Hearing Roman’s words, Viscount Barco’s expression distorted instantly. Roman Dmitry’s remarks completely crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed, even if they were in a hostile relationship.
“You! How dare you show such an attitude and utter such words! Do you not know who I am?!”
Viscount Barco and Roman Dmitry—they had different statuses. If Viscount Barco was the head of the family, then Roman was just a kid from a Baron family who hadn’t even obtained any title yet. Thus, such words were obviously offensive and meant to disregard Viscount Barco. Still, even a toothless tiger couldn’t ignore the words of Roman, and being in front of other nobles, Viscount Barco was someone who especially couldn’t accept them.
“Very well, I will tell you what you did wrong. You might have thought that you, a vulgar fool who knows nothing about the laws of nobles, could intervene in the wars of other people without a cause, but that isn’t allowed in the Cairo Kingdom. Why did you think Barco declared a territorial war? According to your logic, it would have been enough even if we attacked before Lawrence was prepared, but we did everything with nobles’ laws and the Central Government’s approval.”
The war with Lawrence was based on a long plan. Barco publicly announced the dispute based on the forged documents and emphasized that the cause was so huge that no one should intervene in the war between them. To him, it was a perfect plan. Even if people didn’t like Barco’s attitude, they couldn’t haphazardly.
Then, why? Viscount Barco couldn’t even begin to understand why and how Roman Dmitry intervened in their battle.
“The nobles of Cairo aren’t fools. A war without any cause in the noble society deserves a burial, and the Barco family will question your actions and make the Dmitry family pay the price for them. The Dmitry family cannot avoid this responsibility. No matter how great a family’s name is, there is an implicit agreement between the neighboring nobles that a family that violates the nobles’ laws will be destroyed. If you were maybe even a bit interested in the history of nobles, I wouldn’t have had to say all of this.”
He raised his voice even more. Seeing Roman’s calm expression despite all saying all that intertwined Barco’s insides.
“You aren’t going to use the excuse that you didn’t know the laws of nobles, right? Do you finally understand how stupid you were? Because of you, your family will have to suffer now. That means that the Dmitry family, who have lived in peace despite having a fool of a son, will now be criticized by the nobles of the North-East!”
Kwang! He pounded on the table.
As he got up from his seat and exhaled deeply, Roman looked up at him and calmly asked, “All done?”
“What?!”
Roman’s voice was unbelievably calm.
Even though a storm was raging within Viscount Barco, Roman was incredibly calm, looking around at the other nobles.
“Then, from now on, I will tell you how and why I got involved in the war between Lawrence and Barco.”
The atmosphere subsided at Roman’s words.
Breaking through the tension where even the breathing sound felt heavy, Roman said in a sharp voice, “Lawrence and Dmitry were initially going to be married. However, I decided to break off our marriage due to undisclosed reasons, and in that way, I became a fool who suffered divorce. What do you think was the reason that happened? My reputation? My needs from a woman? Or simply because Miss Fiora Lawrence didn’t like me? All of them are incorrect.”
Tap tap.
He tapped his finger on the desk; hearing that sound, the surrounding nobles became nervous.
“Barco’s eldest son, Anthony Barco, threatened me to break up with her.”
“…?!”
“Let’s head back to the Barco family’s second last banquet that I attended. I was acquainted with Anthony Barco, so even after promising to marry the daughter of Viscount Lawrence, I attended the banquet at his invitation. I even drank at his invitation, but that only led me into a trap. Drunk, I woke up in a room beside Emily Barco, and realized that Anthony had set up a trap to break Lawrence away from Dmitry. And as expected, Anthony Barco used that incident as an excuse to threaten to annul my marriage with Lawrence.”
Hearing Roman’s words, the nobles were perplexed. If Roman actually broke off his marriage with Lawrence due to Anthony Barco’s threats, then he obviously had a justified cause for intervening.
‘The moment one bares their fangs at me, I pick them out and destroy the threat.’
At the time when he was once walking on thin ice in the Demonic Sect, Baek Joong-hyuk suffered all kinds of harm. Unlike Roman, who didn’t even try to solve the problems even though his reputation was down to a ridiculous level, at that time, Baek Joong-hyuk solved his problems by facing them head-on.
So what if he was a fool to others? His people trusted Baek Joong-hyuk with their lives, and the rumors about him slowly disappeared as he dealt with his enemies head-on.
And just like that, Roman Dmitry also firstly blocked the cause of the threat. After all, he couldn’t fall further than being a fool.
Nevertheless, seeing the unusual situation, Viscount Barco shouted with his eyes red from anger, “Nonsense! Do you think anyone will believe that? Alright, I will call Emily Barco right now to check if what you said is really true. Everyone knows how disgustingly Dmitry’s Fool has lived all his life, but it is honestly disgusting to see you try and use your mouth to cover up the truth with lies.”
“I knew you would say that. Had it been someone who would admit the truth instead of you, we would never have met in such a situation. Very well, I will take this opportunity to make things clear now. The reason I got involved in the war between the two estates wasn’t to take revenge against Anthony Barco intimidating me, but something else.”
“Something else…?”
He has something else to say?
Viscount Barco felt like he was drowning further down in the mud by the moment. Hearing the words of Roman and seeing his confident attitude, it felt like he was now playing into the palm of Roman.
Nevertheless, Roman continued, “Everyone knew that Anthony Barco followed Flora Lawrence around. However, in the process, that man crossed a line he should never have. He tried to molest Flora Lawrence, but failed. And shocked by that incident, she decided to break up with me. The true reason for breaking off the marriage between Dmitry and Lawrence was that after going through such a thing, she didn’t have the confidence to smile at the wedding.”
“W-what did you?!”
“Do you think that is a lie, as well? Fine. Then, call in Emily Barco and Flora Lawrence, as well. They both will speak the truth.”
Roman had turned the situation into a mess. Just like Anthony Barco trapped and pulled him down, Roman did the same for him. However, the difference was that Roman could get his revenge right here, in the estate of Barco. It doesn’t even matter if Emily Barco said ten lies about Roman; Flora could do the same for Anthony Barco. Even the truth didn’t matter in the current situation. As long as there was a justification for dispelling his opponent’s words, Roman’s plan would turn out to be successful. Also…
‘Firstly, Anthony Barco tried to molest Flora. Even if it wasn’t as good or as plausible as Emily being beside me, he crossed a line as Flora was going to get married to someone. As I have revealed these actions in front of the other nobles, even Anthony’s father, Viscount Barco, cannot completely believe his own son.’
Roman had mixed lies with the truth.
And finally, he decided to strike the final blow.
“Anthony Barco touched my woman, who was promised to marry me. Now, I ask Viscount Barco and those gathered here—Do you seriously think I had no reason to intervene in the war between Barco and Lawrence? I intervened in the war only with my own power, and not my family’s power. That is the best I could do for Flora, whose side and feelings I didn’t initially know, and to show her that I accepted the divorce without harsh feelings between us.”
It was a truly perfect hit—The argument made sense, and Roman showed his cause to others. Now, Viscount Barco wasn’t the main character anymore. He was speechless. Cold sweat flowed down his forehead, and thousands of thoughts and calculations ran through his mind to try and find a solution to the current situation.
‘There’s no way out of this. Roman Dmitry had a perfect cause.’
Instead of cornering and taking revenge for Anthony’s intimidation, Roman had a perfect reason for intervention in the war between Lawrence and Barco.
In addition, Roman had intervened in the war entirely on his own, taking note that the issue might turn into a dispute between Dmitry and Barco otherwise.
Now, there was nothing Viscount Barco could say. The moment Roman laid out his cause as revenge for the disrespect against Flora Lawrence, his future wife, it was evident that Barco would face irredeemable backlash and blame.
Viscount Barco felt dizzy, and his mouth became dry.
‘He is a true monster. The nobles who initially tried to help me have been completely swayed by Roman’s words.’
They turned themselves away from Viscount Barco. They didn’t want to fall like Barco by taking the wrong side, in case Roman’s words were true.
Now, the battle for the truth was meaningless. Even if he brang in Emily Barco, there was nothing he could gain anymore.
‘There is only one way left for the Barco family to survive. Rather than giving a perfect excuse, I need to find a way to avoid this situation and find a new solution.’
Finally, as if nothing had happened, Viscount Barco calmed down and said, “I do not think that what you have said is true. Just as Dmitry’s Fool denied the matters with Emily Barco, I think Anthony Barco would do the same. Thus, I will clearly confirm the truth about this situation and then contact you again. Sorry, everyone. I didn’t call you all here for this…”
His words eventually faded. Flustered and embarrassed, he tried to hold onto the nobles, not wanting to lose hope.
Seeing that, Roman smiled. He recalled the conversation he had with Chris the previous day.
“You really mean to go to Barco?! That is suicide. Viscount Barco will not leave you alone!”
Roman’s plan—Hearing that he wanted to go to Barco, Chris panicked.
It was actually natural. Roman, who had ruined Barco’s plans, now wanted to go into his estate? It was crazy.
However, Roman asked, “Chris, what do you think my future relationship with Barco will be like?”
“…Barco definitely considers the liege as their enemy by now. If the liege hadn’t intervened, they would have taken down Lawrence and walked into the estate, happy. However, even so, it doesn’t make sense to touch an enemy with nothing to lose. If possible, it is better to avoid getting close instead.“
“No.”
Until he reached the apex of the Demonic Sect, while slaughtering thousands of enemies, Baek Joon-hyuk established an iron rule.
“If we aren’t the one who started it, it doesn’t matter. However, remember this one thing, Chris—If you start something, you must see its end. We both know Barco will hold a grudge against me in the future. Then, it is best for us to uproot any problems, like the revenge they will try to take in the future, while they are in a mess.”
Back to the present moment.
Roman looked at Viscount Barco and said in a low but terrifying voice, “Viscount Barco.”
Everyone’s eyes were now focused solely on Roman. Viscount Barco momentarily tried to look good in front of the other nobles, but in fact, even he was stunned hearing Roman’s call.
“Choose—Would you like to end this with Anthony Barco being punished for my personal conflict with him, or do you want to take things forward as a family matter?”
With the word ‘Choose,’ Roman thrust his sword and placed it directly under Viscount Barco’s chin.
