On his way to the carriage, Vince noticed a dead body. At first, he couldn’t recognise him, but after looking more closely, he could tell. It was Fabian. He also had died.

He was lying face down with three arrows sticking out of his back. Right next to his body was a masked man’s body, whose body had a sword sticking out of him.

‘He managed to bring one to his grave together with him, huh. Goodbye, Fabian.’

Having given him one last look, he resumed his walk without looking back.

Once he reached the carriage, he could see all of the attendants looking down. Some of them were crying; others just had blank faces on them. Every single one of them had witnessed hell, and it perfectly reflected on their faces.

‘It must be a first for everyone here. They look like recruits that just experienced their first battle.’

Vince then loaded the weapons he had bought for himself on top of the carriage and then sat in it. He closed his eyes and waited for the others.

After a while, Albert arrived, carrying Estelle in his arms. She was still in a state of panic, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore. Albert then proceeded to make her sit and sat down himself.

“Lord Albert, I’m curious now about what happened on your side. I cannot fathom how Henrick could be killed near someone as powerful as you.”

“Right to the point, I see. Well, in short, they did a hit and run. As soon as I distanced myself a bit from Henrick, they attacked, and a powerful expert stalled me for a few seconds. That time was enough for them to get to Henrick. They paid a steep price, but they succeeded in the assassination, so I wouldn’t even kill it steep. Once the assassination was over, they all fled as fast as they came. I killed a few as they ran, but I couldn’t chase them all. We were careless this time. It had been a few decades since someone last attempted to kill a duke’s son.”

Albert made a long sigh, thinking about what had just happened, and Vince stayed in silence.

‘I understand why you let your guard down. But this will still be a big embarrassment for the Von Sideria. However, it could have been much worse if Estelle died as well. Now I’m curious as to who would dare try and assassinate a duke’s son. I have my own conjectures, but it’s still too early to say for sure, and there are quite a few possibilities.’

Soon after, the carriage departed, and the whole lot of them went home.

Seeing the gloomy atmosphere surrounding the carriage, the guards were quite surprised. They probably still hadn’t received the news of what happened.

“Sir Albert, are the guards coming back later?”

“They aren’t coming back.”

“What do you mean?”

“You guys still weren’t informed. Today a big disgrace befell on our household. Henrick von Sideria was assassinated, and many guards and attendants died while trying to protect him.”

“They assassinated… Henrick?”

The two guards at the gate were shocked to the core. They never imagine someone would attempt to take a duke’s son’s life in broad daylight, much less succeed.

“So, are you opening the gate or not?”

“Ah, yes, excuse us. We were stunned for a moment.”

The carriage proceeded and stopped once in front of the main door of the mansion. Quite a few attendants were waiting for them right at the entrance, among which Vince could discern Hubert.

Once he got out of the carriage, he went straight to his room, but Hubert stopped him. He had a puzzled face and couldn’t help but ask where Fabian could be.

“What happened? Why isn’t Fabian with you? Did he run off or something?”

“He’s dead.”

“He’s …dead?”

“They murdered Henrick and Fabian died while trying to protect him. I saw his body myself.”

“They murdered young master Henrick?!?”

“That’s right.”

“And Fabian died protecting him?”

“Exactly what I just said.”

“And how are you alive?”

“I was alone with young lady Estelle elsewhere.”

“So you didn’t witness what happened?”

“No. I’m merely retelling what Lord Albert told me.”

Having said all he could say, Vince resumed walking towards his room, but Hubert could only stand there with a blank face, failing to process what he had just been told.

By the time Hubert was back in his room, Vince was already sleeping. Seeing him sleep did take Hubert slightly by surprise, but he didn’t give the matter much thought. He was too shocked to think straight in the first place.

Of course, Vince was merely pretending to sleep and was instead meditating to replenish the mana he had spent. However, he couldn’t cultivate as his body was still not ready for a breakthrough.

‘One more month of training should be sufficient. After that, I’ll be able to breakthrough without a hitch.’

Once he was done replenishing his mana, Vince started to sleep for real. Even though he needed to sleep way fewer hours as a cultivator than a mortal, it was another matter altogether if he had to recover from injuries or muscle strain.

Recovering during sleep was way more efficient. Even cultivators who didn’t need to sleep anymore, if they happened to sustain serious injuries, would have to sleep.

After he woke up, Vince did his morning training routine and then proceeded to his duties. But for the whole day, he overheard the same conversation from anyone in the mansion. They were all talking about the events of the day before.

As it was about time for him to attend to his master, he suddenly remembered something.

‘Right, I still didn’t give her sword back. I have to wash away the bloodstains on it, though. I’m impressed that the elderly man didn’t notice it. All the precautions I took weren’t for nought apparently.’

Once he was done cleaning up the sword, he made his way towards Estelle’s chambers. He gently knocked on the door. But there was no answer.

“Milady, I’m coming in.”

Still no response. After waiting a few more seconds, he opened the door and went inside.

He soon found Estelle sitting in a corner, hugging her legs. Even after he got close, she showed no response.

‘It must be tough witnessing an assassination at her age. But I’m sure this will also be a great opportunity for her. Let’s try to get her back on her two feet, though I don’t expect much. It might take a while before she manages to get over such a thing. Hell, she might even never manage to surpass this trauma, but I don’t think she is that kind of person at all.’

Knowing that talking to her right now wouldn’t be of much use, he merely sat beside her and stayed silent. Neither of them spoke for a lot of time.

Eventually, it was Estelle herself who spoke first.

“Why? Why do you behave like always? Why are you normal after what happened yesterday? You even risked your life; shouldn’t you at least show some reaction? Why?”

Hearing her questions, Vince could only heave a big sigh. But he still stayed silent. It wasn’t time for him to say anything yet.

“My brother died… I nearly died… You almost died as well… Even someone as strong as Uncle Albert couldn’t prevent this. Everyone always says that strength is everything and that you need strength to protect yourself and those you love, but why couldn’t Albert save Henrick? Why are we alive, and he’s dead? Why…”

By now, Estelle had already started crying. She still kept on mumbling, but everything she said was incomprehensible.

‘I’m impressed someone her age is asking all those questions. Though most of them are merely reflecting her being fearful of death.’

“Milady… there’s simply no answer to many of those questions. I could try answering, but it would just be my take on it. It wouldn’t be an absolute answer. And even if I had that answer, I wouldn’t give it to you, as you wouldn’t accept it. You should reflect by yourself and reach your own conclusions. Knowledge is, for the most part, relative. What might be true to me might not be true to you. I won’t console you. I won’t say sweet words either. I might have with many other people, but that’s not what you need. Reflect on what happened, and especially on yourself. If you search enough, I’m sure you’ll find what you are looking for.”

The cry had turned into a few sobs here and there, but for the first time today, Vince got to see her face. She had stopped hiding her face behind her knees and finally started looking at him in the eyes.

“I think you need some time alone. I’ll be taking my leave. Also, here’s your sword. Without it, I would probably have died. Here’s already an answer for you. I stayed alive thanks to you giving me the sword. Your own decisions lead to this outcome. Could you have predicted it on the spot? Probably not, but such is fate. Even the most insignificant action can completely change everything. Even though you were powerless to change the outcome to the most desirable one, you still managed to change someone’s fate. That being said, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

‘I hope that hint will guide her through this struggle. Seeing how she’ll overcome this hurdle sounds very entertaining.’

With a pair of dazed eyes staring at his back, Vince left the room. And now, only a sobbing girl remained within.