Kevin's Thoughts

"Say something! Speak up!!"

Kevin looked at his disappointing younger brother, his anger boiling over.

The military was a sensitive matter no matter the time or place.

This was especially true regarding the current Saintess.

She was someone who had personally led an Imperial Expedition to the demon island!

Although she was still young and did not interact much with the knights and soldiers, her prestige was technically still a bit lower than his.

However, she had already established her own authority.

To put it simply, the previous Saintess did not have much control over the military.

Basically, whenever a military issue arose, she would seek his opinion first.

Without his approval, even the Guardian Knight on duty would hesitate before deploying troops.

But this current Saintess was different.

One defense of Brilliant City, one encounter at the Four-Ring Mountains, and one campaign on the demon island.

Three wars against the demon race, three victories.

The current Saintess could now completely ignore his existence as the Heavenly Punishment Knight.

If she issued a direct order to move troops, the Guardian Knights who received it would execute it without the slightest hesitation.

This was true control.

Although he was still the Heavenly Punishment Knight and the commander of the Kingdom of the Moon's military, the Saintess no longer consulted him before deploying troops.

She didn't even bother to notify him anymore.

Just like today, she had suddenly visited the East District infantry barracks without any prior notice.

Without even a word to him, she had directly ordered the army to the streets to clear the snow.

Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with clearing the snow.

It was a reasonable task.

But the fact that she had issued the order directly without consulting or even informing him gave him a sense of impending crisis.

He only found out the infantry were clearing snow when he received the Saintess's summons.

During the entire process, not one of the four Guardian Knights on duty in Brilliant City had notified him.

It could be said that all the military power in Brilliant City was now firmly in the Saintess's hands.

His title as 'commander' existed in name only.

Clearly, the Saintess had grown wary of him.

And rightfully so.

After all, the Cromwell family had been involved in the coup and the attempt to force her hand.

Whether the mastermind was his brother or another relative, it represented the entire Cromwell family.

The fact that the Saintess could forgive them was already generous.

To expect her to trust them completely... Kevin knew he wouldn't be able to be that lighthearted if he were in her position.

The Garnet family had also been a great noble family that occupied the Kingdom of the Moon for a thousand years.

Their foundation was strong and far beyond that of ordinary minor nobles, yet they still could not resist destruction under the turning tide of events.

This served as a sobering wake-up call for him.

The current Saintess seemed to have no favorable impression of the other three major noble families.

And his family, the Cromwells, was the most prominent among them.

Setting aside his role as a commander—which already made him someone the Saintess might be wary of—he was also the head of the Cromwell family.

A family that had participated in a coup.

If the Saintess truly intended to act, the Cromwell family was actually in a very precarious position.

Even though the Saintess never consulted him when deploying the army, he had no complaints.

He was even willing to be excluded from the inner circle.

The most important reason was that he wanted to save the Cromwell family.

He also wanted to save his brother.

He just didn't expect that while he thought the previous matter would fade with time, another incident would occur just two months later!

My foolish little brother!

Do you have a death wish?

"Elmer, you need to realize that the current Kingdom of the Moon is not the same as it was a year ago."

Looking at his silent brother, Kevin felt a deep sense of frustration.

"Our Cromwell family must be cautious in everything we do now."

"How did you dare... to arrange for those two fools to be in the infantry barracks?"

Recalling those people, he had to admit that in this generation of the Cromwell family, besides himself, there was only Hilda, his niece and the great-granddaughter of his third grandfather.

The lineage of his second grandfather, in particular, was almost entirely composed of fools.

And the ones who caused trouble this time were precisely from that lineage.

Those cousins were fine for eating, drinking, and playing, but for actual management?

It was the height of absurdity!

Seemingly pushed too far by his brother's scolding, Elmer wanted to argue back but didn't dare raise his voice.

"I... I did this for the good of the family."

"You! You still dare to say you did it for the family?!"

Kevin's neck turned red with rage as he pointed at his foolish brother, his whole body trembling.

Elmer muttered, "It's true. Look, you're the commander of the three armies now, but what about the others in the family?"

Kevin blinked, feeling like he was about to explode.

But Elmer, with his head down, didn't see this and continued his grumbling.

"The great-granddaughter from the third grandfather's house, that Hilda, is now completely one of the Saintess's people. She doesn't care about the rest of the family at all."

"Take you, for example. You're the commander-in-chief, but the others in the family need a way to get ahead too."

"I'm just saying, if you're eating the meat, you should at least give them some of the soup."

"The people from the second grandfather's line have had many complaints for a long time. I had no choice."

"Yes, I took a little pocket money from the second grandfather, but it wasn't much, only fifty thousand gold coins."

"Besides, I was careful. I didn't send them to the knights; I sent them to the infantry barracks."

"Those two cousins might be useless, but I thought they should at least have something to do."

As he listened to Elmer, the rage on Kevin's face gradually faded.

He slowly became calm.

But this was the calm before a storm.

He looked at his brother flatly.

He asked one question: "So, you arranged for them to be in the infantry barracks?"

Elmer hadn't noticed anything strange yet and only felt wronged as he nodded.

"Yes. Actually, it's not that big of a deal. The Saintess is overreacting."

"The infantry don't even go to the battlefield; they mostly just clean up the aftermath. It's not a big deal if they take a little for themselves."

"Besides, those poor commoners won't actually starve. The Saintess gave them so much extra money this time; even if a few portions were skimmed, it wouldn't hurt them."

"At most, it's just the same as every other year."

As he reached this point, Elmer felt more and more emboldened by his perceived grievances.

Just as he was about to continue, Kevin suddenly interrupted him.

"Elmer."

The calm call made Elmer subconsciously look up.

"Brother?"

"Slap!"

The moment the word left his mouth, Elmer didn't see his brother's face.

Instead, he felt a palm strike his own!

A crisp sound echoed inside the carriage.

Elmer's ears rang, his vision spun, and his mind went blank.

By the time he realized what happened, he was already lying on the floor.

Half of his face was completely numb.

"Bro...ther?"

He widened his eyes, looking at Kevin in disbelief.

Kevin's expression was now extremely tranquil.

He looked at his brother.

"After this is handled today, do not leave the house again once we return. You no longer need to manage family affairs for the time being. Just stay home and go nowhere."

"If you dare take one step out the door, I will break your legs. If you dare interfere in family affairs again, I will cut off your hands. If you ever dare to involve yourself in military or administrative affairs again, I will take your head to our father's grave as an offering."

Elmer stared blankly at his brother.

In that moment, he clearly felt Kevin's killing intent.

This was absolutely not a joke!

Kevin was truly enraged.

"Bro... Brother, I..."

Elmer wanted to say more, but he was met only with a cold gaze.

And a longsword that was already partially drawn.

In that moment, he didn't dare say another word.

Seeing Elmer lower his head in silence, Kevin sheathed his sword.

He slowly closed his eyes until the carriage reached the barracks.

Without any nonsense, he personally executed the two cousins who were the main offenders in front of the entire army.

The dozen or so accomplices were all sent to the dungeon to await sentencing.

By the time everything was resolved, the sky had gradually darkened.

He didn't return to the family estate immediately but headed straight for the Temple.

Elmer watched the entire process, so consumed by fear that he could no longer speak.

He had watched his brother kill their own cousins with his own hands.

He now understood that he had crossed his brother's red line.

With the sound of bells and hooves, the carriage stopped before the Temple.

Kevin stood up and stepped out of the carriage, sword in hand.

Elmer dazed for a moment before jumping out after him.

The north wind howled, and the cold air hitting his face made Elmer shiver.

"You, kneel here."

Elmer looked where his brother was pointing. The heavy snow there was nearly knee-deep.

If he knelt down, most of his body would be buried in the snow.

"Brother, this... this will freeze me to death."

Kevin said nothing, only turning back with his sword in hand, drawing the blade slightly.

Elmer's lips twitched. Seeing the coldness on Kevin's face and the half-drawn sword in his hand, he could only lower his head and obediently walk to the steps Kevin indicated and kneel.

He had no doubt that if he dared to say 'no', his legs would be severed in the next second.

This time, Kevin was serious.

If Elmer didn't kneel, he wouldn't hesitate for a moment.

A pair of legs was nothing compared to the survival of the entire Cromwell family.

But if he didn't have to cut them off, he still preferred not to.

After all, this was his own brother.

Fortunately, Elmer obeyed.

Seeing this, Kevin breathed a long sigh of relief and turned to the guard.

"Please inform her that Kevin Cromwell has come to seek the Saintess's forgiveness for his crimes."

The Temple guard was also a knight. Upon seeing Kevin, he subconsciously moved to kneel.

This was the Heavenly Punishment Knight, the commander of the Kingdom of the Moon's three armies.

But hearing Kevin's words, he was stunned.

"Lord Kevin, you... what did you say? Seek forgiveness?"

"Yes, to seek forgiveness. Please inform her."

The knight took a moment to recover before nodding quickly.

"Please wait a moment, Lord Kevin. I will go inform her immediately."

He turned and ran inside. A short while later, the guard came jogging back out.

"Lord Kevin, the Saintess invites you in."

"Good."

Kevin nodded, then seemed to remember something, pointing at Elmer kneeling in the snow.

"Please watch him. Do not let him stand up for even a single step."

After speaking, Kevin placed his personal sword into the guard's hands.

Strictly speaking, except for the Temple guards, ordinary knights were not allowed to carry swords into the hall.

However, those at the rank of Guardian Knight and above held special privileges.

But today, Kevin disarmed himself anyway.

He straightened his collar, shook out his sleeves, and brushed off his clothes.

Seeing that he looked neat and hadn't lost his manners, he finally felt satisfied enough to step into the hall.

The doors were wide open, and a wave of warmth met him.

The interior of the hall came into view.

At the same time, the sound of conversation reached his ears.

"See? I told you Luo Li's skills were good, didn't I?"

"It is true. I am very grateful to Lady Luo Li. If not for her, I'm afraid I would have spent the rest of my life in a wheelchair. Lady Luo Li, thank you."

"Lady Momoka, you are too kind. It was just a small effort. I will need your help much more in the future."

"I say, why are you two being so formal? We're all family now. Stop with the 'Lady' this and 'Lady' that; it makes my skin crawl! Can't you just use our names?"

Kevin glanced up as he heard this.

Three girls were sitting on the sacred bed.

Lina was sitting cross-legged in a carefree manner, stuffing a pastry into her mouth.

Momoka was kneeling gracefully, holding a half-cup of fragrant tea with a smile on her lips.

And there was Luo Li, leaning leisurely against a small tea table, her silver hair draped behind her.

Kevin's brow twitched at the sight.

Though he knew his Saintess had a good relationship with the other two Saintesses, seeing the three of them on one sacred bed still made his heart skip a beat.

The current Saintess's influence was truly immense and frightening.

"This humble subject, Heavenly Punishment Knight Kevin Cromwell, greets the Saintess and the two Ladies."

When Luo Li heard this title, her expression didn't change at all.

But in her heart, she was quite satisfied.

Actually, no matter how Kevin referred to himself, she wouldn't have said anything, at least not in this setting.

"Kevin is here? Nara, quickly, bring a seat."

Luo Li nodded to Kevin with a smile, then turned to look at Lina.

"What do you mean 'all family'? That sounds so strange."

"But you're right. Since things have come to this, continuing to use titles would be being too formal."

"If you don't mind, let's just use names from now on, Momoka."