Once Autarch left, only Jacob and Rudolph were left in the room.
At this moment, Jacob stood close to Rudolph and coldly asked, "Alright, start with whatever Percy didn't already know, and don't try to lie because if you did, I'd skin you alive!"
Rudolph shuddered, seeing the towering giant standing two meters away from him while he was still sitting in the rubble beside a little puddle of his own blood. Jacob's presence was simply too ghastly for him, and after witnessing everything, he threw any thoughts of resisting out of his mind.
"I-I... upon our twentieth birthday, F-fathe... His Holiness suddenly contacted me. I was surprised and also happy because it was the first time he ever contacted me after I was sent here.
"He first asked me if I was happy with my current situation, about our progress, and if our mentor was teaching us diligently. I respond positively. But then he suddenly said, 'I know you are not happy because your brother excelled you in everything, and he was your mentor's favorite and most likely ended up inheriting his techniques and knowledge.""
Just mentioning this made Rudolph's eyes flash with awe and a hint of fear as he vividly remembered Sebastian's look and continued, "I naturally denied it first, but deep down, I was shocked because he was telling the truth. It was like he could read my mind, and I really never told anyone. In... fact, I had already acknowledged Adolph's superiority and admitted my defeat.
"But I still wanted to surpass him, and I even worked hard to achieve it. However, His Holiness then said to me that if I was willing to let Adolph, who was younger than me, get ahead of me and take what should be mine without even doing anything.
"He said he was disappointed in me and ashamed that despite having 'God's blood' in my veins, I was a coward." Rudolph's eyes flashed with madness at this moment, just like that day, "His words suddenly awakened something in me, and I raised my voice against him. I was really unwilling to accept the reality, and he could read me like an open book.
"I also wanted to be acknowledged by him because of my mother, who he never visited after our birth. She longed for him, and I had seen her cry many times. But that ungrateful wretched Adolph never shows any care for our mother, so I knew I have to take it on myself!"
Hatred filled his eyes as he glared at Jacob as if he could see Adolph's carefree yet hypocritical face. "I thought he would stop talking to me after my outburst. But instead, he laughed in satisfaction. He said he wanted exactly that in his children: ambition and the will to do anything for that ambition. He told me that Adolph wasn't worthy of being his son, and so he was going to give me a chance to prove to him that I was worthy.
"He then told me to get rid of Adolph within a week without drawing any suspicion to me, and if I did well, he'd not only acknowledge me but also let my mother live with him. I quickly agreed."
A hint of guilt suddenly shone in Rudolph's eyes as he gritted his teeth and revealed, "But I realized it too late that it was all but a pretext to get Adolph because not only did he give me this task, but he even provided me with the resources to achieve it.
"The first thing he gave him was a pill that I should feed Adolph, which would completely destroy his magic core and magic orbits. The second thing was a strange device that would not only completely extract Adolph's memoirs but also destroy his connection with the Spellbind Mirror, making his death a complete mystery.
"However, the strangest part that made me suspicious was after I've done destroying Adolph's magic core and erasing his memories, I had to hand him over to someone sent by his holiness, and that person would make to completely dispose of him, without leaving any traces that could lead to me. But the strangest thing was he sternly warned me not to kill him or the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Despite my suspicion, I was blinded by my own rage and inferiority complex and didn't miss the chance to get rid of that hypocrite. So, I did everything from deceitfully feeding him that pill and destroying his mind while he was begging me! I killed my own brother because I hate him! I let my father use me because I seek his acknowledgment! But I'll do it again for my mother no matter what!"
Rudolph suddenly appeared like a madman as he glared at Jacob. His fear seemed to have vanished, or he was simply having a mental breakdown because he knew he might not be able to live after that.
However, Jacob's expression didn't change except for a hint of curiosity and even slight pity for Rudolph, who was being used by his own father to kill his own brother.
Jacob sighed at this moment, as he had already expected this much from the moment he saw Rudolph's somewhat weak mentality, and said impassively, "You have no one but only yourself to blame for falling into someone else's schemes so easily. You know I have my own little theory now. Do you want to hear it?"
"What?" Rudolph was startled by Jacob's response. He thought that he was Adolph and was back for revenge. It was none other than his who was behind this as well, and it was another one of his sick games.
However, Jacob didn't even seem bothered by this entire thing, as if it had nothing to do with it. Maybe he had lost his mind after that day and now turned into a puppet of his father and was here today to get rid of him? Strange possibilities started to pop up in his mind.
Jacob coldly said at this moment, "Tell me, did it ever occur to you that your father had some kind of secret optical magic like Percy that can manipulate you into doing things without even realizing it, and you think you're doing it out of your own free will? Maybe he only needs to use this magic after grabbing your weakness and attacking your mind with it?
"After all, he's the freaking leader of the temple, an existence that had only four or five equals? Do you even know that your mother received everything after you completed your task, and even if she told you it's all true, have you ever seen it personally since, to my knowledge, you were here all this time?
"Have you ever asked your brother how he felt, or did you just paint that picture of him being carefree and a hypocrite all by yourself?
"Don't you find it strange that despite you have already figured it out, you still respect your trash of a father and can't bring yourself to hate him?
"Tsk, tsk, even I'm starting to pity you, Rudolph Edgar. You're a pathetic excuse for a man who had been manipulated his whole life without even knowing it." Jacob shook his head with utter disappointment. He didn't expect Adolph to die at this idiot's hands, which made Adolph an even bigger idiot.
Seeing Rudolph's expression turning paler by his words as if some kind of invisible veil had been lifted, Jacob lost all interest in him. This guy was simply too pathetic, and he knew that with how meticulously Sebastian had manipulated him, he had nothing else that could interest him except the fact that he now wanted Sebastian's knowledge about his magic. "Alright, we are done," Jacob declared coldly, making Rudolph snap out of his stupor. However, his eyes seemed somewhat listless, as if he had lost his soul.
But Jacob didn't care and issued his verdict, "As I promised, I'll spare you of any pain; now you can rest forever, which should be quite a release for you, I presumed; after all, your pathetic life had nothing worth remembering or living!"