The Villainous Male Supporting Character Courts Death Every Day : Chapter 22

Inside the brilliantly lit concert hall, it was packed to the brim with not a single empty seat left, and even the aisles were crowded with a dense sea of people with heads bobbing everywhere.

Yet the entire venue was drop dead silent, unusually quiet, with everyone craning their necks to look toward the stage, waiting to witness a historic moment.

The legendary musician Zabert, who had not composed for many years, suddenly released a new work after a hiatus of twenty years, and it was even co released with a daughter who had never appeared in social circles. The gimmick was full of impact, causing a sensation in the music world. The audience was filled with excitement and eager anticipation, looking forward to it with bated breath.

Finally, under the spotlight of everyone’s attention, Zabert slowly walked up to the podium. In an instant, the applause was like thunder, a rumbling roar that almost flipped the concert hall over.

The old gentleman’s steps were steady, and he stood firmly, gracefully bowing to the second-floor box first, and then turning to bow to the audience. His posture was elegant, carefree, and smooth, fully embodying the demeanor of his legendary status.

The old gentleman turned to face the orchestra and raised his baton. His fingertips tingled as if an electric current had passed through them, yet he remained calm and steady. He raised his hands slightly, pausing in a crisp and elegant posture.

The thunderous applause came to an abrupt halt, as if frozen in place. In the entire space, there was only the thumping sound of heartbeats and the low-frequency, slightly hurried breathing of the orchestra. They held their instruments, assumed their postures, and stared intently at the baton, as if welcoming the onslaught of a bizarre storm, with the tension stretched to the absolute limit.

His hands dropped, and the movement erupted instantly. The clouds and wind changed color, carrying a majestic momentum. Swirling snow filled the sky and covered the earth, the wind howling and tearing through the wilderness, while flames rolled and soared into the sky.

The drumbeats were heavy, cold, and solemn, resembling the rumbling storm of the northern wilderness, and also like distant battle drums beating in rolling thunder with artillery fire filling the skies. Every single beat was heart-stopping and earth-shattering.

The strings joined in, low, oppressive, and tightly undulating, like cold wind sweeping across the wasteland, or chaotic fleeing crowds fleeing in panic. The brass instruments suddenly blared, strong, deep, and resonant, piercing through the skies like thunder, resembling the miserable cries of devastated multitudes.

The music swept through like a flood, and the audience below seemed to be drawn in by the melody, their breathing turning hurried and their heartbeats churning along. Some clenched their hands so hard their knuckles turned white; others narrowed their eyes, as if swallowed by an invisible giant wave, their souls trembling with every surge of the strings, rocking along while their hearts ached, panted, and swayed.

Inside the secluded second-floor box, the queen sat with poised elegance, holding a teacup in her hand without taking a sip, seemingly immersed in the music. Suddenly, she raised her fingertips to wipe away a stray tear.

Sophie, who had been observing from the dark all along, finally let out a soft breath. The pressure all over her body was instantly released, and her legs went weak, causing her to lean against the wall just to barely stand. She said to a person dressed as a servant beside her: “Go back and tell him that it was finally not a betrayal of trust.”

That person bowed slightly, turned and left in a hurry, leaped onto a fast horse, and galloped off in the direction of the suburban villa.

Rushing past a manor clubhouse where Victor was clinking glasses and drinking toasts with gentry and wealthy men amidst loud laughter, he remained completely oblivious that a single performance was about to stir up earth-shattering giant waves.

Back at the villa, Kyle was standing at the doorway of the dining room with a gloomy expression. Milo sat majestically at the head of the table, swirling his wine glass with a winning smile: “Since you are so busy, I won’t need you anymore. Let someone else come serve me from now on.”

Allen stood behind Milo with a pale face, wishing he could dig a hole in the ground and crawl right into it.

Standing beside Milo instead was Mark, who was clumsily cutting a steak for Milo. There was no particular method to it, but fortunately he had strong brute strength, so he simply hacked straight through the bones, chopping the beef into eight pieces with a shape that was too wretched to look at.

Milo didn’t mind at all, happily enjoying the sight of Kyle’s livid face. He gracefully forked a piece and brought it to his mouth, paused for a moment upon discovering it was ridiculously large with nowhere to bite into it, and thus put it down again to pick up his knife and fork to fend for himself.

His golden eyes stared unblinkingly at Kyle with a smile: “I won’t fuss over your late return tonight either. Go pack up and give up the side room.”

“…Give it up?” Kyle narrowed his eyes dangerously.

“That’s right, give the room to my personal attendant.” Milo flicked his chin toward Mark. He finally gave up wrestling with the steak and pushed the whole plate aside. Allen cleverly took over to clean up the mess, not daring to look into Kyle’s eyes at all.

“From now on, he will be the one serving me. As for you…” His tone was maliciously prolonged as he picked up his wine glass, only to find it empty. He gave it a light shake to signal for a refill, but Mark stood rock-solid like lightning striking a tree and remained completely oblivious, while Allen was still struggling with the steak, leaving the young master to helplessly put down his wine glass, prop up his chin, and offer a cunning smile: “You can move to the warehouse.”

Kyle stared quietly at Milo with a chilling gaze. After a long silence, he finally pressed his right hand to his chest and bowed in salute: “As you wish, young master.”

His voice was not heavy, yet it felt like an iceberg pressing down from above, instantly freezing the entire space. Allen’s fingertips jerked, and the knife and fork in his hands almost slipped away.

Only Milo seemed completely unaware. He laughed even more happily, his golden eyes radiating brilliant splendor, and his tone rose cheerfully: “Then hurry up and move, and don’t keep my new attendant waiting too long.”

—

Late at night, inside the warehouse.

Charles sat at a small wooden table tallying accounts. Being shrewd and capable, he could finish all the tasks assigned to him before leaving work, and this was another side job he had started a few years ago a job organizing private accounts.

Writing down the final number, Charles rubbed the bridge of his nose, leaned back against the back of his chair, and let out a helpless sigh: “There’s no money left.”

Charles raised his eyes and said to a corner piled with sundries: “Butler Kyle, you just drew 500 gold coins last month, and recently you’ve been hosting banquets and making friends. If things go on like this, next month’s grease money will be left high and dry.”

Amidst the pile of sundries, Kyle sat on a large box. Several wooden boxes were stacked next to him to serve as a table, with a candlestick and unfolded documents on top, making it a temporary office desk.

At that moment, he had just received news delivered from the city and was writing a letter to Sophie. Before he could speak, Allen, who had been organizing his luggage, rushed over and said: “Hasn’t the young master been replacing quite a bit of furniture and buying many famous birds lately over there? Isn’t there any grease to skim from that?”

“Do you think furniture and birds are worth much? Even if you hardened your heart to pocket thirty percent, it would be ten-odd gold coins at most. It’s not even enough for bribes within the estate.” Charles sneered: “If you’re going to count on that, I’m afraid you’d have to make the young master tear down the whole house, then it might work.”

Hearing this, Allen tilted his head back in silence, actually seeming to seriously ponder the possibility of instigating the young master to tear down the house.

“Besides, the young master is still grounded right now, and his pocket money has been cut down. Scraping from that side means less on this side.” Charles walked up to Kyle, handed him the account book, and said: “Everything has to be calculated down to the fine details.”

Kyle took the account book, reviewing it ten lines at a time while saying indifferently: “Don’t touch the young master’s funds. If he’s in a bad mood, his expenses will only increase, and we need to leave a surplus for cash flow.”

“You sure have foresight.” Charles pushed up his glasses and said: “Since you’re working for the duke this time around anyway, why not ask for an advance?”

Kyle shook his head. The duke loved to boast of grand achievements, and asking for money without producing any results would just be asking for trouble. Moreover, if every single detail was questioned, there would be no room for maneuvering; he had to wait for the right moment to make him allocate more.

He flipped through the budget, pointed to one of the columns, and said: “Put this one on hold for now, and transfer another 30 gold to me.”

Charles stared in disbelief, and Kyle explained: “Those people from the northern border are strangers in a strange land, and they still need some support.”

Hearing this, Charles grew even more displeased: “Those northern hicks, since they are asking things of you, instead of showing you some sincerity, they actually have you subsidize them. I simply don’t believe that coming all this way from thousands of miles away, they didn’t bring any family fortune with them.”

“In that kind of place, even if you really demanded their sincerity, it wouldn’t be enough to fill the gaps between your teeth, so it’s better to buy a favor instead.” Kyle chuckled, carefully looking over the numbers in the ledger with a clear idea in mind, and asked: “Which item is the most urgent right now?”

Charles pondered for a moment and said: “The monthly stipend for the Chamber of Commerce, and the dates for those knights in the knight order are also coming up soon, but none of them happened to be sent here, so perhaps that can be delayed.”

Thinking of this, he furrowed his brow again and complained: “Those knights are still only useful when you pay them. The ones who came act like they’re on a permanent extended vacation, drinking and gambling all day long. If it weren’t for Bruno keeping them in check, I reckon they’d run wild right up to the young master’s face.”

Hearing this, Allen remembered that there hadn’t been any guards stationed in the garden today, so he brought the matter up and chimed in: “They really are too loose; we need to straighten them out.”

Kyle fell into deep thought. The few knights he had recruited had also been hand-picked, which was why Charles found them easy to use, while the rest were of mixed quality. Once a group of people left the duke’s estate, their minds flew away, and a laxity in discipline was inevitable.

Knights swore loyalty directly to the duke, and the duke was deeply suspicious of him, so he had to handle them carefully. The looser the knights were, the better it actually was for him, but failing to handle the villa’s guard duties properly would be bad. This kind of balance still required careful calibration.

“I’ll talk to the captain of the knights.” Kyle rubbed his fingertips and added: “Knights value their word above all else; delaying by even a single day could ruin the relationship, so it cannot be delayed. As for the Chamber of Commerce…” Kyle paused slightly, the corners of his mouth slowly curling upward while his tone dropped: “I’ll give them a much more valuable benefit.”

Charles’s eyebrows twitched in slight surprise. In Kyle’s gray income, Chamber of Commerce lobbying accounted for the majority, and the official monthly stipend of the Chamber of Commerce had never fallen short. Hearing him suddenly say it wasn’t needed this time for unknown reasons, he was about to ask further when the door was suddenly knocked upon.

“Butler Kyle, I am Mark.” The person outside the door said in a low voice: “The young master asks for you to come over.”

Kyle smiled, smiling as brightly and clearly as the starry sky reflected on the surface of water.

Though it was within expectations, he still felt quite proud. He immediately stood up and meticulously straightened his clothes.

Allen spoke to Kyle’s retreating back: “Rossi said there is a type of nourishing medicinal herb that doesn’t harm the body, specifically for calming the nerves and aiding sleep, which can be mixed into thick soup so that you sleep well at night, and if you sleep well you’re in a good mood, and if you’re in a good mood everyone is happy, and you won’t torment everyone nor torment yourself…”

“Stop offering rotten ideas.” Kyle cut him off with a cold voice and strode away.

He was actually worried that the young master wouldn’t torment him. Once everyone fell asleep, where would the drama even come from?