"Unbelievable that this fool has come again. It seems like today will be worse than before."

As soon as Rayn saw the emblem on the carriage, he knew who had come and also that trouble often accompanied who sat inside the carriage.

"It's truly our misfortune, but you shouldn't say that, Rayn. This person might hear you and cause unnecessary problems for you."

"Yes, that's true. Still, I can't help but vent a little of the built-up anger."

Rayn sighed, feeling helpless. He knew that today he wasn't acting on his best judgment.

'This day surely isn't my best... but if I say that, what about Roudel? what he would say about his day or even days?'

Rayn glanced at his friend, whose day was undoubtedly much worse than his own.

"Don't worry, Rayn. It's not like I don't feel what you're feeling right now. Just make sure no one hears you so you won't get into unnecessary trouble."

Even the usually kind-hearted Roudel looked at the carriage with disdain, not expecting anything good to come.

Rayn nodded, trying to control his anger and choose his words wisely and respectfully in front of this notoriously troublesome visitor.

It was evident that the approaching carriage was the effeminate carriage.

And since both of them hoped that this carriage would never arrive, or at least be delayed, the carriage soon arrived at the palace gate. Then the effeminate put his head out of the carriage window on Roudel's side, placing his hand over his mouth, then laughed in a suspicious tone.

"hohoho, isn't this the stupid guard who only knows how to sweat?"

"Welcome, young master Dudrian," Roudel replied politely, avoiding any trouble, which irritated the effeminate for not responding to his provocation.

"At least your feeble mind knows how to respond to your masters."

"Thank you for your praise, young master."

The effeminate became even angrier when he saw that his attempts to provoke Roudel had failed, feeling like the fool instead of Roudel. But he didn't want to appear defeated, so he suppressed his anger.

"I don't want to engage in conversation with you in public, lest people see me and think I'm exchanging words with fools... But since it's your duty to guard, dear Rayn is here too."

After saying that, he withdrew his hand from the carriage window and began waving it in the air while shouting.

"Dear Rayn, have you come from this direction just to see me? Your beloved Doodoo has arrived; you must have missed me."

Rayn was always one to know how to control his facial expressions well. However, at this moment, his expressions began to distort, but quickly returned to normal. This didn't mean he became calm; rather, it just meant he was good at hiding his anger.

"........"

Rayn decided not to respond to the effeminate one, at least not immediately. Meanwhile, Doudrian continued waving his hand, and a golden bracelet adorned with diamonds fell from it near the carriage door.

"No!! This bracelet fell from my hand. The regimen I follow to keep my body slender has begun to bear fruit."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Doudrian laughed proudly, covering his mouth with his hand, then looked at Roudel with disdain.

"Oh, muscles, were you useful enough to pick up this bracelet from the ground?"

"Yes, young Master Doudrian."

Complying with the effeminate one's requests, Roudel stepped forward to pick up the bracelet, then bowed to hand over the precious piece. At that moment, a smirk appeared on Doudrian's face.

"If you don't come to me, dear Rayn, then I will come to you."

Taking advantage of Roudel's proximity to the carriage door, Doudrian decided to leave the carriage and pushed the door with all his might, causing it to collide with Roudel's head, which was already facing the door.

The carriage door hit Roudel's head with such force that the strong-bodied young man recoiled backward, almost falling to the ground from the sudden blow.

"what is this! It seems that there's something useless standing in my way? Hmmm, is that you, muscle head? No wonder."

Roudel stood there, holding his head with one hand and the bracelet with the other. He remained silent, looking at the bracelet, despite the pain inflicted by the blow. Not a single groan escaped his lips.

"It seems that at least you're good at catching. Now, hand me the bracelet. It's very valuable, especially to someone like you, so don't let it get dirty in your hands."

"Too precious?"

Roudel asked, but the question wasn't directed at Doudrian; rather, he was speaking to himself.

"Either you're a fool or blind not to realize that. Yes, this bracelet is too precious, to the extent that even if you sold yourself, your possessions, and your useless family, you wouldn't be able to buy a single jewel from my bracelets."

"My family is useless?"

Roudel addressed himself again, and his expression began to show a hint of worry and pain.

"hohoho, it seems I've corrupted the last piece of your sane brain, and now you're officially useless."

Doudrian laughed happily, seeing this person who irritated his eyes behaving strangely, as if he had truly become foolish. He raised his hand and began to lightly slap his face as if trying to wake him up, speaking loudly.

"Hey, you, give me back my damn bracelet and let me go on my way. Can you hear me, you fool?"

Rayn was still standing in place, unaware of what was happening with his friend, as the carriage was acting as a barrier between him and the place where the bracelet fell.

"That screaming!! Don't tell me..."

But as soon as he heard the scream of the effeminate one, who usually kept his voice low to sound gentle, only then did Rayn realize that something unpleasant had happened. That's when he moved from his place, even though he didn't want to see the so-called Doudrian, but he knew that something bad was about to happen.

"...shit."

And as soon as he saw what happened; Roudel holding his head and the bracelet with his other hand, while the effeminate one stood shouting in his friend's face as he slapped him, Rayn roughly knew what had happened, even though he didn't see anything during the incident.

"Not good, Roudel having a bad day, in addition to the pressures he faced in recent months, he's now in an unstable situation. If I let this effeminate one continue his bullying, it might happen again."

Rayn hurried to rectify the situation before it got out of control and led to undesirable consequences.

"I can still do it; I must not allow that to happen again."

.

..

...

"When Roudl felt the slaps, his anger began to rise. All the sadness, disappointments, and long work without return; all his negative feelings were unleashed with each slap, not painful but humiliating.

The simple and optimistic young man's thinking began to change. Instead of his usual positive outlook, he started thinking in a twisted and pessimistic way. This transformation began when he started denying the reality he had reached.

'Why, despite all my efforts to achieve my goal, have I never succeeded?' Roudl asked himself a question that he had longed to shout whenever he saw his efforts go in vain. It was an unexpected question, one for which he didn't anticipate any answer, but the response came from within, as if there was another person with him.

'What's the point of this question? Isn't the answer obvious? Please don't ask a question you already know the answer to.'

'I... I know the answer? Really? Then why have I failed?

"Sigh, because you're naive. It's just that simple... seriously, do you really think every good deed will be rewarded?" The hidden voice expressed disappointment.

'Of course, I'll be rewarded. No matter what I do, it won't be in vain.'

'Really?' The hidden voice replied skeptically.

'Allow me to ask you the same question: why haven't you achieved what you hoped for despite your hard work and dedication?....'

'In truth... it must be that the circumstances weren't in my favor, right?' Roudl couldn't find a better response.

'The circumstances?? Sigh, you don't even say that with confidence. But what else can I expect from you? Of course, you don't have the answer. Let me help you. It's up to you to choose the outcome. You choose whether to fail or succeed regardless of the circumstances you're in.'

'I choose the outcome!!?... Impossible, that's an arrogant statement and far from reality. Rayn always told me that humans have the ability to control their actions, not their outcomes.'

'Rayn said this, Rayn said that. Do you not have any ability to think for yourself? Do you never listen to your own thoughts? Or do you not have them at all? You know that our friend Rayn is not always right, he's wrong sometimes too. You know this, don't you? Rely on yourself a little.' The hidden voice reproached Roudl, dissatisfied with his words.

'... Right, that's true. So, what should I do to become successful?'

'Simple, just change your approach. Don't work hard like an ox plowing until it dies and never sees the fruit of its labor. You don't want to die like that, do you?'

'.... I don't mind sacrificing myself for those who deserve it. There are many people who deserve it, my mother, my friend Roudl, his sister...'

'......You!!'

'But I certainly don't want to die without appreciation for my efforts. So, how should I act?'

'Good, that's what I wanted to hear. From now on, you need to rely more on yourself. Don't burden our friend Rayn too much.'

'I agree with you on that, for Rayn has his own problems.' Roudl saw no issue with this idea, but...

'You also need to be like the cuckoo bird that lays its eggs in another bird's nest so that they care for its chicks and feed them as their own without it exerting any effort, or like the Hyena that doesn't tire itself by hunting its prey but steals a ready-made prey that another predator has worked on.' The hidden voice said it as if it were stating something ordinary, something on which two people wouldn't differ.

'Work not with effort, but with cunning.' Not only was the meaning of the words sinister, but even the tone of the hidden voice had the pure echo of evil.