Chapter 126: The Beginning Of A Sacrifice

After giving Ezio all the food he wanted, I said goodbye to the three siblings and left the hall.

Thankfully, no one else tried to bother me, so I was able to leave peacefully.

It was already 2 PM, and there was still plenty of time before night came, so I decided to explore the estate.

Sure, I wouldn’t be able to explore everything because of how vast the place was, but I could at least see some parts of it.

The first place I went to was the garden.

It was divided into two parts. The left side was filled with white flowers, while the right side had black flowers.

It looked really beautiful.

It reminded me of Yin and Yang.

The garden stretched far across the estate, making me wonder how long it had taken to plant everything.

Definitely a lot of time.

I stood there in the middle of the flowers, observing them—the way they moved with the wind and how a bee landed on one of them to collect pollen.

Nature was a really interesting and amazing thing.

The fact that such a tiny insect could play an important role in the survival of plants was fascinating.

It just showed that no matter what role one had in life, they could still have an impact on the world, no matter how small it was.

Really? Are we really watching bees right now?

"Shut up. You always have something to say," I said with a frown.

I clasped my hands behind my back and moved toward the blossom trees.

Their leaves were completely white, and their trunks stretched high into the sky.

Hundreds upon hundreds of leaves covered the ground, giving the surroundings a mesmerizing appearance.

I stopped beside one particular blossom tree and took a deep breath.

"This feels nice..." I muttered.

For some reason, my thoughts were calm.

I had expected to be a mess after leaving the hall, especially now that I no longer had anything to keep myself busy with.

But here, those thoughts and agonizing memories didn’t overwhelm my mind.

So I made up my mind.

I would spend some of my time under these trees.

Maybe... when I had my own place here, I would plant one of these trees there.

I remained silent for a while until Ezio stepped out of my shadow and stood beside me.

"You know, some of these trees are older than everyone in the family, even older than the generations that came before them," Ezio said as he looked up at the leaves above us.

"Really?"

I raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.

"There’s no way."

"It’s true. The white blossom tree is associated with the Laurent family because legends say the founder used to plant them in his garden. So, every generation after him did the same and took care of them."

He paused before continuing.

"And you know plants contain mana, so they have really long lifespans unless someone cuts them down."

I looked away from Ezio and stared at the leaves as well.

"I didn’t know that. I guess our ancestors had really good taste when it came to plants because this garden looks extraordinary."

Ezio nodded.

"Yeah, sure it does."

We remained silent for a moment before Ezio spoke again.

"You really made another deal. Why are you so obsessed with deals? I swear there must be something wrong with you."

"Life is fun when you gamble, Ezio. Remember that."

I smiled.

"It won’t be fun when you start losing."

He crossed his arms and snorted.

"Isn’t that life? We win sometimes, and we lose sometimes. Perfectly balanced."

"Why are you speaking like an old man?"

"I’m not," I replied.

"Yes, you are."

"Then go fuck yourself."

"Fuck you too."

We both chuckled.

"Now, how do you plan to win? I’m pretty sure those two will try to overwhelm you. You know how some of your cousins are under their influence. Everyone might just try to jump you."

I had considered that possibility as well.

But I knew it was unlikely to happen.

And even if it did, I would deal with it.

"It’s unlikely, but if it happens, I’ll manage," I said.

I paused before adding,

"You know how my power is all-round and works really well against large groups of enemies."

"Tsk."

He clicked his tongue.

"I keep forgetting that you have a really broken Main Story."

"I’m just that guy."

"Nah, pal. You ain’t that guy. Trust me."

Then he added,

"I think you’ll be fine. I taught you really well, even though it wasn’t everything because we didn’t have enough time. However, you’ve shown really abnormal growth and adaptation."

I nodded before turning to him.

"Indeed. But wait... aren’t you supposed to be worried about whether I’m actually going to win?"

I narrowed my eyes.

"Because if I do, you lose the deal and your life is mine."

For someone who hated being under someone else’s control and desperately wanted his freedom, Ezio seemed surprisingly carefree.

He didn’t turn toward me.

He simply continued staring at the leaves.

Only after a few moments did he finally speak.

"I don’t know."

"What?"

"What what?"

"What do you mean by ’you don’t know’?" I asked in confusion.

"Well, I still really want to be free, you know."

He paused.

"But after the time I’ve spent with you and interacting with you, I don’t think it would actually be that bad to be your Shadow Guardian."

His eyes remained fixed on the trees.

"I feel like interesting things will happen if I stick with you."

Ah.

Did he just change his mind?

"If you lose and I win, you know that you’ll have to obey me no matter what. I could make you do despicable things or even order you to kill yourself."

I looked at him seriously.

"Are you sure about that?"

Ezio finally turned toward me.

For the first time, I saw a genuine smile on his face.

Not a playful smile.

A real one.

"Nah. My instincts tell me you would never do that. After all, you’re not that type of guy."

My eyes widened slightly before a frown formed on my face.

"You don’t know me."

"Yes, I don’t."

His smile remained.

"But I trust your character."

"Isn’t that blind trust?"

Ezio’s expression shifted into one of deep thought.

After a few moments, he spoke.

"Not really. It’s more like a gut feeling."

"That gut feeling will be the death of you."

"Yeah, sure."

"Ugly bastard."

Ezio immediately frowned.

"Why are you calling me that again?"

"Because I can?"

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you too."

"Ugh, you annoying little shit!"

Ezio tried to grab me by sinking into my shadow, but he only managed to grab air.

"I really hate that you have the same ability as me."

"I’m just that guy."

I spoke from the shadows.

"Shut up."

...

After bickering with Ezio for a while, I eventually left the garden because one of the servants came to inform me that my room was ready.

I followed them back toward the main mansion.

The room was in the main family mansion, where the wives, daughters, and sons of the family head lived.

I was now walking through the huge corridors of the mansion on my own.

Of course, Ezio was still inside my shadow.

I didn’t need a servant to guide me because the room I was going to sleep in was the same room that had belonged to Yves before he left the estate.

So I knew pretty well how to get there.

Soon enough, I stopped in front of a room.

I pulled down the handle, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

The room was huge, probably around the same size as the one in my own mansion, but it looked much more luxurious.

The floor and ceiling were made of white marble. A crystal chandelier hung high above me, while a king-sized bed that had no business being that damn big sat in the middle of the room, covered with clean blankets.

There was also a bathroom in the corner.

It was fancy enough to make me feel poor every time I looked at it.

Right next to the window was a table with two chairs, while a large couch sat nearby where the moonlight landed perfectly.

I whistled.

"It is still the same as I remember."

From Yves’ memories, the room looked exactly the same.

I walked over to the bed, where the suitcases I had brought with me had already been placed by the servants.

I opened them and began putting my clothes inside the empty closet.

After that, I inspected the room for a while, trying to find anything related to Yves.

There was nothing.

Nothing except a photo frame sitting on the table.

I picked it up.

It was a picture of Yves when he was younger, standing beside his mother.

I didn’t look at it for long.

I simply put it back down and sat on the bed, waiting quietly.

Eventually, one of the servants came to call me.

The family head had summoned all his children to have dinner with him.

So I stood up, left the room, and headed straight toward the dining room.

I was finally going to meet the King of the North.

My father.