Chapter 18
Fifty million shillings.
That was half the funds in my personal vault.
I'd worried that another tempting item might appear, but fortunately—or unfortunately—there wasn't a single lot worth coveting before the auction ended.
-That concludes our auction! Thank you all for attending!
I took advantage of the commotion in the hall to rise from my seat.
"Older Brother."
Celine had come up beside me in the meantime and tugged on my sleeve. Her round eyes had widened with questions.
"Why did you do that? That's a lot of money, even for you, Older Brother."
"It's only money. I can earn it back. Don't worry about it."
Celine couldn't bring herself to press the matter further and merely moved her lips.
I didn't regret it in the slightest.
I had blown through half my fortune, but there were plenty of ways to make money. I didn't even need to ask House Cardenos for help.
There were several profitable businesses I could operate on my own. I planned to get started as soon as the Founding Festival was over.
As for the starting capital, I could procure it from somewhere else somehow.
The barrage of stares still stung, though.
Still, I was glad they were looking at me as some kind of oddity rather than as the wastrel who had beaten a young lady senseless.
"Young Master Astin."
A gruff voice suddenly called out to me. Behind the speaker stood a line of old knights with heads of white hair.
They were General Vermang's former comrades—the true knights who had woven the Forgotten Solar Ring.
They lined up in front of me and bowed in unison.
"Thank you. Truly, thank you so much."
Their voices trembled.
As I looked over their bodies, my gaze drifted toward their palms.
Blood, sweat, scars. I could see what had seeped deeper into them than fingerprints.
"You restored the general's dignity in our stead, Young Master. We will never forget this kindness. The general must be able to rest peacefully now."
They were heroes who had devoted themselves to their homeland, drenched in blood and filth on the front lines.
It sat poorly with me that they had to bow their heads before me.
"Raise your heads."
The old knights slowly straightened their backs.
"I merely paid a fair price for something that was worth it. I didn't save the general's honor. He proved it himself."
"Ah...."
A quiet exclamation escaped from among them.
Nobles who walked red carpets could never know the depth of a path stained red with blood.
I did. And because I did, I couldn't help but respect them.
Saving the world from the Outer Gods and the black things. Protecting one's homeland from demons and magical beasts.
Both were enormous responsibilities—great undertakings worthy of the utmost respect.
I was merely trying to walk the path they had walked.
"I, too, wish to walk the arduous path you all once walked."
I placed my hand over the core within my chest.
⸺!
After a brief surge of exhilaration, two rings began to rotate within my core.
The old knights' expressions changed from moment to moment.
"H-How can you form a ring!?"
One widened his eyes in astonishment, another trembled with his lips hanging open, and a third stood there blankly, staring only at the rings.
Moisture slowly gathered in the corners of their eyes.
The rings showed them, as living proof, that their blood-and-sweat-soaked youth had not been in vain.
I calmed the surging Solar Rings. If I maintained them any longer, they looked like they might embarrass themselves.
"Please regard it as nothing more than a young junior's little performance."
"Oh, what are you saying?"
"A mere display? You're selling yourself far too short, Young Master."
The old knights brushed at the corners of their eyes and straightened.
They were knights who knew the weight of honor and responsibility yet willingly shouldered it.
They had even taken on the weight of the years, which should have made them stoop, but their backs were not bent. They had nothing to be ashamed of.
"Young Master Astin. We will never forget what you did today."
The old knights bowed in a gesture of respect. I bowed even more deeply than they did.
Even after they turned and left, they continued to give me respectful nods. It felt strange, seeing retired soldiers who ought to have been receiving respect treat me this way.
A strange sentiment settled over me as I watched their backs recede.
"I'm proudest of you, Older Brother."
When I looked down beside me, Celine was smiling shyly.
She looked so adorable that I patted her little head.
***
The atmosphere in the banquet hall was physically incompatible with me.
The scent of the nobles' perfume muddled my head, while the young ladies' 'Hohohoho' laughter assaulted my eardrums.
For someone who hated crowded places to begin with, there could be no more horrible torture.
I almost felt sorry for Celine for somehow managing to mingle with the young ladies.
I waited for a suitable opening, then escaped to the outdoor terrace at the corner of the banquet hall.
"I can breathe again."
The moment I inhaled the fresh air, my breathing cleared. It felt as though my clogged-up circulation had all begun flowing again.
I leaned against the terrace railing and looked up at the sky.
The sun was sinking, and the sky had been dyed red with the evening glow.
It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight, which only made it more bitter. I was the only one who knew this peace would be brief.
The world's eventual destruction. A certain future known only to me.
Sometimes, I wanted to cast off this crushing sense of responsibility.
Everyone had returned to life through my regression, yet I felt alone in the middle of a vast ocean.
When they had all died and disappeared, I still hadn't been alone. There had been two of us.
-You're different from me. So you have to save the world. Please, Astin.
"......."
I couldn't collapse just because it was difficult. If not me, then who else could do it?
Even the illustrious romance-fantasy heroine had believed in me, so I had no choice but to see it through.
Lucia's final words, asking me to seduce her when I returned.
Let's say seducing women was beyond my abilities. In other words, saving the world seemed easier.
Step- Step-
The sound of someone approaching intruded and broke my reverie.
The moment I saw the approaching figure, my brow furrowed.
"Young Master Astin."
A man with half his face tightly wrapped in bandages. It was Julian.
Had he still not come to his senses and returned for revenge?
I watched his every movement through narrowed eyes. I clenched my fists as well, ready to beat him senseless if necessary.
"I apologize for what I did back then."
"......?"
My words caught in my throat.
What had he just said?
"And thank you."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Thanks to you, I was able to come to my senses. If it weren't for you, Young Master, I would have remained blinded by love, just as you said."
At first, I wondered whether he was trying to lull me into lowering my guard before ambushing me.
But after looking into Julian's eyes, I quickly changed my mind. I could see all the way to the depths of his emotions, clear as a pristine forest lake.
"I sincerely appreciate the way you knocked down my arrogance and brought me to my senses. I wanted to tell you that in person."
"Julian, you bastard?"
It wasn't an act. He was absolutely sincere.
Our precious Julian had repented!
"You've completely changed!"
Julian awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.
"I also apologize for damaging your reputation through my own atrocities."
"My reputation? Is that thing going to put food on the table? Forget about it."
I wasn't saying that for Julian's sake. I meant it.
Who cared whether people called me a wastrel or a piece of shit?
"Ah, I was sorry about that too."
I pointed at Julian's utterly mangled face with my fingertip. He let out a quiet snort of laughter.
"I know you held back."
"Good. You understand. You might not even be standing here if I hadn't."
"Haha...."
Looking awkward and ill at ease, he fixed his gaze on the ground.
"I spent a long time thinking about how to apologize. I even felt that an apology alone wouldn't be enough. From your broken engagement to Lady Azeline onward, I've caused you a great deal of trouble."
"You don't need to apologize for the broken engagement. I was going to break it off anyway. If anything, I'm grateful that you gave me an excuse."
Making advances on an engaged woman was a thing worth getting beaten over.
But I hadn't smashed his face out of petty revenge.
I punished him because what he had done was beneath even a beast. That was all.
"I've managed to end things with Lady Azeline. It wasn't a happy ending, though."
If that meant he had cut ties with her, it was a remarkably positive change.
In the original story, Julian remained blinded by Azeline to the very end and even gave his life for her. This was a tremendous leap forward.
"I feel guilty not only toward House Cardenos, but also toward Rosenthal. My rash actions caused an unpleasant incident between the two families...."
"It wasn't your fault alone. Azeline bears some blame too."
The problem was that she had a fiancé and still let herself be seduced.
Julian didn't deny it. He merely nodded faintly with his lips pressed into a firm line.
It seemed he was finally trying to understand the whole affair objectively.
"I want to ask you for some frank advice, Young Master. What should I do to make amends for everything?"
"You want to know how to put spilled water back into the cup? I don't know either."
"Then what should I do from now on? What would be the best thing?"
"There's only a hair's breadth between asking me to tell you what to do and asking me to do it for you."
"...?"
My words clearly hadn't gotten through to him.
I deeply understood the impulse to atone for every sin and mistake.
Hurting those around me, doing terrible things to women, abandoning my family and house, killing my own family with my hands.......
In my past life, I had been an even greater wastrel and piece of human garbage than Julian.
Ultimately, there was only one thing I had done to earn forgiveness and atone.
Save the world.
I believed that if I devoted my entire self to saving humanity, all my past sins would be forgiven.
But I couldn't convey that sincerity to Julian as it was.
"Come find me once the Founding Festival is over. Let's go to Cardenos together."
"To Cardenos?"
"Come and train with me. You don't have anywhere else to go anyway. What are you going to do wandering around alone? Train with a sword, that's what."
I was telling him to sacrifice himself for humanity, just by taking the long way around.
"But there are two conditions. First, you have to drop out of the Academy. All you'll do there is chase romance, and it won't do you any good."
He didn't object. He seemed to agree to some extent.
"Second, abandon Luna's cliffside route and weave the Solar Ring—wait."
I stared intently through Julian's chest. I felt my pupils gradually widening.
"You bastard, you've already closed off your inner path?"
"Yes. I intend to weave the rings, just like you, Young Master."
"You're more mature than I thought. Good. Very good."
Smack! Smack!
I thumped Julian's arm with my palm to show him he'd done well.
But every time I reached out my hand, Julian flinched. It couldn't be only because he remembered being hit then, could it?
"Now that there's no turning back, you'll have to come to Cardenos for sure."
"The decision is yours, Young Master."
A faint curve formed around his bandaged mouth. I grinned back at him.
"Go for now, and come find me again later."
"It was brief but meaningful. I will come to you formally once the Founding Festival is over."
"All right. Take care."
With that conversation over, Julian left the terrace. His carefree retreating figure was quite pleasant to watch.
They say you can't change a person, but honestly, I never imagined he'd become this normal.
Julian coming to his senses was a tremendous stroke of good fortune.
It gave me hope that I might be able to fix the other precious idiots who were crazy about women too.
How did I fix Julian? By beating him until he was fixed.
Even if their heads were screwed up, their talents were undeniable. If beating them like Julian could fix them, that's what I had to do.
Of course, there was no guarantee every male lead would be like Julian. It might still be a naive hope.
Tap-tap-tap-!
"!"
A human-sized silhouette suddenly streaked past me.
Then it darted beneath the round table in front of me.
"......What?"
I stared down at the space beneath the table with stunned eyes.
The first thing I saw was a brilliant red dress. A woman was crouched there, half-hidden by the tablecloth.
It was none other than Lucia.
I was about to ask what on earth was going on, but Lucia raised an index finger to her lips.
"Shh! Shh—!"
"Ah, yes?"
"They keep chasing me."
I didn't ask who was chasing her. The answer was obvious, and so was the number of them.
Her hair was in complete disarray. Cold sweat beaded her forehead. Her eyes darted around like those of a small animal.
It was the complete opposite of the lofty epithets about her being the star of high society. 'A fugitive from high society' suited her better.
Being a romance-fantasy protagonist must be exhausting too.
Then again, the title of her romance fantasy was 'Men Keep Bothering Me, So I Do Nothing but Run Away.'
I simply stared at Lucia, who was crouched beneath the table.
She had treated me like a bug and coldly walked away, yet now she had hidden beneath the table in front of me like a rabbit.
I wanted to ask what was going on, but I might get dragged into a lovers' quarrel.
I had to avoid the Crown Prince, if no one else.
I cautiously tried to move away from Lucia. But even that wasn't up to me.
Lucia had a tight grip on the hem of my sleeve.
"Please don't go. Stay here."
"......."