779
"Why?"
Traynor discovered that he still could not understand his father's way of thinking at all. If the sole purpose of teaching a student for two hundred years was to watch him die horribly, Traynor could accept that, but he could not understand why his own father would have such a peculiar taste.
Edward had no desire to explain these things in detail to a child who had not even reached Sequence Two. The boy had been fragile since childhood and remained fragile as an adult. He could not withstand an influx of secret knowledge and could easily drop dead.
Gods and authorities were all too complicated for him. He had no interest in hearing about them at all. Just like the astronomy and art he had pretended to be interested in as a child to grow closer to his father, they were actually all things he disliked:
"No particular reason."
"Do you hate him that much?"
Traynor could not leave, but he felt he ought to at least get a reason out of him.
"If you hate him that much, you never needed to bring him back! Mother told me that Richard was being hunted by members of the Indulgence Faction and was forced to trespass on the Estate, but you chose to bring him back and clear him of his crime. Are you angry because he disregarded that kindness, repeatedly betrayed you, and even spoke disrespectfully to you?"
"...You certainly know the details. You know him quite well." Edward was rather surprised. "Did that brat tell you after last year's Great Smog that he'd cursed me to die?"
-He really did! Traynor felt his capacity to cope explode along with the cat's fur.
"But that isn't why. I wouldn't take a little thing like cursing me to