Roy’s eyes widened when he heard Badulf taking his side over Noah. It was well known that Badulf didn’t like him and liked Noah more than anyone in the household. Thus, this came as an unexpected surprise to him.
‘Why is he taking my side after being indifferent to me for so many years? Is he possessed?’
Seeing the bewilderment on Roy’s face, Arlo winked at him.
This told Roy that his uncle had a hand behind the change in the Count’s attitude towards him.
‘Why are you also taking his side? First my mother and now my father; both chose him over me! Fuck, I should have killed him in the cradle. Why did I let him grow so old?!’
Breathing became hard for Noah as he felt betrayed to see his father punishing him for someone else’s sake.
“But-“
“No buts.” Arlo coldly shot down his plea for mercy in his brother’s stead.
Noah looked past his uncle and pleadingly looked at his father.
But Badulf turned his back to him..
He needed to be punished to understand what he did was wrong!
Noah gnashed his teeth and turned around to walk towards the punishment hall, where members of the Baldwin Clan hadn’t been punished since its creation.
He was going to make history!
“You made the worst mistake of your life,” Noah said as he passed Julian.
Julian controlled his shaking hand, turned around to look at his back, and shouted, “I am not afraid of you! My friend beat you once. If you come after me, he’ll beat you again. And next time, you might not be lucky enough to have someone save you.”
Roy could swear that he saw Noah almost tripping after hearing Julian’s words.
Badulf stared at Roy.
Arlo had told him about the foolproof plan he had created to keep Roy disinterested in the County that he wanted to leave for Arthur, his eldest son.
The plan was so good that Badulf didn’t doubt it wouldn’t work.
Thus, he was no longer guarded against Roy.
It was after his apprehension towards Roy died out that he realized how inhumane he had been to him.
Roy was an ignorant child whose only fault was being the son of the demonic soul that possessed him. Badulf was wise and knew that an ignorant child shouldn’t be blamed for his father’s actions. But he blamed Roy for what the demonic soul did to him for 16 years straight.
He had become a nightmare to this child by remaining indifferent to his difficulties and only providing him money on a weekly basis.
He who was praised as a Samaritan was actually the worst thing that had happened to this child.
Badulf regretted treating him like a gust of wind that he would crush the second he aimed for the highest seat in the County.
‘I did what I have always found intolerable. I did exactly what I preached to others not to do. What a hypocrite I am.’ Badulf felt disappointed with himself.
Blaming Roy was his way of coping with what the demonic soul did to him.
He would’ve gone crazy if he hadn’t vented out his anger and frustration on someone.
Should I apologize to him?
‘With what face can I ask for his forgiveness? His childhood was pretty much ruined under my hands. And following my example, Arthur kept away from him, and Noah tried to kill him. I am a failure as a father. I didn’t only ruin him, but also my sons.’
After looking at Roy with complicated emotions in his eyes, Badulf turned to leave.
But just then, Roy stopped him.
“Wait!”
Badulf turned to look at him. “… What?”
“Arthur has a message for you.”
“He returned home?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.” Badulf’s face hardened at the mention of Arthur. “What did he say?”
That son of his was too busy playing soldier boy at the Northern Frontier, and hence, He rarely returned home.
Bernice, his fiancee, had come to the County to meet him and hopefully become his bride.
Badulf had sent an urgent message to Arthur, asking him to return home.
But he didn’t reply to it and was still nowhere to be seen in the County.
It turned out he wanted to give them a surprise and had sneaked into the County, but because of the trouble at the border, he failed to pay his respect to his father or meet up with his chick and left for the Northern Frontier just as quickly.
“I guess you’ll have to lower your head twice in a single day.” Arlo laughed at the middle-aged man.
Badulf glared at him, and he stopped laughing.
“You must come to the family dinner we’ll be having with the Achlys tonight.” Badulf pointed out Roy with his gaze. “And it’s your job to bring this Baldwin along. I don’t want to humor them with a meal on an empty table.” Badulf left after passing down this order to Arlo.
‘Like I would.’ Arlo stuck his tongue out at his back like a brat.
“Seeing you beat the crap out of him made me realize that I don’t need to put up with anyone’s shit!” Julian slightly bowed to Roy, “Thank you for giving me the courage to stand up to my bullies.”
“You were bullied?” Roy’s eyebrow raised.
“By my brothers and their followers, yes, I was!” Julian was in a similar situation to Roy, but he had it way easy. At least he didn’t have a psychopath aiming for his life or an evil stepmother poising him. “But I will no longer let them treat me as their plaything when I return home!”
Roy placed his hand on Julian’s shoulder. “I should be the one thanking you. Your quick thinking revealed Noah’s true face to the Count and saved me from a hell of a lot of trouble. I always thought that you were easy to fool. But I guess I judged you wrong. You’re the smartest person I have met in this life so far.”
‘This life?’ Arlo felt suspicious of Roy.
Julian: “…” My friend! Would you believe me If I said that it was all accidental? You probably won’t. It was a coincidence that barely had anything to do with me directly. But that’s too hard to believe and I like being thanked and taken as a genius. So… I won’t bother sharing my experience with you.
Thus, Julian decided to let them think what they liked.
“You fought well.” Arlo jovially patted Roy’s back, praising him. “I’m impressed with your improvements.”
Roy dodged his smack by stepping away and smiling at him. “Do I get a reward for that?”
Arlo scratched his chin. “I will decide after hearing what you want.”
Roy showed him one finger and said, “I want only a few questions answered, and I am certain you have the answer to them. So be honest with me, please.”