# Chapter 110
The day Levi returned to the Caron Empire.
After finishing his busy schedule and visiting Ion’s grand duke mansion with a refreshed mind, Hest had to grab his collar as soon as he arrived.
“What nonsense is this?! Why did Levi go to that bastard?!”
Highly agitated, he grabbed Ion’s collar and shook him in the mansion lobby, drawing sharp glances from all directions. Ion, realizing that if this continued for a few more seconds, the immortal soldiers guarding the interior of the mansion might point their swords at Hest, calmly tried to pacify him.
“Let go of this and let’s talk inside.”
“You really…! Huff…”
Hest, who had been raising his voice, took a labored breath with his face already reddened from anger. Although he knew Ion wouldn’t have thoughtlessly sent Levi back, it was still difficult to readily accept that he’d sent Levi to an enemy they should be crushing.
Once inside the reception room alone with Ion, Hest placed his hands on his hips and put pressure on him with his eyes, as if saying, “Go ahead, explain.”
“Before I tell you why Levi returned, there’s something you need to hear, Hest.”
“Reverse the order. Why Levi returned comes first.”
Hest, whose temper had worsened due to his rising anger, growled with gritted teeth. Ion tried to calm him again and, sticking to his insistence, began by explaining the memories Levi had recovered.
Although Hest initially exhaled rough breaths with a contorted face, it didn’t take long after the story began for him to listen with a serious expression.
As expected, he showed great surprise at the anticipated parts.
The mythical story of how Levi’s ‘Hand of Death’ and Ion’s ‘Hand of Life’ were connected, and why their abilities were similar yet completely opposite, was certainly surprising.
But what shocked Hest more was the fact that the black fragment wasn’t just a simple core fragment, but could take the form of a ‘human.’
The revelation that Raziel was the fourth black fragment, and that he likely possessed Levi’s memories of staying with Ion in the Black Forest, brought considerable shock.
However, Levi’s recovered memories didn’t just bring hard-to-believe shocks to Hest.
Since these memories also included his childhood, when those stories came up, he showed an uncharacteristic nostalgia.
After relaying everything Levi had told him, Ion carefully asked Hest, who was still immersed in reminiscence of the past.
“Did you know? About the late Marquis Wesslon…”
Ion couldn’t speak more specifically.
Former Marquis Wesslon, Eiden, had suddenly disappeared one day, saying he was going hunting. Only much later was the marquis’s clothing found in the forest, containing a single suicide note. The very brief note stating that he could no longer live and was entrusting everything to his successor gave Hest complex emotions at the time.
Thinking about it, the day Eiden disappeared was the same day Claudia, who had sent Ion to escape to the Black Forest, was said to have been killed by slave traders. Eiden had probably left the mansion to humbly accept his own death, sensing the death of his lord, Claudia, to whom he was connected.
Hest showed surprisingly calm composure regarding this aspect.
“I’m the one who saw you creating the immortal army right beside you. I couldn’t help but notice that your subordinates’ eyes were exactly the same as our father’s when looking at the princess. There was also a famous anecdote about how he nearly died once but woke up thanks to the young princess.”
Hest said that he had been guessing the relationship between his father and Princess Claudia for a long time, and this was merely confirmation of his suspicions.
But what Ion was more concerned about was actually a different matter.
The fact that Hest was merely an ‘adopted son brought in out of necessity’ by Marquis Eiden Wesslon.
Seeing Ion’s uncharacteristic hesitation to speak, Hest gave a dismissive look.
“Oh, don’t look so devastated. Did you think our father was considerate enough to hide all the secrets of my birth?”
After letting out a deep sigh, Hest conveyed words that must have been very difficult for him to hear at such a young age.
“He told me I was just a figurehead son on the surface, and if I wanted to live long, I should do as I was told. If I did that, everything he had would eventually become mine.”
Hest smirked as he recalled his cold father who had never once warmly embraced him.
Come to think of it, the only one who had ever embraced him warmly was Levi.
Perhaps that’s why Levi was so precious to him. Because he had treated him warmly like family, more than anyone else.
Thinking of Levi, anger welled up again toward Ion.
Regardless of the memories Levi had recovered, his heart ached because he wanted to see him right away but couldn’t, as Levi was in a place he couldn’t reach.
Sensing Hest’s rapidly changing mood, Ion spoke as if to soothe him.
“Raziel still thinks of Hest as a pawn he can control.”
As Ion said, Raziel still considered Hest a useful spy.
Given the circumstances that Levi was in the Delos Empire, within Hest’s reach, there was a sufficient possibility that he might change his mind. Nevertheless, Raziel had ordered Hest to recover the third fragment using Chepel, as if Hest would never betray him, and had also ordered him to send Levi back afterward.
These were orders that could be given only because he knew how important Levi was to Hest.
Raziel had anticipated that Levi, having partially recovered his memories, would remember young Hest and embrace him warmly. Knowing how great Hest’s desire would be after that, he had so calmly tried to use him.
To recall the rest of his memories.
For Levi’s long-held wish to be fulfilled.
Hest’s desire could finally be concretized when he realized Raziel was the ‘fourth fragment.’ Only Raziel could satisfy both desires.
But what Raziel overlooked was his belief that Hest was still deceiving Ion.
Young Hest had clearly been jealous of Ion during the brief period Ion was at the mansion. The look in Levi’s eyes, which had always gazed warmly at him, showed even greater kindness towards Ion, and Levi never wanted to leave his side. No matter what Hest did, Levi’s first priority was always Ion, who was nothing more than a newborn baby.
The moment Ion left the mansion led by Claudia, Hest should have felt tremendous satisfaction and joy, difficult to experience at such a young age.
Raziel, who had inherited Levi’s memories, knew all the emotions Hest had shown at that time. Perhaps they were even more visible because young Hest didn’t bother to hide his feelings.
Raziel thought that Levi’s recovered memories would clearly have shaken Hest. He judged that jealousy towards Ion would have reared its head again, and Hest would think it foolish to fully give Levi to him.
Additionally, he expected that Hest could not now confess to Ion that he had been a spy. It wasn’t difficult to predict that if he did, his head would be cut off on the spot.
If it had been anyone but Hest, that would indeed have been the case.
Ion and Hest were extremely close, beyond what Raziel could predict. The relationship between the two in Raziel’s memories of Levi would have appeared to be merely that of a young child forced into someone’s care and a noble young master who reluctantly took him in, but in reality, they had built such thick trust that they could be called brothers.
As if seeing through Raziel’s thoughts, Ion continued:
“For now, it’s best to follow Raziel’s orders.”
After ordering Hest to find the black fragments and have Levi absorb them, Raziel had given one more command.
To take Levi, who had recovered his memories, to the southern border region a week later.
The note containing the order also included detailed instructions, saying that if specific code words were delivered to a certain man at the border region, he would guide them to a hidden secret passage, beyond which would be several people from the imperial palace waiting in advance.
As soon as the note arrived, Ion, who had checked its contents with Hest, had headed to the southern border region early this morning with Levi. After dyeing his hair and even changing his eye color to look like Hest, he had personally sent Levi across the border to the Caron Empire while wearing a mask.
Still unable to forget Levi’s black eyes that he had seen last, Ion, trying hard to appear calm, clenched his hands together as if making a pledge and spoke:
“They will naturally think it was Hest who sent Levi, so they will judge that they can continue to use him.”
“That’s not what’s important right now!”
A loud bang echoed as Hest’s excited fist struck the table. If it hadn’t been made of premium hardwood, known as the most solid, the table before their eyes would have cracked in half with a loud sound.
“Whether I’m considered a traitor or not, you could have just kept Levi and not sent him back! Why did you need to return him to such a bastard?!”
“Because we need to recover the remaining fragments.”
Hest’s face contorted with question.
“You said one of those fragments is that bastard Raziel, right? Do you think Levi can take a fragment from someone he’s been trying to protect with his own hands all this time?!”
“Yes.”
Ion answered without hesitation.
Tightly gripping his hands until the blood drained from them, Ion recalled Levi’s unwavering voice.
“Levi… said he would kill Raziel himself.”
