“Then why did His Majesty grant her to me in marriage?”
Jonn frowned.
“Did His Majesty never consider that if she and I didn’t get along, or even fell out completely…”
The Lord of Rossi glanced at Jonn, blunt and venomous.
“Because you’re an oddball.”
“For normal people like us, the dumber the princess, the better. The most important thing is that the princess doesn’t divide our power. As for her stupid actions…I can’t be bothered to argue with an idiot anyway.”
After a few seconds of silence, the Lord of Rossi swirled his wine glass.
“And to His Majesty, a foolish princess is basically guaranteed not to ally with powerful heroes to compete with the next King’s Successor for the throne.”
“It should’ve been a clever balance both sides could accept—provided you’re a normal person.”
“But clearly, you’re not normal.”
“How am I not normal?”
After being labeled abnormal several times, even someone as good-natured as Jonn couldn’t help but get angry.
He demanded, “Just because I’m kind to refugees? Just because I’m not corrupt like you all?”
The Lord of Rossi set down his wine glass and gazed deeply at Jonn, as if picking a fight with the heavens, each word cold as ice.
“Normal people love wealth. You don’t. Normal people crave power. You don’t. Normal people put themselves and their families above all others. You don’t.”
“Do you really think you’re normal? You’re the real tumor!”
“But most commoners in the world are like this.”
Jonn retorted, but his voice didn’t overpower the other.
“That’s because commoners are too lowly! There’s nothing to compete for!”
The Lord of Rossi interrupted directly.
He drained the last of his liquor, wiped his mouth roughly, and his eyes burned red.
“I didn’t even qualify to sit at the table at first. Whether it was wealth, power, or status, there was nothing to fight for—so why would I covet it?”
“Since I couldn’t get it anyway, I might as well say a few lofty and foolish things to comfort myself, like ‘just get by,’ ‘heaven rewards the diligent,’ or ‘at least I’m noble.'”
“But now, I only hate that I didn’t see these things clearly sooner, that I didn’t dirty myself with this filthy mud sooner. If I had, my Elena wouldn’t have died, and I wouldn’t have met you and lost my Edward again…”
The Lord of Rossi choked up.
Facing death didn’t break him.
Having an enemy as strong as a god come to his door didn’t break him.
Even losing Edward and seeing his son’s corpse didn’t break him.
But just mentioning that name again, he broke.
Tears poured down like a spring, and his wails could no longer be restrained.
Jonn waited until he finished crying.
Waited until he wiped his tears away with his sleeve.
“Have you ever thought…if you hadn’t been corrupt, if you’d been a good city official, maybe you’d still be holding your son and enjoying an ordinary person’s happiness.”
Jonn poured out the wine from his cup onto the ground, honoring the dead.
“Do you believe that?”
The Lord of Rossi sneered back.
“You’ve seen what the Empire is like these past few months. If I wasn’t corrupt, if I didn’t send money up, it’s more likely I would’ve frozen to death holding my Edward in some forgotten corner.”
“The whole Empire is a giant alchemy machine. The world is its boiler, commoners are its copper ore, and those of us at the end of the fire can only burn ourselves desperately, stripping a few flecks of gold from the ore.”
“The slag is left for us to eat; the gold is sent up.”
“If I don’t burn, if I don’t send, I’ll become a Defect in this machine. Next time, I’ll be the copper ore. Do you understand?”
Jonn couldn’t help but hold his breath, blood boiling as if facing a mighty foe.
“You mean, above you, there’s someone who controls all this…the true mastermind?”
The Lord of Rossi glanced at him, eyes full of both pity and despair.
He let out a soft laugh.
“Hero, you still love the Demon King so much, you can’t let it go in your heart.”
“……”
Jonn didn’t understand.
But the Lord of Rossi didn’t want to talk anymore.
He straightened his clothes, sat upright, even dipped his fingers in rainwater to slick his hair, trying to restore the dignity of a noble.
“How do you plan to let those commoners judge me?”
He spoke with biting sarcasm.
“Build a cage, put me inside, let them curse me, vent all the anger that may or may not have anything to do with me, and then stone me to death?”
Jonn was speechless, but quickly answered.
“How you’re judged is up to everyone. My task is just to defeat you, then send you to face them.”
“If you really do this, you’ll be cast out by everyone in the world.”
The Lord of Rossi sneered sideways.
“I don’t care.”
Jonn shook his head.
“Heh…”
The Lord of Rossi suddenly narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint in their slit.
“Hero, don’t you want to cause a great upheaval? Fine, I’ll give you the chance.”
He tapped his finger slowly.
“I have a better proposal. No need for a Judgment. I’ll confess. I’ll write down all my crimes over the years, how much I took, how much I sent up, who I gave it to, who I bribed.”
“I’ll read it aloud, so your cause is righteous, so those foolish, naive commoners can know the truth, depend on you, doubt you, and worship you as a god.”
“Hero…!”
“If you have the guts—then take my Redemption Letter and pierce the heavens!”
The words landed like a hammer.
Thunder ripped open a crack in the sky.
Light spilled from the jagged white scar, illuminating the two faces locked in confrontation—one dark and silent, one flushed with agitation.
The rolling thunder replaced the silence, like the evening bell, or a distant echo from long-lost memories.
After a long time, Jonn slowly nodded.
“Fine. As you wish. I won’t let any who deserve Judgment escape in this world.”
His plan succeeded, and the Lord of Rossi burst into hearty laughter.
He laughed until he coughed, then laughed and coughed again.
“Hahahaha~~Great Hero, go challenge your next Demon King, then the next, and the next, until everyone betrays you and you’re smashed to pieces.”
He shattered his wine glass, rose to his feet, and staggered away, drunk and wild, as if singing with the falling rain.
“My Edward and I will wait for you in hell. Wait with pity, with mockery, with regret.”
“But don’t think of us—we’ll only fall deeper.”
In the desolate mansion, the Lord of Rossi disappeared into the rain.
Earlier, he’d sent away all the servants, leaving only a young girl of about ten.
Now, even the girl was abandoned.
She stood trembling in the rain, shoulders hunched.
“Are you afraid of me?”
Jonn suddenly chuckled, asking the girl.
She lowered her head nervously.
“No, Hero-sama.”
“Then why…?”
She looked miserable.
“Lord said you were here to judge sinners. Hero-sama, I-I’ve stolen things, cheated money before, but not much, just a few dozen gold curons. Can you forgive me?”
Jonn stared, speechless.
After a few seconds, he couldn’t help but laugh softly, though there was no relief in the sound—only deeper confusion.
Suddenly, a small head poked out from his collar.
“Hey! Friend! Friend!”
Jonn’s laughter stopped.
He reached out in surprise and stroked Lia’s head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hungry! Food!”
The childish plea, at this moment, was the sweetest sound in the world to Jonn.
“Alright~”
Jonn drew out the word, waved his hand to signal the girl to leave.
He poured the sweet wine he’d kept in his flask into his palm, only then realizing the inconvenience of dressing “Pupu”.
Pupu loved water and often melted.
Now, the white dress was soaked, clinging to Lili’s body, outlining the girl’s increasingly beautiful curves and hinting at alluring shapes.
Jonn gently stroked Lia’s back, lost in thought for a moment, then suddenly murmured to himself.
“Tell me…did the Demon King come first, or the Hero, or did the Hero come first and then the Demon King?”
Lia’s scalp tingled.
She didn’t know why, but whenever Hero and Demon King were mentioned together, her whole body felt like it had been slashed seventeen hundred times.
“Lili doesn’t know!”
She wailed.
“No Demon King! No Hero! Want friends! Friends only!”
Jonn laughed again, this time light and gentle.
He ruffled Lia’s hair, speaking indulgently.
“Alright~ Let’s not think about these complicated things. Just friends. From now on, only talk about friends with Lili.”