Turning Chapter 1027

Chapter 1027

The rumors about Nathan Zuckerman, the adjutant of the Duke of Peletta and a new swordmaster, also played a part in silencing them. In addition to that, the achievements of Yuder Aile, the hero of the Cavalry who saved the West, and the exploits of the other members were added, so it was natural for young children like Phileban to be excited and not know what to do.

In fact, Priscilla was not the type to be swayed by each and every one of those stories, but if there was a loved one among those grouped as "other members," the story would be different. Although the names of Pruelle Van Tain and Nipollen Van Tain were not directly included among the names of the Cavalry members who had achieved amazing battles, they were also clearly heroes who had worked to save the South. Priscilla had read the letters sent by Pruelle countless times while he was staying in the South with Nipollen.

Nipollen, who had met and greeted the heir of the Herne family. Nipollen, who had made a cat friend in the desert. Pruelle, who was embarrassed by the many funny things that happened every time he trained to develop his transformation ability due to the characteristics of his ability. Pruelle, who had a crush on the Deputy Commander of the Cavalry but couldn't say a word properly, wondering where his usual cleverness had gone.

Just from those letters, it was clear how comfortably, enjoyably, and rewardingly the two, who had been like sore thumbs in different ways, were living within the Cavalry. That was more than enough reason for Priscilla Van Tain to endure the hardships required to hold their family together.

'Yes. That's enough.'

The carriage began to move. The vast streets of the 3rd wall passed by quickly outside the window. Priam, who was looking at the sight, suddenly grinned and opened their mouth.

"People who don't like the Cavalry must really hate today. Like our father, who is in that prison over there."

Their finger pointed to a place where the Regien Tower could be faintly seen. It was the space where their father, Duke Tain, was imprisoned. Priscilla, who had turned her gaze towards it, agreed in a voice devoid of any sympathy.

"Yes. For that person, today would be a nightmarish day. But not for us."

"I hope he goes mad with more anger. As much as he has done to us."

It was then. Phileban, who had been half-listening to their sister's conversation while hanging on the opposite window and looking outside, suddenly made an "oh" sound. [TL note: The word ‘sister’ here is ‘plural’, so Priam is probably female, but will wait for further confirmation for now.]

"Sister! Look, there are so many carriages with temple patterns over there. Where are they going?"

Priscilla turned her head and saw a procession of temple carriages moving quickly in the opposite direction from them. Her eyes narrowed slowly.

"That... is going to the Apeto Dukedom."

"Apeto?"

"It seems that the health of Aishes, the first son and heir, is rapidly deteriorating. No matter how much they try to hide it, they can't hide it when they borrow the power of the temple so often like that."

The Duke of Apeto had disappeared somewhere under the pretext of recuperation, and no one knew his whereabouts except for Aishes. Even so, Aishes, who had taken the position of heir, was weakening without the satisfaction of holding power, and every day he called for the temple's specialized priests for treatment.

According to the information flowing into the Tain family, he was struggling to find a way to treat himself somehow, but no matter what he did, it had no effect. Rather, the more he tried to treat himself, the worse his condition became, and now he spent most of the day lying down, having seizures several times a day in pain.

Nevertheless, he seemed to insist on preparing for the ducal succession ceremony, claiming that he would hold it soon, but the reality was that he couldn't even express an opinion on a day like this and had to urgently call for priests.

Priscilla stared at the disappearing tail of the temple carriages and thought indifferently.

'Succession ceremony, my foot. It doesn't seem like he'll last until spring.'

The Apeto family was already heavily shrouded in the energy of death. Even the people working there dared not say it out loud, but there were rumors that they were preparing for a funeral, not a succession ceremony.

Would Aishes Shand Apeto be able to send out invitations to celebrate his victory? In Priscilla's view, it seemed more likely that the invitation would be turned over and used for a funeral.

'If he dies... what will happen next?'

The current Duke of Apeto had a very low chance of being alive and well. If Aishes also died suddenly in the meantime, there was only one person qualified to receive the title next.

Revlin Shand Apeto, who was currently in the Cavalry.

'According to my brother, Revlin is very satisfied with the current situation. He said that even though Apeto had secretly asked him to come back many times, he did not respond.'

That was probably because of the boy named Dandenion, whom Revlin had publicly revealed as his lover. The boy was a commoner, an Awakener, and even of the same (first) gender. The Cavalry, where they currently belonged, was the best in many ways for the two of them to be together.

However, even if staying together in the Cavalry could guarantee immediate safety, what about the future? If Aishes died and Revlin did not return, that position would inevitably be taken by someone from a branch family.

If that person had a sound mind, it would be fine, but the chances of that were extremely low, so Revlin would face another threat from the moment Aishes died, for the rest of his life. It was unknown whether he would choose not to return to Apeto until the end, even though he could guess that, or whether he would eventually return.

'If it were me, I would go back. If there's no one to protect, it's different, but if there is, it's best to rise to the top when you can. If Aishes dies, the most threatening opponent will disappear on his own, so there's no better opportunity than that.'

Priscilla had also made her current choice to protect her siblings. Pruelle sometimes seemed to feel sorry, thinking that he had put down his burden and became comfortable alone, but Priscilla had no regrets.

There were joys and rewards unique to this position. Tormenting stupid people with mind games, taking direct revenge on her father, and securing power to protect her loved ones suited her aptitude quite well.

'If you want to protect someone for sure, I think this is the right way. But well, it might not be the same for them.'

According to the most recent letter Pruelle had sent, it seemed that Revlin was still unaware that Aishes Shand Apeto's health was that bad. When he returned today, he would find out whether he liked it or not.

'The people of the Apeto family probably think they can manipulate Revlin as they please because he's still young if they bring him back... I wonder what they'll say when that young boy returns as a member of the Cavalry who has become a hero.'

The Tain family's carriage passed by the Apeto Dukedom indifferently. Priscilla ended her thoughts about other families there. The important thing was the Cavalry she would see from now on and the return of her precious siblings.

"The Cavalry is coming!"

"Wow!"

Colorful pieces of paper fluttered, and a tremendous cheer erupted. The Cavalry members were momentarily startled and frozen by the force that was even greater than in the West, but soon they responded to the cheers with flushed faces.

"Wow... What is all this?"

"Are all those people here just to see us?"

"Wasn't the official welcome ceremony not today?"

Of course, this was not the official welcome ceremony. Nevertheless, it was even more impressive that such a huge crowd had gathered and the confetti they had prepared themselves fluttered like flowers.

'Just looking at the atmosphere, it feels like summer already, not winter.'

Yuder followed behind Kishiar and looked up at the sky. The weather was so bright and clear that it really felt like spring had already arrived.

In fact, originally, there was no need to walk like this even after entering the capital, and the plan was to continue riding the carriage all the way to the destination. However, due to the tremendous cheers for the Cavalry, Kishiar stopped the carriage and chose to have everyone get off and walk for a while.

"We can't just go like this. Let's all get off and walk until the place where the High Minister is waiting. Is that alright?"

It didn't suit Yuder's personality, but it was a good choice for everyone. Yuder, with his hat turned down, looked at the faces of his colleagues who couldn't hide their joy. But in fact, what caught his attention the most was Kishiar, who was calmly waving his hand at people and attracting their gazes.

"That's the Duke of Peletta!"

"The swordmaster who split the sea, recognized even by General Gino!"

"The owner of the new divine sword!"

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that eight out of ten people gathered here had come to see him.

The man, without wearing anything particularly fancy, simply walking and smiling, captivated everyone's eyes.