It was then.
“Forgiveness?”
Cardien twisted the corner of his mouth as if it were beneath him.
His expression sent shivers down even my spine, making me uncomfortable despite my detachment from the situation.
“Why should I?”
“Y-Your Grace…”
Count Drake’s voice trembled with fear.
On the other hand, Cardien’s pupils, cold as ice, remained completely still.
Cardien’s lips slowly fell.
“Your son insulted and slandered my son.”
Vincent could feel his heart sink at Cardien’s words.
Count Drake raised his head abruptly.
“… Your Grace, th-that’s—!!”
He exclaimed as if genuinely wronged.
“It was just a simple prank between the children! While my son may have been a bit aggressive, it was all due to their immaturity!”
He moved his lips relentlessly as if he were the one catching the culprit.
“If my son’s mistake has disturbed Your Grace, I apologize on his behalf. Please, find it in your heart to forgive us.”
Count Drake’s words ignited a wellspring of anger within me.
Mistake? Immaturity?
I struggled to contain the rising rage.
Now Cardien is speaking up, and Vincent is at my side.
‘Calm down.’
But it was hard to quell my anger.
Using words like “mistake” and “immaturity” in a situation like this?
After all, there is a victim named Vincent.
‘It’s so painful that he can’t breathe just by hearing their voices.’
How could they possibly describe it as a mistake or immaturity?
I tightly held Vincent’s trembling hand.
He looked at me with shaking eyes.
I made eye contact to reassure him and then turned my attention back to Count Drake and Cardien.
Cardien had remained silent from the moment Count Drake finished speaking.
He hadn’t shown any signs of explosive anger, agreement with the Count’s words, or even a hint of a frown.
He simply stared at him in silence, like a stagnant pond.
After a while, Cardien chuckled softly.
His laughter gradually grew louder, and Count Drake, who had been watching his tone carefully, eventually joined in.
“Haha, hahaha…”
Soon, Cardien’s laughter subsided.
He wiped away the tears that had collected in his eyes and nodded slowly.
“Mistake and immaturity. Yes, that’s possible. Everyone makes mistakes and is immature at times; it’s human nature.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But what should we do.”
Cardien slowly bent his waist.
He leaned close to Count Drake, who lay flat on the ground, and in a calm, soothing voice, he spoke each syllable deliberately into the Count’s ear.
“I’m also an imperfect human, prone to making mistakes. I might accidentally silence Count Drake here. A bit too aggressively.”
“……Yes…… Huh?”
“By tomorrow, Count Drake will be erased from the Empire, simply because of my immaturity and mistakes.”
Count Drake, who had been listening in a daze, finally blinked as if his eyes were about to burst.
Cardien rose to his feet, releasing the two children he had been holding by the neck onto the ground beside Count Drake.
The thick layer of dirt on the ground meant they weren’t too badly hurt, but the atmosphere was already overwhelming.
“Ah, Dad…….”
As Isaac Drake, with great effort, crawled towards Count Drake, the Count finally regained his senses and shouted.
“W-what do you mean by ‘silenced’ all of a sudden!?”
“Well, the Count will come to understand it better in the future.”
“W-Wait…… just wait…….!”
As Cardien stepped away from him, Count Drake urgently clung to his leg and begged.
“P-please forgive me! Just once…!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Count.”
Cardien looked down at him with a gentle smile.
“As the Count mentioned, wasn’t all of this a result of mistakes and immaturity? It was just a mistake and immaturity, so what is there to forgive?”
“Ah, ah, ah……!!!”
Despair-stained Count Drake’s face.
I stared blankly at Cardien.
Unlike usual, the gentle Cardien seemed even more ruthless now.
Contrary to his smiling lips, his eyes revealed no trace of any emotion.
I wasn’t the only one who could see it in his eyes.
Seeing his eyes shake violently, Count Drake looked around and then quickly crawled towards us as he spotted Vincent.
Startled, I quickly hid Vincent behind me.
Vincent trembled and clung tightly to my dress.
“Young master…”
Count Drake’s voice trembled as if it might break any moment.
“I’m s-sorry…”
“Dad! Why are you doing this? Why to that guy…..”
“Shut up!!!”
Drake yelled at the top of his lungs, dragging Isaac over and pressing his head in front of Vincent and me.
“Say you’re sorry, come on!!!”
“No, why would I…….”
“Isaac-!!”
“……!”
Startled by Drake’s shout, Isaac glanced at Vincent, then bit his tongue and lowered his head in embarrassment.
“Tsk, Sorry.”
“…….”
“So, young lord Isaac is also remorseful, so if you could just forgive him once…….”
Count Drake pleaded with desperate eyes, directed at Vincent.
Vincent, with trembling eyes, looked at Count Drake and Isaac, then closed his eyes tightly.
At that moment, Cardien approached and reached out his hand toward Vincent.
His hand paused in the air for a moment before finally resting on Vincent’s head.
Vincent was startled and looked up at Cardien.
“You decide.”
“Yo-Your Grace……”
“Whether to forgive or not. It’s your matter; you choose Vincent.”
An indifferent but weighty voice.
Vincent stared blankly at Cardien, then nodded.
Vincent’s gaze turned toward Count Drake.
At that moment, a glimmer of hope flickered in Count Drake’s eyes.
‘Just a little game with this kid, that’s all.’
It was so obvious that he thought that, so my stomach churned.
Right on cue, Count Drake smiled and began to speak.
“So, young master. you must have suffered greatly because of Isaac, right? I heard from Isaac that he actually wanted to become friends with Vincent, but he was not good at expressing himself, right, Isaac?”
“Dad, I didn’t say…”
Isaac was about to protest when Drake pinched his thigh, causing him to yelp.
Isaac, with teary eyes, looked at Vincent, then lowered his head and spoke.
“……Dad is right. I actually wanted to be friends with you.”
“You won’t do that now, will you?”
“I won’t.”
“Sincerely apologize.”
“I’m truly sorry.”
“You two, come here and apologize to the young master as well!”
Upon Count Drake’s shout, the two boys who had been watching from a distance slowly approached and lowered their heads toward Vincent.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too.”
“Please forgive us,…… just this once.”
Count Drake deeply bowed his head.
The boys followed suit, bowing their heads even lower.
Vincent looked at Count Drake and the children, who bowed to him and then looked up at the sudden sound of Cardien’s voice.
“Vincent, now make your choice.”
“……yes, your Grace.”
Vincent’s voice had now regained its composure.
But his grip on me, which he was holding onto, became even tighter.
‘Vincent…’
“I…”
Soon, Vincent spoke with a firm voice.
“I refuse.”
The answer came frighteningly quickly, and Count Drake quickly raised his head.
“Young master……!”
He tried to call Vincent urgently, but Cardien’s words stopped him.
“You refuse?”
“Yes.”
“That’s it, then.”
Cardien sneered coldly as he looked at the two who were bowing their heads with their bodies nearly flat on the ground.
“That’s right, you should have begged for forgiveness more desperately.”
“Y-Your Grace… do you really need to go this far for the children’s mistakes?”
Count Drake asked with a perplexed expression.
Cardien gazed intently at that face before quietly pondering.
“For the children’s mistakes… yes, it might indeed be a bit excessive.”
“T-Then…”
“But my son’s business is different.”
A cruel smile formed on Cardien’s lips.
Seeing that, Count Drake’s face turned contemplative.
“So, who dared touch Mercedes?”
“Well, wrong…….”
“Blame the count for wrongly educating his child.”
It was only then that the blood drained from Isaac’s face as he realized that something was definitely wrong.
“Ah, Dad…….”
“…….”
Issac called out to Count Drake with a desperate voice, but he just stared blankly at the ground without responding.
Cardien coldly observed Count Drake like that and then approached our direction.
Then, he suddenly stopped and looked back.
“Oh, and.”
