Devourer's Legacy: I Regressed With The Primordial Crest
Chapter 58: Schemes (1)

Chapter 58: Schemes (1)

Eleanor’s face contracted with what could only be described as pure rage. She couldn’t contain the fact that she is being humiliated in her own castle!

–Nyaang!

Even her black feline spirit let out a scary screech as if it could sense its owner’s emotion and leaped at Renard.

But he casually tilted his head to avoid it, and the spirit-cat ended up crashing to the floor with a pitiful, deflating sound.

Renard nodded and laughed.

"What an amusing spirit. You better keep an eye on it. I don’t want to accidentally kill a magical creature, if possible."

Umbra bristled and glared at Renard with glowing eyes, but it didn’t attack again. Seeing the spirit act just like its contractor, Renard couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Speaking of which, your guard... What was his name? Marcus? You two seem quite close."

Renard recalled that in his previous life, after Eleanor had consolidated power within House Grace, she had married her most trusted subordinate—a capable man who had helped her eliminate her rivals.

He threw out the comment based on what little he knew, but Eleanor completely misunderstood his intention and meaning.

’No way... Is this fool jealous because I’m close to my bodyguard?’

How could there be such a pathetic person!

It was true that she was particularly close to Marcus. After all, she had personally recruited that talented commoner and elevated him to his current position. He was skilled and loyal, and she valued his capabilities highly. But their relationship was nothing like what Renard was implying.

As her thoughts continued, Eleanor’s face suddenly turned pale.

’What if this lunatic spreads ridiculous rumors...?’

If word got out that she, who was engaged, had inappropriate relations with her subordinate, it would bring eternal shame to House Grace and destroy her carefully built reputation.

’It’s an absurd notion, but if it comes from this changed version of him, people might actually believe it.’

Many people in her domain knew that Eleanor trusted Marcus implicitly. Some even gossiped that she had picked up a handsome commoner and made him head of her personal guard. It was also an open secret that Marcus harbored feelings for her.

With the current troubles of keeping New Dawn hidden already giving her constant stress, she didn’t have the energy to handle another crisis.

Eleanor remained silent for a while, swallowing nervously before finally speaking.

"And what about the merchant union... Have you been investigating me?"

Perhaps Renard had developed some twisted obsession and had been spying on her, digging up information. Then, when he discovered she was closer to Marcus than expected, he might be trying to extort money out of pure spite.

’If it’s someone without honor like him, that’s definitely possible.’

However, Renard showed no signs of jealousy or any other emotion.

"Well, I just know someone who knows things, that’s all. I overheard it by chance during my travels."

Renard shrugged nonchalantly as if it were no big deal.

One of the most basic strategies was feeding false information to an enemy to confuse them. Eleanor would likely spend considerable time trying to figure out how Renard had discovered her secret.

But no matter how much she investigated, she’d find nothing. After all, who could possibly imagine that a man who had lived through future events had died and returned to the past?

"So, what’s it going to be? Are you giving me the money or not? I told you I’m in a hurry."

Eleanor ground her teeth and spoke with barely controlled fury.

"You... Do you think you and your family will be safe after this? I don’t know where you picked up such rumors, but to make ridiculous threats like this..."

But she couldn’t finish her sentence. Her mouth closed involuntarily.

Suddenly, an overwhelming, terrifying bloodlust began pouring out from Renard, who had remained calm and composed until now.

"Say that again. Did you just threaten me with my family just now?"

The destruction of his family had been a trauma that haunted Renard throughout his previous life. The seven great families had systematically destroyed everything he held dear.

And Eleanor, though not directly involved, had been complicit through her family’s political maneuvering. Hearing such a threat from someone like her made it impossible for him to contain his rage.

The sudden change in Renard’s demeanor made Eleanor tense up nervously.

Just facing Renard’s killing intent head-on made her feel as though her heart might stop beating.

"Threats aren’t made with words, Eleanor."

Ever since his regression, Renard carried within him the memories of countless battles and the weight of all those he had killed in his previous life.

Among those he had slain were not only renowned knights and powerful nobles but countless other influential figures as well.

If he could build a monument with the names of those whose deaths he had caused, surely there would be people like Eleanor among them.

The arrogant words of Eleanor, who hadn’t even properly established her own power yet, were less significant than an insect’s bite to someone who had lived through a great war.

"What do you think happened to all the people who’ve threatened me so far? Well, except for spirits like yours. All of them..."

Renard paused mid-sentence.

Since he had returned to the past, all those people were probably still alive and well, living their comfortable lives if he thought logically, aren’t they?.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Renard muttered softly.

"They’re probably living healthy lives. For now."

"...What?"

"They were fairly strong opponents, actually."

Eleanor, as well as the others in the room, looked at him with bewildered expressions.

Avoiding their confused gazes, Renard lowered his eyes and shook his head before speaking again.

"Anyway, that’s not important right now. What’s your decision?"

Renard briefly considered mentioning her other secret connections but decided against it. The situation was dangerous enough as it was; there was no need to reveal the full extent of his knowledge yet.

Eleanor closed her eyes.

As absurd as it seemed, seeing Renard’s confident attitude and that terrifying display of killing intent made her think that he might know far more than he was letting on.

She could try to have Renard killed right here if she wanted.

However, if she attempted to deal with them and failed, or if the commotion grew too large, she would likely be the one who ended up under suspicion from her family.

’I need to get him out of the castle first. Father and my siblings mustn’t discover what’s happening here.’

Having made her decision, she opened her eyes and spat out her words as though chewing glass.

"...I’ll give you 20,000 gold. Take it and leave immediately."

"Excellent. I knew you were a reasonable person."

"Shut up. I have a condition - the engagement between us - I want it annulled right away."

"Sure, handle it however you want."

Renard readily agreed. After all, with that much money in hand, what was a broken engagement? He had never intended to marry her anyway.

Eleanor gazed at him for a long moment before speaking in a subdued voice.

"You’ve changed completely."

"Well, what can I say? Time changes everyone."

There was no way Eleanor could ever know the true reason behind Renard’s transformation, not that he was even slightly interested to let her know.

Anyway, as the guards stood around them, Eleanor tuned back, walking out, but she stopped just before the doors and said.

"You’ll regret what happened today."

"I’m looking forward to it."

Eleanor wasn’t the type of woman to let something like this slide. She would likely try every scheme she could think of to silence Renard permanently.

Even so, it was a risk worth taking. With 20,000 gold, he would have sufficient capital to begin building his own power base.

’Eleanor, this time things will be different. Don’t think you can play your games unopposed like in the previous timeline.’

As Renard left the reception room, his expression was just as cold and calculating as Eleanor’s.

The two, whose relationship had been bound by a formal engagement, had now crossed a point from which there would be no return.

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