After knocking the Baron unconscious.
He was thrown into the underground prison along with his two sons.
The one assigned to guard the three was the Knight Commander, Manhattan.
In addition, three other Knights were set to guard the underground prison.
Inside the cell, Helmut, Dexter, and Ruine lay as if dead.
‘I’ve dealt with these guys for now.’
He hadn’t killed them right away, because he wanted them to meet the most miserable end possible.
They were too valuable to let die an easy death.
In the meantime, Manhattan approached Ethan.
“Your Grace, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you spare us back then?”
“Are you that curious?”
“Yes. I am.”
Ethan looked at Manhattan.
A Knight is a profession that must follow the one they call their lord.
That’s why, when the Knights rushed at him under Helmut’s orders, he felt nothing in particular.
After all, their lord was Helmut, not him.
However…
‘There’s no need to spare those who truly tried to kill me.’
The Knights swept up in the heat of the moment had bloodlust in their eyes.
Ethan wasn’t so broad-minded as to show mercy even to those kinds of people.
On the other hand, Manhattan and the remaining Knights had simply followed orders and charged in just to subdue him.
They were Knights who still held some positive feelings for the Ducal House, even as it crumbled.
Perhaps it was pity, or perhaps longing, or even regret.
‘Well, whatever those feelings are…’
It didn’t really matter.
He answered Manhattan.
“Because it seemed you still remembered the Ducal House of the past.”
That alone made them worth sparing.
Ever since Ethan opened his eyes, all he’d seen were people acting as if they’d completely forgotten the Ducal House.
“Well, I’ll be going now. Keep a close watch.”
Manhattan gazed blankly at Ethan’s back.
‘Because I remember the Ducal House of the past…’
A meaningful phrase.
Perhaps the Young Duke had begun to move in order to reclaim past glory.
‘If that’s the case…’
The Young Duke would never leave the ten collateral families who brought down the Ducal House alone.
Just like what he’d done to the Baron’s Territory, which he’d half-destroyed already.
‘Maybe this is the real beginning of the conflict…’
The Knight Commander swallowed quietly.
When Ethan exited the underground prison—
A familiar face appeared.
“Guildmaster?”
“It’s good to see you, Your Grace.”
It was Jeyron, the owner of the Misas Merchant Guild.
“What brings you here?”
“I happened to stop by Poerte to supply goods. Then I heard news about you, so I came straight to the Inner Castle.”
Ethan, the Young Duke.
He was a crucial piece for the House of Besos. Naturally, they had to pay special attention.
Especially after he’d persuaded his father, Marquis Bloten, even more so.
‘I’d heard he was invited by the Baron’s family…’
But to think he’d subdue the Baron and the entire Knight Order in one fell swoop.
He was impossible to predict.
“Let’s go somewhere quiet, first.”
“Alright.”
They moved to a secluded spot within the Inner Castle, and Jeyron sighed as he asked,
“What do you plan to do from here on?”
Since they were in the same boat, this was something he had to know.
Depending on what vision Ethan had, the path of the House of Besos would change as well.
‘He has overwhelming power.’
But unless he was an 8-star Knight known as a Master, it would be difficult to take on the ten collateral families with strength alone.
At Jeyron’s question, Ethan smiled faintly.
“We’ll see.”
“Your Grace, you’re not even the head of the family right now. If the Elders intervene, things will get very complicated.”
He’d deposed the Baron, charging him with treason under the law. But whether that was the proper procedure was another matter.
For now, the Elders were acting as the head of the Ducal House.
At this moment, only the Elders could sever the vassal relationship and strip the Baron of his castle.
‘If the Elders intervene…’
Jeyron saw two possibilities.
Either—
They let the matter slide by sparing the Baron.
Or, they abandon the Baron and send another puppet to govern the Baron’s Territory.
‘The latter is much more profitable.’
With one fewer mouth to feed, the other nine families would get a bigger slice of the pie.
‘There’s no real reason to keep the Baron’s family around.’
If that happened, the Young Duke who worked so hard to ruin the Baron’s family would end up with nothing.
The profits from here would go to the other nine collateral families.
‘And now that he’s started to provoke the collateral families, he’ll be at odds with all of them.’
Was he acting on brute strength alone, or had he calculated everything to come?
He had to find out.
Just then,
Ethan spoke bluntly.
“This place is mine now.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“No, I heard you, but… By ‘this place,’ do you mean the Baron’s Territory?”
“01.”
That meant he intended to make the Baron’s Territory his own property.
“But Your Grace, you don’t have the authority to govern the Baron’s Territory. Plus, the Elders will surely send someone to act as the Baron’s proxy…”
A Baron’s proxy.
There was no reason for the Elders to give that title to the Young Duke.
At Jeyron’s question, Ethan smiled quietly.
“Guildmaster, I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“Do you own a house, Guildmaster?”
“…Yes. I do.”
“Let’s say a thief breaks in. If that thief tells you to leave your house, would you just go quietly?”
A thief.
It was a word that hinted at what the Young Duke thought of the collateral families.
“But it was His Majesty Sigmund who appointed them…”
“Do I have to follow the word of the one who threw open the doors to those thieves? I don’t think so.”
Jeyron flinched.
“This is a ridiculous place. If not for the Ducal House, this country would’ve long ago been considered the weakest and suffered all sorts of invasions, yet after all the grace they’ve received, they stab us in the back. Tsk tsk. ‘Utter chaos’ is the only way to describe it.”
Jeyron looked around, startled, then let out a sigh.
They’d moved to a quiet place in the Inner Castle, so there were no eavesdroppers.
But even so, it was still a dangerous thing to say.
“…No matter how much immunity you have, if you speak so openly, you could get into trouble.”
“What, are you planning to record me with a Memory Crystal?”
“Of course not…”
Ethan chuckled.
Well, even if someone heard, it didn’t really matter. He’d never been the type to care what others thought.
The Seven Kings of the Seven Kingdoms.
Even the Emperor of the Xenon Empire didn’t dare order him around.
At best, they clung to his coattails under the pretense of duty to humanity.
A monster who could face an entire nation alone.
Those who reached the 10-star realm, the so-called Transcendents, were all like that.
And in his previous life, Ethan had been the youngest ever to become a Transcendent in the Western Continent.
“Anyway, I just meant that if such words were recorded, it could be a problem.”
“That’s easy—just cut off the mana, and it won’t matter.”
After all, the Memory Crystal was just an artifact powered by mana.
And in this world, there were few who could sense mana waves as delicately as Ethan.
“In any case, the true master of the Ducal Territory isn’t those thieves. It’s me.”
“And your brothers…?”
“Ah, the third and youngest? They’re not fit to rule the Ducal Territory. Maybe they can work hard at the bottom, but that’s about it.”
He was indeed an arrogant man.
But it wasn’t unpleasant to see. After all, the overwhelming power he’d shown in just a month since awakening—
If you considered that, he had every right to be arrogant.
“Actually, you’ve come at a good time, Guildmaster. There’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“A favor?”
“Yeah. I plan to use the Inner Castle here. I think we need to clean it out and deal with the goods, and I’d like you to handle that for me.”
“Understood. I still have goods to trade in the city today, so I’ll look over the Inner Castle starting tomorrow.”
“Good.”
After finishing his talk with Jeyron, Ethan began heading toward the Baron’s office.
On the way to the office.
No one stood in his way.
When the Knights had charged him earlier, everyone in the Inner Castle had witnessed his power.
An unstoppable monster.
With all the Knights wiped out, the retainers couldn’t possibly block Ethan.
All of them, eyes filled with fear, quietly avoided him.
Ethan arrived at the Baron’s office in one go and grabbed the doorknob.
The moment he opened the door—
He locked eyes with a young man inside.
“Who are you?”
“Greetings. I am Raymon, the eldest son of the Baron’s family.”
“So?”
“Don’t you need someone to help organize the affairs of the family? I can help.”
“You want to help?”
“In exchange, please guarantee my position.”
Raymon spoke, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
It was said that even though twenty Knights had attacked, this man subdued them all.
There was no point trying to guess his strength.
With the forces left in the Baron’s Territory, they couldn’t possibly stand against the Young Duke.
The Knights had already lost their will to fight, and while there were still many private soldiers, they were scattered throughout the territory and couldn’t be mobilized immediately.
Now, his life depended solely on the Young Duke’s judgment.
‘Anyway, my father and two younger brothers won’t survive.’
He’d already heard countless times about the disrespect they’d shown the Young Duke.
Would a man with such power act with such careful calculation?
Raymon didn’t think so.
Soon, the three of them would lose their heads.
And when the Baron died, the next heir would be himself. Would the Young Duke just let him be?
Of course not.
It was as if his feet were to the fire.
That was why he’d rushed to the office.
‘I have to make this deal now.’
Just then—
Ethan smirked and approached Raymon.
“Hey.”
“…Yes? Guhk!”
Before he knew it, his neck was gripped tight, and Raymon’s body was lifted into the air.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
“Guh-urk!”
The Baron’s family.
The punishment for this place had been decided long ago.
Guarantee his position?
There was no reason to promise that now.
First, the Baron and his two sons would be executed no matter what.
The rest would be driven out of the Inner Castle, penniless.
That was the only mercy Ethan would show.
And most importantly…
“Do you think you’re in any position to propose a deal right now?”
“Guh-urk! P-please, spare…”
“If you want to live, prove you’re useful.”
“I-I’ll talk… It’s information about the Seven Families of the Kingdom…! It’s definitely valuable, so please…!”
The Seven Families of the Kingdom.
Now that was an interesting subject.
“You should’ve done that from the start.”
If he had, he wouldn’t have had his neck grabbed.
Only then did Ethan loosen his grip.