Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 162

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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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Kale Heniatus opened his mouth as he faced Crown Prince Adin.

“I’m fine.”

Standing rigidly upright, Kale hardly appeared to be someone in pain.
Yet everyone could see the blood-stained handkerchief clutched in his hand and the slight tremor running through his fingers as he gripped it.

Along with the weak smile he forced.
He didn’t look fine at all.
Then Kale’s lips parted.

“Are the others unharmed?”

Ah.
An exclamation escaped from one of the Imperial officials who had accompanied the Crown Prince.

Crown Prince Adin studied Kale for a brief moment with cold eyes devoid of any concern or warmth.

But shortly after, gratitude and worry intertwined across his face as he regarded Kale.

“Yes, thanks to you, everyone is fine. Some have sustained minor injuries, but there’s nothing to worry about greatly.”
“I see.”

At the word “minor,” Kale’s brow furrowed slightly. His gaze shifted past the Crown Prince toward the Mages and Alchemists.
Observing those tending to the broken pillar, Kale spoke.

“It will be manageable, won’t it?”

The pillar will be fine now, won’t it?
To Kale, who continued to express his concern, Crown Prince Adin replied with emphasis.

“It will be fine.”

At those words, Kale bowed respectfully, then straightened. He brushed back his slightly disheveled hair. His fingertips were trembling.

The Crown Prince observed that tremor intently. Then the Crown Prince slipped between them.

“Your hands are trembling quite badly. Worse than last time.”
“No, Your Highness. I’m fine.”

Kale Heniatus shook his head with a faint smile. Crown Prince Albert’s brow furrowed.

“Fine, my foot! You did the same thing last time and needed months of recuperation. And you coughed up blood—doesn’t that mean your insides are completely damaged?”

…Completely damaged? That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?
Kale Heniatus was about to object to the Crown Prince’s phrasing when he noticed someone hurriedly steadying him. It was Daltaro, the head of the Diplomatic Delegation.
He spoke quietly, mindful of the Crown Prince’s presence, though his words still carried far enough for others to hear.

“You don’t need to strain yourself standing any longer. Lord Kale Heniatus, you can rest now.”

Daltaro’s eyes sparkled with concern and pride. Kale Heniatus felt an odd unease wash over him at that gaze.
Still, he went along with it for now.

“…But.”

Crown Prince Adin, who had been quietly observing him trail off, spoke.

“It’s fine. We’ll handle the rest, so you can go and rest.”

His voice was quite resolute.

What happened in the Empire—in the Imperial Palace itself. From now on, the Empire would handle it, so stop worrying about it. That meaning resonated in his firmness.

Kale Heniatus licked his lips but kept his mouth shut, and Crown Prince Albert opened his.

“I assume that ‘we’ includes myself as well?”

The Crown Prince reminded him that the Diplomatic Delegation was involved in this matter. Crown Prince Adin gazed at the Crown Prince for a moment, then offered his characteristic affable smile.

“Of course.”

Yet even with that response, Crown Prince Albert’s heart was filled with scorn.
Crown Prince Adin had asked Kale Heniatus and the Crown Prince about their wellbeing with a worried expression, but he had never once said he was “sorry” about this situation.

‘When the official announcement about this situation comes later, he’ll probably just say he “regrets” it.’

The Crown Prince Adin did not bow his head to the Roan Kingdom delegation.

It was the attitude the Mogur Empire, called the sole empire on the Western Continent, displayed toward the Roan Kingdom, known to be of little consequence.

Crown Prince Albert accepted that attitude for now. He reached out and lightly patted the shoulder of today’s hero.

“Go on. I’ll have my personal physician attend to you.”
“Thank you.”

Kale Heniatus thanked the Crown Prince for getting ahead of the Imperial Palace healer, then leaned on the Crown Prince’s knight as he moved away from the Sun Palace.

Quite a few people watched Kale’s retreating figure as he walked slowly with the knight’s support, but soon everyone returned to their own affairs.

It had been a chaotic night.

Kale was no exception.
The moment the Dark Elf serving as the Crown Prince’s personal physician left his bedroom along with everyone else, he found himself surrounded by several presences.

“…What is this?”

Kale looked at the Gold Dragon Erhafen with a displeased expression. Erhafen examined Kale’s body from all angles, then clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk, what an unlucky human.”

Kale was at a loss for words and turned his head away. With the observer and others gone, the Black Dragon Raon sat on Kale’s bed, staring at him intently.

That gaze made Kale uncomfortable, so he turned his head. Then he saw Choi Han.

‘Why does his expression look like that?’

Choi Han appeared troubled as he fingered the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Click, click.
The blade repeatedly emerged from the scabbard and retreated back in.
Kale felt an inexplicable chill and quickly opened his mouth.

“Where are they?”

Hilsman and the Cat Tribe Knight.
Kale asked about their whereabouts.

Choi Han approached the bathroom connected to Kale’s bedroom and opened the door.

Creak—
The door swung open, revealing Hilsman.

“What brings you here in such a state?”

Kale frowned at the sight of Hilsman, caked in leaves and dirt, cradling a cat and two empty potion bottles in his arms.

“Bring it here.”

Kale’s finger twitched, and Hilsman brought the cat forward. The cat—the Cat Tribe Knight—fixed an unwavering gaze upon Kale.

The moment Kale laid eyes on the cat, he spoke.

“Sir Lex.”

The cat’s body stiffened. Hilsman placed the feline Lex upon a chair beside Kale’s bed. As Lex settled into position, he had no choice but to listen to what Kale had to say.

“The Imperial Palace did not collapse.”

The cat’s fangs flashed briefly before vanishing.

“Your comrade was burned but survived. And he has been captured.”

Lex’s face contorted. Kale, indifferent to his reaction, continued speaking while leaning his back against the headboard of the bed.
There was no time to waste.

“Do you know the Drunken Alchemist?”

The cat froze.
Of course he knew that alchemist. The man had a reputation for being quite virtuous, and Lex had purchased explosives from him. Was this person one of Kale’s subordinates?
Kale observed the questions swirling in Lex’s eyes and continued.

“Sir Lex, that alchemist is a man who shares food with the children of your neighborhood, the Slums. Choi Han here will take you to him. Your family and organization members must be hiding somewhere, yes?”

They had surely hidden somewhere before this incident unfolded.

“But with your level of concealment, the Imperial Palace will find them within a day if they search. Go with Choi Han and properly hide your family and all your organization members.”

Lex hesitated, unable to answer Kale’s words immediately. Then, Kale’s voice reached him.

“Why? Your colleagues are captured and suffering cruel torture, possibly facing death, yet you alone wish to escape alive? That doesn’t sit right with you, does it?”
“…That’s not-”
“Speak plainly.”

Lex fell silent, watching Kale cut him off mid-sentence.
An inexplicable pressure emanated from Kale.

“I will bring down the Alchemy Tower. Furthermore, I will not allow the next Emperor of the Empire to bear the name Adin.”

Thoughts crystallized in Kale’s mind as he recalled the Saint’s words. He fixed his gaze upon Lex, one of those key figures.

The center of the Alchemists was Ray Stecker.
The center of the Empire’s people was this man.

A narrative of reversal and heroism took shape in his mind.

“That’s… impossible.”

The Cat-Human Lex shook his head as though the notion were absurd. To him, Kale smiled and asked.

“Do you not see this Dragon?”

Lex’s words caught in his throat. He had been unable to even look directly at the Black Dragon until now. To him, Kale continued.

“Choi Han, who will take you with him, is a Sword Master.”

Lex’s gaze shifted toward Choi Han. Choi Han subtly unleashed his aura.

“Moreover, a new hero who will emerge in the Empire shall aid you.”
“…A new hero?”

Lex looked toward Kale. Kale raised his finger.

“Me.”

He pointed to himself.

For a moment, Lex was rendered speechless.

But Kale Heniatus had not spoken falsely.

The Empire could not hide the collapse of a pillar in the Imperial Palace. Too many eyes had witnessed it.
And to conceal the assassination attempt on the Sub-Tower Master of the Alchemy Tower, the Empire needed to find another distraction.

By anyone’s measure, the one most suited for that role was Kale himself, who had prevented the palace’s collapse today. Kale was willing to play along with this deception.

“Once tonight passes, I’ll probably be a hero. The people of the Empire will like me, won’t they?”

Erhafen regarded Kale with a lukewarm expression but did not deny his words. Raon nodded vigorously.
Lex observed it all, then looked at Kale in alarm at his statement.

“Because I saved everyone.”

This time, Kale had no intention of hiding what he had done. He spoke to the cat-human.

“Sir Lex, no one died.”

Ah.
An exclamation escaped Lex’s lips. His face contorted with an emotion—whether relief or disappointment, it was impossible to tell.

“Sir Lex, we have no time.”

But Kale turned his gaze from Lex to Choi Han. Choi Han nodded and cradled the cat-human, whose wounds had not yet fully healed, in his arms.
Lex continued to stare only at Kale.

“Lex, seize the opportunity when it comes.”

Opportunity.
At that word, Lex opened his mouth. But he closed it again at Kale’s next words.

“And keep quiet about what happened today.”

Kale spoke to Lex while concentrating his dominating aura. Seeing that Lex could not utter a word, he turned his gaze toward Choi Han.

“To Bilos.”

Kale Heniatus handed over a hastily scribbled memo, and Choi Han tucked it away without ceremony.

“I’ll be on my way.”
“Right. Be back before dawn.”

Rather than another word, Choi Han slipped out through the window. Kale Heniatus watched him depart in silence.
Tap, tap.
A pair of front paws patted against his arm.

“What is it?”

I glanced at Raon without much thought. The Black Dragon opened his mouth.

“Lie down.”

I obeyed, settling into bed.
Raon pulled the blanket up to my neck with meticulous care. Erhafen let out a long, exasperated sigh, shaking his head. Once Raon had tucked me in thoroughly, he spoke.

“The Gold Dragon grandfather will look after you. I’m going to follow Choi Han. I’ll handle things even better if I’m there.”

Raon puffed out his chest with absolute confidence. I opened my mouth to respond.

“Just stay here.”

Something told me that if Raon went along, the situation would spiral into something far more complicated. The combination of Choi Han and Bilos was sufficient. Bilos, in particular, was ideal for covert operations.
Raon’s brow furrowed for a moment before his eyes widened. He asked quietly.

“…You’d prefer it if I stayed by your side?”
“Yeah.”

I answered curtly, too tired to elaborate. Raon’s lips curved upward as he curled his body into a circle beside me on the bed.
And I drifted into a peaceful sleep.
The palace grounds beyond may have been in turmoil, but that was no concern of mine.

* * *

The next morning, I opened my eyes and froze.
The Black Dragon Raon was nowhere to be seen. Erhafen, Hilsman, and Choi Han stood before me, all looking immaculate.

“Why are you so startled? Our dear Kale Heniatus.”

Crown Prince Albert sat in a chair right beside the bed.

“…The moment I open my eyes and see you—truly, Your Highness, the star of the kingdom—”
“Enough.”

The Crown Prince waved his hand dismissively, and Kale Heniatus closed his mouth and sat up. Then the Crown Prince’s voice reached him.

“You need to receive a commendation.”

Crown Prince Albert could see Kale Heniatus pause at his words. Alberu recalled how Kale Heniatus had rejected medals and titles during the previous terror attack on the Roan Kingdom Capital, preferring not to draw attention to himself.
So he continued.

“Of course, beyond the commendation, there will be substantial monetary rewards and accompanying benefits. Both nations currently need something to redirect attention—”

Alberu stopped speaking and looked at Kale Heniatus.

“You seem to be in a good mood?”

Kale Heniatus greeted the morning with a refreshed spirit and opened his mouth.

“Your Highness, let us hold a grand commendation ceremony.”
“What?”
“One that is just.”

Kale Heniatus slowly counted off on his fingers as he spoke.

“A noble who is selfless, who possesses a fragile yet indomitable spirit, who protects the weak, who cares not for status or nation, and who wields an ancient power both beautiful and formidable.”

The Crown Prince felt the clarity shining in Kale Heniatus’s eyes as he gazed upon him.
Kale Heniatus slowly opened his mouth.

“Your Highness, I wish to become a hero to the people of the Empire.”

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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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