Trash of the Count's Family (Web Novel)

Cale didn't care whether Alberu ignored him or not as he walked over and sat down on a chair.

“Please sit down.”

He then motioned for Rosalyn to sit down on another chair.

“Hey, crown prince! I told them we were coming here! I came to the coordinates of the last call we had on the video communication device!”

“… I see, Raon-nim.”

Alberu just weakly nodded his head at Raon's imposing shout.

Thirty minutes ago.

Alberu was wondering what nonsense Cale was talking about when he suddenly got a call saying Cale was going to come to his bedroom.

However, he had no choice but to tell Cale to hurry over after hearing what it was about.

“The others will soon arrive.”

Nobody asked about who the others were.

“Your highness, this cookie is delicious.”

Cale looked relaxed as he ate a cookie from a basket on top of the table. He looked right at home.

“Miss Rosalyn, have some. It’s very good.”

“I'm okay, young master Cale.”

“Or would you like some tea?”

“Mm.”

Rosalyn peeked toward Alberu before nodding her head with an awkward expression.

“Tea sounds good.”

“…Please wait.”

Alberu sighed before getting up and heading to a cupboard on one side of the bedroom. There were simple magic cooking devices underneath it.

Alberu enjoyed having some tea to survive while working late at night. There was quite a lot of tea in the cupboard and Alberu looked experienced as he placed the pot on the fire to boil some water.

“You look like you do this often, your highness.”

Alberu nodded his head after hearing Rosalyn sound as if the fact that the crown prince was personally brewing tea and had such devices in his bedroom was weird.

“I've enjoyed tea since I was young, so I've brewed quite a lot of it.”

‘Ah.’

Rosalyn held back her gasp.

Crown prince Alberu Crossman. He actually had an unfortunate childhood.

Alberu Crossman who grew up alone in the palace after his mother's death had nobody who could publicly be a strong shield for him.

Of course, she now knew that Tasha and the Dark Elves had helped Alberu in the dark, but crown prince Alberu pretty much grew up alone in dealing with others.

‘That is why I'm sure there were a lot of things he's had to do on his own since he was young.’

It was even possible that Alberu had suffered even more than Rosalyn imagined as he grew up.

He looked like someone who grew up without any suffering in his life, however, Rosalyn knew that this was a result of her prejudice and casually commented instead.

“I'm already looking forward to the tea you personally brewed, your highness.”

“Well, I'm just adequate at it.”

Alberu responded with an awkward smile before Cale and Raon started to speak.

“Your highness, a cup for me as well please.”

“Hey, crown prince! Don't you have any juice?”

‘Aigoo.’

Alberu felt a headache coming. He pressed his temples with one hand while taking two more cups out with his other hand.

He then took some apple juice out of a box enchanted with cool magic and poured it into one of the cups.

“Ohhhhh! Hey crown prince, I knew you were a good crown prince! I like apples! Apple pies are the best!”

“…Should I give you some apple pie as well, Raon-nim?”

“I have a lot of them! I will give you one!”

Alberu watched Raon grab the cup of juice with his paws, fly over to Cale, sit down on the chair and start to slurp the juice before turning back toward the teapot.

Raon used his magic to take a bunch of apple pies out and fill the cookie basket at that moment.

“Human! Eat a lot of apple pies!”

“Okay.”

Cale started to eat a piece of apple pie without giving it much thought.

Rosalyn just quietly observed Cale and Alberu.

‘I'm sure his mind is a complicated mess right now.’

She could see Alberu’s agony as she watched him look at the teapot. She then started to think about the Breck Kingdom that she left behind.

Her young brother ended up taking the position she had thrown away.

Wouldn’t her younger brother’s back look similar to Alberu’s?

The leaders of the Western continent's kingdoms who knew a bit about the current situation were filled with concern and doubt.

This was especially the case for the kingdoms that knew about the existence of the White Star.

They were scared to know what the future held.

That was what it meant to be responsible for a nation.

‘…I'm sure that’s the case for young master Cale as well.’

In Rosalyn’s opinion, Cale Henituse was probably the one who was suffering the most. She could not even fathom how complicated Cale’s mind was right now.

She pitifully looked at Cale who was blankly eating apple pies in his short moment of rest.

The person who was known as trash for drinking too much barely drank anymore. He also did not have any hobbies or got to play around.

He worked hard and just ate and slept when he had some free time.

Rosalyn pushed the cookie basket in front of Cale.

Tap.

A teacup was then placed in front of her.

“Thank you very much, your highness.”

“It was nothing.”

Alberu motioned to Rosalyn with his hand to say that it was nothing before placing the other teacup in front of Cale and sat at the head of the table between Cale and Rosalyn.

He then nonchalantly added on.

“You staring off into space?”

“Yes, your highness.”

Cale gave a short response before taking a sip of tea.

‘Oh, this is nice.’

Cale decided that he would always have a basket filled with cookies on the table as well as take a bunch of these tea leaves from the crown prince and give them to Beacrox or Ron once he got to rest in the Super Rock Villa.

It was at that moment.

Knock knock knock.

Some quiet knocks were coming from the bedroom door.

Raon slowly turned invisible and flew over to Alberu’s bed.

Plop.

One side of the bed was pressed down, but it was not very visible.

“Come in.”

The bedroom door slowly opened. One of Alberu’s trusted Dark Elf subordinates in his human form walked two people into the room.

“Long time no see, everyone!”

“There's someone I'm not familiar with as well as some people I have not met in a while.”

Cage was greeting everyone with excitement.

Although she was given the title of the crazy priestess in, ‘The Birth of a Hero,’ she just went by Cage now.

She had been staying with her close friend Taylor after leaving the Sun God twins in the Mogoru Empire.

Taylor Stan calmly greeted everyone from behind her.

The firstborn of Marquis Stan's household who had hurt his legs. The trashed heir had healed his legs and had now become the central figure of the Roan Kingdom’s Northwest region’s nobles.

“Young master Cale-nim.”

Taylor Stan reached his hand out to shake Cale’s hand.

He was still speaking respectfully to Cale even though he was a Marquis now.

“It's been a while, Marquis-nim.”

Cale happily shook Taylor's hand.

Cale had contacted many people in the Roan Kingdom after chatting with Witira.

Alberu, Cage, and Taylor were some of those people.

“Everybody, take a seat.”

Alberu sat at the head of the table and the others sat down as well. Taylor Stan was the first to speak.

“I'm happy to see you after such a long time, but I never expected you to suddenly contact me like this.”

He was looking at Cale. There were many complicated emotions in his eyes.

Shock, delight, joy, and respect.

They were all quite positive emotions.

It could not be helped.

He had traveled to many places around the Roan Kingdom with Cage in an attempt to heal his legs. Everything had worked out for him from the moment he met Cale.

Cale was a symbol of luck for him as well as one of his role models.

That was why Taylor happily traveled to the crown prince’s bedroom today.

“You were shocked because of the sudden call?”

Taylor smiled at Cale’s question.

Cale's weak-looking but firm expression was still the same.

“Yes, I was a bit shocked. I especially did not expect you to contact me about ancient powers.”

Cale started to smile.

Wind Island where he got the golden top's whip.

Once he looked at the black temple's ceiling art and heard the story about the ancient White Star…

Cale had decided that he needed to find the most knowledgeable person about ancient powers and immediately thought about Taylor Stan.

Taylor touched his knee.

“I did quite a lot of research on ancient powers and ancient times. I believe I know the most about ancient powers in the Roan Kingdom.”

“You are correct. Do you remember telling me about the Guardian of Boulder in the past?”

“I do. We traveled together to the capital at that time.”

Alberu had his chin in his hand as he quietly watched Cale and Taylor chat.

It was a nice and gentle atmosphere.

He saw the excommunicated priestess Cage start to pull something out of her baggy sleeves before putting it back just as he was about to be enchanted by this atmosphere.

‘Wine glasses?’

He wondered if he had seen it correctly, but there was no time to think about that for a long time.

It was because he heard Taylor's voice.

“You want me to create a fake ancient document?”

Cale started to smile.

“Is it not possible?”

“It is illegal.”

Taylor looked toward Cale with a serious expression.

“But I will give it a go.”

Alberu started to chuckle.

“Look at these nobles talking about breaking the law inside the crown prince’s bedroom.”

He then shrugged his shoulders as Cale and Taylor looked at him.

“Well, I'm not saying that I am against it.”

Cale turned back away from Alberu and continued to speak to Taylor.

“Marquis Stan-nim, you should know better than anybody else how ancient documents look like.”

The types of paper used in them, how old the papers are, and even the wording used inside them.

Taylor was top-notch when it came to those things.

He had researched those ancient documents day and night to be able to find an ancient power that could heal his legs.

“What do I need to put in that ancient document?”

Cale pulled a document out of his pocket after hearing that question.

Taylor opened the document after receiving it from Cale.

“…This is?”

He started to frown.

He stared at the document for a long time before looking at Cale and asking a question.

“What language is this?”

There were about twenty pages of text.

Each page was divided in half.

Taylor pointed to the bottom of the pages.

“This is the Western continent’s common language used since ancient times.”

His finger slowly moved up.

“But these letters on the top half of the pages are something I have never seen before.”

A thick smile appeared on Cale's face.

This document was something that Cale and Choi Han had created together.

Each page had Korean on the top half and the Western continent's common language on the bottom half.

Taylor looked back at the document after seeing Cale smile without responding.

The bottom half of the first page of the document.

The words written in the Western continent’s common language underneath the mysterious language were the following.

< This is I, Nelan Barrow’s other record. >

< I am leaving behind a record in the West just as I did in the East. Those living underneath the light will never be able to find this. >

“Nelan Barrow.”

Taylor mumbled that name.

“…Young master Cale, who is this person?”

“I'm not sure.”

Cale did not respond this time either. He then leaned toward Taylor and started to whisper.

“What I can tell you is that it is fake to us, but it needs to be real to everyone else.”

Taylor did not care about the contents of the document anymore. Now that he knew what he needed to do, he carefully placed the document in his inner pocket.

“Only the people at this table will know the truth.”

Cale smiled with satisfaction after hearing Taylor's response.

“Do you need anything else?”

Cale did not hesitate to respond to Taylor's question.

“I need information about the ancient powers within the Roan Kingdom. I don't need specific details, just short versions of the legends.”

“Mm, within the Roan Kingdom.”

Pat. Pat.

Taylor patted his knee a few times before nodding his head and asking a question.

“Around when do you need it by?”

“It would be best if it is completed in the next month or two.”

“Then I will give it a go.”

Taylor quickly responded and Cale smiled to show his gratitude before looking away. He could see Cage sitting there with a smile on her face and her hand in her sleeve.

“Miss Cage?”

“Ahem, young master-nim. Aren’t you craving alcohol?”

“I am okay.”

Cage looked disappointed at Cale's quick response. Someone started to speak into her mind at that moment. Cage! Lately, we have this guy named Bud who loves to drink! The great and mighty Raon Miru will introduce you to him next time!

Cage's expression quickly turned bright after hearing Raon's voice in her mind as he was hiding from Taylor who did not know about him.

Cale felt iffy about how quickly Cage’s expression changed, but he still started to speak.

“Miss Cage, if possible-”

“What is it? Do you want me to come with you? Or do you want me to answer your questions if possible? Is it related to an oath of death?”

“Excuse me? Ah, well. Yes, that is the case. How did you know?”

Cage started to smile toward Cale who was asking with a confused expression.

“Young master-nim, my dreams have been quite memorable for the last few days.”

The God of Death had been visiting her quite often lately after being gone for a while.

Cage, who was excommunicated but still cherished by the God of Death who did not take her abilities away, was tormented by the God of Death the last few days.

“He told me something in my dreams. He said that you would come to look for me. He said you would ask about an oath from 1,000 years ago.”

Cale’s expression stiffened up.

She was right.

As she mentioned, Cale was curious about the oath that Lord Sheritt had made with the Dragon Slayer through the God of Death.

He was curious about the God of Death putting a curse of reincarnation.

And most importantly.

He wanted to know if he could lift the curse since he could cast it in the first place.

“He told me in my dream.”

Cage put her hand into her sleeve. Alberu flinched again, but nobody noticed as everybody was focused on her hand coming back out of her sleeve.

“He said to give you this picture when I saw you again.”

A rolled-up paper was in Cage’s hand.

“He also said to give you this book.”

The black book was in Cage's hand as well.

This was the God of Death’s divine item that Cale had found in the Mogoru Empire.

It was the book that only had one sentence written over and over when priestess Cage read it.

She quietly started to read.

“Are you curious about the method to kill death?”

She then looked toward Cale.

“That is what the book says. My dream told me to hand these two things to you. It also told me to not ask any questions.”

‘Don't ask any questions?’

Cale started to think while looking at the black book and the rolled-up paper in Cage’s hand.

‘Should I take those or not.’

However, he needed to take it.

Cale received the two items that were in Cage's hand.

Cage started to speak as she handed them over.

“To be honest with you, I can’t tell whether what is written on the paper are words or images.”

She just copied what she saw in her dreams.

“However, he said that you need to look at it alone, young master-nim. He said not to show anybody else. The paper will burn and disappear as soon as you show it to someone else.”

“…What kind of…”

Rosalyn was about to complain before stopping herself.

Cale got up from his seat.

“I will go read it in that corner. He said to look at it alone, so I'll have to do that.”

“What?”

Alberu started to frown.

“You don't even know what it is, but you’re going to go open it in the corner?”

“What's wrong with that?”

Cale made it sound as if it was nothing as he headed to a corner of the room.

Nobody was around him. Human… there is no one around you. But I guess I can’t come either? Fine, I will not go. But you have to tell me!

Cale didn't respond to Raon before heading to a corner and opening the paper.

The paper was only the size of Cale's palm.

He could see words written on there.

They were not images.

They were words.

They were not written in a language from this world.

It was not Korean either.

It was words that neither Choi Han nor anybody else would be able to read.

Cale didn’t know it either.

However, Cale could tell that these were words.

He could somehow read it.

Cale started to read these things that he could somehow read.

He then started to scoff.

< Grade 1 Ability User Kim Rok Soo. >

‘Damn it.’

< Do you wish to return to your original world? >

< Or will you die in this world? >

Then the next sentence.

Actually, the next part was not a sentence.

It was time.

It was going down one second at a time.

It was in a language he didn't know, but he could somehow read that it was time.

1 second.

It continued to decrease by one second at a time.

The time was going down.

< You will need to decide when this countdown reaches zero. >

Cale closed his eyes for a moment before opening them back.

More time had gone down on the paper.

There were still more than a few weeks, no, more than a few months remaining. However, the time was continuing to go down.

< Choi Jung Gun, Choi Han, Choi Jung Soo. They were all born in different years but share the same birth dates. >

‘Choi Jung Soo and Choi Han’s birthdays are the same?’

Cale’s pupils started to shake.

< Choi Jung Soo and Kim Rok Soo. The two of them share the same birthdays? >

< Two people died while saving Kim Rok Soo when he should have died. >

< One of them was Choi Jung Soo. >

Cale had thought about this before.

Could Choi Jung Gun, Choi Han, and Choi Jung Soo all be related?

In that case, why was it him instead of Choi Jung Soo after Choi Jung Gun and Choi Han?

Why was he the one to come to this world?

< Choi Jung Soo was not supposed to die at that time. >

The God of Death’s words became etched in Cale's mind.

< Kim Rok Soo. >

< You were the one who was supposed to die. >

Cale recalled the memories of the day his friends had died.

No, the records in his mind were what Cale up.

The records that he could not forget even if he wanted to do so overwhelmed his mind.