Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 68

“I didn’t abandon you! You were the one who hid away in the countryside and cut off contact with us—how were we supposed to explain everything going on in the family, one thing at a time?”

After that brief retort, his father fell silent for a while. Unlike his sons, his pale blue eyes, faint in color, sank heavily.

“…Ezekiel, I suppose you believe you’re fundamentally different from Akenaus.”

His tone was noticeably weary.

“It’s true there are many differences between you two. I do think you suit Valdemaira more in many ways than Akenaus does. But in some respects, the two of you are also quite similar. Especially in how you both force me into impossible choices.”

Ezekiel remained silent, watching his father.

“Perhaps the girl never told you this, but I had planned to remove you from Valdemaira. Not because I wanted to abandon you, but because if you were separated from the family, your life would at least be spared. Isn’t that exactly why Akenaus kept a wary eye on you?”

His father looked conflicted. But he couldn’t articulate all those thoughts fast enough for the pace of his speech to keep up.

“If you gave up your title as Valdemaira, he probably wouldn’t bother trying to hurt you anymore—especially since you’re already blind. And you have Serva. That maid who raised you like her own child would undoubtedly step forward as your guardian. Even when she gets old and passes away, she would make sure you’re well protected and provided for in the future…”

His words gradually slowed.

“Right now, Valdemaira may be in my hands, but I can’t guarantee that twenty or thirty years from now, your mother and I will still hold power. I must act while I still can. Besides, neither you nor Akenaus has been easy to control for a long time.”

A long sigh briefly consumed his father’s voice.

“But unlike you, that one doesn’t have someone like Serva to offer complete support. And once his numerous mistresses run out of money to leech off him, they’ll discard him. Moreover, you have no intention of forgiving Akenaus, do you?”

For the first time, Ezekiel broke his silence and answered, “You’re exactly right. I have no intention of living under the same sky as that man.”

“…What exactly are you planning to do?”

“Why do you ask?”

“He may be a disgrace, but he’s still a Valdemaira. At the very least, we must not let the world see a son of Valdemaira dying like a stray dog out there. This concerns the family’s honor. That’s why you need to find him and bring him back. Even if you strip him of the family name and exile him to the countryside, the matter should be handled within the family.”

“I assure you, if that man ever sets foot in this house again, it will only bring greater turmoil.”

His father quietly watched his son, who refused to be persuaded no matter what, and then wiped his fatigued face.

“Until now, your world has always been clearly divided into right and wrong, what must be fought and what must be protected. You believed that you had to do your utmost in studies and physical training, that you must dedicate yourself to your country, and that indulgences should be avoided. That’s why you never hesitated to make decisions and act on them…”

Ezekiel maintained a cold silence.

“But the world isn’t always divided into black and white so neatly. You’re still young and have never stood at a crossroads where neither option is truly right. As the head of Valdemaira and a father with two sons, I face such dilemmas every day. One day, you too will have to choose between two equally impossible paths, and when that time comes, you will understand what I’m saying.”

Ezekiel twisted his mouth into a slight sneer. “I doubt it. I don’t think I’ll ever understand you, Father. To me, all of this sounds like indecisive sophistry—just an excuse to cling to everything without letting anything go.”

The sentiment of not wanting to push either son to the end simply because they were both his children amounted to nothing more than self-satisfaction. In reality, it only further instigated animosity between the brothers, forcing them to constantly recognize one another.

“You might as well admit the truth—that you can’t bear to see him die miserably because he resembles Mother. That’s the only virtue he was born with, isn’t it?”

Even in a household where emotional exchanges were extremely rare, there were still subtle undercurrents that could be felt. From what Ezekiel could recall of his childhood, his father had always paid the enormous cost of his mother’s retreats without question, even though she rarely stayed at the main estate.

Ezekiel brought the topic back. “Did you think that if you told me you would expel me from Valdemaira to save me, I would say, ‘Ah, then I’ll at least try to survive,’ and agree? Did you think that since I’ve lost all authority, that man would cease to suspect me?”

Akenaus, so consumed by inferiority, would never let that happen.

Ezekiel had seen many cases of how ugly inferiority could make a person. His company had even been dispatched to clean up a mission that fell apart because officers had fought over credit.

It was too predictable a conclusion. Even if he lived quietly while his father held power, the moment Ezekiel held the reins of Valdemaira, Akenaus would want to erase him from the world as the living proof of his own disgrace.

“And now that circumstances have changed, do you think he would willingly give up the Valdemaira name and live in some countryside hole as if dead? Do you really believe I would forget him and let him live? If so, Father, then you know me even less than Rose does.”

The virtue required of a soldier was to judge merit and demerit and apply reward and punishment strictly—not leniency.

“Rather, it was wise of Rose not to say anything. Even outside the reach of my ears, Rose saved me. If that news had reached me, I’m not confident my treatment and surgery would have concluded as safely as it did.”

And Rose must have believed—believed that he would see again. Bearing all the external pressure and anxiety on her own, she did her best to preserve his peace.

“There will never be another woman like her in my life.”

At his firm assertion, his father took a deep breath to control his emotions.

“Ezekiel, why are you going this far? Until now, it was always Akenaus causing trouble over women, and you weren’t even interested, were you? I never imagined you’d end up obsessed with one.”

“If it weren’t for Rose, I wouldn’t even be here today.”

She was the woman who held his hand and walked with him through the endless darkness. Because of Rose, he could trust people again, could let his weary, tormented heart rest. Sometimes he had felt joy, anticipation, comfort—and some days, he even laughed out loud. And one day, he was startled to realize he had gained the room to smile.

It was all change brought by Rose.

She was his sanctuary.

“Where is Rose?”

Ezekiel asked again.

But his father’s answer did not change this time either.

“I don’t know. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who’d linger around and cause future troubles, so I didn’t ask.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Looking quietly at his son standing tall, the father ran a weary hand through his hair.

“I don’t want to argue anymore with my son whom I haven’t seen in so long. What happened today alone has given me such a headache I can hardly stand it. If you want to know about the girl, call the errand boy who met her and ask him yourself.”

Shaking the bell rope to summon a servant, the father spoke a name.

“Bring Merlot.”

It didn’t take long. Upon hearing that the Lord of Valdemaira had summoned him, the errand boy appeared quickly.

He was quite young. At a glance, he looked ordinary, but his reasonably smooth appearance and glib demeanor gave off the impression of someone who would easily be likable to anyone.

Ezekiel let out a short scoff. First, at the fact that his family had sent an errand boy behind his back while he was blind, and second, at the fact that it was a clearly chosen, charming man who had been circling around Rose.

The errand boy, bewildered at first, slightly quivered his lips when he saw Ezekiel. He understood right away why he had been called. He wasn’t a fool. But, true to his well-selected role, Merlot quickly collected himself and bowed.

“Did you call for me?”

The moment he heard the boy’s voice, Ezekiel sharply scrutinized him.

The voice was familiar. He definitely knew that voice.

When was it? Where could it have been?

As he searched through his memories, a single fragment suddenly flashed through his mind.