Return of the Youngest Son with SSS-Rank Talent-Chapter 70: What did you need me for?

After leaving the forest with the hooded man unconscious, Kael and the others returned to the rickety house, which was on the verge of collapse. The rain continued to fall with an almost ritualistic insistence, as if the earth itself wanted to drown the pain that had been sown there.

They walked in silence, slowly, covered in mud, while the stench of the soggy field enveloped their senses.

When they reached the old apple tree, the sound of the world seemed to fade away.

There were no screams. No sobs. Only the monotonous sound of rain hitting the rotten wood.

The wife’s mangled body was gone. So was the baby’s corpse. Only the disturbed earth beneath the tree, two barely visible mounds, and the cold feeling that something had ended remained.

Kael looked at the scene expressionlessly. His eyes scanned the area as if assessing a transaction that had already been completed.

"He’s not here," Lydia whispered, looking around.

Eren remained silent, his eyes downcast.

That’s when Kael slowly turned around the tree... and saw him.

The man’s body hung from a makeshift rope tied to one of the strongest branches of the dying apple tree. His neck was broken, his feet barely touching the mud. His face was pale, swollen from the pressure, but he still clutched a damp wooden frame tightly in his hand.

A photograph.

Kael recognized it instantly: him, his wife, and the promise of a happy life frozen in an old smile. They were both smiling like idiots as if happiness were real.

The frame was cracked. The glass was broken. But the smile was still there, like a cruel mockery carved in time.

Kael said nothing.

Lydia put her hand to her chest. In pain. She clenched her teeth, and a tear ran down her cheek, but raindrops quickly covered it.

Eren simply lowered his head.

The scene was complete.

A man dug the grave of his wife and daughter with his bloody fingernails... and then, without further ado, decided to follow them.

He left no note.

He left no complaint.

Just a final act.

An absolute resignation.

A silent declaration that the world, as it was, had nothing left to offer him.

And even that didn’t move Kael.

The rain continued to fall.

The body swayed slowly, barely moved by the wind.

No one tried to take it down.

No one prayed.

Because in this world, even the dead... were expendable.

The wind blew. The body swayed.

And Kael kept walking, without looking back. frёewebnoѵēl.com

...

After about three hours, they returned to the mansion, where Kael and Lydia carried the unconscious man to where the Clan elders were gathered.

"We found him stirring up the wild beasts with the Attraction Butter," Kael reported, as Lydia threw the man to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

The elders did not question him, but called two knights to take the man to the dungeon for interrogation. Although Kael knew the man would not say a word.

But that was not his problem.

"You’ve made a great contribution by catching one of these bastards," said one of the elder inmates, placing his hand on his shoulder as he congratulated him on his contribution. He simply nodded, his expression unchanged.

"You may leave now. You will be called later to receive your reward for your contribution," said the elderly inmate.

Kael, followed by Lydia, left the place and went straight to his room to change his wet clothes.

As he walked through the corridors, the sound of rain filled his ears. One of the servants who served Lady Liyana approached him.

"Seventh young master, Lady Liyana wishes to see you," the servant bowed as he spoke in an extremely respectful tone.

My sixth sister’s mother... wants to meet with me? Kael raised an eyebrow. In his past life, they had never interacted, and in this life, they hadn’t either.

What could she want from him? They had only seen each other when they were called to the great hall to be informed of something. Other than that, they had had zero interaction.

Thinking about it for a moment, Kael decided to meet with her to find out what she wanted from him.

"Tell her I’ll meet her in about twenty minutes," he replied.

The servant nodded, bowed, and slowly walked away, his footsteps echoing in the long hallway.

"Why would Mrs. Liyana want to meet with you, young master?" Lydia, who had gained more confidence, said things she had previously kept to herself because she felt that she had grown closer to Kael during their training sessions.

But if only she knew that this was just a cheap illusion, she wouldn’t be like this.

"I don’t know either," Kael continued toward his room.

Once he arrived, he ordered Lydia to go change, and he did the same. Upon entering, he went straight to the bathroom to wash himself.

...

The rain beat furiously against the window, as if trying to break through the glass. Outside, the gardens were a swamp of drowned flowers.

Soaked servants struggled against the water, their backs hunched and their fingers numb, pruning dead petals to preserve a beauty that was already rotting away.

Inside the room, lit by oil lamps that flickered with every gust of wind, Liyana waited.

Blonde hair, blue eyes. The perfect image of a greenhouse flower: delicate, protected, but oblivious to the mud where the roots of the real world grow.

She was waiting for Kael.

Her platonic love. Her futile dream.

The mere idea that he, the one who walked among blood and corpses without looking back, would agree to see her, made her heart beat like that of a novice before being thrown onto the altar of an arranged marriage.

She gazed at her reflection in the window again and again, searching for invisible flaws. She touched her face, smoothed her dress, trembling at the possibility of appearing unworthy in eyes that did not even look at her with desire.

Behind her, a maid brushed her hair silently.

Each stroke was slow, meticulous, as if the slightest tug could kill her.

Because that was how it was.

Liyana had ordered it. "Not a single knot," she had said in a sweet voice. But everyone knew what that sweetness meant.

And the maid, her face blank and her hands trembling, obeyed.

Did she have a choice?

In this world, the life of a servant was worth less than a sick plant. If Liyana wanted it, her head could roll before dawn, and no one would stop to ask why.

But... the pay was good. Enough to feed her brothers. Enough to swallow her fear and live another day, even if that day meant kneeling before a human-shaped whim.

At that moment, the door opened, producing a metallic sound.

Liyana saw Kael enter calmly, alone, and sit down in front of her with an indifferent expression.

"What did you need me for?"