Chapter 5
Chapter 5: I Won’t Be Fooled Twice. (1)
“Brother?”
Ghislaine suddenly grabbed my face, her shoulders shaking, causing Elena to wear a slightly frightened expression.
That’s because “brother” was the type of guy who could go crazy at any time and throw a tantrum.
“Uh? Oh, no. By the way, it’s been a really long time!”
Ghislaine, with an emotional expression, spread her arms wide.
Elena’s death had been a painful memory that haunted him all his life.
But now meeting her alive like this filled him with joy.
He wasn’t the type to express himself through lengthy speeches. Like a king of mercenaries, he always expressed himself boldly with his body.
“Elena!”
As Ghislaine approached with open arms, Elena’s face turned pale.
“Why, why?”
“I really missed you!”
“We saw each other a few days ago… Wait! Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Don’t come near!”
“Gah!”
Ghislaine hugged Elena tightly, closing his eyes. An overwhelming wave of emotion enveloped him, almost to the point of tears.
“Ugh! Why are you suddenly being so creepy!”
Elena was genuinely flustered.
She and Ghislaine weren’t exactly on the best of terms.
Caught in feelings of inferiority, Ghislaine always threw fits and made people around him weary. So there was no way he’d have treated his younger sister affectionately.
“What kind of trick is this? What kind of accident are you trying to pull?”
Elena twisted her body, pushing Ghislaine away.
Just as she was about to throw another jab at her brother’s face, she couldn’t help but freeze.
A soft gaze and a smile, a face full of an inexplicable longing.
Elena felt her heart tighten at seeing a side of Ghislaine she’d never seen before.
She didn’t even know why she was feeling this way.
‘Why is he acting like this? Did he cause another accident? Why are his eyes so unnecessarily moist?’
Elena looked at Ghislaine with a suspicious gaze.
He was still grinning, as if he found something incredibly delightful.
For reasons unknown, at this moment, that expression felt genuine.
‘Is this what my brother used to be like?’
Their father was always off to war, so after their mother passed away when they were young, the siblings had relied on each other.
Over time, as Ghislaine became more reckless, their relationship had soured a bit.
As Elena squinted at him, Ghislaine cleared his throat.
“Uh, um, I’m just really happy to see you. But what’s going on in my room?”
“Wow.”
Elena wore an expression of disbelief.
Just a few days ago, Ghislaine hadn’t shown such a reaction when she visited.
“Get lost. Don’t hover around here annoyingly. Your breath is really unpleasant.”
That had been his usual way of speaking.
To be honest, she hadn’t even wanted to visit him, but after hearing he almost died at the hands of an orc, she felt obliged to go.
“Well, Belinda suggested I come over… She said you were in danger after an encounter with an orc, but you seem to be fine?”
Belinda had a tendency to see things a bit too simply.
She probably expected that if Elena went to visit, the siblings’ bond would improve.
Since Belinda kept insisting, Elena had come out of obligation, but upon seeing Ghislaine, he seemed to be doing quite well.
She had thought he’d be running a fever in the corner of his room, but she never expected such a warm welcome.
“Orc? I handled that all by myself. It was nothing. I’m pretty strong, you know.”
Seeing Ghislaine shrug boastingly, Elena couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What? Coming back after collapsing, and now you’re boasting?”
“Oh, what nonsense! Listen well. Let me tell you how I took them down…”
Ghislaine suddenly started gesticulating and bragging about his exploits, making Elena burst into laughter.
It was funny to see him boast, and it wasn’t so bad to see this bright side of him after so long.
“So I called Ricardo…”
“Ah, I know who that is. That flirtatious soldier, right?”
“You know him? He’s quite handsome.”
“He’s famous. He’s so popular with the ladies.”
“Hmph, just as bad as Aiden.”
“Aiden? Who’s that?”
“Just a really bad guy.”
Ghislaine flashed a fleeting, fierce look. Elena’s expression shifted to one of acknowledgment.
She thought he’d improved, but he clearly still wasn’t entirely sane.
Still, it was a relief that he was better. One could never know when he might switch moods again, so she’d have to keep an eye on him a bit longer.
“I’ll be going now. Take care of yourself.”
“Okay, next time I’ll tell you about the dragon I captured.”
“Did you capture it in your dreams? Do you even know what a dragon is?”
After hearing Ghislaine’s bragging, Elena left feeling quite pleasant.
It was a bit strange, but this moment of him boasting was much better than his old self.
Previously, it was hard to have a conversation for even a moment due to his temper.
After Elena walked out, Ghislaine stared at the door for a long while and smiled softly.
“I’ve never forgotten you even for a moment.”
He could never forget the sight of Elena, found hideously butchered.
“I haven’t forgotten the others either.”
He couldn’t forget the faces of his father and retainers, hung at the castle gate upon his return to their territory.
“I was a coward and a cowardly wretch.”
He remembered how, out of fear, he’d done nothing and ran away.
Suddenly, a somber atmosphere began to surround Ghislaine’s smiling face.
“Now the opportunity to set everything right has returned…”
He was no longer that foolish, reckless noble from his past life.
“I will prevent the fall of Perdium.”
Ghislaine found a pen and paper and began scribbling down what he recalled of the future.
He had a rough understanding of the significant events occurring in the continent.
While he didn’t remember the exact dates, he had a general sense of the timing. This would greatly help him decide on his future actions.
“First and foremost, saving Elena is my priority…”
In a week, the festival would begin. This festival, wishing for abundance, also marked the start of the harvest season.
Even in the barren northern territories, where battles with barbarians were unending, people threw festivals hoping for prosperity.
“Let’s see. Back then, I definitely…”
At that time, Ghislaine was still under constant ridicule and slighted, having resolved to leave his family behind.
In the midst of that, the festival started, and he went out to enjoy it with Elena upon her insistence.
But in the awful mood he was in, there was no way a festival could catch his interest. Ultimately, Ghislaine returned to the castle alone.
It was just a festival happening within the territory, and Elena had her guard knights with her, so it didn’t bother him at all.
“And then Elena disappeared…”
It wasn’t long after that Elena and the guard knights were found dead.
After that incident, Ghislaine couldn’t stand it any longer. He fled the castle, escaping the whispers of the people.
That was Ghislaine and Perdium’s last moment.
“I should have been there with her.”
In truth, it wouldn’t have mattered if he had been there. At that time, Ghislaine had been so weak it barely made a difference.
But the guilt of returning to the castle alone while leaving Elena behind gnawed at him for a lifetime.
“Could it be that Elena’s death was orchestrated by the Duke Faction?”
In his former life, it had been revealed that the one who killed Elena was a noble from another territory who had come to see the festival.
Naturally, that side insisted it was a baseless accusation, and Perdium suffered immensely due to its involvement in the territorial war.
Afterwards, numerous incidents followed, causing the situation to worsen.
“I smell something foul. Like goblin dung.”
Since Ghislaine left before the territorial war began, he didn’t know the specific details of what happened afterward.
All he understood was the big picture through information he learned late out of his desire for revenge.
Initially, he had thought that those territories might have been destroyed in advance since they were likely to oppose a rebellion.
But now, knowing Aiden was involved in Perdium’s downfall, he suspected there was a conspiracy behind it all.
“Why would they destroy this poor, useless territory? After taking it, they’d just have to fight barbarians instead of us.”
There were hidden resources in the vicinity, but no one knew about them at this point.
He’d wondered multiple times if that was the reason in his former life.
“Well… it doesn’t really matter what the reason is. I can just kill them all.”
Ghislaine’s expression hardened.
In his past life, he had solely aimed to take revenge against the Duke Faction, thinking they were the masterminds behind everything; now, it was different.
Regardless of who Aiden claimed ‘we’ was, Ghislaine was determined to eliminate all who opposed Perdium.
He began tapping his fingers thoughtfully against his chin.
“Elena and the guard knight’s bodies were found in the poor district.”
There was no reason for them to venture into the poor district during the festival. They must have either been lured or forcibly dragged there.
“One thing’s for sure.”
Elena’s death was the turning point in Perdium’s decline.
“Then it’s just a matter of setting things right from the beginning.”
He organized his thoughts and promptly left the room.
“I need to quickly get myself back in shape. Time is of the essence. Just a week…”
Ghislaine wandered around the lord’s castle.
It had been so long since he lived in Fortress of Perdium that he couldn’t remember the structure of the castle or the faces of the servants.
Everyone he encountered greeted him, but their expressions were far from pleasant. Mixed looks of disdain or indifference.
‘I’m not that bad of a person.’
He probably had been someone whose temper was so bad that others didn’t want to be around him.
“Young Master! Young Master Ghislaine!”
As he walked around, someone called out to him running haphazardly.
‘Oh… Fergus, the old man?’
It was Fergus, the guard knight. Even at his retirement age, he was still there, loyally keeping watch over Ghislaine.
Fergus stood before Ghislaine, bowing as he gasped for breath.
‘Just how much has he been running?’
If an assassin were to strike now, no one would know who was supposed to protect whom.
Still, his loyalty was commendable. Later, he learned that Fergus had worried about no one but him until his dying breath.
“Phew, phew… Young Master, where are you wandering off to alone? Belinda said she didn’t know where you went, so this old man searched for a long time.”
Fergus kept gasping as he spoke. He must have moved quite hurriedly.
“Geez, how old am I that you still call me Young Master?”
“Haha, in this old man’s eyes, you still look like a child.”
Given that he was weak now, he probably looked even younger.
Ghislaine sighed. He was hearing so many words he’d never imagined during his days as the King of Mercenaries.
“If you see me that way, then maybe so. But why were you looking for me?”
“Haha, it’s only natural that I follow you around while you’re moving. Why the sudden curiosity?”
The old knight looked at Ghislaine warmly. Meeting his gaze caused Ghislaine to flinch slightly.
‘That’s right.’
Ghislaine had rejected all servant knights back then due to his feelings of inferiority and anger. It felt as if everyone was his enemy, and they only mocked him.
But Fergus and Belinda, who took care of him since childhood, were the only exceptions.
He was a fool to realize the value of that only after losing it.
Suddenly, Ghislaine felt a lump in his throat and tightly hugged Fergus.
He tried to refrain from such a visible action, but he couldn’t help the joy of reuniting with someone precious.
“Old man, live long. Let’s live long together. Dying… it really feels horrible, you know.”
Startled by Ghislaine’s sudden behavior, Fergus chuckled gently.
“Ha, why are you acting this way all of a sudden? As if we haven’t seen each other in ages…”
He noticed it! It seems age does come with some wisdom.
Yes, whatever he said, Fergus would believe him. He was the only loyal knight who defended Ghislaine when he was being cursed over the orc hunt.
Steeling his resolve, Ghislaine spoke firmly.
“Old man, listen well. This is really important. Actually, I died and came back to life…”
“Haha, stop it there.”
Looks like he didn’t believe him after all.
“…Fine, whatever. Just live long. Coming back to life isn’t easy.”
“Of course, I must live until you get married.”
“Hmm, marriage, huh?”
Ghislaine forced a bitter smile for a moment.
Right now, he wasn’t in a position to think about love or marriage.
With the downfall of the territory looming, who could he blame if he ended up dying while worrying about such things?
Ghislaine shook his head and brushed his thoughts off as he strode forward.
Fergus hurriedly followed, asking, “By the way, where are you going all of a sudden?”
“To the training ground. I’m going to train a bit.”
Fergus looked shocked and clutched his chest.
“Y-young Master… training… agh, cough!”
“Eugh! What’s wrong? Old man, pull yourself together! Breathe! I said breathe!”
Why does nobody believe me?
