Episode 152
Asil cautiously moved toward the vassals to hear their conversation more clearly.
They were completely unaware that someone was eavesdropping on their words.
“I’ve heard that story too, but wasn’t it just a baseless rumor?”
“Well, actually, it was my distant relative who attended to the Duchess during her difficult labor back then. They said it was quite a predicament because the Duke didn’t even set foot in the Duchess’s room, busy tending to a sick divine beast.”
“Oh dear……”
“Moreover, it’s said he hardly showed his face to the current Duke, who was just a newborn at the time. ……This is just my speculation, but perhaps the current Duke isn’t the Duke’s biological son—”
“So you were the one spreading that nonsensical rubbish.”
The conversation between the vassals was cut short by the sudden voice of a third party.
Asil, hidden behind a tree, instinctively covered her mouth.
Elcai, looking thoroughly enraged to anyone’s eyes, was glaring at the vassals.
As he drew his sword, the pale-faced vassals hurriedly fell to their knees.
“T-The grand Duke!”
“If you have acted, you must take responsibility for the consequences.”
“It’s a misunderstanding! I wasn’t the one who spread— Aaaack!”
Before the sentence could even finish, Elcai swung his sword down.
Asil quickly covered her eyes with both hands.
However, when the smell of blood did not drift over even after a long time, she peeked through her fingers to see a vassal fainted with foam at his mouth and Elcai staring at him with a look of pathetic disdain.
“With such a small heart.”
“U-ugh……”
“You lot, take this pathetic wretch back and report exactly what happened.”
Elcai, sheathing his sword, commanded the other vassals.
They were shivering beside the fainted man, having fallen on their backsides.
“Tell them that this man is the source of that nonsensical rumor, and demand he be thoroughly investigated and punished. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes!”
Fearing another blade might fly their way, the vassals scrambled up, hoisted their companion onto their backs, and vanished.
Until then, Asil waited for the situation to conclude, holding even her breath.
But suddenly, Elcai turned his head precisely toward where Asil was hidden.
And he spoke in a low voice.
“Come out, you little one.”
“……!!!”
“You might deceive the eyes of others, but you cannot deceive the eyes of a grandfather.”
Oh my goodness, how did he know I was hiding here?
As much as it would have been strange for Elcai, who used to soar across battlefields in his youth, not to notice, Asil didn’t know that.
Asil peeked her head out.
She didn’t forget to make a quick excuse, just in case she was misunderstood.
“It wasn’t me who spread the rumors!”
“I know. How much did you hear?”
Unlike when he was dealing with the vassals, his expression was much softer. It didn’t seem like he was asking in order to scold her.
So Asil decided to ask the thing she was curious about.
“I heard up to the part about giving up the wife’s life to choose the divine beast. What does that mean?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
“Is it because of this that Edenber and the Duke are on bad terms, right?”
“Hmm.”
Elcai cleared his throat significantly and began to walk. Asil quickly followed behind him.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone, so please tell me. I want to reconcile Edenber and the Duke.”
“I thought it was strange that you kept putting the two together lately; so that was your intention.”
“Yes.”
“And was there any progress?”
“No, Edenber won’t even try to say a word.”
“Hmm……”
Elcai let out a long hum with a complex expression.
Asil didn’t rush him and patiently waited for him to say something.
After a fairly long wait, he moved to a secluded spot and slowly opened his mouth.
“When Edenber was just born, my daughter-in-law’s health took a turn for the worse.”
“Daughter-in-law?”
“Edenber’s mother. At that time, Rune, the family’s divine beast, was also ill. Ikart tended to Rune with all his heart. All that happened was that some people saw that and created and spread strange rumors.”
“Did he not take care of Edenber’s mother?”
“To others, it must have looked like he didn’t care at all.”
Asil blinked at the strangely roundabout statement.
So, did it mean he did take care of her, but did so secretly?
“Then he can just tell Edenber the truth, can’t he?”
“I’ve already tried, but he didn’t seem to believe it. Besides that matter, the rift between the two has already widened as far as it can.”
Ikart was not an affectionate personality at all.
Moreover, because Edenber was driven out of the family when he was young, there wasn’t even enough time to build paternal affection.
To top it off, they had a major falling out once more when they sent Asil away, and since then, he had only been wandering outside.
As a result, there was a lack of time to talk, and eventually, this rumor became the fuse, causing them to suffer a rift deeper than a canyon.
“Given the fact that Ikart actually didn’t go to his wife’s room……”
Elcai let out a sigh.
“It was beyond my power.”
“Then shouldn’t he go to the person who took care of Edenber’s mother and ask them to clear up the misunderstanding?”
However, Elcai shook his head.
“It is not such a simple problem.”
“Why?”
“……Whom do you intend to tell the things I am saying?”
“No, I won’t tell anyone.”
She had seen him scold those vassal humans terrifyingly just now, and she didn’t want to be scolded for doing the same thing.
In fact, even if it wasn’t for that, Asil knew very well that spreading someone’s secret was a very bad thing.
“I won’t even tell Todori or Bam-bam.”
“Yes, don’t tell anyone. It’s a matter that brings no good no matter how many people know.”
After checking his surroundings once more, he dropped his voice significantly.
“Edenber’s mother and Rune are the same person.”
“……? Huh?”
What did that mean?
Because it was a quite shocking story, Asil, who didn’t understand immediately, tilted her head.
“What did you say?”
“……I said Rune is Edenber’s mother.”
Rune is Edenber’s mother?
Rune?
……That Rune?
It felt as if lightning had struck inside her head. Asil, who finally understood after chewing over the words several times, gasped with her mouth wide open.
That little fox who called me a bad lizard dragon is actually Edenber’s biological mother?
“Therefore, Ikart tending to Rune was the same as tending to Edenber’s mother.”
“Edenber doesn’t know?!”
“No.”
“Why?!”
“Who would be happy to know that their mother is acting like that while having lost her memories? Since it would be hard to believe anyway, Ikart and I discussed and decided it would be better to treat her as dead.”
Certainly, if even she was this surprised, it seemed the shock would be great for Edenber if he found out.
But because of that, Edenber was misunderstanding everything…….
Perhaps this small but large truth could become the breakthrough for reconciliation.
‘Wait a minute, something is strange.’
They would have lived in the same house before Rune went berserk, so it was strange that Edenber didn’t know Rune was his mother.
When she pointed that out, Elcai replied calmly.
“Originally, emotional exchange between a family head and a divine beast is forbidden. A child born between the two is not recognized as human.”
“…….”
“Therefore, after humanizing and giving birth to Edenber, Rune faked her own death. It seems she intended to give Edenber a hint later, but now that she has lost her memories, it has become forever impossible.”
“Then if Rune regains her memories, Edenber and the Duke could reconcile, right?”
“That’s right. Because it would be like the biggest misunderstanding being cleared up. However, since that is impossible—”
“It might be possible.”
“Hmm?”
“I might be able to find Rune’s memories.”
It was said that Rune lost her memories due to the shock when the oath was broken.
If so, couldn’t there be a magic that could revive lost memories?
Asil decided to go to her father, who knew everything about magic.
And before long, she found a way to revive Rune’s lost memories.
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