Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 425

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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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“I have no idea what you and the human are talking about right now!”

Raon pressed his paw against his cheek and cried out.
At that action, Choi Han looked at Raon with an expression of realization, but Raon soon lowered his paw and spread his wings wide with determination.

“But I’ll listen for now! I’ll ask about it later!”
“Sure, sure.”

Kale Heniatus nodded casually in response.

Thump! Thump! Thump!
But my heart was pounding fiercely and violently.

‘…I can’t even lie!’

I knew that there was no other choice but to speak honestly in this situation, but how could it be easy to reveal a fact I had kept sealed for over two years in front of the person involved?
Especially since throughout my thirty-six years of life, I had never been one for gentle and soft words.

“I trust that you will answer my questions with nothing but the truth.”

Why did Choi Han, asking so calmly with a gentle smile, look so terrifying?
It felt like he was saying, ‘You know what happens if you don’t answer truthfully, right?’

“Of course. Ask away.”

But what came out of my mouth was an extremely confident and cynical tone.
Just as my face was about to contort—

“When did you arrive?”

The questioning had begun.

“The day before I met you.”

The answer came out automatically.

“You didn’t know I was Choi Jung-soo’s grand-uncle?”
“Of course not! If I’d known, would I have been so rude?”
“Humans are naturally rude! No matter how much I like weak humans, weak humans lack a bit of basic decency!”

Seriously, though.
Unable to get angry at Raon, I merely grimaced at his cheerful words. But soon I answered Choi Han seriously.

“I really didn’t know you were Choi Jung-soo’s grand-uncle.”

Right, exactly.
Of course, I knew Choi Han from reading ‘The Birth of a Hero.’
But this was a fact that even Choi Han, who had seen Choi Jung-soo’s memories, didn’t know. Should I tell him?
A dilemma formed in my mind. But Choi Han didn’t give me time to dwell on it.

“Neran Berow. You could read Choi Jung-gun’s book too, couldn’t you?”
“Of course.”
“But you pretended not to read it and acted ignorant in front of me?”

Choi Han’s tone had subtly relaxed, but I didn’t notice as I nodded.

“Yeah. I pretended not to know. My acting skills are top-tier, unlike yours.”
“You must have been quite surprised?”
“I was.”
“I was surprised as well.”

My gaze turned toward Choi Han. His expression as he said he was surprised had hardened.
My own expression began to harden as I watched him.

Choi Han had only asked me carefree questions.
I thought I understood the reason.

“Choi Han, is it because you saw Choi Jung-soo’s memories that you’re not asking about me?”

If he had seen Choi Jung-soo’s memories, then Choi Han would know about Kim Rok-soo as much as Choi Jung-soo did.
And Choi Jung-soo and Lee Soo-hyuk were people who knew Kim Rok-soo’s life nearly as well as Kim Rok-soo himself. From the very beginning.

Kim Rok-soo’s life, viewed from a distance, was tragedy itself.
I lost my parents in childhood, and when I became an adult and tried to accomplish something, the world turned upside down, and everything after that was a precarious tightrope walk.
And then I lost people who were like family once more.

‘I’ve survived in any situation.’

Survival.
That was what Kim Rok-soo’s life ultimately meant.

No matter who died, I always survived.

Truly, I was a fortunate human.
Yet in the end, it was a life where nothing remained.

‘Choi Han must know that too.’

Because he knew that Kim Rok-soo’s life was such a life, he wouldn’t ask about Kim Rok-soo or about me.
Kale Heniatus opened his mouth.

“You really haven’t changed as a person.”

Whether growing stronger or becoming colder, fundamentally, he was a good person.

“You’re truly kind.”

Kale Heniatus saw Choi Han’s brow furrow at his words, and he heard Raon’s bewildered voice.

“Human! Did you just realize Choi Han is kind? Choi Han is terrifying, but he’s kind!”

Sigh.
Choi Han let out a deep breath and looked back and forth between Kale Heniatus and Raon, then wiped his face with both hands. He muttered quietly.

“…Who’s the one who hasn’t changed….”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, sir.”

Choi Han had nothing to say when the person who had changed the least was telling him he remained unchangingly kind.

Truly, truly, Kim Rok-soo in Choi Jung-soo’s memories and Kale Heniatus whom Choi Han had met were identical.
Their identities, appearances, and circumstances differed, but their actions were nearly the same.

‘It’s absurd, but.’

That’s why the sense of betrayal felt less intense.
Pretending not to know Korea. Pretending not to know Koreans. He was intelligent enough that just hearing the name Choi Han should have made him suspicious of me or at least suspect dimensional travel, yet he pretended not to know.

I felt hurt and angry at all this pretense, but watching how he and his companions treated me—their actions and tone of voice matched my memories perfectly—made me think, ‘He didn’t treat me falsely,’ and the sense of betrayal gradually faded.

Rather, observing Choi Jung-soo’s life made me feel that Kale Heniatus had treated me and my companions with genuine sincerity—not just as comrades, but as family.

Time had passed beyond two years and five months, approaching two years and six months.
It was brief, certainly, yet we had endured no shortage of trials.

Kim Rok-soo rushing forward with an iron plate to save Choi Jung-soo, or Kale coughing blood several times and collapsing—they were the same.

‘Of course, it would be different with Vicross, Ron, or the Count’s household.’

They occupied a different position than Choi Han.
They were people who knew the original Kale Heniatus.
Surely they felt something different from what Choi Han felt.

‘…Rosalind and the Crown Prince are the same. They’d feel differently than me.’

There were many who had come to know Kale recently, like Choi Han, but they wouldn’t share the emotions or thoughts I felt now.

‘Because I’m Korean.’

Someone I thought was alone. Someone whose past I believed had vanished entirely.

That’s why the moment I learned of Kim Rok-soo and Kale—this one person—my joy was immense.

“But—”

Choi Han looked toward Kale as his voice reached him.

“Are you alright? You saw everything.”

The corners of Choi Han’s mouth lifted slightly. It was a smile caught between laughter and a grimace.
Too much of his long journey lay woven into that gentle smile.

Choi Jung-soo’s life.
Within it, Choi Han could see and feel the footprints of his own life that he had lost in the Dark Forest—the time that had passed after he disappeared.
His family, his hometown—everything had vanished and been destroyed.

Kale’s question now must have been asking whether that truth was bearable.

“I’m fine.”

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t sad.
It would be untrue to claim he wasn’t suffering.
And yet, I was fine.

Because I wasn’t alone.

‘Finally.’

It seemed I could finally shed my seventeen-year-old self.

After experiencing more than two years since leaving the Dark Forest, and then living through all the time that had passed in Korea after I departed, I had finally gained the courage to face my life in its entirety.

“Human! I didn’t see any of that!”

At Raon’s words, I watched Kale sigh and pat the young dragon’s head with clumsy affection.
He would explain everything one by one with that blunt expression of his.
Because he was cunning, yet fundamentally kind.

“Raon, listen carefully. I’m only saying this once.”

See? Wasn’t he explaining it kindly?

“Got it! I’ll understand in one go! I, Raon Mir, am clever.”
“Yes, yes. You’re clever.”

Kale shook his head side to side as he opened his mouth.
As he thought about explaining everything, his vision went dark.

So he decided to abbreviate instead.
Just the key points, briefly. Wasn’t that fine?

“I was originally a human named Kim Rok-soo. And I lived in a country called Korea, which exists in a world called Earth—not this world.”
“I see.”

The Young Dragon’s deep blue eyes blinked slowly.

“Then one day I opened my eyes and found myself as Kale Heniatus. After that, I met you.”

That was the end of my explanation.

Was it too brief? I wondered.

“I see.”

Raon nodded as if he understood.

‘Does he really accept all of that just like that?’

Watching Raon’s clear eyes accept it so easily, I felt oddly unsettled instead.
Then Raon spoke.

“So that’s why the White Star said that!”
“Huh? The White Star?”

Why did the White Star suddenly come up?
As both Choi Han and I exchanged confused glances, Raon puffed out his round belly with absolute confidence, as if we should remember this.

“When we first met the White Star at the Alchemy Tower, that crazy White Star said to the human and Choi Han! ‘Moreover, like that black-haired one, your time has been twisted too, just like mine!'”

Ah.
Only then could I recall when that had happened.

“…Did the White Star really say something like that?”
“Yes! Choi Han, you were beaten by the White Star and locked up in the Mogur Imperial Palace, so you didn’t hear it then! But the great Raon Mir heard everything and remembers it clearly! My memory is excellent!”

I remembered Raon’s reaction when the White Star had said that.

‘Human! I don’t understand what you’re saying! Our Choi Han and our human haven’t been twisted! Neither of them has been twisted like me! They’re not great, well, they’re somewhat great!'”

And I had responded to the White Star’s words.

“‘So what? What do you want me to do about it?’ — a human landed a blow on the White Star! Hehehehe!”

Ha.
A short laugh burst from my lips.
Raon approached me with a chuckle and spoke with absolute confidence.

“Regardless, a human is a human! That’s all that matters!”

Snicker. Raon’s mouth curved upward.

“Once a human, always a human!”
“Well, I am human, so what’s the problem?”
“Anyway, a human is a human! A hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, ten thousand years from now — a human will always be a human!”

Raon spoke with such delight, and I found myself laughing despite myself. Contrary to my tension, there were no further questions.
Contrary to being nervous, there were no particular questions.

“Did I get nervous for nothing?”

That was when it happened.

“Mr. Heniatus.”

Choi Han asked the question with his usual gentle expression.

“Would you like to go back?”

The heavy question struck suddenly, and the choice the God of Death had presented came flooding back to me.
At the sudden heavy question that came out of nowhere, Kale Heniatus recalled the choice that the God of Death had presented.

The time to decide was dwindling even now.
The time for choosing was running out even now.

November 8th was approaching rapidly.
The season when autumn ends and winter begins.
That was when I was born.
That is why my name was Rok-soo. Rok — verdant. Soo — excellence, growth.
A name given so that I would grow ever green even as winter came, bloom magnificently.
Even as winter comes, it was a name given so that you would grow ever green and bloom beautifully.

In just a few months, it would be November.
That’s why Kale Heniatus answered without hesitation.

“I like it here.”

He had no intention of heeding whatever that damned God of Death fool had to say.
Choose?
He should be the one telling that creature to choose whether it would get a blow to the back of its head or not.
Kale Heniatus genuinely meant every word of it.

“Me too.”

Hmm?
At Choi Han’s quiet voice, Kale Heniatus studied him intently.

“I also like it here.”
“I’m fine with everything! Except the White Star and that bastard’s subordinate!”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Choi Han, do you agree with what I’m saying?”
“Yes. I agree.”

Kale Heniatus watched Raon and Choi Han converse, then leaned back comfortably against the bed’s headboard.

“Should I call everyone in?”

Choi Han asked, and Kale Heniatus nodded.

“Yeah, we should. We need to head North.”
“Understood.”

Choi Han headed toward the door, while Raon began to dispel his magic. As Kale Heniatus observed this, his thoughts drifted to a certain existence.

‘By the way, the original owner of your body is living well too. Apparently, he’s happy.’

The original Kale Heniatus.
What state was he in now? Had that creature entered my original body?
Since he was living happily, that was fortunate at least.
I recalled the original owner of this body—someone who acted like a reckless fool yet possessed a certain peculiarity. Simultaneously, my thoughts turned to the Heniatus Count Family.

‘Perhaps.’

Perhaps I was beginning to understand why the original Kale Heniatus had become such a reckless fool.

‘Of course, it might not be for that reason—’

CRASH!
The deafening sound cut my thoughts short.

“What, what is it?”

The bedroom door of the former Crown Prince Adin flew open. Choi Han had stepped aside to avoid it, while the rest of the group outside stood frozen in bewilderment.

I saw a figure approaching me with a menacing expression, taking long, purposeful strides.
My body shrank back beneath the blankets.

‘What did I do wrong? Why is she looking at me like that?’

Sword Master Hana. She was approaching me with such a ferocious expression that I thought she might beat me to death.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

At my startled question, Hana walked up near my bed and stopped, staring down at me silently.

“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong’? What did I do?”
“Listen.”

Hana spoke curtly, as if tossing the words at me.

“You’re heading North right now?”
“Yeah. Why?”

Why would that make a door fly off its hinges?

“…With that pathetic body of yours… you’re saying?”

My expression crumpled.

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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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