Chapter 50 :

Chapter 50 - Fugitive (1)

The Feedus mansion, swept through by two rude members of the imperial family, was miserable, as if a typhoon had pierced through it once.

The traces of that invisible disaster could be found in Tollin and the young duke, who sat facing each other silently on the office sofa.

Pale, who did not know what to do as he looked at the young duke’s heavily sunken expression, left the room while glancing back like a puppy that needed to relieve itself, following Tollin’s order to bring simple desserts without tea.

Tollin stared at the young duke, who had fixed his gaze on the area around Tollin’s chest with a heavy expression, and opened his mouth first.

“......Today, you did very well.”

The words came out even more awkwardly than he had intended, and their content too did not serve as much comfort to the young duke.

At his words, the young duke’s expression grew even darker.

“No, there is no need to say that. I know how great the mistake I made today was.”

Unable to deny it, Tollin pressed his lips shut.

Yes, he had to acknowledge it.

Putting all other things aside, the young duke taking the side of the dead Duke Feedus in front of Prince Dito had been a fatal mistake.

Perhaps the young duke might end up walking a similar path to Duke Feedus as well.

A face turned blue, limbs thrashing in pain, and gray eyes growing cloudy.

And the moment Tollin turned his head to focus on the young duke before his eyes, the protagonist of the nightmare soon changed into a small child.

Tollin tried to steady his quickening breath.

He had already learned through a painful loss that nothing changed even if he writhed in agony.

“Young Duke, from now on, you must listen carefully to what I say.”

“What do you mean......”

“I cannot know exactly what Prince Dito’s objective is. But one thing is certain...... There is a fairly high chance that the Feedus ducal house will disappear into history.”

At words that were unusually definitive for Tollin, the young duke’s face went pale.

“Is it because of my mistake......?”

“No, it is not. This was simply the course that had been decided from the beginning. No matter what answer you gave today, Young Duke, the result would not have changed. Prince Dito would have found fault with you by any means.”

Tollin could be certain.

This was something that had been decided long before Duke Feedus disappeared below the cliff.

At the very least, the “something” desired by the imperial family must have begun from a past whose starting point he could not trace.

‘I do not know what their objective is, but if what they want is the young duke......’

If that was what the imperial family wanted, then they would have to hand him over.

Humans could not defy gods, and that was the duty of people living in Abiran.

If God commanded, one followed.

It was a problem simple to the point of cruelty.

That was how they had lost Duke Feedus, and they had bowed their heads before the prince who killed him.

They had hidden and hidden in order to have even a little less taken from them, but this was the result.

Now the one thing left will be taken too.

If the young duke was taken away, it was impossible to know what would happen to the Feedus ducal house that Agony Feedus had left behind.

Would its lineage be able to continue, or would it vanish into history, leaving behind a tradition of a thousand years?

‘Could I endure that?’

While Tollin habitually furrowed his brow and pushed up his glasses to calm his heart, which was beating as if it would burst, the young duke he worried about so much seemed to have made up his mind about something and opened his mouth with a resolute expression.

“Then, Tollin, as of today, you are dismissed.”

“Pardon?”

At the sudden notice of dismissal, Tollin forgot even the seriousness of the situation and asked back in a daze, then immediately realized what the young duke had thought with that small head of his.

“Step down from the position of proxy head right now, and return to the Crisa family.”

“......Young Duke.”

“The same goes for the other people of the household. Quickly settle the remaining property and send the people away.”

“......Young Duke!”

“I would like to exchange final farewells with Jack and Pale, but that would be difficult, would it not? No, as of today, I should hide in my room and live there. There would be nothing good from coming into contact with me.......”

“Plin!”

No longer able to bear the young duke’s runaway words, Tollin raised his voice.

The young duke, Plin Feedus, finally shut his mouth.

Tollin’s gaze turned toward the hands trembling violently.

......What a foolish person.

Why is he worrying about other people when he is so frightened?

Looking at that face turned white from tension, Tollin felt ashamed of himself for having worried until just now about the sense of loss and grief he would feel after losing the young duke.

At the same time, his heart grew strangely calmer.

His head, which had been full of worries, also became a little clearer.

“......Young Duke, fortunately, we still have one card that has not yet been turned over.”

“A card that has not yet been turned over?”

“It is that we do not know His Majesty the Emperor’s will.”

After finishing his words, Tollin narrowed his eyes and fiddled with the frame of his glasses.

Yes, thinking about it, the side that was strangely quiet was the Emperor.

Perhaps, judging by how quiet he was when there was no way he did not know what his two sons were doing in the capital......it might be a situation less positive than what he had told the young duke.

Even so, the fact that the Emperor was taking no action was the minimum hope for Tollin.

If the Emperor knew what the two princes were plotting, it would be a fight with no chance of victory, but if the two princes were hiding something from the Emperor......

But what could the First Prince, who would become Emperor even if he stayed still, and his younger brother, with whom he was so close, need to accomplish while avoiding the Emperor’s eyes?

What mattered was that, rather than leaving things as the princes wanted, having the secret revealed to a greater existence would bring a better result.

Of course, they would have to bear responsibility for that as well.

“Young Duke, you will be a little busy from now on.”

The young duke looked at Tollin, who spoke like he was making a prophecy with a much more relaxed expression, in puzzlement.

“Because this year, you will enter the academy.”

“The academy? Did you not just say it? That the Feedus family may disappear. At a time like this, why suddenly.......”

To the young duke, it would be sudden news, but to Tollin, it was by no means an impulsive decision.

He had always kept in his heart the resolve to send the young duke somewhere even a little safer.

He was only sorry that he was bringing it up in this way, at this time.

“A student who has entered the academy cannot be touched carelessly, even by the imperial family. This is a tradition even the imperial family cannot ignore.”

Just like the tradition that had allowed Duke Feedus to defy the imperial family only once, there was one unwritten rule in the academy.

Inside the academy, no one could become a criminal.

In other words, no one could be punished inside the academy.

It was said to be a rule established when Great Emperor Sierra first founded the academy.

No one was to shed blood within the precious space he had personally created.

This rule was quite absolute, and while the buildings inside the academy had been rebuilt several times, only that regulation created by Great Emperor Sierra had been strictly kept.

In the first place, the academy was not a space a criminal could enter.

In that place, where only the children of high-ranking nobles could enroll, there were no servants whose identities were uncertain.

If the young duke could just enter the academy, it meant they could buy time somehow.

The problem was......

“I do not want that. I will not run away alone. In any case, I have not even undergone the ritual yet, so I do not have the qualifications to enroll.”

This small child was as stubborn as his father, and as he said, he had not yet undergone the Tinas ritual.

Fortunately, the second problem was at a level that could be resolved somehow.

“The Tinas ritual is only a week away. It is already too late to call a priest from the temple!”

Plin raised his voice in a way unlike him, but Tollin did not waver.

“No, Young Duke. In any case, the Tinas ritual may be the last chance that can save all of us.”

“What does that mean......”

“If you possess Manis like the previous Duke Feedus, Young Duke, that alone would be something that could allow the Feedus ducal house to buy even a little more time.”

“.......”

“If you are a Manis holder, Young Duke, and if you have power equal to the previous Duke Feedus, then there is a possibility that you currently possess the greatest power outside the imperial family. Now that Duke Feedus has passed away......the person with the highest chance of becoming the strongest sword is you, Young Duke. Then your safety will not be an issue that can end at the level of the princes. His Majesty the Emperor will inevitably have to intervene as well. Do you understand?”

“......It means we can buy time.”

Tollin smiled gently.

“But I may not take after Father. I may have no power at all.”

“In that case, we will have to think of another method. But you understand that this is not a situation where you should refuse the Tinas ritual, do you not?”

At Tollin’s firm answer, the young duke pressed his lips shut.

Looking at the young duke like that, Tollin swallowed a bitter smile.

Whether the child had power or not did not matter.

As long as he could force him into the academy, and as long as the child could live.

He would bear the rest of the responsibility himself.

“It is unfortunate. I wanted to prepare next year’s Tinas ritual for you as grandly and sincerely as possible...... I did not know that a once-in-a-lifetime ritual would end up being handled so hastily like this.”

“Even if it is the shabbiest in the world, even if it is not something like sincerity, I do not care. I do not want someone to leave again this time.”

When Tollin deliberately spoke as if regretful, the young duke mumbled.

Tollin, who had lost what to say and swallowed his words for a moment, soon opened his mouth brightly.

“You are acting spoiled in a way unlike you, so this Tollin is uneasy. Once you enter the academy, I will not be able to take care of you anymore.”

They were words spoken as if teasing a child who normally required no care, but the young duke’s eyes darkened further.

“See, you are already speaking on the premise of separation.”

“.......”

Knock, knock.

Fortunately for Tollin, who had once again lost what to say, the weak sound of knocking that broke the silence between the two echoed through the room.

“......Young Duke, Lord Tollin, it is Jack.”

At Jack’s voice, which somehow sounded urgent, Tollin sighed inwardly and sought the young duke’s permission.

Once allowed to enter, Jack came in and hurriedly saluted the two.

Tollin had to withdraw the thought that he had felt secretly relieved and fortunate that someone had come between him and the young duke.

Jack’s flushed face was far too serious for that.

Of course, his appearance, still not properly changed, also played a part in stirring up unease.

“Well, it seems you had some kind of harvest today. Seeing as you came so urgently without even straightening your clothes.”

Tollin asked Jack, who was still dressed like a commoner wearing a dirty robe.

Jack bit his lip once.

“There is one piece of good news and one piece of bad news, Lord Tollin.”

“What are they? Do not waste time with strange words and report both quickly.”

At Jack’s report, which was unusually hesitant for him, Tollin urged him on.

Jack looked at Tollin with uneasy eyes and opened his mouth.

“First, the good news is that I was able to catch one of the children I told you about.”

“That is good news.”

It truly was.

Judging by the situation so far, it seemed highly likely that the children were living by helping one another to survive on the streets.

There was a chance the child knew that child named Seya, whom the young duke was looking for, and the other children as well.

At the thought that he might finally be able to tell the young duke some good news, Tollin’s expression brightened.

Although the young duke had not fully regained his spirits even at Tollin’s words, this might be a little different.

“So what is the bad news?”

At Tollin’s direct question, his expression slightly softened, Jack wet his dry lips.

“That is.......”

At the sight of Jack, who rarely dragged out the end of his words, the space between Tollin’s brows began to draw close again.

“What is it?”

Jack, who had been hesitating, eventually squeezed his eyes shut and confessed.

“......The child disappeared.”

“What?”

At Tollin’s incredulous question, Jack quickly added.

“It is certain that she is still inside the ducal residence.”

How very fortunate.

At the pathetic expression that appeared on Tollin’s face, Jack avoided his gaze.