Read Novel Full Chapter 42, Calogero Returns Home
Chapter 42, Calogero Returns Home
Translator: Lizz
A few days later, a herald arrived from the neighboring country. It was said that Baron Eliseo and Marquis Onofrio would be coming to the fortress.
This was one of Edward’s plans. He had sent a letter of accusation to both families, stating: ‘A beautiful boy who seems to have been exiled from the neighboring country over ten years ago is now working at the fortress as a priest. He appears to be frightened by something, and there has been an attack on the fortress by what seem to be assassins from the neighboring country.’ Startled, both families quickly conferred with each other and, while taking measures to avoid the Chief Justice’s notice, headed to the fortress to confirm whether Calogero was the real one.
Edward prepared to welcome the guests while drilling the bare minimum of etiquette into Sylvia.
Calogero, too, raised an eyebrow at Edward taking charge but no longer objected. After close observation, he had come to understand: ‘This man is a worrywart. He takes on everything without hesitation. If that gets exposed, people will surely take full advantage of him.’
Baron Eliseo and Marquis Onofrio arrived safely.
Edward, having managed to patch together a proper reception for the two, let out a breath of relief.
He had told Sylvia to simply focus on making a proper initial greeting and to just nod along afterward; he would handle the rest.
Fortunately, the two guests paid no attention at all to Sylvia’s clumsy and superficial greeting, and were entirely focused on Calogero’s whereabouts.
Edward, though inwardly muttering about how lucky it was to have such decent parents, responded with a cheerful demeanor.
As soon as Calogero met with them, the three immediately recognized one another.
When Calogero was younger, his facial features resembled his mother more strongly, but now that he had grown into a young man, he had come to resemble his father, Marquis Onofrio. It would be obvious to anyone that they were parent and child.
And neither Baron Eliseo nor Calogero had forgotten the person they had spent so many years with.
“You’ve grown tall! Still as beautiful as ever, though not as dangerously so as in your childhood.”
“Father, you’ve aged.”
They quickly warmed up to each other, exchanging playful remarks.
Calogero recounted the incident that had occurred when he was ten years old. The Marquis and the Baron shared how the story was understood on their side, and after discussing what should happen next, it was decided that Calogero would return to his homeland.
“Our Marquis family will take full responsibility and carry out punishment. We will also offer an apology to the Hughes Ducal family.”
With that reassurance, Edward responded that no apology to the Duke, Marquis, or noble family was necessary, but requested assistance with the restoration of the fortress and hoped for future relations between the two houses.
He also asked for personal compensation for himself and Gina for the trouble caused by Calogero.
Due to the recent events, Edward’s personal funds had significantly depleted. It was as if he had scattered money to the wind. Out of pride, he was reluctant to ask Sylvia for assistance and instead sought reimbursement for the money he had spent.
The same applied to Gina.
Living at the fortress made it difficult to accumulate personal wealth. While nearly everything else was accessible, money was particularly hard to come by.
Edward handled the payroll himself, but given the current low income, he prioritized paying the staff, meaning that both he and Gina received barely any wages.
In fact, even Calogero’s salary was hardly paid, as Edward had taken him at his word: ‘I’m a priest, so my expenses are covered by the church.’
Thus, Edward earnestly hoped to receive compensation.
Of course, he couldn’t bring himself to squeeze money out of a priest who upheld a motto of modesty and frugality. So Edward decided it would be more reasonable to extract it from the wealthy parents behind him.
The matter was settled, and the Marquis handed over the surviving assassins to the private soldiers he had stationed near the checkpoint.
The livestock had followed orders precisely; when the criminals tried to escape, they were kicked to death or torn apart by claws, reducing the number of survivors by nearly half.
Those who remained were the fortunate ones who made wise decisions. In order to stay alive, they would likely speak freely about having been employed by the Chief Justice and about the details of their most recent assignment.
For the send-off, Sylvia led the way as Edward and Gina stood beside her to see Baron Eliseo and Marquis Onofrio off.
Just before boarding the carriage, Calogero turned around and gave a deep bow.
Then, without hesitation, he spun on his heel and climbed into the carriage.
The door closed, and the carriage began to depart, with an escort of private soldiers following behind.
“…Now that it’s over, it all feels a bit anticlimactic.”
“…It was quite the ordeal, though.”
As Edward and Gina exchanged murmured reflections, Sylvia tugged on the hem of Edward’s clothing.
“Pick me up!”
She’d become quite clingy since that incident. Still, Edward thought, it was nice that her initial expressionless demeanor had started to fade. With that in mind, he lifted her into his arms and motioned for Gina to join him as they made their way back to the spot where the carriage had been parked.