The Inside Story, Trust

At those words, Roland's heart gave a violent jolt. When he met John's eyes, he felt as though the man before him had seen straight through him. And as if to confirm his suspicion, John slowly spoke a moment later:

"The person who's been targeting you all this time is Marquis Schwarz's lawful wife, Milany Abbas, isn't it?"

"But I truly never imagined that a vile wretch with no real authority, someone who can only rely on her family's power to play her sordid little tricks, could frighten you so badly that you wouldn't dare accuse her of her wrongdoing. No, you don't even dare speak her name or identify her."

"Honestly, if Krauser hadn't personally recommended you to me, I would have thrown you out the moment you showed me that spineless willingness to suffer in silence." "After all, there's no place for cowards in the troops under my command!"

Of course, throwing him out was out of the question. Roland was the best battlefield sweeper among the Twelve Guardians. Although his individual combat strength outside a battlefield fell short of Lothar at his peak—the Winter Wolf Earl on the Empire's northwestern frontier—

John knew his potential and talent inside out.

That hardly stopped him from using the threat to frighten Roland, though. As for how well it worked, Roland's terrified expression said it all. "Governor John, please forgive me. I—I wasn't deliberately trying to hide anything..."

Hearing John expose his greatest secret right off the bat left Roland stunned and bewildered.

After all, as far as he knew, Milany had always been extremely discreet about persecuting him. Even Lord Krauser had failed to uncover the truth during his investigation. He had only learned that someone behind the scenes was interfering, denying Roland any chance of promotion.

Although Roland