Chapter 234
And somehow Rubens felt his own death wouldn’t be much different.
He felt all the power and fame he’d built were useless now—and would only feel more so as death approached.
Like Arzena, he too might want a quiet departure to the next world. That made him think how lonely both their lives really were.
Rubens stood with a dry face throughout his mother’s funeral, then left as soon as it ended.
“Hey.”
A voice he didn’t welcome grabbed his ankle.
“I heard you went mad. Are you really not mad but sick like Arzena Krygen?”
It was Kallen Krygen, the illegitimate son of the Krygen family.
He had been a child the last time Rubens saw him but was now a grown man. Still, to Rubens, he was just a young, arrogant brat.
“I heard the Zandir family had a hereditary illness and maybe you caught it too.”
“No way.”
Rubens used to correct him by telling him to call him ‘brother,’ but now even that felt tiresome.
“Why? Even if your father isn’t Marcus Krygen like me, your mother is still Arzena.”
What was this about?
“I heard from Grandmother. You’re illegitimate too, born from some nameless scoundrel.”
Rubens had once said something to Ottilie Krygen that might raise questions about his birth. Apparently, Ottilie interpreted that to mean they were not even the children of the same parents.
“Haha!”
Rubens frowned as if hearing a ridiculous story, then burst into laughter.
Of course. Without being crazy, how could they have passed off a random street urchin as the heir to the Duke’s family?
It was madness that only Arzena and Rubens shared together.
“So I guess I really am crazy… I understand why grandmother worries so much.”
Kallen was briefly taken aback, then clicked his tongue pretending not to care. Rubens barely held back his laughter and replied,
“Yeah. I’ve been crazy for a long time. Isn’t that good news for you?”
If something happened to Rubens, the dukedom would pass to Kallen as the next heir.
That was why Kallen, having been falsely accused alongside his mother of d**g offenses and exiled to the Krygen-owned island, had rushed over.
“Yeah. Grandmother already told me to return to the main family. Now that I’m an adult, I’m supposed to attend parliament instead of you. She’s preparing the position for me.”
Kallen said boastfully.
‘Maybe because Kallen is his son’s bloodline, despite also being illegitimate.’
Ottilie Krygen’s motives were clear as day.
“Sure. I’ll support you.”
Rubens replied indifferently and continued walking.
He didn’t have the energy to pay attention to someone like that. Headaches, chills, and body aches made him feel like collapsing at any moment.
It wasn’t surprising Kallen wondered if he had inherited Arzena’s hereditary illness.
No doubt his face had turned pale.
Weight loss was expected, and mourners at the funeral expressed their concerns.
Rubens couldn’t even offer a proper thanks and stood silently, wanting nothing more than to get back inside and rest.
Suddenly, Rubens stopped in his tracks.
“Your Grace, are you all right?”
Kronen, who was following behind, asked, watching Rubens’s face.
“What’s that sound?”
“What sound, Your Grace?”
“Don’t you hear crying?”
“Yes?”
Kronen looked puzzled.
He could faintly hear crying, like that of a baby searching for its mother.
“Wahh, wahhh.”
It sounded so pitiful, like an infant waking and calling for its mother.
“Your Grace!”
Rubens seemed hypnotized, turning toward the source of the sound. Though he wondered if it was a hallucination, his desire to confirm it was strong.
‘It’s like the dream.’
The old dream came back—the one where Macy took a baby from a cradle and held it. He suddenly recalled the room he could never reach no matter how fast he ran.
‘I have to find it!’
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