<Chapter 117>
#13. Seeds of Chaos (6)
Clack.
Durasen quietly shifted his gaze at the friction sound of something being set down. He stared blankly at what was clearly soup that someone had brought, then moved his eyes again. Someone must have brought the food, but there was no sign of whoever had delivered it.
Immersed in heavy silence, Durasen lowered his gaze to the sensation in his hand. There was his grandchild’s notebook that Melty had given him yesterday. It was a notebook he hadn’t let go of, not wanting to lose this trace of family that he had barely managed to hold onto.
He had shed tears while revisiting the crooked, childish handwriting in the notebook even after they had gone. Revisiting family members he had buried deep in his heart for so long wasn’t easy. Strangely, recalling his family’s faces was no longer as painful and agonizing as it had been.
“…Yes. It has been a long time.”
It had been enough time to overcome the wounds, but it was also a period when he couldn’t look around because he was consumed with anger and resentment. His thick hand caressed the notebook. With a faint smile on his lips as he retraced traces of his family, Durasen exhaled deeply.
“Actually, that child too…”
Thinking about it now, taking Iel Tuanivel’s life was something he’d done half impulsively out of anger at her proud, mocking voice. Although it was revenge he had rehearsed dozens of times in his head, when Durasen finally took Iel Tuanivel’s life in a fit of rage, he felt neither joy, pleasure, nor happiness.
The revenge that had begun with his resentment over losing his family so futilely was not yet over. But Durasen no longer had the heart or energy to continue his vengeance.
“Are you feeling better now?”
Durasen smiled gently as he recalled the clear brown eyes filled with worry. Though the large hole in his chest surely remained the same, strangely, it felt as if it had been filled with soft cotton.
“That child is indeed precious.”
Durasen clicked his tongue briefly as he recalled the image of Calix Kuse Padrian, who had been watching him with narrowed, wary eyes. Having shed his heavy burden, he could finally see the present clearly.
Durasen took a deep breath. It was both strange and eerie how his heart had melted just from finding traces of his grandchild, when he had certainly resented everyone.
Now he was ready to calmly pay for his crimes as Calix had requested. Durasen’s testimony at today’s meeting was supposed to play a crucial role. He didn’t know who had informed him about the Tuanivel family’s wrongdoing, nor who had planned and directed the Avartia seed scheme.
‘Following the words of someone I don’t even know—I really wasn’t in my right mind.’
As Durasen shook his head, something entered his field of vision. There was writing on the soup that had looked normal just moments ago. Or more precisely, the letters appeared to be rising to the surface. Startled, he grabbed the soup bowl. With that, the letters that had been written on the soup smoothly disappeared, only to be replaced by new ones in succession.
“What is this…?”
Frozen in shock, Durasen’s expression hardened as soon as he finished reading all the letters that had appeared on the soup. He desperately looked around, but there wasn’t even a trace of whoever had brought this.
“We are watching you.”
“Do not forget.”
Durasen’s face turned pale as he repeatedly read those words that had appeared in two parts.
He had no choice.
***
“I was going to ask how you’ve been doing, but I see there’s no need for that.”
Lila laughed as she spread her arms and hugged Melty tightly the moment they faced each other. At her words, Melty let out a small laugh and shyly straightened his clothes.
“Don’t cling to each other.”
After watching the two embrace with a disgruntled expression, Calix wrapped his arm around Melty’s waist and pulled him toward himself. Lila burst into empty laughter at his territorial behavior as he planted a firm kiss on Melty’s forehead, who was blinking with round, puzzled eyes.
“It’s nice to be lovey-dovey, but I’m a lady. Isn’t this treatment a bit much?”
“Not at all.”
Lila rolled her eyes with a displeased expression at Calix’s sharp retort. But Calix didn’t back down one bit. He was already convinced that Lila was a bad influence on Melty. Considering the inappropriate things she had taught him, Calix should have absolutely opposed today’s meeting, but the situation was different.
A hollow laugh escaped from Kamin Patel as he alternately watched the fox and the snake, who were quietly snarling at each other behind smiling faces.
“This isn’t why we gathered here.”
“Huh? But wasn’t there supposed to be a meeting today?”
Looking puzzled, Melty tilted his head back to look at Calix, then examined Kamin Patel and Lila’s faces. Just that morning, Calix had even promised they would return to the mansion after finishing the meeting. Because of this, Melty, who had woken up late as usual, had been packing his belongings.
At Melty’s head movements, Calix let out an irritated sigh before burying his face in Melty’s hair.
“Mr. Calix?”
“Not ‘Mr.’, just Calix.”
Instead of answering Melty’s questioning tone, Calix sulked, rubbing his face against Melty’s hair. Knowing that Calix had repeatedly requested to simply call him by his name without the honorific recently, Melty called out Calix’s name softly with a trace of a smile.
“Well… the situation has become a bit difficult.”
It was Lila who answered Melty’s question. Stroking the back of her neck with a troubled expression, she spoke with a deep sigh.
“The meeting has been postponed indefinitely.”
“Eh? Why?”
“Mr. Durasen Botenta is unconscious.”
At Lila’s words, Kamin Patel’s face sank into gloom. Unable to fully accept her explanation, Melty froze with a blank expression. Calix, who was rubbing his cheek against Melty’s hair, responded.
“Fine. I’m going back up.”
“It’s obvious what others will think if you leave now. Are you still being stubborn despite knowing that?”
“Why should I care?”
Calix snapped coldly at Kamin Patel’s words. Durasen, who had been fine until morning, had not woken up. Owen Kun Sarvie had diagnosed that it would be difficult for him to regain consciousness due to unknown causes. And from that moment, Calix simply couldn’t suppress his rising irritation.
After the drought caused by Avartia, he had only stopped by here to find the best way to prevent the famine that would follow, since Botenta had the solution. Of course, there was also the need to confirm Durasen, who was suspected to be behind it all. But he had no intention of staying here for so long.
“How will you handle the aftermath then?”
“What aftermath…”
Calix let out a hollow laugh at Lila’s sigh-filled words. Whether it was the Sarvie family primarily dealing with medical arts or the Padrian family managing poisonous and medicinal herbs, what they did was similar. Yet it was always the Padrian side that people were wary of.
The Padrian name was always accompanied by jealousy and envy. In other words, it meant there were countless incidents like this one, where they were framed or placed in awkward situations. Thanks to this, Calix had been thoroughly immunized since childhood against criticism and condemnation from other families.
“No sensible family would turn their back on the Padrian family in the current situation.”
“But if the family’s standing declines, there will inevitably be difficult situations, even for the Padrians. You know this well, which is why you followed the exchange meeting’s decisions.”
Calix simply snorted lightly at Lila’s statement, delivered with a worried expression. It was just about not making enemies due to the complex intertwining of various interests; there wasn’t any special reason.
Since the current head of the Padrian family, Braiante, was a tremendous pacifist, Calix, who hadn’t even become the successor yet, had no choice but to remain under his influence. While under the title of ‘proxy’ rather than successor, many of Calix’s actions were carried out by gauging Braiante’s intentions.
‘Perhaps that’s why he doesn’t give me the successor position.’
If he formally inherited the position, he would be able to act even more freely than now…
Recalling Braiante, who had persistently withheld the successor position, Calix moistened his dry lips with his tongue. Originally, he was far from being an altruistic person. In fact, he didn’t really care who lived or died.
The reason he had willingly accepted the troublesome task passed on from the exchange meeting was simple. First, he had absolutely no faith that others would resolve it well. Second, at that time, to identify the person behind Bain Spangky, who was now revealed to be Durasen Botenta, it was necessary to leave the house. Third, he needed a new date location to seduce Melty.
“This talk seems completely ineffective on someone whose face clearly says ‘why should I care?'”
At Kamin Patel’s words, accompanied by a hollow laugh, Lila’s mouth, which had been listing reasons why Calix shouldn’t leave, snapped shut.
“What’s the point of staying here in the current situation? The mansion’s employees have already roughly guessed Mr. Durasen’s condition and situation, and the confusion will only worsen. With retainers present, there will likely be immediate noise over the succession issue.”
Though it hadn’t happened yet, imagining the situation wasn’t difficult. Moreover, Calix was currently in what was essentially a honeymoon phase. He had absolutely no desire to waste any more time that was already precious to spend closely together in their room.
“Is Mr. Durasen going to be okay?”
Melty, who had been anxiously shifting his gaze amid the tense conversation, asked carefully. At his question, Kamin Patel opened his mouth with a complicated expression.
“…Sigh. Sarvie said they don’t know the reason either, so the problem is there’s no other method.”
“I think the people standing guard initially thought he was just in a deep sleep, but they all noticed something was wrong because his breathing was too faint and he couldn’t be awakened.”
“If he suddenly lost consciousness, it must be a poisonous herb.”
At Calix’s indifferent muttering, Melty grabbed his hand.
“Can’t Calix treat him?”
Not noticing that he had reverted to the original honorific, Melty looked at him with round eyes. Looking at him and smirking, Calix spoke.
“I’m not a medical professional. If he were conscious, I could at least deduce from the symptoms, but that’s not possible in his current state.”
At Calix’s answer, the corners of Melty’s mouth drooped downward. Seeing Melty’s drooping mouth and dejected ear movements, Calix’s lips curled into a smile. At that moment, with a pounding knock, Angel burst in without waiting for permission from inside and exclaimed urgently.
“Lord Calix! Owen Kun Sarvie says he’s leaving!”
