Chapter 221
“Please appoint Count Khazar as the one who will henceforth oversee all major affairs of the family on behalf of the House Head.”
“!!”
Everyone's eyes widened in shock.
This was effectively a declaration to dismiss Marquis Langham from his position as acting House Head!
The Marquis Langham faction, which had been quietly biding its time due to the recent atmosphere, couldn’t stay silent any longer and raised their voices.
“You’re appointing someone other than His Excellency Marquis Langham as acting House Head?!”
“This is outrageous!”
At their protest, Chris responded with a chilling expression.
“Isn’t it obvious that someone who has committed a grave sin against the family cannot be entrusted with such a critical duty?”
“M-Marquis Langham being absent at that time was nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence! It's absurd to say he committed any crime!”
“A coincidence, you say?”
“Y-Yes! His Excellency the Marquis wouldn't have deliberately avoided being there, would he?!”
Chris turned his gaze toward Marquis Langham, who had remained silent until now.
“Are their words true?”
The look in the Marquis’s eyes had grown heavy and subdued.
It was different from before, when he’d never allowed his inner thoughts to be seen.
Perhaps the blow of this failed incident had shaken him more than expected.
“…It is true. My absence at that time was purely coincidental.”
At that cowardly excuse, everyone except those aligned with the Marquis Langham faction frowned in disapproval.
But it was still a fact no one could prove otherwise.
Then Chris said something wholly unexpected.
“House Head, may I exercise judicial authority here?”
“Hm?”
“Because there is someone who has testified to Marquis Langham’s crimes.”
“A crime?”
“Yes. Marquis Langham has committed a grave crime that cannot be forgiven under any circumstances. This is direct testimony about that matter.”
“A grave crime?”
“Treason.”
“!!”
The hall erupted in chaos.
Certainly, the fact that Marquis Langham had fled during the incident was already a serious offense. He had failed to fulfill his responsibilities as a member of the family.
But treason?
“W-What are you…!!”
“This is absurd!!”
Chris raised a hand to silence the uproar.
“Whether it’s absurd or not will become clear once we hear the testimony. Bring them in.”
Creaaak. The door to the hall slowly opened, and everyone’s eyes turned once again in astonishment.
A figure appeared in a wheelchair, one no one had expected.
It was Yulian.
“Lady Yulian?!”
“That wound…”
Yulian, her complexion pale, had her chest bandaged, as though she had suffered a grievous injury.
Jupien quietly lifted the wheelchair and placed Yulian at the center of the platform.
“On behalf of the House Head’s authority, I ask you, do you have testimony regarding Marquis Langham’s crimes?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then speak.”
Yulian lifted her gaze and looked in the direction of Marquis Langham.
As the Marquis furrowed his brow, sensing a wave of unknown dread, a bombshell dropped from Yulian’s lips.
“The one who caused the Gehenna Erosion this time… was my father.”
“…What?”
Everyone froze, their expressions blank with shock...
Even Marquis Langham himself.
“I have evidence.”
Yulian untied the bandages wrapped around her chest.
Everyone’s faces changed at the sight of the wound revealed on her bare skin just outside her underclothes.
It wasn’t just that the injury looked horrific.
It was because a clear aura of malice emanated from it.
“Lady Yulian, that wound…?”
“It’s a wound inflicted by a devil.”
“!!”
Yulian pointed directly at Marquis Langham and declared with an icy gaze,
“My father offered me as a sacrifice to a demon and triggered this entire incident.”
* * *
After the incident, when it was resolved, Chris only summarized the situation like this:
Atop the wall’s spire, Lady Yulian had been offered up as a sacrifice, and once she was rescued, the Gehenna Erosion was dispelled.
He had deliberately concealed the fact that Yulian had been the one behind it.
Thanks to that, the true mastermind remained a mystery.
No one had ever suspected Marquis Langham of being behind it.
Even if he was rotten, no one thought he was that far gone.
And now, suddenly, she claimed he was the one responsible?
“My father told me to head to the spire. After I arrived, I suddenly lost consciousness and was offered to a demon as a sacrifice.”
“W-What kind of nonsense…?”
The Marquis Langham faction stammered in disbelief.
And of course, it was complete and utter fabrication.
Marquis Langham wasn't the mastermind behind the incident.
This was all part of Christian’s ploy to corner him.
“I also have evidence. This letter, sent to me by my father. Please examine the handwriting.”
The letter Yulian held out bore the unmistakable handwriting of Marquis Langham.
And this too, was forged by Christian.
As a master manipulator and agitator, forging handwriting was well within his capabilities.
“Commander of the Black Shadow Knights, compare the handwriting.”
Christian ordered his aunt, Merian.
For reference, since he was currently acting with the authority of the House Head, he didn’t use honorifics.
Merian carefully compared documents containing Marquis Langham’s authentic handwriting with the letter Yulian presented as evidence.
After close examination, she gave a firm nod.
“It matches the Marquis’s handwriting.”
“!!”
The hall was overtaken by gasps of shock.
Chris turned to look at Marquis Langham.
“Do you admit to the crime?”
Marquis Langham clenched his fists tightly.
His eyes gleamed with a chilling fury, clearly enraged at Christian’s scheme, but Christian only responded with a smirk of mockery.
‘Go ahead and get angry. What are you going to do about it?’
As long as Chris, the only witness to the truth, remained silent, there was no way to expose who the true mastermind was.
Marquis Langham spoke in a low, heavy voice.
“It’s a lie. I never wrote such a letter.”
“Even after it’s been confirmed to be your handwriting, you still deny it?”
“You forged it with one of your usual cheap tricks, didn’t you? I won’t acknowledge it.”
He declared this with unwavering firmness.
Indeed, the so-called “evidence” was flimsy and suspicious.
And even Chris hadn’t expected to punish Marquis Langham solely based on that fabricated proof.
His real aim was something else entirely.
‘Even if I can’t get him sentenced, it’s more than enough to drive him into a corner.’
Chris looked around the hall.
The gazes directed toward Marquis Langham were now icy cold, far colder than before.
Could it be true?
That kind of suspicion had started to take root.
Everyone knew Marquis Langham was the type of man who would stop at nothing to obtain the position of House Head.
Even those who had steadfastly supported him were now wearing uneasy expressions.
If he really had committed this crime, then it wasn’t something they could just overlook.
If convicted, he would pay for it with his life, and those around him wouldn’t be spared either.
‘If things go south, we’ll be branded as accomplices too…’
‘We need to distance ourselves.’
After all, the only reason they followed Marquis Langham in the first place was greed. None of them had any real loyalty to begin with.
In short, with this scheme, Christian had successfully pushed Marquis Langham into total isolation within the Dark Demonic House.
‘Of course, this won’t be the end of it.’
Chris’s lips curled into a cold smile.
“So you still claim this wasn’t your doing?”
“I do.”
“Then do you have any proof of your innocence?”
“!!”
Marquis Langham bit down on his lip.
How could he possibly present that?
‘He can’t even expose Yulian as the one behind it.’
If he did, he’d have to admit that he knowingly stood by and allowed her to go through with it.
Christian said with biting sarcasm,
“You vanished right before the Gehenna Erosion began and now show up with no proof of your innocence. Tell me, what reason does anyone have to believe you?”
The others, too, cast cold gazes his way, as if in agreement.
It was a situation that anyone would find suspicious.
Marquis Langham might have felt wronged, but all the circumstantial evidence pointed directly at him.
“…I have devoted my entire life to the Dark Demonic House. Do not doubt my loyalty.”
“Loyalty, is it?”
Chris nodded slightly.
“Very well then. Since it seems we won’t reach a clear answer like this, how about this instead? If you are truly innocent, then prove it with your actions.”
“…What do you mean?”
“As you yourself claim, you would never commit such a crime. So show us.”
Chris then issued a declaration that Marquis Langham could never accept.
“If you truly weren’t the one who sent the letter to Lady Yulian, then it’s highly likely it was the work of those from the Four Demon Stars. Therefore, in the spirit of proving your innocence, relinquish all your positions and serve as a common soldier in the Dark Demonic Army. Fight against the Four Demon Stars on the frontlines.”
“!!”
As a common soldier.
Not just a demotion, this was Chris throwing Marquis Langham into the mud.
“What the…!!”
“You’re hardly in a position to refuse, are you?”
Chris said coldly.
“Keep in mind, this is still a generous decision, taking your past merits into consideration. Had it been anyone else, they would’ve been tortured until the truth came out.”
Marquis Langham grit his teeth so hard they might break.
His eyes were bloodshot, brimming with fury.
But he had no choice.
There was no one left in the Dark Demonic House willing to stand by him.
Chris then issued his cold command:
“By the authority vested in me as the acting House Head, I hereby strip you of all titles and positions, and order you to enlist in the Dark Demonic Army as a regular soldier. You are to prove your innocence through distinguished service.”
“…….”
“Your response?”
The blood drained from Marquis Langham’s clenched fists.
“…Understood.”
“Again.”
“…What?”
“Where are your honorifics? As of this moment, you are no longer acting House Head, no longer a marquis, no longer an elder of the family. Can’t you even show proper respect to the Grand Duke?”
At that insult, Marquis Langham’s face turned deathly pale.
But Chris didn’t relent.
His gaze pressured the man to respond, and in the end, Marquis Langham could only grit his teeth and bow his head.
“…I shall obey the order.”
Seething with humiliation, Marquis Langham turned sharply to leave, but Chris delivered one last blow.
“You’re leaving without even giving a proper salute?”
“!!”
“Surely, the great House Head didn’t fail to teach you etiquette? The insolence in your posture once again casts doubt on your so-called loyalty.”
Marquis Langham’s face had gone beyond red and blue, it was as pale as a corpse.
Overwhelmed by sheer humiliation, Marquis Langham’s mind had gone blank.
And yet, as expected, he had no choice but to obey.
“…I will now take my leave.”
Chris gave a slight nod in response.
With that same signature look of arrogance, unbearably smug and insufferable.
As if speaking to a mere subordinate.
“Yes. Be sure to earn merit and prove yourself. Now go.”
Everyone in the room inhaled sharply.
For Marquis Langham, the one who had once ruled as the supreme figure of the Dark Demonic House in Nordian’s stead, to be humiliated like this…
It was nothing short of shocking.
In that moment, everyone instinctively realized it.
The leadership of the family had now passed to Christian.
‘Count Khazar may have been named acting House Head, but the one who truly holds power now is Grand Duke Christian.’
But that didn’t mean Christian’s victory was absolute.
‘There’s no way Marquis Langham will quietly back down after this.’
‘He’ll definitely try to seize control of the family again.’
Some even had darker concerns.
‘He might actually commit treason.’
‘With Marquis Langham’s strength, it’s entirely possible.’
In the demonic world, everything came down to power.
Unlike the Allied Nations, legitimacy or popularity meant nothing here.
The one who claimed dominion over a family was neither the most respected nor the most righteous, it was simply the strongest.
And no matter what anyone said, Marquis Langham was still one of the most powerful figures in the Dark Demonic House. He had the means to attempt a coup.
In fact, if it were Langham, he would attempt it.
But what no one realized....
Was that this was exactly what Christian had planned for.
‘I have to make Marquis Langham rebel.’
Chris’s cold thoughts continued.
‘And once he does, I’ll eliminate him under the pretext of treason.’
A ruthless plan.
Christian had assigned Langham to serve in the Dark Demonic Army for a reason.
‘Their garrison is stationed right at the border with the Four Demon Stars. Langham will definitely try to make contact with them and conspire to rebel.’
But what Langham couldn’t even begin to imagine....
Was that this entire situation was a trap laid out by Christian from the very beginning.
Marquis Langham was heading straight for total ruin.
‘Of course, before that… I need to settle things with the Venomous Demonic House.’
Just then, word arrived from Duke Huam.
He had officially agreed to Christian being dispatched to the Venomous Demonic House.
No one knew it yet....
But the curtain was finally rising on the event that would later be known as the Crimson Green Rebellion.