The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-279

Chapter 279: Something Money Can’t Buy (1)

Once an ambitious challenger who coveted the throne of the Bourgeois Clan. The silver medalist, Damian, of the bourgeois Clan, Imperial Mint’s Director, and an external director of the bourgeois holding Clan. Wealth, honor, power, luxurious mansions, splendid carriages, beautiful spouses – despite having everything that seems like a life of abundance, why has he lost all enthusiasm for life?

“…I’ve seen it all, everything.” Damian spoke with a somber voice.

As Vikir had suspected, the cause was his daughter.

“No matter how much money you have, children don’t always turn out as you wish. I realized that fact far too late.”

Damian spoke quietly.

As Vikir knew from Damian’s life before the regression, Damian had an illegitimate daughter named “Juliet.” Long, tousled white hair, clear eyes, and a face that always smiled like an adorable puppy.

“Like all bourgeois, my daughter also had to climb the examination platform as soon as she was born.”

Damian explained the upbringing of the Bourgeois.

Commoners, bastards, and the like grow up and mature within the family, but the “true” ones are different. Just as the young bastards of Baskerville are abandoned in the wild of the Red and Black Mountains, the heirs of the Bourgeois, who will lead the family in the future, are sealed in a caste and thrown into society as commoners.

Surviving in society is as difficult as surviving in the wild.

The young Bourgeois’ who will one day take over the reins of the family must rely solely on his or her own strength to succeed in the imperial capital ‘Venetior’, the center of the empire, without any help from parents or family.

The rigorous process, experiencing both the bottom and the top of society, aims to prevent them from becoming privileged and elitist spoiled brats.

Juliet, Damian’s daughter, also went out into society disguised as a commoner to gain practical experience suitable for her age. During the demanding verification period that lasted more than ten years, she never once used her father or family background.

Esse, Non Videri. ‘To be, not to seem’ – the motto of the Bourgeois Younguns.

“Bourgeois always nurture two or more leaders for checking and competition. In my generation, it was me and my elder brother.”

The clash between Bartolomeo and Damian for the family position.

The result was the victory of Bartolomeo, the eldest son.

…But Damian did not give up.

Bartolomeo’s illegitimate daughter and Damian’s illegitimate daughter.

Coincidentally, both brothers had only one daughter each.

Damian believed without a doubt that his daughter possessed more talent and ability than his brother’s daughter. And someday, when his daughter returned, he thought he could regain everything he had lost and reach the pinnacle of the family.

“But that expectation was cruelly shattered. My daughter gave up the exam midway and returned to the family.”

Juliet. While living as a commoner, she revealed her identity and family, leading to her disqualification as an heir.

Juliet, who revealed her identity and status, even returned to her family and asked her father for help.

“Father, I’ve found someone I love.”

Damian tightly closed his eyes.

“…Went out for volunteer work and fell in love with an unheard-of, humble guy from the bottom. I sent her to experience the bottom, but she ended up settling there.”

The man’s name was Romeo.

Far from leading the family, he was no different from the servants doing hundreds of odd jobs at the bottom. An unremarkable man with an unremarkable background, appearance, talent, and an unremarkable future.

The only slightly special aspects were his frail body, a limited lifespan, and perhaps a somewhat detached attitude due to that.

Uninterested in any values people hang their necks for—money, honor, power, success, promotion, recognition, ostentation—he simply showed kindness and affection to everyone while serving.

Also, identifying himself as a poet, he lived his life embracing nature and art. Juliet fell for this man with a unique charm.

Damian clenched his hair with his hands.

“I was furious. In my eyes, that man was just a lazy and talentless wanderer. An incompetent person who covers his inability by pretending to be modest. A trash trying to fix his fate by seducing a rich girl. That’s what I thought.”

Damian was enraged by the foolish mistake of his illegitimate daughter, whom he had raised with great care and had placed huge expectations upon.

But Juliet did not yield.

‘He’s a good man, Dad; he has something we don’t have, and he might be able to bring some happiness back to you, who had been so disappointed since he didn’t become the head of the clan! If he’s the one, I’m sure…!”

Of course, Damian did not listen to his daughter’s words.

Daughter who dropped out of her exam to save him, (a man who has nothing), revealed her identity and even requested a substantial amount for his hospital bills.

Damian did not accept Juliet’s earnest plea to save Romeo.

Instead, he sent a hired thug to drag Romeo out to a rainy roadside, beat him severely, and ordered Juliet to part ways with him.

And on that night.

Juliet came to find Damian in the midst of a storm with lightning and torrential rains.

“…Father?”

Damian did not respond.

Then Juliet spoke with an unwavering voice.

“In the end, he didn’t even utter your name. I kept on probing him, all he said was ‘All fathers must think of their sons-in-law as thieves’, and laughed, saying he would have done the same.”

Juliet bowed deeply.

And she left.

For a while, Damian hesitated in anger and sorrow. It wasn’t until he felt that if he let Juliet go like this, he might never see his daughter again, that he belatedly followed her.

Juliet, in front of Damian, boarded a carriage and left.

Damian urgently organized a pursuit party to find his daughter.

After a considerable amount of time, Damian discovered the carriage Juliet was driving.

Juliet was driving the carriage, carrying Romeo in a difficult condition.

The two seemed to be heading to a very distant place, far beyond the gaze of the people, forever.

Damian, of course, couldn’t just let it happen. So, he released his well-trained horses and chased after them.

Then, an accident occurred.

…Crash!

A rainy road. Slippery pavement. Horses startled by the thunder.

A common cliche, a tragic ending that was easily predictable.

The carriage driven by Juliet overturned, and the two died on the spot.

“How unfortunate,” Vikir remarked indifferently.

Although it was a fact already known through rumors, hearing it directly from the person involved carried a different weight.

At that moment, Damian spoke again.

“It’s a bit different from the rumors known to the public.”

“…?”

“My daughter didn’t die.”

…!

From this point on, it was a story even Vikir hadn’t heard before.

Damian continued.

“When I first rushed to the scene, my daughter was in that guy’s arms.”

“…?”

“He was completely battered, but my daughter didn’t have a scratch. I don’t know how that could be.”

The subsequent story Damian told was a bit longer.

After regaining consciousness, Juliet immediately asked about Romeo’s condition.

Deliberately, Damian conveyed the harsh reality as it was.

It may have broken her heart, but Damian wanted his daughter to take this opportunity to give up on him and move on.

And so, he wished for a suitable, charming spouse from their own clan or other seven great clans for his daughter. From that moment, the real tragedy began.

Upon hearing that story, Juliet immediately fainted. She lay motionless for a while, then regained consciousness, only to faint again. This cycle repeated several times until, after dozens of fainting spells, she ultimately fell into a state from which she would never awaken again.

Damian, gripping his hair with his hands, said, “My daughter didn’t die. She simply can never wake up again, as if she were dead.”

Though she breathed, she lacked consciousness—a mysterious state that defied medicines, poisons, or divine intervention.

Damian spared no effort to awaken his daughter. He spent vast amounts of money, tried numerous elixirs, sought the help of experts, and even humbly requested cooperation from other seven great clans.

However, every attempt ended in failure. Priests, sorcerers, pharmacists, and doctors all shook their heads. The deep emotional wounds that rejected communication were beyond any remedy.

Damian, with a hazy gaze, continued to gaze at the night sky.

“The human heart, especially love, is so great and magnificent. I tried to forcibly tear it apart, for reasons as trivial as money, honor, and status. Oh, thinking about it now, I can’t believe I did that.”

The starlight pouring down so brilliantly did not reach his eyes. His voice, uttering something now unreachable, was empty and hollow.

Thus, he lost all enthusiasm for life. He couldn’t empathize with the laughter and chatter of revelers in the party hall. Because, in the face of human love, money was truly nothing, mere dust.

“…Why did I do that?”

Damian slowly shed tears of blood. If only he could see his daughter’s smiling face one more time, what did money, status, and all that matter?

He could have given up everything.

But now, it was an impossible task.

Vikir knew.

There was only one way. Only extremely powerful necromancy that could traverse the boundaries between the living and the dead can achieve that.

Ghost tree.

It was a mysterious entity that directly contacted the soul, whether the person was dead, alive, or unable to die.

Vikir spoke with a dry voice.

“If I were to give you a chance to talk to your daughter?”

…!

Damian’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear apart upon hearing Vikir’s words.

The starlight shimmered on the blood tears streaming down.

Vikir asked again with certainty, “In that case, what can you give me in return?”