Chapter 61

“What? No, what are you talking about?! What exactly are you trying to introduce to that man?!”

Grondil let out a low, rumbling chuckle as Lino, now fully back to his senses, freaked out. He had looked absolutely furious just moments ago, but whatever had possessed him, his mood hadn’t just improved—it had skyrocketed into the stratosphere.

“I will be waiting outside. Please keep tomorrow’s schedule in mind, Your Highness,” Enoch emphasized firmly before turning to leave. Judging by the loud clatter that followed, he had unceremoniously dumped the two armed mercenaries he was holding outside the door.

Dragged by the hand, Lino approached the Baron while glued securely to Grondil’s side.

“Baron Ovel Lun Haklan.”

“H-Hick!”

As the monster loomed closer, Baron Haklan thrashed wildly in a desperate bid to escape. Half out of his mind, he didn’t even realize he was already backed against a wall. Unable to withstand the sheer terror, he seemed to have lost control once more; the dark stain between his legs slowly expanded across the floor.

“My introductions are late. Hmm… No. You already know who I am, don’t you?”

“…?”

“…?”

Both Lino and the Baron stared at Grondil simultaneously. The Baron, in particular, despite his fractured state of mind, wore a look of silent bewilderment that screamed, ‘I know this monster?’

“The esteemed guest you’ve been searching for so secretly.”

“S-Surely not…”

The Baron’s eyes widened at the vague description that hardly qualified as an introduction. However, he quickly shook his head in denial. “No, that can’t be… The guest I’m looking for is not a monster…”

“Not a monster, but definitely a Beast,” Lino corrected the Baron’s denial.

Grondil let out a soft huff of amusement through his nose. He found it rather pleasing to have Lino explain his true identity.

“A Beast…?”

“Ah, just out of curiosity, Baron. Did you happen to adopt me knowing I was a Letia?”

At Lino’s question, the Baron’s entire body went rigid. Seeing that reaction, Lino murmured a quiet ‘Aha…’ and nodded. The confirmation he received from the Baron’s stiff posture seemed to solidify what had previously only been a suspicion.

“A newborn infant surviving alone in the dead of winter in the North, completely unharmed, and possessing divine power on top of that. It’s more than enough reason to assume so,” Grondil agreed. Any ordinary person wouldn’t even know what a Letia was, but someone well-versed in ancient theology like Baron Haklan would have known exactly what he was looking at.

“You probably believed that possessing a Letia would grant you a connection to Isberg, considering interactions with them are rare but continuous,” Lino continued. “And given the exorbitant amount of money you threw at your informants, you must have uncovered a little bit of information about His Highness Grondil along with my whereabouts.”

“…”

The Baron managed a weak, trembling shake of his head. Lino was right. Unable to kidnap Lino after he joined the Order of St. Margia, the frustrated Baron had resorted to purchasing information about a mysterious imperial noble from his brokers.

The intelligence reported a Duke highly trusted by the Cartia Emperor, though details were suspiciously scarce. However, this Duke was reportedly traveling through various countries on the Terne continent, searching for something. The crucial detail was that wherever this Imperial Duke went, large and small incidents erupted in the cities he visited—most notably, individuals impersonating anyone from Isberg were ruthlessly punished.

From that detail alone, the Baron’s intuition had flared. The Duke of the Cartia Empire was deeply connected to Isberg.

If he was lucky. If he was incredibly lucky, the Duke might even be a native of Isberg. Driven by that thought, the Baron had begun to redirect his lifelong dedication to academic study toward a completely different, much darker path.

The adopted son who had escaped his grasp, yet whose every move he knew intimately, could finally be put to use. The perfect opportunity had arrived.

Looking down at the quietly nodding Baron, Lino let out a heavy sigh. He didn’t need to hear the rest to know exactly why the lifelong scholar’s “get-rich-quick” scheme had failed so spectacularly.

“Anyway… the older brother always had more interest in business than the family trade. It seems he finally blew it all up.”

“A-Arno. Please, just listen to me. I know I am a terrible father… but I still did things for you—”

“Speak.”

“!!”

The Baron’s eyes blew wide. Catching a glimmer of hope in Lino’s affirmative response, a faint trace of focus returned to his cloudy gaze.

“I can at least listen to you. It’s not like my ears are blocked.”

“…”

The follow-up sentence managed to kill about half of that newfound hope, but figuring that simply being heard was better than nothing, the Baron frantically moved his stiff lips.

“Arno, you… I remember you showing great interest in Isberg… Well, you see, if you just listen to your father, you could meet someone from Isberg, and… if you’re lucky, you might even get the chance to visit Isberg yourself.”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you attend the networking event with me tomorrow? It’s called the ‘Night of the Arts’, and I received an invitation as well. I’m scheduled to give a lecture on the topic of ancient theology preserved in Isberg.”

“The networking event…” Lino muttered. The very name he hadn’t been able to erase from his mind for days had just tumbled out of the Baron’s mouth. Finally, Lino understood exactly why Yuneria had brought him the Baron’s note.

It didn’t matter who approached whom first; Yuneria and the Baron had joined forces to use each other.

“You were planning to announce that I am a Letia there.”

“Th-That’s the only way someone who recognizes your true value will appear! And even if you hate me, you always loved my research. You’ll like the lecture I’m giving tomorrow, too.”

The Baron’s confident declaration made Lino scowl in disgust. We lived in the same house for eight years, yet he doesn’t know me at all.

“I didn’t like your research. The only reason I read it was because half the books you stuffed into my room’s study were your research materials and papers.”

Well, it was a field he found interesting, so the reading hadn’t been boring, but looking back now, the intention was so glaringly obvious it wasn’t even funny. Not only had the Baron brought him from the orphanage absolutely certain he was a Letia, but he had actively manipulated Lino into developing an interest in Isberg.

“You planned to sell me off at a premium once someone who recognized my ‘value’ appeared. Since I’m legally registered as the second son of Baron Haklan, you probably even drafted plans to visit Isberg using various excuses.”

“…”

“If I had known you called me all the way out here for such a pathetic reason, I would have just ignored it.”

Lino’s voice dropped significantly, carrying a raw, unprecedented anger. The fact that he had broken his promise to Grondil for such a trivial, braindead scheme infuriated him beyond belief.

“Your Highness. I… If I had known this was my supposed secret, I would never have come here.”

Hearing Lino’s excuse, Grondil lightly patted Lino’s rear and said, “If you had truly run away, this area wouldn’t be in one piece right now.”

“…”

Accompanying the words ‘wouldn’t be in one piece,’ Grondil pressed a long finger firmly into the cleft of Lino’s buttocks. He was only pressing against the fabric of the trousers, but the scorching heat of the Beast’s finger made Lino hallucinate that his most intimate area was being touched directly. His tightly puckered entrance clenched violently.

There was no way Grondil would miss that reaction. Stifling a laugh, the Beast pressed his lips intimately against Lino’s ear and whispered, “I want to breach you right this second, too… but hold on just a little longer. It’s far too filthy in here.”

“Ah, ahem… Yes, well… Let’s do that. But, um, your lips…”

His shoulders hunched defensively, Lino stammered as his ears flushed a deep, burning red. Because all the candles had been extinguished, leaving the room in darkness, the Baron couldn’t possibly see Lino’s appetizingly flushed earlobes. Yet, Grondil, acting as if someone might snatch a glimpse, stripped off his outer coat and draped it completely over Lino’s head.

“Wait outside. I will finish cleaning up here and follow.”

“Ah… you aren’t going to kill him, are you?”

“Do you want him dead?”

“Hmm…”

Standing behind Grondil, Lino peeked his head out from under the coat to look at the Baron.

“P-Please, spare me…! Arno! Please, save your father!”

The Baron, who had been begging Grondil, immediately redirected his pleas to Lino the moment those blue-gray eyes flashed a murderous azure. Crawling pathetically on his hands and knees through the puddle of his own urine, he tried to grab Lino’s leg.

Smack!

“Keugh!”

Before the Baron’s hand could even graze Lino’s pant leg, Grondil’s leg lashed out. Snarling, he demanded to know how the man dared lay his filthy hands on Lino.

“Keuheuk… kegh, k-kack.”

Taking a solid kick directly to the solar plexus, the Baron was left half-dead, writhing on the floor from a single strike.

“I am not going to kill him.”

“Thank… you. Thank…”

Hearing that he wouldn’t be killed, the Baron nodded frantically between ragged gasps for air. However, the next words left him blinking in sheer confusion.

“Though it might be better for him if he died.”

“…Huh?”

The Baron couldn’t comprehend the threat, but Lino evidently did, letting out a soft ‘Aha’ of realization.

“Lino, I will handle this so that absolutely no harm comes to you, so please go outside.”

“Yes.”

“And don’t run away again.”