Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 601

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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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Chapter 128. Even If My Breath Should Fade

Kale Heniatus didn’t turn around, keeping his gaze fixed forward as he spoke.

“I don’t believe I ever mentioned my birthday to anyone separately.”

At this point in time, Kim Rok-soo hadn’t revealed his birthday to others.
Later, when Kim Rok-soo joined the Company, he recorded his birthday in his personal information. Lee Soo-hyuk remembered that detail and made sure to celebrate both Kim Rok-soo’s and Choi Jung-soo’s birthdays.
Until those two died.

“Choi Han told me.”

At Lee Soo-hyuk’s response, Kale Heniatus let out a short breath.

“Did you know it’s Choi Han and Choi Jung-soo’s birthday too?”
“…Really?”

Hearing the rare note of bewilderment in his voice, Kale Heniatus slowly turned his body to face Lee Soo-hyuk.

The sharp, honed atmosphere that had clung to Lee Soo-hyuk since yesterday now carried a peculiar hint of confusion.
At the sight, the corners of Kale Heniatus’s mouth lifted slightly.

“Why? Did you prepare a birthday party for me?”
“Huh?”

Lee Soo-hyuk’s embarrassment was plainly evident.

“Not a party in this situation.”

He scratched his cheek.

“Just a brief late-night snack time?”
“It seems you’ve drawn Choi Han and Choi Jung-soo into preparing that brief late-night snack time as well?”

Bewilderment flickered across Lee Soo-hyuk’s eyes once more.

“No, I—”
“Let’s go.”
“What?”
“The place we prepared. Let’s all gather our things.”

Lee Soo-hyuk, who had been facing Kim Rok-soo as he finished speaking at a leisurely pace, quickly shed his bewilderment and let out a deflated laugh.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

With that reply, he shifted his gaze.
Heo Sook-ja and Jo Min-ye were walking toward Kale Heniatus and Lee Soo-hyuk together.

“Have a safe trip.”

Heo Sook-ja spoke to Kale Heniatus with a smile.

“I apologize.”

Kale Heniatus gave a brief bow before raising his head, and at his words, Jo Min-ye waved her hand dismissively.

“Not at all. We know how hard the Commander has worked these past two days. I heard he couldn’t even manage proper meals.”

Heo Sook-ja beside her furrowed her brow slightly.

She had been occupied defending the Seo-myeon Shelter and hadn’t heard the detailed battle situation.

She had only learned that the Yellow-Haired Monster had fled as a result of the battle.
And that it had escaped with the Blue-Haired Monster’s head in its mouth.
In the end, it meant the operation had failed.

But she couldn’t bring herself to be angry in that situation.
Because among the people with relatively minor injuries and small bruises, she could see Commander Kim Rok-soo covered in blood.

Everyone had said it.
That without him, they would have been seriously injured or dead.

“The Commander—”

Heo Sook-ja opened her mouth, then closed it again.

‘The commander needs to rest.’

There were words I wanted to say, but I couldn’t voice them.

‘He can’t rest.’

This young man couldn’t afford to rest.
I was sorry for it, but that was the reality.

“I’ll be going.”

Lee Soo-hyuk, who had been quietly following beside him, finally spoke.

“Kim Rok-soo.”
“Yes.”
“You keep your promises well.”

Kale Heniatus looked at Lee Soo-hyuk as if asking what he meant.
But Lee Soo-hyuk didn’t return his gaze, instead walking toward the nearest room close to the Watchtower and City Wall.

“What do you mean?”

When Kale Heniatus finally asked, Lee Soo-hyuk smiled faintly and answered in a leisurely voice.

“Yesterday and today. People must have seen your back the most.”

Kale Heniatus recalled something he had said before.

‘At the very least, in this battle, those of you here will see my back the most as we fight.’

Lee Soo-hyuk’s voice continued.

“In yesterday’s battle too. And all day today, your back near the Watchtower was so clearly visible.”
“Promises must be kept.”

At Kale Heniatus’s indifferent words, Lee Soo-hyuk stood before a door, grasping its handle as he looked at him.

“Yes. That’s just like you.”

Screech.
Kale Heniatus caught sight of the scene beyond the door.
His lips curved upward slowly.

“Huh?! Sir! You said you’d give us a signal first! How can you just open the door like this out of nowhere?”
“Ah, this isn’t supposed to happen.”

Kim Min-ah and Bae Pureun cried out in flustered voices.

In the small office, there was a table laden with quite an abundance of food.
It wasn’t an elaborate feast, but it held the very best that could be managed in their current circumstances.

Choi Han, along with Choi Jung-soo, Kim Min-ah, Bae Pureun, Park Jin-tae, the Lee Siblings, and others whose fates were intertwined with Kale Heniatus’s, were huddled together in the cramped space.

Kale Heniatus’s lips curved upward.

“This is nice.”

At those two words he uttered, the bustling interior fell silent.
And one by one, openly or concealed, smiles began to bloom on their faces.
Then Lee Soo-hyuk gestured.

“Han, Jung-soo.”

At the sudden call, Choi Jung-soo froze.

“Your birthdays are tomorrow too, right? Come here for a moment.”

At Lee Soo-hyuk’s words that followed, Choi Jung-soo’s eyes widened.

“…How did you know that?”
“Kim Rok-soo told me.”

Bae Pureun shuddered and rubbed his own arm as he exclaimed.

“Wow! So Foresight tells him things like that too?”
“Who knows.”

Lee Soo-hyuk’s gaze, which had been responding to Bae Pureun’s words, shifted toward Kale Heniatus.
Kale shrugged his shoulders and looked at him as if asking what the problem was. Lee Soo-hyuk watched him quietly for a moment before letting the words slip out.

“Kim Rok-soo.”

It was whispered in a very small voice.

“Is it right that you know even things like this through foresight?”

Kale’s gaze turned toward Lee Soo-hyuk.
The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and when Kale walked toward the Dining Table, that moment ended.
Instead, Lee Soo-hyuk’s ears caught the words Kale left behind as he walked away.

“Who knows? If you’re curious, try to find out yourself.”

Chuckling, Lee Soo-hyuk laughed and spoke to the people around him.

“Alright! We need to sing for three people!”
“Yes, sir.”

Joo Ho-sik nodded in agreement and then clasped his hands together.

“Happy birth—”
“Wait, what do you mean by that term?”

Park Jin-tae furrowed his brow, then opened his mouth while keeping his gaze fixed on the corner of the ceiling.

“We should say birthday instead.”
“Right. I can’t say that term anyway, can I?”

Grandmother Kim drew a warm smile and began clapping with both hands.

“Happy birthday—”

Starting with her voice, the people in the room one by one began singing the birthday song.
Kale stretched out his hand from the center where the song poured down.

“Come join in too.”

The hands grasping Choi Jung-soo and Choi Han pulled both of them forward without hesitation.

“No. Ah, what is this suddenly happening?”

Choi Jung-soo listened to the birthday song being sung to me, his expression bewildered and flustered.
And Choi Han had gone rigid.

Kale Heniatus patted Choi Han’s shoulder gently.
Choi Han’s gaze wavered slightly.
His eyes passed over Kale Heniatus and Choi Jung-soo, taking in this space one detail at a time.

The song had ended before I knew it.

“Happy birthday to all three of you!”
“Congratulations. I believe November 8th is a good day.”
“Come on! Let’s eat quickly!”

The people added their own words even after the song ended.
Then, Choi Han heard Kale Heniatus’s calm voice from beside him.

“There’s still time, but.”

Choi Han’s gaze turned back to Kale Heniatus.

“Choi Han.”
“Yes.”
“Happy birthday.”

Kale Heniatus saw gentle ripples rising in Choi Han’s eyes.
Not waves that rushed in to sweep everything away harshly, but waves that came softly, shattered into fine fragments, and shimmered with light.

“…Happy birthday to you as well.”

Kale Heniatus nodded and turned his gaze away.

“Choi Jung-soo.”
“Huh?”

Choi Jung-soo asked again, his expression still bewildered. Kale Heniatus opened his mouth after a long pause.
In that moment, Kale’s memory surfaced—Choi Jung-soo’s voice echoing from the past.

‘Kim Rok-soo! Happy birthday! Congratulations! Hahahaha!’
‘Shut up.’
‘Sigh. Kim Rok-soo, when I celebrate so joyfully for you, couldn’t you at least celebrate joyfully for me too? Though I suppose that’s not who Kim Rok-soo is.’
‘Who said I didn’t celebrate?’
‘Hehe. So you do celebrate?’

Of course I did.
How could I not celebrate?
Kale’s lips slowly parted.

“Happy birthday.”

Choi Jung-soo’s eyes widened.
The words delivered softly with a gentle smile carried a sincerity that couldn’t simply be overlooked.
So it was impossible to dismiss them.
Choi Jung-soo found himself staring intently at Kale without realizing it.

Tap.
Kale patted Choi Jung-soo’s shoulder once before turning toward the others.
Lee Soo-hyuk had witnessed the entire exchange. His gaze followed Kale’s movements with scrutinizing intent.
Kale was aware of this. But he pretended not to be.

Where Lee Soo-hyuk’s gaze and Kale had vanished.
Choi Jung-soo, still composing himself from the shock, could see someone approaching him.

“Let’s step outside for a moment.”

It was Choi Han.
Choi Jung-soo was about to ask why they should leave when his eyes caught Choi Han’s hands.
Despite being younger than himself, those hands bore the marks of hardship and countless scars, and they trembled slightly with tension.

Trembling.
The word seemed so unlike Choi Han, yet Choi Jung-soo found himself overwhelmed by an inexplicable feeling.

The castle, the birthday, the swordsmanship.
They were identical or similar.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Ultimately, Choi Jung-soo followed Choi Han outside.
They came to a stop in a corner of the corridor.
Choi Han remained silent for a while.

“…What did you want to see me about?”

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Choi Jung-soo opened his mouth, and Choi Han withdrew a rather thick bundle of papers from his bosom and held it out to him.

“What is this?”
“Take it.”

Choi Jung-soo accepted the bundle of papers thrust toward him almost reluctantly.
He glanced down at the papers, but the first page was blank, making it impossible to discern their contents.
Choi Jung-soo found himself with no choice but to look at Choi Han with a questioning gaze.

“…It’s a gift.”

And at those words from Choi Han, my expression twisted for reasons I couldn’t quite explain.
Before I knew it, my mouth had opened.

“You know what I mean?”

In the end, I felt a slight regret at what I had blurted out.
The hand that had appeared tense until then grew calm, and Choi Han’s face became utterly expressionless.

“I won’t answer your questions.”

At Choi Han’s response, I felt my chest tighten with frustration.
So I spoke impulsively.

“Then it won’t matter if I figure it out myself.”

In that moment, I could see a soft smile playing at the corners of Choi Han’s lips.

“Yes. Then there’s nothing I can do about it.”

For some reason, my chest felt increasingly tight.
I had already been thinking of my family after receiving birthday wishes, and that restless feeling was shaken deeply.
So to calm that feeling, to hide it, my expression and posture became composed.
Just like Choi Han’s.

Neither Choi Han nor I realized it.

“Understood.”

I tucked the gift into my embrace and opened my mouth.

“I’ll definitely find out.”

And I added, looking at Choi Han.

“I don’t have a gift, but. Happy birthday.”

Choi Han’s eyes widened slightly.

“I mean it sincerely.”

I spoke honestly.

“You’ve watched over my swordsmanship and trained me.”

I couldn’t understand the reason why.
No, there were too many things that caught my attention to say I didn’t know the reason at all, and the thought of ‘could it be?’ naturally arose.
But I didn’t voice those thoughts aloud.

Once everything became certain, I could speak then.

“I know you care about me a great deal.”

So even though Choi Jung-soo was younger than me, I bowed my head slightly to this person who didn’t look young at all.

“Thank you.”

Perhaps.
Perhaps Choi Jung-soo’s first swordsmanship teacher outside of family was truly Choi Han.
Since Choi Han never called himself a teacher or mentor aloud and seemed unwilling to be called such, Choi Jung-soo simply addressed him as Choi Han.
Yet to Choi Jung-soo, Choi Han was no different from a master.

Choi Jung-soo lifted his head again, which had been slightly bowed.
Then came Choi Han’s voice.

“I’m the one who should be grateful.”

His voice was slightly strained.

“I’m the one who should be grateful.”

At those casual words and that unfamiliar tone, Choi Jung-soo hurriedly raised his head fully.
But Choi Han’s expression remained as it always was.

Unwavering, like his blade.

“Please go inside first.”

At Choi Han’s words, Choi Jung-soo suppressed the strange unease in his chest, nodded in acknowledgment, and turned toward the door again.

“Mm!”

He paused upon seeing Kale Heniatus standing outside, but soon opened his mouth.

“Happy birthday.”
“Yeah.”

Choi Jung-soo’s lips twitched slightly at the calm reply before he passed Kale Heniatus and stepped back into the room.
Choi Jung-soo thought to himself.

‘There’s time.’

First, I would deal with the unranked monster attempting to attack the Seo-myeon Shelter. After that, I could sort through these suffocating, awkward feelings.
And—

‘Once we grow a bit closer.’

Then it would be fine to tell him.
With that thought, Choi Jung-soo closed the door behind him as he stepped out of the room.

Only Choi Han and Kale Heniatus remained in the corridor.

“Choi Han.”
“Yes, hyung.”

Kale Heniatus, who had been quietly observing Choi Han’s feigned composure, let out a soft chuckle and opened his mouth.

“You said you had no intention of being discovered, but it seems otherwise?”

Choi Han’s shoulders flinched slightly.

“…That is—”

He opened his mouth, but the words would not come.
He had intended not to tell Choi Jung-soo that he was his uncle.
But it was his birthday.
The birthday of Choi Jung-soo, left alone.
For Choi Han, who did not know when he would return, this might be the first and last opportunity to care for him.

Yet I could not stop questioning whether this action was truly right.
And that doubt persisted even now.
Because Choi Jung-soo had been continuously expressing doubts about my existence.
It was then.

“You did well.”

Kale Heniatus’s voice came through, surprisingly tender.
I listened intently to his quiet words, meant only for me to hear.

“You wanted to care for him, didn’t you? Your family’s birthday.”

I could not bring myself to answer that question.

“You did well.”

But Choi Han’s lips curved upward at Kale Heniatus’s words of praise.
The corner of my mouth drew a single line—whether a smile or a cry, impossible to discern.

Tap. Tap.
Kale Heniatus patted Choi Han’s shoulder.
And when those pats could no longer be felt, Choi Han could see Kale Heniatus heading out of the corridor.

“Where are you going?”
“The Watchtower.”
“…I’ll go with you.”

Choi Han couldn’t bring himself to suggest resting a bit longer.
I understood Kale Heniatus’s heart better than anyone—the need to protect this place and to return quickly to those waiting for him.

But there was much that even Choi Han didn’t know.

* * *

Kale Heniatus quietly gazed down at the wristwatch in his hand.

11:55.

Soon it would be that day.
In five minutes, it would be the day the God of Death said I must make a choice.
I recalled the sentence from memory.

【Grade 1 Ability User Kim Rok-soo.】
【Will you return to your original world?】
【Or will you die in this world?】

In five minutes.
The time for that choice arrives.

Kale Heniatus felt the quiet night air and gazed silently at the watch.
Then Choi Han approached him.
The sentries who had been standing guard descended, leaving only Kale Heniatus and Choi Han in the space.

“Rok-soo hyung. Why don’t you go down and have a warm cup of tea-!”

Choi Han’s words came to a halt.

“Ugh!”

Kale Heniatus suddenly clutched at his chest with one hand, his body lurching forward as if about to collapse.

In that instant, Choi Han saw it.
Kale’s face contorted in agony—incomparably more anguished than anything he had witnessed before.

“Kale!”

Without thinking, Choi Han called out his name and rushed to support him.
But Kale’s gaze remained fixed upon his watch.

“…Why? Ugh!”

As if his heart were being torn asunder.
No—as if his very soul were being ripped away. A violent, searing agony consumed Kale.

“Why?”

It wasn’t November 8th yet.
What was happening?

November 8th.
He had believed something would occur on that day.
That the God of Death would make his move. That was his assessment.

But now it was November 7th.
Kale’s face twisted in anguish.

-How amusing.

It was then.

“Damn it!”

Kale’s face contorted even further at the voice echoing through his mind.

—Must I overcome despair?

The sealed god spoke to him.
Author’s Note

Hello, this is Yoo Ryeo-han!
I left a note after Chapter 600 not long ago, but today I find myself writing another.

The reason is simple—today I have joyful news to share.

And that news is—
That is—
In 60 seconds—
No, rather—
Right now!

The “I Became the Count’s Household Scoundrel” webtoon is launching!

The launch date is September 1st.

On this first day of September,
I am filled with joy and gratitude that such a wonderful work will see the light of day, bearing the dedication of the talented webtoon artist, the adapter, and so many others.

With that joyful news shared, I shall take my leave.

Thank you.
I wish you all good health always.

—Yoo Ryeo-han

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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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