CHAPTER 279: I'LL GIVE IT TO YOU

It was humiliating enough to allow a local nobleman to invade the heart of the Marquis’s territory, but at Ethan’s words to kneel, not only the sons and daughters of Dren, but all those belonging to the Marquis’s territory felt humiliated.

The first to step forward was Paris, the eldest son of Marquis Dren.

As Paris stepped forward, not only his subordinates but also his angry siblings stepped forward as if claiming to be representatives themselves.

“What insolence is this! Telling us to kneel? Do you know where you are?!”

“A mere local nobleman! You should know that with that one word, we would be justified in cutting off your head right now!”

The chief administrator’s expression hardened even more as he watched those who were pouring out their emotions at Ethan. He had clearly said it wasn’t the time to fight.

Deciding who was the representative now was not important at all.

Could they not see Ethan’s claws?

The worst-case scenario flashed through the chief administrator’s mind. The death of Marquis Dren, and Ethan Whiskers invading as if he had planned everything from the beginning.

“…Pushing us out.”

The chief administrator’s voice trembled. Not only his shoulders but even his fingertips trembled finely.

“Are you saying you want to become the new Twelve Families…?”

It’s an impossible thing. The position of the Twelve Families has been solid without ever wavering until now.

The Holy Empire and the Demon Empire. The twelve stars that have settled in these two empires have never once wavered in their position.

Of course, there were many who coveted this symbolic position. Many of those countless people challenged the Twelve Families, but none succeeded.

The reason was simple. It wasn’t just facing one family of the Twelve Families when you faced the Twelve Families.

Since it was unlikely that the existing Twelve Families would accept a family without roots, those who wanted to fight the Twelve Families had to face not just one family, but several Twelve Families.

It was difficult enough to face one Twelve Families house, let alone withstand attacks from several houses.

In the Demon Empire, where there were many belligerent individuals, conflicts over the position of the Twelve Families were commonplace, but none of them had ever managed to pull down the Twelve Families.

“…!”

But now, he thought that it might just happen.

Although it was too early and an unreasonable prediction, for some reason, the anxiety wouldn’t leave the chief administrator’s mind.

“Insolence? Aren’t you the insolent ones? Even if the Dren family is one of the Twelve Families, isn’t it a bit much to send assassins to us Whiskers who belong to the same country?”

“You… Everyone knows that you assassinated father… the Marquis overnight!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. All I experienced last night was being attacked. Look, aren’t these the Nightwalkers raised by the Marquis Dren family?”

Ethan shouted loudly. At that noisy commotion, everyone in the Marquis’s territory had to become aware of this situation.

Yerica, watching Ethan’s confident demeanor from behind, couldn’t help but smile.

It was extremely satisfying to barge into the heart of a Twelve Families house and speak loudly.

“And you say I assassinated Marquis Dren overnight? Do you have any evidence? Do you have any grounds to say so? We do.”

Ethan brought forward the bound Nightwalkers.

“Here are the Nightwalkers sent along with the letter of protest. Feel free to try to deny it. We’ve already heard everything from them.”

The Nightwalkers all had blank expressions as if their souls had left them. This was because Ethan had made them honest with his Bone Muscle Control.

Paris Dren, who had stepped forward, frowned deeply.

“Yes, we have grounds to say so! For whatever reason, Marquis Dren sent Nightwalkers! Isn’t that reason enough for you to assassinate the Marquis?!”

“You’re talking nonsense. This means the Marquis Dren family attacked first, so you can’t even make excuses.”

As Ethan spoke as if teaching, Paris’s face turned bright red.

The heirs of the Marquis Dren family were all less capable than Marquis Dren. That’s why the succession battle had been dragging on endlessly.

“Step back.”

Unable to watch any longer, the second child pushed Paris aside and stepped forward.

“So are you saying you want to go to war now? Are you here to declare war?”

“What’s your name?”

“…It’s Haight Dren.”

Although he knew the name, he asked intentionally. It was a hint that this wasn’t a place for someone whose name he didn’t even know.

Haight unconsciously clenched his fist in frustration.

Ethan quickly surveyed Haight’s expression and attitude, then glanced at the expressions of the others.

‘This might be easier than I thought.’

Not a single person was managing their expression properly.

Such a loose mental state. With such a lack of experience, they couldn’t be a match for Ethan.

“Yes, Young Master Haight. You’re asking if I came to wage war? If you want it, we’ll have to do it. But I came here today to hear an apology.”

Ethan, armed with numerous experiences, knew very well how to lead the conversation to gain the upper hand.

“Of course, you know this isn’t something that can end with just an apology, right? You aimed for my life. It’s truly unfortunate that Marquis Dren has passed away, but it’s not my concern. After all, it was Marquis Dren who sent assassins to kill me.”

“The Marquis…!”

Unable to hold back any longer, the chief administrator quickly came forward and bowed his head.

“Let’s… let’s talk separately, Young Master Ethan Whiskers. To discuss clearly what the situation is, it would be better to talk inside. We will escort you.”

“It’s Count Ethan Whiskers, Chief Administrator.”

Ethan turned back and shouted loudly.

“I’ll go and talk! Stand by!”

“Yes!”

The knights responded with a resounding voice.

***

“Why… we’re the victims here!”

“Ethan Whiskers came in alone, so now’s our chance! We should capture him, throw him in the underground prison, and make him pay for his crimes!”

In the Marquis’s office.

Leaving Ethan alone in the grand conference room, the five heir candidates and the chief administrator gathered in the office to discuss.

To deal with Ethan Whiskers, who had arrived so quickly, they needed a definite method to resolve this situation.

It wasn’t the time to talk about revenge for the Marquis or anything like that.

Nevertheless, Paris and Haight, the first and second sons who had faced Ethan earlier, didn’t seem to grasp the situation properly.

The chief administrator was quite at a loss as to what to do with these two stupid heir candidates.

But fortunately, the remaining three heir candidates seemed to be looking at the situation quite calmly.

“We need to negotiate before the situation gets out of control. The situation is quite unfavorable for us.”

“We need to seek help from other Twelve Families houses that can help us.”

“But for that, we need a representative…”

“Yes, let’s say it’s temporary. I’ll be the temporary representative for now.”

“What temporary representative? If it’s temporary, couldn’t I do it?”

“Didn’t the Chief Administrator say it! This is not the time for us to fight among ourselves!”

“If we make the older brother who suggested imprisoning Ethan Whiskers our representative, it could lead to a real disaster.”

The frustrating debate continued.

In the midst of this, Hera Dren, the youngest, raised her hand.

“I’ll step out of this matter.”

“Step out?”

“Hera, you know this isn’t the time for that.”

“I mean I’ll follow whoever becomes the temporary representative or whatever. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Let me know when it’s all decided.”

Pleased that one rival was out of the way, Paris Dren, the eldest, smiled slightly.

“Do as you like.”

Hera naturally left the room. A guard followed behind her.

“Lady Hera.”

“They’re all stupid. They don’t even have a clue about how the situation is unfolding. Is this the time to think about revenge or whatever?”

It was a situation that only made her sigh. Everyone was letting their emotions take the lead and not seeing the situation properly.

“The fact that Nightwalkers were sent means that father was determined to kill Count Ethan Whiskers. Taking a big risk.”

The Marquis had acted immediately on the day he returned from the Whiskers territory. This meant he felt the need to handle the matter quickly.

“Come to think of it, it means he’s an opponent that needs to be dealt with quickly enough to take such a risk.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The guard nodded.

“But we were caught off guard instead.”

Marquis Dren wasn’t a good father. Of course, there was a bit of affection, and his death was quite sad, but now wasn’t the time to be immersed in that sadness.

Ethan Whiskers moved quickly. If this movement isn’t properly stopped, it will lead to uncontrollable results.

“This is a matter of the survival of our Marquis Dren family.”

The Marquis Dren family is one of the Twelve Families. Even if the Marquis has died, it’s not a family that will easily crumble.

However, that’s what people who don’t know the inside story say.

“It’s a problem because even though we have many troops, we can’t use them. We can’t go to war anyway. We’re not in a position to do so.”

The knights and soldiers that the Marquis Dren family possesses are numerous, befitting the name of the Twelve Families. If they clash with Whiskers using all of this, they can overwhelm Whiskers without much problem.

No matter how strong Ethan is, the difference in numbers is too great.

“Just give the order.”

“First, go to Count Ethan Whiskers and tell him that I want to talk separately. Very politely.”

“Yes.”

***

Even after Hera left, the four siblings continued to argue.

In the midst of this, an angry Paris Dren stood up, slamming the table.

“We can win. If we prepare all the knights and soldiers…”

“We can’t.”

The chief administrator said in a cold tone.

“If that was possible, the late Marquis would have done so first. You need to look at the current situation coolly!”

The chief administrator continued in a slightly frustrated tone.

“It’s natural to be angry when you think about what Count Ethan Whiskers did to the Marquis. But if we act solely based on anger, we’ll lose all justification. No one will help in a fight without justification. On the other hand, Count Ethan Whiskers has justification, so anyone will help him.”

“…”

Blood vessels popped on Paris Dren’s forehead. Clearly, their forces were much larger, but there was nothing they could do.

Having never been in a position of responsibility before, he couldn’t think about the consequences that would follow when mobilizing forces.

“But don’t we still have justification?”

This time, the second son spoke.

“Putting everything else aside, father, a great nobleman of the Holy Empire, was assassinated. Isn’t that alone enough reason for Ethan Whiskers to deserve death! Don’t you know? Chief Administrator, you know and I know. Ethan Whiskers assassinated father. He invaded overnight for revenge and killed the Dragon Knights, father’s direct guards! That day…!”

“We need to prove it conclusively. Just like how Count Ethan Whiskers brought the bound Nightwalkers. We need solid evidence that the Count assassinated the Marquis. The fact that everyone saw it isn’t enough evidence.”

“We can fabricate evidence as much as we want, can’t we? We have that kind of power, don’t we, Chief Administrator!”

By now, the chief administrator had taken control of the conversation. In fact, this was familiar to them.

“Behind Count Ethan Whiskers are Princess Evangeline and His Holiness the Pope. Those two are people that even Marquis Dren couldn’t handle. That’s why he acted immediately yesterday. How do you plan to frame Count Ethan Whiskers, who has those two backing him?”

“…”

“…”

As soon as the names of the Princess and the Pope were mentioned, the first and second sons shut their mouths. The other two siblings also grabbed their throbbing heads with frustrated expressions.

“Then… what should we do…”

“There are two ways. I’m sure the young masters and ladies know these methods.”

“You’re saying we should apologize. To let this situation pass and plan for the future.”

“Yes, that’s right. We’re in a very tight spot right now. If we’re not careful, we might have to pay an enormous compensation, which will greatly elevate the status of the Whiskers territory.”

The chief administrator said.

“The Whiskers territory is close to the Marquis Dren territory. It’s right next door, so to speak.”

“…The more the status of Whiskers rises, the more our Marquis Dren territory’s influence will inevitably decrease?”

“Yes, and what’s most concerning is the price of this apology. It doesn’t seem like they’ll back down with just any compensation.”

The chief administrator couldn’t gauge Ethan Whiskers’ capacity.

To be honest, even the chief administrator couldn’t understand why last night’s attack had failed.

“We have no choice but to meet and talk. We need to know what he wants before we can negotiate or do anything else.”

The others nodded at Paris Dren’s words.

“If you don’t want to choose a representative, let’s all go together.”

***

While the heir candidates of the Marquis Dren family were in the midst of their meeting.

Ethan was in a different place from where he had originally been.

This was Hera Dren’s office.

“I’ve come to negotiate, Count Ethan Whiskers.”

Hera entered with her guard.

She thought it would be quite a tense atmosphere, but Ethan was smiling with quite a gentle face.

‘This looks like it might go well?’

“Sure, negotiation. Let’s talk.”

Ethan gestured for her to sit down.

“This incident…”

Along with a couple of fake coughs, Hera Dren’s long-winded speech began. But Ethan soon raised his hand to cut off her words.

“I can give you one thing.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’ll let you live.”

For a moment, Hera Dren was stunned with a blank expression.

She had great ambition. But being born the youngest, she had fallen behind her siblings who had been building power even before she was born.

She had always lived a life of catching up. Running while only seeing the backs of her siblings who were ahead, she should have fallen into despair, but she ran and ran again.

That’s why Ethan could be confident. This would work on her.

“Do you know what I hate the most? Doing things half-heartedly.”

Ethan said.

“Let’s take an example. I never killed Marquis Dren, but let’s say I did. What do you think would be my next action, given that I hate doing things half-heartedly, Miss Hera Dren?”

“…”

Hera couldn’t answer. She just stared at Ethan with an appalled face.

“Side with me and help me. Help bring about the downfall of the Marquis family with your own hands.”

Ethan extended his hand.

“Then I’ll give it to you.”

It was an extremely unfair negotiation.

However, that was only for the Marquis family. For Hera Dren herself, it was a negotiation that would allow her to have what she wanted.

“The authority to rule the Dren region of Count Whiskers’ territory.”

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Translator Note:

Oh how it’d be funny if all this time I translated Demon Empire wrong. Instead of Demon Empire, it’s turned out to be Magic Empire.

Since you can translate the KR word for “Demon” as “Magic”.

It’s really bugging me now since the author mentioned “Demon Empire” quite often lately. Well, that’s probably because we’re getting closer and closer to the Demon Empire arc.

But well, whatever. It doesn’t matter for now but, keep this in mind since I might change the way “Demon Empire” being called.

Alright, peace.

Author's Thoughts

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