A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

3 – Return to the Beginning (2)

Is this a dream, or is it reality?

Was being a traitor and executed as an adult Gray all just a dream?

Or is this moment, having returned to the age of 10, the dream?

‘Both are reality.’

That’s what I believe.

That’s what I’ve decided to believe.

Humans are selfish creatures, and I choose to think comfortably in the way that I desire the most.

‘I’ve returned to the past.’

I don’t know how.

But I certainly experienced the future.

And now I’m in the past.

Although I still can’t comprehend what kind of miracle occurred, if there’s one thing I regret:

‘Why, out of all times, did I have to return to the day when my father was holding the glass?’

What if I had gone further back? What if I went back to the time before the event where my father chose to betray us?

Maybe I could have prevented the Gibralter family’s betrayal-

“No.”

I could have stopped it once.

When my mother was to go alone to the party held in the royal palace, I should have stopped her.

But it would have been only once.

The incident didn’t happen in a single moment that day; it was the built-up resentment that finally burst.

“As you know, the King once loved your mother.”

As can be inferred from the reason my father called me separately and told me.

“Even though I won Charlotte’s heart, that man still harbored feelings for her. Damned bastard.”

“Let’s keep in mind he is the king, Father.”

“Can’t I even speak comfortably in front of my understanding son?”

“No, please go on.”

I didn’t like the current king either.

“Until you were born, people talked about it as the romance of the century or something like that. If it were written as a novel, your mother would’ve definitely been the heroine.”

“The greatest beauty of the time, caught between the heir to the throne and the Swordmaster Byeonjeongbaek.”

If it weren’t about my parents, I would have been interested in the subject.

“If it’s a romance novel, it’d have the basics covered.”

“Right. And the novel would probably end with Byeonjeongbaek marrying the beautiful Countess and having a child. There may be some side stories about them raising children and sharing love.”

My father chuckled, tapping the table with his fingers.

“But then the king, that guy, insists on starting the second part as a war story.”

“…….”

“What a despicable person. As you know, that man has ….”

“I know he had a daughter my age.”

A princess, indeed.

“Yes. Even though his daughter was already born, he still tried to take Charlotte.”

“I know the current queen was once from a hostile duke’s family.”

“The more we talk about it, the more comfortable I feel. I feel like I’ve aged ten years overnight.”

My father looked at me coldly.

“What happened?”

“Isn’t this what you wanted your son to be like?”

Before regression, my father had wanted me to become like this.

“Until I picked up the glass, I was just an ordinary son to you, but now I am a comrade to share stories in front of the ambassador…or perhaps, a subordinate-“

“Successor.”

My father smiled faintly.

“How can I treat you as just a subordinate? You are my son and my successor. Even if I fail, don’t you think you have to avenge the king who disgraced your mother?”

“…Yes.”

The word ‘successor’ feels heavier today than usual.

“I thought Nuarna Retar was quite clever, but not enough to have this conversation. As expected, it was you who hid your abilities. Just like my child.”

It means that my father thinks of me that much.

“So, the responsibility you take on is great. I won’t ask you to do anything right away, but when everything is ready and the time comes, you’ll have to do anything.”

“Anything I can do.”

My father demanded.

“Yes. Anything.”

Betraying a friend.

Leading them down a dark path to ruin.

Mocking a woman’s innocence and listening to the secret information of the other noble in bed.

Killing the tenant directly in the risk of the family’s true nature being revealed.

And standing at the forefront of the royal conquest as a symbol of allegiance to the empire.

All of these are what I have done.

All of these are what I must do.

“Well, Father. May I make a suggestion?”

“A suggestion?”

“Yes. There is one thing we must do right now, before we just sit back and watch the empire instigate war.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“It’s-“

Getting out of this situation.

“Comforting my fallen mother so she can recover quickly.”

“…….”

A faint sense of ‘that’s all, merely’ passed over my father’s expression.

‘Sorry, but I’d like to try changing the subject.’

My father is a great swordsman, but his politics are not as sharp as his sword.

“Shouldn’t Mother hurry and wake up so Father doesn’t end up cutting off the King’s head?”

“What?”

“I should go support her and help her stand. Someone must be in hot water because of the bloody incident Father caused.”

“……Ah.”

As if he hadn’t considered it, Father covered his face with his hand.

“Oh, damn it.”

Still, fortunately, as a person who likes to make deductions while hearing stories, he soon understood my meaning.

“Do you mean that the foal in heat might come all the way to Gibraltar?”

“Yes. Well, there is a possibility that rumors are spreading.”

I raised my hands and took a step back, away from Father’s ‘proximity.’

“If Father, who heard about Mother’s ill health, impulsively killed Gassol and Mother, shocked by this, has fallen unconscious and is wandering in a near-death state.”

“……!!”

“Having been blinded by greed and having committed an unforgivable mistake against Changebaek, what will you do if the subject of that greed is at risk of death?”

“…Grey. This is your first command.”

Father clenched and unclenched his fist, pointing outside.

“Wake your mother. No matter what it takes. Before the King arrives.”

“Yes.”

* * *

Shortly after.

“Mother.”

This woman, lying on the bed as if dead with a pale face, is my mother, Charlotte Gibraltar – the fiancée of the triangle relationship.

Her full name is Charlotte Gunter.

She is a woman nicknamed Charlotte by both men and is a legendary figure who had once captivated the social world with her beauty alone.

Owing to inheriting her outstanding looks, my two siblings and I are all undeniably among the top five wherever we go.

That woman is now unconscious, unable to wake up.

“What about her meal?”

“Not at all….”

Overwhelmed by fear, Hanolang answers as if it’s his fault that she is dead.

Hanolang was not at the breakfast table.

However, he knows very well that several maids at the scene were stabbed in their hearts for reasons unknown.

It was the Gasols who were working with them and happened to be absent at the scene, who cleaned up the corpses.

“Yo, young master?”

And now this woman is afraid of me.

“Is-Is there any… message from His Lordship?”

She’s terrified of me, who have spent a long time in the mad earl’s study and shown a completely different demeanor overnight.

“Father told me to personally deliver the news when Mother wakes up.”

“Ah, that’s…”

“And, if possible, I would like to have some time alone with Mother.”

“…Pardon?”

“It’s my father’s order. Um, I really don’t want to personally bother him with such trivial matters.”

I pointed at the door with my eyes.

“Miss Cherry? If you’ve served Father for a long time, you should be able to take a hint by now, right?”

“…Yes, I understand! P-Please call me if anything happens.”

Miss Cherry sent a glance to the maids in the room. After all the maids left, she closed the door tightly behind her.

*Sigh.*

Maybe it’s because Father set the first button lightly with his threat; the servants tend to listen well when they’re intimidated a little.

The politics of fear is effective.

But when history judges later, they never hear good things.

How do I know?

It’s because I made them write the history books when I brought down one of the Kingdom’s clans.

‘It was the Gunte Clan.’

My mother’s clan.

My maternal grandfather, who held a grudge that his daughter became Countess Baekjang, not the Queen.

“Mother was invited to the royal banquet because she received an invitation from Lord Gunte, my maternal grandfather.”

I placed a chair beside my sleeping mother and sat down.

“Mother.”

I called gently, once.

“Are you afraid of me?”

There’s no reaction, but I already know.

“You should be scared.”

My mother cannot regain consciousness.

“I know what you did last night in the king’s third bedroom, Mother.”

It’s a lie.

Startled!

Mother sits up, her upper body struggling.

“You, you…!”

With a more frightened expression than ever before, she glares at me shakingly, as if she has seen a ghost.

“Would you like a glass of water?”

“…….”

“Staring at me like that won’t change anything. It’s okay. I’m on father’s side but at the same time, I’m on your side.”

“You….”

“Fortunately, you are my biological mother. Doesn’t this face prove it? Although the color of my hair and eyes are completely different.”

“…….”

Without a word, my mother took the glass I handed her.

“How much do you know?”

“Do you trust me?”

“You are the child I gave birth to in pain. Honestly, even at this moment, I am not sure if you are my son.”

“I apologize. I came here as the heir to the Gibraltar’s Count.”

“…Did you grow 10 years older overnight? Or did you learn politics at the academy?”

“You say the same thing as my father, amusingly. Except for the academy part.”

“Sigh…”

After gulping down the water in one go, my mother handed me the empty glass.

“So, how much do you know? Shall we have a questioning like your father? Or, perhaps you suspect me now?”

“I believe that I, Grey Gibraltar, was not born from the king and Queen Charlotte, but born between Crimson Duke and the young Charlotte.”

“…….”

“And that is the truth. For now.”

“For now?”

Her words have a sting to them.

Muttering to herself, but she seemed so mentally unstable that she couldn’t even recognize it.

“Mother, you must be worried. But what are you worried about?”

It’s only natural.

“Are you afraid Dad would find out about your secret affair?”

Any parent would.

“Or, perhaps he knows but pretends not to? Afraid that he might see it as you being seduced by the passion of your youth rather than being deceived by the king?”

No one would want their infidelity to be discovered by their family – especially their children.

“It, it was a mistake! Be, because of alcohol-“

“No, Mother. You’re afraid of me, knowing everything.”

I smiled warmly at my mother.

“It’s okay. I haven’t told Father.”

“……”

“See? I’m on both of your sides.”

“*sigh*….”

Mother covers her face with both hands.

I discreetly filled an empty cup with water and took a sip, as she glanced at me through her fingers.

It was a look of relief.

She may not have realized it herself, but I already sensed her relief.

“It must have been a huge shock for you, but let’s pretend you fainted and collapsed because you suddenly killed the servants. You have to get up now, or the bloodshed at Gibraltar Castle will continue.”

“Again…?”

“Not just bloodshed either. It’ll be unleashed against the king who came here…”

“I, I need to get up. Th-That can’t happen…!”

“Yes, you need to get up.”

Mother frantically got up from the bed and stood in front of the water bowl placed next to the vanity.

“Th… That Grey? My son?”

“Yes.”

“I, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize.”

And I really meant that.

Because.

“But, what I mean is…”

“Please don’t apologize for not being the king’s son.”

“!!”

Because this woman has already hurt me with those words.

“I am very proud to be the son of Gibraltar Changbaek, the Crimson Gibraltar Knight.”

“……”

“But I must leave now to clean up my father’s mess before he kills more people.”

I bowed to my mother and then left the room immediately.

Creak.

The door opens.

I left without making any noise on purpose, but there was no one outside the door.

“Thank goodness.”

As soon as I walked a little further and turned the corner of the corridor.

“If someone had their ear to the door, they would have surely died.”

“Hee, eek…!!”

The maids were holding hands, shivering with pale faces.

“It’s a joke. My mother woke up. Go and take care of her.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Do I have to say it twice?”

“Yes, yes!!”

The maids, led by Hanokjang, immediately entered my mother’s bedroom.

“Phew. For now, is this a fortunate thing?”

Now that the woman I love has awakened from unconsciousness.

‘From the beginning, have I changed the predetermined future?’

There won’t be anything like that happening in the royal road, as it did in the future, after playing that prank.

A moment later.

“Have you arrived? Well done.”

I reported to my father that the mission was accomplished.

“What is it that you want…? What’s the matter? You’re in such a hurry.”

“Your Lordship, a carriage from the royal family is approaching.”

“…….”