Chapter 65: Pleading

Swoosh!

The moment Alois's arm was cleanly severed, Isaac couldn't deny that the corner of his mouth had unconsciously twitched upward.

If someone were to tell Isaac to take revenge on only one person in Helmut, he would choose Alois without a moment's hesitation. After all, Alois was the one who had caused Isaac the deepest wound.

"Gaaaaah!"

Alois's scream echoed through the mansion. Although Isaac's senses weren't particularly sharp, he could already hear commotion coming from outside.

"You! How dare youuuu!"

"Your lines sound a lot like Lohengrin's. I guess it's because you're brothers."

Isaac smoothly sheathed his sword. Sparks crackled wildly, stinging his waist and side.

Since he was about to go to bed, his clothes were light, and he had ended up getting caught in the lightning's backlash.

"Do you think you'll get away with this now?!"

"Well, I had a different use for you in mind."

Isaac charged forward immediately. Alois, who had been clutching his severed arm, was too stunned to react in time.

Thwack!

Isaac flew forward and kicked Alois square in the chest, sending him tumbling out of the room. A trail of blood followed the severed arm as it dragged across the floor.

"Gaaaaah!"

Another scream erupted from Alois. He had fallen hard on his backside, and the impact seemed to have sent a wave of pain through his arm.

"Eek!"

"Ah, Young Master Alois!"

"What's going on? What happened?"

People who had been preparing for bed began to emerge one by one. The servants who hadn't yet left for the day, as well as the direct descendants of Helmut, came out to assess the situation.

"Tsk. Useless bastard."

"Alois, your arm—"

No matter what anyone said, this was Helmut. Even though their younger brother's arm had been severed, the eldest son, Lohengrin, and the second son, Armin, merely clicked their tongues or shook their heads. They didn't seem sad or angry.

On the contrary.

Thud!

Liana, who had jumped down from the second floor, landed between Isaac and Alois in an instant. Even though she was dressed in pajamas, the overwhelming pressure emanating from her body weighed heavily on the space.

"Sister! That bastard did this to my arm! Just because this lunatic is leaving now—!"

Alois shouted, his voice trembling. He seemed desperate to get his sister on his side, but Liana's expression only grew colder, her red eyes radiating a chilling aura.

"More importantly, I'm curious as to why you went to Isaac's room in the first place, Alois."

"Sister? My arm—! That commoner bastard cut off my arm! Do you hear me?!"

While the servants hurriedly collected Alois's arm and tried to stop the bleeding with towels, his shouting only caused more blood to gush out. However, thanks to the Helmut family's constitution, his complexion didn't change at all.

"That's something we'll have to investigate."

"It's my arm! How can you—!"

"You still have an attempted murder charge against Isaac. Don't forget that just because the investigation was delayed due to the Sword Festival."

"Ah."

Alois bit his lip. He seemed to be searching for some excuse, but—

Creak.

The door to Isaac's wardrobe opened, and a boy stepped out, his expression calm yet sorrowful.

"Brother, I saw everything."

"…Edel? Sharen?"

"Alois suddenly came in and tried to break Isaac's neck! He even used Crimson Aura!"

As Sharen pointed and shouted, Alois's face twisted in rage.

"You filthy brats—! Don't forget who your siblings are! We're of the same blood, yet you—!"

Alois continued to scream, but Liana didn't hesitate.

In an instant, Crimson Aura gathered in her right hand, and she lashed out like a whip.

Crack!

Alois's body was sent flying, slamming into the wall before he collapsed, unconscious.

"…Wasn't that a bit too much?"

"Sister is really angry."

"Si-sister."

"Ugh."

Amidst the shocked reactions of the direct descendants, Liana stood expressionless. It was a clear warning that her response from now on would be different from before.

At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed from the stairs. In the Helmut mansion, there was only one person who could exude such an oppressive presence.

"What is all this noise?"

Aranel Helmut descended, his expression already filled with displeasure, and with that, the incident came to a temporary close.

***

Helmut's Training Ground

"Fight me again, Isaaaaaac!"

Lohengrin shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with frustration.

"Come at me, you coward!"

As he continued to yell, the princess sitting next to Isaac gave him an annoyed look, causing him to hesitate for a moment.

"I'll handle this."

Liana, who had been sitting beside Isaac, grabbed her greatsword and stood up to face Lohengrin.

"Yay."

As soon as Liana left her seat, Silverna immediately slid into the spot. She sat down next to Isaac and urged him to continue the story he had been telling.

"So, Alois suddenly attacked you last night? The third son of Helmut?"

"Yeah, he came to my room at night."

"..."

Clarice, sitting across the table with her arms crossed, narrowed her eyes. She seemed deep in thought, not even touching the rose tea on the table as she listened intently.

"He's been trying to hurt me for a while now. He even tried something on our fourth wedding anniversary."

"Fourth wedding anniversary?"

"That was the day the chandelier fell. If it had hit me, I would've been seriously injured."

Having experienced it firsthand, Isaac felt a shiver run down his spine just recalling the incident.

"Not to mention, he also tampered the cake and the bouquet of roses."

"So where is Alois now? I mean, since it's Helmut, I assume he's just under house arrest or something, right?"

At Silverna's skeptical question, Isaac shook his head.

"He was transferred early this morning. To the underground prison in the royal capital."

"Helmut sending someone to the underground prison? I didn't think they'd go that far."

"With everything else going on, they probably didn't want Alois complicating things further."

It wasn't for nothing that Aranel had cut down his own wife. He had shown no mercy in casting Alois aside, as if he had no interest in him whatsoever. On the other hand, Alois also seemed to have no lingering attachment to Aranel or Helmut, but…

"[Sister! Sisssster! It's a misunderstanding! I'll explain everything! Please! Sisssster!]"

The way he had desperately called out to Liana, his voice hoarse, was downright disgusting. It only made any remaining affection for him vanish completely.

"But Helmut is really something else. Even after one of their own brothers lost an arm and got sent away, they don't seem fazed at all."

"Alois never had much affection for the family or the household anyway."

Except for Liana, of course.

Crash!

"Damn iiiiiit!"

Lohengrin, who had been cleanly defeated by Liana, knelt on the ground, wailing. Liana left him there and walked back, only to frown when she saw Silverna sitting in her seat.

"That's my seat."

"Don't be Childish. The seat belongs to whoever sits in it first."

"...That's even more childish. When are you leaving?"

"That's what I wanted to talk about—"

"Why do you think he did it?"

Princess Clarice cut in, her expression serious after a long moment of contemplation.

"It's strange, isn't it? What reason would he have to target Isaac?"

At Clarice's pointed question, Isaac hesitated for a moment. What should he say? After glancing at Liana, he sighed and decided to reveal the truth, even though it was something he would have preferred to keep buried.

"Alois was in love with Liana."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"That's why he hated me, her husband."

The three women stared at Isaac in unison. Isaac sighed, clearly not wanting to have this conversation.

"But they're siblings, aren't they?!"

"Aren't they brother and sister?!"

Clarice and Silverna shouted at the same time, and Isaac nodded as if he had been waiting for this reaction.

"Isaac, are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure. This is also why Alois kept his motives a secret until the very end."

Isaac sipped his rose tea, the bitterness of the situation reflected in his expression. The tea, once warm, had cooled to lukewarm, but its fragrance still lingered.

"Do you have any proof?"

There wasn't any concrete evidence to present at the moment. Isaac had only heard rumors after leaving and later confirmed it when they reunited.

In situations like this, he had to rely on intuition.

"I was her husband. I could tell from the way he looked at her."

Honestly, it wasn't the most convincing argument, but the women seemed to find it credible enough and accepted Isaac's explanation.

"...Ugh."

Liana, unable to contain herself, covered her mouth and quickly retreated into the mansion. The revelation that her own younger brother had feelings for her seemed to have hit her hard.

"Ugh!"

"I've never seen Liana like that before."

They watched in stunned silence as Lianna hurriedly disappeared into the mansion. It was such an unusual sight that they couldn't help but keep staring.

After Lianna left…

Clarice asked Isaac another question.

"Hey, Isaac, did you… suffer any harassment at Helmut?"

"..."

"Be honest with me. And does it have anything to do with the divorce?"

Isaac gave a bitter smile and nodded.

"Yes. I've had enough of Helmut."

When Isaac confessed honestly, Silverna looked shocked, while Clarice let out a calm sigh.

"That's what it was?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Those trashy bastards."

Silverna glared at the Helmut members training in the sparring grounds. Sharen was sparring with her brothers, and though her skills were still lacking, her movements showed potential for growth.

"...I'm sorry."

Suddenly, Clarice apologized.

"Huh?"

"I didn't know about any of this. I was stubborn and insisted that you shouldn't get a divorce without understanding the full picture."

"..."

"Ahem. I, well, I'm a princess, right? So, naturally, I'm supposed to be competent, knowledgeable, and able to oversee many things, right?"

The two listening thought to themselves.

That didn't seem quite accurate.

Clarice was certainly exceptional when it came to gathering intelligence, but she still lacked experience in properly processing and drawing conclusions from that information. By now, everyone was well aware of this fact.

"But, of course, there are things I fail to notice. In focusing on the kingdom's security, I failed to see you. And you're one of our people too."

"I understand. You didn't want unnecessary disturbances within Helmut before the fight against the Transcendents."

No knight would want to start a battle with cracks in their sword.

Not to mention, this involved a noble from the kingdom siding with the Transcendents. In such a situation, the great noble house of Helmut needed to stand firm.

"It was for the greater good."

At Isaac's bitter smile, Clarice's eyes grew slightly moist. She sniffled, nodded, and then carefully took Isaac's hand.

"Actually, I also came here to persuade you. Along with the divorce, revealing Alois's crimes… No matter how I think about it, it won't have a good effect on the war situation."

Helmut, the vanguard and the kingdom's sword.

The fact that the third son of such a house attempted to assassinate the husband of the eldest daughter could only lead to disastrous consequences.

"Just until the Blackson is eradicated. Please, just until then, turn a blind eye to this. Both Alois's punishment and the divorce—please… I beg you."

That was why Alois had been secretly transported in the early hours of the morning. So that no one would know.

"I know it's painful. It must feel unjust. I'm sorry that I, as a woman, have to ask this of you."

Clarice clasped Isaac's hands in hers, pleading as if in prayer.

"I, Clarice Evangel Legardia, will remember your sacrifice for the greater good… and on the day everything is over, I will ensure you are duly compensated."

"Your Highness."

"I don't intend to simply repay your efforts with material wealth. If there's anything you desire, tell me, and I will see it done. It's regretful that this is the best the royal family can offer… I truly am sorry."

"..."

At Clarice's plea, Isaac gave a bitter smile.

"There's no need to bow your head, Your Highness."

He hated Alois, but the Transcendents were a far greater threat. The reason he hadn't immediately killed Alois was precisely because of the Transcendents.

"I'll accept your request."

"Ah."

Clarice let out a sigh of relief and bowed her head.

"I am grateful. For your generosity, I offer my deepest gratitude."

"May I make one request first?"

Isaac gently withdrew his hand and smiled. Silverna's gaze was starting to turn dangerous.

"Of course, anything."

"Please ensure that Alois is kept under strict surveillance."

"You don't need to worry about that—"

Clarice, about to respond, cut herself off and closed her mouth. Even without saying it, she seemed to sense something ominous and nodded.

"I will make sure to issue special orders regarding it."

'As expected.'

Her intuition was sharp.

In his past life, after being abandoned by his family, Alois had become a servant of the Transcendents. There was a high chance the Transcendents would approach Alois again this time. Especially since they were particularly interested in Helmut.

"By the way, Isaac, you seem to have a good sense of things. Would you consider working with me?"

Clarice, her expression brightening, subtly probed for an answer. Before Isaac could respond, Silverna, who had remained silent until now, cut in.

"Isaac already promised to guard the northern wall with me! So he can't!"

"...Did I?"

As the conversation between Clarice and Silverna heated up over who would take Isaac, he could only watch in mild amusement.

Unfortunately for them, Isaac had already decided where he would go after leaving Helmut.

'She's probably at the rocky mountain by now.'

The Grandmaster.

This time, he would seize the opportunity he had painfully missed before.