Chapter 93: Tattling and Three-Card Monte (1)
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away.
There lived a slow-moving private.
This private always got the crap beaten out of him by his seniors.
So one day, the private made a wish.
‘Dear stars, please help me get along with my seniors.’
And lo and behold, a star came down to the base!
‘…And at the wrath of the two-star general, the mean-spirited seniors were express-shipped straight to the brig. Ah, happy ending. A very happy ending.’
Lloyd curled up one side of his lip.
Suddenly, his military days came to mind.
There was a guy who enlisted at the same time as him.
That guy had a good personality, but the military wasn’t really for him.
He was a bit slow.
Not very perceptive either.
To make matters worse, he had terrible luck.
A few of their seniors were downright nasty.
He got called out and beat up by them nearly every day. No, it was often worse than that.
After months of this, the guy half-crying one day said he was thinking of deserting.
Lloyd gave him some advice.
Why would you desert?
Instead, file a report on the seniors’ abuse.
Two weeks later, the whole unit was turned upside down.
The division commander came to the base, and the seniors who had assaulted his fellow recruit were all dragged to the brig.
It was the power of that report.
And the guy found happiness.
A kind of happy ending, in its own way.
‘Whew. Today was just like that.’
Lloyd took off the cumbersome ceremonial overcoat.
He flung the loosened tie over a chair in his room.
Then collapsed onto the sofa.
Sink—comfortably plush, and the fatigue washed over him.
Along with it came the memories of the day’s events.
‘Thank goodness. Everything wrapped up just the way I planned.’
The suspension bridge was finally completed.
And the completion ceremony that commemorated it.
He was awarded the honorary title of Master Builder by the Queen.
He received all the promised perks and rewards.
And as a bonus at the end—he tattled.
He still couldn’t forget it.
Queen Alicia’s expression when she listened to his report—it was downright chilling.
“…Injustice? Irrationality? And on top of that, underhanded?”
Her voice flowed cold as ice.
Her Majesty the Queen Alicia was someone with a strong sense of justice and fairness. She particularly despised those who used their power to oppress the weak.
That aspect of her character had been emphasized multiple times in the novel Iron Blooded Knight.
At least, that was how she had been—before the attempted regicide that cost her an arm.
And that was the reason.
Lloyd figured she would respond well to his tattling.
The timing was perfect too—she fully trusted him.
This was an opportunity.
And when an opportunity comes, you seize it.
Miss it, and you’re a fool.
Convinced, he had nodded firmly.
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
Now came the important part.
Choose his words carefully.
Deploy vocabulary strategically.
“With all due respect, what I witnessed at the Academy was utterly diverged from its founding ideals.”
“Diverged?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
“Explain in detail.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
His strategy was working.
He put even more strength into his voice.
“Instead of devoting themselves to learning, the students cling to factions. Rather than competing with their knowledge and wisdom, they rely on the ranks and authority of their noble houses. The heirs of marquis and count families join forces to bully the son of a viscount, and the viscount’s son is pushed into tormenting a baron’s child. And everyone stays silent. Time that should be spent in academic pursuit is instead wasted savoring the sweetness of power, and time meant for nurturing ambitions for the world is spent despairing before the irrational wall of class hierarchy.”
These were thoughts he had harbored in his heart for this very day.
Sharpened like a blade and delivered without hesitation.
“Even the Academy’s own stance, which should be guiding the students, is no different. Supervisors who should call out injustice instead pocket bribes. Professors who should fear and oppose the world’s corruption only fear falling out of favor with noble families. And the headmaster, who should be correcting this lamentable state, only silences the pleas for help from students of lesser houses.”
It was all true.
It began that day when he brought Julian out of the Academy.
Even while busy with the suspension bridge construction, he’d made time to investigate.
He met janitors and cafeteria workers at the Academy.
He also visited low-ranking nobles who had graduated.
From them, he gathered many testimonies and reports.
All kinds of sordid corruption.
Supervisors and the headmaster turning a blind eye to injustice while pocketing hush money.
High-ranking noble students growing even more brazen under that protection.
Such irrational practices, like deeply rooted rot, had taken hold over time.
He gathered as many related testimonies as possible.
And carefully collected evidence.
He took that evidence out from inside his clothes.
A bundle of rolled-up papers.
“These are records I compiled of when and where certain Academy staff received private funds. Each item is accompanied by the names of those involved and the witnesses.”
“Unroll it and show me.”
At the Queen’s command, he unfurled the papers.
Handed them over with care.
Everything that followed went like clockwork.
The documents were so neatly organized with evidence and witness lists that the moment she read them, the Queen’s eyes changed.
And she transformed into a fury-possessed division commander descending upon the base where a report had been filed.
“In other words, we’ll be summoning and punishing every last one of them from now on.”
Lloyd snapped out of his thoughts and let out a small chuckle.
He looked toward the entrance of the room.
Julian was standing there.
He was a bit more tanned than when they first met a few months ago.
His once-scrawny frame had filled out a little too.
But his round and youthful features were still the same.
That kid was glancing over awkwardly.
“If you’ve got something to say, go ahead.”
Pat pat.
Lloyd tapped the seat next to him.
Julian shuffled over hesitantly.
Instead of sitting, he stood there, wrinkling his nose.
“Umm, so… what happens now?”
“What do you mean what happens?”
“Those guys.”
“The Academy guys?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you worried?”
“Not really. Just curious.”
Well, it was understandable to be curious.
They were the ones who tormented him for so long.
And there were plenty who stood by and watched.
But now, all of them were about to be struck down by the Queen’s wrath.
Lloyd let out a small chuckle.
“I don’t know either.”
“Huh?”
“How should I know what happens to them? Whether they die or not, whatever.”
“…Are they going to die?”
“Probably not punished that harshly. But—”
“But?”
“They’re definitely in for some serious punishment. Some guy’s going to prison on bribery charges. One of those high-ranking noble heirs is getting a good old-fashioned flogging and will be confined to his estate for years, not allowed to step a foot outside.”
“…”
“And anyone even remotely involved is going to have their noble lives completely screwed over. Because they’ve been royally blacklisted by the most powerful person in the kingdom.”
“Wait, so… you planned all this from the start?”
“More or less.”
It was the truth.
Ever since he took Julian out of the Academy.
No, even from the moment he began maneuvering against Diego.
He had planned it all—how to provoke them, rile them up, expose them, and completely crush them.
“It wasn’t all that complicated. I just happened to land a royal construction contract. It was something the palace really needed at the time. I figured if I pulled it off well, I’d earn some favor. And if I had Her Majesty’s trust, then the tattling would go over well.”
“…”
Lloyd shrugged as if it was no big deal.
Julian, unconsciously, swallowed dryly.
There was something… overwhelming about this.
He hadn’t been like that before.
Back then, Lloyd was just some impulsive brute who threw tantrums.
But not anymore.
Julian had been watching since the day he was forced to take a leave of absence and dragged out of the Academy—but this Lloyd Frontera didn’t feel like the same spoiled thug he once knew.
He didn’t drink.
He had become shockingly diligent.
And especially toward Julian, he was even… gentle.
‘He hasn’t yelled at me even once in all these months.’
A gentle and kind Lloyd Frontera?
Back then, even imagining that was impossible.
Sometimes he even wondered if it was the same person.
‘It felt weird at first… but after a while, it wasn’t so bad.’
Even the part where Lloyd made him dig.
It was the first time he had ever held a shovel in his life.
Of course it was hard.
His muscles ached for days in the beginning.
He even got blisters on his palms—and they peeled.
But even that stinging pain, the soreness—it all felt like nothing.
Compared to the torment he faced every day at the Academy, it really was nothing at all.
‘Actually, it felt kinda satisfying.’
He spent the whole day sweating and digging.
Every time he dug, something changed.
The dirt moved. Bangul ate it. Then it turned into wire. Ppodong gathered and twisted the wire to make cables.
And those cables held up the suspension bridge in the capital.
He felt proud.
It all started with his digging.
His shovel work had helped support that bridge.
Just thinking that made his chest swell.
It gave him confidence.
Just as his body had strengthened from months of digging, he started to believe in himself more—because the results were built from his own sweat.
‘Maybe… my brother made me dig just so I could feel that.’
Julian looked at Lloyd.
His brother, in a half-loosened outfit, was smiling faintly.
A brother he always resented, found annoying, and was ashamed of.
But for the first time… he looked a little different.
And maybe that’s why.
Maybe that’s why Julian—without meaning to, and certainly never intending to—ended up saying what he thought he’d never say to Lloyd.
“…Thanks.”
“Huh?”
“I said, thank you.”
“You eat something weird today?”
Lloyd dug a finger in his ear.
Only then did Julian realize his slip-up (?), and his face instantly twisted.
“Yeah. Must’ve. I feel sick.”
“Honestly, me too. Like I might puke out of my ear.”
“Don’t joke. I’ve got goosebumps right now.”
“Just goosebumps? I’ve got bumps on my tongue.”
Lloyd stuck out his tongue.
Julian let out a breathy laugh.
“…Hey, bro.”
“Yeah, what.”
“When are you going back home?”
“Hmm. Probably tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? That soon?”
“Yup.”
Lloyd nodded.
There was no more reason to stay in the capital.
“The project’s done. I’ve received everything I was supposed to from Her Majesty. Time to return to the estate. There’s a pile of unfinished work waiting for me.”
And it was true.
The Bitumen Mine, the Marez reclamation zone, the waterworks.
There were so many things that needed managing.
“Besides, I’ve saved up enough to pay off the debt now. But if I stick around here too long? And I miss the interest payment date? Then I’ll end up paying an extra round of interest for no reason. So before that deadline hits, I need to head back and clear everything up.”
“Oh, yeah. That makes sense… but…”
Julian scratched his cheek.
“I didn’t actually know about that.”
“Didn’t know what?”
“That our family… the debt you just mentioned.”
“Oh, that?”
“Yeah. I seriously didn’t know. I was just here studying. Even though Dad and Mom sent me letters every month, they never once mentioned it. I had no idea how bad things were.”
Julian lowered his head.
To be honest, he felt a little ashamed.
Until now, he always thought he had it the hardest.
He thought he was the one suffering the most, living far from home in a strange land.
Busy with studies, getting bullied on top of it all.
He thought he was admirable for enduring it and not telling his family.
But the truth he had learned—albeit late—was a little different.
He had heard it from Javier.
How their father had been swindled.
How the family was crushed under a mountain of debt.
And how Lloyd started to change because of it.
“…Honestly, I didn’t believe it at first. That my brother had changed. I mean, how was I supposed to believe that so easily? But then Sir Asrahan said it. That you were really incredible. That sometimes you were petty, sure—but you worked hard. You really tried. And if it weren’t for you, our family would’ve already collapsed.”
He couldn’t even begin to describe how shocked he was when he heard all that.
How many times he clenched and unclenched his fists without realizing it.
How many deep sighs he let out as he thought about what his family had gone through.
How much he blamed himself after finally understanding the truth.
‘Turns out I had it the easiest all along.’
And yet, he never knew.
He just assumed Lloyd was still the same as before.
He didn’t trust his brother. All he did was grumble.
Acted like a brat, plain and simple.
“…So I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?”
“Yeah.”
Julian gave a small nod.
He couldn’t meet Lloyd’s eyes—it was too embarrassing.
But he summoned the courage.
If not today, then never.
His brother would return to the estate tomorrow.
So he had to say it now.
With that, Julian carefully let out the words he had kept buried in his heart for the past few months—words too mortifying to say until now, but honest nonetheless.
“I’m going to stop hating you.”
And at that moment—
Ding-dong.
[Julian Frontera is conveying his heartfelt feelings to you.]
[Julian Frontera’s emotional knots are beginning to loosen.]
[Julian Frontera now acknowledges you as his brother.]
[Julian Frontera’s affection toward you has increased by +65.]
[Current relationship with Julian Frontera: +6]
[You have earned 910 RP for significantly improving relations with a key character.]
[Current RP: 3,929]
[Your intimacy level with Julian Frontera has increased by 3 tiers, from <Hostile> through <Awkward> and <Indifferent> to <Casual Interest>.]
[You have earned a bonus of 100 RP for the intimacy level increase.]
[Current RP: 4,029]
A warmth he hadn’t expected gently knocked at his heart.
