A Scumbag Always Gets What He Deserves

33: The power of mutual need

Rege watched in exasperation as Cassia, who hadn't even been invited, sat down calmly, removed her white silk gloves, and politely applauded the performance on stage.

Jian Qiao's voice was impassive: "Three days ago we made an agreement. And three days later you broke our agreement. Since that's the case, I won't interfere in your affairs in the future. I shouldn't have meddled."

As he said this, he continued to gaze at the dwarfs without any expression on his face.

He had so little trust left in human beings. Reluctantly and with great trepidation he'd dared to believe in another person for the first time, and this was the outcome. What he thought of as care and protection might just be a burden for Rege.

"No, I didn't! I didn't even invite this woman! Butler, butler! Get over here!" Rege was so anxious his head was dripping sweat.

He took hold of Jian Qiao's cold hand and explained urgently, "Jian, I'll do what I promised you, I—"

Without waiting for him to explain further, and without waiting for the panicked butler to reach their table, the old Duke slowly said, "I invited her. When I saw she was not on the guest list, I added her myself. I didn't want the servants to miss the most important guest. I thought you bought these dwarfs to make her laugh, and the reason you spent so much time rehearsing was to gain her favor."

The old Duke looked at his son and said softly, "I wanted you to win the bet. And I wanted you to get back the ring engraved with the family crest."

Clearly he was very informed about Rege's affairs. He knew about the game, and he knew Cassia was the target his son was chasing.

He thought he was helping his son.

For a few seconds Rege was stunned. Then he revealed an expression of intense anger.

He suddenly approached the old Duke, oppressing him with his unusually tall body, and pointed at his nose. In a low growl he said, "You think, you think, everything is what you think! You impose your will on all of us, but never consider our feelings!

"Do you think I like war and killing? No, I don't! When I was five years old I told you I wanted to become a wayfaring knight, but you said all the men of Grande have to be soldiers. So I became a soldier.

"Do you know what happened when I went to war for the first time and saw blood and hacked up limbs all over the ground? I vomited! And because of that, I almost got my head cut off by the enemy. When I left the battlefield I was still vomiting. I vomited for three days and nights and almost fainted! I was only fifteen years old at the time!

"But I had to overcome that fear because you wouldn't approve! If I couldn't be a brave and fearless warrior I wouldn't be worthy of being your son. I'd be banished, even stripped of the Grande name! I didn't want to be the good-for-nothing you said I was, so I forced myself to wade through blood, to wallow in killing, and finally became a monster born for war.

"But while I was giving everything, even my life, to win glory for Grande, Hall got your unconditional love without doing a thing. Hall enjoyed the power I brought and took away the wealth and land I won on the field of battle, because you loved him unconditionally! You didn't ask him to do anything! He had only one identity—your beloved son. You were willing to give him everything, including what I and Moen had! So I came to understand there were some things I'd never have, like my father's love."

Rege shook his head and said with hatred in every word, "In my heart, my father is already dead! The only way you can help me is to never bother me!"

The old Duke looked at him in amazement. His muddy eyes trembled with tears.

He never knew his son endured so much pain the first time he went to war. And he never thought about how his younger son struggled to survive on the battlefield while his older son relaxed in a castle full of flowers, sipping afternoon tea.