The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 55.1

Chapter 55.1: Already, the Sun Has Set (3)

Count Garick asked Oleciren why she wanted to be king, but she couldn’t answer.

At first, it was to survive.

Then, it was because she had to live.

But she knew that these reasons were too flimsy.

Should she really bear the weight of the crown just to survive?

Seeing Oleciren’s troubled expression, Count Garick changed the subject.

“His Majesty, King Hybolt, named you as his first successor, and Marquis Ross and Marquis McLoud opposed it and are pushing for the Second Princess.”

It had been a few years since Arian had fallen into their clutches, but it seemed Garick had known about this undercurrent for a long time.

After all, Count Garick was one of the Seven Great Nobles.

He glanced towards the north, where the royal capital, Lindbloom, was located, and asked,

“Do you know how His Majesty, King Hybolt, became king?”

“Yes, my father told me.”

“I’ve only seen him at annual events recently, but the King Hybolt I saw when he was a prince was a formidable man.”

The Hybolt Rune Airian that Garick remembered was a man of iron blood who always swallowed his tears and eliminated his brothers one by one.

He was a genius in politics, skillfully wielding both carrot and stick to rule the nation.

However, Oleciren could only tilt her head at the description of Hybolt.

“The father I’ve seen has always been calm……”

To put it mildly, the Hybolt Garick was describing was nowhere to be found now.

Count Garick looked at Oleciren with complicated eyes for a moment before carefully opening his mouth.

“It was after Lady Everwyn Ross passed away that he changed.”

“Someone from the Ross Marquis family?”

Oleciren tilted her head.

It was also the first time Cain had heard that name.

Count Garick spoke heavily.

“Do you know Carla Audrey?”

“Mother……!”

Oleciren shouted in shock.

‘Someone from the Ross Marquis family?’

In the Airian Kingdom, commoners did not use surnames.

Therefore, she wouldn’t be a commoner, and while rare, there were cases of nobles sharing the same given name. But there would be no one daring enough to use the same surname as a Marquis.

If Count Garick’s words were true, it meant Oleciren’s own mother was someone from the Ross Marquis family, who was currently trying to kill her.

“The older sister of the current Marquis Heatherward Ross is Your Highness, Princess Oleciren’s mother.”

“I’ve never heard of it before!”

Even the princess, his own daughter, was hearing this secret for the first time.

Count Garick smiled bitterly.

“That’s understandable. Only the royal family and the Seven Great Noble Houses know about this.”

“Mother is… a Ross.”

Oleciren’s pupils trembled subtly. She had never dreamed that her mother was a direct descendant of the family she had only thought of as an enemy.

“Was it fashionable to have two wives back then?”

Cain joked.

Mia, who had been listening seriously, burst into laughter, and Oleciren, who had been deep in thought, raised her head at the absurd sound.

Cain, who had changed the mood with a single word, continued speaking as if it were nothing.

“Well, Count Edmund has two wives, Lord Count Crowl has two, His Majesty Hybolt has two. I think other Lord Counts have two as well.”

“It wasn’t exactly a trend…… Everyone had their reasons.”

“Well, I believe you. But for a story like that to be a secret, something big must have happened. What was it?”

Count Garick’s eyes briefly met Oleciren’s.

Knowing the whole story of the secret from back then, it was difficult for him to say anything in front of Hybolt and his daughter.

He opened and closed his mouth several times before shaking his head.

“You two can find out the details yourselves. Why Marquis Ross hasn’t married yet, why His Majesty Hybolt, who was so proactive in everything, has been secluded since ‘Carla Audrey’ died.”

Oleciren raised her head.

It seemed that the clarification of the secret of her birth, which she had never imagined, was coming to an end.

“And I need to find out why the Ross Marquis family isn’t on my side.”

“Yes, you need to understand why others are reluctant to support you as the next ruler.”

“……I understand. I’ll excuse myself first.”

Oleciren rose from her seat, her mind full of worries.

Cain watched her retreating figure.

‘Maybe now is a good time.’

It was the part Garick had pointed out, ‘Why do you want to be king?’

Until now, she had been running to survive, and she had come this far after meeting Cain, her sword.

Considering the path she would take in the future, it was time to sort things out.

Thump.

The door closed.

Count Garick winked at Cain.

“Do you like my gift?”

“It’s an unexpected gift.”

“I had to say it for the sake of this island, and for the future of my son. I thought you might not like it.”

“Me?”

“Yes, I’ve been a count for decades. I’ve even witnessed the birth of the third king, and I’ve been through all sorts of strange things.”

It is said that if a person devotes ten years to something, they become an expert in that field. Then what about someone who has survived decades in the political arena?

The answer was right in front of him.

No matter how weakened he was, his astute political sense remained intact.

“You don’t care about the king or anything like that. You just need the king’s power.”

“You’re saying I need her to be an absolute monarch.”

“Am I wrong?”

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