Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 164
Harrison scoffed cynically as he sat in prison alongside his father, knowing full well that this was the consequence of their actions.
‘Who told him to betray his lord in the first place?’
His father had taught him to never betray those to whom you owed loyalty, yet with the same mouth, he had turned on his own master.
From that moment, Harrison no longer saw his father as a person but as a monster. His father’s anguished cries were nothing more than noise to him.
“You worthless bastard, if you’ve got a mouth, help me!”
“…”
“You dumb mute!”
Harrison, of course, could speak. He just couldn’t speak to monsters.
Even though he had pretended not to know and stood by while the twin heirs were unjustly driven away and killed, all to save himself, he was no different from the monster sitting next to him.
Harrison wished his father would finally pay for his crimes.
‘If they’re going to kill him, they should just get it over with already…’
The constant whining was unbearable.
“You really are born to that lowly woman, huh? It shows. Even something like you, calling yourself a son…”
“…”
“Your mother, too—she cared more about those twin brats than her own son. That crazy wench…”
If only he could tear apart the mouth that insulted his mother.
But Harrison swallowed his murderous intent. His father might be weakened, but he was still stronger than Harrison, who was just a boy.
Keith had said he would return, and he had ordered him to stay alive until then.
‘He’s probably dead by now.’
Even so, revenge wasn’t Harrison’s to take, so he endured.
His father, unable to control his temper, began to hit and kick Harrison. His barely developed bones broke easily, but Harrison didn’t scream or even groan. He silently withstood the violence.
If he moved, he might kill his father. So, just as Keith had told him, Harrison kept his eyes shut, his ears closed, and his mouth sealed.
Then, at some point, his father’s movements stopped completely.
“I told you to live safely. I didn’t tell you to let yourself get beaten to death.”
The familiar voice came from the prison guard.
It was Keith.
*
“Killing them would be too lenient of a punishment.”
Keith tilted his head as he spoke.
Standing before him were the relatives who had orchestrated the funeral, the servants who had often played with the twins, and Harrison’s father.
As Keith’s gaze passed over them, their eyes, frozen with fear, seemed to stiffen like wax figures. Apart from their eyes, they had no control over their bodies.
“Having them remain conscious as my slaves, forced to work for me, would be a much more humiliating punishment for these traitors.”
“You’re going to let these traitors live? Even after they killed your parents and mine?”
“Death happens in a mere instant.”
Keith’s voice, when speaking of death, sounded so simple and matter-of-fact.
“I won’t leave them anything they can control of their own will.”
“And you won’t reclaim your rightful position?”
“We’ve found a new place for ‘us.’ Kaitlyn will be much happier there.”
Though Kaitlyn had been treated well at the manor, the lord and lady’s affection had always been directed more toward their son, Keith.
The people of the estate adored Kaitlyn’s mischievous nature, but they favored the thoughtful and intelligent Keith more. After all, they believed he would become the next lord.
“It’s not a position worth reclaiming.”
But it seemed Keith didn’t value it as highly as others did.
Some people in the estate still held out hope that the twins were alive and waited for their return.
However, for Keith, the estate that had betrayed him was less important than the other half of his twin. Harrison hoped Keith would do whatever truly made him happy.
“…Then, what about me…?”
“You’re staying here.”
For a moment, Harrison felt like he had been abandoned a second time, the coldness in Keith’s voice cutting through him. He bit his lip, fighting back the surge of emotion, but Keith chuckled and added,
“You’re going to stay here and live for me.”
“…Will you allow that?”
“If that’s how you choose to live.”
“I’ll live for you. I will.”
“Then there’s something I need you to do.”
Become a knight for me, and go to the Imperial Palace of Green Windsor.
