Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

"So, what about the events in their bedroom last night?"

"That's all my brother’s fault, isn't it? I've been his brother for twenty years, and I've never heard of him being a sexual predator like that. Laubert told me that he was also rough with the slave he claimed to be his mistress."

From the tone of voice, there was no hint of guilt or heartache. In fact, he threw his gaze into the air as if he was blaming Linus for being unkind to Simone.

"Then again, I couldn't imagine he could do such a thing to sister-in-law. If he wanted to do something too daring for his main wife, he should get himself a slave mistress, right? And yet... Yesterday was his first day back in the territory. So he lost his patience and treated his wife roughly. He must have been doing something like that on a regular basis then."

"The Count did fall because of the sexual tendencies you said. But what about your speech that you gave at dinner last night? That was very provocative. I wouldn't be surprised if he got angry and acted out of character because of that."

At this point, Tullius blinked his eyes in wonder.

"Huh? Why?"

He looked surprised, as if somebody had pointed out a trivial mistake on an answer that should have received a perfect score. Due couldn't help but choke on his reply.

Could it be that he really said that without any additional meaning to it? Did he really say all that without any malice in his heart, without knowing it would rub Linus the wrong way?

If that were the case, how insensitive was he?

"Because now my enemy isn't an individual like my brother or grandfather. It's the organisation called the centralist faction. If he is willing to cut ties with them, then I have no reason to fight him. On the contrary, he gave me a great place to do research in Marlan. I'm grateful to him now...... Oh, yes. I was planning to be more considerate towards him until sister-in-law asked me for help."

"......I'm stunned. Did you really think you'd be able to make up with your brother now?"

"That much is, well, you know. But I've had the upper hand in the fight against the old man lately. In the first place, the centralist faction is not a faction that matches my brother's ideology. The development of Marlan, which was given to me as a territory, and my faction as a backer. With all of these ingredients, it wouldn't be surprising if they turned to us, right?"

Certainly, in terms of pros and cons, the option to work with Tullius was more appealing. That is, if the pros and cons were strictly the only matters being considered.

"First of all, all I want from him is that he doesn't interfere with my research, that's all. If he does just that, I'll be more than happy to lend him my wisdom and strength. I've been saying this since before he became a count and before I became a viscount, but he is always stubborn about it. I can't stand it."

Due tried to follow up with something but stopped immediately.

There was nothing he could say to this man. While he was in the business of opening up the brains of others, playing with them, and twisting their ways, Tullius had no understanding of the human mind.

No, Tullius was fully capable of understanding the mind. Otherwise, even if he possessed the cheat-like techniques of alchemy, he wouldn't be able to come up with schemes.

However, he fundamentally lacked the ability to empathise with the feelings of others. The value of others in his mind was one or two orders of magnitude lower than that of a normal person because he was too focused on not dying himself. People other than himself were tools or trash. That was the only reason Due could come up with.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to subject several people, even slaves, to human experimentation. He would not have come up with the idea of messing with people's heads to make them obey him. He would not have sacrificed tens of thousands of people just to escape from the grasps of a scheme.

That was fundamentally why he failed to understand Linus's suffering. Even if he could understand Linus's pain, he could not understand his inability to prioritise gain and loss over it. No matter how much his brother hated, angered, or feared him, he could not empathise with those feelings. A man who could not see anyone but himself as a human being could not care for the feelings of another human being.

"......Let's just leave it at that. So, what are you going to do about the lady?"

Due had no choice but to change the subject. All that he would get from continuing that topic was a greater level of suffering.

Though the topic he was directing towards was also an obviously unpleasant topic.

Simone had reached a breaking point in her marital life. What should we do with her? Now that it was time for him to speak, Tullius reclined on his chair and answered.

"I will think of an idea. I'm always grateful to people who treat me well. If sister-in-law wants me to help her, I'll help her to the best of my abilities."

"To the best of your abilities, you say."

Those were untrustworthy words. A person who placed himself first doing everything he could for others. In other words, it was a way to help her while achieving his own goals. And as usual, the method employed by Tullius would be the accursed alchemy. Would Simone really be happy if she was helped like that?

"Well, let's talk about it later with Uni and Victor. I think it would be better if you all considered my idea."

"Is that so. ......Then, I'll hear about the details after preparing myself."

After a while, they had a discussion with Uni and Victor.

The determination that Due prepared was…... unfortunately not in vain.