Chapter 227: Chapter 227

“Have you arrived, Young Master?”

The butler bowed deeply as he greeted Raymond. There was a bruise on his temple.

…To beat James like this, who had served the family since their parents’ generation.

Knowing James’s lifespan, Raymond felt a pang of sorrow. The old butler would die of a stroke in a few years. Suddenly, too many people he hadn’t thought about crowded his mind.

“Where is my brother?”

“Baron Saytes is in the drawing room.”

“Tell him I’ll go see him now. I’m heading there right away.”

“Understood.”

A spark of resolve flashed in him.

“What about Xenon, Young Master? I thought he would come with you.”

“As I gained experience, I found I needed Xenon’s help less and less. So, I asked him to do something else.”

“I see… To be honest, we weren’t expecting you, so we’re a bit unprepared.”

Bits of damage were visible here and there around the manor. The servants looked gloomy, and the maintenance was clearly neglected. With an invalid as the master and no mistress, the state of things was not good. Seeing James ashamed, Raymond lightly patted his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. This is my home.”

“…Yes, sir.”

Raymond took a fresh look around his own house. Each part, he had once intended to clean and maintain himself, seemed not as vast as it once had with servants around. As Raymond headed to the drawing room, the people inside opened the door with tense expressions.

“Brother.”

“You’re here, Raymond.”

Baron Saytes, holding a bottle of liquor, looked at Raymond entering the drawing room.

Raymond sat down in front of his brother.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the army still? And what’s wrong with your eye?”

“…I got out early.”

“Didn’t go blind, did you?”

“Not sure.”

It becomes easier with age. Knowing where to blow things up and whom to kill was the easiest part in war. The hardest part was saving people.

Killing his older brother became easy, too. The version of his brother during Raymond’s childhood might have been large, but now, a single knife in his hands could end him in minutes.

“Brother, I broke off my engagement with Isella Evans.”

“…What?”

The massive body swayed. The baron’s face contorted.

“You… crazy little… Who are you to— What about Verdic Evans… Is it because of your eye?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then why! Damn it, why?! I need to meet Verdic right now. This is insane… Even so, to break off the engagement…”

“Brother.”

Raymond met the baron’s eyes as he spoke.

“Isella Evans and I simply aren’t right for each other.”

A long silence followed.

But it was only a reprieve because the baron didn’t understand what he meant. As he began to comprehend, his face grew redder and purpler.

“Did you… say this?”

“Yes.”

“You goddamn… idiot! You imbecile! You know nothing but how to shoot!”

It would be easier that way.

Raymond stood up as the baron approached him, his face red with rage.

“I absolutely cannot allow this! You fool… You need a beating to come to your senses…!”

“Brother.”

Subduing him was easy. Despite his size, with his body having grown lazy and corpulent from an indolent lifestyle, the baron was slow, and Raymond—unusually fit even amongst military men—no longer needed to seek his brother’s permission.

* * *

Carynne looked up at Raymond’s side profile.

“With the Baron… Did you resolve things well with your brother?”

“Yes, I resolved it well.”

Carynne seemed concerned. She recalled something he said to her when he was 117.

He once told her that he couldn’t trust what she said. That she knew nothing. That she didn’t even know his brother would die. That she didn’t even know herself… So, at the end of the day, these were reasons why he could love her.

After that, Carynne had been bothered that Raymond never mentioned anything about his family to her again.

“I sent my brother to a hospital.”

Carynne’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Isn’t… Isn’t that a bit too much?”

Most hospital wards were in deplorable conditions. Therefore, it was natural for families who could afford it to keep their loved ones at home and have a doctor visit them.

Perhaps she thought it didn’t align with his past behavior of considering others.

But Carynne only knew one side of Raymond. Wishing for him to walk a better path, the method of simply bearing everyone’s burdens was not a better path for Raymond at all.

“This was the best way.”

If left unchecked, Baron Saytes would cause someone’s demise. And the baron himself was going to die soon anyway. Raymond thought it would be more sinful to just leave him be.

There was no way for him and his brother to fully reconcile. The baron had lived too long in a haze of drugs and laziness. It was not better to let him keep his title of nobility intact.

“Carynne, maybe… becoming just friends isn’t the better option. You said you have plenty of time, but realistically, it’s not that much. The overlapping of time really only happens between us two, and Miss Isella probably doesn’t know much about you.”

* * *

“Why did you say that?”

Zion scratched his head as he watched Raymond sit down dejectedly.

“What’s wrong with what I said?”

Raymond murmured gloomily, staring down at his drink in a dark tavern. Zion found it hard to adapt to the sudden change in Raymond’s demeanor and struggled to respond. He then asked him, while taking his share.

“Are you drunk?”

“No.”

Raymond was known for his capacity to hold his liquor. Even when mischievous superiors made him drink crates at a time, his face remained unaltered. There was no way he was drunk after barely drinking a glass.

‘It would be better if he were drunk.’

Zion Electra found it uncomfortable watching Raymond’s gloomy state. He did not want to display the commendable friendship of consoling him.

‘I need to meet Miss Isella quickly.’

The cause of Raymond’s gloom was Isella Evans, who Zion was earnestly trying to impress.

“Um… Sir Raymond, I should go now…”

“Why does Miss Isella speak to Carynne like she’s ordering around a platoon?”

“……”

It didn’t seem like he would let it go.

Zion wanted to avoid Raymond’s lamenting grip but realized it was impossible. All he could do was sigh.

Raymond had been very gloomy lately.

“I’m going to become friends with Miss Isella.”

While Carynne’s efforts with Isella didn’t please him, he tried to understand it. The reason she was acting this way was ultimately because of Raymond himself.

And thinking of his enduring connection with Isella Evans, he somewhat agreed with her desire to get along better.

“Why…”

However, Isella’s obvious reluctance to become closer to Carynne saddened Raymond. While Carynne seemed only slightly dejected, watching her like this tore Raymond’s heart.

He was on the verge of begging at gatherings of distinguished ladies in high society to help Carynne make other friends.

Of course, he refrained, knowing Carynne would want to smash his head for such actions, but nevertheless, Raymond found Isella’s recent treatment of Carynne utterly unreasonable.

“Why does she do that when I’m not around?”

Raymond could still remember the interactions between Isella and Carynne in the past.

Isella always had her claws out for Carynne. No matter how much Carynne tried to accommodate her and worked diligently, no matter how miserable she became, Isella never seemed satisfied.