HRB 134

Geroldus Maximilian de Rivalt.

That was Gerold’s full name. The second son of the Marquis Rivalt family, one of the founding meritorious families of the Empire. A member of an old Sorcery family that had maintained its lineage as a close aide to the Emperor for generations.

But no one called him by his full name.

It wasn’t their culture to call a noble by their full name, and the name was too long to say in its entirety, and, decisively, Gerold didn’t like being called by his full name.

“Don’t call me by my full name unnecessarily. Gerold is enough.”

So that flamboyantly long name was rarely used except in official documents.

Moreover, unlike his older brother Simon, who stepped forward to assist the Emperor, he was a shadow who rarely went out.

Because of that, in fact, that unnecessarily long name was rarely used even in official documents.

Simon seemed to regret giving such a role to his younger brother, but Gerold didn’t regret it so much.

To step forward and represent the Emperor? Of course, it would have been a glorious position to take on if it had been given to him, but fortunately, it wasn’t Gerold’s duty.

After the death of the previous Emperor, his parents retired from the front lines, and Simon inherited the Marquis title at a young, even childish, age and began to assist the Emperor in earnest.

It was a position with such strong power that he could even stamp the Imperial Seal in place of the Emperor at times, but it was also a position with heavy responsibilities. Gerold wasn’t particularly envious of his brother.

The life of a shadow was quite satisfactory to his quiet nature.

“I’m Ebon, what about you?”

Thanks to that, he also made a very close friend who walked the same path.

Ebon wasn’t from a noble family like Gerold.

One day, Simon suddenly brought a young child he had rescued from ‘the facility’. Whether there was something outstanding about him, the child didn’t go to an orphanage but was instead given the same role as Gerold.

That role was to become the shadow of Pakirius Belloran Kaldes, the Emperor’s hidden younger brother.

“From now on, Gerold and Ebon will be my friends?”

Pakirius told them to call him Paki and allowed them to use his nickname from the first meeting, and he sincerely regarded the two as friends and gave them his side.

It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. He liked the fact that he had a friend for the first time in his life, and the Imperial family member he was serving wasn’t a picky person, and he was a person who was humanly likable.

He was indifferent to most things and didn’t make absurd demands.

However…

“Gerold, look at this!”

The problem was that he sometimes brought things he had never seen or heard of and cherished them.

What he showed off that day was his beloved doll.

“What is that…?”

…Skin? Pigskin? He didn’t know what it was, but anyway, the Imperial Prince hugged the yellow doll as if he loved it.

He was usually ordinary like that, but sometimes he was a unique Imperial Prince who brought unique things that he didn’t know where he got them from and lived with them in his arms, but anyway, Imperial Prince Pakirius wasn’t that picky of a child.

Even though he was an illegitimate child, he was a direct descendant of the Imperial family, which was short on heirs, so the Imperial Prince grew up being treated preciously. Considering that, Pakirius was an easy master to serve who wasn’t picky.

Protecting his side. That was Gerold’s only mission.

For him, whose sociability was at rock bottom and whose only interest was Sorcery, a life with not so wide human relationships and not stepping forward was comfortable.

The shadow was a good thing. So much so that he felt sorry for his brother, who was always suffering on the front lines instead of the Emperor.

“I should start moving soon.”

So when the Imperial Prince said that he would help his brother, the Emperor, he followed him without much opposition. Compared to his suffering brother, this wasn’t even close to suffering.

“First of all, I have to change my name. Pakirius is too noticeable. It’s unnecessarily long and sucks.”

He mercilessly evaluated his own name in that way. Is that so? Gerold, who didn’t particularly like or dislike names, tilted his head, but there was no reason to object since the master himself thought so.

“Then, what name?”

“It would be nice if it was short and common.”

Countless name candidates came and went. Jack? Tom? Michael? Alex? Turner? Countless names came out of nowhere, but in the end, what the master decided on was Eddie.

“Let’s go with Eddie.”

The master said so while shaking a fox doll wearing overalls among his doll collection.

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. Gerold, who rolled the name over his lips several times to get used to it, asked.

“What method will you use?”

Like the name, several candidates were put on the table, but in the end, the business they decided on was an inn. A bar or restaurant was too serious.

“Then I can finally do my job.”

Ebon was secretly excited and busily did ‘work’. He didn’t know what he wanted to imitate, but he forced Gerold to make a communication Artifact for him, so he had no choice but to make one.

Ebon, who grumbled about what the shape was like, still seemed excited.

In that way, Ebon, who would answer with a smiling face, ‘It’s assassination?’ if someone asked him what his specialty was, began to eliminate the key figures of the noble faction one by one.

Of course, he didn’t kill just anyone, but started from the bottom up, starting with cutting off the hands and feet so that Marquis Rodrigo could be pressured.

And finally, all the plans were drawn up and planned until the 10th assassination, and one day, when only the execution of the eighth assassination was left.

Eddie’s Inn, which was humble except for the occasional guests who came to stay because the inn was just a facade, began to change little by little.

His master, who had been holed up in his room for days with a depressed face for some reason, suddenly began to run the inn in earnest using unknown foods from one day.

Considering the assets he had, he was genuinely happy with the face that he was happy that he had earned a small amount of money.

Of course, he was a little embarrassed at the time, but Gerold never showed it, as always.

His master can do what he wants, what he wants. Because he’s the kind of person who can.

Of course, that tendency to bring things he had never seen or heard of and cherish them didn’t go anywhere, and when he suddenly picked up a big, black man in front of the inn, Gerold had no choice but to reveal his dissatisfied feelings, unlike himself.

But that didn’t change Gerold. Rather, it was the man who changed.

The light returned to his colorless eyes, and the way he looked at Eddie became more and more unusual day by day.

“…Tsk.”

If only that side was like that, he would have separated him from Eddie no matter what he did.

Unfortunately for Gerold, it wasn’t just that man who had changed. Every time Eddie looked at that man with a truly loving look, Gerold felt a burning pain inside.

But that was it, it didn’t change Gerold. It was a natural thing.

But just one thing.

Just one thing that his master did for him changed too many things for Gerold.

“Hello! I’m Sebastian!”

Even when he first saw the man who greeted him with a loud voice, Gerold couldn’t have imagined that the other person would change him so much.

Eddie smiled brightly, saying that Sebastian would help Gerold, but Gerold was somewhat skeptical.

Will it be helpful?

He seemed to be smooth, but he didn’t know how well he would do his job. Anyway, most of the things could be done by Gerold himself. But Eddie had gone to the trouble of finding someone to help him, so there was no reason to refuse.

“Nice to meet you, Sebastian.”

Like many things in life, a big change flew into his life unexpectedly and nested.

“…Hmm.”

Gerold returned to the mansion and swallowed his groan at the unusual atmosphere inside.

He had only been out for a while, but unlike when he came out in the morning, the atmosphere of the mansion had changed too much.

Sebastian and Ebon, who didn’t look at each other coldly for some reason, and the atmosphere of Eddie and Ketron, who had spent a night at the Imperial Palace and returned, were very different from what Gerold knew.

“Gerold!”

As soon as he saw Gerold’s face, Eddie smiled brightly, opened his arms, came close, and hugged Gerold.

It was quite a new feeling to see him open his eyes with a flushed face after seeing him lying on the bed with a pale face for quite a long time.

So Gerold rarely hugged the body that was hugging him.

My master.

He could feel his heart pounding in the body he was hugging. Gerold’s heart, which usually didn’t beat wildly even when he saw something amazing, was also beating quite fiercely.

Thank goodness.

He was sincerely relieved. After Eddie collapsed, his heart, which had always been tightly tightened with tension, finally regained its stability. If the master is alive, that’s enough.

If he was alive in any form, Gerold would serve him for the rest of his life.