[IYFILWATIP] Chapter 22

“Mother! Please come out. Jade has never even seen your face. Come out and prove that the name of Eclipse still stands for nobility. Please, I beg you!”

Sometimes, Jade would wake at night to the sound of Tyron sobbing and pounding on their mother’s door. Startled, he grabbed the sword by his bed and rushed out, only to find Tyron sobbing with bloodshot eyes while their brothers, wearing grave expressions, tried to comfort her.

“Don’t live like this. Never...”

In that gloomy, suffocating silence, Tyron would always make the same plea. Jade would nod in agreement. Even without his sister’s cries, the lesson was painfully clear. The Eclipse family was like a frog slowly boiling in warm water; even young Jade could see it vividly.

“Soon, I’ll sort through the marriage proposals you’ve received and arrange them. You need to get married quickly.”

“Sister, already? Even Jade? We’re unsure about us, but isn’t he too young?”

The second brother wrapped his arms around Jade and asked in surprise. Tyron sighed, patted Jade’s head, and shook her head.

“We need to at least arrange engagements quickly. There aren’t many traditional families left in the central region, so Eclipse is still a popular choice for a groom, but if the rumours get any worse, it’ll become dangerous.”

“...”

“Remember, we’re not wealthy. That means our only support is always our honourable name.”

Tyron would often gather them to make vows before the family banner. It was a red flag with the image of Yuri Eclipse, the Knight of Flames.

“Swear that you’ll never commit the mad acts that would disgrace the family name.”

Jade knelt on one knee alongside his brothers and made the vow without protest. He believed that everything Tyron said was true. But when he looked at that banner, he couldn’t help but feel a strange, creeping thought enter his mind.

Wasn’t it ironic?

To lose the honour gained through mad love, through another mad love.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

When Jade Eclipse was twelve, the Countess finally opened the door and stepped outside. But no one could be happy about it. The person who led her out was a stepfather younger than Tyron.

“My name is Hans Pitch. I look forward to working with you. The situation is complicated, so there’s no need to treat me with the respect usually given to a stepfather. There won’t be a wedding ceremony.”

Tyron tore at her hair and screamed before running into her room. Their mother linked arm-in-arm with Hans. Their brothers, caught up in the moment, shook hands with Hans with dazed expressions. Jade thought that in this crazy household, Tyron was the only person he could truly trust.

“I’m your mother, Jade. I’m sorry for everything.”

“It’s fine, Countess.”

Jade shook his head as the Countess patted his head.

He wasn’t lying; he truly didn’t mind. He had no resentment toward his mother. To be more precise, he didn’t have any attachment strong enough to harbour bad feelings.

To him, the Countess of Eclipse was just a stranger he was meeting for the first time. He only felt a vague sense of obligation to be grateful since she had carried him for nine months. Beyond that, she was no different from any other person.

So Jade wanted not a belated apology from the Countess but for her to open her eyes and realise who Hans Pitch was.

Because the Countess was the only one in the world who didn’t know Hans Pitch’s true intentions.

“That bastard is after our wealth. Do you think he approached our mother with the pure intention of having a child with her, given her age? I had him investigated, and his track record is impressive. He’s notorious among nobles.”

“Sister, calm down. Jade, come help calm her down. She’s about to faint.”

“Do I look like I can calm down? As if that wasn’t enough, he’s a gladiator gambler! Do you know how many noble families wealthier than ours have been ruined because they got addicted to that stupid gambling?”

Tyron’s predictions, unfortunately, turned out to be entirely accurate. The Countess began to support Hans.

Gladiator gambling was one of the central region’s most lucrative illegal betting games. Gladiator versus gladiator, gladiator versus beast—people were enthralled by these primitive and brutal fights to the death in the arena.

Even nobles were not immune.

It was a highly addictive and ruinous form of gambling, said to be impossible to quit until death.

At first, the Countess reluctantly attended a few matches with Hans, but she quickly became addicted. The violent and bloody battles provided a novel thrill for someone confined and isolated by a persistent emptiness.

Eventually, the fragile peace barely holding the Eclipse family together was shattered.