The Count Family's Young Master
Chapter 33 - Believe (3)

Valias asks Kei to take him to the palace. Passing the long journey again they arrived at the gate. "T-Young master Valias!"

As soon as Valias got off the horse one of the guards exclaimed. Continued with a surprised look following the admiration of the other gate guards. "Yes.. You guys know me?" Valias is confused.

"Young master Valias became the hot topic of everyone's conversation! You've saved his highness the crown prince and survived the poison. And it's common knowledge to us that His Majesty Frey allows you to visit the palace whenever you want."

"...Is that so?" Valias answered doubtfully.

"really. Please come in young master."

Valias nodded. "alright. Kei. Come on."

"Ah, young master. This guy?" Another guard arrested. Valias realized his doubt.

"He's my friend. I want to take him to see his majesty. Can you let him in?"

The guard seemed to be considering something.

"We have to come with you to ensure safety."

Valias nodded again. "I understand. No problem."

One of the guards took over the horse rope from Kei. Shuddered after receiving cold eyes from the young man. The horse will be deposited at the gate while Valias and Kei board a horse-drawn carriage to reach the palace door. They passed through three layers of gates before descending on the last palace gate. Up ahead Valias could see the door of the palace he had entered when he had moved from the Bardev mansion with Wistar and Dylan yesterday.

"Young master. We will escort you to the noble chamber of the crown prince."

Valias. Kei followed Valias without making any sound. For the second time entered the palace building but this time with the correct procedure. Frowning at how troublesome all the rules are.

"Mr Kalim."

Kalim, carrying a tray with a teapot and a cup in his hand, saw a group of people approaching his master's room.

"Young master Valias and his friend want to see the noble one." One of the guard knights escorting Valias made a sound as he bowed.

"Ah. Young master Valias. Please enter. His Majesty is inside. You can come back." Kalim said after the group of guards stepped aside. It shows Valias' existence among them. Kalim let Valias and Kei in after opening the door.

"Kalim. I didn't hear of any nobles wanting to meet-ah, Valias! And.." Frey was silent.

"Your highness. I'm taking your brother with me."

Frey doesn't even remember asking Valias to call him brother. "Y-yeah.." The crown prince replied clumsyly while standing up.

Frey is still so awkward in dealing with the brother whose existence he only knew two days ago.

"....You guys sit down."

Without saying anything more Valias sat down. So was Kei who was surprisingly willing to sit down. Perhaps he was also tired after a long journey from Bardev to the palace on horseback. Even Valias felt his body ache because he had to maintain his position so as not to bounce.

Valias sat on the long sofa like yesterday while Kei sat on the single sofa. Frey watched them sit down and gulped. "Look.. Can I call you that?"

Frey asked interspersed with doubt. His brother did not stop looking at him. Frey wondered if the boy still had any thoughts of killing him or not.

"Key?"

Valias. Whereas Frey was so amazed by how brave and calm Valias was to face the person who gave off that unapproachable aura.

Kei turned his face away. "Whatever."

Valias smiled slightly. "Call him Kei, Your Majesty. Are you going to stand there, or sit here?"

Frey looked at Kalim who was putting the tray on the table before coming back out to pick up another cup. After venturing out, Frey approached the sofa and sat down next to Valias, who had previously been Dylan's seat.

They were silent for a few seconds before Valias opened his mouth the first time.

"Your highness. There's a slave trade in Hayden, you know?"

"What's? Really true?" dangang Frey's.

Frey spent 22 years inside the palace and relied solely on reports from the noble leaders of each region. If he thought about it, there was a deviation that he did not know was reasonable.

He cursed himself who never realized this as long as he became the crown prince of the next future king Hayden.

Frey begins to admire the breadth of Valias' knowledge. God's message or not, Valias knows more about the things that are happening out there.

On one hand Frey realized how he would be busier if he had to take care of the irregularities that occurred in his Hayden. "Can you tell me where? I'll send soldiers there."

Valias nodded. "Kei will go there."

"...Kei?" Frey glanced at Kei who was putting his eyes on the child sitting next to him now.

"OKAY. No problem."

"I'll come too."

"You?" Frey put on a face of not understanding.

Valias nodded again. "Your highness. What if we start involving the mages that are in the palace in this act?"

"Mage?"

"true." Valias nodded. "How many mages are there in the palace?"

Frey looked at Valias with a frown but remained silent. "Thirteen."

Valias put on a smile. "We will divide them into five groups. They'll use magic on a large scale."

The location of the trading place was far in the border region of Hayden with the kingdom of Solossa. It would take too long to go there. Valias planned to use the existence of a mage that could shorten the time and launch a surprise on the slave traders.

"Is it far away?"

"It's in the Arlern region, your honor."

"true."

"...Don't tell.." Frey didn't want to believe his own conjecture.

He attached his gaze to the red-haired man with a thin face in front of him. Hope the person in front of him will refute what is on his mind. Because if it's true..

"Unfortunately that's the reality, your majesty. The children of Hayden were sold to the Kingdom of Solossa."

"It doesn't make sense!!" Frey exclaimed furiously.

Are those people crazy? They sold the children, and from his own kingdom, to another kingdom?? They willingly give their children to become slaves of other kingdoms??

Frey can't believe that. His heart is heating up and heavy. It felt like he wanted to go to the place himself and beat up the people who did the misappropriation.

Frey lowered his head and held it with both hands. "Valias. Take me there. I will beat those people with my own hands!"

Valias smiled at the determination of the golden-eyed king-to-be beside him. "Calm down, your highness. You as a future king cannot let the people watch their king drown in anger. Let your people work. You just need to be the child's hope.

He continued. "You will prepare a place to stay for the children. We're gonna get rid of all the violations in Hayden little by little."

Frey raised his head, and could see the red-haired teenager's confident smile. Frey's seen that smile before.

When that person for the first time dropped a large rock on him.

At that time, he tells Frey that he will help him face Kei and his group.

The man holds his promise and currently Frey lives and even sits in the same room as his brother.

Even now Valias is here with him against Kei. "....You look confident."

Valias took the cup of tea that Kalim had just placed. "As long as there's Kei and his friends, I'm sure we can get through all the hardships that come later."

"...You're. Why are you so sure?" Kei finally opened his mouth.

Kei saw the red-haired young man sipping tea inside the cup held with his small hand. Seemed not bothered at all by the intimidation he gave from his question. "You're not a man so heartless if someone asks you for a favor for a good thing. Everything I'm gonna ask you is just gonna take your sister Hayden in a better direction. If one day you think I'm doing something that could hurt people, you could kill me right then and there."

Frey felt how his eyes were wide open hearing Valias speak so casually.

Why does he always use his life as a guarantee?

He took his life lightly because he was indeed going to die soon?

Frey didn't want that to happen.

Kei, too, frowned at how the person who was drinking the tea easily told himself to kill him. Kei had never seen anyone so eager to die as Valias whom he had recently known as Valias Bardev.

Oza tells him that Valias has the badge of Count Bardev's symbol on his collar. At that time, Valias was visited by a man who was his father. The man was dressed luxuriously and had soldiers under his control.

Then with that striking hair color, it would be hard to believe that Valias was not a noble. "Your highness. Please prepare the knights and mages for tomorrow."

Frey woke up from his daydream. "Tomorrow? Not today?"

"Too sudden now. We'll be gone tomorrow morning." Valias turned to Kei. "Key. You can stay here for a while. You should look like a knight of the palace tomorrow."

"No way."

Valias laughed a little. I guessed that answer. "Key. You and your friends are living on the run because you've been living as bandits all along. Why not try a normal life under the roof of the palace?"

Kei glared at Valias' words while Frey was shocked by Valias's bravery and informality towards the man with the weapon.

"I'm not forcing. You and your friends are free to choose. All this time you lived on the run and hide from the palace knights and made money by robbing the passing nobles. But you don't know what impact it's had on you."

Kei frowning. "What do you mean?"

The swordsman intimidated the pain while Frey was made quite surprised by Valias' words. He did not expect Chalis to command the soldiers to search for them.

Wh why? For fear of Kei's existence being revealed?

"The nobles are the ones who do not want to lose their wealth" Valias replied. "If their treasures are robbed, they will figure out how to get their treasures back.

"Because your identity is unknown, they started doing those things."

Kei glares. Refusing to believe the words Valias said.

The author never explained this. But Abimala as a reader thought of that possibility.

Why would someone dare to do evil if not for the sake of wealth and power? Valias thought of that possibility.

In addition, Valias hopes that Kei will change his mind and be willing to work for Frey.

The power of a country, in this case the kingdom, is the people in it. With Frey as the leader, Valias still needs figures who are willing to work under the orders of Hayden's future king.

And those characters are Kei with his friends.

The main character in the story who has the greatest power.

Their conversation is over. Kei with a heavy heart obeyed Valias' words to stay at the palace. So did Valias. Kalim prepared their needs. Also change of clothes. Valias finally realized how tired his body was. After taking a bath and eating the food Kalim provided and changing his clothes, Valias felt how his strength was drained. The only thing he wanted was to lie down.

Traveling by horse is exhausting. No wonder why people prefer to use magic.

The day has begun to afternoon and the daily Valias are completely consumed by the trip. He hasn't even done anything big today. Valias began to think about how Kei's group was doing his request.

Did they succeed? Did they destroy Baran's residence?

With how their behavior is portrayed in the story, Kei's friends are indeed quite destructive.

But Valias thinks that's their advantage.

26/04/2022