey with Your Highness.”
-You certainly know how to make someone reluctant to go.

Since I was equally disinclined, I simply nodded silently.
Alberu thought to himself that this man was the only one who would dare treat him, the likely successor to the throne, in such a manner, and he opened his mouth.

-You’ve made all the preparations, haven’t you?

This conference would be held on the land granted to me by the Jungle Queen. The preparations for the venue would be handled by Queen Ritana, but the Crown Prince’s mention of preparations referred to something else entirely.

“Your Highness, rest assured. I shall deliver it precisely on schedule.”

Similar smiles played at the corners of both our mouths. Alberu made no attempt to hide his anticipation at my words.

-I’m looking forward to it. Everyone will be astonished. In any case, since we’re going in secret, keep the numbers minimal and proceed discreetly.
“Yes, Your Highness. I am honored to accompany the Star of the Kingdom and to learn from your wisdom—”

Click.
The video communication cut off. I let out a dry chuckle. Indeed, flattery was the perfect remedy to avoid tedious conversation with the Crown Prince.

Kale turned away from the disconnected communication channel and rose from the sofa. He walked over to the bed and sat down on its edge.
Then he tapped lightly on the blanket that had bunched up haphazardly.

A dejected voice emerged from beneath the blanket.

“Don’t make me talk.”

I hadn’t made him talk, though.
From Raon’s voice, I could distinctly sense the exhaustion weighing on him.

Typically, dragons undergo three growth phases throughout their lives. The first of these phases doesn’t manifest as external physical changes, but rather establishes the foundational framework within a dragon’s body necessary for the second and third growth phases.

Because of this, there are virtually no changes in size, but the flow of mana increases substantially. Additionally, dragons become capable of using inferior versions of breath techniques that can only be fully utilized after the second growth phase.

Given that Raon was a dragon who would live nearly a thousand years, he still had considerable time before reaching the typical first growth phase.

However, when a dragon experiences shock or desperately craves power, the growth phase arrives far more rapidly.

‘Raon and Erhafen both targeted this weakness.’

Erhafen had imparted both knowledge and power to Raon, enabling him to enter his first growth phase. According to Raon’s own words, he desired strength with overwhelming intensity.

I swallowed a sigh and patted the blanket absently.

“This growth pace is perfectly normal. You’re magnificent, but there’s no need to rush toward your first growth phase.”

I felt a slight movement from beneath the blanket. Soon after, the dragon’s voice—the one who’d insisted I stop talking—emerged once more.

“…Is that so?”
“Yeah, that’s right. And you’re already magnificent as you are now.”

I answered carelessly. After my conversation with the Crown Prince, I was now spending time consoling a five-year-old. I wasn’t even exasperated anymore.

Raon fell silent. With nothing more to say myself, I simply continued patting the dragon’s back.
After a long while, Raon’s voice finally came.
It was such a small voice that if the room hadn’t been quiet, I would have missed it entirely.

“…What if I meet another dragon without manners?”

What a heart-wrenching, terrible thought.
Surely such a thing wouldn’t happen.
As if meeting another dragon were an easy feat.

I relaxed the expression that had twisted briefly at the horrifying notion, suppressing a wry smile. I understood what was weighing on Raon. He seemed to be worrying about a situation where he might have to fight another dragon.
My mouth opened.

“So you’re clever after all.”

Wings fluttered beneath the blanket.

“I am clever…! No, I can’t even grow-”

The voice that had been crying out so valiantly grew quieter and quieter. I cut off Raon’s words.

“Then just run away.”
“…What?”
“If you meet a rude dragon, just run away.”
“But if I do that-!”
“Surviving is what makes you great.”

Raon, who had been about to protest, fell silent. My voice continued.

“You’ve survived since the cave, haven’t you?”

Beneath the blanket, the dragon who had been covering his face with his front paws slowly lowered them. Raon recalled himself enduring in that cave, darker even than beneath the blanket.

“Surviving. That’s what strength is.”

My voice came from outside the blanket. The dragon looked down at his front paws. A peculiar light flickered in his black eyes.
But unaware of this, I simply spoke whatever came to mind.

“And here’s the thing. After you run away, you just smash them in the back of the head again.”

Thud.
Raon beneath the blanket made a thumping sound. But I was growing tired of this coaxing and continued without paying it much mind.

“In the end, after you survive, whether it’s a dragon or whatever, you just give them a good whack to the back of the head. That’s how you win.”

Having run out of things to say, I rose from the bed. I tossed a casual remark toward Raon, who lay quietly beneath the blankets.

“I’ll have Vicross prepare some ice cream. Come on out.”
“…Don’t tell me what to do.”

I felt the vigor returning to Raon’s voice as I left the 5th floor without hesitation. Entering the restaurant on the first floor, I issued instructions to Vicross, who wore white gloves.

“One ice cream and some fruit.”

Soon I ate the fruit Vicross handed me one piece at a time—the man who had been exhausted lately from cleaning the mansion rather than training. Of course, a single serving of ice cream sat beside me.

Creeeeeak—

The restaurant door opened very slowly. A small dragon slipped through the gap. Raon glanced at me, then quietly settled onto the dining table beside me.
Naturally, I paid him no attention. At that, Raon began eating the ice cream stealthily.

Crunch, crunch.
The sound of me chewing fruit, Vicross washing dishes, and Raon eating ice cream filled the kitchen.
But a sharp sound cut through the noise.

Clack.
I set my fork down onto the fruit plate with a deliberate gesture. Raon’s eyes rolled subtly toward me. Our gazes met—mine and the dragon’s. The creature flinched.

Looking at the dragon, I opened my mouth.

“Let’s go out for a bit.”
“…With whom?”
“With you. Just the two of us.”

Raon’s wings fluttered suddenly. The dragon’s nostrils quivered as he asked matter-of-factly.

“Just the two of us?”
“Yes.”
“…Understood.”

Raon took a full mouthful of vanilla ice cream. The dragon’s mouth corners twitched, and his wings continued to flutter. Watching him impassively, I thought to myself.

‘Well, since they said to bring fewer people, I can just take one dragon with invisibility activated.’

Kale had thought that a single dragon would be sufficient as an escort. Still, with the leaders of four nations gathering, it wouldn’t do for him to bring too large a retinue.

* * *

However, contrary to Kale’s expectations, another presence had attached itself to his group as they headed toward the conference venue. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he had announced his intention to come.

“I’m coming too.”
“You as well, Erhafen?”

Kale suppressed the smile that had begun to rise at the news that another dragon would be joining them.

“Yeah. It looks interesting, so I want to go. That little one has nothing left for me to teach him anyway.”

Erhafen gazed at Raon playing with the cats by the fountain, a hint of satisfaction in his expression. The three-month curriculum, Raon had mastered in mere weeks.

‘Perhaps a Dragon Lord that vanished after the ancient era might emerge.’

A Dragon Lord lost since ancient times. It was possible that a dragon of overwhelming strength might appear. That was why Erhafen wanted to accompany Raon wherever he went, if at all possible.
The ancient dragon turned his gaze from Raon to Kale.

Before him stood Kale with a smile that was neither quite a grin nor a frown, but rather strangely twisted at the corners. At that sight, the Gold Dragon thought to himself.

‘Is he troubled?’

Indeed, he had heard that the heads of four kingdoms would be gathering at this conference. As a mere nobleman, Kale Heniatus would naturally need to be mindful of those around him in such a setting.
Even for a self-willed dragon, Erhafen knew how to keep time with others. That was the wisdom of a thousand years of restraint.

“Kale Heniatus.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry.”
“…What?”

Kale watched as Erhafen formed a twisted smile. The ancient dragon pointed to himself and spoke.

“I have discretion too. I have no intention of acting as I normally do. I’ll keep time with you.”

Keep time with me about what?
Kale wanted to ask just that. But Erhafen’s words came faster.

“I’ll be your escort. Treat me as your guard.”
“…What?”

What did this Dragon just say?
The words “escort” suddenly lodged themselves prominently in Kale’s mind.

Fwoosh.
Light flowed from Erhafen’s hand, gradually taking the shape of a blade. Where the light faded, a remarkably elegant sword materialized. Erhafen grasped the hilt and looked at Kale as if to say, “Look at this.”
That was when Raon approached.

“Gold Dragon! Can you even wield a sword?”
“After living for a thousand years, you think there’s a weapon I can’t use? Little one, even like this, I am a Sword Master.”

Kale forcibly suppressed the corners of his mouth from rising at the exchange between the two Dragons. Seeing that expression, Erhafen clicked his tongue and spoke.

“I’ll follow properly and quietly as your escort, so don’t worry.”
“…Erhafen, how could I possibly treat you as my escort?”

At Kale’s bewildered voice, Erhafen shook his head.

“Do it. Do you think I’ve only played around once or twice? Treat me properly as your escort.”
“…If you insist so strongly.”

Erhafen could see a smile slowly bloom across Kale’s lips. Kale spoke along with that smile.

“Then I shall treat you as my escort, as you wish.”

Erhafen was seeing Kale smile so brightly for the first time. Yet strangely, an uneasy feeling washed over him. That was when Raon cried out.

“There he goes with that smile again!”

What’s with that smile?
Erhafen wanted to ask, but Raon had already spun around and headed toward the Fountain. When Erhafen said he would go too, Raon’s response suggested he had expected as much.

Erhafen’s mood became subtle, but he soon focused on Kale’s following words.

“Then we’ll go with me and a guard knight as Erhafen, and Raon will turn invisible.”
“Very well.”

Watching Erhafen nod readily, Kale wore a sinister smile. What was there to fear when a Dragon would escort them of its own accord?

* * *

At the Eastern Coast of Ubar Territory, the Naval Base was taking shape, nearing completion.
On that coastline, Kale greeted someone he was seeing face-to-face for the first time in a long while.

“Your Highness, the star of the kingdom, it has been far too long since we last met.”

Crown Prince Albert, draped in robes, extended his hand to the familiar greeting. A public smile graced Albert’s lips.

“Ah, if it isn’t Prince Kale, destined to illuminate the future of our kingdom. It truly has been ages.”

Kale and the Crown Prince exchanged a warm handshake as though they were the closest of allies.
Late at night, before the massive ship stood only Kale’s party, the Crown Prince’s entourage, the Lord of Ubar, and two of his trusted subordinates.
The Lord of Ubar approached the Crown Prince and spoke.

“The teleportation circle has been installed inside the ship.”

They planned to disguise Kale’s departure as a journey and leave via teleportation. Raon’s voice echoed in Kale’s mind.

-I also know where the human’s jungle land is! I will teleport there on my own!

Kale let those words pass as he met the Crown Prince’s gaze. The Crown Prince looked past Kale and spoke.

“Only one escort, and a face I haven’t seen before.”

Kale placed his hand on the shoulder of the escort standing directly behind him.
The Crown Prince beheld a golden-haired Knight whose beauty was androgynous yet whose aura seemed extraordinary. Kale introduced the Knight to the Crown Prince.

“Yes, this is Haven, my escort. A virtuous and loyal Knight.”

Erhafen, now called Haven, found Kale’s words somewhat unsettling, but he performed his role well as described.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

Crown Prince Albert, observing Erhafen’s dignified yet commanding presence, spoke to Kale.

“You certainly have a talent for surrounding yourself with capable individuals.”

Kale flashed a bright smile and pointed toward the ship.

“Shall we depart at once?”

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