‎Rasmus was busy reading about the current situation in the Refenus Kingdom with Ayla’s reports and observations. However, he couldn’t stop getting distracted by the sound of slurping in front of him.

‎”Aris? You’re acting a bit off right now…” Rasmus looked at Aris, sitting across from him with a few empty bowls on the table. “Did something happen during the spar with Rullein?” He asked with his brows furrowed, noticing that Aris was trying to attract his attention.

‎Yur also noticed how Aris had been acting a bit weird ever since she came back. Yur could sense the disruption of Mana around Aris as if her mind was in a jumble.

‎Aris put down the last bowl, the meat soup that was supposed to feed a dozen men, she ate them all on her own. She then stared at Rasmus, silently, she was thinking about what Aristoria had said to Rullein in that memory lane she had seen. She wondered how Rasmus could become something that was strong enough to defeat the mysterious powers that put True Dragons into extinction.

‎”Don’t mind me, just do your things,” Aris said, however, her eyes never leaving Rasmus’s face. She then pulled Yur to her lap and hugged Yur tightly.

‎Rasmus closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath. He decided to keep reading the documents, continuing to where he had left off.

‎The Refenus Kingdom was one of the vessel countries of the Zevrathi’s. That was when Rasmus got confused because he had never heard of that name before. He looked through the shelves for hours and there was no information related to the Zevrathi’s. He didn’t know if it was a nation, a family, a person, or a cult because there was no record related to that.

‎The previous king, Fredrick Runesche was said to be one of the members of the high table of Zevrathi. All the Runesche family had served the Zevrathi for more than two hundred years, and lived a prosperous life.

‎The Refenus Kingdom’s nobles were said to have become a part of the low-table. Out of 25 noble families, 21 of them were a part of it, creating a massive web that turned the Refenus Kingdom into one of the vessels of Zevrathi’s.

‎”(The Runesche family, that includes the current king of the Refenus Kingdom…)” Rasmus thought as he crossed his arms.

‎Rasmus looked at the spatial ring on his finger, thinking if the answer to his question would be there. After thinking of the time he had and the amount of information he needed, he decided to pull out his father’s journal.

‎Aris saw the journal in Rasmus’s hand, remembering it was the item that he had been looking for. She was curious about the content of the journal, wondering if she would find out Aristoria’s plan there.

‎Rasmus began to read Erglade’s journal from the moment he became the head of the Blackheart family when he was still 18. The first task that Erglade got from King Fredrick was to investigate the revolutionary party that had grown in numbers. Erglade gathered enough information to find out that the revolutionary party was prepared to raise their banner to get rid of the nobility system.

‎In less than a week, King Fredrick gave another task to Erglade to eliminate the revolutionary party. Erglade accomplished the King’s order, eliminating the revolutionary party without the world knowing. He erased them and the family members that knew and connected with the revolutionary party.

‎At first, Erglade didn’t find anything suspicious out of it because he knew it was necessary. However, in the span of three years, he had been tasked with getting rid of the seeds of revolution. He always found it weird how many seeds out there that caused them to revolt, to show dissatisfaction toward the Refenus Kingdom. He was confident in his skills to eliminate such doubts from the roots, however, it didn’t matter.

‎Erglade decided to share his suspicions with the elders of the Blackhearts, and with his father as well. He gathered them all and expressed all he had achieved in the past few years. He was shocked when the elders revealed about the tasks his predecessors had done for the Refenus Kingdom.

‎Erglade began to see the pattern, and found out that the Blackheart family had been tasked with cutting off the grass on the field for decades. That was when he was introduced to the Black Hands, a unit that dove into the abyss of lies, dying from suffocating and drowning in the pursuit of the truth.

‎The elders revealed that the Runesche family was the one who spread those seeds on the field. The nobles partook in it as well, playing both sides to lick the royal family’s feet and to embrace the commoners to give them false hope, a path to their own demise by the hand of the Blackheart.

‎At that moment, Erglade was furious, but he understood the reason why his predecessors stayed quiet. He understood how dangerous and time consuming it was to pull out the truth from the abyss. It took them decades to find that out, and it was now in his hands to use that truth. That truth was pointed at one family.

‎”The Zevrathi, a family that has existed longer than the Blackheart family could trace. They have existed for more than five hundred years. Unfortunately, the elders and I couldn’t find out where they were located.” Erglade wrote in the journal.

‎Rasmus furrowed his brows, surprised that the answer that he was looking for was already revealed in the first few pages of the journal. He then looked at the thickness of the journal, there were at least a few hundred pages left. He could feel the weight of history that was being kept hidden from the world

Erglade began to use the Black Hands to do the tasks of gathering information on the nobles that were a part of the low table. He personally chose to deal with the royal family on his own, gathering information while at the same time acting like the royal family’s dog.

When Erglade was 25 years old, he had gained the trust of the royal family, however, his task was still the same, to cut off the grass. He became well-known by the nobles and the people as the guardian of the Refenus Kingdom. That was when he got an offer by King Fredrick, to join the low table with the other nobles, to maintain the prosperity and wealth of the Blackheart family for hundreds of years in the future. That was when he chose to accept the offer, entering the den of a dangerous beast.

During his time at the low table, nothing seemed suspicious at all, especially when everything seemed normal, except how the nobles began to show interest in the Blackheart family. He knew that he was being observed thoroughly by the royal family, and that was a risk that he was willing to take. At the same time, the Black Hands found nothing suspicious about the nobles that joined the low table, no shady businesses. However, he found out that those nobles were close to nobles from neighboring nations.

Erglade spent years gathering information, connecting the dots that had turned into a massive cobweb. The elders of the Blackheart family were amazed by his skill, pulling out something like this. However, those gathered information worth anything unless they found anything odd or unusual. The weirdest part was the fact Erglade hadn’t found out anything about Zevrathi.

One day, Erglade was summoned by King Fredrick, and it was unlike before where he was ordered to eliminate threats. This time, King Fredrick mentioned about the demonic cult, and that surprised him because he had never heard anything about the demonic cult.

“King Fredrick got information of a few incidents that had happened in the past two weeks of missing children. They found the bodies of the missing children to be missing their heads. I have done my research and it’s similar to what witches and warlocks do to gain power through sacrifice. I’m not sure if it’s them, or if it’s something else. My father suspected that this was a trap, or another distraction that King Fredrick put on me, however, I believe this is different.” Erglade wrote in the journal.

Rasmus noticed that the sun was rising, seeping through the window. He remembered about Ayla, and it was as he had expected, Ayla knocked on the door as soon as the sun rose. He immediately put the journal in the spatial ring and allowed Ayla to come in.

Ayla came in with an empty gaze, she looked like a mess when she stood at the door. Aris was confused by her condition until Yur explained everything to her in spirit language.

“Have you found the answer to my question, Ayla?” Rasmus asked as he stared into her empty eyes.

“No, Count…” Ayla shook her head. “I realized that my life means nothing without the Blackheart family. I… I don’t have an answer to your question, Count, nor do I have a meaning in my life without the Blackheart family…” she continued.

“Then find a meaning. You’re still young, and you’re not being targeted like the others. Go out there and be free,” Rasmus responded.

“I… I don’t know if I can do that, Count. I don’t know how or where to start. Also, I still genuinely want to follow you, Count. This isn’t about what I was taught or ordered, but this is coming from my own will to follow you,” Ayla said as she clenched her fists behind her back.

“Then you can follow me,” Rasmus nodded with understanding.

Ayla was thrilled, couldn’t hide the big smile on her face as she nodded with understanding then bowed her head.

“I’ll prepare breakfast for everyone, Count,” Ayla said and then left the cabin.

Rasmus sighed as he closed his eyes and rubbed his face. Aris noticed the exhaustion in Rasmus’s face, something that she rarely saw.

“Too much?” Aris asked.

“A little bit…” Rasmus answered as he turned around to look at the shelves. “Let’s deal with what’s in front of us first,” he said as he stood up.

“And what’s that exactly?” Aris raised her brows.

“I promised the jester a stage to perform on. I believe I can use all of these information to set up a grand stage for him,” Rasmus answered, leaning against the table with his arms crossed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep