Chapter 130
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------
131.
After that, Bates grew into an exemplary Hound, living up to Zeppelin's expectations.
If ordered to kill a man, he killed. If commanded to set fire to an estate, he set it ablaze.
Whether tasked with kidnapping, torture, or any other heinous act, he executed his orders without the slightest twinge of conscience.
He was like a machine devoid of all emotion.
Zeppelin was pleased with such a Bates and held him up as the exemplar of all Hounds.
Zeppelin purchased a modest noble title for Bates and appointed him Commander of the Devonshire Knight Order.
Despite his elevation in status, Bates showed no sign of joy.
So long as meals arrived on time and he had a place to sleep, he desired nothing more.
"I am merely repaying the debt of the life you gave me."
He pledged his loyalty to Zeppelin with steadfast devotion.
Now that most of the Hounds had fallen under Octavio's control, Bates was the only person Zeppelin could truly trust.
Zeppelin interlaced his fingers and rested his hands upon the desk as he spoke.
"Did you bring what I asked for?"
"It is here."
Bates placed the large box he had been carrying onto Zeppelin's desk.
Zeppelin withdrew a scarf from inside the box.
"These are genuine items, are they not?"
"Yes. Items that can identify the hostages."
At Bates's words, Zeppelin smiled coldly and seized a dagger that lay at the edge of his desk.
He began to slash the scarf to ribbons.
He hurled the tattered remains onto the desk.
"Destroy all the items in this manner. Then distribute them among the Hounds."
Bates flinched momentarily, his gaze fixed upon Zeppelin.
Zeppelin flicked the blade of the dagger with his finger, speaking without emotion.
"They need to know who their true master is."
"I shall carry out your orders."
"Good. Now go and bring Octavio to me."
As Zeppelin's command fell, Bates picked up the box and obediently departed the Study.
As he descended to the lower floor, someone called out to him.
"Bates. It has been ages. I have not seen your face in so long—where have you been?"
Rodrigo waved cheerfully.
"I was carrying out the Count's orders."
Bates replied curtly and clamped his mouth shut once more.
"You could afford to be a bit warmer toward me."
Rodrigo draped an arm across his shoulder with a sly grin.
Bates said nothing and brushed his arm away, resuming his stride.
Rodrigo, undeterred, glanced at the large box Bates was carrying and continued to pry.
"What is that? A new directive?"
"Mind your own business, Rodrigo. Why are you so endlessly curious? You act as though you cannot rest until you have extracted every scrap of information."
At the sharp question, Rodrigo took a step back and shrugged his shoulders.
"Curiosity is a fundamental human desire, isn't it? Fine, I'll stop prying now that I've caught your attention."
Bates, whose blue eyes had been gleaming, finally withdrew his gaze from him.
As he turned to leave, something seemed to occur to him, and he rummaged through a box. Then he hurled a red scarf that the Count had slashed to pieces at Rodrigo.
"It's something I had to give you anyway, so take it since we've met."
Rodrigo blinked blankly as he picked up the crimson cloth, so mangled it was unrecognizable.
"What is this?"
"You don't even recognize your own mother's possession. What an ungrateful son."
Rodrigo's smiling face twisted into something vicious in an instant.
He had spotted the family crest carved into a portion of the cloth.
Without hesitation, Rodrigo threw a punch at Bates.
"You bastard!"
Bates dodged his fist lightly and let out a scoff.
"We are bastards, aren't we? Nothing new about that."
"You're laughing? You find this amusing? You worthless scum."
"It's not amusing. I'm simply astounded that you have the audacity to smile so smugly when your parents are imprisoned."
At Bates's sarcastic remark, Rodrigo raised his eyes sharply, the red cloth still in his hand.
He considered striking his face once more, but instead twisted his lips into a crooked smile and spoke.
"Ah, you wouldn't understand such emotions since you have no parents."
Bates, who had been walking away, stopped and turned back to look at Rodrigo.
Rodrigo grinned, his fist clenched tight.
"How could a vagrant who never received familial love possibly understand our position? I'll graciously overlook it for you."
He had heard such mockery countless times before.
Bates brushed it off and cut off his interest in Rodrigo.
"Fine. Sell your body and your heart—sell everything. Who knows? Perhaps your parents are just like you...."
Rodrigo's mouth stopped moving as he continued to ramble at the back of Bates's head as he walked away.
Bates's heavy fist struck his face with brutal force.
"I wonder if you'll be able to flap that mouth even after you're dead."
Bates looked down at him coldly.
Rodrigo spat out the blood pooling in his mouth.
There was no one who could defeat him, the Knight Commander of the Devonshire Family, through force.
Rodrigo knew this well, so he did not grab him again as Bates beat him down and walked forward.
'But I got this instead.'
Rodrigo lifted the object he had snatched the moment Bates struck him, breathing heavily.
It was a locket that Bates had been wearing around his neck at all times for some time now.
"What could be inside that he treasures it so dearly?"
Rodrigo opened the locket.
Inside the locket was a portrait of a woman painted on a small piece of wood.
If Bates were an ordinary person, he would have assumed it was a portrait of a lover and moved on.
But the Bates he knew was not the type to harbor romantic feelings.
Rodrigo examined the locket with meticulous care.
It was noticeably thicker than an ordinary locket, far too substantial to contain merely a portrait.
Rodrigo's instincts screamed that something more lay hidden within.
He held the locket to his ear and tapped against the portrait. The hollow sound that echoed back confirmed his suspicion.
'As I thought....'
Rodrigo hastily returned to his room and disassembled the locket.
Soon, the secret concealed behind the portrait was laid bare.
Upon confirming the nature of the secret, Rodrigo's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Is this thread? No.... It's hair."
A small bundle of hair was coiled tightly inside the locket.
"What exquisite taste. Truly befitting Zeppelin's loyal servant."
As Rodrigo held the hair up to the light, he suddenly lifted his head.
"It's not white—it's pale purple."
The woman in the portrait had white hair, so I had assumed the hair belonged to her.
But my assumption proved spectacularly wrong.
To my knowledge, pale purple hair was not a common color in the Empire.
It required foreign blood mixed in the lineage, and the probability of genetic inheritance was low. I had even heard rumors of deviants who collected people with pale purple hair....
A staggering hypothesis suddenly flashed through my mind.
Rodrigo let out a laugh bordering on exhilaration.
"Ha! This bastard, this...."
Rodrigo laughed until his face split wide. Then he placed the hair back inside the locket and reassembled it.
"Lady Rebecca would be delighted to know this."
I recalled my mother's scarf, torn to shreds, and ground my teeth bitterly.
'Anything will do. Bring me every piece of information that occurs within the Count's Mansion.'
When Rodrigo first sided with Rebecca, he didn't entirely trust her.
But when Rebecca escaped this hellhole through her own strength, his fragile belief swelled like a raging river.
After scribbling a brief note, he stepped outside with the locket cradled in his arms.
Once Rodrigo confirmed the area was deserted, he cleared away the overgrown ivy and pried out a brick from the wall.
He placed the locket and note inside.
Since the Hounds could easily search his room, Rodrigo kept sensitive items in this secret location.
When the time came, he planned to send it to the Duke's Castle along with the items Rebecca had requested.
'Mother, please wait just a little longer.'
Rodrigo rubbed his stinging eyes and returned to his frigid room.
* * *
Upon receiving Bates's message, Octavio headed to the Study.
He watched Bates disappear leisurely, carrying a large box.
That box was something he had never ordered.
'The Count must have wanted it discreetly.'
Bates never revealed the box's contents to Octavio.
Unlike the other Hounds, he was purely loyal to Zeppelin.
Since Zeppelin and he had never disagreed until now, there had been no issues between them.
But lately, the distance between Zeppelin and himself was widening.
Zeppelin frequented the Casino—something he had always despised—and often left the Estate, making it clear he was plotting something.
Yet Zeppelin still pretended to have lost his memory, and Bates remained as silent as a clam.
Moreover, the fits of irritability he once directed at Alicia and the servants had begun turning toward Octavio.
Zeppelin had always been willful, but always within Octavio's expectations.
But watching Zeppelin now felt like grasping sand.
He feared the sandcastle he had built would crumble.
And that premonition became reality.
"I've decided to put Hound management under Bates's authority."
"What did you just...?"
Deep wrinkles etched across Octavio's nose bridge.
What was that brat spouting now?
"It seems your ears aren't working properly either. Let me say it clearly once more: step back from the Hounds."
"Ha! Are you in your right mind?"
"Unfortunately for you, I'm perfectly sound."
Octavio's lips trembled.
Something was wrong.
Zeppelin was expressing an emotion he had never shown before.
This was far more than mere petulance and annoyance—it was raw, violent emotion.
'He's... opposing me?'
Octavio knew Zeppelin well.
He had been at his side from his first steps, through his Academy enrollment, and even his first murder.
He knew intimately what Zeppelin disliked and what he cherished.
Even the slightest tremor of his long eyelashes was enough for Octavio to discern his every thought.
Thus, he immediately recognized that Zeppelin was angry with him.
It felt as though a heavy stone had crashed down upon his head.
Yet Octavio laughed with untroubled ease.
After all, this was a child I had clothed, fed, and educated with my own hands.
Whatever he did, he remained nestled in the palm of my hand. Such variables fell well within my calculations.
Octavio let slip a contemptuous chuckle.
The Countess who fled had returned.
E-book Publication.
January 12, 2022
Author.
Long Night Sky
Publisher.
Desert Fox
Published by.
Woongjin ThinkBig Co., Ltd.
Submission Reception.
naver.me/54VzzLSn
Blog.
blog.naver.com/wj_fennecfox
Twitter.
@wjt_fennecfox
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------