Editor : Amethyst00



Leo was unpacking his belongings in his room in the large mansion of the Zerdinger family.

Knock knock—

“Come in.”

Creak—

The door opened, and Celia entered.

With a deeply furrowed brow, she sat on the sofa in one corner of the room and looked across the table.

“What are you doing?”

“Catching a thief.”

Phoenix Fiora, who had formed a pact with Leo and now appeared in human form, was glaring very seriously at Kiran, who sat at the table.

["Yaaawn~ Where’s the little chick playing detective?"]

“Shut up, moth.”

Fiora’s glare pierced through Kiran.

Apparently, the stakes in this game were snacks.

‘Seriously, why are a phoenix and a fairy gambling with snacks?’

Celia looked dumbfounded as she watched them.

Not only Kiran, but also Elsie the elemental of darkness and Laruel the elemental of light were watching the scene unfold from the table.

Those two seemed to have finished their game already and were munching on cookies as big as their heads with both hands.

Fiora, who had been staring down at cards larger than Kiran’s body as if to kill him, cautiously reached out and pulled one of the two joker cards from Kiran’s hand.

“Haaah!”

["Bwahahaha!"]

Kiran burst into laughter as Fiora fell into despair.

At that moment, the shape of the cards changed.

Celia narrowed her eyes upon seeing that.

["My turn!"]

Looking triumphant, Kiran picked a card from the shuffled deck that Fiora had worked hard to mix.

“No, wait!”

["I win!"]

Kiran threw his card up in celebration, and Fiora clutched her head in frustration.

["That means this snack is mine now…"]

“You shouldn’t cheat.”

At Celia’s remark, Fiora looked up, and the two elementals stared at her with puzzled eyes.

Kiran, who had been collecting the snacks, looked around nervously, then hugged the pile and flew off.

["Ah-ha. No wonder he never came in last. It was cheating!"]

Elsie beamed as if it all made sense now.

She didn’t seem particularly angry about Kiran’s cheating.

The other two, however, were not as forgiving.

“You cheating moth! Stop right there!”

["I’ll twist off your wings!"]

Fiora and Laruel lit up with fury and chased after Kiran.

Celia clutched her head at the sight.

“Why do I feel like my image of the Elemental Lord and the Great Three Mythical Beasts is being shattered?”

Leo, having mostly finished unpacking, sat where Fiora had been.

“You look really disgruntled. What’s up?”

“I don’t like how the Elders Council is acting.”

Celia scowled.

She knew well that not everyone in the Zerdinger family welcomed Leo.

The Zerdinger family was one of the two great pillars of the Lordren Empire, rulers of the western continent. In other words, they were among the top three powers in the west.

Although technically vassals of the Empire, their relationship with the imperial family was more of a partnership than a standard liege-lord arrangement.

Since the founding of the empire, Lordren, Zerdinger, and Lewellin had supported one another.

As such, the Lordren imperial family recognized the autonomy of Zerdinger’s lands.

That meant, on Zerdinger territory, the head of the family was effectively a king.

To maintain such power, they couldn’t rely solely on direct descendants and loyal vassal families.

Branch families that split off from the main house also played major roles.

Because of that, the influence of branch families within the clan wasn’t small.

“From the perspective of the branch families, I’m just an outsider who rolled in from nowhere.”

Leo gave a wry smile.

“Still! The things you’re inheriting were originally supposed to go to your mom anyway! It’s just going back to the rightful owner! Why are they acting like it's being stolen?”

“Human nature. No one wants to give up what they have. And when something that could have been yours goes to someone else, it stings even more.”

The Elders Council was a body composed of renowned knights from both direct and branch lines of Zerdinger blood.

In massive hero lineages like Zerdinger, it was nearly impossible to function with only the direct bloodline.

The Council existed to check the power of the family head when poor decisions were made.

Naturally, since branch family members outnumbered direct descendants, their voices carried more weight within the Council.

The Council couldn’t directly intervene in family affairs, but they had strong influence over matters of inheritance.

“Grandfather’s so cold. I hoped he would side more clearly with your mom and you this time.”

Celia pouted.

Leo tilted his head.

“I didn’t think he got along poorly with Mother?”

Leo recalled the recent meeting.

“He seemed warm toward Father too.”

‘I’ve wanted to meet you. Let’s have a drink tonight.’

‘It’s an honor, sir.’

‘Call me father-in-law.’

Leo remembered Regas laughing heartily as he slapped Dade’s shoulder.

After Leo was born, Reina never once contacted her family again.

‘Actually, probably even before I was born.’

She likely only reached out to Zerdinger again for Leo’s sake, so he could attend Lumene Academy.

For people who hadn’t seen each other in decades, Regas’s eyes were full of affection toward Reina.

He was also kind to his new son-in-law and proud when he looked at Leo.

‘They didn’t seem estranged at all—more like they were close.’

Leo found the lack of contact over the years strange.

And sending knights to “greet” the Plov family’s first official visit felt like veiled hostility, which made even less sense.

Celia sighed softly.

“Grandfather strictly maintains neutrality.”

“Neutrality?”

“Yeah.”

Celia rested her chin on her hand.

["Out of the way! Move!"]

Kiran, still fleeing Fiora and Laruel, suddenly flew between Leo and Celia.

Elsie, who had been watching, raised her hand with a smile.

Clench—!

“Gehk?”

Suddenly, shadows of surrounding objects trapped Kiran.

“Got you, you cheating fairy!”

["Rip off his wings!']

["Eeeek?!"]

["Don’t interrupt Leo when he’s having an important conversation. Take it outside."]

Elsie smiled as she spoke, and the Phoenix and Elemental Lord of Light dragged the fairy out to the terrace.

‘Who is that elemental? How does she handle them so well?’

Celia was impressed, though she didn’t know the details about Elsie.

Elsie gave her a slight curtsy in response.

“You won’t be bored at least.”

“It’s so noisy, I’m getting a headache.”

Celia laughed at Leo’s remark.

“Anyway, back to what we were talking about. Grandfather, as the Chief Elder, keeps his neutrality in all family matters. He also maintains balance between the direct and branch lines in the Council. That’s why he tries to set aside personal feelings.”

She sighed again.

“It’s not that he dislikes you. You saw it yourself. He still loves your mom, and he wanted to meet you and your dad.”

Even though Leo visited Zerdinger multiple times, Regas hadn’t met him, likely to maintain strict neutrality between personal and political matters.

If the former family head intervened in the issue of Leo’s inheritance rights, it would look bad to the branch families.

“He really wanted to see you. Apparently, his daily routine now includes waking up and checking the newspaper.”

“Newspaper?”

“Yeah. He’s been cutting out all articles related to you. My dad told me.”

And the same goes for articles about Celia.

“He was so excited that he’d finally get to see your family.”

“Sounds like he’s a doting grandpa.”

“He is. Totally.”

Celia smiled gently—then pouted again.

“Then he should’ve taken a more active role!”

“He is the Chief Elder. I understand.”

Leo smirked.

Celia grinned in return.

“If you understand, then spend time with him this break! Be cute for him!”

“You should be the one acting cute.”

“I already did! A lot!”

“Do it more.”

“Why you—!”

As Celia lunged at him, Leo easily dodged, then looked puzzled.

“Wasn’t there a branch student from Lumene? What was his name again?”

Celia looked at him in disbelief.

“How do you forget someone from your own clan? Barden Zerdinger.”

“Oh, was that it? What happened to him?”

“…He got expelled this semester.”

“Really? I wondered why I hadn’t seen him.”

Celia looked exasperated.

“What about Brother Rhys?”

“Rhys is out suppressing the Eastern rebellion.”

She sighed.

A few months ago, a rebellion broke out in the eastern part of the Lordren Empire.

It was sudden.

If the Empire had been tyrannical or imposed heavy taxes, it would be understandable.

But that wasn’t the case.

“Rhys didn’t need to go for a small rebellion… but there were too many suspicious things, so the Imperial Family sent him.”

“Hopefully nothing serious happens.”

“Of course not! He’s Rhys!”

Celia puffed out her chest proudly.

“Don’t worry about him—worry about yourself. The Elders Council is going to do everything they can to cut back what you’re supposed to receive.”

Leo smirked.

“Don’t worry about that.”

He clenched his hand.

“To be honest, I didn’t care if I got a lot of land or not. I was planning to avoid conflict. But seeing how they treated my parents—I’m not letting it go.”

He lifted the corner of his mouth.

Celia suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

‘Oh, right.’

She remembered how he’d bossed her around like a maid when they first met.

‘This guy has a bad personality, doesn’t he?’

Leo made sure to thoroughly punish anyone who picked a fight.

She had forgotten that part.

bl

“Sir Rhys! A cavalry unit from the rebels has been spotted ahead!”

Rhys, having arrived at the rebel-held eastern region with Zerdinger’s knights, stood up at the report.

“I’ll go alone.”

“Pardon? But…”

“Worried?”

Rhys smiled. The knight flinched and shook his head.

“Of course not.”

He was the future master of Lordren’s strongest knight order.

Former student council president of Lumene.

He had even played a key role during the resurrection of an Erebos fragment last summer.

He had achieved feats worthy of being called a hero.

A minor rebel cavalry force was no match.

Rhys stepped onto the open plains without drawing his sword.

‘First, I should subdue them without fighting if possible.’

He came to suppress the rebellion, not slaughter all of them.

Every country has discontented factions.

The current emperor was capable—but that didn’t mean everyone supported him.

Some nobles opposed him, and commoners would naturally complain.

Small uprisings weren’t unusual.

‘But this rebellion is strange.’

It started in a small domain and neither grew nor shrank for months.

Every time nearby lords went to suppress it by imperial order, the rebellion would rise again immediately afterward.

‘The rebel lord died early on.’

Yet the residents of the surrounding area kept rebelling.

‘A rebellion without a head?’

Too suspicious.

Even the Imperial Family thought so.

That’s why they asked the Zerdingers, who held eastern territory, to intervene.

‘Let’s figure out the cause of the rebellion first.’

For that, he needed people who would talk.

Even rebels didn’t need to be killed outright.

If they were bandits looting and killing, that’d be another matter.

But so far, these rebels seemed like desperate people with something to say.

He just needed to break their will to fight with overwhelming power.

Thud-thud-thud—!

The rebel cavalry charged.

‘Their stances are awkward. They haven’t received formal training.’

Rhys raised his hand.

Fwoooosh—!

The crimson flames of Zerdinger flared up.

In that instant—

“Eeeek!”

“D-devil! It’s the devil fire!”

“They’ve sent a devil flame user to massacre us again!”

The charging rebels panicked and scattered in all directions.

Rhys canceled the flames and frowned.

“Devil fire? And again?”