Fortunately, Saul was not the killer who killed his father. In fact, this murder - if it were true - was not even possible. Because no one could move from Sergio city to Sylvia town in a single night. So Khan had to put aside the date of receiving the Viscount title indefinitely and run back to Sergio. Maybe he didn't need to sit on this Viscount's chair anymore but instead had the Earl's family ring waiting for him to wear on his finger.
From the unofficial position of Viscount to quickly leaping to being an Earl with rocket speed like this made him feel a bit pressured.
On the way back to Sergio, all the servants and soldiers accompanying the guard rode horses. Only Khan obediently sat in the carriage. If he knew how to ride a horse, this journey could shorten quite a bit of time, but unfortunately, there was no Divine Word to help him know how to ride a horse in a second.
The number of soldiers protecting the master on this trip had increased. And what made Khan feel secure about his life was the existence of Saul on the team. After the main character informed Khan of his father's death, he also silently followed with a reluctant attitude. For him, the situation was also very good, because, in comparison, the father and son relationship was worse than brotherhood in this loose family connection.
The sound of the horse's hooves cackling outside, and the uninspired sound becomes a lullaby. But compared to having to go to sleep, he volunteered to put some strength into acting for people to see. Khan sat inside the carriage with his head bowed and pretended to be sad about his father's death, but his mind was not idle but rearranged the pieces of his memory of the father in this life.
Later, Khan discovered that his recollections of his short-lived father in this life were also affected.
In his memory - it possibly corrected - his father was a man who loved his son, and of course only Khan. Whatever Khan wants, he happily meets and satisfies all the needs of his first son. No matter how absurd it may be. But also because of that, Khan loved and respected his father very much, a belief firmly armed with the steel reason that he was his father's only son, the son he loved the most. Then the bastard will not be able to elbow himself in, he will forever be without his father's love, which only Khan could possess.
Just as a coin had two sides, truth and falsehood were both sides of the same coin.
It was just that the remembrance of Khan, the father he loved and believed he loved him too, turned out to be on the face of the deceitful coin.
Khan's father, the imposing Count Evangeline, was actually a playboy no less than the corrupt Khan of the past. The father he always thought loved him actually had a strong enjoyment and passion for gambling. He wouldn't care about anything other than spectacular bets, and thrilling card games.
Khan tried to readjust his memory carefully. In a sense, children were just a form of pets to Count. If you fed or played with it, it would happily wrap around you. If you ignored and treated it as invisible, it would be anxious to find you. Not to mention he was a noble in a high position, he couldn't be without an heir. Therefore, it was only natural that he got married, gave birth to an heir, and then put on the appearance of a good father who loved his children.
Perhaps, Saul's birth was just an accident. However, Khan also realized that Count did not pretend to love Saul, but he also did not act badly toward him.
It was just that, he completely viewed Saul as an atmosphere that treated him as if Saul didn't exist or that his existence was just a plaything to comfort his first son. Mentally, it was also a kind of "cold" violence. Come to think of it, Khan wasn't sure why his father didn't even look at Saul, not even with half an eye.
Or maybe...
Knock, knock. Khan turned his head to look at the sound, the window was closed, so he couldn't see the scenery outside. Thanks to the bright sky, he could still see the silhouette of a person passing through the curtain. Reaching up to pull down the rope hanging on the side of the window, the curtain fabric was immediately pulled open. The main character rode a horse outside, looking straight at Khan when there were no obstacles left.
"What is the relic that my mother left behind?" asked Saul immediately, his attitude still a bit cold.
Khan smirked, I thought he wouldn't ask. And yeah, no matter what, it was a relic left by his mother, something that Saul had never seen in his previous life how to look like it was, and didn't even know it existed. The only thing that belonged to his mother left him, how could he not hurry? On the surface, he probably didn't care, thinking that he would get it sooner or later, but he must have been confused in his heart.
"A casket." replied Khan generously .
"Inside it?"
"Go there and you'll know."
Saul frowned, but the wrinkles quickly loosened.
Khan pretended not to see anything.
"You're not sad?" Saul asked indifferently.
Khan was silent, he turned his face away as if he wanted to hide his true feelings from anyone to see, not to let anyone touch them.
"Don't be noisy," spoke Khan purposely in a grumpy voice.
Of course, he was not sad. He did not have a father in his previous life, and in this life, too. He didn't intend to waste his precious emotions on people and things that weren't worth it. But he also couldn't show too much indifference, otherwise, it would lead to many useless doubts. So he pretended to be a strong man who had to fight the pain of losing a loved one.
An awkward silence dragged on.
Then Khan heard the clatter of horseshoes slapping the ground away. Khan tilted his head slightly and looked back, the main character was no longer there.
Because there was a funeral, the trip went on continuously without any rest and picnic, until the night Khan returned to Sergio city. Outside the city gate, after the guards saw the Evangeline family crest carved on the carriage, the castle gate immediately executed the order to open the door without inspection.
Enjoying this VIP privilege, Khan was not happy. Is this kind of loose guard any different from inviting the enemy to take over the city? But now was not the time to take care of those things, he noticed this and decided to deal with it later.
Yeah, when I became an Earl.
Khan did not doubt this. His father had only two sons, he and Saul, and Saul now certainly doesn't care about the title, so there is only him. Khan was also not afraid to take the power that will be handed to him. In any world like that, with power in hand, some things you wanted to handle will be much simpler.
But for some reason, Khan suddenly gave birth to terrifying speculation…
What if my father had his own children outside?
Thinking for a moment, Khan himself doubted this possibility. Because his father was originally a true gambler, he was not overly concerned with women or lovers. Not even his first wife, he never mentioned it or just mentioned it out of habit. And after Saul's mother also died, he just coldly let him do a funeral and gambled again.
Khan thought of the day he received the title of Earl, and immediately his head was throbbing with pain. Count Evangeline was a gambling slave, he was not a card god that had terrible luck fighting in all the casinos himself. Because of that, the money that the Evangeline family had accumulated for several generations keeps dwindling, until now, Khan had estimated the amount of debt caused by the gambler and then died to shake off responsibility.
Khan sighed heavily again. Okay, I have found a way to escape death and then make money. That's the way life was.
But after returning to the Earl's castle for half the day of the journey, he discovered that something was wrong. Entering the castle gate, the pale-faced servant watched him appear, his eyes were panic and fear. Khan didn't think they were afraid of him, the trembling look of a dying cat wasn't for him.
Khan suspiciously turned his head to look behind him, Saul still keeping his usual expression following him like an escort knight. The awakening of the main character was really scary, had done nothing to command people's trembles, and wanted to kneel down and beg for their lives.
It wasn't until he saw that his father's body had been placed in a coffin, but the lid had not been closed, that he understood the real reason why they were so afraid. Because, the death of his father - the late Count Evangeline - was not normal at all.
His skin was dry, wrinkled as if old age was nearing the end of the road to longevity. The jagged patches of skin that had peeled off were showing off the blackened bones inside, fortunately, the body had been treated off so he didn't see any maggots, but it still spread out the waft of uncleanness. And, the lingering mucky air from the corpse brought ominous news of something bad happening.
This was a sign that black magic had entered the body.
So that old butler was exactly the culprit in this case, but he was executed by the protagonist yesterday, wasn't he? Even if the old man didn't die, he would still be seriously injured. How the hell did he run back to kill Khan's father?
While thinking about this matter, he heard the main character muttering a monologue.
"Puppets…"
Khan immediately understood the problem.
Puppet art was just like its name, which was to control the puppet to do as you like. Perhaps Jonathan had cast this spell on his father a long time ago, based on the signs of the body, the black magic had penetrated very deeply into it. But so far, the Sergio city had always been peaceful, with no consecutive murders or disappearances taking place. That was, Jonathan cast puppets on his father not to do bad things.
Khan rubbed his chin in thought, he vaguely had his own guess but still didn't have enough arguments to confirm his thinking was correct. But he could guarantee that, when Saul dealt with Jonathan, his puppet manipulation magic on his father also broke.
His father was definitely dead before, but still functioning as normally as someone living under Jonathan's control. When the puppet magic was lost, the fake life was blown away, revealing a decaying corpse like the present.
"Young master... I haven't found the butler Jonathan since morning." A servant informed him with a worried expression.
He's been dealt with by the main character. Khan really wanted to say that, then happily watched his expression when he heard it. And that fun was ultimately just imagination.
"Let someone find him, if it can't be found, fine. My father is the priority right now."
Khan quickly spoke in neat words. Then he quickly arranged each event to prepare for the funeral, assigning each stage of personnel to take care of the aftercare. He just wanted to end these gloomy days of the funeral quickly.
Listening to everything Khan had entrusted to him. The servant stared at him with wide eyes as if seeing a person unknown.
"Did you hear what I said just now?" Khan frowned in displeasure. "Otherwise you can go pack up, I don't like to repeat it a second time."
The servant was startled and panicked and apologized repeatedly, and at the same time, he said that he had listened to everything he told him and was sure to do it perfectly.
Khan temporarily believed.
He wanted to sort out what was needed for the funeral as quickly as possible and had scheduled the mourning period to be one week. In this one week, he thought he needed to gradually plan his money.
"Young master… the side of the shrine will also be here." The servant had just heard the instructions and was about to turn around and go to work when he quickly announced another piece of news, his face sweaty.
"Ya." nodded Khan coldly.
The servant didn't say much, but after announcing it, he left as he did. Khan stared at the man's back, secretly remembering that man. He was a wise, sensible servant. From the moment Khan returned, he was the first to step up to inform Khan of the situation. After that, when he saw that his master's attitude was different from what he knew, he also only lost a little in the matter of manners, knowing what not to ask and what not to do.
Khan wasn't afraid to give him a chance to show himself in a better position than he was now.
But thinking about the Temple, Khan felt really bothered but not worried. Anyway, the killer was also missing, wanting to find or investigate is a matter of the Temple. He didn't care either.
He was not afraid that the Temple would cast doubt on him, because he had a clear alibi. How could an incompetent guy from another town come to Sergio to assassinate someone and then get back? If he were to be examined, and find out the dark magic on his body that was involved from last night under Jonathan's attack, he also had a script ready to submit to the Temple to clear all doubts.
"Saul." Khan turned to call the protagonist, but his eyes were on the coffin with his father's body lying still inside. "How do you feel?"
Saul replied coldly.
"Don't know."
There wasn't even time to think about feelings or hesitate to say a word. The main character simply narrated the truth.
Khan knew it, but he still needed to act.
"I understand." smiled Khan sadly. He actively mentioned the relics left by Saul's mother. "Shouldn't we also go get the relic your mother left you?"
Saul asked suspiciously:
"Really?"
Khan knew why Saul was suspicious, yes, now both were standing in front of their father's coffin but no one seemed to be really grieving the loss of a loved one, instead going to work on another matter.
Khan was also afraid to let Saul be suspicious.
"It's in the old library." Khan turned to leave first, and the main character did not hesitate to follow. Even if he doubted, he would still choose to trust him.
"I was wondering if my father left me anything after he died." Khan actively started the conversation, but Saul still chose silence to deal with. He did not care and went on. "In the end, he left behind a property full of gambling debts and the title of Earl, that's all."
"… What did the butler do?"
Khan suppressed the triumphant smile that almost appeared on his lips. Adjusting his facial muscles a bit, Khan tilted his head, revealing his tired eyes for Saul to see.
"Repair memories," said Khan.
He also didn't lie, his memories were indeed slightly altered. But the rotten Khan's hatred of Saul was also real. Right now, he was just using the situation as a weapon to justify his wrongdoings so far, twisting the truth in another direction.
"How long?" Saul asked again.
"I don't know." Khan shook his head.
Repairing the memory will cause some damage to the original memory, even if the initiator of the magic was dead.
After that, no more questions. They also arrived. Khan took the initiative to open the door of the old library, it was dark inside, so he had to fumble to the window and pull the curtain, borrowing daylight to see items of furniture clearly.
The old library was called old because it was not used anymore, it looked like a warehouse for books. There were a lot of books inside, but the servants didn't take care to clean this place, so there were also many dusty places. Khan walked in and looked around for a bit, after determining the location, he used a ladder to put up a shelf at the end of the room near the window to climb. At the top row of books, from the left, count to the tenth book, then stop. The nape of brown leather has no backrest. Khan smirked, knowing he remembered correctly. He took out the book and stepped down, the book was quite heavy so it was a bit difficult for him to return to the ground. Even the main character didn't mean to help at all. Were you afraid that he would set a trap to harm you?
His feet left the steps, touching the dusty floor. Khan handed the thick hardcover book to Saul.
He looked at the book.
"This is… my mother left me?"
Saul must have been thinking about why his mother had left him such a thick book. Saul was originally not a bookworm, his mother knew that and never pushed him to become a bookworm. As long as he's not illiterate.
Saul reached out his hand, which he took. His eyes were red.
No matter what the relic is, as long as it was from mom. He will still be happy.
Reviving a life, the main character was hardened with affection, but in his heart, he still holds a unique place for his mother.
"Open it up," said Khan.
Saul looked up at him, now there was no murderous intent in his eyes like when he awakened the memories of his previous life. Khan knows that he had also successfully escaped the main character's blade. From now on, he will be safe.
At his words, Saul opened the book. Then, he was surprised to see the contents inside.
"I said in the beginning, it was a casket." laughed Khan. "The book is just a cover thing."
Inside the thick book has a core that had been cut into a rectangular shape, matching the shape of the wooden casket placed inside. The casket was engraved with embossed patterns, just an elaborate decoration for its appearance.
"Inside is the unsealing stone." Khan continued to speak, no longer afraid of the protagonist questioning why he knew.
If he knew the relic existed, then of course he would know what it was. Well, obviously the former rotten Khan didn't know.
This stone was actually kept by the main character's mother, waiting for the day he turns sixteen to give it to him and awaken his true power. Then both will leave. But no matter how you calculated it, you couldn't escape the fate of heaven, the main character's mother became seriously ill and suddenly passed away. The relic was given to the maid and carefully instructed her to keep it and give it to the protagonist. But unfortunately, the corrupt Khan with a gloomy mentality knew and then played a dirty trick. He bribed the maid to take the relic, then gave her the ax.
The main character just didn't know the existence of the item his mother left behind.
Although he had previously said that this item should be given to the protagonist when he was twenty years old, that was not necessarily a lie. He just changed Saul's age a bit. If this came to light by any means he could use the excuse that his memory was incorrect, let alone that he had mentioned earlier the problem of memory being corrected. Who knows how damaged his memory was? Currently, he has also personally given the relic to the main character, returning the item to the previous owner.
"I guess you're not incompetent. But when you become powerless, you don't make yourself useless either." Khan left, gliding past the protagonist and not stopping. "You are very good, Saul. So go far and show the world what you can do."
Okay, acting brotherly with the main character here was the end of the curtain. He could comfort his fluttering heart, always being afraid of his death.
"What will you do? I think you're not as useless now as you used to be." Saul asked. He closed the book, apparently not intending to use the stone in a hurry.
Khan couldn't help but commend the protagonist's calm and patient attitude. It was true that for the time being, he shouldn't be using the stone. Because during that time, he not only had to experience pain, but he also had to pass out for a day or two, and then suffer again when a tremendous amount of magic power flooded his body. In general, the process was extremely difficult.
While waiting for the protagonist's reply, Khan smiled innocently and replied.
"Ah, I think I'll go make some money."
Having money can buy everything. An incompetent person could also become a god if he had a lot of money.