Volume 8 Chapter 8: Those With High Aspirations
<span style="text-decoration:underline"><span style="font-weight:400">Volume 8 Chapter 8: Those With High Aspirations
<span style="font-weight:400">"Keith, may I speak with you?" Edmund called out to Keith as he walked down the hallway with Krystal. Krystal tilted her head, "What''s the matter, Father? What do you need Keith for?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"I need him for something. It''s something about the merchant group."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Ah, then I will go." Krystal walked away.
<span style="font-weight:400">Keith asked, "Is there something wrong with the group?" The group was going strong as there were ns to rent a store. Edmund was assisting them in finding a suitable area for it.
<span style="font-weight:400">"No, there''s nothing wrong with them. Actually, there''s something else I want to talk about."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hmm?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"I''m going to speak with Rodrick. I want you to be there." Edmund exined.
<span style="font-weight:400">Keith''s eyes widened, "You want me to be there?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"Mmhmm, my father suggested this, and I agree." Edmund felt having the child there would be the correct choice.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Understood." Keith nodded as he followed Edmund. The two have arrived in a ce a little far from the estate. There were two guards in front of them; Sterling and Cedric were also there.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Kid, you''re here." "Mmhmm."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Let''s go to the dungeon now." Since everyone was here, they entered the cer. Going down, Keithmented, "You guys have something here?" It was a jail.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Mmhmm."
<span style="font-weight:400">"I think every noble house has that." Sterlingughed.
<span style="font-weight:400">"By the way, is it alright not to have Krystal or Aunty Violet here?" It was only them. It was sort of weird.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Violet is staying in the duchy to watch it. And I don''t want Krystal to see what''s going on. She''s still young." Edmund sighed. No father wanted their child to see something like this.
<span style="font-weight:400">"..." What about me? Did he forget about him being the same age as his daughter?
<span style="font-weight:400">"Kid, you''re different from others." Cedric scoffed.
<span style="font-weight:400">"How-" "Your eyes said everything." Keith''s eyes were saying he was the same age as her.
<span style="font-weight:400">Cedric exined, "Unlike the others, you''re actually ruthless."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hey, I''m not ruthless."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Oh, please. If someone angers you, that''s a different story." Cedric knew long ago that Keith''s anger switch was long; not many things could make him furious. However, that didn''t mean he didn''t have one.
<span style="font-weight:400">Once that switch turned on, everything was off the table. That incident with Todd was a clear sign.
<span style="font-weight:400">"..."
<span style="font-weight:400">"You have the ability to do things without any hesitation. Krystal isn''t like that." Once Cedric said this, Edmund and Sterling nodded. The girl would mull around before deciding. Keith was a decision-maker who epted the consequences of the oue.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I see."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Having you here will bring a different perspective." They needed an outsider for this.
<span style="font-weight:400">"We''re here," Edmund muttered as the four arrived with rows of jail cells. Once they had seen the four,
<span style="font-weight:400">"Grand Duke! Please! We''re sorry!"
<span style="font-weight:400">"We apologize!"
<span style="font-weight:400">"Oh, you brought the knight here as well." Some of the knights who betrayed them were kept here as well.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Of course, we can''t have them roam after what they did."
<span style="font-weight:400">"We need to go speak with him." The four arrived before a particr jail cell. Inside the cell was Rodrick. Thesest few days had changed him by a mile. Rodrick''s expression was wry and dark as he looked up.
<span style="font-weight:400">A slight smirk formed, "Well if it isn''t the Grand Duke. What do you need from a lowly count?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"Brother, are you still going to be like this?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"Brother? Do you still call me your brother?!" Rodrickughed.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Even though you tried to ruin me, we''re still brothers." It didn''t matter what he did; the two were still rted by blood. It was something that tied them even if Edmund didn''t want it.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Son, stop acting like this. It''s unbing." Cedric shook his head.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Heh, have you ever treated me like your son?!" Rodrick scoffed, "You have given Edmund everything! You even taught him everything, yet with me, you left me all alone!" That was what urred. Cedric had prioritized everything on Edmund.
<span style="font-weight:400">"That''s because you were too ambitious." Cedric scoffed. That was the difference between the two. One was ambitious, while the other was calm. When deciding on who to lead, Cedric understood the answer.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I-"
<span style="font-weight:400">"You wanted to expand the Rustchil territory?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"?!"
<span style="font-weight:400">"Do you think I wouldn''t realize it? You have always wanted to be the strongest Rustchil." Even as a child, Rodrick had high expectations of bing the best. However, there was a thing called biting off more than you could chew.
<span style="font-weight:400">Rodrick gritted his teeth as he shouted, "What''s wrong with wanting our household to be the strongest?! What is wrong with that!" Only by bing the strongest would the household flourish and be sessful.
<span style="font-weight:400">"And that''s exactly why I didn''t choose you. What you''re thinking would only break the bnce we have with the other households." The others wouldn''t stand still; they would attack when they saw it.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Plus, you wouldn''t be able to handle it."
<span style="font-weight:400">"How can you not?!"
<span style="font-weight:400">"Just you controlling thend for a few weeks already showed you weren''t capable." Cedric sighed, "Instead of bolstering thend, you chose to fire the people who went against you and hire ipetence instead."
<span style="font-weight:400">"..."
<span style="font-weight:400">"Those with high aspirations should have the abilities to back it up. Those who have it but are foolish will only send everything to ruin." Rodrick was thetter.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Rodrick, I will give you two options," Edmund stated.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Hmm?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"I can let you go."
<span style="font-weight:400">"?!" Rodrick scoffed, "Are you kidding me? You''re really going to let me go after what I did?" Who was he kidding? Edmund and the others would probably end him once he left.
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"No, I will leave you alone."
<span style="font-weight:400">"!" Rodrick frowned, "...What are the conditions?" He was tempted now.
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"I want you to tell me who the mastermind is?" That was something Edmund had realized. For Rodrick to do all this so quickly meant that there had to be a backer to all of this.
<span style="font-weight:400">"I refuse. I will not say anything." Rodrick shook his head, refusing to say anything.
<span style="font-weight:400">"Do you understand that person had left you to die?"
<span style="font-weight:400">"?!"
<span style="font-weight:400">"We had left the jail cell unguarded for a few days, purposely letting anyone enter." Edmund took a gamble to let this ce be unguarded. He wanted to see whether or not the culprit woulde and show himself. However,
<span style="font-weight:400">"He never did. He chose to leave you here to die." That meant Rodrick was disposable.
<span style="font-weight:400">"..."
<span style="font-weight:400">"So tell us who the culprit is."
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"I-" Before Rodrick could say anything, his body went stiff like a statue. Without anything left to be said, his body dropped to the ground!
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"Rodrick!" Edmund quickly entered the cell. When he checked the pulse,
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"Is he?" Sterling frowned.
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"No, he''s breathing. But he''s unconscious."
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"…" There was silence between everyone. There was one thing on Cedric''s mind, "He must have signed a curse."
<span style="font-weight:400">"But a curse that makes a person like this? Why would he sign something like that?" Sterling questioned. Signing a curse was a mutual thing. The person had to sign the paper for it to activate. That also meant the person could read over the effects.
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"Either Rodrick did it willingly without knowing, or he was forced."
<span style="font-weight:400">"It should be the first option. It seemed Rodrick didn''t know about it." Edmund muttered. Rodrick was about to reveal everything to them.
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"Dammit, who could it be?"
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“…”
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"What''s the matter with you?" Cedric noticed how Keith was silent throughout all of this. Keithmented, "If Edmund can''t tell us what''s going on, then we''ll have to get it from another source."
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"Eh?"
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">Cedric''s eyes widened, "Kid, you don''t mean-"
<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">"Yes." Keith nodded his head.