Episode 51
Duke Ivroyel’s magic had been destroyed.
The tracking had failed, but thanks to that, she was now in a state of complete exhilaration, rampaging about how she would absolutely help no matter what.
Hearing that Chesha would be by Belzeon’s side, she was on the verge of losing her mind.
“It must be a child with tremendous magical potential! The ones who are destined to become great archmages always cause one or two big incidents before they even start learning magic properly. This has to be one of those cases.”
She was thrilled, saying it seemed the child had unconsciously used power to shatter her own spell.
“How do you keep picking up nothing like this, even with adoptees! Our grandson is such a dud! I want to adopt one!”
She was jumping with joy one moment and seething with jealousy the next—it was absolute chaos.
Though the tracking spell had failed, Duke Ivroyel was someone who could assist him in many other ways.
So Kierne patiently calmed her down.
After that, he first returned to the hotel.
It was a temporary residence in place of the burned-down townhouse.
He had purchased another mansion in the capital, but it hadn’t been properly furnished or prepared yet, so it would take a little time to make it livitable.
In the meantime, he needed a place to stay, so he rented out the most luxurious hotel in the capital in its entirety.
He paid the existing guests several times their room rates and booked them into other hotels—it was a bit of a hassle, but necessary for security.
Money was something he had rotting in excess, so it didn’t matter.
Of course, those unaware that the Basilian count’s family was a hidden tycoon were horrified by the news that someone had rented the entire hotel.
Even the hotel manager couldn’t believe it; it was only after Kierne brought physical jewels and such, not a check, and showed them directly that the lodging contract could proceed.
According to the manager, since the hotel’s opening, the only other person to rent it out entirely had been a famously wealthy foreign royal—the second case ever.
The manager was making a huge fuss, clearly wanting to chat more and share stories, but Kierne cut him off sharply.
Kierne had no time.
“Father.”
Upon returning to the hotel room, the twins were waiting for him.
He had told Jahan to find them immediately and bring them back, yet it had taken a whole day.
They must have gone quite far.
“Read this.”
Kierne tossed Belzeon’s letter to the twins.
Karha caught the letter flying through the air.
The twins quickly pressed close to each other.
Standing side by side at a closer distance than ever before, the two boys read the paper together.
After finishing the letter, the two boys were silent for a moment.
Karha summarized his thoughts on the letter in one phrase.
“…Wow, we’re screwed.”
Belzeon’s letter was written in neat, upright handwriting with a quill pen.
The contents, conveyed in handwriting so tidy it could serve as a textbook, were brief.
[I will not allow the family to commit an irredeemable sin.
Nor will I allow a child who is not a Basilian to be entangled in our sins.
This is what I do as the successor to inherit the position of Count Basilian.
I will endure whatever sin you accuse me of.]
It was a letter inscribed with a resolve that would never back down.
Ishuel bit his lower lip hard.
“A child who is not a Basilian… Does that mean our little brother was forcibly taken by Belzeon?”
“Probably.”
“I was already worried because of what big brother said to him last time.”
Ishuel looked up at Kierne with clouded eyes and said,
“He told our little brother that he wasn’t a Basilian. Of course, big brother didn’t mean it in a bad way, but our little brother is still young, so he wouldn’t know that.”
So when Belzeon said to come with him, he would have obediently followed, Ishuel added, chewing his lip until it was on the verge of bleeding.
Unlike the emotional Ishuel, Karha surprisingly thought coldly in times like this.
“But Belzeon is right, isn’t he?”
Karha placed his hand on Belzeon’s letter, which lay on the table.
“What are you going to do, Father? Once the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly ends, is our little brother done for?”
“No. I’ll keep raising him as a Basilian.”
“Why? Just use him and discard him when you’re done.”
Their red eyes met each other.
Karha threw out words that no one else could have said.
“Is it because he looks like Mother that you want to keep raising him?”
The air turned icy in an instant.
Ishuel, startled, forgot about biting his lip and alternated glances between Karha and Kierne.
Karha murmured softly.
“I just said it out of curiosity. Why Father is acting like this. It’s not like you usually. You’ve been treating the baby way better than necessary.”
Karha was right.
The child had been brought in because there was a use for him.
To win his heart, to make him attached, Kierne had been gentle and kind.
It was true that he had been good to the child because he resembled his wife.
But at some point, Kierne had started treating the child far better than necessary.
It wasn’t just that.
He had focused on everything about the child, and he had taken an interest.
The babbling words from that short tongue.
The unexpected actions that surprised him.
The pouting or giggling expressions…
Unconsciously, he kept following the child with his eyes.
It wasn’t something he did deliberately.
For no reason at all, he simply became interested in the child and ended up observing him.
When the child wasn’t in front of him, he wondered what he was doing, and when he was, Kierne inexplicably wanted to go over and poke him lightly.
It was an emotion and behavior he couldn’t understand himself.
But one thing was certain.
The recent days had been vibrant because of that child.
Every time he had burst into genuine laughter, not his habitual smile, it had all been because of the child.
The parts he hadn’t noticed when the child was by his side became clear once he stepped back a little.
Kierne wanted the child by his side.
“I don’t think Father can bring Mother back to life. No matter how skilled you are in magic, you’re not a god—how can you revive the dead?”
At the bluntly bone-crushing words, Kierne couldn’t help but smile.
Among his three sons, Karha was the one whose thoughts were the hardest to read.
He hadn’t imagined the boy was thinking like this.
Ishuel quickly tugged at Karha’s sleeve.
But Karha instead grabbed Ishuel’s wrist and held it down.
“Of course, you’ll try anyway, but as long as you don’t get caught, that’s fine. I believe Father can pull that off at least. Anyway, if you don’t get caught, it’s not a sin, so the baby won’t get dragged into it.”
“…”
“If Father says he’ll raise him as a Basilian, I won’t oppose it.”
Ishuel, who had been watching their reactions, quickly added a word.
“Me neither. I’d like to have a little brother.”
A brief silence descended.
But soon, Karha spoke again.
“Father. Our family needs that child. In a different sense.”
Karha, who had been speaking without hesitation, faltered for the first time.
After a moment’s hesitation, the boy continued carefully.
“When the baby’s around, we think less about Mother…”
Karha’s voice slowly sank lower.
“Everyone stops crying and starts smiling.”
Karha’s words were wrong.
None of the Basilian men cried.
But it was true that everyone…
Was still trapped in that day.
They lived every day soaked in the pouring rain of the funeral.
The one who had briefly shielded them from the downpour was the child.
Kierne lowered his eyes.
It was as if he could hear the sound of rain in his ears; he took a breath to regain his composure.
Then, Jahan emerged from the shadows.
“Master.”
Uncharacteristically, Jahan spoke in a quick, urgent tone.
“I’ve found Miss Chesha and young master Belzeon.”
The eyes of the twins and Kierne sharpened all at once.
They had been about to bolt out the door, but they froze at Jahan’s next words.
“A Holy Knight took the young lady and the young master.”
“…A Holy Knight?”
As Kierne repeated in disbelief, Jahan answered cautiously.
“It was a Holy Knight named Hailon.”
