Chapter 28: The Wisdom of the Ancestors, Catherine’s Sincerity

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The Wisdom of the Ancestors, Catherine’s Sincerity

’The Second Son Brotherhood?’

When Catherine mentioned the Second Son Brotherhood, the expression under Roy’s mask grew strange.

He had never heard of the Second Son Brotherhood before.

But Catherine and the Second Son Brotherhood seemed like an odd match, no matter how he looked at it.

Though she couldn’t see the expression under Roy’s mask, Catherine knew what he was thinking. She continued, "The Second Son Brotherhood was founded by a group of second-born noble sons whose power and potential were on par with the eldest. However, because they weren’t firstborn, they had no right to inherit their family’s title."

"In the beginning, the organization did indeed only recruit qualified second-born sons of nobility."

"As time went on, the recruitment standards gradually relaxed—or rather, they became more reasonable."

"Now, it doesn’t matter if you’re a second-born noble son or not. As long as your power and potential meet the requirements and you have a token from a current member, you can join."

After listening to Catherine’s explanation, Roy replied, "I’m not interested in joining any organization right now. I have no use for this. Take it back."

With that, Roy tossed the Copper Coin in his hand back to Catherine.

"One person’s power is limited!"

"Take you, for instance. If you were willing to join, with your power, it wouldn’t take long to earn enough Contribution Points to exchange for an Excellent Level Universal Breathing Technique suited for you."

"I don’t know how old you are, but judging by the intensity of your Fighting Qi, you’ve been stuck at the Peak Knight stage for a very long time."

"If I’m not mistaken, you’re trying to break through to the Great Knight level by creating your own Breathing Technique, hoping to shatter the limits of your current one. You’re attempting to emulate the Golden Great Knights who advance to become Legendary Knights. That’s why you want the Compton Clan’s Iron Claw Bear Breathing Technique."

"Many exceptionally talented Peak Knights have tried this method to break through to the Great Knight level before, but they all failed, without exception."

"What’s more, because they missed the optimal window for a breakthrough, many of them were unable to cultivate to the limits of their new Breathing Technique, even after switching to Excellent or Perfect Level ones."

"I understand you have your reservations, but you’re being overly cautious."

"The Second Son Brotherhood isn’t like other fraternities or organizations you might know. It doesn’t force its members to do anything against their will."

Once she finished speaking, Catherine tossed the Copper Coin to Roy again.

Catching the Copper Coin, Roy sighed with resignation and said, "Even if everything you’ve said is true, I’m not going to join the Second Son Brotherhood right now."

"Joining the Second Son Brotherhood may have its benefits, but right now, I don’t trust you or the organization."

"For starters, let’s just talk about last time."

"If you hadn’t popped out of nowhere, my mission that night wouldn’t have failed, and I wouldn’t have a bounty from Count Rock Lion on my head right now."

"More importantly, I don’t even know who you are."

Although he didn’t sense any malice from Catherine, Roy still wouldn’t trust her so easily.

’Better safe than sorry.’

It was the wisdom of his ancestors!

Catherine fell silent.

After a dozen or so seconds, she finally spoke again. "I can take off my helmet and show you my true identity."

"But in return, I want to know what the renowned Dark Night Knight really looks like."

The moment she finished speaking, Roy’s voice rang out.

"I won’t take off my mask!"

"You’re the one trying to recruit me into the Second Son Brotherhood, not the other way around."

"In other words, you’re the one who needs to show good faith, not me."

Roy looked at Catherine and stated flatly.

He would never reveal his true identity unless he could confirm that Catherine was trustworthy.

"The rumors were right. You really are a cautious person. Gaining your trust is no easy feat."

"Since you’re unwilling to take off your mask, I won’t force you."

"If taking off my helmet will convince you of my sincerity, then so be it."

As her voice fell, Catherine raised her hands and gripped her helmet.

Then, as Roy watched, she pulled it off.

With the helmet gone, Catherine’s exquisite and alluringly fair face was revealed to Roy.

’It’s her?’

Roy instinctively gripped the hilt of his Fine Steel Cross Sword and scanned his surroundings.

"No wonder you were unwilling to deal a heavy blow to those four High Tier Knights that night!"

"If I were in your shoes, I couldn’t have brought myself to do it either. After all, they’re all High Tier Knights from your own clan."

The moment Catherine took off her helmet, Roy recognized her.

He himself had never met Catherine before, but his body’s previous owner had.

To be precise, the body’s previous owner had seen her at her coming-of-age banquet.

She was Count Rock Lion’s eldest daughter; every noble clan in Yorkshire had sent representatives to her coming-of-age banquet.

"You can stop looking. I’m the only one here."

"If I wanted to deal with you, I wouldn’t have bothered with all this talk."

"Also, I can give you an extra piece of information."

"One of Jeremy’s mistresses lives at 16 Rose Street in the West District of Redwood City."

"He visits every few days. If you want to kill him, you can wait for him there."

Catherine’s expression was perfectly calm, as if Jeremy were a complete stranger to her.

’Is her relationship with Jeremy that bad?’

’Could she be like Allen, wanting to inherit the title herself?’

’No, that’s not right!’

’Even if Jeremy died, it wouldn’t be her turn to inherit the title of Count Rock Lion!’

’Unless every man in the Beluns Clan eligible to inherit the title was dead, she wouldn’t be qualified to inherit it, even as the Count’s eldest daughter!’

After some thought, Roy asked Catherine, "I know you and Jeremy are half-siblings, but at the end of the day, he’s still your brother. Do you really want him dead that badly?"

"That’s right, he’s my brother. But he’s also a piece of scum, worse than any animal."

"When John Compton hired you, he must have told you what Jeremy did at Iron Claw Bear Castle."

"The world is better off with scum like him dead rather than alive."

"If he weren’t the eldest son of Count Rock Lion, there’d be a hundred people lining up to assassinate him, or eighty at the very least."

Catherine replied without a moment’s hesitation.

"Do you mind if I ask why you want him dead?"

"Is it because he did... that... to you, too?"

Roy asked Catherine.

’Even though Catherine is a Peak Knight, who knows when she actually reached that level.’

’Besides, given the character Jeremy had displayed, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to lust after his own half-sister, Catherine.’

’For the nobles of this world, marrying a full-blooded sister wasn’t considered particularly strange, let alone a half-sister from the same father.’

’What’s more, some noble clans upheld the tradition of marrying within the family to maintain their so-called ’pure’ bloodline.’

"I am not Chris Compton. I was already a High Tier Knight before he had even advanced to the Middle Tier."

"If he had dared to try anything with me, he would’ve been dead long ago."

"I want him dead because he’s the one who killed my mother!"

As she spoke, the calm expression on Catherine’s face finally vanished, replaced by a flash of intense killing intent.

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