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Chapter 163

“Kalian . ”

At a late hour of the night, Kalian was standing in the hallway instead of going to bed .

The moon outside the window was especially bright today .

Then someone suddenly called him as he stood by the window .

Kalia turned his head and saw Bastian, who was standing in the hallway .

“Grandfather . ”

“Why are you out here when it’s so late? You can’t sleep? Or don’t tell me you’re just coming back now?”

Next to Bastian, was a servant who was helping him . Bastian gestured for the servant to withdraw .

Then he walked up to Kalian alone with his cane .

Kalian didn’t answer Bastian’s question but asked Bastian the same question .

“Same to you, Grandfather, why have you come out instead of sleeping?”

“The older you get, the harder it is to sleep . ”

Bastian walked till he was next to Kalian, then he stood by the window as well .

Then the two of them silently watched the moon in the night sky .

“You look like you have a lot of things on your mind lately . ”

After a while, Bastian opened his mouth first and spoke to Kalian .

Kalian’s gaze moved to Bastian’s side profile .

“Of course I do . The East is as rowdy as a beehive, after all . ”

“…”

“My father is seizing the chance and prodding even more . ”

Although neither of them said it, the reason both Bastian and Kalian were unable to sleep even though it was so late was in fact, the same .

“Your personality has always been gentle since you were a child, unlike what one would expect from Dominic’s child . ”

Bastian said like he was recalling the past .

“You’re the eldest son and you’ve been highly intelligent from a young age so the high expectations from those around you must have been a burden, but you followed everything your father said without any discontent . ”

After saying that, Bastian looked away from the window and turned to look at Kalian .

“But honestly, your nature doesn’t go well with Dominic . Isn’t that right?”

Kalian stared at his grandfather without saying anything .

“It’s just that he’s very good at pushing people, and he’s the type to go through with whatever he intends to do, no matter what, while you are a stubborn and polite child who listens well to the adults . ”

“…No . ”

It was only then that Kalian’s mouth, which had been shut the entire time, opened . He thought Bastian’s words did not fit him .

“It’s just that it was easier to meet the expectations of those around me, so I didn’t bother moving on a different path . ”

After wrapping that shrewdness in a layer, Bastian and other people simply misunderstood and looked upon him favorably .

Tsk-tsk, Bastian clicked his tongue at Kalian after he said that .

“In my opinion, you have some obsession with yourself being clean . Why else will you criticize yourself so mercilessly?”

At Bastian’s reproach, Kalian lowered his head slightly like he was ashamed .

Seeing Kalian like this, Bastian click his tongue again, but he soon turned around as if he was saying that’s enough .

“Anyway, since you think that way, it’s easier for me to say what I want . What I really want to tell you is this…”

And when Bastian’s next words rang in his ears, Kalian’s hand on the window frame trembled .

“Kalian, it’s enough, you can stop now . ”

The moment Kalian lifted his head, he locked eyes with Bastian who was still looking straight at him .

“You are not someone’s accessory . You do not have to try to live up to my expectations, or Dominic’s, or anyone else . ”

Bastian spoke like he could see Kalian’s dilemma .

“So you should go on the path you believe is right . Just don’t forget that you also have to bear responsibility for whatever result you get . ”

The look on his face filled with the obvious traces of time’s passage showed trust in his grandson .

Kalian’s eyes shook faintly as he was faced with that expression .

Of course, Bastian wouldn’t have said this if he knew all the worries that were troubling Kalian right now…

So he might be disappointed with Kalian in the future .

Still, at least right now, he felt comforted by his grandfather who had always watched over him with more warmth than his own father .

Soon after, Kalian closed his eyes and whispered softly:

“Thank you, Grandfather . ”

Even though the night was still dark, the moonlight seeping through the window was bright .

It felt like it was patting Kalian’s shoulders in comfort .

* * *

That night, Genos was by himself and took out a drink from the cabinet .

“How old is this thing?”

The Sheldon mansion had been vacant ever since he was expelled in the past . Of course, he heard that there were servants cleaning and managing the mansion from time to time, but it seems they did not organize things that were used in the past .

Hence, the wines he had collected in the past were just as he had left them .

Genos had restrained from drinking for a while after he was re-instated .

Then today, he was really craving some alcohol, so he went through the cupboard in the middle of the night . Thankfully, he had some good wine that hadn’t been opened yet .

“Huu . ”

Genos brought the bottle to his mouth and drank it alone while using the floral scent coming from the window as a side-dish . Maybe it’s because he had been pushing himself and running around lately but once the alcohol got into his system, all his accumulated fatigue rushed in all at once .

Because his heart was uncomfortable, his mind drifted away for a bit and as he lost himself in thought, he emptied half of the large bottle of alcohol .

Genos had met Kalian a while ago .

.

“Won’t it be better if we try negotiating?”

Kalian looked like he had finally made up his mind .

However, Genos was a little surprised because his determination was much more than Genos expected .

“I did not help the Salvatores with this sort of intention in mind . Right now, they must have brewed a lot of hostility, but I think negotiations are fully possible if the Crawford House takes a step back . Moreover, the Crawford Head will not be able to move as he did now, as long as the Salvatores hold that bomb in their hands . ”

Of course, Genos also thought it wouldn’t do to leave things like this, once he knew that the things Dominic Crawford’s did were bigger than he expected . However, that did not mean he wanted to jeopardize his friend, Kalian’s position .

The only reason he gave the Salvatores some help was to balance the scales to some extent .

In the East currently, there were way too many scales tilted in the favor of the Crawford house, especially towards Dominic, the current head .

“No, he probably won’t step back . The father I know will pretend to step back for now but will sharpen his knives even more thoroughly to defeat those opposing the Crawford family in the future . ”

However, Kalian was stubborn .

“Then he will try to consolidate the East under the Crawford family once again . ”

“But still…are you really sure about this?”

“As the successor to the Crawford family and Dominic’s son, I have to finish it and deal with the aftermath . So you can step back at this point . ”

No matter what Genos said, Kalian refused to change his mind .

“If so then I have nothing more to say but I prepared this for you . If you need it later, use it . ”

And so, Genos didn’t try to stop Kalian anymore . He handed over all the information he had secretly gathered about the Salvatores then he withdrew .

.

“Maybe I should have tried to stop him a little more . ”

Genos mumbled to himself, feeling somewhat regretful .

However, he was practically a third party in this matter, how could he stop Kalian when Kalian had already hardened his heart so much?

Kalian’s stubbornness was stronger than he imagined .

‘It should be going well, I guess . ’

After several sleepless nights, Genos finally fell asleep after emptying the wine bottle .

Rattle .

It was only after some time passed that a dark shadow appeared at the open window .

The intruder stepped into the room Genos was in without making a sound .

Genos was usually a light sleeper so normally, he would have noticed if someone got so close to him . But today, he was drunk, and the intruder had no presence just like the moonlight shining outside the window .

—Oh wow, he must have been drinking . Great then . He won’t wake up even if we touch him .

The person who entered Genos’ house was none other than Lakis .

He approached Genos who was fast asleep on the sofa .

Then without any hesitation, he placed his hand on Genos’ forehead .

“Ng…”

Genos tossed momentarily but, in the end, he did not wake up .

Lakis peeked into Genos’ mind . Countless information poured into Lakis’ mind .

And finally, Lakis found what he was looking for in Genos’ head .

The thing that had been making him uncomfortable ever since he read Odin’s memories .

It was the prophecy about Yuri .

Lakis’ eyes shone coldly when he saw a dark-haired woman soaked in blood in Genos’ memory .

—Ooh, is this how foresight works? I’m experiencing it for the first time, but it looks very vivid, huh .

‘Is this fun for you?’

Lakis spoke coldly to the bug who was chattered like it was excited .

—No, rather than fun, it’s interesting that’s why…Goodness me, you get so prickly when it involves the landlady . I mean, you can’t even tell whether the blood belongs to the landlady or not .

The bug was right but Lakis was still in a foul mood .

Even though he knew it wasn’t Genos’ fault that he saw such an awful prediction, his killing intent spiked for a moment .

—Ah! There’s another one . Look at that one too . The one that has winged mutant . I think that prediction has something to do with the landlady too, doesn’t it?

And when Lakis looked at the next prediction, his mood improved a little .

Flutter .

He got all the information he wanted from Genos’ head then he left as silently as he first appeared .