"...was all of that necessary…?"
Rotsard, who didn't even blink as his maid went wild, finally asked, raising his brow while his beastly yellow eyes maintained their cold glare.
"It was for what I'm about to do."
"You do know it was enough to deny your connection to her death, and I would let you be?"
Kyle Houndred said, matching Rotsard's indifference to which the bleached-blond-haired youth pointed out while shaking his head.
"It's been a year since something changed, hasn't it…? How did you figure it all out? In the past, you were far too stupid and vain to realize a thing."
Kyle asked while orbs of spells ready to be unleashed at any time were appearing all around her, despite the lack of incantation of any kind… all being either of 4th or 5th tier, showing her incredible proficiency exceeding that of many teachers even in the Royal Academy.
"What are you talking about, exactly? The Houndred family, putting a lot of effort into attempting to kill me off…? Or, all of you plotting behind my back to make me believe that I'm cursed and everyone I care about is bound to die?"
Rotsard tilted his head almost playfully and asked mockingly…
"I see not all of your stupidity is gone. Those two objectives are one and the same."
"..."
…but Kyle's response made him furrow his brows…
"Isn't that… too petty? I'm aware that uncle Ian was so sickly envious of my father getting adopted into the main family that he danced from joy at the news of his death… Shouldn't he be satisfied just with that alone…?"
"...e-eh…?"
Rotsard frowned and said, but his words caused Kyle's eyes to bulge out of her eyesockets as she let out a baffled gasp.
"...you… pffft…! You think that WE were jealous…?! P-pfffft….! Aha… AHAHAHAHA~! Oh, my sweet, dumb cousin~! You are far less vain but far more stupid than I was giving you credit~!"
"?!"
…only to then burst into a peal of laughter that made Rotsard lean back as his beastly eyes widened in confusion.
…that… wasn't the reaction he expected… not with all the clues that he found within the story read to him by the deofol…
Did he… misunderstood something?
Even with the 6th volume having a detailed description of how Justin aided Saria with averting the crisis that the Houndreds' insurrection had put the house of Vallhall in?
"We are not jealous of them. We HATE them and WILL bring them DOWN!"
As if something snapped in Kyle, her face twisted into a furious grimace, and she snarled.
"Oh, just let me make one thing clear, cousin. The whole thing with you and your father… we didn't betray you. YOU betrayed US!"
"!"
Calming down for only a second, Kyle immediately snapped again while staring daggers of accusation into the stunned youth.
"Both of you held so much strength, so much power…! With the two of you, we could have brought down Vallhalls like the rabid beasts they are! But no! Despite what everyone calls our Houndered family, YOU were the ones who acted like yellow-bellied DOGS and WHIMPERED and YELPED at the feet of Vallhalls begging for scraps of favors and acknowledgement! Because of that, and despite how those detestful beasts treated you, you stubbornly remained…! Completely unaware that you, personally, are the last hope that could revert the downfall that Vallhalls unknowingly orchestrated for themselves for decades!"
Kyle roared, spreading her arms to the sides while a dozen more spells, ready to be deployed at her slightest gesture, materialized around her.
"What are you talking about? I'm no one's hope."
"...pffft…!"
With the knowledge he possessed, including the inevitable sacrifice he was going to make before eight more months would pass, Rotsard scoffed at Kyle with disbelief, but that only made her snort.
"Oh, Rotsard… Rotsard, Rotsad, Rotsard… You really ARE a Vallhall through and through, aren't you? Foolish, blind, AND absurdly oblivious."
Kyle mocked him, shaking her head as she chuckled to herself. It was more than obvious how much she enjoyed the whole situation… she must have been holding herself back this whole time…
For Rotsard, her behavior was….
…upsetting…
Saddening even.
Since the day of the dream in which the deofol shared with him the story of the only future his world would keep existing, Rotsard was aware of the betrayal… but it didn't mean it was any less hurtful.
"...you could have just lied and kept me in the dark…"
"Pffft! No. I kept the lie for too long anyway! My father's indirect methods of trying to drive you to suicide were ineffective from the start…! This is what I should have done years ago instead of going along and getting rid of most of those who favored you!"
Some of the bitterness he felt ended up spilling out… but only ended up being mocked.
"Your time has come, cousin~ I already gauged your strength back when we dueled, and confirmed it after observing your fight with that commoner. If the light attribute attack equal to the 5th tier spell wounds you, this will do the job!"
Kyle grinned as she called out, putting up her hands towards the bleached-blond-haired youth.
"LANCE OF DAWN!"
She then roared and chanted an incantation for the 7th tier light spell!
Within the same heartbeat, particles of bright light gathered between her palms, forming a beam that instantly launched straight at Rotsard's chest, swallowing one of the bluish white flames that lit up the area in its wake!
*WHAM* *THWAMP*
…and the very next second, the beam of light suddenly dropped down, nose-diving into the ground and then catapulted itself back into the sky, tumbling through the air, no longer a beam of light but a solid frozen pillar!
The pillar, after hitting the ground a few more times as it cartwheeled its way down, finally started in its path and slammed into the tree, breaking and falling the first tree it hit, but stopping at the next one.