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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Is your schedule in the South almost over now?”
“I think so. The matter concerning the magicians has been postponed.”
“That’s a bit disappointing. Originally, the purpose of coming here was about the magicians.”
When Adriana expressed her disappointment, I nodded in agreement.
The original purpose of investigating the magicians was canceled due to the movement of the different races.
The races that should have been quiet during this period suddenly moved, so the schedule that was originally planned for a month ended in 2 weeks.
Miragen had returned to the imperial palace after hearing that someone had used the relic, and only Adele and Adriana remained here.
Even that was now on the way back.
Anyway, considering what we needed to gain in the South, I thought we had gained everything.
I had successfully secured the relic to give to the Crown Prince, and most importantly, I had gained Adriana’s support.
As long as Adele and Adriana were on my side, I could use the power of the church and the North to stabilize the Taylor family after becoming the family head.
The quick end to the schedule in the South was rather advantageous.
It meant I could strike first at a point Yuria didn’t expect.
Although I thought she would probably notice soon, it was still certain that Yuria didn’t know about my return.
It was a time when spring wasn’t that close yet to say winter had ended.
Not long after the new year, when various matters were in disarray.
If Yuria moved first in that situation, there was a high probability it would be a self-defeating move.
The power Yuria held under the Taylor name was by no means small.
Some “move” was needed to overturn this entire situation at once, and even if that succeeded, it didn’t necessarily mean I could become the Taylor family head.
That was why I had deliberately leaked information about my movements to Yuria.
Hoping she would be caught up in the possibility, or if not, completely ignore whatever move I made.
I had hoped for the latter, but I learned through Renold’s report that Yuria was paying quite a bit of attention to my movements.
‘If it comes to this, there’s only one thing for me to do.’
To the maximum extent possible, clearly show my intentions through my movements.
The fact that the saint and the Grand Duchess were with me was enough to make her anxious.
I would be able to judge more accurately after seeing Renold’s next report, but even with just these movements, wasn’t the advantage slowly shifting to me?
It was still okay to take it easy.
At least until I set foot in the central region, there wasn’t much I could do right away.
It was enough to wait until the news I was waiting for arrived.
As I was lost in thought for a moment, I felt a gaze on me and turned my head to see Adele silently watching me.
“…Do you have something to say?”
“No, I just looked for a moment. I have to return to the North now. When will you come next?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll probably be quite busy until summer.”
Becoming the family head by defeating Yuria was one thing, but first I needed to gain support from others, and considering the time for stabilization… it would take at least a few months.
Delivering the relic to the Crown Prince and approaching him was also an issue.
It had been quite comfortable while in the South or North in many ways.
There were so many headaches waiting in the central region, so I knew well that this leisure time wouldn’t last much longer.
Adele frowned at my uncertain answer, but swallowed at the mention of being busy until summer.
I had to go to the North within this year anyway.
Kaitel would call Adele sometime between autumn and winter.
If I wasn’t there at that time, she would be anxious herself.
I intended to personally watch at least the events I knew about.
“Still, I’ll visit once around autumn. By then, I won’t be Robert Taylor, but Duke Taylor.”
“Are you confident? The young lord’s accumulated power won’t be insignificant.”
“I’m not without confidence. Didn’t I go to the North and South to gain that confidence?”
If asked whether I had gained that confidence, I felt I could answer quite confidently that I had.
It was doable.
It wasn’t an overwhelming difference like before, and the fact that I had gained more than expected in the North and South was significant.
At least in terms of the names of those whose support I had gained, the advantage was probably mine.
I had secured the Four Dragons’ relic so I would have Kaitel’s tacit approval, and I had the support of the saint and the Grand Duchess.
As they were figures representing the church and the North respectively, it meant I had the power to deal with it if Yuria made any reckless moves.
“Don’t overdo it. You know better than anyone what Yuria Taylor might do.”
“I intend to move carefully. I’m already receiving some reports, so I’ll have to move immediately when I reach the central region.”
“Is there nothing I can help with?”
“At least until I become the family head, I must reach it alone.”
Legitimacy was a particularly important factor.
No matter how little importance I placed on it, legitimacy and perception were more important than anything in this noble society.
Even if I forcibly became the family head, wouldn’t I just be a nominal head if I didn’t gain the recognition of the nobles?
For me, who needed to use the Taylor name, this was something that couldn’t happen, and I had to maintain at least my current status.
Hearing my words, Adele grinned and nodded.
Unless it was after becoming the family head, the position of family head was something I had to reach solely through my own power until then.
…I used to have little interest in the name of family head, but it was quite amusing that I now thought of it as so important.
Perhaps the values I considered important had changed over time.
If I had been interested in the family head competition from before, I wondered what would have changed.
It was foolish to think about it now, but I couldn’t help but wonder.
If I had overthrown Yuria earlier. If I had excluded her from my life from the start.
I now knew that it would have been a positive direction no matter how I thought about it.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Like with Theresa, in the end, wasn’t the path I chose one of embracing everyone and moving forward?
Of course, this time was different.
The purpose of this life was to move forward while discarding one by one the things that had no meaning to me.
No matter how much I had thought of them as family before, in the end they were just stepping stones I had to tread on.
Yuria was just one of them.
An existence I would have to step on someday, to trample on so thoroughly that she could never rise again.
The precedent of Theresa had left me many lessons.
If I intended to exclude someone, I had to move quickly, and if I intended to step on them…
I had to step on them decisively.
I turned my gaze towards the window for a moment in the rattling carriage.
The trees that had been stretching towards the sky disappeared, and instead, wide plains and cities began to come into view.
From the North to the South, and now from the South to the central region.
It felt novel.
This would probably be the first year I would face in all my lives.
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-What’s your name?
It was quite recent that the master he served had changed.
Always showing a weak appearance and being swayed by others, Robert had been essentially completely ignored in the Taylor family.
He had barely been alive because of the Taylor name, but even a mere butler like himself could ignore Robert without any repercussions.
But suddenly one day, everything changed.
The young master who had only been weak now had a coldness in his eyes, and hesitation disappeared from his actions.
The dynamics within the Taylor family changed with his unhesitating movements.
Even the steadfast Yuria Taylor wavered for a moment.
The connection with the imperial family loosened, and Yuria Taylor’s position, which had seemed certain to become the family head, was no longer the same as before.
Although it was certain that there was still an overwhelming difference compared to Robert Taylor, rumors were circulating within the duke’s residence that anything might be possible.
‘I spread those rumors though.’
Renold, who had turned up his collar, smiled slightly.
At first, he had complained a lot about being tied to Robert Taylor’s circumstances.
No matter how he thought about it, wasn’t it a rotten lifeline?
Although he had no choice because of his family, he had intended to betray him and join Yuria Taylor at any opportunity.
But now? Was there any reason to join Yuria Taylor?
Renold was not a fool.
He knew that his ability to survive despite ignoring the only son of the Taylors stemmed from his unique abilities.
He knew when to retreat and when to advance.
At first it had seemed like a rotten lifeline, but Robert’s moves exceeded both Yuria’s and his own expectations.
He had formed a friendship with the Grand Duchess, was already openly friends with the Saint, and now even had a relationship with the Princess.
So now he had no hesitation in reporting on Yuria Taylor’s movements.
When the rotten exterior was peeled away to reveal gold, why would he do the foolish thing of running away?
“And now public opinion isn’t bad either.”
The first thing Robert had done before leaving for the North was to send medical support to the territory.
As if he had predicted that an epidemic would occur.
In fact, an epidemic had spread in some areas, and thanks to the timely dispatch of medical support, it could be easily overcome.
It was Robert Taylor who had ordered the medical support, although Yuria had tried to interfere.
Renold had spread rumors in his own way beforehand to make it known that it was Robert Taylor who had done this.
Spreading rumors was what Renold did best.
It was natural since he was the one who had spread bad rumors when Robert was first ignored.
He felt a bit sorry about that now, but back then it was a time when he couldn’t have imagined that Robert was hiding his true self.
Hmph-
Meanwhile, Yuria Taylor’s actions had also become strange.
He had heard that she had argued with Robert before going to the North, but he couldn’t understand why it had gotten this bad, whatever she had heard.
When she heard the news that Robert had reached the South and was moving with the saint, what Yuria did was to call the nobles she had been friendly with to a social gathering.
He only knew part of what had been discussed there.
But what was certain was that she had declared she would soon become the family head, and at the same time, she had begun to check Robert Taylor.
Renold, who had written down these two facts, swallowed slightly.
In fact, there was one more thing he needed to report, but he had to be careful about this.
It meant the completion of a move that could overturn this unstable situation that was still disadvantageous to Robert Taylor.
What would happen to him if this letter leaked?
If Yuria found out, he would be as good as dead.
Yuria’s declaration that she would become the family head herself had two meanings.
One was that she would really become the family head, but the position of Taylor family head only had meaning if the current head acknowledged it.
Now that the current head was interested in this family head competition, would he easily give the position to Yuria?
Renold shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, and he shook off the sweat that had soaked his head.
“She’s gone mad, completely mad.”
Things had been smooth so far, but from now on he couldn’t think that way.
It was like standing on a single log bridge.
Yuria’s plan to ‘forcibly’ usurp the family head position from the current head had failed.
It was Renold’s independent action, but he had diverted the drug that would have been the starting point of that plan.
After taking a deep breath, Renold started writing again with the pen that had been stopped.
He could only hope that the lifeline he had grabbed was really gold.
The moment he sent this letter, he could clearly see a future where he would die if it failed.
A simple letter, but one that implied more than anything else.
Renold, who had enclosed a small vial of medicine, sighed.
Now it was up to Robert.
If he couldn’t become the family head, he would have to die too.
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[Renold is lowkey underrated ngl]
