The Reincarnated Villainous Young Master's Guide to Happiness

Chapter 7: Aurelion

But Nazareth didn't allow any of that to happen.

Nazareth was a walking contradiction who saw such dirty ploys as below him. Yet, he preferred to plan overly excessive assassination attempts against Aurelion without any hesitation.

Was it pride and arrogance that made Nazareth decide on such foolish tactics? Or was it something else?

The moment the young boy from the Red Light District was able to figure out how to commit subtle atrocities, he did them with no remorse or hesitation.

Yet, for Aurelion, he chose violence and physical altercations. His attempts were all very straightforward, sending gangs and assassins every couple of months to do the dirty work.

Nazareth had stopped 'poisoning' Aurelion when poison plants became accessible to him, only because he had grown bored of games like those.

This 'benevolence' didn't change the blood staining his fingertips. Neo wasn't any less innocent than he was before.

He had been clear-minded the first time he murdered a man.

When branding Rainier, his thoughts were all thought out meticulously.

When ordering a kill order on his brother, he did so in a manner similar to grocery shopping.

Saying he had drowned in his lunacy didn't excuse what he had done when his head was clear of any madness. His descent into that madness was bound to happen with every sin he committed.

The crimes were his own and his punishment was due. Nazareth was already on the edge. If he had lived any longer, he would have been a threat to the Empire and its people.

It was a constant cycle of contradictions he perpetrated for himself. Slow torture of gentle agony ate at him.

He didn't know how and he didn't know when, but eventually, all his ambitions carried him into a state of insanity he couldn't recover from.

The only end for him was death. He knew at that moment, standing on the cliff, there was nothing for him anymore besides the sweet release death would bring him.

He never really worked smarter when it came to Aurelion. Just harder and harder until it drove him further down the path of destruction.

Neo's gaze turned rueful for just a moment, the calm and open expression collapsing on itself the more he was reminded of his actions.

Facing the source of his purpose and downfall, he could only voice out a question he would have never asked in his first life.

"Did you need something from me?"

---

Aurelion should have just ran for it. His pride had placed him in this situation and now he was screwed.

Now stood before his brother.

The western garden was Nazareth's domain. Aurelion was pretty sure there was a body or two hidden somewhere, likely with a long list of fabricated crimes attached to a foot.

It was safe to say Aurelion did not trust his personal safety in the hands of his brother.

Nazareth's blood-red vermillion eyes flickered to Aurelion's hands for just a second. Aurelion instinctively knew he was being read like an open book. He cursed himself for letting down his guard.

Shoving his hands behind his back, he forced his posture ramrod straight as to not appear intimidated by his brother's presence.

Even while sitting there with a table full of pastries and a teacup in his hand, his brother still looked like he could kill him with nothing but a fork.