After Putting the Slayer of the Night to Sleep, I Ran Away - Chapter 97

After the consecration ceremony, Edward was summoned by Friedrich and headed to his office.

In the silent room, a faint ray of sunlight streamed between the two men sitting across the table.

“Why on earth did you do that?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t call you here to hear an apology. There must have been a reason for doing such a thing.”

After hesitating, Edward cautiously opened his mouth.

It was the superficial reason he had repeated countless times, rationalizing himself.

“I heard that the Princess is the illegitimate child of the Duchess. If that’s true, I thought it would be impossible to proceed with the marriage with my brother…”

Friedrich’s expression hardened coldly.

“Even if that were the case, didn’t it occur to you to discuss it with me beforehand?”

Edward pressed his lips shut.

The excuse, which even he thought was absurd, made his chest feel heavy.

“That magical tool, you received it from your mother?”

“Yes…”

“Tsk.”

Friedrich clicked his tongue briefly and sighed.

“It hasn’t been long since you returned from the monster subjugation. Yet, you’re focusing your energy on finding out whether your cousin is illegitimate or not. Did you truly learn nothing from your brother?”

Learned nothing? How could he not have?

Edward felt a surge of anger in that instant. The hand that had clenched into a fist trembled, turning white.

He had realized painfully there how weak and useless he was.

His brother, Leomund, was different.

The superior-grade monster that made his legs tremble just by standing in front of it, he simply sliced it down like a toy.

Even the commander of the Imperial Knights had been speechless at his martial prowess.

He had always stood higher than others, but there he was just a helpless being who needed protection.

“I…”

Edward had tried his best to do his part.

Sleeping on the rough ground and washing the blood off his armor with stream water, he desperately tried not to lose sight of his brother.

“I did the best I could.”

What couldn’t be done, couldn’t be done.

‘How am I supposed to beat that monstrous brother of mine?’

Edward bit his lower lip.

From the depths of his heart, a dissatisfaction he had never felt before began to rise.

He had naturally assumed he would become the Crown Prince when he turned eighteen.

But suddenly, his brother appeared and declared a competition, and to make matters worse, the first competition was a monster subjugation specialized for his brother.

It was a competition where it was impossible for him to win from the start.

That meant his father, Friedrich, wanted to give the victory of the first competition to his brother.

It was unfair.

Until now, it was he, not his brother, who had been by his father’s side.

But why…

Friedrich’s voice fell upon Edward’s ears as he resented.

“Is that all you have to say?”

Edward raised his gaze.

“…I don’t know what you want me to say, Father.”

“Sometimes, you encounter a wall that you cannot overcome alone. Have you ever experienced such a moment?”

Edward struggled to erase the face that immediately came to mind.

However, Friedrich, who had seen the displeasure that appeared on his face, added in a bitter tone.

“Think about it at least once, Edward. When you encounter that wall, what you need to do to overcome it.”

Edward chuckled.

“You said it’s a wall I can’t overcome. How am I supposed to overcome it?”

“It’s the wall you face. You have to find the way.”

Friedrich continued firmly.

“That is the most necessary quality of a king, Edward. I hope you keep that in mind.”

Evening, with the afterglow of the consecration ceremony still lingering.

Marcus, who had been guarding the office alone, not knowing how he had returned, jumped up and moved his feet.

The place he headed straight to was Claudia’s door.

Marcus knocked on the door abruptly and pushed it open before a word of permission came from inside.

“Claudia, let’s talk.”

She was lounging on the sofa, reading a book.

Ha, reading a book leisurely in a situation like this.

Her face, as she reluctantly rose, held no emotion.

“What’s the matter?”

Her calm tone, as if her peaceful time had been disturbed, irritated his patience.

Marcus twitched his eyebrows and strode inside with a fierce expression.

Then, he stopped in front of her and asked back as if he was dumbfounded.

“What’s the matter? Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“Don’t tell me, is it because of what happened at the consecration ceremony?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You need to explain! How can Isla be my biological daughter?”

Claudia’s eyes widened at Marcus’s excitement, but she soon chuckled.

She shrugged as if she didn’t understand, then curved her eyes prettily and opened her lips.

“I remember giving an explanation back then.”

She leaned back deeply on the sofa and added to him.

“The child in my womb is your child.”

“……”

“You were the one who didn’t believe it. I don’t know why you’re demanding an explanation from me.”

Claudia’s nonchalant attitude seemed as if she knew a day like today would come.

Her calm and composed reply scratched Marcus’s insides as they were.

“How can you say that now…”

“Don’t you remember? Surely? It can’t be?”

“……”

Marcus closed his mouth and recalled that day at her question that stared straight at him.

She, who had ended her long runaway and returned, had said only one word while holding her pregnant belly.

“It’s your child.”

It was a long time ago, almost 20 years, but the memory of that day was very clear.

Throughout his life, born and raised as the eldest son of the Everett family, there was no day as shameful as that day.

He naturally didn’t believe that the child in her womb was his child.

She, who had run away with a bodyguard, returned almost 9 months later and gave birth to a child.

Of course, it was a daughter who didn’t have any of the silver hair or silver eyes that were the symbol of the Everett family.

Marcus lived most of his time as if the child didn’t exist.

He acted as if she had never existed from the beginning, and when she happened to catch his eye, he just spent the moment thinking, ‘Ah, that’s right.’

Claudia also left the child in the hands of the maid and didn’t look at her.

He thought she was a cold woman. He was a complete stranger, but she had a child who shared her blood.

On the other hand, he was convinced that her words that it was his child were a lie. He was convinced as he watched her not even giving her side because she was conscious of him.

Then one day, he heard a strange report from the butler.

It was a hint that Claudia seemed to have abandoned Isla.

The child who should have been in Saint had sneaked into a carriage and came to the Imperial City, and Claudia, who heard the news, took the child out and returned alone.

He was more dumbfounded than surprised. To be honest, it would be a lie if he didn’t consider pretending not to know.

But what if someone found out about this fact? And if it tarnished the family’s honor?

Marcus called the coachman who had dropped Claudia off and got on the carriage.

He found her squatting in the middle of the road and brought her back when she was probably seven or eight years old.

The child suddenly asked in the carriage taking her back.

“Is it because I’m illegitimate that you hate me?”

He was a little surprised. And he also felt sorry.

Marcus granted the child’s wish to become like her older sister.

The child ate what she was given as if she was starved for everything and grew up alone.

He thought, ‘That’s enough.’

He just thought that he had raised her, so he would get the value and it would be over. But…

Marcus swept back his hair with an unbelievable expression.

“I can assume that I didn’t believe your words. Then why did you do that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Isla, I mean. Why were you so cruel to that child?”

At his prodding, Claudia went, “Ah.” and adjusted her posture.

Then, she looked at him as if it was obvious and replied.

“Because of that child.”

“What…?”

“If it wasn’t for that child, I wouldn’t have come back.”

“……”

“So I didn’t even want to see her face. It was also funny that you, who didn’t believe my words, couldn’t recognize my daughter. Is that your answer?”

Claudia replaced the order to leave by picking up the book again.

Marcus stood in front of her for a long time, then turned around without saying anything unexpectedly.

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