Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 307

“There’s a condition.”

“A condition?”

Archmage Cassel chuckled, an unpleasant sound, at Baros’s words.

“Are you deaf, little brat? I’m offering to do everything, and yet you set conditions?”

“How can I trust you? I need a condition, if only to believe your promise.”

“Heh. You’re a greedy little brat, aren’t you?”

A kindly smile, like that of a rural elder, lingered on the old man’s lips, but his grey eyes did not smile at all.

Baros merely grinned back at those chilling eyes.

Sometimes, people’s faces show feelings they don’t really have. This is just a mask.

Such people were not uncommon even in the Imperial Family.

Of course, they did not possess the monstrous power of the old man before him.

“You must know we have no reason to choose you, specifically?”

“If you touch another member of the Imperial Family close to the line of succession, it won’t be the Mage of the Cutting Winds chasing you this time, but the legions of the Empire.”

“There’s also the option of simply adjusting your mind, without bothering with persuasion, wouldn’t you agree?”

“If you could breach the Imperial Family’s magical defenses, you would have done so already.”

The black eyes, smiling but unmoving, and the grey eyes clashed fiercely.

“Heh heh. You’re a bold one, aren’t you?”

Cassel chuckled, a dry, rasping sound. Baros saw a flicker of something in the old man’s grey eyes – interest. *My risk worked,* Baros thought, a small surge of relief mixing with the fear.

“Alright,” Baros said, his voice now steadier, less challenging. “There is someone… someone who troubles me. I want you to get rid of him. Or at least, find out why he bothers me so much.”

As the other party yielded, Baros dropped the impolite tone he had been using to test the waters and switched to a more polite, if still somewhat casual, manner.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but the old man’s grey eyes seemed to soften slightly.

“An Imperial Prince can’t handle one person?”

“He’s a king of a nation. And a superhuman, at that.”

“What?”

“Logan McLain, the King of the current McLain Kingdom. He’s the one I’m talking about.”

“Heh heh.”

The old man laughed as if amused, then abruptly stopped laughing and wore a peculiar smile.

“The King of McLain, eh? Yes, I’ve heard the rumors about that young genius. But if that king dies or something goes wrong, there will be great chaos, wouldn’t you agree?”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

“So, the Empire is planning for war.”

At the old man’s words, Baros momentarily gritted his teeth. He realized too late that he had given away too much information.

However, now that things have become so twisted, I must use them as a stepping stone.

The Imperial Guard had appeared at the meeting place with Cassel’s Magic Tower. If he returned without any results, he would not only fail to secure his position but would certainly lose his head.

From Baros’s point of view, they had now become a lifeline he had to grasp.

“Well, not bad. He’s someone I’ve been keeping an eye on anyway.”

He’s been watching him?

Why?

Just as he was about to open his mouth again, a glint of grey in the old man’s eyes stopped Baros.

“Imperial brat, descendant of the god of war. I’m playing along with your tune because the time has come, but there will be no more. You know the basics of a deal, don’t you?”

The time? What time?

He had many questions, but he knew instinctively that if he tried to get more by pretending it’s still a deal, the old man would not accept it as readily as he had until now.

“The basics of a deal are giving and taking. Of course, I know that.”

However, he had no intention of simply being a pushover.

“But it was you who proposed making me Emperor in exchange for fulfilling ‘that condition,’ not something I desired.”

“You speak as if you don’t want to be Emperor. Really, how are all those hypocritical bloodlines so alike…?”

Baros’s face hardened at the words that insulted his ancestors.

However, the pressure of the grey energy that began to emanate from the old man’s entire body prevented him from speaking. The air around Baros grew heavy, like a weight pressing down on his chest. The grey energy felt cold against his skin, and he could smell a faint scent of ozone.

“Remember this, little one. You can deceive the whole world, but you cannot deceive yourself.”

The old man’s voice, which had been reminiscent of a simple rural elder, sounded particularly eerie.

“The contract of the Black Serpent is a contract made by the soul. Now, your choice is absolutely irreversible. No god, no magic can break this contract.”

With a voice that echoed like a declaration, Baros felt as if the old man’s grey energy covered the entire world for a moment, constricting his breath.

“Gack. Cough. Th-this kind of…”

Baros, unable to withstand the pressure, cried out.

“So, don’t forget the promise, Prince Baros.”

With the old man’s voice returning to a smiling tone, the pressure that had been crushing his entire body disappeared as if it had been an illusion.

But Baros could not smile like the old man.

“What have you done to me?!”

“What do you mean, ‘done’? We were merely having a conversation.”

Baros’s face grew even colder at the old man’s chuckling expression.

“Are you making a fool of me…!”

“Didn’t you say it yourself? If I could nullify the Imperial Family’s magical defenses, there would be no need to talk this long.”

“……!?”

“You mustn’t be so easily frightened by a little scare. Especially not someone who will become Emperor.”

Baros’s expression hardened further at those words, but he said nothing more.

He had much he wanted to say, but he thought it would be useless to say more.

And that decision was also based on his belief in the Imperial Family’s magical measures.

As the old man had said, if he could tamper with him without his knowledge, there would be no need for such a long conversation.

“Don’t forget the promise.”

“……You, too, must not forget the promise. Especially regarding that Holy Kingdom, be sure to decide what to do…”

“If you tell your father what I said, he will understand. The Emperor cannot be ignorant of the Holy Kingdom’s movements. That will be enough…”

“You’re going to use them?”

The Emperor’s question momentarily snapped Baros out of his reverie.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I am confident that there will be no need to trouble my brother and Lord Dongik.”

“Do you even know what needs to be done?”

“Isn’t it just a matter of taking the heads of Logan McLain and his close aides?”

“Ha…”

The Emperor’s expression hardened slightly at the direct and extreme expression, but Baros immediately continued.

“It’s different this time. If we use them, even if they fail, they won’t be able to find any connection to our Empire. I am ashamed to say that there has been a recent commotion because of me.”

Everyone in the room lit up at those words.

The Emperor also looked at Baros strangely, but suddenly, someone spoke.

“It seems the Imperial Prince has changed since I last saw him. He admits his own faults so easily now.”

The King of the East, Gerard van Asserian, had amusement twinkling in his blue eyes.

It was rude to interrupt the Emperor and Prince without apologizing, but no one blamed him.

He was one of the Empire’s four most important people, second only to the Emperor. The King of the East could do things like that.

“Gerard.”

“Sorry, Your Majesty! As his godfather, I’m just happy to see Prince Baros finally learning something!”

“He still needs a lot of improvement.”

The Emperor’s words were cold, even though the King of the East had praised Baros.

The King of the East didn’t argue. He quietly stepped back and lowered his head.

If you only heard their words, you might not know who the real father was. The Emperor was so cold, and the King of the East was so warm.

Baros tried not to show how tense he felt and looked down.

‘A cold assessment is better,’ he thought.

The King of the East’s kind words seemed fake and insincere.

“By the way, Prince Baros mentioned why I’m here. Is it about the McLane operation?”

The Emperor looked at him with cold blue eyes and shook his head slightly.

“Any method will work. Make sure the plan goes smoothly.”

“…Does it matter how we do it?”

“No.”

“Then I agree with Prince Baros.”

Baros quickly looked at the King of the East.

The Emperor was also surprised and looked at him strangely.

“Everyone knows Prince Baros has been working in eastern countries. He would probably be better at this than Prince Cleed, who has been in the West,” said the King of the East.

Prince Cleed, who had been listening quietly, frowned slightly, just like someone else in the room.

‘Even that expression is similar,’ Baros thought.

Was he copying him on purpose?

Baros didn’t like even these small things about his half-brother, but he didn’t show it.

He couldn’t show any weakness.

He didn’t like the King of the East either, but he was helping him now.

The Emperor hadn’t reacted much, but now he nodded.

“Alright. But the King of the East will help you.”

“…What?”

“And the King of the East will manage those people. Surely you can handle that?”

Baros couldn’t admit that it would be difficult.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

He had to sound sure, even though he wasn’t. He answered strongly, even though he didn’t believe it himself.

That’s how the unexpected meeting ended.

“You’ve changed a lot.”

“Oh, really, Brother? I’m just trying to be like you.”

“…Still as sly as ever.”

Cleed looked disgusted.

Baros was happy to get any reaction from Cleed’s cold face, so he smiled even more.

“I just wanted to fix my mistakes, but it seems I made you waste your time, Brother. I’m sorry.”

“Tch.”

“A wasted journey? Not at all.”

He had gained something?

Baros frowned slightly at those words.

“Well, well, our Imperial Princes are getting along so well. I wonder if there will be any fighting this time?”

The King of the East put his arms around their shoulders and spoke slyly.

Both princes made a face at the same time.

For once, they agreed on something.

The King of the East put his arms around both princes. He didn’t seem to notice they were different heights. One prince was much taller than the other. It looked silly. And his words sounded fake.

“Oh? Not this time? Are we going to see that again, maybe?”

Cleed didn’t care and pushed the King of the East’s arm off, as if he wanted to cause trouble between the princes.

“I’m busy, so I’m leaving.”

The King of the East clicked his tongue and shook his head as Cleed turned away before he had even finished speaking.

“He’s getting more serious as he gets older. Don’t you think so, Baros?”

Baros also wanted to leave like his half-brother, but he couldn’t.

This man was in charge of the task he had to do to fix his past mistakes.

“So, how are you going to start?”

Haa.

“Stay out of it,” Baros said.

“Interfere? I’m just helping. Didn’t you hear what His Majesty said?”

“I heard, that’s why I’m saying this.”

“Hehe. You wound me, as your godfather. How about we go to the Dongwang Estate first? It’s closer.”

“No need.”

“You should see Louisa. It’s been a while since you cousins met, right?”

Baros tried to ignore the voice next to him and thought hard.

‘How am I going to tell them to be controlled by the Dongwang Estate?’

This problem was making his head hurt.

He didn’t notice the grey energy in the King of the East’s strangely shining blue eyes.

“You said you wanted to change the Elder Council, Louisa.”

“Yes.”

“Then you have to do something. Something everyone will accept.”

“…”

“Go to McLane. Investigate that man.”

“…Is that all I need to do?”

“Investigate first. That king’s actions might be connected to when the gods abandoned us.”

“And then?”

“…If he’s not connected, kill him. But if he is, we’ll do something else. The kingdom doesn’t need to fall apart just because the king dies.”

“Yes, I understand.”

She was in a dark stone room.

Under her black robe, she was very beautiful, with fair skin, blue eyes, and flowing black hair. She looked a lot like someone famous in the Empire.