The following chapter contains scenes of violence. Reader discretion is advised. If you are sensitive to graphic descriptions of bloodshed and violence.
Chapter 70: The Story of Raines Noel Delpheman
“The entire Keron count family to the Wastelands. Those involved to be placed under surveillance.”
It was the first day of December. The sky was overcast, and the lack of snow filled the air with an unspoken sense of unease. The sentence for the Keron count family had been passed down.
The so-called ‘Wastelands Sentence’ was the worst punishment a noble living in the capital could receive.
Most humans had no resistance to monster miasma, especially those who had never been near a monster. Even capital nobles couldn’t survive in the miasma-ridden Wastelands. The only humans who could survive there were those born there. And even if they endured all that, they would easily despair, their honor shattered.
A punishment more agonizing and dishonorable than death. That was the Wastelands Sentence.
Early that morning, Delthel informed his son of the punishment that had been given to the entire Keron count family, including Damon Keron.
He had initially dismissed it, telling Raines to “not worry about it”, but it seemed like he could no longer hide it.
“Ugh… Ahhh… No… It can’t be… He came all the way here to… No… Nothing happened…”
Raines had considered it someone else’s problem, like always, whether it was Raines, Keron, or Lopetrefer. Until he saw his mother huddled in the corner, her face pale with terror, clutching her head.
What did Damon Keron’s attempt to kill Enzhe Lopetrefer have to do with his mother?
Could the ‘fall of the Keron count family’ really be something that would terrify his seemingly invincible mother? Raines felt a deep sense of unease.
That night, Delthel, unable to bear it any longer, summoned Raines to his study. A single lamp, its flame flickering, illuminated the dark room.
Delthel gritted his teeth and cautiously revealed a secret about Haina Noel that he had kept hidden for years.
“Count Keron was your mother’s brother… A half-brother. So he would be your uncle.”
To think he would learn about his real uncle like this. It was ironic. Especially now that he would never be able to meet him.
This was what Delthel told him.
Countess Haina had been born between the former Count Keron and a prostitute. Haina’s mother had vehemently opposed sending her daughter to the Keron family, but the former Count Keron had forcibly taken Haina to his mansion.
But of course, Haina had been a source of shame and hostility for everyone. The former Countess Keron and her son, the current Count Keron, who was Haina’s half-brother, had relentlessly abused her. She had lived sixteen years as a ‘dirty-blooded’ abomination, her existence unacknowledged, her presence unknown to anyone.
It was inevitable that she would be driven out of the family the moment the former Count Keron died.
“The fact that they hid her existence, even though she could have been used as a marriage tool, and ultimately drove her out… it means they truly hated her.”
Delthel said, his voice laced with both pity and understanding. Raines, seeing the anger in his eyes, felt a sense of relief.
“But thanks to that… I was able to meet your mother. She was working as a waitress at a small jewelry store.”
Haina had erased the name Keron Brell from her life without a shred of regret and started over. Even as a mere jewelry store employee, being able to live proudly under her own name was a blessing and an honor for her.
Haina and Delthel had fallen in love at first sight. They had defied the Noel family’s opposition and gotten married. As a compromise, Haina had to enter the family as the daughter of a low-ranking noble outside the capital, allied with the Noel family.
“Yes… It’s nothing, really. It’s truly nothing. A relationship with no connection, as it should be. Keron seemed to have forgotten that Haina even existed… But your mother couldn’t.”
Delthel understood Haina’s pain, the trauma of living sixteen years in darkness.
But as the head of the family, he was also anxious to keep this secret from leaking out.
“Time will heal everything. Don’t provoke your mother, and take good care of her.”
Raines exhaled heavily, his heart filled with pity for his mother and anger towards the Keron count family.
In the end, he was related by blood to the family that had fallen overnight. And Damon Keron, who had tried to kill Lopetrefer, was his cousin.
Raines hadn’t thought badly of Damon Keron. But he hadn’t thought well of him either. They weren’t even in the same class, and they had no interest in each other, so it was accurate to say that they had no relationship.
Hanjee, who was in the same class as Raines, seemed to admire Damon Keron, but it wasn’t something he cared about. They were just acquaintances, or rather, it was embarrassing to even call them that.
But after hearing his mother’s secret, after seeing her terrified, Damon Keron had become a villain in his eyes. As the flame in the small lamp flickered and dimmed, Raines scoffed at his uncle and cousin. “Serves them right.”
This is karma.
What goes around comes around.
***
Haina’s condition gradually improved.
It was the day of the ‘Blessing Festival’, a holiday celebrated just before the New Year. It was a day to choose saints and holy beasts and celebrate them. The ceremony itself was held at the Grand Temple, but it was the busiest day of the year for all temples, considering its significance.
For those who weren’t devout believers or members of the clergy, the Blessing Festival was an annual event where families gathered to enjoy a meal and celebrate the end of the year.
The Noel count family, who were believers but not particularly devout, prepared a small family party. There had been suggestions to keep it low-key out of consideration for Haina, but the majority agreed that it was important to support and encourage her, and Delthel and Raines were among them.
Raines usually went out to celebrate with his friends on the day of the Blessing Festival, but this year, he had asked to stay at the mansion and help prepare for the party. He wanted his mother to smile brightly again.
Unfortunately, his wish never came true, and a bleak, hopeless future awaited them.
“M-Master! Something terrible… Something terrible has happened!”
They had just brought Haina to the dining room and were about to hand her a plate when a young butler burst through the door. Before anyone could scold him for his rudeness, the ‘terrible thing’ he had spoken of appeared.
“Ahhhh!”
The sight pierced through everyone’s eyes like an arrow.
“Ugh… M-Master… H-Help…”
A purple lightning bolt had struck the butler in the chest. The loyal butler, who had desperately run to his master, collapsed forward, blood spurting from his mouth, before he could even scream properly.
“Aaaaaahhhh!”
The dining room descended into chaos. As everyone screamed in terror, a giant figure emerged from behind the body.
“Smells delicious. Having a Blessing Festival party here too?”
He thought the voice sounded familiar. But it was a man he didn’t know.
“Who are you?!”
The elderly head butler stepped forward, his arms outstretched as if to protect those behind him.
He had bronze skin, droopy, muddy brown eyes, and a massive frame covered in tattered rags.
“Hmm, sorry to interrupt your meal.”
He ignored the head butler and casually surveyed the dining room, his words insincere.
As everyone stared in horror, Raines was the only one who felt a twisted sense of déjà vu and gulped. His face was different. But only his face. The familiar voice, the hair, the color of his eyes, the massive frame. And the way he spoke and moved, full of self-importance.
“Seize him!”
The moment Delthel gave the order, the nearby servants rushed towards the intruder. The intruder smirked. And the next moment, the heads of the servants who had charged at him rolled across the floor.
One of the maids’ heads rolled to a stop at Raines’s feet. He couldn’t bring himself to look down, praying that it was all a dream.
“Long time no see, Noel. No, Raines.”
The intruder shattered his desperate prayer.
“It’s me. Damon Keron Brell.”
The dining room erupted in shock.
Raines couldn’t speak, his face frozen as he stared at the grinning Damon. His hands and legs started to tremble.
“Damon Keron…?”
Delthel muttered, bewildered.
Damon continued to scan the dining room, then finally found the person he was looking for.
“There you are. Aunt.”
There was only one woman in the room he could call ‘aunt’.