"Where are you going?"

Garrick frowned. Ahead, Kastor had suddenly appeared.

"...what’s it look like?" Garrick scoffed. "I’m off to enjoy my hard-earned riches. Hahaha!"

Kastor frowned slightly.

"Where’s the money you borrowed?"

Garrick narrowed his eyes, remembering the terms he had agreed to before Kastor handed him the money. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Twenty thousand golds was a fortune. Unfortunately, a fortune he did not possess. One condition, of course, was that he wasn’t allowed to drink for a year. The other was that he had to return the money he borrowed.

"Bah, take your cheap little loan back." Garrick grinned, tossing over a sack. "I’m filthy rich now! Do you understand!? Rich! Hahaha!"

As Garrick burst into laughter, Kastor’s gaze shifted toward the remaining sacks.

"...and my cut?"

Garrick froze. He blinked several times as though convinced he had misheard.

"Your what?"

"My cut." Kastor said. "I invested in your bet."

"What? Hell no!" Garrick barked immediately. "You didn’t even want to lend me the money! I had to kneel and all that shit! And now you want a cut too?"

"Yes."

A quiet oppressive weight settled over the area. Kastor silently stared at him. He didn’t need to say anything, Garrick could already tell.

He wasn’t joking.

Garrick gritted his teeth. This was the fate of every borrower, unfortunately.

Reluctantly, he tossed another sack toward Kastor, who caught it effortlessly before immediately frowning at the remaining ones.

"It’s fifty percent."

"F-fifty percent!?" Garrick nearly choked. "You bloodsucking bastard! That’s sixty thousand golds!"

Garrick was unwilling! However, Kastor’s unwavering stare made it painfully clear he wasn’t backing down. Garrick looked toward the remaining sacks with teary eyes.

He would only be left with sixty thousand golds...

Still, considering everything, it was a fortune. He could still have fun.

Taking a deep breath, Garrick glared at Kastor before bitterly tossing over the remaining two sacks.

"You know this is disgraceful, right?" Garrick said. "The mighty Head of House Calderalth robbing his own younger brother. What would Zephyrion think if he saw this?"

Kastor didn’t respond.

Instead, he calmly secured the sacks before his gaze shifted toward the remaining ones still hanging from Garrick.

"...now taxes."

"Tax?" Garrick stared at him like he’d gone insane.

"You conducted business on Calderalth grounds. Pay your taxes."

"What kind of shameless bullshit is that!?"

"Every bet made today was taxed." Kastor said a "You’re not special."

Garrick huffed loudly, fists clenching. Through gritted teeth, he asked;

"...how much?"

"Fifty percent."

Garrick’s eyes bulged again.

"No, no, no!" Garrick shook his head furiously. "Absolutely fucking not! I’m done! No one is touching my beautiful money anymore!"

Kastor slightly tilted his head.

"...you refuse to pay?"

"I refuse with my whole fucking soul!" Garrick snapped. "I don’t care what you do! I’m not giving you another coin!"

"I see..."

Kastor merely nodded.

A second later, a mushroom cloud of dust clawed violently into the sky, massive enough to swallow the skies above the estate whole.

From across the estate, many maids and guards instinctively turned toward the sky.

But the moment they felt the familiar energy signature, they simply resumed their duties as though nothing had happened.

"You fucking excuse of an older brother! You should be ashamed to call yourself Head of House! Other older brothers are dependable and respectable, but you? You’re just a violent lunatic!"

Garrick screamed while limping out of the alleyway. His body was covered in bruises, and the seven sacks had now been reduced to only two and a half.

"You don’t want me drinking, right!? Fine then! I’ll drink until my liver explodes! I’ll drown myself in alcohol out of spite! You hear me, you tyrannical bastard! Eat shit!"

Even as Garrick hurled every insult he could think of, Kastor stood there without the slightest change in expression.

A moment later, Grand Marshal Garaxe appeared beside him.

"You didn’t have to beat the youngest that badly, brother."

Kastor shrugged.

"He deserved it."

"Still..." Garaxe stared toward the retreating Garrick, who was still loudly cursing in the distance, before chuckling softly.

"It really does remind me of when we were children. The two of you used to fight almost every day. And the moment Garrick realized he couldn’t win, he’d start screaming insults loud enough for the whole estate to hear."

Garaxe laughed quietly at the fond memory.

Kastor furrowed his brows.

"That used to happen?"

"Of course." Garaxe smiled faintly. "Back then, you actually smiled quite a lot too. Honestly, I’ve always believed you intentionally picked fights with him just because that was the only way you knew how to interact."

A faint flicker passed through Kastor’s eyes. Then, a moment later, he scoffed.

"You’re talking nonsense."

He vanished the next instant.

Garaxe couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking his head. The day his brother changed was the day the world ended.

A moment later, Garaxe’s expression darkened slightly.

"Kaelion..." he muttered, suddenly remembering his second son.

Then he too vanished from the scene.

...

Zephyrion had barely entered his room when a knock echoed from the door.

"...young lord... you have a guest."

He frowned.

The voice was feminine, clearly belonging to one of the maids. Usually, it was Tobias who handled things like this.

"Who?"

"...that’s..."

He could practically hear the hesitation in the maid’s voice. His frown deepened.

"Talk."

"...it’s Lady Ingrid, my lord."

Zephyrion’s eyes narrowed. It had been months since his return to the house, yet Ingrid had never once visited him.

’Is it related to that?’

She had been acting strangely lately. Perhaps this was finally her first move.

"Tell her I’ll be there shortly."

"Yes, young lord."

A moment later, Zephyrion turned toward Lumi.

"Stay here."

Lumi instantly deflated, fixing him with a pleading look.

"I don’t know why she’s here." Zephyrion gave her a firm stare. "So stay here. Just in case."

Sigh!

Lumi reluctantly nodded before sluggishly sitting down on the bed, resting both cheeks against her palms with a dejected expression.

Zephyrion quickly left before she could change her mind.

By the time he reached the mansion’s living room, the High Judicar of House Calderalth was already seated there with her legs crossed and posture perfectly straight, endless regality naturally pouring from her presence.

She barely reacted to his entrance, silently staring at him. A moment later, Zephyrion took the seat opposite her.

An awkward silence settled over the room as the two simply stared at each other without speaking.

As the silence stretched longer and longer, Ingrid finally spoke.