Father Slayer

Grant's expression changed almost immediately.

"Benjamin... he had been in contact with you all this time?"

"No, this was the first letter he had sent back in so long." Claude hurriedly explained, "This letter was addressed to you. He just might not have been able to get it into your hands, so he asked me to pass it along..."

But Grant suddenly waved a hand, cutting Claude off.

"Do you know what he had been doing overseas?"

Hearing that, Claude looked at Grant's suddenly agitated expression and fell silent as well. After a moment, he answered the question with a silent nod.

Grant realized he had lost his composure. He drew a deep breath and tried to remain calm, but his voice still carried a current of resentment. "He hid it from all of us, became a mage, and then announced that secret to the world from the stake... It was true that he escaped, but had he ever thought about what we were supposed to do?"

Claude raised his head. "He went to the stake in your place."

"It wasn't like I told him to go!" As though someone had stabbed at a raw wound, Grant's voice abruptly rose. "I'd rather have been tied to the stake and burned to death than live like this, with everyone acting as if I owed him."

At last, Claude could no longer hold back. He slapped the table, throwing away all the etiquette he had displayed before the Pope and returning to the stern father he had once been.

"I never said you owed him anything, but... he is still your elder brother!"

"So what? So I'm supposed to do what he said in his letter—abolish doctrines that have stood for years and tell everyone that mages can live peacefully alongside others?"