Conflict (1)
Chapter 104
The crimson eyes of the royal bloodline.
It wasn’t a matter of pigmentation but a definitive proof that it carried the essence of the dragon.
The overly distinct symbol of the royal family chilled everyone’s hearts.
This was an existence that could neither be tolerated nor could it be allowed to exist.
Everyone except Ray drew their swords.
“Kuh…!”
Jimy hesitated for a moment.
Though he hadn’t foreseen this situation, facing it now left him disoriented.
Even though Jimy had lived with grievances, Phillips County was his second home and a place where he had received much grace.
Jimy didn’t want Phillips County to suffer from irreconcilable conflict.
In the end, Jimy turned his back on Ray.
Turning away from Ray, he faced the Count.
Although Jimy took a stance against the Count, he couldn’t actually point his sword at him.
Holding the hilt with one hand and the blade with the other, Jimy pulled the sword toward himself as he appealed to the Count.
“My Lord, please calm down. Take a deep breath and reconsider.”
Jimy wished for the county to remain as it once was.
Despite the stress Ray caused, which made his hair fall out in clumps, he wanted the county to continue being a place where children wouldn’t starve and could dream of the future.
If Ray were to disappear, Jimy knew better than anyone that most of what had been built so far would soon collapse.
“There are ways to hide it. There are plenty of methods to conceal eyes and hair.”
“It will inevitably be discovered someday.”
The Count’s voice carried a firm resolve.
Someday, there would be no avoiding discovery.
And someday, an irreversible destruction would come.
This wasn’t exaggeration or intimidation—it was a clearly visible future.
Feeling that the Count’s intention wouldn’t change, Jimy trembled all over.
At that moment,
Ray spoke up.
“Perhaps it’s for the best.”
The Count’s eyes narrowed.
Ray was about to say something overly bold and also disloyal.
“The empire’s chaos might not end anytime soon, and we don’t know how things will turn out.”
The legitimacy of those who could inherit the throne was all the same.
Even if someone was the only child of the former Crown Prince, regardless of their mother’s origins, they could still make a strong claim.
“My younger sibling, if you wish to use them, their lineage alone can be a powerful card.”
Convincing someone to hide the identity of the sibling forever simply wouldn’t work.
Thus, Ray decided to probe the ambition any noble should naturally harbor.
However, there was no trace of conflict on the Count’s face.
“We cannot handle it.”
A fallen noble of the frontier could never bear the weight of a royal bastard.
That was an undeniable reality that needed no explanation.
Ray was pushing too hard. Even if the Count was generous, he couldn’t risk his family and territory for such nonsense.
“Ray…! That child will bring misfortune to all of us! It’s a calamity waiting to happen!”
The Count’s voice grew more agitated.
The Count was frustrated.
“Why do you insist on this? If you were worried about the mother, there were other ways…! Why cling to such foolish stubbornness?!”
“…”
Other ways.
Yes, with a little compromise, everyone could have been happy.
For instance, swapping the baby.
While traveling through neighboring counties, it wouldn’t have been difficult to find parents willing to give up their newborn for a few coins.
Using drugs or magic to render Bella unconscious after childbirth, then switching the babies, would have been easy enough.
If Ray had acted convincingly, Bella would never have noticed and would have loved another child as her own.
That way, everyone would have been satisfied.
But Ray didn’t do that.
Ray knew.
Bella’s life was filled with deception.
She had been humiliated by the family she sacrificed herself for.
She had raised someone else’s child as her own after paying all her savings.
Her kindness was often met with disdain, and even her betrothal was a lie amidst whispers.
Bella’s life was truly riddled with deceit.
Therefore, Ray couldn’t deceive her in this one thing she had longed for—her lifelong wish.
A dagger emerged from Ray’s embrace.
There was an unbridgeable gap between their positions.
The only way to bridge that gap was through violence.
*
The serious conflict arising with Ray was also extremely awkward for the Count of Phillips.
The investment poured into Ray until now was enormous.
Even disregarding financial calculations, forming enmity with Ray, a historically talented individual, was terrifying in itself.
Still, the Count trusted Ray’s cold judgment.
The Count planned to kill the red-eyed child born to Bella first.
Of course, Ray would be furious, but what Ray cherished was not Bella’s child but Bella herself.
For Bella’s safety, Ray wouldn’t cross the line and go berserk.
Once tempers cooled with time, Ray would understand that killing the child was beneficial for everyone in the long run.
The Count, feeling his mouth dry, muttered in a cracked voice.
“Ray, understand that this is for everyone’s good.”
The Count suddenly swung his sword.
Jimmy, standing between the Count and Ray, instinctively raised his sword.
Clang!!
As the swords clashed, Jimmy saw it.
The Count’s eyes, filled with regretful sorrow.
Jimmy could do nothing but block the Count’s sword.
The Count also had no intention of doing anything more than momentarily restraining Jimmy.
Mohamed and Didier rushed toward Ray.
Mohamed’s sword glowed with Sword Energy.
Mohamed swung his sword with all his might at Ray.
Pashh!!
Ray blocked Mohamed’s attack with a short dagger.
A dagger was insufficient to completely counter an attack wielded by the massive Mohamed.
When the Sword Aura and Sword Energy collided, Ray was pushed back.
Mohamed immediately retreated.
Didier took Mohamed’s place.
Even with a dagger, Ray would have easily defeated Didier in a one-on-one fight.
However, Didier only needed to buy a few seconds.
Mohamed approached the newborn and raised his sword.
Slashing a helpless infant who couldn’t even babble properly was deeply shameful and tragic for Mohamed.
But it had to be done.
The child was innocent but was born with calamity.
With a resolute heart, Mohamed was about to strike.
At that moment.
The air tore apart.
“?!!”
Ziiing!!!
Mohamed barely managed to defend himself and was pushed back.
Wobbling, he quickly scanned his surroundings.
He couldn’t immediately understand what had just happened.
At that moment, Ray caught something out of empty space.
A peculiar silver-white sword materialized out of thin air.
Everyone’s breath caught.
Amidst the strange sequence of incomprehensible events,
the sight of the silver-white sword struck everyone with speculation.
The silver-white sword spun in Ray’s grip.
A faint Sword Aura flickered.
Once again, the air split.
Zeeeng!!
It was a very faint Sword Aura.
Thus, the Count, Didier, and Mohamed could easily block it.
But that faint Sword Aura cut through the air and fell from above.
In the ensuing silence,
Ray’s Core and Circle violently fluctuated, emitting a chilling aura.
“Don’t touch my brother recklessly.”
The chill that had raced through the delivery room compressed around Ray.
“If I must, I’ll grant my mother eternal rest rather than watch her waste away slowly…”
Refined mana emanating from the unstable Core formed dozens of Sword Auras before converging into one.
“I’ll dedicate my life to cursing the Empire.”
It was a warning, a declaration, and a vow.
Ray had never assigned meaning to his life, whether in his past life or this one.
Some praised life itself as a blessing, but to Ray, that was merely the vanity of the well-fed.
A life filled with pain, regret, and futility was a curse, not a blessing.
Ray valued Bella’s safety, but he also desired her happiness.
He refused to let her drag along in a meaningless life devoid of joy.
Tzuzuk!
Ray pointed a silver-white sword wrapped in Sword Energy at the feet of the Count of Phillips.
“I’ve shown you everything I have.”
So, choose.
“If you still refuse to accept my brother’s existence, I will take my brother and mother and leave your territory.”
Ray owed the Count a great debt.
But he had given back just as much.
He had saved the county from various threats and presented the Count with promising talents for the future.
It was a mutually beneficial deal.
If opinions no longer aligned, parting ways was the only option.
Ray felt a sharp pang in his chest.
Whether it was due to the fluctuations of his Core and Circle or the warmth once offered by those he would now discard like refuse, he couldn’t tell.
Regardless, Ray’s priorities were always clear.
Sacrificing Bella for others was unacceptable.
Ray asked again.
“My Lord, what will you do?”
“…”
The Count of Phillips stared silently at Ray’s blazing Sword Energy before sheathing his sword.
“I won’t harm your brother.”
The Count laid down the first premise.
He fully understood that Ray’s threat wasn’t idle.
“But we need to discuss further to reach a conclusion.”
*
Before moving elsewhere after the swordplay,
Ray, with Aptel’s help, cast a simple illusion spell on the baby’s hair and eyes.
The hair appeared black, and the eyes remained closed.
Ray entrusted the baby to Andre.
Although handing over the child now felt awkward, Ray knew the Count as well as the Count knew him.
Ray warned that harming the child would mean no compromise. The Count accepted this.
The Count was aware that Ray didn’t speak falsely.
Had Ray been an ordinary Expert Level warrior, the story might have been different, but at this point, Ray was a formidable opponent who could barely be restrained even by all the knights of the Manor combined.
Now the Count had two choices:
To drive Ray and Bella out of the territory and erase all traces, or
To carry the immense risk and continue coexisting with Ray.
As Ray and the Count exited the delivery room, all the knights waiting outside followed them.
Except for Didier and Mohamed, none seemed to know the cause of the friction, yet no one spoke.
The Count headed toward the dining hall.
Let’s all sit down and talk. The Count said so.
