The pale-faced Count Alten was reflected in the ruby-red eyes, polished as finely as cut gems.

He looked like a snowman thrown onto a sea of blood.

“You’re already showing it so obviously, dear uncle.”

“…”

“You haven’t even seen all the entertainment your nephew has prepared yet.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Count Alten’s face visibly twitched as he turned his head sharply.

“You’re really quite unlucky, uncle.”

Every word uttered by the young man, barely old enough to shave, was filled with an overwhelming aura.

“I say this because you’ve never managed to accomplish anything properly up until now.”

A pressure distinctly different from his father’s completely dominated the space.

With a smile incongruously fresh for his demeanor, Cassian rose from his seat and slowly walked away.

As if he had finished what he came to do.

Count Alten’s gradually lifting gaze clearly captured Cassian’s retreating figure.

The count’s mind raced as he furrowed his brow.

‘Did that wench attempt to poison him and fail?’

They said that wench had run out with trembling legs, as if fleeing…

If she had failed and rushed out with such a pale face…

But that couldn’t be, could it?

Count Alten shook his head to clear his thoughts.

If that were the case, that wench wouldn’t have made it out of there alive.

That was his nephew’s true face, after all.

Above all, it was only natural that someone who dared to attempt to kill the Blanchet heir couldn’t possibly survive.

But what Cassian had just said clearly…

Had Yuriel, that wench, not even attempted it?

Or perhaps… had she reported to Cassian that he had instigated it?

Though he couldn’t know the exact situation, one thing was certain.

The plan had failed, and that boy was still alive.

Moreover, did “until now” mean he even knew his terminal illness was due to the poison he had administered?

Count Alten swallowed a bitter laugh and calmly sorted through the situation.

Honestly, it didn’t matter if he knew about the previous incidents.

The man responsible for those was already dead anyway.

However… it was truly chilling.

‘To think he knew everything and pretended not to all this time.’

Now, the image of his young nephew’s gaze, always unchildlike, flashed through Count Alten’s mind.

Compared to now, though he was certainly thinner due to his illness then, those red eyes were as vivid as blood, and the strange light that settled over them…

Looking back now, it wasn’t an indifferent gaze, but rather an apathy filled with disgust.

Cassian, having grown up in that state, possessed a demeanor more befitting of the Blanchet family head than any duke in history.

The unique aristocratic air that emanated from his every step was extraordinary.

His appearance, which evoked memories of his ancestors’ bloodline just by looking at him and inspired an indescribable fear in others, was spine-chilling.

That boy clearly had a temperament vastly different from his father’s flexible and indecisive nature.

He resembled his mother, Elise, more, yet was a million times more insane.

Yes. That was exactly who Cassian di Blanchet was.

The more Count Alten realized this, the more his determination to kill him burned.

Having come this far, there was no place left to retreat.

It was clear that the moment he stepped back, he would lose everything as soon as his elder brother, Deviron, stepped down from the duke’s position.

The memory of losing the duke’s position to his elder brother Deviron, simply because he wasn’t the firstborn, was still vivid in Count Alten’s heart.

His brother, who always found the duties of the firstborn and such burdensome, with his bored expression, only ever engaged in his precious love affairs and always found the weight of the crown oppressive.

Yet he couldn’t forget the detestable face of his brother congratulating him when he received the count’s title.

Yes. Those who obtain everything simply by being born could never understand, even if they died and came back to life, the resentment of those who couldn’t obtain it despite trying their utmost.

So it was about time for his brother, who didn’t suit that position, to step down.

It was time for him to give his last gift by lying in a coffin, never to wake again.

If he had enjoyed that much, surely he could gladly give that much of a final gift to his younger brother.

That position should have belonged to him from the start, who was willing to stake everything to become the Blanchet heir.

God had never once taken his side, being a cruel entity, but this time He had listened.

Until coming here, Count Alten had believed this without a doubt.

But.

The plan had failed.

Of course, plans could be changed, and there was no problem.

Even if that wench had survived and came here to testify, he had made enough escape routes.

Around the circular table, numerous vassals had taken their seats.

Some of them were hiding Count Alten’s limbs or claws, while others stood on the opposite side as elder vassals of the Blanchet family.

The invisible confrontation between them was revealed, as always, by the seats of both sides, divided by boundaries.

Carefully scanning this scene, Cassian took his seat in the center.

Deviron di Blanchet, the family head who had been leading the lengthy meeting, finished discussing the family’s affairs and turned his gaze to his son.

“Didn’t you say you had something to say?”

As Cassian nodded slightly, everyone’s attention focused on him.

At the center of it all was Count Alten, watching him with a tense gaze.

“There is someone here who tried to kill me.”

Instantly, a commotion broke out in the room.

From Duchess Elise, whose heart nearly stopped in shock, to Duke Deviron and the elder nobles of the Blanchet family, not a single person was unalarmed.

“What do you mean by that!”

As the excited murmuring continued, documents were stacked on the table one by one according to Tiove’s instructions.

The sound of pages turning reverberated through the space several times.

Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned toward Count Alten.

Pale-faced, Count Alten hid his trembling hands under the round table and protested with a flushed face.

The room, heated with excitement, instantly turned into pandemonium.

Count Alten and his subordinates denied, while the elder vassals, agitated, attacked him.

Even Duchess Elise, directing them from the center, added fuel to the fire.

What stopped everyone in their tracks was a loud voice.

“Enough!”

Surprisingly, it was Duke Deviron who had shouted.

It was only natural for everyone to be surprised, as he was someone who rarely raised his voice.

Nevertheless, the faint noise that remained was cleared by his final words.

“I said that’s enough.”

Though not a loud voice, his deep tone weighed heavily on the room.

No matter how lenient and kind the duke had been in dealing with everything until now, he was still undoubtedly the head of the Blanchet family.

No one dared to challenge his decision.

That’s why everyone in the room stared at him, unable to hide their tension.

Those who followed Count Alten swallowed hard, unable to conceal their nervousness, while the elder vassals exchanged glances filled with expectation.

‘Even if they’re blood brothers, surely he’ll punish Count Alten this time.’

‘But the family head? The one who didn’t cast him out even after returning from the brink of death?’

‘It was just a suspicion before, but isn’t it certain this time?’

‘True, and it involves his child, the Blanchet heir.’

Cassian, whose demeanor showed no sign of having nearly been poisoned, picked up his glass.

After drinking the water, he set the glass down casually.

Duke Deviron’s reflection wavered on the rippling surface of the glass.

His father, looking at him with an unreadable gaze.

As he raised his eyes, he saw his mother watching his father.

As always, his mother was speaking with her eyes, filled with desperation.

Telling him to kill Count Alten immediately.

In truth, it wasn’t such a difficult request.

An uncle who not only instigated the death of the heir but even attempted to poison his own nephew.

A righteous Blanchet family head who punished him.

It wouldn’t be strange even if it became the talk of the town, a matter of common sense.

It was even ridiculous to discuss common sense.

Usually, when it came to one’s child, even for the slightest scratch, it was common for parents to become enraged.

However, his father, who had walked the path of a benevolent duke rather than that of a typical father, hesitated once again.

The time of hesitation was longer than ever before.

Ah, perhaps he should be grateful that he even hesitated at all.

A sardonic smile settled on Cassian’s face.

In that moment, Deviron’s decision heavily descended upon the space.

“I will handle this matter myself after today.”

At Deviron’s ambiguous words, one eyebrow of an aged elder vassal slightly raised.

“What do you mean by handling it yourself?”

Deviron, his kind expression having returned at some point, looked at him and articulated clearly.

“As I said, there seem to be several misunderstandings, so I will resolve them well.”

Misunderstandings.

The atmosphere in the grand hall of the Blanchet mansion instantly sank.

So, despite the clear evidence of the poison’s distribution network and source, the Duke was…

In a situation where no one dared to speak, Deviron drove the final nail.

“This is a family matter, so there’s no need for anyone else to concern themselves.”

Having dismissed the issue as a family matter, Duke Deviron immediately rose from his seat.

A few elder nobles tried to protest, but no one could overturn the decision already made by the family head.

“Let’s end the meeting here.”

The vassals, staring blankly at the duke whose face remained unchanged as always, hurriedly rose from their seats at his dismissal.

Only after they had disappeared and the doors of the grand hall had closed did Deviron turn to leave.

In the end, it was Duchess Elise who stopped him.