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“There was no particular issue. I just had a few things to discuss with Amelia.”

“Is that so.”

There was a glimmer in Zwalter’s eyes.

Since the past, Ghislain had always been busy avoiding and running away from him. Rather than approaching him to greet him, Ghislain often made excuses and hid whenever Zwalter sought him out.

The only time they ever met face-to-face was when Ghislain got into trouble and was dragged back home.

And now, for Ghislain to come to him of his own accord like this…

That wasn’t all. There was a sense of confidence in his words and actions as well. It was almost as if Ghislain had become a stranger—so different from the person Zwalter once knew.

When a person acts out of character, suspicion naturally arises.

‘Why is this kid acting like this? Is he sick or something?’

Zwalter narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Ghislain from head to toe.

‘Hmm, something’s definitely off.’

As Zwalter remained silent, the atmosphere gradually became heavy. Sensing the shift, Ghislain spoke up first.

“You must have gone through a lot. I heard you defended the estate well again.”

“No, I should have pushed them back completely, but I couldn’t because of matters related to the estate. Still, we inflicted significant damage so that those bastards won’t act recklessly for a while. Once I rest and finish reorganizing, I plan to head out again.”

Ghislain quietly observed his father’s face. Though it wasn’t intentional, he had already heard how difficult the situation in the estate was while he was outside.

However, despite the strain, Zwalter showed no signs of weakness in front of his son, speaking only of the tasks ahead.

‘He’s just the same as always.’

Even after seeing his son for the first time in a long while, his stern face remained unchanged. To others, he would appear to be an emotionless, boring, and humorless man.

When Ghislain was younger, he thought the same. He hated his father for being rigid and strict.

But now, he understood what lay behind that expression: fatigue, exhaustion, and an unshakable sense of responsibility.

‘Everyone depends on that sense of duty.’

The peace that everyone took for granted was actually built on Zwalter’s sacrifices.

As a child, Ghislain thought his father was reckless, who only cared about fighting, and paid no attention to his family. He resented him for this.

He had often envied the children of other noble families who lived comfortably and luxuriously within their estates. He couldn’t understand why only his family had to live in such hardship and poverty.

But now that he understood the weight of responsibility, he felt he could grasp what his father was going through. How difficult it must have been to live like that.

Ghislain became lost in his thoughts. Noticing that his son wasn’t speaking again, Zwalter decided to ask what had been on his mind.

“I heard you personally dealt with Jamal and Philip. Is that true?”

‘Hmm, how should I explain this?’

He was already tired of all the rumors spreading about that incident.

Ghislain hesitated for a moment, and Randolph, the commander of the knights, leaned forward and asked,

“That’s right, there’s been a lot of talk lately. So, let’s be honest. Did you kill them yourself?”

“I didn’t kill all of them myself.”

At that, the retainers of the Ferdium family nodded as if to say, Of course.

From the start, none of them believed the rumor that Ghislain had killed two knights by himself.

Randolph, too, nodded and asked again,

“As expected. So, did they fight among themselves?”

“Yes, they did fight each other.”

Since Frank had killed Jamal and Philip, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

“So the Young lord just finished things off?”

“Well, that’s how it turned out in the end.”

Considering he had killed all the remaining ones, including Frank, it could be said that he had indeed finished things off.

Randolph looked satisfied with Ghislain’s somewhat honest answer. In truth, he was still reeling from the fact that a traitor had emerged within the estate and even more from the absurdity that the knight under his command had fallen to that troublemaker.

“You got lucky. But it still wouldn’t have been easy dealing with a knight. You did well.”

Zwalter, with a somewhat approving smile, spoke to Ghislain. For someone who had been a disgrace to the estate, accomplishing even that much was an impressive feat.

The Ghislain he knew would have run away, abandoning his sister, without a second thought. The fact that he had stayed to protect her meant he hadn’t fallen to the absolute worst yet.

“I heard you even won a duel against Kane. Keep training diligently like that.”

“I will.”

Randolph didn’t bother to press whether beating Kane was actually true. He had already received a report from the knight who witnessed the duel, and he figured it had just been a fight between evenly matched opponents.

After the duel with Kane, the rumors of Ghislain’s role in the orc subjugation had settled into the simple notion that Ghislain had actively helped Skovan. All the controversies had been resolved, but Randolph’s view of Ghislain remained unchanged.

If only he weren’t the son of my lord’s brother, I would’ve snapped him in half already.

This time, Homerne stepped forward.

“Young lord, you must always conduct yourself properly. Always remember that you are the heir to Ferdium. Never lose your honor… and always, for the sake of the estate… your grandfather, Count Dante Ferdium…”

Homerne’s nagging began to stretch on endlessly.

To him, Ghislain was a disgrace to the title of Young lord, an unworthy heir, and a constant headache for the estate. That’s why he couldn’t help but reprimand him every time he saw Ghislain. In truth, it was partially Homerne’s nagging that had fostered Ghislain’s rebellious spirit in his past life. Not that Homerne had any way of knowing that.

“I understand. Don’t worry.”

Ghislain casually cut off the nagging.

Look at him cutting me off just because he doesn’t want to listen. Talking to him is useless, completely useless.

Homerne shut his mouth, his expression full of discontent. In the past, he used to nag, hoping that Ghislain would grow up properly, but now he nagged out of fear that Ghislain might cause even more trouble.

As soon as Homerne’s lecture ended, Albert, who had been waiting, casually chimed in,

“We plan to reduce your allowance to maintain your dignity.”

Even a single slice of bread would be a waste on you.

The estate was short on funds, so naturally, they planned to reduce the allowance to maintain the dignity of the most useless freeloader.

However, a surprisingly straightforward answer came back.

“Go ahead.”

Hm? Why is he agreeing so easily?

Albert cast a suspicious glance at Ghislain. Usually, he would have cursed, thrown a fit, and shamelessly demanded the money.

Strange.

Albert, who usually didn’t bother lecturing Ghislain and treated him with indifference, only spoke up regarding matters concerning money.

Let’s just wait and see.

Albert closed his mouth, already planning to cut even more from Ghislain’s allocated budget if necessary.

The truth was, these three hadn’t always been so dissatisfied with Ghislain. When he was young, they had adored him as if he were their own child. But after Ghislain’s troublemaking had surpassed the level of “just a kid being a kid,” they had all given up on him. Now, just seeing his face was enough to stir feelings of resentment.

Other retainers also approached and greeted Ghislain in turn. Having all suffered due to him at some point, their expressions were uniformly reluctant.

Zwalter couldn’t help but give a bitter laugh to himself. Seeing all the retainers so wary of Ghislain brought a wave of fatigue over him. In a way, his son had a certain overwhelming presence.

He really is a strange one, even if he’s my son.

Zwalter clicked his tongue and, with a slightly tired tone, began to speak.

“Alright, it doesn’t seem like you’re just here for pleasantries. What do you want to say?”

Ghislain nodded seriously. This was where things really mattered.

“I have something I want to do, and I’d like Father’s permission.”

“You… want to do something?”

“Yes, there’s something I must do.”

“I don’t know what it is, but wouldn’t it be better if you just did nothing?”

Ghislain, with a sullen expression, replied,

“It’s something necessary.”

“…Alright, what is it?”

Zwalter, trying to hide his anxiety, asked. Having been toughened by countless battles in the north, nothing usually fazed him, but whenever he dealt with his son, his heart would start racing.

They say children are the enemies of their past lives. He must have committed many sins in his past life.

Seeing the tense look on his father’s face, Ghislain clicked his tongue inwardly.

Really, what kind of father gets so nervous just looking at his own son?

Not only his father but also all the retainers were on edge as if they were facing a savage.

Despite the cold treatment, Ghislain didn’t feel upset; in fact, he found it somewhat amusing.

It was nice for him to see these people again after so many years, but they looked at him as if they had seen a ghost because his behavior was so different from before.

It was only natural that they were wary of him, considering he had been nothing but trouble until recently.

Well, this isn’t so bad.

Having been cursed endlessly in his past life while bringing the kingdom to ruin, he found the retainers’ reactions this time to be nothing noteworthy.

With the estate in such dire straits, how much must these people have suffered because of a Young lord who did nothing but cause trouble? But now, things were different. Ghislain possessed the knowledge and ability to turn around the estate’s grim situation.

It’s a good thing for the estate anyway.

Ghislain steeled himself and firmly declared,

“I will develop the Forest of Beasts.”

Zwalter’s eyebrows twitched. The retainers listening beside him all showed clear signs of shock. In an instant, the atmosphere in the room grew heavy. The silence became so thick that one could hear the sound of blinking.

After a long moment of stunned disbelief, Homerne looked at Ghislain and spoke,

“Young lord, did you just say you’re going to develop the Forest of Beasts?”

“That’s right. I’ll take care of everything. I just need permission to build a garrison near the forest and gather forces.”

Several ominous names, such as the Forest of Darkness and the Forest of Silence, knew the Forest of Beasts. The one thing all the names had in common was their foreboding nature.

The forest, sprawling to the north of Ferdium, was filled with powerful monsters. No one had ever succeeded in exploring it. Even in Ferdium, they avoided interfering with it, only defending against the occasional monsters that emerged from its depths.

With a chuckle as if to teach Ghislain a lesson, Homerne said,

“Young lord, do you even know what kind of place the Forest of Beasts is?”

Ghislain nodded slightly, a smile on his face.

“Of course, I know. It’s a forest full of dangerous monsters.”

The murmurs among the retainers grew louder. There were tasks in this world that could be done and tasks that couldn’t. To them, what Ghislain was proposing was something that couldn’t be done.

They couldn’t fathom why he had come out of nowhere with such a ridiculous proposition. In their minds, it was just another disaster waiting to happen, like the many before it.

With a stiff expression, Homerne spoke again,

“Not only is it impossible to develop the forest, but as a noble of your rank, you cannot gather forces or build garrisons within the estate without permission.”

“Yes, that’s why I came to seek Father’s approval.”

Ghislain responded casually, his demeanor making Homerne feel his anger rising. It seemed that now that Ghislain had grown older, he planned to cause disasters on an even grander scale.

Calm down; this is in front of the Lord.

Homerne tried to restrain himself.

But as memories of all the terrible disasters Ghislain had caused flashed through his mind, and seeing the audacity on his face now, Homerne simply couldn’t hold back any longer.

Before Zwalter could say anything, Homerne exploded, spitting out his words,

“You crazy fool, why would you do that?!”