Grand Duke of the Heibern House

＜Episode 18＞

A conference room in the dark.

A candle in the center of a large round table flickered precariously.

Faces that repeatedly appear and disappear intermittently whenever the candlelight flickers.

While everyone was silent with dark faces like that, Soene’s beautiful lips swelled.

“I have decided.”

“… … Are you determined?”

“You already know. That the enforcers went after all of us.”

“hmm.”

Hibern family enforcers.

They are the original power that symbolizes the power of the family head.

It was a thoroughly shrouded organization, with neither individual names nor armed forces known.

However, when they took off their veil and appeared in the foreground of history, there was always a fierce storm in the Hibernian family.

As long as the family mobilizes the enforcers, this will never end easily.

“Could the lord be able to tie us up with Gayul?”

The man who showed strong doubts was Sir Beul Harden.

Of course, considering all the knights gathered here, it was never possible.

Aeger, the left-handed knight.

Red-eyed Breeze.

Sneer zodiac.

Storm Guardian Beul Harden.

Knights who would have reigned as losers in other territories.

And a person higher than the combined skills of all these powerful knights.

The current family head’s younger brother, ‘Nigen Aiol Vissel Vern’, who could never be dealt with as a family head who had lost his fighting spirit, was with them.

“joy. Even if we now bring in the enforcers, the tide is already in our favor. All that remains of my brother is Yucain, a knight of the Royal Guard, a few knights following him, and a few pure-blooded people.”

At Nizen’s words, everyone nodded.

Advocating Ga-yul means that the family prepares for an all-out war. However, no matter how much I thought about it, there was no chance for the family to win.

Even if the justification is on the side of the family, the justification that does not presuppose the superiority of power is a weak guest.

However, contrary to the thoughts of the majority, Soene still seemed to be convinced of the ominous idea.

“Everyone prepare your troops. I will not forgive anyone who leaves troops behind just in case.”

Nizen frowned.

An overwhelming power car that even comparison is meaningless.

Even so, he did not understand Soene’s attitude to prepare for an all-out war by squeezing all the strength until the end.

“You don’t look like a sister. Why are you so worried? Do you really think we’ll be outmatched by enforcers or something?”

The power of the blood relatives and vassals gathered here is close to eight percent of the Heibern family’s total strength.

No matter how much the family’s enforcers were, they couldn’t deal with thousands of knights at once.

In addition, apart from such numerical superiority, even the skills of the talented people gathered at this round table are by no means trivial.

Ten years was a long time.

If the facade of being the standard bearer of the kingdom was removed, there was not much left for the family head.

It is also certain that power has been lost when all the information has been put off.

“I already made up my mind.”

When Soene said firmly, the knights did not object any further.

She is the one who actually controls this gigantic Hibernian from behind the blackout.

Even though Nizen was a great knight, he couldn’t outrun Soene’s will.

At that time, the knight Sir Pavan, who was sitting in the seat of honor next to Soene, opened his mouth.

“We called in all the troops, even those who were training at the camp. Where will the rendezvous be?”

Everyone swallowed their groans at the fact that Lord Pavan was already moving according to Soene’s will.

There was no one here who did not know that he was Soene’s secret mistress.

Of course, his breath was second only to Soene.

“Sir Beul Harden’s camp, which is closest to the castle, is the assembly point. During the banquet, preparations must be completed. can you do it?”

“Of course. Right after training, everyone has their senses alive. Even if a battle breaks out right away, there will be no big worries.”

“great.”

Everyone’s humidification became cramped.

I can’t believe it’s really a civil war.

Something that hadn’t happened a few times throughout the long history of the Hibern family.

In addition, the reality of having to deal with the current head of the Heibern family came as a huge burden regardless of victory or defeat.

Even if they did win, the stigma of impeaching the standard bearer of the kingdom would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Nizen looked at Soene.

“After that is more of a problem, sister. How would you explain to the royal castle? Wouldn’t the king accept me as the standard bearer of the new kingdom?”

The seat of a horseman who did not lead to the eldest son of the family.

The kingdom of Lemadel never acknowledged the power struggle of the Hibern family.

According to the long tradition of the kingdom, the principle of succession to the eldest son and the establishment of direct lineage was established.

“… … Nizen.”

Soene was well aware of how much her brother was thirsting for the position of jockey.

But he didn’t have the ability.

He lacked resourcefulness, management ability, and, above all, the charisma that made people follow him.

“Nizen. I will support Dane.”

“Dane… … ?”

Nizen’s face contorts like a demon.

It was because an answer I hadn’t even imagined came out of my sister’s mouth.

“Oh, how could your sister do that? What have I been doing for over ten years! dare! this me! me… … !”

Soene’s calm voice flew back to Nizen, who was showing his anger like an active volcano and couldn’t calm down.

“Are you ready to accept a jockey fight?”

If the king does not acknowledge it, the challenge of the outstanding knights will not cease.

Of course, among them were countless strong men of ‘Hirenciaga’.

In Nizen’s mind, famous knights of Hirenciaga instantly came to mind.

A thousand welcome yul pen.

Sylvaril the Seeker.

Medellin, the wind to contemplate.

All of them are equally strong knights.

But most of all, Lepeion, the head of the Hirencia family, the phantom sword master.

He was too big a knight for him to deal with.

Soene looked at her frozen brother in a daze and said as if declaring.

“Dane is young. If things succeed, you and I will have no choice but to act as guardians anyway. You can hold and shake it enough, so let’s compromise at that point.”

But Nizen was not comforting.

No matter how much real power he occupied, the honor of a rider was a different dimension.

The fulfillment of the dream that all the blood relatives of the Heibern family yearn for. It was an honor I so longed for.

“damn!”

Soene left the angry Nizen behind and looked over the crowd again.

“In the worst case, they could all be detained tomorrow. For now, don’t be shaken and follow the rhythm. Wait for my signal until the end.”

She looked at Sir Beul Harden.

“You are not attending the great banquet. Wait for all forces to assemble at your camp. When you are ready, do it then.”

“insect!”

In an instant, intense hostility was engraved in Soene’s eyes.

“The Archduke should be particularly careful. If he starts playing around with his cunning mouth, you can kill him right away.”

Several of the knights who had tried to kill the archduke with her were nodding their heads calmly.

The Grand Duke, like the family head, holds Soene’s weakness. When he starts to open his mouth, their cause loses even more power.

Soene had already mentioned the killing of Kazen, the family head, at a meeting not long ago.

If the secret leaked out, even the head of the household would have to be killed, so even being a grand duke could not avoid that miserable fate.

A long night had passed just like that.

The grand banquet of blood relatives in decades was already tomorrow.

* * *

huge hall.

Sunlight streaming in from the glass mosaics on the ceiling once again breaks into the gorgeous chandelier.

Just like that, heavenly light flooded in all directions.

Ruin watched in awe as his shadow, which had been split into hundreds, swayed ceaselessly.

‘This place is still the same.’

If you are a noble of the kingdom, this is the reason why you look forward to the socialite party held in Hibern.

As the reputation of the Heibern family, the hall is overwhelmingly splendid and boasts an astounding scale.

It was a beautiful hall, ‘Bernheneum’ that even the royal family who had spent their entire lives in the royal castle admired.

Ruin’s calm gaze scanned the inside of Bernheneum.

Countless expensive carpets, said to have come from the far east, were spread out.

Beautiful tables made by renowned artisans in the kingdom, colorful bowls, and various flowers that arouse the taste buds came into sight.

Whenever the attendants move without a break, the delicacies of the kingdom come to the table one after another.

As if they were not going to make a single mistake, the expressions of the attendants showed even piety.

Ruin walked slowly and sat down in the Archduke’s seat.

He said to Dane, who was hesitant by his side.

“Sit next to me.”

A look of bewilderment crossed Dane’s face.

Due to its solemn nature, the grand banquet of blood relatives was assigned a position and rank in every position.

Grand dukes were directly below the head of state.

Of course, the seat next to him did not belong to Dane.

“I’ll let you, Dane. Sit down without hesitation.”

“Yes bro.”

Ruin didn’t like the sudden attitude of his younger brother. It was because I felt like I had grown up rather than being cute.

However, I had no choice but to let it go because I was happy with his mindset that he was growing up right.

Around that time, blood relatives began to enter.

The first to enter the hall were Soene, Nizen, and their countless knights.

It was overwhelming and also blatant.

Soene no longer concealed that the knights, who could be called the backbone of the family, were under her command.

As if they were determined, their expressions were full of resoluteness.

At that time, Deash was entering the hall with Wiphone.

Soene smiled and greeted her eyes, but Deache ran towards Ruin without even looking at her.

“Can I sit next to Luin oppa?”

“Of course. Sit here, Deache.”

Ruin kept pulling out the chair that had been assigned to Soene.

Ruin never had the heart to respect the hierarchy and rank of immoral people.

A small wrinkle formed on Soene’s round forehead for a while, but she rather smiled naturally and sat across from Ruin.

“You came early. Archduke.”

As Soene sat down, the knights following her began to sit down all at once.

Knights trembling in Busan because their assigned seats were pushed out.

Ruin’s eyes drew a sneer for a moment, and then he scanned the dishes on the table.

“Dane. Have you always been eating something like this?”

Dane followed his brother’s gaze and looked at the dishes.

There were some fancy dishes that you wouldn’t normally see, but nothing much different.

“yes. A few more dishes were added, but that’s what I always had.”

Ruin’s nonchalant voice continued.

“The diet of a renowned swordsman is based on thorough nutrition. A rich diet that allows you to digest your training load. A quality diet that stimulates physical development and growth. So, the sword family’s diet is generally tasteless and crude. But how do these myriad dishes look to you?”

Dane answered cautiously, swallowing the saliva that had already started to collect in his mouth.

“It looks delicious.”

“Yes. There are only dishes that poison your tongue and delight your nose. They are all greasy, sweet and salty. I didn’t even consider the depth of taste. These are all things that constantly stimulate human desire.”

“… … .”

When Dane was silent, Ruin opened his mouth again.

“It’s really been a long time since we had a diet that didn’t take into consideration the training and growth of knights like this. What do you think the intention is? Why does the table of Hibern, a renowned swordsman, seem to have reached this point?”

“… … I do not know.”

“It is to numb your senses. It was to poison the desire and take away the discipline of the knight. It is to prevent you from thinking about the sweet taste, at least for the time you are sitting at the table.”

Ruin’s eyes, which had sunk like an abyss, turned to Soene.

“Who the hell, and why did you say that this horseman’s family was brought to this point?”