“You almost killed him!” Badulf blamed Roy. “If we had stopped the fight even a moment later, he would be hanging like a limp corpse from your hand. How can you be so cruel to your brother?”
Roy chuckled sarcastically, “Brother? This person plotted to kill me again and again. That night I almost drowned to death because he took advantage of my mental retardation and directed me into the cold pond by casting illusion magic on me, playing with my senses, and making me believe it was my bed. And today, he barged into my room and attempted to extort rune stones from me. When he realized he couldn’t scare me into handing them over with words alone, he coerced me into a Duel of Honor by threatening to kill me and my people if I didn’t engage him in a death duel. Would you consider such a person as your brother if you were in my shoes? Would you not kill them to avoid future trouble?”
Badulf’s suspicion that someone had a hand behind that incident which almost took Roy’s life was confirmed. They lived under the same roof, so he could only ignore him for so long. He tried to be indifferent to him, but when he heard he almost died, he had the matter investigated and found out that magic was used in the backyard the day he drowned. But the traces left behind were not enough to pinpoint the culprit or confirm that it was due to magic that Roy slipped into the pond. He never expected it to be Noah.
‘I am indifferent to Roy for a good reason. But Noah had no reason to go after his life. Yet he did. It’s strictly forbidden for a Baldwin to kill another Baldwin, and he broke this rule twice. Maybe treasuring him more than my other children spoiled him too much.’
The Count opened and closed his mouth at a loss for words.
Noah has wronged Roy. There was no denying it.
Suddenly, Arlo patted Badulf’s shoulder encouragingly, “The lad asked you a question. Don’t keep him waiting as you did for the past 16 years. Give him an answer.”
Hearing his words, Badulf frowned, his brows drawing together..
He slapped Arlo’s hand away and gave him a look that told him not to aggravate this situation, and then looked at Roy with clear eyes.
For the first time, Roy didn’t see indifference in them.
At this moment, Badulf wasn’t blinded by hatred for a certain someone or his prejudice against Roy.
“I will… kill them.” Badulf answered Roy as honestly as he possibly could, “A man should never be forced to endure such humiliation and betrayal at the hands of the person they considered a brother!”
An amazing scene happened in the backyard. The Count lowered his fucking head to Roy, albeit slightly!
“I apologize to you in his stead.”
And he even apologized to him!
Seeing such humiliation fall on his father because of him, Noah couldn’t stay silent any longer, “H-he made that… all up.”
Thus, he made up a lie to make Roy seem like the bad guy.
He was coming up with more words to paint him as the villain when an inexperienced but powerful voice stopped him.
“I have the proof to back up that you are exactly as he is describing you to be!”
Four pairs of eyes turned to look at the source of this sentence.
Reflected in their eyes was Julian Constantine, the son of Arlo and Badulf’s close friend!
Noah asked, “And… where is that proof you speak of?”
Julian pulled out a magic paper. “It’s in here.”
It was the same magic paper that Julian had accidentally activated because Noah burst into Roy’s room. It has recorded everything that happened then.
“This is?”
Arlo and Badulf scrutinized it.
They had never seen anything like it.
Arlo: ‘Did this brat invent it or some shit?’
“A recorder. It’s better explained in action than in words.”
Right after saying that, Julian poured magic power into it.
His mana infused with it.
Starting from its edges, the Magic paper called Recorder turned into ashes that flew in the air, recreating a room with five people.
Two were sitting face to face and having a conversation, and they looked identical to Roy and Noah.
Listening to what the figures behind the blue screen said, Arlo and Badulf felt shaken.
The recording ended after five minutes.
It was then that Julian spoke up for Roy, “There you’ve it. Noah is the one who has constantly been bullying my friend. Noah is the one who forced him into this fight. Noah is the one who lost against him in a fair fight. Noah did him wrong multiple times, not the other way around. Please punish him and grant justice to my friend!”
Roy looked at Julian in gratitude and saw no fear.
Julian was scared of Noah, but now he has put that aside to help Roy out.
‘Julian is smarter than I thought. The thought of recording our conversation didn’t cross my mind, but it did cross his.’
The recording backed up the claims made by Roy and Julian against Noah.
Arlo and Badulf felt disappointed with Noah.
“It’s called a Duel of Honor because it’s fought between two honorable men to settle a serious grudge. An honorable man doesn’t threaten to harm the weak and innocent in order to force a person into such a fight. You’re a disgrace to the Baldwins.” Arlo directly expressed his disappointment with Noah.
Noah glared at the person who called him out, but when Arlo narrowed his eyes, he lowered his head.
“I thought you weren’t like the rumors. I wanted to believe that. But that was my mistake. If I had sought you out and reprimanded you, this day would have never arrived.” Badulf regretted that he valued Noah over the rest of the members of his family. “Go to the punishment hall and inform the elders there of your sins. They’ll decide your punishment.”