Chapter 596

596.

Leo was unpacking his luggage in his room at the grand Zerdinger estate.

Knock-knock-

“Come in.”

Creak-

The door opened, and Celia entered.

Celia, furrowing her brows, sat down on the sofa situated at one corner of the room and stared at the table opposite her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m playing catch-the-thief.”

Leo and Phoenix, bound together by a contract, and Fiora, who was in human form, intently stared at Kiran sitting by the table with utmost seriousness.

-Hmm~ Where did that thief chick go?

“Be quiet, moth.”

The sharp gaze of Fiora, glaring at Kiran.

Apparently, the stakes were snacks.

‘Wait, how is Phoenix and a fairy gambling with snacks?’

Witnessing this, Celia expressed her bewilderment.

On the table were the dark spirit Elshi and the light spirit Rael, spectating the situation.

The two spirits had already finished the game and were now holding cookies as big as their heads, munching away with “chomp-chomp”.

While staring intently at the enormous card, larger than Kiran’s body, Fiora carefully took one of the two jokers in Kiran’s hand.

“Huuuuuuh!”

-HahaHAHA!

Kiran burst into laughter while watching Fiora despair.

Meanwhile, the card changed its form.

Upon seeing this, Celia’s eyes narrowed.

-My turn!

The triumphant Kiran brought over one of the cards that Fiora had shuffled.

“Aaah, no way!”

-I won!

Kiran cheered, throwing the card upwards and making Fiora clench her head in frustration.

-This snack is mine now…

“Cheating is not allowed.”

At Celia’s words, Fiora looked up, and the two spirits glanced at her curiously.

As Kiran, who was about to grab the snack, peeked around stealthily, he quickly gathered it into his arms and flew away.

-Ah. Now I see why Kiran always came first. It was cheating!

Elshi smiled brightly, as if everything had finally clicked.

She didn’t particularly seem upset about Kiran’s deception.

Of course, the other two weren’t the same.

“Cheating moth! Come here!”

-You’ll get your neck twisted!

Fiora and Rael chased Kiran, their eyes aflame with indignation.

Celia, upon witnessing this, covered her face.

“I somehow feel like the image of Great Spirits and three Familiars is being ruined.”

After roughly finishing unpacking, Leo sat where Fiora had been.

“Why do you have such an unsatisfied look on your face?”

“The attitude of the Elder Council bothers me.”

Celia frowned.

Celia knew that not everyone at Zerdinger welcomed Leo.

The two pillars of the Rodren Empire, which could be called the hegemon of the Western continent.

In other words, they were one of the top three forces in the continent’s west.

Though they were subjects of the empire, their relationship was far from the ordinary ruler and subject dynamic.

It was closer to a partnership rather than an absolute oath of loyalty.

In fact, since the establishment of the nation, Rodren, Zerdinger, and LeWalyn had mutually assisted each other.

As a result, the Rodren royal family recognized Zerdinger’s territorial independence.

In other words, the Lord of Zerdinger was the king in the Zerdinger lands.

Maintaining such power is insufficient only through the main bloodline and their following vassal families.

Even the collateral branches separated from Zerdinger played a substantial role in Zerdinger’s strength.

Naturally, the collateral’s influence within the family was not negligible.

“For the collateral branches, I must feel like some random rock that rolled in, right?”

Leo chuckled.

“No matter what, but this stuff you’re inheriting was originally Auntie’s inheritance! It is only natural it returns to its rightful owner, so why do they dislike it so much?”

“Human psychology generally doesn’t like to give up what they have. If something they might possess is taken by someone else, they feel it in their gut.”

The Elder Council is made up of knights of high prestige from both the main and collateral Zerdinger bloodlines.

For a great heroic family like Zerdinger, operating solely on the main branch has its limits.

In case the family head made a bad decision,

there was a need for a force to stop the family head’s unilateral drive. This is why the Zerdinger Elder Council was formed.

Since the number of collateral branches exceeds the main, their influence in the council naturally strengthened.

Of course, the council cannot directly interfere in the family’s management.

But in matters related to inheritance, its influence is potent.

“Grandpa is also too detached. Anyway, I hoped this time he’d take Auntie’s and your side more actively.”

Celia pouted her lips.

Looking at such Celia, Leo tilted his head.

“It didn’t seem like your relationship with mom was that bad?”

“True. She also was kind towards father.”

‘Really wanted to meet you. How about a drink tonight?’

‘Yes, I’m honored. Lord of the previous generation.’

‘Call me father-in-law.’

Regas, chuckling and patting Deid on the shoulder, came to mind.

After Leo’s birth, Reina hasn’t had any official exchanges with her maiden family.

‘Though it probably started even before I was born.’

It might have been due to Leo that she contacted Zerdinger after leaving.

To support her son who wanted to enroll in Lumeran, perhaps.

Despite the long absence of communication, Regas’s gaze towards Reina was filled with deep affection.

And he was indeed kind to the son-in-law he met for the first time.

There was pride when Regas looked at Leo.

‘If their relationship was not bad, they seem to have been very close.’

It was curious why they hadn’t seen each other for such a long time.

Moreover, the official first visit from the Flove family, sent to keep an eye on them with a dispatched knight squad as per the Elder Council’s wish, was also confusing.

Seeing Leo’s reaction, Celia let out a small sigh.

“The grandfather is thoroughly neutral.”

“Neutral?”

“Yes.”

Celia rested her chin on her hand.

-Dodge it! Dodge it!

At that moment, Kiran, who had fled from Fiora and Rael, zipped through between Leo and Celia.

Watching this, Elshi smiled and raised her hand.

Ting!

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the shadows around the objects trapped Kiran.

“Got you! Cheating fairy!”

-Wing first!

-Ohhhhh?

-Leo is having an important conversation. If you disturb him here, you’ll be unusable. Go outside.

Elshi said with a smile, and the Phoenix and the Great Light Spirit took the fairy to the terrace.

‘Who exactly is this spirit that can control them so well?’

Though Celia knew Elshi was a great spirit, she clearly didn’t know the exact details and looked at her with curiosity.

Elshi greeted her by slightly lifting her skirt.

“You don’t seem to be bored.”

“Too noisy to make my head ache.”

As Leo spoke, Celia laughed and said:

“Continuing from earlier. As the Supreme Elder, my grandfather maintains neutrality regarding everything happening in the family. In the Elder Council, he stays neutral to mediate between the main and collateral branches, setting aside personal feelings as much as possible.”

Celia let out a small sigh.

“Not that he doesn’t like you. As you saw, he still loves Auntie, and he and Uncle both want to keep meeting you.”

Leo must have visited Zerdinger several times, but he avoided meeting Leo to strictly separate public and private matters.

If the former lord interfered in whether Leo would acquire the main lineage of Zerdinger, it wouldn’t sit well with the collateral factions.

“He really wants to meet you. Father said that lately, his day consists of waking up and looking for newspapers.”

“Newspapers?”

“Yes. Father told me that he cuts out and keeps all the articles related to you.”

Of course, the same went for Celia’s knight reputation.

“This time, he was extremely excited to meet your family.”

“Pfft, so busy.”

“Extremely busy.”

Celia smiled gently.

Then, pouting her lips, she said,

“Why doesn’t Grandpa get involved a bit more and take better care?”

“The position of Supreme Elder exists, you know. I understand.”

Leo chuckled.

With that, Celia grinned.

“If you understand, spend some time with Grandpa during this vacation! Show off a bit!”

“Show off, that’s your job.”

“Didn’t I show off a lot already?”

“Show some more.”

“Like this!”

Celia, flaring up and lunging at Leo, was lightly evaded, and Leo wore an inquisitive look.

“Isn’t there a student from the collateral line of the Zerdinger family at Lumeran? What was his name?”

Seeing Leo tilt his head, Celia looked at him as if he were hopeless.

“How do you forget the name of someone from the same family? It’s Barden Zerdinger.”

“Ahh, was it that name? What happened to him?”

“…He was expelled in the first semester this year.”

At Celia’s exasperated expression,

“Who is Brother Lis?”

“Brother Lis is currently on a mission to suppress the rebellion in the east.”

Celia sighed.

A rebellion had broken out in the eastern part of the Rodren Empire a few months ago.

It was an unexpected rebellion.

It would have been understandable if it was due to tyranny or excessive taxation by the empire,

but that wasn’t the case.

“Even if it’s a small rebellion, Brother Lis didn’t need to intervene… But there are several suspicious points, so the royal palace dispatched him.”

“It should be fine.”

“Of course it will! It’s Brother Lis, after all.”

Celia puffed out her chest proudly.

“Instead of worrying about Brother Lis, you should worry about yourself. The Elder Council will definitely come after you, eyes blazing, trying to reduce whatever you’re supposed to receive.”

Upon hearing Celia’s words, Leo smirked.

“Don’t worry about that.”

Leo flexed his fingers.

“To be honest, it doesn’t really matter to me whether I receive much or little territory. So I was trying to avoid major conflicts. But after seeing what father and mother have done, I realized it wouldn’t work.”

Leo grinned.

The moment Celia saw it, she felt chills run down her spine.

‘Ah, right.’

Suddenly, the first memory of her being bossed around popped into her mind.

‘This guy had a bad temper back then.’

He would first thoroughly punish anyone who dared to provoke him.

She had forgotten that.

*

“Lord Riz! A cavalry unit of the rebel army has been spotted ahead.”

Riz, arriving with the Zerdinger knights to the area occupied by the rebels in the east, stood up upon hearing the news from the messenger.

“I’ll go alone.”

“Huh? But…”

“Are you worried?”

When Riz grinned and asked, the knight flinched and shook his head.

“Of course not.”

The opponent was the future lord of the Zerdinger family, leading Rodren’s strongest knight units.

Moreover, he was the former Student Council President of Lumeran.

Even more, during last summer when the fragment of Phoenix revived, he was a distinguished knight who played an important role.

A man who had achieved such a level of greatness that he could be called a hero.

The rebel cavalry was far from a match for him.

Riz stepped forward into the vast plain alone, without even wielding his sword.

‘First, let’s suppress them without resorting to fighting.’

Although Riz had come to suppress the rebellion, he wasn’t there to k*ll all the rebels.

Every country has forces dissatisfied with the state.

The current Rodren Emperor is capable,

but that doesn’t necessarily mean all ministers and citizens will follow him.

Depending on vested interests, anti-Emperor factions within the imperial nobles or citizens criticizing the emperor can also arise.

Thus, small-scale rebellions happen from time to time.

‘However, this rebellion is surely strange.’

It was a mere rebellion on the scale of a small territory.

This rebellion has continued for months without growing or diminishing.

Whenever the neighboring dukes sent by the Emperor’s order reported the suppression of the rebellion, a new one would erupt again immediately.

‘The noble who led the rebellion died early in the rebellion.’

Despite his d*ath, the residents of the surrounding areas have continued the rebellion.

‘Rebellion without a leader?’

It was extremely peculiar.

The royal palace also noticed this oddity.

This is why they requested the Zerdinger family, who owns territories in the east, to suppress the rebellion.

‘Let’s first find out the cause of this rebellion.’

For that, someone who can provide this information is needed.

Even if the rebels are rebels, there’s no need to k*ll them.

If they were pillaging other territories or killing civilians, the situation would be different.

Based on their actions so far, they seemed to be people who felt they had no choice but to take up arms with something to say.

If there’s a massive difference in power, all you need to do is break their fighting spirit.

Trot-trot-trot!

In the distance, the cavalry unit of the rebel army began its charge.

‘The way they control their horses and hold their weapons seems unfamiliar. They’re not the rigorously trained mounted knights.’

Thinking this, Riz raised his hand.

WHOOSH!

Zerdinger’s crimson flame shot upwards.

In that moment,

“Eeeeek!”

“A demon! That’s Demon’s Flame!”

“The Empire has sent someone who wields Demon’s Flame again to slaughter us!”

The cavalry charging at Riz panicked and dispersed in all directions.

Seeing this, Riz extinguished the flame and narrowed his eyebrows.

“Flame of a demon? And what else?”