The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 68.1

Chapter 68.1: A Journey for Spring (4)

With Rude’s arrival, the previous conversation couldn’t continue.

Oleciren exchanged glances with Isoel and wrapped up her words appropriately.

“It will take a few days just to find a clue.”

It was only natural, considering this was about Marquis Heatherward Ross, one of the three powerhouses of Airian.

In fact, even this was only possible because it was Airian’s Royal Intelligence Service.

Cain listened to their conversation, grasped the underlying meaning, and nodded.

“It works out, since we need time to recover.”

The battle with the devil Ballam had been quite a burden even for Cain, and the wounds remaining on his body were quite significant.

It was only thanks to Oleciren’s power that it ended at this level. Otherwise, he would have truly sacrificed his entire future.

‘I need to get stronger, faster.’

Not everything in the world can be solved with strength.

However, Cain knew better than anyone that most things could be solved with it.

“I’ll also look into the Lord Count.”

With an unprecedented number of Airian counts gathered in Crowl, Oleciren was referring to Count Edmund Ethelred.

“There’s no need for that.”

Cain flatly refused.

She was momentarily speechless at his firm answer.

She knew he wasn’t on good terms with Edmund, but she didn’t know he would draw the line so firmly.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. That’s not the reason.”

Cain let out a deep breath and continued, intentionally not mentioning Edmund’s name.

“If he really wants to hide, who could find him?”

“Ah……”

Even the Royal Intelligence Service, renowned throughout Airian, would find it difficult to chase down Edmund, the strongest swordsman in the kingdom.

“Don’t worry, he’s not exactly inconspicuous. He’ll make himself known soon enough.”

“Okay.”

The two ended their conversation with a smile.

Then they beckoned to Rude, who was entering with refreshments on a silver tray.

There were sofas, but they were too far away at the other end of the room. Cain couldn’t ask Isoel to get up, so he stood up and said,

“Sit down.”

“Pardon?”

Rude faltered for a moment, looking flustered.

Cain casually gestured to the chair.

“We need to be closer if we’re going to share. You’re not going to just give us this and leave, are you?”

“No……”

Rude sat down on the chair with an awkward smile. Then, he wondered where to put the silver tray he was holding.

It seemed disrespectful to put it on the bed where the princess was lying, and the table was too far away.

As he was about to place it on his lap, a slender, white hand reached out and took the tray.

Thud.

With a kind smile, she placed the tray on the bed.

“You don’t have to worry so much.”

While it would have been fine to speak casually like Cain, this was Crowl Castle, and Oleciren, as the princess, spoke slightly formally since she was the sole heir of the Crowl Count family.

“O-oh… Yes. Thank you.”

Screech.

Cain brought a chair from afar and sat down next to Rude, and the three of them picked up the refreshments on the silver tray.

Oleciren picked up an elaborately decorated dessert and showed it to Cain.

“……?”

Cain tilted his head at her sudden action.

“You’ve never had anything like this before, have you?”

As Cain looked at her with a bewildered expression, Oleciren popped the dessert into her mouth with a mischievous smile.

“I just thought I’d ask, since you’ve only ever been in Ethelred.”

“Ethelred is a count’s territory too, you know.”

“But there’s no pastry chef.”

“……”

With most of Ethelred consisting of useless forests, sea, and cliffs, it was only natural that they didn’t have such luxurious food.

Moreover, Edmund, who had been the count, avoided sweets like desserts, and Chloe, who should have played the role of mistress, was always ill.

‘Actually, when she was supposedly ill and secluded, it seems she was mostly in the North, but still.’

It was a rural domain where even trains didn’t come, so there was no one to invite even if they held a party. And while most other counts had numerous nobles under their command, Ethelred was not like that.

The power structure was strictly centered around Count Edmund and the Ethelred Knights.

Naturally, there were no pastry chefs who could make desserts in Ethelred’s count castle.

Oleciren, who was eating the desserts with gusto, smacked her lips and shook her head.

“It’s good, but I still think Arna’s apple pie is the best. Don’t you think so?”

Cain froze for a moment, then gave an ambiguous smile and scratched his eyebrows.

When he glanced at Isoel, her expression was the same as his.

Having tasted Arna’s apple pie, neither of them could bring themselves to agree with Oleciren.

Rude Crowl, awkwardly caught in the middle, seized the opportunity and asked with sparkling eyes.

“Who is Arna?”

“She’s Abel’s mother.”

“Aha, so she’s the mother of Cain, who’s here with us.”

Of course, the two looked like brothers to anyone who saw them, so he said it without thinking.

And Cain, as if stating the fact that the sun rises from the east, replied casually.

“She’s not my biological mother.”

“Ah……”

Rude’s face instantly turned pale.

He immediately thought of his own biological mother, Mia, and the incident with Arian, who had entered the family as his father’s second wife and caused all sorts of trouble.

Unable to speak any further, Rude’s eyeballs darted around.

Oleciren looked at him with amusement and then casually said,

“Don’t worry, they’re close over there.”

Only then did Rude let out a small sigh of relief.

Rude Crowl, the warrior who had once entrusted his back to him.

Cain, finding his childhood self quite adorable, picked up a cookie and held it out to Rude.

Rude blinked his eyes awkwardly before taking the cookie from Cain and eating it.

Tap, tap.

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