Chapter 22 (1/2)
The little boy was rushing about in the burning mansion.
“*Young-sik! Here!” (*what sons of nobles are called)
The gray-haired old man grabbed the boy.
“Marquis Dalton!”
When an old man called the Marquis Dalton pushed the wall, a secret passage appeared. The two rushed for the secret passage.
“Catch them! The children are gone!”
The sounds of the knights yelling diminished through the crack in the closing wall door.
“Marquis Dalton, uh, what happened? Why did the Emperor’s knights raid our mansion? Traitor, what else is that?”
“Something’s wrong. Don’t worry, Young-sik.”
The Duke of Leschine only sent a letter to his daughter, who was married abroad. But the letter, which disappeared in the middle and reappeared in the hands of the Duke of Cabezo, was fabricated as evidence of treason.
<The Duke of Leschine asked for a foreign soldier to rebel!>
The little boy couldn’t understand what it meant yet. Dalton looked down sadly at the boy in fear and confusion. He has been a rival to the Duke of Leschine since childhood, but has recognized and respected each other.
‘I know Leschine better than anyone. He’s not the one who will attempt treason.’
Dalton swallowed his tears and ran down the aisle with the boy.
“Here you are, you rat bastards! I’ve been waiting!”
At the end of the passage, a man with a torch revealed a mean face. It was the Duke of Cabezo. When did they come all the way here?
Dalton hid the boy behind his back.
“Haha. It’s no use hiding! The last blood of Leschine’s blood will be dedicated to our Cabezo!”
The Duke of Cabezo lifted the sword. Then came running towards the boy and the Marquis Dalton.
“No!”
It was then. Someone held the screaming boy’s hand tight.
Very warm hands.
The boy looked around. A girl smaller than himself held his hand tightly.
“It’s all right, Your Grace. I’ll protect you in your dream. So stop waking up from a bad dream.”
Victoire slowly opened his eyes.
Under the bluish light of the moonlight at dawn, a tiny silhouette of Elisabeth was seen.
I thought it had died down, but it was a nightmare that came back. A nightmare like a bad disease not long after he intentionally turned a blind eye to Elisabeth.
The last day of the Duke of Leschine.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
“…..”
“Forget it all.”
He had to tell Elisabeth to go back to her room. But Victoire couldn’t push out the tiny body temperature with his hands tightly attached.
Victoire needed it now.
Instead of pushing Elisabeth away, he smiled softly.
“What’s the matter, Elisabeth.”
“I’m scared.”
Elisabeth, who bravely comforted Victoire, returned as a young girl and shrugged.
“Is the night scary?”
“No.”
Elisabeth gave more strength to her hand, attached to Victoire’s.
“I’m afraid it’s all a dream.”
“….”
“When I wake up, I’m afraid Your Grace is gone.”
“Elisabeth.”
“You don’t even want to see me these days, so it’s all just an illusion.”
“Elisabeth, come here.”
Victoire raised himself and opened his arms toward Elisabeth. Elisabeth was surprised and only stood still, with her big eyes wide open.
Victoire gave Elisabeth a gentle hug.
‘Ah….’
He could feel the heart of the girl who came into his arms. A presence smaller than his fist spread throughout Victoire’s body.
When he was hugged, he could feel his heart beating fast and slowly stabilizing. It was a very lovely beat.
This was really force majeure. He couldn’t push this girl out anymore.
“It’s not a dream.”
“If it’s not a dream then?”
“I’m your father.”
“…..”
“You can rest assured.”
Instead of giving a vague answer, Elisabeth put her head down in the arms of Victoire.
On that day, a new dream arose in the life of a barren Victoire who had lived with only revenge as his destiny.
‘I hope that someday Elisabeth will really call me [Dad].’
***
A key with a teddy bear shaped ring went into the keyhole in the study. Elisabeth crept through the open door of the study and went inside.
‘I had a really hard time playing today, too.’
Today, Dylan made me a golden pinwheel. Of course, the pinwheel didn’t turn because it was a day without a single wind. When Elisabeth was disappointed, Dylan used an aura to spin the pinwheel wildly. Later, the artificial wind that the aura created was so strong that all the grass around her was swept away.
<Dylan, the grass is all dead!>
<What am I supposed to do when I’m exceptionally strong?>
Dylan grumbled and cleaned the garden.
‘It was fun!’
But all that was just for access to the study. Victoire and Mrs. Marian always said, ‘Do it right, have fun, and play a lot,’ but that’s far from it.
‘It’s all just for the study.’
Elisabeth laughed and took out a book without hesitation.
【The Secret History of the Empire】
This book was classified as a third-rate gossip book. However, the book’s 345 pages contained conspiracy theories about the families of Cabezo and Leschine, which were not covered in any book.
Of course I had to pass through a lot of crap to get to page 345.
‘I seriously wrote down the fact that the current emperor was the crown prince and that the northern part of the empire had a door to hell. Who made up the story that if you give your life, [Trikol] will grant you a wish? If he knew that, the Duke of Cabezo would have used it already.’