"The rumors spreading in the county… are they true? Had that boy opened his Aura Gate and went from nothing to the 5th stage of body tempering in mere minutes?" This was said by a man with red hair and eyes. If one looks closely at his face, one will find his facial features quite similar to Arlo's. He was the one known as the Fierce Sword. He was the strongest Count of the Empire but not a good father. He lived under the same roof as Roy, but they hadn't seen each other in years. He was just that distant to this son of his.
"I see. Only half of what happened in the training ground reached your ears. Roy did what you heard in the middle of a battle. The beating he took from his opponent loosened his Aura Gate, helping him advance to the first stage of body tempering. Then, I don't know how, but he further opened up his Aura gate to the mid-point and broke through four more levels as easily as breathing, defying all common sense. What happened next was more bewildering. He bested Yiran in swordsmanship. Yiran is the kid the eldest brought home. His Basic Swordsmanship was shaped to perfection under the guidance of the Knights. But compared to Roy's, his sword skill was like child's play, easy to read. Roy has raised his basic swordsmanship skills to the point where there's nothing major I can criticize. Do you know what I saw when he was beating Yiran? I saw the figure of the Great Sun overlapping with him."
Arlo had nothing but praises for Roy.
Roy's attitude towards him was pretty shit.
He didn't know how to act cute like a kid to win his uncle's favor.
Except for that, he was excellent in every other aspect.
"I have heard of that boy. Arthur recommends him to me for the upcoming Adulthood Ceremony. Facing defeat at the hands of a failure must've been a shocking blow to his mentality. How's he doing now?"
Badulf had heard of Yiran, quite recently. He had a cruel temperament. Arthur had brought him home to shape him into his sword. He needed a sword that would kill for him, meaning Yiran wasn't just any cabbage on the street. Arthur had wanted to officially insubordinate him after the Adulthood ceremony. But everything was destroyed by Roy.
'Is he for real?' Arlo's eyes twitched. 'The count is heartless to Roy. Roy carries the blood of Baldwin, but instead of worrying about him, he is worried about an arrogant beggar Arthur picked up from the streets. Tch.'
Disappointed with the attitude of his brother, Arlo clicked his tongue out loud.
Badulf looked at him questioningly. "What?"
"You want to know how Yiran is doing, right?" Arlo smiled pleasantly at him. "He is doing very, very worse lately. I don't think he would be able to hold a sword for the rest of his life. Pretty good for a person courting death."
The word fear wasn't in Arlo's dictionary. That was why he was able to be so sarcastic in Badulf's presence.
Slowly but surely, Badulf's eyes widened in shock. "That failure crippled him?"
"Ah, yes, it was quite a spectacle."
Hearing his word, Badulf smashed his fist on the table. It didn't burst apart because he had controlled his strength. However, a crack appeared in its center, which grew bigger and bigger until it broke into two unequal parts. He was just that ridiculously strong.
"Why didn't you stop him?!" Badulf yelled.
"The first one to cross the line was Yiran. And Roy only took necessary actions to make him pay the price for his atrocities. He did nothing wrong. So I had no reason to butt in."
"I don't like what he did."
"Well, I did." Arlo was intentionally getting on Badulf's nerves. It wasn't hard for the person in question to determine that.
Badulf narrowed his eyes at Arlo. "Do you want to receive a punishment alongside him?" He said these words with a pause.
"You can't punch him in the face. He won a Duel of Honor in the presence of many Knights. If you take action against him, it would be like smacking the emperor in the face. You definitely don't want that."
Because Roy had killed a person of his son, Badulf wanted to punish him horribly.
However, Arlo was against him taking action against Roy.
"You know he isn't mine, but you still want to support him?"
The first thing Arlo did after hearing what Badulf said was look around. After making sure there was no one near them, he breathed out in relief. What Badulf said was too shocking. Roy wasn't his son, and Lady Florence wasn't his wife. If this truth were to reach the ears of the empire's citizens, Badulf's reputation would go down the drain. He would be made fun of by the people.
"He isn't your son. I won't deny that."
Roy wasn't Badulf's son. Arlo also knew that.
The story goes like this.
There was a man who married his first wife out of love and his second wife to stabilize his power.
He promised them he would not get involved with another woman and that the most capable one among the child he would have with them would become the heir to his throne.
The man was from a clan once too mighty, now a part of lost history.
Breaking a promise wasn't in the blood of the members of this clan.
But one day, a demon possessed him, taking control of his body.
It didn't touch his wives and only went around collecting lost artifacts.
But one day, it went out and brought home a woman too pretty. She was almost fairy-like, and he loved her dearly.
Nine months later, she gave him a child.
Two months later, Vizards returned to the county.
He was an old friend of the man, and he noticed that he had been possessed by a demon.
He purged the demon out of his body, helping him regain his freedom.
But it was already too late.
A huge mess was left for the man to deal with.
And that man was none other than the Count of Baldwin County.
A lot of things happened after that, but that was a story for another time.
"Neither that woman nor that child has anything to do with you. But the blood of Baldwin courses through his veins. And he has proved that. He can be a mage or a Weapon Master, or both at the same time. That's unique only to our bloodline. We're limited in number. I won't let you suppress him more than you already have. I won the bet we made the day you fucked up his life. I hope you will be true to your words." Arlo gave Badulf a stubborn look. It was his way of saying that he would duke it out with him if he tried to harm Roy more than he already had.
The count had harmed Roy 16 years ago.
Roy was born with a fully opened Magic Gate.
But the count had forced close it using his energy.
That was what led to his mental retardation!
Badulf felt offended. He had never gone back on his words. That was Arlo's job.
He met Arlo's eyes. Arlo could see a maddened fire burning in them. "I lacked the will to kill an innocent child, so I only sealed his Magic Gate. Now, however, he's fully grown up. I won't kill an innocent man, and I won't go back on my words. But he has already destroyed one of my son's potential tools. How long will it take for him to turn around and bites the hand that feeds him? If he ever does that, I'll stop at nothing to extinguish him."
Badulf promised to let him be, but he won't remain silent if Roy tries to steal what belongs to his children.
"Don't blame this count for being ruthless that day."
"Don't worry. What you fear would never come true. He won't eye the county."
Badulf hadn't seen Roy in action, but Arlo had. This Baldwin County in the north of the Empire wasn't good enough to hold him. Roy was like a legendary Roc. He would reach the highest level of the sky and not rot in these lands.
"You've made many empty promises in the past," Badulf said calmly.
Arlo placed his hand on his chest. "I swear on the blood of Baldwin that I won't let Roy desire the highest seat of this county." He vowed, and his chest glowed. The glow was of a golden color.
"You… are a fool."
Badulf was right. There was no bigger idiot than Arlo. He had made a promise on his Aura Gate. If he failed to fulfill it, his Aura Gate would crumble, leaving him severely damaged and weakened.
Arlo smiled, not at all feeling taunted by Badulf's words. "There's a new story in the county. A few travelers went out in search of a rumored Gold Mountain. Seventy days passed, but they couldn't find it. They felt disappointed and packed up their bags to head home. On their way back, they met a man who was visiting the treasure trove they had been searching for for more than two months. The villager didn't mind guiding them there. Only after reaching that place did they realize it wasn't a literal Mountain but a river running through one. The river used to have lots of specks of gold in it. But in the past seventy days, thousands of people came to extract them. By the time they reached the river, it was already dried up of all its value. They reached the treasure trove, but it was emptied. They had eyes, but they only looked far above for 70 days. If they had only looked below their nose, they would've seen it. Brother of mine… You're just like them."
What Arlo was saying was clear to Badulf.
He had eyes, but he wasn't able to recognize Mount Tai.
Roy was Mount Tai.
His talent was unparalleled.
"My sons are better than him."
Arlo cracked. Badulf must be delusional to believe that his sons were better than Roy. Just like Rose Charlotte, Roy was born with a fully opened Magic Gate. And he also had a Gate of Aura. The Magic Gate was sealed, but it could be unsealed. Once that happens, he would be a Magic and a Weapon Master, similar to him and the count.
"We'll see." How could his sons ever be his match then?
"Are you going to meet him?"
Arlo turned to leave, but Badulf stopped him when he reached the door.
"I'm going to give him a visit. Why? Do you want me to relay a message to him?"
Arlo was right on point. Badulf wanted him to do a thing for him. He opened the drawer and took out a scroll.
"Yeah, take this with you." He threw it ahead, and Arlo caught it. "Give it to him. And ask him to sign this as soon as possible."
Arlo looked at the thing in his hand.
It was the betrothed certificate that Rose Charlotte had returned to them!
