Chapter 77: The Story of Raines Noel Delpheman
After the inspection, Raines was immediately summoned to the Captain’s office. Yuna Vava was reading a stack of documents at her desk, the room filled with the aroma of coffee.
“Sir Raines, how was the Barrier Defense Inspection?”
“It was a good experience.”
Raines reported in a low voice, and Yuna raised her eyebrows, looking at him.
“Really? That’s rather brief. Can’t you elaborate?”
“…I apologize.”
He didn’t have the energy to engage in this interrogation disguised as a conversation. He had to rush back to the mansion after this meeting and confront Damon about why he hadn’t killed Sue Byron yet.
“Let me ask you this, Sir. Has something happened at home?”
Yuna asked, her tone probing, as if reading his mind. It was a question anyone would ask, considering Raines’s recent behavior. But Raines’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘She’s not giving me a perfunctory answer this time.’
Yuna chuckled, amused by his silence.
“Judging from your reaction, it seems like I’m right. Don’t worry, I don’t know anything about you.”
“…Captain, why do you even care about someone like me?”
Raines, feeling defeated, finally asked the question that had been on his mind. Yuna had been openly protecting him ever since he had returned to the Knights Division.
She had allowed him to remain in the Division, she had chosen him for the Barrier Defense Inspection Team, and now she had summoned him to her office to ask after his well-being.
He couldn’t understand why she was going so far for him.
‘…She’s the head of the Vava family, the ones who drove my family to hell.’
Yuna was Melaine’s older sister. She would know what her younger sister was up to. And yet, she was wearing the red uniform of the Knights Captain, pretending to uphold justice.
It was agonizing to feel this way about a superior he had respected. Raines couldn’t control his crumbling mind.
Yuna smiled faintly, as if reading his expression.
Her brilliant golden eyes, reminiscent of Melaine Vava, shone with a piercing clarity, like arrows that saw through to the core of a person.
“Interesting. Someone like you?”
“…What do you mean…?”
Yuna continued casually, her gaze fixed on the documents.
“Haha, listen, Sir Raines. There’s no one in the world who doesn’t care about a Skia’s child. Especially one as talented as you.”
“……”
“I’m not usually one to be concerned with practicality, but… I have my suspicions. I can help you if you want.”
“…You just said you didn’t know anything.”
“I don’t. It’s just my imagination at this point. I can’t say for sure, can I? It might be something even more serious than my imagination.”
It was a fallacy. Or it could be an interrogation tactic to elicit a confession.
Anyway, the Knights Captain was offering to help him. Wasn’t this a golden opportunity? He could just tell her. Ask for her help. Reveal the existence of Damon Keron, who was sleeping soundly in the basement of the Noel mansion, and borrow her power.
But Raines couldn’t trust her.
“I apologize, Captain. It’s probably not what you think.”
The boy, weighed down by guilt and helplessness, could no longer accept anyone’s kindness at face value. He just wanted this moment to be over.
“Thank you for your concern, Captain. I’ll make sure to attend training on time.”
Raines slowly stepped back. Yuna didn’t scold him for his rudeness, just shrugged.
“Well, I can’t force you, even if I wanted to. But feel free to visit my office anytime if you have any worries.”
You remind me of my younger sister, being the same age..
***
After that day, Raines focused solely on Knights training. The last shred of hope he had clung to had vanished, realizing that Damon’s promise was an illusion.
It didn’t matter who died, who did what.
He didn’t want to do anything.
Even attending Knights training was just something he was doing because Yuna and Lionel had encouraged him to. It wasn’t something he wanted to do.
So the words he had blurted out at Lake Libra that day had been impulsive, even to him.
“Don’t meet with Leo Noel.”
Damon had broken his promise again at the National Founding Festival. He kept postponing Byron’s murder. But there was no way he didn’t want to kill her.
‘He doesn’t plan to leave… Damn it.’
There was only one answer. Damon had no intention of leaving the Noel mansion.
There was no hope, no despair anymore.
The burden of carrying the weight of Damon Keron for the rest of his life and the fear of never being able to return to his old life filled him with despair.
That night, Raines wandered aimlessly again. He came to his senses in the middle of the night. He heard the chirping of insects and saw a familiar lake in the darkness.
He didn’t realize he had arrived at Lake Libra until he got there. And that Sue Byron had been there to watch the Light Fairy Ritual.
“Don’t meet with him if I told you not to.”
It had been pure coincidence that he had run into Byron at Lake Libra.
“Yes, really. I told you not to see Leo because… he’s not a good person. That’s all.”
He had rambled on, his mind not in the right place. But he had been aware of what he was saying. And he had meant it.
Raines stood on the edge of a cliff. He grimaced, his mind in turmoil.
Sue Byron was a villain.
A tumor that needed to be removed from this world. If he killed her, he could get back the things he loved.
He had to kill her.
But did he really have to?
This girl who called him her friend?
This girl who cheered for him, telling him he could do anything?
What was he hoping for?
Raines Noel wanted Damon Keron to kill Sue Byron as soon as possible.
Raines Noel didn’t want Sue Byron to be killed by Leo Noel.
There was no lie in either sentiment.
It was truly impossible.
***
It was the day of the September Festival at the academy. Raines, who had no intention of attending, was summoned to the Captain’s office. Yuna, wearing a purple dress instead of her red uniform, was waiting for him by the bookshelf. She had called him in right before she left for the Imperial Ball.
“How are you doing these days?”
She asked, her arms crossed, leaning against the bookshelf. Raines replied calmly,
“Nothing special.”
“Really?”
She raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
“Sir Raines, are you aware of this?”
“Aware of what, Captain?”
“I ran into Count Delthel at a dinner party recently. But he seemed… different. Not his usual self.”
“……”
She continued, ignoring his silence, her hand on the spine of a book. The blue leather cover was tattered.
“And Countess Haina has completely disappeared from social circles, hasn’t she?”
“……”
“She never enjoyed social gatherings, but it’s rather concerning that there’s no news of her at all.”
“……”
“And the news about the Noel count family has been dwindling. Even though you, the heir, are standing right before me.”
“……”
“All the things I just mentioned are related to your worries, aren’t they?”
Raines chuckled hollowly at her pointed words.
Had she been investigating?
His chest ached, feeling exposed. He couldn’t deny her words and bit his lip.
Yuna tossed the book, its cover ripped off, into the trash can.
“Trainee Raines, I swear on the honor of the Knights Order that I truly know nothing.”
“I… see.”
Raines didn’t believe her, but she was telling the truth.
She had paid attention to Delthel’s strange behavior at the dinner party, she had listened carefully to her friends’ gossip at a recent tea party, and she had been observing her trainee. She hadn’t obsessively investigated the Noel count family.
“But I could still help you. Would you like to talk about it?”
Raines was one of the Knights’ most promising future assets, someone Yuna had been keeping an eye on. He had shown exceptional skills during trainee duels, so her expectations were high.
‘You can’t easily discard someone with talent.’
“Captain, thank you for your concern. But I’m fine.”
“You’re fine?”
“Yes.”
His weak voice was barely a whisper.
He didn’t want to be confronted with his broken reality under the pretense of a ‘consultation’. He was afraid of his unchanging present turning into chaos.
He wanted Damon Keron to kill Sue Byron as soon as possible. And he didn’t want Sue Byron to die. Just like now.
So he had to endure it alone.
If he wanted to maintain this languid peace.
“Hmm…”
Yuna felt the same dissonance from Raines that she had felt from Delthel.
He seems troubled.
Yuna clicked her tongue.
“Sir Raines, you’re still young. Sixteen is the same age as my younger sister.”
“…You said that last time too.”
“Haha! You’re right. That’s why I’m saying it again. You’re still young.”
You’re not old enough to carry the weight of the world.