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Chapter 98: 98:For A Cheater, You Surely Talk A Lot
From the side, Ramos clicked his tongue. "He started again..."
Grant slammed his hand on the table and roared, his voice shaking the very walls. "Are you even listening to me?!"
Kael, instead of reacting, merely rubbed and scratched his ear, looking completely uninterested. His lack of response only made Grant’s fury burn hotter.
Then, without warning, Kael paused, dropping his hand and looking straight at Grant.
His lazy demeanor vanished.
His eyes grew cold.
And then—
"For a bastard who manipulated a trial and tried to kill me, you sure talk a lot, asshole."
SWISHHHH!
The air in the hall froze.
A suffocating silence settled as the words echoed off the grand walls.
The servants, maids, and knights who had been working nearby went completely still, their eyes widening in horror. They looked at Kael as if he had gone insane.
They couldn’t believe it.He really said that.He actually said that.
What was more absurd that he said straight in the face.
Even Ruth, who prided himself on his iron composure, found himself momentarily speechless. His cold, piercing gaze flickered with disbelief.
Grant, usually so quick to cut down nonsense, felt his voice falter. His throat tightened as shock overtook him.
No one..no one..spoke like this in noble society.
Yes, the world of nobles was dirty, filled with corruption and backstabbing. But even in this cesspool, there were rules—rules that even the most vile scum followed.
No matter how deep the enmity, no matter how much one tried to kill the other, it was never spoken of directly until the crime was proved.
It was always handled in whispers, behind closed doors, in poisoned letters and secret duels.
But Kael?
Kael didn’t give a fuck.
"You... Y-You... What did you just say?" Grant stammered, his fury shaking, but his confidence rattled.
Kael’s lazy expression twisted into something darker. His lips curled into a maniac grin—a grin that sent a chill down the spine of everyone in the hall.
"You heard me."
"Preposterous!" Grant slammed his fist against the table, his voice trembling with rage. "How dare you?"
"How dare you slander me with such filth?!"
"Slander?" Kael chuckled, his voice sharp and mocking. "You really wanna call it slander?"
Grant’s hands clenched into fists. This... This was absurd.
It hadn’t even been a month since this little coward ran and hid from him. He remembered Kael as the one who always avoided confrontation, who never dared to challenge him outright.
And now?
Now this bastard was standing in front of him, looking down on him—mocking him.
If he let this go, it would mean Kael wouldn’t even hesitate to challenge him again.
Kael took a step forward.
Grant stiffened.
Another step.
And then another until Kael was standing right in front of him, so close that their breaths mixed in the air.
Grant flinched.Not from fear no, that couldn’t be it.
Grant found it unbelievable that he flinched back due to Kael’s glance.
’This is absurd...’
But from the sheer madness in Kael’s eyes.
Those cold, unhinged eyes that had no fear.
"Listen, man," Kael whispered, his voice like the whisper of a knife slicing flesh. "I don’t have a habit of mincing my words, so I’ll make it simple."
He leaned in slightly.
"Back off—or I’ll broadcast the evidence of how you set up your own people, how you manipulated the trial, and how you tried to kill me. I’ll let the people see for themselves..."
"The entire Duchy piece by piece will see the truth hidden behind the mask.They will see how hideous you are under the mask of perfection and then....Kekkekeke!"
Grant’s breath hitched.
Kael’s voice didn’t just carry a threat.
It carried certainty.
It carried death.
"I’ll spread your dirty little secrets," Kael continued, his smile widening, "so that everyone knows how a grown, bastard son of a bitch tried to murder his own clansman who isn’t even awakened."
"Setting death knights and dark mages to kill him."
Grant’s heart pounded as Kael’s cold gaze locked onto his.He wanted to refute.
He wanted to scream...No, he wanted to slap this bastard but his blood froze in deja bu.His eyes faltered and his breathing became ragged.
"And then..." Kael whispered, his voice sending a shiver down Grant’s spine.
"I’ll just sit back and watch which motherfucker saves you."
For the first time in his life, Grant Austin felt like he was standing before a beast he couldn’t tame.
Fear is the Sharpest Blade.
An invisible blade when used correctly hurts the most.
Grant’s breath came out sharp and uneven. He clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms, but it did nothing to steady him. The madness in Kael’s eyes—it wasn’t just arrogance. It wasn’t just recklessness.
It was the look of a man who had nothing to lose and no fear of consequences.
A man like that was dangerous.
But Grant refused to be cowed.
"You—"
Kael cut him off with a cold chuckle. "You what?" His voice dripped with mockery. "You deny it? Go ahead. Say it."
Grant’s mouth opened, but the words wouldn’t come out. He knew the truth. Kael knew the truth.
Kael leaned in slightly, just enough to make Grant feel suffocated. "You want to be the perfect noble, right?" he whispered, his tone smooth and venomous. "The flawless heir. The unshakable Grant Austin."
Grant stiffened.
Kael’s lips curled into a smirk. "Then tell me, what would happen... if the world found out you weren’t so perfect?"
The hall remained deathly silent, the tension choking.
"Imagine it," Kael continued, voice casual, almost playful. "The whispers, the rumors... how long before the nobles start questioning you? Before the court turns its back on you? Before your father—"
Grant’s entire body twitched.
Kael caught it.
He grinned wider. "Ah... there it is."
Grant’s breath hitched.
Kael took a step forward, his voice low and lethal.
"You already sees yourself as a tool, don’t you?" he whispered. "A tool that must always be flawless. Always perfect."
Grant’s pulse pounded violently in his ears.
Kael’s voice dropped to a haunting murmur.
"But what if his perfect little tool... broke?"
The words sank into Grant’s bones like ice water. His mind spun, filled with horrific possibilities—what if the trial came to light? What if the noble houses saw his mistakes?
What if people knew about it?
No.
He would never tolerate imperfection.
The small black stain will ruin his image.
Kael smiled as Grant’s grip on control cracked.
"You can already hear them, can’t you?" Kael whispered. "Grant Austin, the fraud. Grant Austin, the backstabber. Grant Austin, the disgrace of the Austin family."
"Stop..." Grant’s voice came out hoarse.
Kael ignored him. "Tell me, My Dear Uncle Grant, do you know what fear does to people?"
Grant swallowed hard, his body stiff with tension.
Kael leaned in, voice barely above a whisper.
"It makes them doubt."
"It makes them hesitate."
"It makes them weak."
And then, he twisted the knife deeper.
"It makes them useless."
Grant snapped.
"ENOUGH!" he roared,
He shook but it wasn’t just anger—it was panic. Fear. Desperation.
And Kael saw it all
It was delicious.
A cruel, twisted smile stretched across his face. "What’s wrong, Grant?" he cooed. "Losing your composure? How undisciplined of you."
"You—!"
"—Are you driving yourself mad?" Kael finished mockingly.
Grant’s entire body trembled with barely contained rage, but deep inside, Kael had already won.
The cracks in his perfect image had formed.
And once they started... they never stopped.
Just as Kael was about to deliver the final blow, a booming voice tore through the tension.
"THAT’S ENOUGH!"
Kael blinked, glancing lazily to the side.
Ruth sat with his usual cold, imposing aura, his expression unreadable. But his voice—sharp, commanding—cut through the room like steel.
"Kael, take your seat," Ruth ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Kael stared at him for a moment, then let out a long, slow sigh.
"Fine, fine," he muttered, lifting his hands in mock surrender.
"Tsk...Tskk.."Ramos clicked his tongue and gave Ruth a glare.
Just when he was about to witness such a perfect climax this man ruined it.
Ruth, noticing Ramos’ gaze asked,"What problem do you have?"
"Haha!Nothinh..."Ramos shook his head and moved to savour the soup.
He walked back to his chair, but not before throwing one last glance at Grant—his eyes filled with amusement, with victory.
Grant, still shaking, clenched his jaw and sat down, his knuckles white from gripping the table too hard.
As Kael took his seat and dinning continued Ramos came closed and whispered to Kael.
"Hey Brat, did you really have evidence.I don’t remember you recording it,’
Hearing this Kael looked at Ramos and laughed,’It’s a secret old man.’
However, in truth, he didn’t have any but does it matter?
As long as he can cast fear and overwhelm the person with false glazing it was his win.
’Fake it until you fuc..sorry..I mean fake it until you make it.’
