Arendt woke up in the middle of the night.
As he sat on the edge of his bed, half-asleep, alone in a dark room, reality gradually began to return to him.
“…Ugh.”
A slightly cracked voice ca out.
His body felt a little lighter than before, but his head was still pounding because he had a bad dream.
“Tsk.”
Arendt moved his stiff shoulders a few tis, threw off the covers, and got out of bed.
He just couldn’t lie down any longer.
He felt a little better after changing his clothes and putting on slippers.
‘I guess it’s a good thing I have sothing to do.’
Arendt, standing in the middle of the room, looked around the room carefully.
“Seriously, what a ss.”
His impressions of the room could be sumd up in this one sentence.
This place, filled with all sorts of luxuries, was where Arendt was born and raised.
At first glance, it seed like he had been using this room ever since his mother passed away.
In other words… this room was the waiting room and backstage of the actor nad “Arendt”.
It was the perfect space to delve into the character.
Arendt walked over to the bookshelf and grabbed a random book.
But he couldn’t concentrate on the content and naturally ended up lost in thought.
‘Why was it the Imperial Knights?’
It was the perfect position to gain both wealth and fa at the sa ti.
‘The start wouldn’t have been bad.’
The youngest apprentice knight to enter the ranks, a swordsmanship genius.
Since he had such an amazing title, it wouldn’t have been a problem if he had just blended in well with the Knights.
The problem might have been that he couldn’t find a place.
To begin with, the group called the Imperial Knights was not a very suitable place for that scoundrel.
‘Finding one’s place is harder than I thought.’
In that sense, he was comfortable on stage.
It didn’t matter whether it was an important role or not.
At least on stage, he definitely had his place.
‘And now…’
He was occupying the position that Arendt had longed for.
He was aware of that to so extent, but he didn’t feel particularly sorry or regretful now.
‘It’s not like I wanted to be here in the first place.’
After all, life was just a play.
“Arendt von Eckhart” made a fatal mistake on stage, so it was natural that he would be kicked out.
“…Isn’t there anything like a diary?”
He looked through quite a few books on the shelf, but he couldn’t find anything other than the textbooks he used for studying.
Well, co to think of it, he didn’t think Arendt was the type of person to write a diary or anything like that.
“Even so, there are no traces.”
Other than luxury items and books, he couldn’t find anything that provided him a sense of life.
Judging from the fact that the room was left intact, it didn’t seem like the Count’s family had abandoned him.
If that was the case, there was only one possibility left.
Before leaving the Count’s house, he erased all traces of himself with the intention of never returning.
“He’s such an obsessive-compulsive brat.”
He grumbled and swore, then closed the drawer full of jewels.
He tried to reach into the next drawer without much success.
Click.
A visitor ca without notice.
“…?”
Arendt, who turned his head in the direction of the sound, soon stopped moving after seeing the visitor’s face.
The intruder who suddenly ca in also looked flustered, perhaps not expecting him to be awake.
“…I didn’t know you weren’t sleeping.”
After a long ti, Count Eckhart opened his mouth.
Arendt also took his hands off the drawer and turned to face him.
“What is it? Why are you sneaking around like a thief?”
A cold retort ca in response to the mocking words.
“Have I co to a place I shouldn’t be?”
Arendt, who even forgot his imrsion for a mont, beca dazed.
‘Ah.’
Suddenly an unpleasant mory ca to mind.
When he was about to leave, his father suddenly ca to him in extre circumstances, asking for money, long after he had beco an adult.
His father asked him to lend him money even if it ant going into debt, but Lee Soo-hyun didn’t listen.
But he persisted.
I was scamd, I have trouble making ends et, I don’t have money for hospital bills…
His father, who had been making excuses, finally left after hearing that he would call the police.
“Did I co to a place I shouldn’t be? I’m looking for my son!”
As the mbers blocked the way, the voice that had shouted from the entrance in a shabby appearance montarily echoed in his ears.
A few months later, news arrived that he had died.
It felt like he had been subjected to so terrible revenge.
Unable to control his emotions, Arendt lashed out fiercely.
“Well then, did you expect to welco you with a smile?”
But that was only for a mont, as Arendt realized his mistake and fell silent.
He was overly emotional.
Count Eckhart also seed surprised and his face hardened, but soon opened his mouth again.
“…I just ca to check on the situation. I’ll leave soon.”
His voice was a little softer, perhaps because he thought that nothing good would co of provoking the patient.
Arendt clenched and unclenched his fists several tis and lowered his gaze.
“Phew…”
As he slowly exhaled, his pounding heart gradually cald down.
He looked up again and added coldly.
“Anyway, I think you’ve seen enough. Count, don’t waste any more ti and just go to sleep.”
“…”
It was a clear order to leave.
But Count Eckhart did not leave easily, as if he had more to say.
Arendt realized that the Count’s gaze was drawn to his bandaged arm and the wound on his cheek.
He didn’t like the scars that lined his son’s body.
Arendt’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘This is also a bit annoying.’
He could guess why the Count had waited until night to co here.
He was soone who had started a vicious fight about his eldest son running away from ho, but he felt guilty later when he heard that Arendt had ended up in this state while fighting the enemy.
He didn’t like the Count who had the audacity to co all the way here feeling so guilty, and he didn’t like himself for making an acting mistake out of frustration.
He didn’t want to see the Count recite a long and agonizing apology that didn’t suit him, because there was no one in this world who could accept that apology.
Above all, Count Eckhart was not his father, so there was absolutely no need for him to be so agitated by a single sentence.
This was his stage, and the play had never stopped.
As he thought about it that way, his mind beca calm.
“…Now that you ntion it, Count.”
Arendt sighed, hiding his tattered arms behind his back.
“I received your gift. I thought I should thank you before you leave.”
“My gift?”
The Count frowned and asked again.
anwhile, Arendt had made perfect preparations.
He thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put into practice the promise he made before the battle and to do a one-act play like this.
He tilted his head arrogantly, like a cheeky brat.
He also changed his previous upright posture.
“Yes, have you heard the news? There’s a new store in the Khan Union. Thanks to the Count, we were able to buy the building at a very good price.”
If he added a sneer and an arrogant look that made people mad, he had the perfect apprentice knight, “Arendt von Eckhart”, living for his own self-importance.
For a mont, the Count’s face twisted strangely.
But the Count did not give in easily to his provocation.
“I don’t know when you developed that bad habit of sneering like that.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve always been like this. You’ve been so uninterested that you had no idea if your son was plotting a rebellion, locked in prison and facing execution, or how he suddenly made a fortune and gained all sorts of rit next to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“…”
“If you are a businessman, wouldn’t it be better for you to develop your discernnt? If you don’t have any insight, at least be quick to gather information.”
He had the illusion that a sizzling sound was coming from sowhere.
It was the sound of the Count’s expressionless face being shattered by a stab right in his sore spot.
On the contrary, Arendt felt increasingly at ease.
Count Eckhart wasn’t the best actor when it ca to matching the situation, but watching him struggle to fix his expression sohow made him feel a lot better.
A faint smile appeared on Arendt’s lips.
“By the way, how is Mr. Drayton?”
Now the Count was looking up at the ceiling.
After a long ti, Count Eckhart opened his mouth, pressing his temples.
“…Drayton has been in semi-seclusion since then, saying he’s not feeling well. I’m asking just in case, but are you really curious about his current situation?”
“No? Of course, I heard that he was bedridden. I just brought it up to get you irritated. Are you asking because you don’t know that?”
Arendt responded unpleasantly to his words that had suppressed irritation and frustration.
“…”
Count Eckhart began to regret visiting his son’s room.
“Well, seeing that you were working with that idiot Drayton, I guess that’s just how good your eyes are. Where did that pretense of ignoring bloodlines just because of a bad temper go?”
“That…”
But by the ti he regretted it, it was too late.
It was because of a minor change caused by Laius’ rebuke that he ca to this room, and it was also because he brought in the East rchant Group and provoked Arendt.
He was in a position where he had to accept all this ridicule, because of the sins he had committed against his second son.
“…I was wrong.”
All Count Eckhart could do now was to repay his karma.
But Arendt had no intention of going along with him easily.
“You were wrong? Why? What did you do wrong?”
“…”
“If everything could be solved with an apology, wouldn’t there be no need for the police and the Knights Templar?”
In response to the unpleasant reply, the sinner simply kept his mouth shut.
The next day.
Arthur, who ca to Arendt’s room, found Arendt dressed in a neat uniform.
“…”
His silver hair, which had flowed down to his shoulders for several days, was tied loosely in a single ponytail as usual, and he was wearing the Frosty Touch that he had found sowhere.
Arthur, who had been standing there blankly, soon burst into shock.
“You, you… why are you up, you punk! Don’t you know you’re going to have to stay in bed for another week?”
Arendt, who had neatly adjusted his clothes, imdiately frowned.
“You’re really noisy. Why are you making such a fuss like you’ve seen a ghost? By the way, what about my sword and the communication port? I couldn’t find them no matter how hard I looked.”
“They’re in my room… no, wait a minute. Listen to !”
Arthur, who had been answering absentmindedly, suddenly ca to his senses and shouted.
“I told you not to move. Why don’t you lie back down right now?”
“My back hurts like hell, but what am I supposed to do about it? It’s a miracle I’ve managed to stay in this ssy room until now.”
But, of course, it didn’t make any impact.
“I shouldn’t have bothered talking to that unpleasant person. It just ruined my mood. I’m going to eat now.”
Grumbling in dissatisfaction, Arendt walked past Arthur and strode out of the room.
Thud.
Arthur, who was blankly staring at the closed door, muttered in dismay.
“That bastard, seriously…”
He was now at the rcy of the Captain.
Arthur was montarily dazed from the bolt out of the blue, but he quickly ca to his senses and followed Arendt.
“Hey! Let’s go together!”
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