"Oh no, haha. Well, I'm well aware that I'm a little too showy for somebody my age."
Tullius scratched his head in embarrassment.
As Elisha had said, today's dinner was too elaborate in many ways. The food, the wine, and the imported confections. In a crude way, it was too much money for a Viscount to spare.
If they were as innocent as Simone, they would be happy to see that he was so caring, but Linus and Elisha were not. On the one hand, they were brothers who have been at odds with each other for years, and on the other hand, they were the heads of armed factions. It was also the result of Lavallee's reforms that allowed the Imperial Guards to expand and allow the Second Order to be known as the best.
How is it that they were being treated so lavishly? He could not help but wonder what the intentions behind it were.
"Let me get straight to the point. I would like to know about tonight's hospitality and your intentions in hosting it."
"By which you mean?"
"Forgive me. It was unexpected for a simple knight like me to be welcomed so warmly. I’m sorry for seeming ungrateful like this."
Even as she apologised, Elisha was completely relaxed as she sipped her glass of after-dinner drink. If you're up to something, tell me now. She implied. There was a limit to how direct one could be.
Tullius chuckled, amused.
"Good gracious, the head of the Second Order, the most elite of the elite Imperial Guards, calling herself a mere knight. If that's the case, then a person like me who simply serves a regional lord has no place at all. Right, Due?"
"......Don't bring me into this, master."
The man, who had spent the entire dinner keeping to himself, said in disgust. Most likely, he was struggling to keep up with the table manners and was trying to keep quiet to avoid embarrassing himself.
After teasing his subordinate, Tullius stuck to his impressed expression and continued.
"Well, this is just my way of apologising."
"Oh, an apology, huh?"
"Yes. I'm sorry if this sounds awful, but I'm not as good as my brother. Ever since I was a child, I've been a great source of trouble for my brother, and now that I'm older, I feel ashamed of that."
Linus' eyebrows drew together grimly. How was he able to spew such lies? Even as a measly viscount, he was still steadily building up his aristocratic faction and was planning to challenge him. Truly laughable.
Such thoughts swirled in Linus’ mind, but since he was in the presence of guests, he had to restrain himself. He threw the rest of the cake into his mouth as if to adjust the bitterness in his mouth.
"My brother raised me to the rank of viscount and even gave me territory. It is a debt of gratitude that I can never repay."
"You were given the remote land of Marlan, was it?"
"Miss Elisha."
Simone chided her for her provocative language. But Tullius shook his head, not caring.
"Even though we are in the middle of nowhere, we have a lot of potential. In fact, new copper mines and other unexpected new industries have sprung up here. To be entrusted with such a place, I would have to say that my brother has a good eye. Well, I didn't think there was even such a thing as a dungeon."
He said, with a devilish smile on his face.
Linus felt sick to his stomach as he listened on. It wasn't the sweetness of the pastries or the richness of the food he had. It felt like black needles were poking him in the stomach. He felt like holding his ears together and crouching.
"Thanks to my brother, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge that I would not have gained otherwise by being confined to the residence in the royal capital. I can say that everything I have today is thanks to my brother. ......Truly, it is thanks to my brother that I am where I am today."
Stop.
For God's sake, not a single word more.
"That's why I wanted to give my brother and his precious guests a taste of my best efforts. That's all. Truly—"
He said, and Tullius moved his eyes.
Don't look at me.
Please, just for now, don't turn to me and talk to me......!
In spite of Linus' fervent wishes, Tullius fixed his gaze on Linus and concluded.
"I'm really grateful to you... Brother."
Unable to take it anymore, Linus got off his seat and stood up.
The guests looked at him suspiciously, but Linus couldn't even pay attention to them.
"Sorry, I'm feeling a little tipsy...... Forgive me for leaving."
It was all he managed to squeeze out.
"Hey, dear, what’s wrong?"
Linus shook off Simone's unusually worried expression and walked quickly out of the dining room. At his back, the voice of the man he least wanted to hear followed him.
"Oh, if you're feeling tipsy, please refrain from bathing. It's not safe for you to stagger and fall in the bathroom."
"......Of course. I shall rest in the room."
Linus left without giving a second look.
It was not praiseworthy to leave one’s guests as the head of a Count family. But more than that, he could not afford to sit on the same table as Tullius for any longer.
What did that man say? He owed his life to his brother? Was he really grateful?
That's ridiculous. All Linus ever did was to get in his way. He threw him out of the royal capital to stop him from killing slaves as an experiment. He sent them to the poorest and most corrupt backwater in the kingdom. He mixed up his new retainers with spies. He also sent spies to the feast celebrating the completion of his residence. He also took part in a conspiracy to rob him of his most important servant.
It was as if he was declaring that it was all in vain, that it would only benefit him.
And objectively speaking, that statement was absolutely correct. Marlan was now rapidly prospering, and Tullius was even the head of a faction that had taken in many moderate nobles. It's much bigger than it was before he was expelled from the capital. If he had been kept in Broussonne, he would have been just a blood-drunk lunatic.
—Yes, everything was in vain, brother.
—Everything you've done was worthless and pointless.
—No, it's the other way around. In my opinion, it's even harmful to the Oubeniel family.
—What do you think, brother? How is it, brother? Why aren’t you saying anything, brother?
In an afterimage created by his own mind, Tullius' smile warped and turned into a sneer.
Shut up, stop laughing, stop talking! Scum, dirt, shit! Don’t try to act cocky and imitate a human’s voice!
His fast walking pace had turned into a sprint before he knew it. Linus ran as if something was chasing him from behind. He ran into the living room, locked the door and threw himself on the bed.
The sheets, exposed to the cool night air, were cold and despite their softness, they seemed to be rejecting Linus.
"Ughhhh......! No, no more! Please, please let me go back to the capital!"
He scratched his head and whined as he pressed his face against the bed.
He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want to see Tullius. He didn't want to breathe the same air under the same roof with that thing. He had put up with it for years and years, tried to get rid of him over and over again, but all to no avail, and now, he was even being told that he was grateful for it. With a faint smile on his face, he said such cruel things without a care in the world. He didn't want to be associated with such a monster any longer.
However, he could not escape. It was his job as the head of the Count family to inspect the territory and review the governance, and it was the intention of the centralist faction, including Lavallee, to send Linus away. He was tied up in a double bind of obligations. Nobody could take over his place, nor offer a helping hand. Despite his position as a Count of the kingdom, Linus Strein Oubeniel was completely alone.
"Help me, Mother. Father, why did you let that monster be born? Lavallee, please, kill that thing as soon as possible......"
The ramblings gradually took on a hallucinatory quality, and the past and present began to blend together. While his mind was exhausted and overwhelmed, his body was aching with a fever. The imbalance between mind and body was driving Linus further and further to the edge of collapse.
The sound of gnawing nails echoed in the dark room where he was alone. The exasperation he had endured was turning into an urge to hurt himself. Linus couldn't stop even as his teeth tore through the flesh of his fingers and blood trickled down. If this went on much longer, he might have to take a razor blade to his wrist next, or even hang himself.
