Chapter 52
Losing is incredibly easy.
The Grand Duke knew this fact better than anyone. Countless deaths witnessed on battlefields and experiences of losing precious ones without being able to do anything proved it.
If loss was inevitable, then let go of what you hold.
‘Things that will break anyway.’
He knew that the moment the rebellion failed, he would lose everything. Since he decided not to give up on revenge despite knowing this fact, he had to be prepared.
For the worst future that would come when everything went wrong.
But facing a child who had nearly died multiple times, he realized how inadequate his resolve truly was. He was genuinely moved by a child who was merely supposed to be a tool for rebellion.
Yurian didn’t know how to define these feelings of his.
“Your Grace! Should we call all the knights who are waiting?”
“No. Finding them comes first. Continue the search.”
An afternoon that should have been peaceful.
He and his knights searched the library that had become ruins as if a typhoon had passed through. The Grand Duke’s expression grew serious as he examined the sword marks left on the floor.
To leave such marks, one would need to be at least a Sword Master.
How could someone with such power enter the library? If that person had taken the children hostage, how should he handle it?
‘Pointless thoughts.’
If they were in danger, he would rescue them with all his might, and that would be that.
He gauged the skills of the presumed Sword Master. All he had heard from Tristan was that there had been a fire here.
He couldn’t know when or at what point an outsider had intervened. Tristan’s voice, who had run to his office sobbing, flashed through his mind.
“Please… p-please.”
“Speak clearly.”
“M-my brother and sister are in there. We n-need to save them.”
“What are you saying?”
Tristan had unconsciously called Liat, the child he so despised, his sister. Hair covered in soot and a face full of scratches.
The Grand Duke quickly confirmed that Tristan had no major injuries.
“I-it’s all my fault again.”
He was speechless at Tristan’s face, collapsing with a mixture of fear and despair. Had he ever seen Tristan cry so desperately? This was a child who hadn’t shed tears even when his mother died.
“Calm down and speak slowly.”
Without realizing it, he embraced Tristan with both arms. His son, who normally disliked even being touched by him, surrendered himself and confessed.
That because of him, his brother and sister were trapped in the flames.
“No more… I’m scared. I don’t want to be left alone.”
Tristan, who had been spewing incoherent words, soon collapsed from exhaustion. After entrusting the unconscious Tristan to his subordinates, he headed to the library himself.
And when he saw the clear traces of an outsider remaining in the library, his blood ran cold.
“Find the children without fail! And the person who left these sword marks!”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
Why do you get involved in dangerous incidents so often?
“Should I have taught you more swordsmanship?”
He knew when he crossed swords with the child.
Liat’s posture and sword handling were definitely not those of someone using a sword for the first time. He recalled the contents of a report written by a knight who had investigated the Black Mage’s tower.
[Report on Black Mage’s Laboratory
The experiments conducted in the laboratory where Her Highness was located were chimera experiments. For the purpose of using them as soldiers by forcibly injecting combat knowledge and skills into their bodies… (omitted)]
Was that why the child was insensitive to death?
Judging by the weak body, the child was probably a failed experiment, but combat skills injected into the mind must have remained. How much pain must that young child have endured to become like that?
Even he, who had crossed the line between life and death countless times, couldn’t imagine it.
‘And yet, you smiled.’
The child had a happy expression while talking about Lucas. That faint smile that flowed out unconsciously was quite pleasing.
Enough to invite Tristan, whom he had originally intended to keep separated from the child, to the mansion.
“Your Grace! You should come here!”
“Have you found the child? Why haven’t you brought them immediately?”
“…They seem to be in a condition that shouldn’t be moved.”
“Lead the way.”
His steps hastened, fearing the child’s life might be in critical danger. And finally, when he faced the scene, his rapidly beating heart found its place.
It felt as if all the air in his body was leaving his lungs.
“…Hah.”
It was a peaceful scene disconnected from the surrounding landscape.
Lucas embracing Liat with one arm. And Liat, holding Lucas’s hand, both asleep together.
Liat’s body was far from fine, but nevertheless, there was a faint smile on the corners of the mouth.
It made the two children look as if they were enjoying a happy nap while holding hands.
“You have so many ways of making me worry.”
“…Ugh.”
“I’m sorry I came late.”
He knelt down and stroked the foreheads of the two sleeping children. He couldn’t know what hardships had befallen the two children in his absence.
But now the children were in his arms.
***
Just as he had stabilized Liat’s condition, another problem arose.
“Tristan put himself in the underground prison?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The Grand Duke rubbed his forehead, which was beginning to throb with a headache, at the butler’s answer.
Although he had used his magical power, it was close to a miracle that Liat had survived safely. It was also thanks to the medicines he had gathered from various regions in advance, anticipating something like this might happen.
‘I had hoped it would just be a concern.’
After Liat had been on the brink of death due to the Hydrus family, he had prepared medical personnel for emergencies.
Should he be grateful that in matters like this, things didn’t deviate from expectations?
He was exhausted from using magical power while staying by Liat’s side. He couldn’t fathom Tristan’s feelings when he couldn’t even manage his own emotions.
The Grand Duke swallowed a sigh that had escaped and asked the butler.
“So why did Tristan say he wanted to be in the underground prison?”
“He didn’t answer.”
“Tell him to come out immediately… No. Let Tristan do as he wishes.”
“Is that really all right?”
“Yes. If that is the child’s choice, we should respect it.”
He’ll give up on his own after a while.
Once Tristan started being stubborn, he wouldn’t listen to anyone. It was unreasonable to forcibly pull out such a child in this urgent situation.
He instructed that Tristan be confined to the deepest part of the underground prison.
“If he says he wants to come out, let him out.”
It was a poor space for a young child to stay. A knight who knew the conditions of the underground prison well sent a concerned look.
“Should we not apply the restraints according to procedure?”
“No. Apply them all. If we want to break his stubbornness, there’s no choice.”
It would be a difficult time for his son. On one hand, he knew it was excessive, but he ignored the worry lodged in the corner of his mind.
‘He needs to be disciplined.’
The scale of this incident was different from the troubles he had caused before.
Not only was the Grand Duke’s historic library damaged, but he had almost lost two children at once. If he had been even a little later in checking Liat’s condition…
The child would have died.
You once said I created your tomorrow. Should I have told you that I took some comfort in those futile words?
“If there’s nothing more to report, everyone leave.”
Yurian dismissed the people around him, entered his office, and locked the door. The aftermath of using excessive magical power for the child was hitting him.
His legs buckled under pain that felt like his organs were burning whole. A groan he had been holding back while alone escaped.
“…Huk.”
Drip.
Spots of blood falling on the floor entered his vision. With his hand pressed against the floor, he endured the surging pain by gritting his teeth.
Even scratching the floor with his nails didn’t calm the tangled magical power.
Each time his consciousness briefly cut off and returned, his head buzzed. In the past, Gerard had asked him.
“Why don’t you announce the nature of your innate magical power?”
“For whose benefit? It’s just a power I have no use for.”
“Life attribute magical power. If this fact became known, even the Imperial Family wouldn’t dare to confront you carelessly.”
Usually, the attributes of innate magical power were limited to elements. However, for some reason, he possessed magical power with the special attribute of “life.”
His magical power amplified the life force of others.
“This power isn’t omnipotent either. It couldn’t save your sibling.”
If the will to live was insufficient, using magical power wouldn’t work well.
Unless he was prepared to forcibly attach life by recklessly pouring power. Moreover, the recoil from using magical power returned directly to his body.
A body that would have broken long ago if he hadn’t awakened as a Sword Master.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and leaned against the wall.
“This time, you wanted to live.”
While treating Liat with magical power, he noticed that this time the child wanted to live. Have I become somewhat of a support to you?
A conversation they had in the dining room once lifted his tired spirit.
“Yes. I won’t die, so leave me alone.”
“What are you trying to do alone?”
“I just need to stay alive.”
Having kept the promise, that was enough.
The moment he read the child’s “will” to live, he let go of all his anger. The reason he couldn’t believe the child, no matter how much she said she wouldn’t die.
Whenever he treated Liat, he always read a longing for death. In this treatment, he felt a will greater than that longing.
Covering his eyes with his palm, he let out a small laugh.
“Haha.”
If the child’s precariousness had subsided, the next task was clear. He needed to take the child to the Imperial ball, announce them as his adopted daughter, and begin the groundwork for rebellion in earnest.
A child who had just decided to live, by my own hands, I…
“I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”
He could no longer ignore the growing feelings within him. The desire for the child to grow up happily emerged.
For the first time, the future that had always been clear felt blurry.
-The moment you pick up the red flower, you will lose what you desire most and fall to a low place.
The prophecy he had ignored stained his mind red. He, who had risen using revenge as his driving force, did not believe there was another way to live.
Even if a predestined destruction awaited, he had no intention of deviating from his path.
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