“You’re saying he has absolutely no memories of that period? Even now?”
“That’s right. So please, don’t misunderstand. It’s not that he deliberately chose not to look for you.”
Count Alton had accurately grasped why Camilla had been so furious when she heard the truth last time, and he made sure to emphasize that point.
“He didn’t know either. That he had left a child behind somewhere... There isn’t a single lie in what I’m telling you, so please, believe it.”
Camilla sat in silence for a moment, sorting her thoughts, then confirmed one thing again.
“It was only one year, right?”
“Yes. He disappeared for about a year and then returned.”
Which meant Ravi wasn’t it. With five years between their ages, there was no way Ravi could be Duke Escra’s child.
Mother’s life, too, honestly...
Now that she was looking at it, that woman’s life didn’t seem any smoother than her own.
Three marriages she could accept as something that happens, but every one of those marriages had been short.
Even with Duke Sorpel, with whom she’d spent what had been comparatively happy days, she hadn’t managed to live even a full year before dying.
“I know this sudden development has left you feeling far from well. I only hope you can spare a little understanding for the duke’s circumstances, too.”
When Camilla kept letting out deep sighs, tangled emotions weighing on her, Count Alton misunderstood that it was because of what he had said and tried to soothe her carefully.
“Which is why, as I mentioned once before...”
Watching her complexion, he continued cautiously.
“How would you feel ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) about moving your residence to House Escra Estate...?”
So that was it. Was that why they had suddenly told her to pack up and move out of the Imperial Palace?
“You already knew everything back then, didn’t you, Count?”
That I’m Duke Escra’s daughter.
“Lady Camilla...”
At the way Count Alton called after her so anxiously, a long sigh slipped out of Camilla’s mouth.
*****
— “Why the hell not!”
— “Do I really have to say it again? All travel permits have been suspended.”
— “That’s exactly my point!”
KWA-RAAANG!
— “I actually came all the way here to ask you for a favor, didn’t I? I’m begging you to use that damn power of yours for once!”
— “And I just told you I won’t use that damn power.”
— “Why not!”
— “House Sorpel is already making preparations to bring that child home. This isn’t something we should interfere in. What right do you have to go barging in there when you’re not even family?”
The voices echoing inside the office were so loud that the people standing outside shifted from foot to foot in nervous anxiety.
Baol, the butler who had served the two men here for a long time, gazed steadily at the door, worry clouding his eyes.
You were so quiet for a while, and now...
The shouting inside the house had started up again as soon as they learned that Lady Sorpel had almost gotten herself killed in the Gracia Empire.
Arsian wanted to go to the Gracia Empire alone to see Camilla, and Duke Sephra was refusing to allow it.
Because of this incident, all travel permits were currently suspended, and the only way to get one issued temporarily was through the Imperial Family.
In other words, anyone without connections to the Imperial Family could not cross into the Gracia Empire at all right now.
— “So we’re just supposed to sit here and wait?”
— “Then what exactly do you think you can do right now?”
— “Fuck!”
KWA-RAAANG!
At the renewed crash from inside, everyone in the hall held their breath. At this rate, were they going to get into a real fight?
DADADADA—!
“Hm?”
Just then, a patter of small footsteps could be heard.
Baol’s gaze turned toward the sound. Without realizing it, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“Huh? What are you all doing out here?”
It was Rio. Seeing everyone gathered at the entrance to the office, the boy tilted his head again and again.
He was so cute that, for a moment, everyone forgot the situation and smiled with quiet fondness.
At first, they’d all worried whether a child could really manage here, between this taciturn father and son.
And yet, ever since the boy arrived, the atmosphere in the house had completely changed.
The power of a small living thing was, surprisingly, truly formidable.
The sound of his peals of laughter, the little thump-thump of his feet.
Before long, they would find themselves smiling at the sight of the child without even realizing it.
“But earlier, right here, Big Bro—”
— “Use your influence!”
The boy’s eyes widened slightly.
“Grandpa.”
He tugged lightly on the butler’s trouser leg and asked in a careful voice,
“Is Mister and Big Bro... fighting?”
Everyone present wore equally awkward expressions. Saying it straight was uncomfortable, but lying to a child also pricked at their consciences.
Just then, Baol met the child’s gaze.
“It seems their opinions aren’t matching up for the moment.”
“But they shouldn’t... If you fight, teacher scolds you...”
Looking at the boy’s worried face, like he was afraid the two would get scolded by their teacher, a smile slowly crept back onto the butler’s lips.
“Ah! Young Master Rio...!”
But the next instant, the boy had already opened the door and darted into the office, leaving them all no choice but to be startled. They hadn’t even had time to stop him.
CLICK.
“...”
“...”
At Rio’s sudden appearance, Duke Sephra and Arsian both fell silent at the same time. Their gazes turned toward the boy who trotted into the room.
After glancing back and forth between the two men, as if sizing them up, the boy went straight over to Duke Sephra.
“Mister.”
Rio tugged on the duke’s hand, urging him to get up from his chair.
He had no idea what the child was trying to do, but Duke Sephra offered little resistance and let himself be pulled along.
“Over here.”
The boy led Duke Sephra to stand facing Arsian. Then he lifted the hand he was holding as high as he could.
“Hands on shoulders.”
“...What?”
“Both hands on Big Bro’s shoulders.”
“...You want me to put them up there?”
“Yeah!”
Duke Sephra hesitated briefly at the instruction to put both hands on Arsian’s shoulders, but in the end he followed the boy’s lead this time as well.
“...”
A faint sigh slipped out of the usually expressionless duke’s mouth. The moment he rested his hands on Arsian’s shoulders, his mood turned strange.
Was this the first time? Had he ever laid hands on this boy’s body for any reason other than to draw out the power of darkness?
Arsian’s face twisted as well, as if he felt the same awkwardness.
But that expression didn’t last long either.
“Big Bro too!”
Because the boy grabbed Arsian’s hand and gave him the exact same instruction.
“...Me too?”
“Yeah!”
Arsian stared at the boy in disbelief, then finally let out a sigh under Rio’s bright, sparkling gaze.
What on earth was he trying to do?
“Okay, now say it.”
Seeing that the two men were holding onto each other’s shoulders, the boy clapped his hands together.
“I was wrong. Let’s never fight again.”
“...”
“...”
Caught up in it before they knew what was happening, the two men could only stand there speechless as they learned a four-year-old’s method of reconciliation. Frozen in place, awkward hands still resting on each other’s shoulders.
Apparently, at the orphanage, when kids fought, this was how they made them make up...
“We weren’t fighting.”
“That’s right!”
They hurriedly dropped their hands from each other’s shoulders and rushed to explain.
“We just disagreed on something, that’s all.”
So please, don’t ever make us do something this humiliating again!
“Mm... Okay.”
The boy had apparently already lost interest; he didn’t raise any further questions.
Instead, as if he’d suddenly remembered why he’d come here in the first place, he plopped down in a seat and began setting a bunch of things down on the table. Sheets of paper, dyed in soft colors.
“What are you doing?”
Arsian was the first to show interest in the boy’s actions.
“I’m going to make wish flowers.”
“Wish flowers?”
“Yeah!”
“What’s that supposed to be?”
“Juri big sis said if you make lots of flowers like this and stick them to the bedroom window, your wish comes true.”
“Your wish... with paper flowers?”
“Yeah!”
“...”
He was taken aback, but he couldn’t bring himself to say something like, If wishes came true with this kind of thing, there wouldn’t be a wish in the world that didn’t. The boy’s eyes were far too earnest.
“She said the more flowers you make, the better your wish comes true!”
“What are you going to wish for?”
“That Big Sis comes back safe.”
“...Big Sis?”
“Yeah! I’m going to wish for her to come back as soon as possible.”
The boy immediately began cutting the paper with great care. His expression was almost reverent, so they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything more.
But soon Rio raised his head again and slid some sheets of paper toward the two of them.
“Let’s make them together. The more we make, the better!”
Arsian let out a short sigh inwardly. This really wasn’t the time for him to be sitting here making things like this.
“Big Bro? You don’t know how to cut flowers?”
“That’s not it...”
“Should I teach you?”
“...I don’t really feel like doing it.”
When Arsian shook his head and leaned back, the boy stared straight at him.
“Big Bro.”
“What?”
“Do you not want Big Sis to come back safe?”
“...What?”
“So you don’t want that.”
“That’s not—”
“I really want her to come back soon, that’s why I’m making flowers...”
“...”
Why is it so quiet?
Even after Rio went inside, Baol lingered outside the office door, feeling puzzled by the complete silence within.
I can hardly hear any voices. Did something happen?
In the end, he carefully opened the door and peeked inside.
“...!”
His eyes widened slightly. He immediately understood why the office had gone so quiet.
The unexpected scene left him at a loss for words.
The three of them were sitting around the table, working very hard on something.
Duke Sephra was choosing colors of paper, while Rio and Arsian were cutting them with intense focus.
“Old man, do you seriously think this red goes with that black? What kind of flower looks like this?”
“Get rid of your fixed ideas. For someone who uses magic, you’re remarkably stuck inside a little box.”
“What does magic have to do with anything here...!”
“I was wrong, I’m sorry, let’s never fight again, say it.”
“...”
“...”
At the boy’s single sentence, the two men clamped their mouths shut.
And it went on like that.
“Why is your cutting so awful? There’s not a single properly cut one here.”
“What’s wrong with it! If you don’t like it that much, you do the cutting yourself! You can’t even pick colors...”
“I was wrong, I’m sorry, say it.”
“...”
“...”
A faint smile appeared on the butler’s lips and then faded.
Hoping that peaceful days like today would continue for a long time to come, he quietly closed the door.
