‘I don’t even know what I’m hoping for.’
Fenrir exhaled a short breath as he fidgeted with the letter in his pocket.
He couldn’t understand his own heart.
Part of him wanted Cabelenus to protect Alicia so she wouldn’t be hurt, yet another part secretly wished for something different to happen.
It was the most difficult dilemma he had ever faced.
Thud—.
It was then.
He slammed into a figure that suddenly appeared around the corner.
Fenrir reflexively stepped back and checked who the figure was.
“Oh, my apologies. I was lost in thought while walking and didn’t see you…”
“...”
"Ah! You're the person I saw the other day, right?"
Fenrir's eyes widened, and he bent his waist slightly.
He had only seen the person once in the study, but recognising them wasn’t difficult.
A man with lustrous silver hair and, on top of that, strikingly handsome features, was not something one saw often.
“Hmm. Perhaps you don’t remember me?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t recall very well.”
James shook his head briefly and stepped aside.
“Well, it was only a brief meeting, so that makes sense.”
Fenrir naturally stepped in front of James, wearing a friendly smile.
However, the seasoned man’s gaze was on the suitcase James was holding.
“It looks like you’re going on a trip somewhere.”
“You seem to take quite an interest in other people’s affairs."
“I’m just concerned. As you know, it seems far too late to be leaving.”
Fenrir nodded toward the window with a jerk of his chin.
By now, a crimson sunset had settled beyond the window.
“It’s fine.”
“I’ve heard that the nights in Schwarhan are particularly harsh.”
“I can handle my own affairs.”
James’s voice carried a hint of irritation.
"Oh dear. It looks like I’ve meddled unnecessarily."
“I have urgent matters to attend to, so may I go now?”
“Of course.”
Fenrir stepped aside to let James pass.
James hurried off without so much as a word of thanks.
“He’s far too suspicious.”
He wouldn’t get far, anyway.
Fenrir let out a small chuckle as he watched James fade into the distance.
But he continued on his way without any further action.
The clumsy escapee didn’t seem to notice, but Schwarhan Castle was like a finely woven spider’s web.
Though it seemed calm on the surface, it was a predator’s domain, and the more one struggled frenziedly, the more entangled one became.
“I should at least pray for his soul in advance…”
Muttering to himself, Fenrir’s brow furrowed noticeably.
“…What’s that sound?”
Fenrir stopped in his tracks and turned his head.
It wasn’t his imagination.
A strange, wheezing sound could be heard.
Fenrir furrowed his brow even more and resumed walking.
The sound was coming from deeper within the corridor.
“Hic, sniff, hic…”
“Is someone there…? Oh…”
At first, he thought it was a statue, but upon closer look, it wasn’t.
Fenrir couldn’t go on speaking and hurried toward the crouching child.
The child, curled up like a pill bug against one side of the wall, was so small that he had to look down carefully to notice them.
"Hey, kiddo, why are you crying here? Your mum—"
“Waaaaah—!”
“Hey, why are you crying all of a sudden? What did I do?”
Startled by the child’s sudden loud wailing, Fenrir recoiled.
Only then did he see the child’s face hidden in the shadows and frowned.
The child’s face, swollen and a tear-streaked mess from crying, was strangely familiar.
・・・・・
Fenrir handed a handkerchief to the child crouched beside him.
The child glanced up cautiously at the unfamiliar man, then carefully accepted the handkerchief.
"Have you finished crying?"
“...Yes.”
The child wiggled their fingers.
The child’s eyes were so swollen that it was hard to tell whether they were open or closed.
“Hey, kiddo.”
“My name’s Michael. Michael Nus.”
“Michael Nus?”
"It’s my name."
"That’s a nice name."
Fenrir offered a polite compliment as he rested his chin on his hand.
Only a limited number of children could wear fine clothes and stay at Schwarhan Castle, but that alone didn’t make it easy to tell exactly who the child was.
If the child were Cabelenus’s, they would at least have been born with black hair, and if not, they would have had a long name, but this child had neither.
Yet it was equally difficult to believe Michael was Alicia’s child.
Michael had reddish-brown hair and grey eyes like Alicia, but the problem was her partner.
It seemed strange that Cabelenus, the man who had openly claimed Alicia as his own, would take in another man’s child.
“Who gave you that name?”
“My mum gave it to me…”
Michael’s lips quivered.
The tears he had just stopped were welling up again.
“Were you crying because your mum scolded you?”
"It’s not like that."
Michael snapped, roughly wiping away the tears.
“If your mum didn’t scold you, why are you here alone like this?”
“It’s because something bad happened.”
"What bad thing happened?"
"It’s private. Don’t worry about it."
“...”
Were kids these days really this quick with their words?
Fenrir glanced at Michael out of the corner of his eye.
The child seemed to be struggling with something serious; his expression was unusually earnest.
“What are you thinking about?”
“That’s private, too.”
“Then how about I take you to your parents?”
Fenrir fiddled with the letter in his pocket.
He had to deliver the contents of the letter, but leaving the crying child alone made him uneasy.
“Your parents must be worried, don’t you think?”
“Even so, I don’t want to go right now.”
Michael buried his face in his knees.
He couldn’t forget James’s eyes, shouting at him while staring straight at him.
He was hated.
‘I’m not a monster…’
Michael’s fingertips tensed as they gripped the soft cloth.
He had never thought of himself as a monster.
But James had never lied to him, not even once.
Perhaps he really was a monster.
At that thought, his eyes stung again.
‘What if I really am a monster? What if that's why Mum ends up unhappy…’
Michael’s body trembled.
Everything else was fine, but he didn’t want his mum to be unhappy.
His mum was the most beautiful when she smiled.
“If you don’t want to go to your parents, do you want to come with me for a bit? I have a few things I need to take care of.”
“Mum told me not to go with strangers.”
“Oh? Uh, right. That’s important.”
Fenrir gave an awkward smile.
“If you have things to do, go ahead. I’m fine being alone.”
“Crying alone feels lonely, you know.”
“Everyone needs time to themselves.”
“Where did you learn to say something like that?”
“From a book.”
After that, no more words passed between them.
Fenrir fiddled with the letter, glancing cautiously at Michael.
“Hurry up and go.”
“…Then, can you wait here for a bit? I have something I need to report first, and then I’ll be back right after.”
“It’s fine if you don’t come.”
Michael replied curtly.
Fenrir glanced at Michael once more before carefully getting to his feet.
Even though he was worried about the boy, delivering the letter came first.
・・・・・
"There's a problem, Your Highness."
"If it’s just the rumour going around, I already know. I was just briefed on it myself."
Cabelenus crumpled the report and then tore it to pieces.
His eyes seemed ready to ignite with flames at any moment.
Fenrir took a quick, deep breath and spoke at once.
“It’s a rumour that’s grown popular by mixing with the gossip already circulating about the current Emperor, including the stories about Roaquin.”
“The real problem is the story that’s been tacked onto that rumour.”
Fenrir gave a bitter smile.
The most notorious of Zerpheus’s recent misdeeds was the story about the Grand Duke of Schwarhan falling head over heels for the envoy the Emperor sent to seduce his half-brother.
“It’s a rumour deliberately spread to slander him.”
“I know. It’s far too deliberate.”
“You seem surprisingly calm.”
“Because I know this won’t end with just this.”
Cabelenus’s lips curved into a scowl.
“Do you know anything more?”
“The High Priest is skilled at manipulating disasters and rallying public opinion. And recently, every time a disaster strikes, there have been accounts of a woman appearing."
“...”
“The aim isn’t merely to spread tales of a seductress. They intend to brand Alicia as a witch.”
“Surely not…”
"The more people depend on me and praise me as a noble being, the more resentment toward her builds. And in the end, it will drive me to raise my sword against her with my own hands."
Cabelenus glared at the appointment letter on the table.
The official document, stamped with the High Priest’s seal, declared the Grand Duke of Schwarhan appointed as God’s representative.
“The representative of God has the duty to eliminate disasters.”
“In that case, we must prepare—”
“The preparations are already complete.”
Cabelenus gestured toward Gazeff.
Gazeff swiftly placed the documents Cabelenus requested into his hands.
The past eight years had not been spent in vain.
“The plan to overturn the rumour is ready. The only question is timing.”
“Timing?”
“I have plenty of justification to ascend the throne. And yet, I still live as the Grand Duke. What do you think the reason is?”
“If you were to become emperor, you’d gain many enemies, so I suppose you’re exercising caution for now.”
“That could be one answer, but it’s not the perfect one.”
Cabelenus shifted his gaze to the window.
The capital wasn’t visible from here, but he hadn’t forgotten the land where he was born and raised.
“Hunters light a fire in front of the raccoon’s den so the raccoons, after inhaling the smoke, come out on their own.”
“So that means we’re the fire.”
“That man only becomes temperamental and loses his composure over Roaquin, so being the fire is enough.”
Zerpheus’s speed with rumours was both his strength and his weakness.
As long as the rumours persisted, he had no choice but to confirm Roaquin’s involvement with him.
“The Emperor is unusually cautious. If you move rashly, he’ll cut off the tail and run.”
"Then how would you like us to proceed?"
“Nothing really changes. Keep cornering the Emperor. It’s precisely when he climbs the perch and leaps out that we can strike decisively to cut off his lifeline."
Cabelenus touched his own neck.
Even though it was incomplete, the shackle remained.
To see it through properly, he needed to end his entanglement with Zerpheus.
“Any more questions?”
“No. I understand perfectly.”
“You’re quite clever.”
He didn’t ask about things that weren’t told willingly.
The young Chief Lord’s son understood his position perfectly.
Cabelenus let out a short, amused laugh.
At that moment, there was urgent knocking at the door.
Gazeff gauged Cabelenus’s mood and cautiously opened it.
The visitor was Alicia, her expression anxious.
"What’s the matter?"
Upon seeing Alicia, Cabelenus moved quickly.
Alicia clutched his sleeve as if holding on for dear life.
“By any chance, have you seen Michael?”
“Michael? I met him earlier and told him to go to you…”
Cabelenus frowned.
When Alicia checked her room, Michael was not there.
Michael had not returned to Alicia.
Once his thoughts reached that point, there was no need to think any further.
Cabelenus immediately turned his head.
“Gazeff. Release the men.”
“Understood. We’ll move at once—”
“When you say Michael, do you mean Michael Nus by any chance?”
Before Fenrir had even finished speaking, all eyes turned toward him at once.
Caught off guard by the sudden attention, Fenrir awkwardly parted his lips.
“Have you seen Michael?”
Alicia suddenly approached.
Fenrir reflexively swallowed as the distance closed.
A faint whiff of grass lingered on her.
“He’s my son.”
“Oh, your son?”
“He’s my most precious child.”
Seeing Alicia on the verge of tears, Fenrir forced himself to focus.
Now was not the time to lose his composure.
“Actually, I just met him a moment ago. But the child was crying—”
“Where is he? Take me there at once.”
This time, it was Cabelenus who approached.
In a different sense than before, Fenrir swallowed at the sight of the man so enormous he couldn’t even be compared to Alicia.
Their heights seemed similar, but the aura of intimidation they radiated was entirely different.
Watching the growling man, it didn’t seem like the rumours that he could tear a person apart with his bare hands were entirely absurd.
“Hurry.”
“Please.”
Fenrir’s Adam’s apple bobbed under the weight of all those gazes.
It was truly a strange sight.
The woman, swallowing back her tears, and the man, grinding his teeth in anxiety, were clearly different, yet somehow looked astonishingly similar.
Just from that, there was no longer any need to think about who Michael’s parents were.
Though they looked different outwardly, both of them had the same expression.
It was the face of a parent.
Translator's Corner:
Hi all! I will try to keep updates consistent. AUP will be updated every Sunday from now on. This week's chapters were posted a day early since I will be busy tomorrow! Hope you all have a great weekend :)
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