"Why do you seek to carry this burden? Why do you want to be guilty of the crimes of others?"

"Because I am guilty! I'm a Dralyon! You know that's the truth!"

Hearing these words from the other side of the door, Serafim thought his heart was going to give out. He knew it. He knew that Ewald still felt guilty, that the Dralyon name was a curse for him. But hearing the despair in his voice gave him another vision of the invisible burden that crushed his brother. A burden that he also carried, but of a different nature.

"You idiot! The only truth is that Fabel was and is guilty of these events! For a long time, they have been dreaming of their revenge, of their conquest of the continent! What happened sixteen years ago wasn't your fault!"

The hatred in Kasey's voice pulled him out of his torpor, bringing him brutally back to the present. This was the truth, in its most sublime cruelty, that Kasey spat out. For Fabel had always dreamed of dominating Draeshura. But more than anything else, they wanted to burn the Empire to the ground, to make them pay for their past affront. For breaking free from their grip, for crushing them and giving freedom to all who lived on Draeshura.

"But -!"

“Is Anastasiy guilty of the Empire's current situation?”

A grimace of pain distorted Serafim's features at the valet's question. It was an extremely low blow from Kasey. But he knew his twin better than he did and he knew exactly what to say to make Ewald realize what nonsense he could say.

Hearing no more noise in the room, Serafim closed the door, deciding to postpone their discussion until later. He was exhausted, and yet, it wasn't even him who had received the full force of Kasey's rage. He didn't dare imagine what state his twin could be in.

As he reached the top of the central staircase, Serafim came upon two servants heading for the kitchens. However, the words of one of them made him stop.

"Don't you think that's strange?!"

"What you're saying doesn't make any sense."

"But come on! It's perfectly logical! Disappointed with the younger man, His Grace eliminates him to bring his illegitimate son he had with his mistress into the Duchy!"

"That's completely ridiculous. Does everyone in Lirdiff think like you or are you the only one?"

Serafim wasn't stupid, far from it. But at that very moment, he felt like an idiot. Intellectually, he had understood what the discussion he had just heard was about, but he was unable to make sense of the words. Perhaps Kasey's words had stunned him more than he thought.

"A very interesting story. Would you be willing to tell me more about it over a cup of tea?" Asked a voice well known to Serafim, who was caught in a cold sweat.

"Of course! Uh..."

"Veronica."

Serafim watched as his brother's valet guided the unsuspecting man to the administrative wing of the castle.

"He's going to get killed," Serafim blurted out.

"Indeed, Your Well Born. He's going to get killed," the servant replied, that same expression of fear frozen on his face. "Shall we warn Madame Mor, Your Nobleness?"

"Let's wait a little longer," Serafim decided as he finished descending the central staircase. "Perhaps we can find another use for him after Veronica is done with him... This makes me think we'll need to plan a little housekeeping."

"No need to worry about that, Your Well Born. We've already started."

"Perfect."

Bowing, the servant bowed to Serafim before leaving for the kitchens to help with the preparations for this new day.

For his part, the red-haired young man went to the administrative wing, more precisely, to the basement. On the way, he was greeted by several servants and he noticed the absence of the three other servants sent by Agata Mor, Giusto's wife.

Now that they were no longer under the complete control of the kroseil, their father and mother had decided to examine everything they had received from the Mor. Despite the friendship between the two women, they had to be wary of everything, not knowing if Agata was also a victim in this story. And that meant that the servants they had received had been removed from the departments they occupied in order to be questioned.

"We're going to have to plan for a bonus," Serafim muttered, not daring to imagine the amount of paper he would find on his desk when he returned from Lirdiff.

"This is already planned."

"Father? Mother? I thought you were asleep," Serafim said with surprise.

"That kind of news is not good for sleep," Serenity replied with a sad smile.

"Your Nobleness? Oh! Greetings Your Graces," Veronica greeted, his clothes slightly soiled.

"I thought you were having tea with your new friend?" Serafim let out, surprised to see Anastasiy's valet in this basement rather than the one above.

"Unfortunately, Mister Calogero decided to monopolize all the attention of this one and invited me to perform his task in his place," he explained, holding out an envelope, much more common in size than the one Serafim had found in Anastasiy's office. "Apparently, the young master's new friend found this under his desk at the old home. He was particularly insistent that the letter be delivered that way."

Grabbing it, Serafim saw, not surprisingly, Sorley's name on the envelope.

"I will pass it on along with the rest."

"In that case, on the behalf of my master, I wish you a safe journey Your Nobleness."

Thanking the valet, Serafim bid goodbye to his parents before placing his hand on the stone standing in the center of the room and disappearing.