Kneel Before The Villain - Chapter 133

The Count snatched the paper from his son, read it and his mouth dropped, face still reddened.

 

“Stupid bastard. With this document in hand, even the young Duke won’t be able to officially question it. But can you be sure that the promise will be kept?”

 

“That….”

 

At the Count’s ridicule, the young master shut his mouth without saying anything.

 

His father was right.

 

Since there was a written oath, it would have been possible to prevent the young duke’s official inquiry into this matter.

 

However, unofficial retaliation could not be prevented.

 

Realizing that fact, the young master’s face darkened greatly.

 

‘What should I do with this?’

 

The Count sighed inwardly.

 

Contrary to their appearance, Duke Lillian and the princess were compassionate people and they had a long-standing relationship with the Duke of Croix, so even if they could easily pass it on, the Duke of Croix was not like that, so they couldn’t come up with a way to break this situation.

 

It seemed that his head was frozen in confusion from the many things happening at once.

 

“… I’m not going to step out of the duchy. Although the young master of Croix is the eldest son, he has not yet officially received the position of successor. He hasn’t made any contributions and if things continue at this rate, sooner or later his half-brother will take that position and one day he will be kicked out of the family.”

 

“You fool! If you know nothing, keep your mouth shut.”

 

The Count shouted with anger.

 

The young master of Croix was known to be estranged from his family because of his reckless and arrogant behavior but the reality was different.

 

Of his three sons, the Duke of Croix cherished him the most as he was born of his dead ex-wife.

 

One day, some kind of rumors spread that a son of a nobleman got into a fight with the young master of Croix and was brutally beaten. It was a common occurrence up to this point but the father once openly insulted the Grand Duke of Croix and petitioned for punishment but the family was completely ruined.

 

The Grand Duke of Croix, who had a grudge for talking badly about his son, retaliated. For some reason, Elvin Croix didn’t take over as heir and was only going out but he knew that someday, when the time came, he would inherit the family succession and become the grand duke.

 

The grand duke was famous for his temper when he was young, but his son, Elvin, was even more than him.

 

So the future of the Count family could not be guaranteed.

 

Just imagining it made his body tremble, and the Count grabbed the young master of Pline by the chest.

 

Just then, a servant came into the room and reported.

 

“Master, I found traces of someone hiding in the attic of the outbuilding.”

 

Distraught for a moment, the Count put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes tightly.

 

He looked towards the young master of Pline with a glimmer of hope.

 

The Count asked in a trembling voice.

 

“Did you really hide the Crown Prince’s mistress in my mansion?”

 

“Father, that….”

 

Seeing the stunned face with his mouth open, he was convinced.

 

He believed it wasn’t but he ordered a search just in case and the thing he was worried about eventually happened.

 

Again, something hot welled up in his chest and the Count raised the staff he was holding high again.

 

So Count detained him.

 

“It has already happened, so there is no stopping it. So just fix this. You will collapse at this rate.”

 

The oldest young master spoke but he too was glaring at his brother with a cold gaze.

 

The young master of Pline avoided his brother’s gaze and chewed his lips while lowering his head.

 

The servant who had just entered said that he had found ‘traces’ of someone living in the attic but she did not say that she had found anyone.

 

That meant Claire hadn’t been found yet. He gave her permission and she was free to come and go out of the room at any time.

 

He wondered if Claire had noticed the oddity and ran away?

 

If so, she was rather lucky.

 

His father and older brother were still his family, so even if they were angry like now, they wouldn’t kill him.

 

However, at this rate, they might offer her as a sacrifice to mend the situation.

 

At that time, another servant with an urgent face came into the room and reported.

 

“Master, the imperial family has sent someone.”

 

Something had come.

 

The Count closed his eyes tightly. Since it was such a big deal in a place where there were many eyes, the turmoil must have reached the ears of the imperial family by now.

 

If it was revealed that his son had been hiding the daughter of Baron Dana in the Count’s residence for a while, it was impossible to be certain how he would deal with the imperial family as well as the duke’s family.

 

“Tell them I’m coming now.” The Count said his words and then added, looking in the direction of the young master of Pline.

 

“Do not stop searching until you find the one hiding in the attic. And lock this guy in a room so he doesn’t get into any more trouble. Never release him until you have my order.”

 

“Yes, my lord.”

 

The Count left the room with a tired face, and several servants approached the young master of Pline.

 

He was meekly captured by the servants. The young Count took the lead with a cold face without saying a word.

 

The young master of Pline glanced at his back with a worried gaze.

 

However, the young Count never looked back until he arrived in front of the room.

 

“You can’t make a duel out of nothing. Since this is what you did, you have to deal with it.”

 

When there were only two brothers in the room, his oldest brother said.

 

“When a duel begins, you must only defend. You can’t put even a single scratch on the body of the young master of Croix. Do you understand?”

 

The young master could not answer easily and hesitated.

 

‘In a duel using a real sword, don’t attack, only defend?’

 

He was still in a situation where he did not know what the young master of Croix’s swordsmanship skills were.

 

If the fight continued for a long time, he could have suffered serious injuries.

 

“Even if I put my utmost efforts into the duel, I won’t win. Rather, he might see it as an opportunity and defeat me.”

 

At that, the oldest young master ( young Count) placed a hand on his shoulder with a benevolent smile.

 

“Gail, now that you are a full-fledged adult, you must take responsibility for what you did.”

 

Hearing his older brother’s voice calling his name affectionately.

 

[T/N: Phew, we finally know the name of idiot who hid the trash instead of taking it out]

 

The young master had goosebumps all over his body and shuddered.

 

The young Count didn’t care about his reaction and continued in a calm voice.

 

“You look so frightened that you don’t respond. You must have a little bit of an idea that he might kill you?”

 

“He might really do that.”

 

“Don’t worry too much. I’ve never heard of the young master of Croix ever committing a murder. Besides, if you get hurt by him, the Duke will no longer be able to blame you for this.”

 

Contrary to his kind voice, the eyes looking at him were cold.

 

Looking at those cold eyes, he didn’t really care if he was seriously injured or killed during the duel.

 

The young Count looked at his hardened younger brother and was cynical.

 

“I’ll find you a good sword master to teach you swordsmanship without father’s knowledge. If you don’t want to die, don’t neglect training until then.”

 

* * *

 

“Perhaps the Count is welcoming the people sent by Her Majesty the Empress by now.”

 

Elvin took off his gloves and raised the teacup. Even the trivial action made him look elegant.

 

“Then, was it true that you saw the imperial carriage on the way earlier?”

 

“It was just meant to scare him. But since I let the news reach the Count’s residence before I arrived, they must have sent someone right away.”

 

“Okay.”

 

He nodded his head calmly and took a sip of the tea.

 

Claire had always used people from behind the scenes to get benefits.

 

This time he was thinking of doing the same.

 

He would use Claire and the young master of Pline to make the Crown Prince suspicious.

 

It was to use Claire’s method on her.

 

It would be quite interesting to see how Claire would react between the Crown Prince and the young master of Pline and how far Gail would go for her. Suddenly I was surprised by someone’s unexpected intervention.

 

When I looked at Elvin, he looked very calm.

 

His relaxed appearance reminded me of the situation from earlier and my brow furrowed automatically.

 

When I lowered my gaze from his face, I saw long, white fingers holding a teacup. I had experienced the scene a few times and felt somehow familiar.

 

Elvin’s hands were large, warm and rough, unlike his looks.

 

He usually didn’t show it because he always wore gloves but his bare hands were surprisingly scarred.

 

There were calluses everywhere.

 

I asked with my gaze fixed on his hand.

 

“Elvin, have you ever learned swordsmanship?”

 

“Isn’t that the basic requirement of an aristocrat? Of course I’ve learned. However, since I learned it in the imperial palace, not in my family, others will not know.”

 

I knew it.

 

Elvin’s answer confirmed that my prediction was correct and I was relieved inwardly.

 

If he had learned swordsmanship in the imperial palace, the emperor would have known about this as well.

 

It wasn’t certain but if that’s the case, there was a high probability that Elvin’s swordsmanship teacher was also given by the emperor.

 

It seemed now that his arrogance was the result of confidence in his abilities.

 

“Are you still worried that I might lose?”

 

Elvin asked with a relaxed face.

 

Only then did I realize that I was worrying for nothing.

 

He was smart at best and the most cunning man I had ever seen.

 

He wouldn’t have put any unfavorable conditions on himself.

 

“Looking at it now, it doesn’t seem like you will lose.”

 

“You seemed quite worried earlier.”

 

Elvin raised the corner of his mouth in a playful way.

 

I had many things I wanted to ask and argue with him but the words that came out of my mouth were completely different.

 

“Can you roll up your sleeves?”

 

“It won’t be a very nice sight to see.”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Elvin hesitated for a moment, then unbuttoned and rolled up his sleeves.

 

Fortunately, his wounds were not as severe as before.

 

But he seemed to still need time to fully heal.

 

I wondered if it was for this reason that he said earlier that he would only use one of his arms.

 

“It still looks very painful….”

 

I thought for a moment and called Annie who was waiting at the door.

 

“Bring the medicine.”

 

At my command, she nodded her head and left the room.

 

“Is the princess going to personally apply it?” he asked, looking slightly bewildered.

 

“Unless the young master refuses.”

 

***