Lord of Caldera

"Great-Aunt, how did this happen? The last time I saw you, you showed no signs of illness."

'It's because of you! It's all because of you!'

It was fortunate that her body was stiff. If she had been able to move, she would have pointed at him and screamed her true feelings.

Pretending to be oblivious, Sylas continued to chatter.

"You provided me with so much kindness, inviting Lady Martina and other notable figures to give me an education better than that of any noble child."

Sylas closed his eyes as if reminiscing, muttering quietly.

"The people you invited to teach me were all well-respected. They thought highly of me and spread their praises. Isn't that the kind of valuable connection that's hard to come by?"

Thanks to you, I gained connections.

"And every one of them called me a genius. Thanks to that, my name is now known in society, and despite my illegitimate birth, many are curious about me."

They say that even an illegitimate child is acceptable if he's talented.

"Moreover, becoming close with Sir Matthias has helped me build ties with the Order. Is there a greater asset than this? Even the greatest of noble families struggle to gain the Order's support!"

Even the Order favors me.

With every word Sylas uttered, Helena's brow and cheeks twitched uncontrollably. The thought of grabbing him by the hair and shaking him crossed her mind.

Had her body not been stiff, she might have already done so.

'C-Calm down. I need to stay composed, keep my calm.'

She couldn't let his infuriating words get to her. She needed to recover quickly and plan her next move.

Taking a deep breath, Helena tried to suppress her anger. Sylas, however, continued.

"If you hadn't called those people, how could I have received such undeserved gifts? It's all, from start to finish, thanks to you calling them! Sniff!"

"...!"

Helena's eyes rolled back. No matter how much she tried to stay calm, each of his words made her blood boil.

Ignoring her eyes turning white, Sylas whispered with a voice filled with emotion.

"It pains me that I can't repay you. All I can do is savor the precious, precious gifts you've given me and never forget my gratitude."

Finishing his words, Sylas turned and left Helena's room. Moments later, the screams of the maids echoed.

Cough!

"T-The madam is vomiting blood!"

"Fetch the medicine! Quickly!"

Out of everyone's view, Sylas smirked. It was the perfect completion of his fiery display of false devotion.

***

Helena had not met any guests since then, citing her absolute stability as the reason. The only exceptions were her husband, the Count, and her closest maids.

This was disappointing news for Sylas, who had hoped to visit her daily for some tea-bagging.

" Psychosomatic anger, I really don't know what happened," he said.

"It must be due to the fatigue from overseeing my education. I can only feel sorry," came the reply.

"No, it's not your fault at all."

The Count comforted his son, who spoke with self-reproach, patting him on the shoulder. Despite not being his biological mother, he seemed proud of the filial piety he showed.

"Well, this means your basic education is now complete."

He had acquired all the knowledge necessary for a noble. Now, wherever he went, he wouldn't face embarrassment for not knowing the customs or knowledge expected of nobility.

"Is there anywhere you would like to go? You can now proudly claim the Corleone lineage, so feel free to go out."

"Thank you, Father. But I'm fine for now."@@novelbin@@

He would go out if necessary, but at the moment, there was nothing to do outside. Rather, there were still mountains of tasks to do within the family.

If he had the time to go out, he needed to take care of family matters first.

"However, there must be times when you want to breathe some fresh air. There's no need to get permission to go out in my territory, so I'll assign you a knight for protection."

"...!"

Sylas's eyes widened. A knight for protection. A knight assigned solely for personal protection. The one he pledged loyalty to was still his father, Count Bill, so it was not someone he could command freely.

But that was merely the surface of things.

'Although he is called a knight for protection, it means I could make him my confidant.'

In effect, it was a knight who would spend a long time close to him. Naturally, there would be plenty of time to persuade him to become an ally. Whether the persuasion would be successful depended on his own abilities, but if he succeeded, he would gain someone to serve him as a master.

In great noble families where intrigues run rampant, knights are sometimes assigned to test the children's ability to handle relationships.

'Father probably didn't intend to assign a knight for that reason, though.'

Having grown up as the only heir without any siblings, the Count was someone whose exterior matched his interior. He probably said it purely with the intent of assigning a knight for protection.

However, that didn't mean he couldn't make the knight a confidant.

"How about Roderick as your knight for protection? I think you've become quite close since he brought you here."

"I appreciate the consideration, but sir Roderick would be someone who would exhaust himself overly in his duties."

With a response that was half sincere and half an excuse, Sylas declined the Count's suggestion. He couldn't say it outright, but Roderick was already a fish caught in the net.

It would bring no benefit to make someone he could easily take as a confidant a knight for protection.

If he didn't seize this opportunity, he would have to choose someone he couldn't easily take as a confidant. Luckily, there was just the right person staying in the family.

"Well then, do you have someone else in mind?"

"Yes, I would like to have Sir Toby as my knight for protection."

"What? That reckless person?"

The Count frowned at Sylas's answer.