Chapter 223 – The Land Of Awakened Blind (2)

The recent remarks were completely different from what they knew. Contrary to the rumors, Count London was not a traitor, and Roman Dmitry might really have settled the debts of their kingdom. That alone was shocking.

At a time when accepting that innocent soldiers were killed at their hands made them breathless, hearing about the Annabelle Orphanage was too much.

Annabelle, who was she? At first, she just provided food for the children who lost their homes, but at some point, people asked if she was running an orphanage as the number of kids she was looking after had increased.

Thus, the orphanage came into existence naturally. Anabelle didn’t only hesitate to look after the kids, but she would also help starving people.

The Saint of Redford—people adored her. Even when the King of the nation abandoned the security of the nation, she didn’t. So they couldn’t believe it.

The people looked so lost as they mumbled,

“… Count London is the benefactor of the Annabelle Orphanage?”

“No way. There is no way someone like that traitor would help out that place.”

Actually, the way the orphanage came into existence made no sense. At first, she was just giving food away, but as time went by, the good deeds she was doing began to go beyond what normal people could afford.

The people also had their doubts, yet even though they knew it didn’t make any sense, they didn’t bother digging for the truth.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t change the fact that she helped people. No matter how chaotic the world was, they wanted to believe blindly that a kind person existed in Redford.

However, if the traitor was supporting it, they couldn’t handle the truth that was revealed. While people would talk about how great Annabelle was, they would also talk about how Count London was ruining the nation.

And so the riots occurred. It was Jacqueline who spoke up first, but then everyone agreed to take up arms because the opponent was Count London. Everyone was silent, as they were all too shocked.

Then a person in a robe stepped forward.

The person in a robe walked forward, and the people groaned. The face revealed from under the robe was that of the Saint of Redford.

“… Miss Annabelle. Are Roman Dmitry’s words true? Please say that they aren’t. Prove to everyone that Count London, who is accused of being a traitor to this nation, has never helped the orphanage.”

A person asked. They were desperate not to fall into guilt, but Annabelle shook her head with a sad expression.

“Everything Mr. Roman Dmitry said is true. So put down the weapons you are holding.”

The citizens hesitated. Even after the truth was revealed, they couldn’t put down their weapons to protect their lives.

“I am not half the great person you think of me as. I couldn’t look away from the starving kids, so I shared a little food with them, but then one day, Count London came to visit me. He said that he noticed my good deeds and that if I was willing to take care of people, he would fund the expenses each month. It is the truth about the orphanage that you people don’t know.”

There was no doubt that she was a good person. Good deeds must be backed up with a nice personality, but reality isn’t something that hits you just because of the personality you have.

“Running an orphanage is not easy. If I didn’t have money to buy food for the kids, it wouldn’t work. And if I couldn’t solve the problems of people who needed my help, it wouldn’t work. I wouldn’t have been able to devote myself to the duty in the way you remember me. Because I, like all of you, was someone who couldn’t live in reality. In fact, I wanted to tell the truth about the accusations against Count London. The man sent food and money to the orphanage to help people and didn’t stop even when people called him a traitor.”

The more she spoke, the more tears welled up. Looking at the bewildered people, she recalled her interactions with Count London.

“The title of Saint of Redford is too much for me. If it weren’t for that man, I wouldn’t even be here. When I asked him why he wasn’t telling the truth, he would always say that ‘someone’ doing the task is more important than ‘who’ is doing it. Had I known that you people would attack him, I would have spoken the truth even if he stopped me. Because he wasn’t someone who deserved to be treated like that. The people may not have known the truth, but he deserves all the things in life. That… that is what it should be.”

She didn’t blame the people since they didn’t know the truth. But still, she couldn’t hide the anger in her voice. She was an ordinary woman. People turned her into someone great, but she would never be in that position if not for Count London.

After the riot was over, the children ran to the orphanage with bright faces. Each kid showed a gold coin in their hand and asked Annabelle, who was taking care of them, to accept it with a smile. Such warm hearts.

If she had known that the source of the coins was Count London’s blood, Annabelle wouldn’t have smiled at them. And when she heard the truth, the world collapsed.

When people said they were going to attack, she went to see Count London. And Roman Dmitry, whom she met there, told her what she should do for Count London’s sake.

Annabelle said,

“We all made a huge mistake. Everyone who didn’t see the truth, and I, who didn’t tell the truth despite knowing it. Do not do anything you will regret. Count London, whom you called a traitor, is a man who cared for the kingdom a lot more than anyone else, and if Roman Dmitry came to help at Count London’s request, it is your last chance. Stop, put down your weapons.”

And she ended with that. The people went silent as if they were hypnotized.

And it was Roman Dmitry who broke the silence.

“The day you people came to the mansion to attack Count London, I asked him this. Why don’t you tell the truth? The poverty of this kingdom isn’t the responsibility of the London family, and you are being called a traitor, so why bother helping the people of the kingdom?”

On that day, he said that in the era of hatred and in this harsh reality, in order for the kingdom not to collapse, it was necessary to have someone who could accept the people’s criticism.

“He knew the truth coming out would lessen the accusations against him, but he didn’t do it. In the era of hatred, if someone deserves to be criticized, it is not a noble but the King. He knew that the riot today would turn the nation upside down.”

He looked at Jacqueline. From the moment Annabelle appeared, Jacqueline couldn’t come to his senses.

“Jacqueline. Was this riot purely your intention? Even though it was a secret that even insiders didn’t know that the gold coins were loaded in the carriage to solve the problem with the Golden Bank, you were waiting for the carriage and knew exactly where it was moving. That information—who told you about it? And is the person who told you the information still here?”

“… What?!”

Jacqueline’s eyes went wide. Come to think of it, a strange thing did happen. He was just complaining like any other day, but the owner of the bar was the one who raised the remarks and incited them. It was the same when they visited Count London’s mansion.

His words against Roman Dmitry made him fear that a fight would happen. And now, the owner of the bar was nowhere to be found. He, who told him of the route of the carriage, disappeared like an illusion from the moment the gold coins had been robbed.

“The one who told you about it might have already disappeared. You people had the chance to look at the truth. The fact that the source of the information felt strange and the fact that normal people had taken down aura swordsmen and escort soldiers. If you had thought even for a second, you would have realized how strange it was. The meaning of the series of events is clear. There were people aiming for Redford’s chaos, and you had taken their side. Even though Count London is a person who cared about the nation more than anyone else, from your decision, innocent soldiers were killed, and Count London bled.”

The truth was harsh—100,000 gold, Annabelle, and the fact that they were played—and people couldn’t come to their senses. It turned out that the thing they were happy about—the robbery they were happy about—had plunged the nation into the abyss.

Roman Dmitry said,

“I will ask you one last time. Is Jacqueline someone who can be called the hero of Redford?”

Was that what it felt like to stop an accident? The people were silent. Until a few minutes ago, they were angry.

It was right to attack Count London, and they gathered a force to defeat Roman Dmitry, who tried to touch the hero of Redford.

People flocked to the square. The people who had a hard time every day due to starvation now had glistening eyes with the murderous intent of having their gold taken away. But the truth was different.

Roman Dmitry and Count London. The fact that they were doing things differently from what they had been thinking made the people weak.

Clang!

Clack!

The weapons dropped, and so did their anger. They could no longer raise their weapons and face Roman Dmitry. Their faces were red, and they realized how foolishly they had acted.

And at the center was Jacqueline. He, who had led them into this, felt like he was losing track of reality.

‘…I got played. What the hell did I do?’

Roman Dmitry’s words made his heart clench. He had the chance to see the truth. People accused Count London of being a traitor, but whenever something happened, he always brought in some people to help. Yet the first reaction he received was hostility.

He thought he was exploiting the labor force, but in terms of his attitude and treatment towards the workers, they were given undeserved care. At that time, when Jacqueline had asked what life was like there, a servant of the Count said,

“To be honest, I am quite happy with my life with the London family. I know I will be beaten for saying this, but the Count isn’t as bad as people think. He cares for the people and treats his servants with more respect than anyone else. So don’t hate him. No matter how the world sees him, we know he is a kind person.”

They were absurd words. Everyone accused him of being a traitor, but the servants of the London family said something else. Maybe it was the price of comfort. Since they weren’t starving there, the servants might have liked being there.

He had seen the truth, listened to the truth, and experienced the truth. There were beings who knew the truth without telling it, but unlike them, Jacqueline turned a blind eye.

The day he attended the party, even with food to feed his wife, he went to the pub and complained. Maybe it was an inferiority complex because they were enjoying things that he couldn’t. At that moment…

“… Ah.”

Suddenly, he looked at his hands. The red traces, which he thought were right, began to scare him.

As Roman Dmitry had said, he made an irreparable mistake.