SWST 54

Chapter 54

Even so, the reason he could endure it was his family.
His mother, Francesca, diligently managed the finances, filling in for the absence of his father. His younger brother, Helbern, devoted himself to training with the knights all day, becoming a model for them. Thanks to them, Nikolai could handle the affairs of the house without worry.

The only annoying factor was Dochev.
A first-rank knight whose skills were worse than a trainee, a parasite who wandered the estate instead of training. Rumor had it he often returned drunk from outside the house, but Nikolai didn’t care.
“Once I become the head of the house, I’ll strip him of all titles and throw him out.”
This was the duke’s principle: discard the incompetent.

He would have been fine if Dochev had quietly lived that way. But everything started to go wrong when Dochev brought a woman home.
It was a blow to their dignity. Yet Francesca allowed it. Just because she was carrying a child.
A mere fourth-rank, better than a regular knight, wasn’t enough to handle this issue.
“Mother looks cold on the outside, but she’s soft at heart.”
Nikolai had always been displeased by that.

Though it seemed Francesca neglected Dochev, she cared more for him than anyone else. Nikolai knew that but pretended not to. Yet in the end, that very leniency caused this mess.

And then there was Helbern.
He had always been headstrong, but he was serious about the sword and deeply respected his elder brother. But suddenly, he changed. He emitted a monstrous sword aura and stood in his way—while babbling nonsense about supporting Dochev’s marriage.

“Has the message sent to Father been delivered safely?”
Nikolai secretly called his knight. This time, he had handled it quietly so Helbern wouldn’t notice, so there should be no problem.

“No obstacles from the duke, sir. But we haven’t received confirmation that the letter reached safely.”

The crease in Nikolai’s already tense face deepened.
“What do you mean? The fastest ones should take only three days.”

“We don’t know the details, but I heard there was a skirmish near the barracks where the duke is staying.”

“Skirmish? The war is over.”

“Yes, sir. I’ve ordered to investigate thoroughly, so a report should arrive soon.”

What on earth happened?
The war had ended, and now they were negotiating war reparations and land division. The enemy no longer had the military power to fight. Negotiations were basically just stalling. The duke even jokingly offered a letter saying he might take the daughter of a margrave as spoils of war and make her his wife. Yet suddenly, a skirmish?

“Investigate thoroughly.”
“Yes, young duke.”

Nikolai’s mood worsened. He needed the duke’s approval to expel Dochev, but now there was trouble on the duke’s side.

And then, yet another aggravating matter occurred.

“Sir, this is serious!”
“Serious? What now?”
“A person caught today… is dead.”

“…What?”

It was a “Holy Knight” caught by Helbern.
Based on Helbern’s account alone, they couldn’t be certain of that group. Nielsen also said they couldn’t confirm if it was truly a Holy Knight since no one had faced those buried-in-history warriors. For now, the person had been locked in the underground prison. To prevent suicide, their limbs were bound, and a gag was placed. Nikolai planned to interrogate personally, with Nielsen, who had fought the mysterious knight at the border, assisting. Helbern had just lost trust and was excluded.

But… dead?

“Suicide?”
“…Murdered.”

“Murdered?”

Even worse, the person had been killed with a cross-shaped mark carved into their chest while still bound. Who did it? Even the knights guarding the underground prison had been completely taken out, leaving no way to find out.

This was no ordinary problem.
An internal attack within the estate itself. Entering the underground prison, Nikolai found blood splattered everywhere. Apart from that, there was hardly any trace. Investigating the signs of intrusion, he instinctively thought:
‘A traitor.’

The enemy was inside.
But he didn’t voice it. If he did, the true traitor would hide among the loyalists. He couldn’t tell his family—they were no help.

Suddenly, Francesca had secluded herself in the kitchen, and Helbern had gone insane. There was nowhere to turn.
One, it would be impossible to find the traitor alone. He wanted to rely on a few loyal servants, but even that was dangerous. Even loyalists had their own confidants, making it harder to pinpoint the traitor.

What to do…

Nikolai went into his study, hiding from his aides, and buried his face in his hands.
“Father, grandfather, respected former heads of the house, please grant me wisdom.”

Amidst the relics of bygone times, the young duke was plunged into solitary anguish.

“Wait, wait, wait.”
A voice pierced his ears, the same one he had been repeating in his mind.
“There was a traitor!”

Nikolai stood and approached the source of the voice.
To his surprise, Halara was there.
At this moment, she was one of the most hated people in his eyes.
His racing heart went cold.

“…By whose permission did you enter here?”
How dare a commoner enter a place like this?

“Uh… Your Highness?”
With eyes wide like a doll, Halara seemed genuinely surprised. Nikolai wanted nothing more than to grab her by the scruff and throw her out. But he had no time—the traitor alone was enough to make his head explode.

“I suppose you’re pretending to be doing prenatal study here with that dress? Do you think wearing that makes you a noble?”

“Not at all. I just came because I was curious.”

Can commoners read? They generally couldn’t read much more than simple words, lacking access to teachers.

“Yes.”

“Really? You can read everything?”

“Somehow, yes,” Halara muttered vaguely instead of claiming full literacy. Nikolai wasn’t truly curious, so he didn’t care. He guessed she had learned by watching nobles around her.

“Get out. This is a space only for the Bloodmary family. Remember, if I see you here again, you may die. I am no soft-hearted person like Mother or Helbern.”

He wanted to throw her out, but he couldn’t afford it—he was already overwhelmed by the traitor.

“Yes… okay.”

But then…
Nikolai snatched the thick book Halara was holding.

“Ouch.”

“Why are you looking at this book?”

It was a book about the Holy Faith.
And now Halara was holding the book that concerned Nikolai’s current greatest interest: the Holy Knights.

Aftermath / Notes

Before the family’s near-extinction, there had been a traitor in Bloodmary.
Later, Dochev would encounter the traitor—someone who survived while everyone else died and even tried to kill Dochev but was punished. That episode might relate to the current incident. Even if not, keeping the traitor captured wasn’t a bad idea.

The problem was he couldn’t remember the name.
With over a thousand chapters, there were too many villains. He could barely remember Junel’s name, let alone a passing villain.

“Damn traitor… who was it?”

As Nikolai wracked his brain, the reaper-like figure appeared.

“What are you looking at?”

He immediately grabbed her arm.

“Ah, this.”

The book was related to the Holy Faith. Nikolai’s frown deepened.

“I heard that Lord Helbern caught someone related to the Holy Faith today.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions. Nothing has been confirmed.”

“I hope that’s true too, really.”

“But… who told you this? Dochev? Or Helbern?”

He ground his teeth in frustration.