Chapter 65: Eighth Episode: Chapter 1 (2/2)

”Madame, I... I saw the bravery and loyalty of Colonel de Barry Gol Freed. At the last key war, he…. had sacrificed himself for the great. It was because of the sacrifices of him of numerous warriors that we... we attained the final win. We hope this grand win... could slightly console the pain that you experienced when you lost your husband. The God of Light...”

The lady suddenly took hold of the arms of the young lad. ”Please I beg of you. Say no more... No... Do not say more words!”

Oscar stood there, clueless of what he should do. He admitted that all his words were without much emotion, but he did not know if he should stop talking just as the lady had suggested.

”My daughter-in-law, Spruce! Look at you, quickly stand up! You are too imprudent!” An old woman appeared at the door.

Oscar felt Madame Freed struggle to stand up.

”Mother! De Barry left us! He won’t come back anymore!” Madame Freed went to the embrace of her mother-in-law.

”Yes my child! De Barry is gone!” There were tears in the eyes of the old woman. Her crinkles seemed to climb to her forehead in a blink of an eye.

Oscar did not know what he could do. He did not know how to console this whole family. He was not able to even believe the glamorous words he spoke of just now. He did not know if he should leave this place. He did not know if he could still remain calm demeanor when he faced such matter.

”Are you a General?” Along with a childish voice, two children – one older and another younger- came out of nowhere. They smiled happily. In their eyes, the one whom the whole family had to come out and greet must be a general of high status in the Knights. Just like last time, the Commander of the Front of their father especially came to their house to celebrate the birthday of their great-grandfather.

Oscar became even clueless of what he should do. He wanted to run away from this place and everything else happening around him.

”Young lad, may I ask about your military ranking?” Finally, the master of Gol Freed family appeared. This was a rather old soldier. The reason why he was called a soldier was because this old man word a neat uniform of a Lieutenant General. There were a lot of medals on the left chest of his uniform.

”I do not have a military ranking. I am the fourth son of the Andrew family, O’Neil Andrew Morisette. The Prince of the Empire!” The young lad realized that he was talking to an old hero.

”Salute to Your Highness Prince!” The old hero performed a determined military salutation to the young lad in front of him.

Oscar quickly returned the greeting. ”Grandfather, I have brought bad news to your family. I am sure you have known about this.”

The old man stubbornly shook his head. ”No, Your Highness, I want to listen to you!”

Oscar was stunned, but he quickly understood the meaning behind the old soldier’s words. He put his legs together with force and raised his chest straight and high. Then, he spoke loudly like a true Narcissus Knight would do.

”Sir Lieutenant General, as a member of the Andrew, I had the honor to witness the bravery and loyalty of your son, the Vice Brigade Leader of the First Brigade of Infantry and Knights of the Traisen Front, Narcissus Knights!

Colonel de Barry sacrificed himself during one of the key wars. It is because of the fighting spirit of him and many warriors who had sacrificed themselves that we are able to attain the victory of this war. I hope that the news of victory will slightly console you of your pain of losing your son. The blessings of the God of Light will forever be at the side of you and your family. The dead will receive eternal piece in these blessings and the living will forever remember the beautiful memory of him!

As the person who received the final confession of the hero before his death, I am honored to bring the remains of the hero and the weapon he used when he was alive back to you. This is nothing big, but it gives me pride. I hope the spirit of Colonel de Barry will be inherited by his bloodline forever and ever.”

His Royal Highness Prince O’Neil said all of this in one go. He stood straight and saluted to the old general once again.

”I represent the Gol Freed family to thank Your Highness for doing this for my grandson. Then may I hear Barry’s final words?” The old man stared into the young lad’s eyes. He did not want to be disappointed.

Oscar’s throat was extremely bitter. He did not do anything for the Gol Freed family. If something was truly done, it is the excellent child in this family who lost his life for him.

”Colonel de Barry said... He said... He only stabbed once! Then... Then there was nothing more!”

”Then it must be the stab that decided the victory, right?” Out of the expectation of the young lad, the old soldier actually laughed crisply.

”Yes, you are correct! That was the blow that decided the victory. I have never seen a blow that was as accurate, quick and without hesitation.”

”I knew it.” The old man raised his head slightly. ”It seemed that little Barry did not embarrass the name of the family. Thank you, Your Highness. Your witness allowed our whole family to stand tall and straight in the future.” The old man was silent for a while. After a while, he turned sideways for a bit. ”Come, you two naughty kids of Gol Freed family. Go and get your father’s weapon!”

The two children was pushed out by the old man. They took their father’s weapon from the hands of His Royal Highness Prince. The children did not know what this actually meant, but surely one day they would understand.

As he looked at the two innocent children, the old man had a lonely expression. ”Mr. Priest, I am sorry to have you wait for so long. Now please come in!”

Oscar did not know how he left de Barry’s home. Murat and he rode side by side on the street of the city. The base camp just announced the victory of the war to the public. This meant the war alert was about to be lifted! All of a sudden, the city appeared to be cheerful and excited. There were narcissus, claps, oat wine and more. The people took the precious and rare collections in their house and shared it with their relatives and friends. Victory! Their people have once again beaten the Persians!

The Prince was confused. He was perplexed. What were the people celebrating for? Didn’t they know that their relative’s name would appear on the list of people who sacrificed themselves in the battle that would be announced in a few days?”

”Come! Listen to this!” A series of happy cheers attracted the attention of the young lad.

Only to see that a soldier of the Publicity Department of the Military System was reading the news of the war in a loud voice. His loud voice attracted countless people. The people’s faces were red as if they were right in the middle of the battlefield filled with the sound of killing.

”Five Divisions and two Brigades of Traisen Front led by General Figg Andrew Tibotty, twenty-five thousands soldiers in total, fought with the enemy at Shalian Hill...”

The people cared about this. Their expression kept changing as they listened to the commentary of the soldier. They would cheer when it became exciting and frowned when it became nerve-wrecking.

”Do you believe that?” The young lad asked suddenly.

”What is ‘that’?” Murat was a little confused.

”What you taught me to say. Not only de Barry and also other knights who sacrificed themselves. Some of them died of wound infection, some of arrows, some of traps. In conclusion... They died like mere ants! What you taught me was a lie. Do you disagree?”

Murat held his horse. He took a serious glance at the young lad. ”That is right. That was a lie, but everyone knew it was a lie. It’s just that none of them will ask. Remember this, the most important are those who are living. Since the dead is already gone, then the only thing that we can do is to make the living feel better.”

”Murat, I don’t want to go through that again.” Oscar’s voice was low. He was not a sensitive guy. He still thought that he lost his last bits of conscience during his time in Damorga. The young lad knew he was changing from the bottom of his soul.

”Of course, no one will be willing to experience that, but... you’ll be fine after getting used to it!” Murat laughed as if he was mocking himself.

”Used to it?”

Murat saw the strangeness of the young lad. He took a parchment shaft from his pocket. ”Your Highness, look at this.”

The young lad opened the parchment. He realized it was filled with names and addresses on it. ”This is...”

”That’s right! Bitter job one after another. Maybe I have a good thing with people. Those guys love to talk to me when they are about to take their last breath. I can’t remember how many times I have done this. Hehe. Some I even visited them twice.” Murat’s tone also changed. This parchment was the thing he did not want to face the most.

”So... To be honest, Your Highness, I am willing to believe those words even if it was a lie. That is the reason why that old general of de Barry’s home was determined to hear about your witness. His grandson died in battle. That is the truth that cannot be changed, but at least we must let him believe that de Barry died like a hero!”

Little Oscar trembled slightly. The depressed emotion for many days finally broke out. His voice was coarse and his eyes red. Murat seemed to hear the sobbing of the young lad that came from the deepest parts of his soul. He took his horse and hugged the young lad.

”Your Highness, do you believe it? De Barry is the same as the countless knights who have sacrificed themselves. They were all heroes that stand tall and proud in this world.”

”Yes... I believe!”

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”Do you believe it? That Princess actually dared to challenge the prestige of Celia in front of her.” Old Vedaan said as he took the large-sized cigar from Duke Dortmund Andrew Nedgabel. He loved this secret room of the Duke mainly because he could enjoy the tasty wine and smoke as much as he wanted here. This was definitely not allowed in his home by his young wife.

”Then what did Celia do?” Dortmund lighted the cigar for Uncle Vedaan politely as if he was a bartender.

”Hahahahaha! Celia is the lady master personally appointed by the old Duke. Her performance was fascinating. Even if she felt invaded, she simply could not do anything much about it. That expression resembles the first time you took advantage of her. She was angry and anxious...”

”Oh god!” Lady Duke Andrew Celia who was sitting at the other corner of the secret room could not take it any longer! ”Uncle Vedaan! You are the president of Family’s Senior Group. Look at how you describe things.”

”My lady, you are blushing!” Dortmund usually would not behave this way. He was simply affected by Uncle Vedaan who was used to being free and cheeky.

”Oh please be more serious!” Celia pulled her beautiful face straight. ”You are discussing about my son. Please don’t talk about other useless things.”

At the lead of Vedaan, the people in the whole room laughed at Celia who was furious. In fact, the ones sitting here included all the seniors in the family. This was the true central power of Andrew family. The reason the seniors gathered at this place was obviously to discuss about the issues with the fourth son of the Duke.

”Alright alright! Lady Master, we will talk about your youngest son. I admit, he is truly an excellent child. Much stronger than his father during his younger age!” Vedaan’s words seemed to be in contrary with that of yesterday, but the seniors seated all nodded. Obviously, they have come to the same conclusion on this point.

”I don’t think so!” Duke Andrew expressed his disagreement. You must be kidding! Could he admit that he was not as good as his own son? ”Even though that little guy has strong weapons and good intuition and intentions when it comes to dealing with matters and being a leader, but he was too young. Just like an apple that was premature. Moreover, he did not deal that well with his personal relationships. In the future, his marriage is a big problem that will affect the benefit of the family.”

”Yes!” An old man who had a dark expression and dried up face spoke. ”Dortmund is right. This child still need strict experiences. My info here shows that the nobles at Dulin were all full of contempt against him. That is his stage, but this cannot do if things continue this way.”

”Berkley.” Vedaan continued ”It’s not like I am doubting your military investigation department, but can you give me more details? For example, which family and which people in specific are showing contempt against our child?”

”Vedaan, I have said very clearly. It’s not against us Andrew. It’s only that the people against this child are all over the place.”

”So it is this way...” Vedaan thought about it. Berkley was the person-in-charge of the military intelligence unit and the head of the spies in the family. What he said must be the truth.

”We should not worry too much.” Dortmund spoke. ”The contempt against that child is mainly from the nobles that are from the State Council. They have always suspected that it was little Oscar who ruined the ex-Secretary of State. Also, a part of it is completely out of jealousy. We all know that there was even a rumor about our little Prince running away with Her Royal Highness Princess in Dulin recently.”

”Yeah, I have heard about this too.” Berkley nodded. ”My investigators found the guy that spread the rumor. After repeated interrogation, the person-in-charge of the military investigation department in Dulin believed it was just a whim of that kid.”

”What happened afterwards?” Dortmund was a little curious.

”He won’t ever speak nonsense!”

”Very good.” Dortmund nodded. ”Then let us talk about the important parts. We all know that without the support or acquiescence of the Emperor, there is no powerful family in this country that dares to invade our interest. So to my youngest son, the person he needs to deal with carefully is only that the Ultimate One, His Majesty the Emperor.”

”That is correct.” Vedaan reaffirmed the Duke’s words. ”At first, we want to eradicate the deeply-rooted wariness of the Emperor against little Oscar in the deepest parts of his heart. Don’t focus too much on the frighteningly generous gift that Ultimate One has bestowed towards that child, but at the deepest parts of his heart, he still rejects the idea of an Andrew entering the central power of the Empire.”

”It seems that we have received a bit of the result now.” Celia continued the words of the president of seniors. ”Her Royal Highness Princess got into our trap as expected. When Uncle Vedaan expressed his distrust towards little Oscar and the royal family, that girl reiterated immediately and urgently.”

”Yes.” Vedaan stroke his big beard. ”When she goes back to Dulin, she will surely report back to the Emperor about her experience in Andrew. I believe that the attitude little Oscar received from the administrative level of the family will be one of the most important parts of all.”

”Will Alfa III His Majesty got into this trap? Maybe... we were too obvious?” Celia was a little doubtful.

”No, Celia, you don’t understand Alfa III His Majesty.” Dortmund lighted a cigar for himself. ”This Emperor has always been an extremely self-centered person. Once he has acknowledged something, no one can easily change his thought. He always thought that we will reject this child that has half of the royal family’s blood, then we shall do as he thinks. This way, he will surely trust his judgement more. So our little Oscar will be valued more by him. This is beneficial to the future of this child and the family!”

”But...” The head of intelligence of the Andrew suddenly said in a low-pitched voice. ”How do we know the actual thought of this child? Against the care and gift from the Emperor, can he still hold his family’s belief?”

Dortmund suddenly laughed coldly. He stared at old Berkley straight in the eyes despite this guy is his senior as well.

”Uncle Berkley, I know that you have arrange spies around my child. Of course, if you think that the family has the need to watch him, then I have no issues with that. But if you want to teach the child a lesson, then do not forget that I am his father!”

Berkley knew that he should not talk about the possibility of his son betraying the family in front of the father, but this old man had no other motives. He was simply discussing this matter objectively. Since the father of the child was not happy with this, then he had no choice but to nod. He did not say a word and showed an expression as if he did not care.

”Then, shall we talk about other things?” Vedaan came out to cheer up the mood. ”How is the situation at the south? The child in our home has been bitten by dogs. As the adult, we can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

”Oh right! I am about to talk about this!” Berkley’s coarse, low-pitched voice sounded again. ”Italia finally took a step back when he faced the strong army force by the border arranged by our country. They opened their border for the Secret Service Department of the Empire’s Ministry of Justice. Also, they welcomed Titan’s officer to enter their land and investigate about the assassination case of the royal family. Not only that, the royal family of Italia even sent their Crown Prince and a Princess to visit Dulin.”

”Hostage, huh?” Dortmund lightly touched his chin. ”It seems that the royal family of Italia was truly terrified. This should show that they had not participated in the assassination case. Isn’t there any other hints?”

Berkley shook his head. ”There’s nothing more. I believe the investigation of the Empire’s Secret Service Department also did not have any progress, but there is one thing worth mentioning though.”

”What is that?” Dortmund asked.

”Duke, Madame, as parents, you should begin to pack up the things for your youngest son.” Berkley tasted a sip of coffee slightly.

”Why?” Celia asked hurriedly.

”According to reliable sources, Alfa III His Majesty has appointed His Royal Highness Prince O’Neil Andrew Morisette as the Imperial Envoy to welcome the group of Italia’s Royal Family. I believe this order will arrive in Narcissus County in a few days.”