Chapter 250
E55 vouchers
As Dennot spoke, he tossed the relevant documents to Andrew. However, sending Andrew to the northern frontier was not solely due to Grace’s favor. Grace had proposed this idea because she had seen through the King’s desire to stabilize the
court.
Andrew was the last sliver of hope left for the Wallen family. This sliver of hope was not for the Wallen family, but for those other factions that once clung to the Wallen family.
If the entire Wallen family were to be executed, with no hope for the future, these people would panic and desperately seek any solution. And the factions hostile to them would seize the opportunity to strike at the fallen. When such turmoil arose, it was difficult to control.
For now, what was needed was peace. The political struggle at court was this subtle; Andrew’s slim chance of survival was like walking a tightrope within the grand scheme, unrelated to his own abilities. He was simply swept along by the situation.
Andrew took the imperial edict, knelt to thank the heaven’s for their grace, then staggered toward the Wallen family residence.
His legs ached as if they were about to break. Suddenly, he recalled kneeling outside the inn during the day and outside the palace at night, altogether, only six hours. Yet Margaery, during the last blizzard, knelt for a full day and night.
It turned out that the joys and sorrows of people did not truly connect; even among the closest kin, there was no true empathy. At that time, neither father nor son felt any pity for Margaery. Simply because the pain was not on them.
Thinking of this, Andrew’s tears welled up in the cold wind, the pain shaking his chest. In a sense, he felt his entire life had been ruined, not in reality, but something deep within his soul had collapsed.
The harm he had done to Margaery would cling to him like a bone–deep affliction, running through his life, casting him into hell every time he awoke from a dream. He could not forgive himself and face his own soul. Suddenly, he wished to leave this home as soon as possible.
At dawn, in Raul’s room, when he saw his suddenly aged father again, he felt sudden hatred toward him. If not for Raul’s coercion, he would never have done something as cruel as severing Margaery’s legs. He was, after all, only seventeen.
Before this, his hands had never been stained with blood, let alone the blood of his own kin. “Dad,” he knelt and called out. “I’m leaving now. Take good care.” He lowered his head and did not look at Raul again.
‘If I were born into a truly noble family, with proper upbringing and family values, would the outcome be different?‘ he wondered.
Andrew lowered his head even further. He did not wish to look at his father. Raul sensed a terrifying estrangement, as if overnight, his youngest son had grown distant from him.
‘Why? What have I done wrong again?‘ he wondered. He was angry, his chest trembling, his throat filled with the taste of blood, his speech coming in gasps like broken bellows, “The King has agreed?” he asked.
He then asked further, “Are you leaving so soon?”
Indeed, if the King had not agreed, even if Andrew went to the northern frontier, he would have no place there. But can’t he stay at home for a few more days?‘ he thought.
Andrew did not raise his head, he felt unable to face Raul’s eyes. “Yes, I’m departing in the morning,” he said.
The gratitude of upbringing and resentment were entangled within him, making it difficult to cope, and thus, he grew irritated. He only wanted to escape.
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Chapter 250
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Raul fell silent. His throat moved as he gazed out the grey, hazy window. After a long while, he said dejectedly, “Go ahead.”
“Goodbye, Andrew said, and bowed three times as if bidding farewell forever.
In fact, both father and son knew clearly that this parting was the final farewell, because Raul was implicated in a serious crime. Even if the King showed mercy and did not exterminate his entire clan, Raul would hardly escape death.
However, these things were best left unsaid. If spoken, Andrew would not be able to leave as leaving under such circumstances was inappropriate.
Raul could not bear for his youngest son to abandon him under such circumstances. Thus, both stopped at the right
moment.
After leaving Raul’s room, Andrew went to Russell’s courtyard. Thinking back, only Russell had not done anything irreparable this time…
‘Back then, if I had listened to Russell… Everything is now beyond repair,‘ he thought bitterly.
Andrew, heavy–hearted, as he entered Russell’s courtyard, only to find it empty, nothing inside. Entering the room, he discovered a letter on the desk. Unfolding it, he saw every word was filled with sorrow and pain.
Russell said that Tessa had come for revenge; she was an impostor. Margaery was the biological daughter, and she had never bullied Tessa. However, everyone in the Wallen family favored Tessa and bullied Margaery, so Margaery no longer wanted this family.
Russell said that since he failed to convince the other members of the Wallen family, who had become obsessed, he would follow Margaery and change his name to Russell Schneider.
He also said that if Raul still acknowledged him as his son, then he should stop harming Margaery so that he would not regret it later.
There was so much to say; the letter was thirteen pages long, detailing every aspect, only hoping the Wallen family would know when to stop. However… No one saw this letter; it was too late now.
Andrew held the letter, kneeling on the ground, trembling all over; his heart was aching and anxious, yet he could not even
cry.
Soon, Joshua and Avery caught up. “Andrew, are you leaving?” Avery called out before he entered the room.
When Avery entered the room and saw Andrew kneeling on the ground, holding a stack of letter paper, he was instantly stunned. “What are you holding? Why are you kneeling?” he asked.
Although he did not know what Andrew was holding, Avery sensed something about why he was kneeling. But this feeling disgusted him.
He did not want to be remembered as someone who had committed wrongdoing, wronged Margaery, and then been publicly humiliated and driven into a corner.
It was not that he did not know right from wrong in those past events. It was only that, deep down, there was a sliver of imbalance he could never resolve.
His entry into the Royal Medical Hall had been secured through Margaery, not by his own merit. And so, whenever others praised him, his heart was filled with conflict and shame.
On one hand, he reveled in that feeling; on the other, he was plagued by a thief’s guilt, as though the moment he was exposed, all the honor and glory he wore would shatter, sending him crashing down from the clouds.
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Chapter 250
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At some secret moments, he would feel uneasy, thinking, ‘Why did Craig help Margaery, but not me? Why did Craig give the prescription to Margaery, who knew nothing, instead of to him, who was determined to study medicine?’
Over time, a kind of jealousy had quietly grown within him, but he could never voice it. Instead, he voiced it by helping Tessa crush Margaery.
He had thought that Margaery, a mere girl of the inner court, could only be exploited all her life, helping him rise to prominence. Unexpectedly, what he feared most actually came to pass.
His mask was torn away when Margaery went to the Royal Medical Hall and kicked him from the clouds down into the dust. This was also why he hated Margaery, and on the way to Lakeburgh, he egged Clyde to take revenge against her.
Now, both Russell and Andrew were telling him that he had done wrong. How could he possibly feel comfortable? His expression was utterly sullen.
Andrew, unaware of his thoughts, snapped back to reality and handed him the letter. “Russell wrote this. If only we had seen this letter earlier,” he said.
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