Chapter 78
After his headache subsided sowhat, Aquila briefly explained what had transpired over the past month.
He began with the matter of Gilesha, spoke of attending the Old Items Auction, of discovering a corpse whose face had been covered in blackened veins, and of having a magical artifact worth sixteen million gold stolen.
So many things had happened in a single month that even recounting them made it feel eventful.
Naturally, there were portions he glossed over or omitted entirely.
He scarcely spoke of the dragon or the prophecy, rely alluding to them in passing.
Unlike him—a counterfeit—Lexenbert and Erzet were the true bloodline of House Reschenhardt, inheritors of the dragon’s blessing.
He could not carelessly speak of matters such as the nest of an ancient dragon before them.
Even after thirty regressions spent tirelessly traversing this world, he did not know much about the great ancient dragon Igdrein.
In any case, after hearing a summary of the events in Portplum, Lexenbert’s expression twisted into a complicated grimace.
It was partly due to the flood of information, but more than anything, it was because Aquila had once again nearly lost his life.
“The Guild of Darkness….”
Though he guarded the northernmost frontier and avoided political strife—rarely concerning himself with such matters—Lexenbert had heard of the Guild of Darkness.
He had properly learned of them only after Lady Friadel died from the Curse of Deadly Poison.
House Friadel was not rely another noble house; like House Reschenhardt, it was one of the four great founding families that had aided the first ruler of Delvion in establishing the nation.
Yet even such an ancient and formidable house had failed to uncover a single clue regarding the culprit.
Swallowing their pride, they had sent letters far and wide in desperate pursuit of the perpetrator.
Even to this distant northern land of Igrail, a letter from House Friadel had arrived.
But Lexenbert had not deliberated long before declining their request.
He could not abandon his post guarding the North like an iron fortress. Moreover, the greatest issue was that Lady Friadel—who had perished from the Curse of Deadly Poison—had been the Crown Princess, betrothed to the First Prince.
If House Reschenhardt declared its intention to assist, it would be interpreted as more than re pursuit of a criminal—it would be seen as political involvent.
That would severely shake the neutral stance Reschenhardt had maintained without interest in politics and would inevitably drag them into endless power struggles.
That was precisely what Lexenbert had feared.
……Am I now paying for having turned them away back then?
A deep furrow ford between his brows.
In truth, the Curse of Deadly Poison required a part of the victim’s body to cast. It had to have been an internal affair.
Soone within House Friadel must have acted with malice.
Like Celsia….
At the thought of her, Lexenbert’s face twisted once more.
“For now, you need not concern yourself with matters related to Celsia. I shall handle everything so that it will not trouble your heart.”
Lexenbert spoke to Aquila as gently as he could.
He had no intention of telling Aquila what he had done the mont he learned of Celsia’s atrocities the previous day.
It was not so much that he wished to conceal the fact that his blade had claid a life, but rather that he did not wish Aquila to hear of Celsia at all ever again.
He was not unaware of how much suffering Aquila had endured because of her.
In front of Lexenbert, she had always acted as though nothing were amiss.
Had others not inford him, he might truly have remained ignorant.
Even as his third son’s heart withered away, Aquila had hidden everything—especially before Lexenbert—lest he trouble those around him.
Yet because of noble customs and Lexenbert’s own guilt, the best he had managed was to keep Celsia and Aquila apart.
I should have acted more decisively. I believed she would never commit sothing of that magnitude.
And within House Reschenhardt, no less.
Lexenbert had been overconfident.
He had thought he understood everything, yet in truth had remained thoroughly indifferent.
He had realized that only now—and nearly paid the price by losing Aquila.
“……I am truly sorry, Aquila.”
Lexenbert spoke the apology with a face contorted in anguish.
Had he truly lost Aquila, those words would never have reached him.
The re thought was horrifying, and the fact that his son now stood before him felt like a blessing.
He had realized it now. From this mont onward, he could protect him.
As for Aquila, though he listened with a calm expression, inwardly he was stunned.
So he is capable of making that expression. I had assud the muscles in his face were frozen solid.
That was what astonished him most.
At the sa ti, another thought surfaced.
The one who ought to hear Lexenbert’s apology is not inside this body.
Across many regressions, Aquila had ford one particular hypothesis: that the original owner of this body was likely dead.
Each ti a new regression began, it was almost always at the brink of death—or just beyond it.
Aquila Reschenhardt had likely breathed his last while coughing up blood at the Raiesel banquet, and the current him had entered the body thereafter.
Aquila shook his head.
“It concluded without further incident. That is enough.”
He was not so heartless as to tell a man who felt relief that it was already too late.
After a mont’s thought, he added,
“There will be no more incidents in the future, so you need not worry. ……Father.”
There was a faint resistance in calling Lexenbert that.
Yet despite Aquila’s reassurance, the shadow on Lexenbert’s face did not fade.
If anything, it deepened.
“You endure everything in front of . From the very beginning, it has all been my fault.”
Lexenbert grimaced.
“You are aware of that, at least. You never listened to Sister or .”
Erzet snorted.
Still gaunt, he shot Lexenbert a sharp glare before quickly seizing Aquila’s hand.
“I never imagined such a thing would happen in Portplum, my brother. Had I known you would face such danger, I would never have let you go anywhere! Is your head all right? Can you believe this man, calling himself your father, did not even ask whether you were hurt?”
Erzet openly criticized Lexenbert.
Yet Lexenbert, who had no defense to offer, could only manage, “My son… regardless, I am your father.”
Even then, Shen and Cahena added a few jeers of their own.
Where on earth did the man I saw in the previous regression go?
Aquila found this situation even more bewildering.
After clearing his throat softly, he shifted the subject.
“That aside. I would like to know more about House Ludovika.”
“……You an Celsia’s family of origin?”
A central noble house, Ludovika.
Though they had married daughters into the imperial family several tis and thus maintained ties with Delvion, those connections were three generations removed. Their present influence and prestige were not particularly lofty.
Their link to House Reschenhardt likewise traced back to their ancestors.
By agreent between forebears, an engagent had been arranged between the bloodlines of Reschenhardt and Ludovika.
Before Lexenbert had left the house to live as a rcenary and fallen in love with Aquila’s mother, Elise, that engagent had been his.
After Elise died of illness, Celsia—who had refused to look at any man not of Reschenhardt blood in adherence to the ancestral promise—was finally able to marry Lexenbert.
The fact that Celsia, after her broken engagent, never gave her heart elsewhere nor married another was one of Lexenbert’s lingering sources of guilt.
“Yes. Before Stepmother… before Celsia transford into a monster, she said, ‘The ti to fulfill Ludovika’s long-cherished wish is now.’”
Even to Aquila, who knew nothing of the deeper circumstances, that sounded strange.
At first, I thought Celsia simply loved Lexenbert and refused to marry anyone else. But if she speaks of a long-cherished wish, it becos peculiar. And if House Ludovika is indeed a group of fanatics as indicated….
Would that not suggest she had waited all along to integrate into House Reschenhardt?
For the sole purpose of killing Aquila Reschenhardt.
Well, if that house is riddled with fanatics, it would not be surprising.
“I shall look into House Ludovika as well.”
Before Aquila could finish his thoughts, Lexenbert shook his head.
He had already resolved to protect his son.
From any threat, any malice—he would permit nothing that might harm Aquila ever again.
Lexenbert rose firmly from his seat.
“You are not to concern yourself with anything. I promise that this ti, nothing will be overlooked.”
“No, I only ant that you could simply inform about Ludovika—”
“I swear upon the na of ‘Fad.’ No blade, no spear, no magic, no curse shall ever reach you.”
Lexenbert’s black eyes glead fiercely, as though facing an enemy.
Those who had dared to touch Aquila—those who had dared to touch Reschenhardt—would learn, once and for all, how he had reached the pinnacle of martial prowess.
***
Aquila Reschenhardt was promptly sent to his room.
Having ridden in a carriage for a long ti from Portplum to Igrail, he was told to rest.
He declined dinner.
The cold killing intent radiating from Lexenbert had reignited his headache.
Lying on his back upon his own bed for the first ti in a while, Aquila stared at the ceiling.
“If you need anything, please tell , Young Master.”
After checking on him due to his headache, Yujelia left the room to allow him to rest quietly.
Cahena and Shen were not present.
After quite literally placing Aquila in his room and summoning Yujelia, they had returned to Lexenbert’s study.
They were likely reporting in detail on what had occurred.
Though Aquila had given a summary, he had not explained everything.
I did not ntion Ark striking at the well, either.
He had assud the tattletales existed only within the Grand Temple of Portplum, yet apparently they were everywhere.
Suppressing a sigh, Aquila adjusted his posture.
Well, if they will not include , there are always other thods.
The authority he had gained after defeating the corrupted god.
It was finally ti to use the skill he had left untouched until now.
Aquila arranged himself beneath the covers, resting his head upon the pillow so that anyone who entered would assu he was asleep.
He inhaled slowly and closed his eyes.
And then—
Ding!
[You are using Stolen Divine Authority (Minor)!]
[Type: Exploration]
[…Your understanding of the current area, ‘Igrail: Reschenhardt Estate,’ is extrely high!]
[You will move directly to the designated location!]
[Please be cautious of motion sickness!]
The notifications that echoed within him ceased, and the sensation of the ground dropping from beneath his feet followed.
His vision twisted violently, and the dreadful dizziness he had experienced before once again engulfed his mind.
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