Chapter 809: Bearing the Infamy

After Senar leaves, Henwell goes to see Elisa.

Elisa looks like someone who has just woken from a nightmare.

Only a few days ago, she was a countess with a happy family, a loving husband, and parents who doted on her.

She had beloved children and two powerful elder brothers who stood above nearly everyone in the world.

And now?

Her husband's family has been slaughtered. Her husband died protecting them. Of her three children, only two remain.

Both of her parents are dead, and the second brother who raised her has been killed.

And one of the two mighty elder brothers she once relied on caused all of it.

She sits motionless, as though her soul has left her body, clutching her two surviving children.

Henwell stands before her for a long time before she finally notices him.

She stares at him and forces out a smile. "Brother, this was all part of your plan with Father, wasn't it?"

"You staged this for outsiders so you could eliminate your enemies, didn't you?"

"My husband and his family aren't dead. Father and Mother aren't dead either, and my second brother is still alive. This was all a scheme to deceive your enemies."

When Henwell says nothing, Elisa staggers forward and grabs his arm. "Brother, say something!"

"Isn't that what happened?"

"Say it! Tell me none of this was real, that it was all an illusion meant to mislead your enemies!"

"Why won't you say anything?"

Henwell says quietly, "Elisa, you will return to Peace Haven with me. I will protect your family."

Elisa's body stiffens, and she cannot help taking a step back. "Brother! Tell me, were you the one who killed them?"

Henwell remains silent.

Elisa stares at him in disbelief. The grief in her eyes gives way to despair, then fear, and finally cold indifference.

Henwell finally speaks. "You cannot thrust that blade. If you do, many people will die. I can protect you, but everyone else in Peace Haven will regard your family as a threat."

Elisa draws the dagger hidden in her sleeve. She looks back at her frightened children, then turns to Henwell again.

"Brother! This is the last time I will call you that! Are you going to imprison my children and me? Or will you make us disappear without a trace?"

"Perhaps you will keep us alive so everyone can see that you did not wipe out every member of the Phoenix family and that you still care for its survivors."

Henwell shakes his head. "Think whatever you want. There are many things you should never have been exposed to, much less forced to bear."

"Forget the hatred and the schemes. Take good care of your children. They will receive an excellent education in Peace Haven."

Elisa stares at him. "Henwell, I want to leave now. Will you let me go?"

Henwell answers, "You are free. I will not restrict where you go, and I will not imprison you."

Elisa curtsies. "Then I thank the Blood Hill Lord for his care. I am going to find my brother, Arius, King of Vorry."

"I trust my other brother far more than the murderer who killed my family."

With that, Elisa takes her children by the hand, walks past Henwell, and heads for the door.

As she leaves, Elisa glances back and sees that Henwell has not turned around.

After one last look at his back, she leads her children out of Phoenix Castle.

A long time passes before Henwell suddenly bellows, "Stop talking!"

The Lord Iron Guards around him immediately draw their swords and look for a threat.

What none of them can see is Barbarossa, bound tight in chains, still whispering temptation into Henwell's ear. "Henwell, I can smell hatred."

"She hates you! Her children hate you too!"

"They are a threat."

"Why not kill all these enemies? Whether as a powerful professional or a king, you should not be this softhearted."

Henwell ignores Barbarossa's relentless whispering. He takes a deep breath and calms himself.

He orders Dalton beside him, "Assign a squad to escort Elisa and her family to Silver Peak City."

Another week passes, and the Descartes family surrenders.

Across two battles, Peace Haven crushes every army the Descartes family can field. Even some neutral nobles who came to reinforce them die in the fighting.

Marquess Descartes is executed. His second son tries to flee to Ika Kingdom, but Ika's border troops turn him away, and he ultimately dies beneath an Iron Guard cavalry charge.

Glens, the eldest son of the Descartes family, comes to Phoenix Castle and personally presents its surrender.

Henwell looks at the middle-aged man before him, a man he once counted as a friend. Glens is exhausted and bears wounds all over his body.

Henwell says, "From now on, you are Count Descartes. You will retain one hundred square kilometers of territory, but you will have no independent judicial authority."

"You have ten days to retrieve all of your family's wealth."

"Once those ten days are over, Peace Haven will no longer recognize the Descartes family's claim to any property outside its territory."

Glens gives a numb bow, turns, and leaves the castle.

Another month passes before Henwell holds a funeral for Duke Jansen and Lady Grace.

Henwell personally helps carry their coffins and erects their memorial stones.

After returning to Peace Haven, Henwell holds no one accountable. He treats the entire affair as though it were nothing more than Peace Haven's conquest of an ordinary territory.

Henwell handles military and political affairs exactly as before. No outward change can be seen.

The leaders of Peace Haven have served him for many years, and they can all tell that something about Henwell is different.

None of them can say exactly what has changed, but all of them are afraid.

As the woman who shares his bed, Melissa can naturally sense the difference in her husband.

One evening, she finally asks, "Henwell, what is wrong with you?"

Henwell sets down the document in his hand and looks up at his wife. "Nothing."

Concern fills Melissa's face. "Henwell, I am sorry about Duke Jansen and Lady Grace too."

Henwell's smile slowly fades. "Sorry? Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

Melissa is silent for a moment. "Henwell, I did not want this either, but no one knew when you would emerge from seclusion, and members of the Phoenix family were already growing restless."

"Every faction was probing us. I had no choice but to strike hard enough to warn the Phoenix family."

"I never intended to kill Jansen and Grace. I only wanted them to see reality clearly."

"Dragging the conflict out benefited no one. The Phoenix family had to make a decision."

Henwell looks calmly at his wife. "So you deliberately indulged your subordinates and let them drive the Phoenix family toward destruction one step at a time?"

Melissa sighs. "Things went beyond what I expected."

Henwell erupts. "Enough! Expected? What did you expect? Did you expect every last member of Jansen's household to die?"

"You ordered the covert guards I placed around my uncle's family to withdraw!"

"If Pabos had not intervened, Orak's family would have died too!"

"If Senar of the Church had not been watching, Elisa's family would also be dead!"

"Did you think I knew nothing?"

"Or do you, like the people beneath you, believe I am a fool?"

Melissa is not frightened. She looks calmly at Henwell. "Henwell, I was making the decision for you."

"If some people refuse to be our friends, then as Peace Haven grows, they will inevitably become our enemies."