A storm was tearing through the palace.

‘H-Holy shit...’

Nobody was actually getting their heads chopped off with blood spraying everywhere, but to the retainers, it probably felt exactly like that. It was like we were watching a mad emperor rampage through his palace with a drawn sword.

The estate had spent years repeating the same quiet routine without ever welcoming guests, which probably made this incident hit even harder. Honestly, calling this Lee Ki-Young’s Rebellion wouldn’t feel out of place at all.

‘Should I stop this? I-I mean...’

I had already been panicking for a while now, but looking at Commander Jin with his completely twisted face, I genuinely had no idea what stance I was even supposed to take here.

‘H-He’s actually furious.’

Right. He wasn’t exploding or anything, but this was unmistakably full-blown rage. Honestly, he looked only slightly less angry than when he witnessed Marquis Jayce and First Life Commander Jin openly showing affection to each other.

Even after spending this much time with him, it’d been a long while since I saw him lose his composure this badly. Of course, since he wasn’t someone who could easily lose control of himself, the real giveaway was how distorted his expression became while desperately trying to hold onto the last scraps of rationality he had left.

If the retainers and guests weren’t here, he would slam his fists into tables and scream.

‘I-I kinda get it, though...’

Commander Jin had always been absurdly prideful, so realizing that Jin Young’s belongings had been decorating his own estate this whole time had to be unbearably humiliating for him. No, humiliating wasn’t even enough to describe it.

Obviously, he had never shown it openly, but it was painfully obvious that he had spent days preparing this estate to receive me properly.

Naturally, there was no way he could have done all that alone in such a short amount of time, which meant Yongwol and the other attendants had to have helped him.

The exact process behind how Jin Young’s keepsakes ended up inside the mansion still wasn’t entirely clear, but if Commander Jin had left them there all this time...

‘It means he actually liked them.’

I had intentionally picked and arranged those items in a style that perfectly matched Commander Jin’s tastes, so naturally, they all appealed to him. From Commander Jin’s perspective, however, this probably felt like some elaborate hidden-camera prank.

He had looked around his beautifully decorated estate and nodded in satisfaction at it, only to find out the decorations he liked were items sent by Lee Ki-Young. Even worse, they were keepsakes belonging to Jin Young.

On top of the irritation from realizing that his own tastes overlapped with mine, he was probably furious at his retainers, too. In his eyes, this entire situation was humiliating. It was a complete blow to his dignity, and somehow, that dignity was still collapsing second by second.

Even Commander Jin himself had probably never imagined that things would spiral this far.

“I-I cannot obey that order, Commander.”

The people here actually started resisting his commands.

‘C-Come on... how far is this going to escalate?’

“Kill me... but... please allow Young Master’s keepsakes to remain here...”

‘What the hell is this Young Master nonsense? Aren’t these people supposed to be from Earth, too?’

“...”

“...”

The first person to openly defy Commander Jin’s order was an elderly man. He had a long white beard styled so magnificently that he looked wise through his appearance alone.

The old man suddenly collapsed to the floor and slammed his forehead into the ground. It was the kind of scene that would show up at least once in historical dramas. In fact, even Jung Ha-Yan ended up whispering, “I-I saw this in a drama once, Sora...”

Of course, her voice didn’t reach the overly immersed loyal retainers around Commander Jin.

“Please kill me instead... All of this is my fault... punish me if you must, but please preserve the Young Master’s keepsakes...” the old man requested.

Bang!

He smashed his forehead into the floor again.

“Please... kill me instead... but spare the Young Master’s belongings...” he repeated.

‘That old man is strong as hell...’

Just then, a little kid who couldn’t be older than fifteen pressed his forehead to the ground, too.

“Kill me instead! But please preserve the Young Master’s keepsakes!” he shouted. His voice made it clear that he was still in the middle of puberty, yet his voice sounded absurdly intense.

Yongwol already seemed pretty serious, but honestly, even she looked tame compared to the old man and the kid standing at the front. It almost felt like there had to be some saying in this mansion about never underestimating the elderly or children.

Of course, their strength itself wasn’t the important part here. What mattered was that these people were clearly long-time retainers who served as Commander Jin’s hands and feet for years. Their presence alone made that obvious. It wasn't just their stats; the way they looked at Commander Jin was completely different, too.

“From the very moment we fell on this continent together, I have been serving at your side, Commander... I never once questioned your orders, believing my only purpose was to carry them out. I believed my role was simply to function as a tool...

"However, your command... to discard the Young Master’s keepsakes... I cannot obey it.”

Apparently, the old man had been serving Commander Jin since the very beginning, right after they arrived in the tutorial. At his age, he probably had no interest in power anymore. He looked like the type who simply found purpose in standing beside Commander Jin and serving him faithfully.

Naturally, among the retainers, he was probably like their spiritual pillar of support. More than half the retainers were now kneeling with their foreheads pressed on the ground alongside him, and the sight pretty much answered every question I had in mind.

“How could we possibly lay our hands upon the Young Master’s belongings...”

“...”

“How could we commit such disloyalty with our own hands...”

“Then kill us instead! But please preserve the Young Master’s keepsakes!”

“Kill us instead!!! But please preserve the Young Master’s keepsakes!!”

“Kill us instead!! But please preserve the Young Master’s keepsakes!!!”

‘H-Holy shit...’

“Kill us instead!! But please preserve the Young Master’s keepsaaaakes!”

‘This is basically a coup... an outright insubordination...’

Honestly, though, I could understand the retainers, too.

‘Commander Jin totally looks insane from their perspective... doesn’t he?’

“Please open your eyes, Commander... and realize that there are those clouding your judgement and blinding your sight,” the old man said.

‘W-Wait... you’re not talking about me right now, are you, old man?’

The more they spoke, the worse it looked. From their perspective, the ever-rational Commander Jin had fallen for the sweet words of some suspicious man from the Democratic Country and was now destroying his own palace with his own hands.

It wasn’t exactly the perfect comparison, but the atmosphere felt like a king who had lost his queen and crown prince had brought in some vicious concubine with no background but too huge an ambition. It was like they were watching the kingdom collapse in real time thanks to that vicious concubine. The worst part was that, even unintentionally, I actually looked like that kind of person.

I whispered something to him, and he suddenly started purging the keepsakes. On top of that, this all happened on my very first day here. Perhaps this whole disaster started because I got too carried away trying to establish dominance earlier. I felt like I had made a mistake by smirking and acting all arrogant in front of the retainers.

Even while I was lost in thought, the resistance grew bigger and bigger. These were clearly the kind of people who would throw themselves into a fire and die without hesitation if Commander Jin ordered them to do so, but right now, every single one of them seemed convinced that defying this particular command was the truest form of loyalty.

They absolutely refused to stain their own hands with what they considered to be betrayal.

“...”

“...”

‘H-Holy shit...’

As for our Commander...

‘He seriously looks like he wants to kill every single person here right now.’

As I said before, there was absolutely no chance Commander Jin would be moved by the retainers' loyalty and back down. There was only one reason he hadn’t personally made a move.

‘Because this is humiliating for him... probably...’

There was no way he wanted blood spilled across his estate, and even more than that, he probably found the idea of personally disciplining his own retainers unbearably disgraceful.

Honestly, what looked more incompetent than a master having to physically beat his own subordinates into obedience because they had failed to control them properly? My presence here probably mattered, too.

Commander Jin likely wanted to cut down every kneeling servant in the room immediately, but the only thing he could actually do right now was direct his anger at Wanggang.

“What exactly are you doing, Wanggang? I distinctly ordered all of them to be thrown away,” Commander Jin reminded her.

That was about as far as he could go.

“Remove them immediately,” he ordered.

Them. He had called "them." That alone proved how he was desperately suppressing his anger.

“Wanggang!” Commander Jin roared, finally raising his voice. Startled out of her wits, Wanggang dropped to her knees again before scrambling back up.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“...”

“...”

“Drag those ungrateful fools out of here immediately!” he ordered.

“You cannot do this!”

“N-No! Commander!”

“How could you possibly allow this?!”

“H-Have mercy on us...”

‘Mercy? Did these people binge historical dramas or something?’

“Please think it over one more time! Please remember the Young Master once again!”

“Please think of the lady of the house who would grieve over this!”

“Commander... hng... huuuugh...”

“Commander!”

“Commander!”

‘Come on... what’s going on...’

“You must not do this! Absolutely not!”

“Y-You lunatics...”

“Please reconsider!”

“What are you all standing around for?! Drag those ungrateful bastards out now! Commander Jin has ordered it! Han Noya! What do you think you’re doing?! There are guests here! Of all people, you should be setting an example!” Wanggang shouted.

“Silence, Wanggang! The ungrateful one here is you, you beast blinded by power! You’ve sold your soul to that wicked serpent at last! You’re the one destroying this estate! You’re the one ruining Commander Jin in your lust for power! If there's even a shred of loyalty left in you...” Han Noya shouted.

‘What the hell is going on? I’m not a wicked serpent...’

“Commander Jin! Allow this humble one to speak! Wanggang! Release me! Let go of me!”

“Drag them out! This is Commander Jin’s will! Throw those fools who don’t know their place out of the estate at once!”

“Then kill me first! Kill me where I stand!”

“Please open your eyes! Please look! Those who poisoned your judgement—let go of me!”

“You must free yourself from that sinister schemer from the Democratic Country, Commander!”

‘This can’t be real... What the hell even is this?’

“Cast aside the wicked serpent!”

I kept thinking that surely it couldn’t get any worse, but somehow, things were rapidly descending into full-blown disaster territory. The retainers who’d been kneeling and smashing their foreheads into the floor earlier were now locking arms together, openly refusing Commander Jin's order.

The opposing side kept trying to forcefully suppress them, but the old man called Han Noya wouldn’t budge an inch. It was like he was wearing weights made of pure steel.

Even if ten mass-produced Park Deok-Gus were to drag him away, he probably wouldn’t move. Honestly, unless someone drew their weapon here, there was no way this crowd would get subdued.

The whole situation looked like it would end in bloodshed at this rate.

As everything spiraled further out of control, Commander Jin’s expression twisted even more.

Just then, Wanggang noticed the changes in Commander Jin's face and finally drew her sword.

“Blame me if you must, Mr. Han! But this is the Commander's will!”

At that point, I had no choice but to step in.

“Stop!" I shouted.

Silence descended, and Wanggang’s blade stopped just short of Mr. Han’s neck.

Granted, the old man looked sturdy enough that he had probably cultivated some kind of invincible-body martial arts technique, but still, a full-scale brawl definitely wasn’t the answer here.

“...”

“...”

“I’m not in the mood to see blood today,” I said.

“...”

“If the Young Master’s keepsakes being thrown away is the problem, then...” I trailed off before continuing, “I’ll keep them myself."

‘Seriously, how far is this going to go? Damn it... I’m starting to get hungry now...’