This is ridiculous.
“That crazy idiot… She must have done something strange.”
However, no matter how many times he said no, the reality of Deborah's skyrocketing popularity did not change, and he kept chewing on the lost reality. Originally, he might have been sitting next to the saintess.
“Because Deborah liked me a lot.”
The praise of the Imperial people pouring down on Isidore must have been my share.
Obviously, if I had the chance, I could have done better than him.
“You used to like me…”
Every time I drank, the resentment deepened as if I felt I had missed everything I had and was taken away in an instant.
He even gritted his teeth saying that he would get the saintess back from Isidore once the probation was lifted. However, that delusion was shattered by the news of Deborah's marriage. Marriage can’t be undone.
He gulped down the poisoned wine in a deep rage. Suddenly, he laughed lightly, then slammed the table with a fiery rage as if to break it.
“Deborah Seymour! Dirty and dirty bitch! As soon as a rich guy shows up, you wash your mouth and throw me away?”
When Philaf let out a shout, the group of mercenaries sitting next to him stood up in a brave manner. It happened in an instant, without the clerk even having time to stop it.
“Hey, red hair! Are you done talking?”
“What kind of habit are you talking about to the saintess? Those words are blasphemy!”
“The saintess is not the kind of person trash like you can talk about carelessly… Keugh...!”
"Oh, my God! W-what is that!"
The mercenaries were horrified to see the fire spirit suddenly appearing in the air, and the man caught by Philaf swallowed dry saliva in the terrible heat of the spirit.
“Do you still think of me as a piece of trash worth talking about?”
“Well, spirit man...!”
“There’s something you guys don’t know, so I’ll tell you personally. That amazing Saint Deborah is actually a very persistent stalker.”
“Ouch!”
Philaf squeezed the man’s collar harder and continued as if chewing.
“She has been following me around for so long since before. She even followed me to a party that's being held far away and begged me to dance just once, to the point of giving me goosebumps. The saint you're all proud of is actually dying because she fell in love with me! Do you know!?”
It was a fact that everyone in the bar knew that Princess Deborah had a grand wedding with the Duke of Visconti.
And the man with the glaring eyes on his face was obviously a madman suffering from a delusional disease.
“She was originally mine!”
But because of the spirit summoned by that madman, no one dared to open their mouth.
“Yes, she loved me for a very, very long time. Visconti, though she was taken away by that foxy bastard.”
No, it's not stolen. Things that were stolen could be found again, but marriage? The anger flared up.
“I was the one who got the wedding talk!”
If he knew that she was a saint, he would not have rejected the marriage talk, but he felt resentment toward Deborah, who was hiding an important fact.
“Why is everyone telling lies to me! And Why are you looking at me with such disrespectful eyes?”
"Kyaaa!"
The spirit reacted to Philaf's emotion and burned more intensely. The wooden furniture and walls inside started to catch fire unknowingly, and the interior became a mess.
“Young Master!!”
At that time, along with the sharp voice of the old man, water poured like rain from all sides.
Philaf glared at Baron Ross, who had summoned Undine, with bloodshot eyes.
Baron Ross was once a member of the Montes Spirit Army, but has now been demoted due to a power struggle within the family. Every time he sees the look of a shabby old man with no family, no power or money, he gets goosebumps because he feels like he’s seeing his future.
“Ha. Now even the old man, who is now retired, is ignoring me.”
“It’s good that you ignore me. However, you summoned a fire spirit inside a building prone to fire! Have you lost even the pride of being a high-ranking nobles?”
“The pride of high-ranking nobles? How do I look like a nobleman now? Didn't my father put me here because he wanted me to roll roughly like a piece of cloth? I’m doing what he wants.”
"Haa..."
Baron Ross let out a long sigh with a tired face.
Philaf firmly believed that he was a powerless old man pushed out of the country, but in fact, Baron Ross was the last chance Duke Montes gave to his only son.
The Duke of Montes decided to fully follow the decision of Baron Ross, who had guarded the family for a long time. Whether to keep Philaf as his successor or adopt a useful collateral as his successor.
“I have judged that you have the talent of an outstanding elementalist spirit, and I have looked at it for a while, but a violent leader who can’t take care of the weak only causes pain to the majority... I have made up my mind.”
“.… What does that mean?”
For a moment, Philaf had a feeling of sobering up.
“You will find out soon.”
Barin Ross disappeared with a bitter face, and Philaf received a letter with the family seal shortly thereafter.
“… What kind of bullshit is this!?”
It was a letter from his father telling him to live as he pleases from now on as he plans to bring in a new heir to Montes.
"Aagh!"
Philaf, who had never doubted that he would not become the Duke of Montes, immediately tore the letter to pieces.
He went mad for a few days, screaming like a madman, smashed and trampled on the furniture in the old house until he was filled with anger.
When there was nothing more to throw and break, he went to the tavern and stretched out his hand for the strongest drink.
“Fuck! I'm not a bastard, do you think I'll just walk away if you tell me to quit?”
However, there was not much Philaf could do in reality even if he tried hard.
In his heart, he wanted to bring down his father and trample on everything that bothered him, but he couldn't return to the capital right away.
It was then. A long shadow fell over his body.
“Mr. Philaf Montes.”
A man with cat-like pupils lowered his robe and started talking. It was only three weeks ago that he met a demon with a throat scar.
And now—
“That information must be true, right?”
“Of course, Mr. Philaf. Just do as I say, and soon you will be the master of Montes. Hehe... Would that be enough? You can turn all the miscellaneous things that burned your insides into ashes.”
Philaf grinned at the demon's pleasant whisper.
Yes, he should have done this a long time ago.
'Miya Binoche, you must have felt this way, too.'
Thinking that it would be better to join hands with the demon a hundred times than to whimper with feelings of helplessness and inferiority, he drank the black blooded liquor.
* * *
I saw a piece of the past in my dream for the first time after a long time. .
In the desert where a sandstorm was blowing, Nyla was yelling at a red-haired man who looked just like Philaf.
—Fleur Montes!
Fleur Montes. He resembled Philaf Montes not only in appearance but also in temperament.
—You must kill that temper first!
When Nyla pointed out his mean personality, he exploded right away.
—Temper? Nyla, do you think I'm doing this because I can’t barely control my emotions?
—Yes! No matter how angry you are, how can a weak old man... How can you treat him like that?
—Interfered with the cause of the gypsy subject. He stood in the way of me fighting the front line risking my life against the demon! It was just annoying buzzing about flying flies that would have been searched for earlier if I hadn't been there.
Fleur's aggressive fighting style often harmed civilians as well as monsters, and the old man was concerned about that and tried to block Fleur's passage.
However, Fleur, who was united with a sense of good people to the bone, could not endure the old man who was blocking his way.
—Let’s tear up here.
In the end, Nyla made an extreme decision
—What?
Bewilderment and anger formed in Fleur Montes' hazel-brown pupils.
—Let's go our separate ways. I can't be with you anymore.
—You? Even though you’re a saint, aren’t you too selfish? And do you know how easy it is to find an elementalist spirit who has been chosen by both the water and fire spirits at the same time?
Fleur Montes was one of the top five guardian knights in the Great Temple.
Nyla judged that Fleur, who could summon water spirits, would be a suitable partner to traverse the deserted region with. So he accepted to be her guardian knight, but it was a complete miscalculation.
—Yes, it's my fault for thinking you'd listen to me at least a little bit. I didn't expect that the person chosen by the spirit would be like this.
Nyla muttered and turned around without hesitation, and Fleur grabbed her arm as she walked away.
—Do you think you can cross the desert without me? It won't be long before you'll be thirsty and looking for water.
—Even if I choke to death inhaling sand in the desert, it's better than hanging out with you!
Nyla shook his hand vigorously.
—Are you really going? Why!? I treated you kindly as a saint so far, so what's your complaint?
—……
—Hey, Nyla! Hey!!
—……
—Yeah, try to do well alone! You wouldn't last half a day in this rough terrain without me.
True to his swearing, Nyla was swept away by a sandstorm created by a giant demon shortly after.
The strong wind threw her body into the air before she could do anything, and she was thrown into the middle of the desert, losing all her belongings.
In the middle of the land of the dead, where you can't even see a cactus, let alone a private house, Nyla collapsed from dehydration after walking endlessly with the stars floating in the sky as indicators.
Maybe if she hadn't met Rocke Visconti, she really would have died then...
---∞oOo∞---