Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 65

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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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Yet contrary to that expectation, I arrived at the Study with an impassive expression. I swept back my still-damp hair and settled onto the sofa, facing the three people across from me.
I took a sip of the tea that Hans offered and opened my mouth to speak.

“It’s been a while.”

I greeted Choi Han, who remained as composed as ever, and Rak, who appeared as timid as before, in my usual manner, then turned my gaze toward Rosalind.

“It has been a long time, Your Highness.”

Rosalind smiled and answered with refreshing brightness.

“You can’t call me that anymore. I’ve been expelled from the Royal Family.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes, I’ve been struck from the family records. I no longer have a surname.”

Watching Rosalind answer with such lightness and clarity, I simply turned my head away. And I added, as if in passing:

“Then I’ll continue to call you Rosalind, as before.”

Rosalind’s crimson eyes took in my form. Though she had been stripped of the throne and expelled from the Royal Family—though in truth it was Rosalind herself who had abandoned the Royal Family—she had felt countless gazes directed at her in recent days. Now she answered with ease.

“Yes. Please continue to treat me as you always have.”

She could see me nodding indifferently without even looking at her. She felt it had been the right choice to follow Choi Han.
I gazed intently at Choi Han and Rak, having missed Rosalind’s smile. Choi Han sat with perfect posture, perfectly upright. He appeared to be in quite a good mood.

‘He seems even more virtuous somehow.’

His eyes were remarkably clear, radiating a wholesome aura. He seemed to have grown even closer to being a righteous hero. I shifted my gaze toward Rak, uncomfortable with that virtuous atmosphere that didn’t suit me.

Rak was different from Choi Han. He displayed a peculiar nervousness. Yet, being timid, he couldn’t express it well and merely fidgeted with his fingers.

“Kale.”
“What?”

There was no need to look at Choi Han. He was the only one who called me by that name.

“Shall I report on matters concerning the Breck Kingdom?”

In that instant, Rosalind’s eyes widened with surprise as she looked toward Choi Han. Yet Choi Han’s gaze remained fixed on Kale, who shook his head while keeping his attention on Rak.

“That won’t be necessary. I see no need to know what you’ve done for your friend.”

Rosalind caught sight of Choi Han’s serene smile in that moment. He spoke.

“Understood. However, should you have any questions, please do ask. I shall report immediately.”
“That’s all.”

Hearing the details would only give me a headache. How they had reduced the Breck Kingdom to chaos in such a short span of time, how they had brought down the Grand Duke’s house, how Rosalind had cast aside the Royal Family—I had no desire to know.

“Rak.”

Instead, I called out to Rak.

“Y-yes?”

Rak, now taller than Choi Han, still wore that bewildered expression. I understood why he was so ill at ease.

Choi Han’s group had arrived an hour ago, or so I’d heard. During that time, Choi Han and Rosalind would have been occupied with various procedures. Meanwhile, Rak had been standing awkwardly in this unfamiliar space—I could easily imagine what occupied his thoughts.
I spoke, observing his guileless face.

“Your siblings are elsewhere at the moment.”

Rak’s expression shifted.

“Where? All of them?”

I answered his question calmly.

“Harris Village.”

Choi Han’s expression hardened as he looked toward me. Yet I said nothing more, closing my mouth instead. In its place, I took a quiet sip of the warm tea before me.
Another voice interjected into the silence. It was Hans, the vice-butler.

“Harris Village is currently undergoing reconstruction. Rak may not know this, but it was once a small yet beautiful village nestled near the Mountain, living in harmony with nature. Not long ago, it suffered great calamity.”

A mountain. A small but beautiful village. Suffering great devastation and now in the midst of reconstruction. These words entered Rak’s mind, and unbidden, a single image surfaced—his homeland, everything burned to ash and crumbled to ruin.

“Additionally, a proper cemetery is also being established.”

Choi Han glanced at Hans, his vice-butler. Hans shot a subtle look toward Kale before continuing.

“It was something the young master strongly advocated for.”

The teacup clinked softly against the saucer. Kale’s expression tightened slightly as he spoke.

“Strongly? That’s an overstatement.”
“Still, isn’t this the first time the young master has made a request to the Count—no, the Lord—regarding fiefdom matters? I’ve never seen the young master take interest in territorial affairs before.”
“It’s nothing significant.”

Kale gestured to Hans to drop the subject, and Hans obediently fell silent. Yet he seemed to be itching to say more. Kale dismissed this lightly and turned his attention to Rak, whose expression had grown vacant and distant.

“Rak.”
“Yes?”
“Go see your siblings. And while you’re there, take a look at the land where your siblings now live.”

Kale shifted his gaze away. Though Rak stared at him intently, he would understand eventually—simple as he might be, he grasped the meaning well enough. Kale turned to Choi Han, whose expression had grown stern.

“Choi Han.”

Choi Han regarded the characteristically impassive Kale quietly. So much had transpired in the Breck Kingdom. He had resolved matters as swiftly as possible and returned home. Now Kale’s voice reached his ears.

“Go pay your respects and return. Your brother Rak won’t know the way, so guide him.”

Respects. There was no need to ask toward whom. Choi Han’s fists clenched briefly before relaxing. He had to suppress the surge of emotion welling up within him. Harris Village—once reduced entirely to ash and ruin. That village would be transformed now.

Kale issued a dismissal to the three silent figures.

“Go on. Rosalind, you may leave as well.”

After so long without seeing these three, exhaustion washed over Kale like a tide. Three weeks of blissful rest scattered like wind-blown petals. Rak and Rosalind followed Hans’s guidance, departing slowly from Kale’s study.
Choi Han remained seated until they had all left, rising from his chair only at the very end.

“Kale.”

And I bowed at the waist.

“Thank you.”

As I straightened and lifted my head, a short laugh escaped me unbidden. Kale stood before me, his face brimming with considerable reluctance and irritation.

“No need for such formalities. Just leave already.”

I rose from the sofa as Kale suggested and made my way toward the Study door. Kale, who had picked up his teacup again to observe me, heard my voice as I paused with my hand upon the doorknob.

“I heard from Hans that you’re heading to the Wipper Kingdom?”
“That’s right.”

What else is he going on about? Kale nodded dismissively at the trivial question.

“Once you return from the village, we’ll depart immediately. Pack your belongings.”
“Yes.”

A gentle and refreshing smile graced my lips. But soon it faded, and I turned the doorknob. With a soft click, my mouth opened.

“Did you say his name was Bap?”
“How do you know that man?”

It was Tunka’s alias, Bap—a name I hadn’t heard in quite some time.
Had Hans spoken of Tunka? Kale looked at me with confusion, but all he could see was my back as I held the doorknob. My characteristic calm and gentle voice reached his ears.

“Vicross mentioned it. He said you nearly got hurt because of that man.”

Why would Vicross say such a thing? Kale recalled that moment and answered.

“Hurt? I wasn’t hurt. I just got hit with stone dust and a sudden downpour.”
“…I understand.”

Without another word, I opened the door and left the Study. Kale watched as the butler Hans passed by me and entered in turn. When Hans saw me, he stopped in his tracks and stood there dazed.

“What’s wrong?”
“Pardon? Oh, no. Nothing at all.”

Hans waved his hand dismissively at my question, watching my retreating figure for a moment before stepping into the Study.

“…Young master.”
“What?”

Kale stared intently at Hans’s ashen face.

“Did you fight with Choi Han?”
“Me? What are you talking about?”
“Right? Ah, no, never mind.”

Kale regarded the seemingly dazed Hans with a skeptical expression, yet he delivered his instructions regardless. Orders had to be given, after all.

“We’re leaving in about ten days. Prepare yourself accordingly.”
“Yes, understood. I’ll work harder from now on!”

Hans departed the study with remarkable speed, his voice brimming with determination, though Kale watched his exit with evident displeasure. Alone once more, I turned my gaze toward the calendar.

The final guardian of the Magic Tower. A defeated coward who had abandoned that position and fled.

“…A dwarf. This will be my first time.”

To acquire a complete Magic Tower, I would need to meet the last dwarf of the family that had protected it for generations. My lips curved upward.

This dwarf was no ordinary dwarf.

‘A hybrid of a rat beastman and a dwarf.’

Mueller. The small one destined to meet the most pathetic and miserable death in “The Birth of a Hero.” Though dwarven in stature, he possessed the lean, muscular frame of a rat beastman—literally a diminutive human.

I left the study and headed toward the bedroom, contemplating how one might trap a fleeing rat. On and Hong would be there by now, playing with the Black Dragon in the bedroom.
Ten days. A span of time that would pass in an instant if I prepared efficiently.

* * *

And as I had anticipated, time flowed swiftly, and a week had passed. I sat deeply reclined on the study sofa, just as I had been a week prior.

“Sigh.”

I made no effort to suppress the sigh that escaped. My brow was furrowed.
Exactly one week ago, Choi Han and Rak had departed, leaving Rosalind behind, and now they had returned.

But he hadn’t returned alone.

“Young Master.”

Vice-Captain Hilsman had come with him. Yet something about his appearance was off. The Vice-Captain, a man who always dressed befitting his station, now wore simple leather armor, and his face was covered in wounds.

‘I’m certain I told him to focus on rebuilding Harris Village.’

For some reason, it seemed Vice-Captain Hilsman had done more than just what I’d ordered.

“I’ve… returned, sir.”

For reasons I couldn’t fathom, Vice-Captain Hilsman spoke with an expression of profound emotion, but I turned away from him. Yet he wasn’t the only one.

“Young Master! We missed you!”
“Young Master Kale! We came too!”
“Hello? How have you been?”

All at once, ten children’s voices struck my ears. The Wolf Tribe children, led by Mess, gazed at me with innocent, beaming smiles.
Yet their appearance belied the atmosphere around them. The children were covered in bandages and adhesive strips here and there. It seemed something had occurred far beyond what I’d anticipated.

“Since you didn’t specify when to come, we followed the older ones.”

Mess spoke up as their representative with admirable composure. I swallowed a sigh.

‘I didn’t specify a time precisely because they didn’t need to come at all.’

With no justification to send them back now that they’d already arrived, I gave them a cursory acknowledgment and turned my head. Choi Han and Rak stood waiting. I gave them my orders.

“Pack the supplies. We’re leaving the day after tomorrow.”

But the response came from elsewhere.

“Yes, sir!”

Eleven voices in total. The Vice-Captain and the Wolf Tribe children answered with vigor, their movements precise and disciplined like knights who’d trained for years. Choi Han and Rak watched them with satisfaction. Choi Han in particular gazed at them with the eyes of a mentor.

My expression became subtle.
This wasn’t what I intended.

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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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