The Strongest Brother Lost His Memory-Chapter 75

* * *

Young Ray Lavendal was a genius. Especially when it came to understanding politics and the flow of society.

Athena knew, from the very moment Ray was born, that he would be her master.

But being a genius didn’t mean he was perfect at handling people from the start.

“As long as the corrupt Temple controls the Empire, the Empire has no future. The Imperial Family and the Ducal Houses must join forces to bring down the Temple.”

He was still at an age where he hadn’t even suffered at the hands of the Temple yet.

Eight-year-old Ray had simply spoken what he perceived about the world.

“Really, Ray?”

His older brother Rihardt said with a deep smile.

“Why don’t you say that again? What makes you think that way?”

“Because...”

Ray’s words were delivered directly to the Temple. Just as Rihardt had intended when he deliberately had Ray say it in front of a Temple member.

The Temple decided that even though Ray Lavendal was young, it would be best to eliminate him. That was exactly what Rihardt was aiming for.

The Temple handed Rihardt a poison that would leave no evidence. And after playing ball with Rihardt, Ray unknowingly drank the water his brother gave him—and collapsed, vomiting blood.

But by sheer luck, Athena, who was nearby, immediately poured water into Ray’s mouth. And moments later, he vomited out the poison and survived.

That night, Ray, with his eyes closed, heard his parents whispering beside his bed.

“It’s true that Rihardt did wrong. But we can’t punish him harshly. What if Ray dies early from the aftereffects of the poison? Then Rihardt would have to be the heir.”

“...Right. And if something were to happen to Rihardt too, we’d have to give the heir’s seat to someone else. It’s better to just let this go.”

That night, Ray learned two things.

One: Trust no one.

And two: Resentment against the Temple must be hidden at all costs.

Of course, his resolve to destroy the Temple somehow never changed—no, it became even more firm...

And along with that, he picked up one obsessive habit: always carrying a personal water bottle.

He knew there were plenty of other ways to be poisoned, but he still couldn’t bring himself to drink water given by someone else. It was a kind of psychological aftermath, in his own way.

* * *

Ah, so that’s why...

Tears welled up in my eyes as I glimpsed the brief memory of the Divine Beast.

That’s why Ray...

He couldn’t trust even his own family, and couldn’t even reveal his true feelings.

If it were me in that situation, I would’ve tried to handle everything alone too, no matter how much it hurt.

And I understood now—that this choice, for someone pushed to the edge, was inevitable.

“I understand... I really do. In that kind of situation, you had no other choice.”

Truly feeling sorry for him, I pushed divine power into Athena to the very end.

<...!>

My divine power was absorbed by Athena to the very last drop. And at the same time, the massive, surging currents vanished like a lie.

The rampage had stopped.

* * *

Rihardt had already passed out by then.

It made sense—he took the full brunt of the water flow. Though he was still breathing, occasionally coughing up water.

Ray and I were both a complete mess. Even though Fire had created a space for us, we were still soaked to the bone.

We both collapsed on the spot, completely exhausted.

Fire lay down at our feet and exhaled small flames to dry our clothes.

The boy and girl sat like that for a while, catching their ragged breaths in silence.

“Rosie.”

The one who spoke first was Ray, holding Athena in his arms.

“Can I ask you something?”

Rosie responded in her characteristically slow and composed tone.

“No. I probably don’t know anyway. Sorry, but being top of the class doesn’t mean I know everything. I’m still only twelve years old.”

“...”

Ray thought that whenever he was in front of Rosie, he got tongue-tied more than usual.

She was really a strange girl.

No matter what he asked, her answer always came from left field. But somehow, she was always right.

“Well, it just feels like you’d know.”

“And who are you to judge me?”

“Vice top.”

“...Fine. I shall grant you the privilege of asking.”

Ray let out a faint laugh at her unhurried words and brought up an old question.

“Why did you save me on the first day?”

“Hm?”

“The first day we got here.”

Ray, being class representative, had gone to the East Annex to retrieve his nameplate on his first day at the Academy.

But the balloons at the entrance had been swaying suspiciously.

Seeing that strange movement, Ray didn’t enter the annex.

And soon after, part of the annex collapsed due to an earthquake.

Anyone could see it was his brother’s doing—trying to stop me from becoming the heir no matter what.

Rihardt already knew Ray was the representative for this term.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

If those balloons hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have sensed the minor tremor and would’ve gone inside. freewebnσvel.cѳm

And he definitely would’ve been seriously injured.

So damn exhausting.

The moment he saw those balloons—

Ray remembered something like a lightning bolt.

The balloons in Rosie’s room that had been set up to welcome Linna.

That’s why, from the next day onward, he started acting friendly with Rosie.

He felt like she had saved him on purpose... and wanted to know why.

Because... she wasn’t just clever—she was freakishly clever.

The way she immediately countered Nesha when he tried to frame her with a cheat sheet showed Rosie wasn’t the clueless airhead she appeared to be.

Her personality was gentle, and she rarely showed emotional agitation, but if someone messed with her, she never let it go.

Even though he didn’t know the full story, Ray was certain Rosie had handled the Sky Pocket incident too.

Because Rosie’s expression that day was way too calm.

Even standing in front of the crowd that gathered in the Academy lobby in the middle of the night, Ray hadn’t felt nervous at all.

He had pieced together from various clues that Rosie had orchestrated the whole thing.

Thanks to her, the Empress Dowager and the Count of Saliod became estranged—and that ultimately weakened the Temple.

So... I figured she was the calculating type.

And usually, manipulators always calculated their kindness too.

So he thought, if he waited long enough, she’d eventually use that incident to ask him for something.

He’d stuck close to her out of curiosity—wondering just how she planned to use him.

But now, with the training period nearly over, Rosie had never once brought it up.

In the end, his frustration pushed him to ask first.

“The first... day? What about it?”

Rosie furrowed her brows and blinked. Ray pushed, almost impatiently.

“The balloons.”

“...Balloons?”

Even though he was spelling it out, Rosie’s expression barely changed. After a moment, she casually murmured—

“Hm? Ah, right. That did happen.”

Ray’s brows twisted sharply.

That did happen?

Her tone made it sound like she hadn’t even thought about it.

Rosie spoke slowly.

“That day, after dinner, I went for a walk that way and felt like the ground was shaking weirdly. So I put a few balloons there just in case.”

“...That’s it?”

“Eh? What more do you want? People could get hurt. Isn’t that reason enough?”

“...”

“I really hate getting hurt, and others shouldn’t get hurt either. That’s all.”

Rosie gathered her silver hair and wrung it out tightly with her small hands. Water dripped down.

“But how did you know it was me?”

“I remembered the same balloons in your room.”

“Ah.”

Rosie slowly nodded.

“As expected of the vice top. Smart.”

“...”

“You were really hung up on that, huh. Should’ve asked earlier—it was nothing. I completely forgot, so I never mentioned it.”

Rosie rolled her eyes and added—

“But now that you know, I guess you won’t stay close to me anymore. Too bad.”

“...Huh?”

“I figured that’s why you were being friendly with me.”

Ray flinched and bit his lower lip. Her calm tone pierced right through him—unexpected as always.

Rosie casually fixed her hair.

“It’s just... you seemed like the type who calculated everything and acted according to your goals.”

And she was right.

Honestly, if it weren’t for those balloons, Ray would never have befriended someone like Rosie, who once told Zahid she was a “worthless card.”

“Ha.”

Because someone might get hurt—

That was her only reason.

But somehow, coming from Rosie, it felt real.

“I just... couldn’t ignore it once I knew. That’s all.”

Yeah. She did the same with Theo too.

Really—that’s all it ever was.