Chapter 130
The ducal couple welcomed their son with exclamations. Magnus, who had entered first, seemed displeased with this emotional reunion and grumbled before suddenly calling out:
“Rubel has brought a gift for Mother and Father. Let’s have a look!”
Then he pulled the hiding Eir out and threw her between them.
Eir tried to resist being dragged, but ultimately ended up sitting on the floor after being tossed aside. Rubel clicked his tongue and helped Eir back to her feet.
And as if that wasn’t enough, he brushed off her skirt with his hands and even looked into her eyes, silently asking if she was alright.
Everyone present could immediately notice that Rubel Shinote’s attitude was different from how he had ever treated others before.
The ducal couple, who had privately harbored disappointment about their son’s excessive religious devotion, realized in that moment that this woman might be someone significant. Unable to contain their curiosity about her identity, they stepped toward Rubel and asked:
“Who is this person?”
“My benefactor.”
Rubel answered without a moment’s hesitation, which was followed by Eir’s shock and Magnus’s sneering. But neither Magnus nor even Eir herself was the true object of the ducal couple’s interest. What mattered to them were the words that would come from Rubel’s mouth.
They were more excited by his unusual choice of words and pressed further.
“Benefactor?”
“When I was stranded in Solvik, and when witches attacked the Fellasis territory, I owe my life to this woman.”
“Oh my, then she truly is a benefactor.”
The Duchess rushed forward to take Eir’s hands. Even if her son hadn’t shown with his whole body how precious this woman was to him, she was certainly a benefactor by this point.
Just as she was about to offer words of gratitude to Eir, Rubel extended his arm to create distance between them.
“But there’s a problem.”
The ducal couple’s gazes converged as if to ask what it was. Only Eir, who intuited what would follow, tightly shut her eyes, and Rubel’s words gently echoed through the mansion:
“This woman is a witch.”
“…….”
“So she might not be such a benefactor to you two.”
“What?”
Following Duke Andreas’s brief question, an icy silence enveloped the mansion. Eir wished this moment would end as if she might faint, but the most dreadful moments are usually the longest.
The ducal couple, knowing their son didn’t speak nonsense, realized he wasn’t joking.
Duke Andreas felt dizzy with the suspicion that their family might be cursed, with first his eldest and now his second son being bewitched by witches.
Unlike his firstborn, who had always behaved like a rascal and hadn’t inspired much expectation, he had placed considerable hope in his second son.
Barely regaining his composure, he murmured softly:
“To say such things in front of so many people, have you decided to cut your father’s life short?”
“I spoke this way because there’s nothing to hide anyway.”
“Rubel! Have you gone mad?”
The Duchess’s shrill cry was immediately followed by her collapse. Magnus rushed to support his mother and erupted at Rubel:
“You bastard! Don’t you know Mother hasn’t been well lately? You could have told Father privately later!”
“You were the one who introduced her first.”
“That was……!”
That was because he wanted to see Rubel flustered, not because he wanted Mother to collapse.
Though Magnus feared and sometimes even hated his father, he was the most filial son to his mother.
Unable to find words, Magnus huffed and soon went upstairs with his mother, while Duke Andreas pondered what Rubel had said during the brief commotion.
Saying there was nothing to hide meant there was no need to hide it, didn’t it? Could it be that he had received some kind of permission from the temple?
“What do you mean there’s nothing to hide?”
“Do you remember what you said when I became God’s lion, Father?”
The Duke replied glumly, sensing something:
“I said I would grant whatever you wished.”
“Please let this woman stay here until I get permission from the Representative. I plan to go to the Central Temple today.”
“Do you have some plan?”
Rubel quietly smiled. Eir thought his face looked not at all cheerful, but rather gave the impression of someone on the verge of losing everything.
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