Chapter 65: The Darkness of the Novel

Chapter 65

The Darkness of the Novel

"Lady Aria, Lady Vida, and... Ellie?" Wint was extremely surprised to see the three women appear before him. Perhaps because he was already feeling uneasy about what he had seen earlier, the sudden appearance of these three women shortly after the incident made Wint sense that something was definitely wrong.

"Oh, you can see me, can you? I thought you had gone blind!" Aria sneered as soon as she arrived, causing Wint’s face to turn pale.

"Lady Aria, if you’re here to cause trouble, I’ll excuse myself...I’ve trained hard today and have no strength left to fight with you." Wint hastily gathered his belongings.

Wint’s anxious behavior only made Aria despise him even more. If Wint had admitted his wrongdoing directly when they arrived, it would have been better. Instead, he tried to evade responsibility, completely changing his image.

Aria originally disliked Wint because he was the son of the woman who had hurt her mother. Now, she hated him for his character!

"Where do you think you’re going!? Do you really think no one saw the despicable things you did?"

"What exactly are you talking about?" Wint pretended to be ignorant, though he was starting to understand why Aria had come to confront him.

In truth, taking responsibility for Nara wasn’t an issue for him. Even if he changed his fiancée to a girl like Nara, it wouldn’t cause him any trouble. However...did having Nara as a fiancée benefit him in any way?

If Nara were still a disciple of Professor Lucien and he became her lover, he could still benefit from her status. Unfortunately, Nara had been expelled from being Professor Lucien’s disciple. Moreover, her association with the church—which the Femon family did not want to be under their rule—gave him no leverage. In fact, it might be more of a detrimental.

If he had a priestess for a wife, everyone in the Femon family would isolate him even more, fearing he would reveal family secrets to the church. To avoid making his path to acceptance in the family even more difficult, Wint needed to put on a stone face and stubbornly refuse to take responsibility for this matter.

"You dare ask what I mean? You know very well what you’ve done! If you don’t want me to expose you to the family and force you to take responsibility, you better own up to what you’ve done. I think that would be better for you," Aria threatened, but Wint was unfazed. He now knew they had likely seen his behavior, so instead of hiding his true self, he chose to reveal it.

"What exactly do you mean to threaten me with, Lady Aria? What is it that you say I should take responsibility for?" Seeing Wint’s unrepentant face, Aria grew even angrier, and even Vida was not spared.

"I always thought you were a good person. I never imagined you’d behave like this," the esteemed beauty said with heavy disappointment. Wint laughed softly in response.

"I’m so glad to be noticed by you, Lady Vida." Vida shook her head slightly at his unusual words. It turned out that they had been completely deceived all this time. Vida believed that not only they, but the entire institution—no! Even those close to him in the Femon family had no idea what Wint was truly like.

Ellie sighed helplessly. Earlier, she had underestimated him as a fool. From the story she had read, he seemed incredibly stupid. Even though the heroine had shown clear affection for the prince, Wint stubbornly insisted on taking responsibility and protecting the heroine for life. His loyal and responsible love had truly deceived all the readers. Everyone should have been puzzled by his decisions from the start.

If Wint was truly honest, how could he willingly be in a clandestine relationship with Nara? He used the guise of taking responsibility to make himself look good, but in reality, he was just sneaking around with someone else. The novel had hinted from the beginning that it was a harem story, so readers had accepted this from the start. As a result, they didn’t question it based on the truth and instead praised Hero No. 1 who was willing to play second fiddle even though Nara didn’t choose him as her main love.

Ellie realized today. Even she, as a die-hard fan of the novel, had just contemplated on this! It wasn’t about loyalty to love. It was his selfishness.

By following Nara, who had the status of being Professor Lucien’s disciple, and having Aman from the Setter family assisting in everything, as well as connections with the prince, Wint easily earned the title of "knight." Meanwhile, others had their own titles.

If Wint had chosen to leave the harem group, would he have become so great? He earned the knight’s title because he was one of the protectors of the Goddess of Light, participating in numerous brutal battles. But if one looked at the truth, his abilities alone were nothing but a hindrance!

He always claimed to be the shield and sword for the heroine, but it ended up with him getting injured and causing their hunting group to frequently pause for recovery. The true experts were none other than Professor Lucien and the demon Aman...Hahaha. After seeing the world for what it truly was, Ellie realized it was never the sweet love story she thought it was.

"You really won’t go back to being the virtuous Wint, will you? Do you want me to take action?" Aria didn’t want Wint to cross the line. She stepped forward to protect the esteemed Lady Vida immediately. Her gaze was like that of a tigress. Normally, Wint would have acted like a fool and declared himself bravely. Unfortunately, now he chose to reveal his true self to the three without any pretense.

"I can stand by this as well. I haven’t done anything wrong. Today, I was training as usual. Many people know that I train at night like this every day. Besides...it would be more unusual for a woman to come out alone at night like this. It would be better for her if I didn’t see anything that happened," Wint said. Ellie narrowed her eyes.

Didn’t this imply that this man realized immediately upon seeing Nara’s body? He even correctly pointed out the suspicion, and everyone else would think the same... Why would Nara bathe in the stream near where Wint regularly trains? If this story spread, Nara would be the one blamed more than anyone else.

Nara’s status would make her appear as a woman trying to climb up to the Femon family. With her previous arrogant actions, every student would point to Wint as the victim. No one would sympathize with Nara; everyone would think that Nara, who hasn’t yet become a priestess, was trying to use Wint to complete her studies.

"You, you! I never thought you could be like this."

"I never expected you to see me like this either, so it would be best if you continue to treat me as the foolish man I was," Wint said, but his gaze was anything but gentle.

He looked at Aria and Vida before stopping at Ellie. Now he knew he didn’t need to act in front of these women anymore. The face he had always shown, from foolish to cunning, changed instantly.

"Little Ellie, I didn’t realize you were truly important to the Setter family, so I was rude to you before. However...I hope that from now on, we can be good friends."

Wint’s smile made Ellie think of Aman’s words. It turned out that he was right about everything. Wint had decided to shift from trying to possess her to becoming her ally instead. He dared not become an enemy of the Setter family, but by using his power alongside Ellie’s, he would gain the Setter family’s attention. And that was his goal.

"The Setter family isn’t as foolish as you think." Ellie was no longer polite with him. If he intended to use her, then he was her enemy!

"Perhaps...Lord Aman already told you about this?" Wint quickly surmised. After all, the demon of the Setter family was Lord Aman. Wint could play dumb with anyone, except under Lord Aman’s gaze.

"Did Lord Aman tell you that using the sword and shield in your hands to their full potential is better than letting the sword turn against you? I believe...Lord Aman, being the intelligent man he is, wouldn’t destroy me if he found I could be useful to him and his people," Wint continued confidently. However, Aria, who was listening, grew increasingly confused.

"What exactly are you talking about? Why has the issue of his responsibility turned into a discussion about Ellie and Lord Aman?"

"Lady Aria...since you have learned many things already, I want to warn you about something..." Wint stepped closer, stopping in front of Aria, who for the first time felt fear towards him.

Wint gazed at the small figure who had always held herself higher than him and smiled. He did something unexpected—this stubborn and foolish man knelt on one knee in the manner of a knight. His strong and noble appearance left Aria speechless.

"I am a member of the Femon family, born of Femon blood, and I will die with Femon blood. So instead of harboring hatred for my mother and consequently hating me, let us strive for the Femon family. I have never had ill intentions towards the Femon family and feel honored every time I remember my father’s blood flows within me. If I could remove the tainted blood of a lowly woman and leave only the Femon blood, I would have done so long ago...unfortunately, that’s impossible."

Wint’s aggressive words were truly eye-opening for everyone. Even Aria couldn’t believe she was hearing such statements! What did he mean by saying, "If I could remove the tainted blood of a lowly woman, I would have done so"? Wasn’t the tainted blood of a lowly woman he referring to his own mother’s blood? Was he calling his own mother a lowly woman?

"Y-you, you speak of your mother like that..."

"Mother? I never even considered that woman my mother!" Wint retorted almost instantly, causing Aria to pause once more.

"That woman cared only for her own happiness...she didn’t even care how I survived! If it weren’t for my father and the Femon family taking me in, I would have ended up as a male prostitute by now. Ha! It’s a pity she died before I could repay her for what she did to her own son. Otherwise...I would have made her eat horse manure every day, just as she made me eat filth instead of food!!"

Seeing the fury in Wint’s eyes, the three realized just how much hardship he had endured. Perhaps...his every action to gain the Femon family’s acceptance was his way of showing gratitude to them.

"You’re...this isn’t a lie, is it?" Aria couldn’t help feeling a wave of nausea. She pictured what Wint described about that lowly woman’s actions. If his words were true, it meant Wint had grown up eating animal filth. Could a mother really do that to her own child?

"You probably won’t trust me anymore, but you can have someone investigate it. I’m a wretched child who used to say I wanted to kill my own mother every day but received pity whenever I spoke of it," Wint declared confidently. His neighbors knew how cruel his mother had been, and anyone Aria asked would tell the same story.

"So...you’re saying you ate animal filth instead of food?"

"That was my mother’s punishment. But horse manure kept me fuller than going without food for 3 days and 3 nights. Many times, the horse ate well, and its manure became the food that kept me alive," Wint spoke with a voice full of self-pity.

"You...you," Aria found herself at a loss for words. It wasn’t just Aria; Vida and Ellie were similarly speechless. The three of them stood in silence, processing what they had just learned. Wint, however, didn’t seem particularly bothered.

He took the hand of the young lady in front of him. Despite her strong disdain for him, she had never punished him the way his mother had.

The Femon family might not have paid much attention to his existence, but they had given him a warm bed, enough food to fill his stomach, and never forced him to sell himself for money. They even provided him with a monthly allowance. Wint felt like he was in the best heaven possible. Therefore, he only wanted to be accepted by the Femon family. He was willing to do anything to prove that he was a member of the family, and he vowed to contribute to the Femon family until his life fell apart.

Ellie watched the man she once considered the Hero number 1 in her eyes. His demeanor towards Aria now seemed truly fitting for the Hero number 1 she had imagined.

A foolish yet honest man—perhaps...this was the accurate portrayal by the author. However, Wint’s loyalty was not for anyone else but solely for the Femon family...