It's Too Late for Regrets - Chapter 10.1

“Well, I don’t think he will accept it easily. He even refused the shamans.”

 

“At least say something.”

 

“Well, alright then.”

 

Lim shrugged and left the room.

 

Robert sighed softly and finished writing a few words on the medical chart. Caesar, who had been silent all along, grabbed his sleeve.

 

“Robert, could you please just tell Father that he’s fine today?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I want to go with Father tomorrow…”

 

Tomorrow was the day of the hunting contest held at the forest edge north of Lezan, overlooking the royal castle.

 

Since offerings were made using the animals caught in the contest, most nobles in the capital attended, and it was customary to catch even a small bird.

 

Of course, Rayan was also planning to participate. The child thought hard with his small head.

 

Maybe Mom will come too.

 

“If Father has a fever, he definitely won’t take me. Robert, please say it well, okay?”

 

Caesar smiled sweetly and clung to Robert’s arm.

 

No matter how much Father said he was fine, he wouldn’t believe it, but he trusted Robert’s medical records.

 

“If you ride a horse, you’ll get tired quickly, young master.”

 

“But… it’s been a long time since I rode with Father. Also, I want to see the pretty sister.”

 

Even though it was from a distance, Caesar thought it would be nice to be with Mom and Dad.

 

Caesar hesitated and didn’t say this, but the wrinkled old man gently patted the child’s head.

 

“Our young master loves his father very much, right?”

 

Caesar quietly looked up at Robert. The answer came easily.

 

“I like Father.”

 

“…”

 

“I like him because I have to.”

 

It was a vague answer full of obligation. Caesar said no more and looked out the window.

 

This was the first time someone asked if he loved his father. Berry, Kian, and no one in the mansion ever asked Caesar that.

 

Not even his father.

 

After Robert packed up his medical tools and charts and left the bedroom, Caesar remained lost in thought for a while.

 

Unable to hold back, Kian spoke first.

 

“So, what did you mean earlier? That you like him because you have to?”

 

“It’s just what it means. I made a choice on the day Mom left, Kian.”

 

At that calm answer, Kian recalled the wish he made the day Caesar became his second host.

 

“Mom, I will take care of Father. So you go to a better place.”

 

Caesar’s choice didn’t just mean sending Ines to a better place. It also meant he would stay by his father’s side.

 

So Caesar needed some reason to love his father somehow.

 

“Father can’t be without me. And I can’t be without Father. You know that. We are lonely because Mom is gone.”

 

“…”

 

“So we like each other.”

 

After saying that, Caesar pressed his lips tightly.

 

In truth, loving his father was only sometimes easy and mostly hard.

 

From when Caesar settled into his mother’s womb, he grew up seeing his mother’s dark and painful feelings toward his father.

 

He even remembered that until he was four, his father showed no interest in him.

 

When his mother was often slapped by the great aunt, his father never saved her once.

 

Thinking about those things, Caesar sometimes hesitated even when he was in Rayan’s arms.

 

At those times, he knew the look in his eyes was as if he wanted to kill himself.

 

Clear green eyes showed waves of complicated emotions unusual for a child, then slowly closed.

 

“But… still, I want Father to stay by my side. Not like Mom, but for a long, long time with me…”

 

Caesar trailed off. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly changed the subject.

 

“Father, do you still go to the top room of the mansion often these days?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

Caesar knew who stayed in that room.

 

The child buried himself in the blankets and mumbled.

 

“I think we should watch Lim and Irak carefully… The Grim Reaper came from Jenaire… It can’t hurt to be careful.”

 

“Yes. I’ll tell them.”

 

“…”

 

Though he did not show it, Caesar seemed tired and soon fell into a light sleep.

 

Kian didn’t ask more and covered the child with a blanket.

 

 

Lim stood in front of the Duke’s office.

 

Through the open door, he saw a man sitting on the desk reading papers.

 

It was the King of Eleanor.

 

After a quick glance at Lim entering, he said just one word.

 

“Why.”

 

“…The physician asked if he needs treatment, Eleanor.”

 

“No need. How is Caesar’s condition?”

 

“Not bad. If he stays like this for a few more weeks, he will be completely free from the darkness.”

 

Lim glanced at Rayan’s face for a moment. Rayan never allowed shamans to examine him, so Lim had to judge by observation.

 

Today, there was no sign of illness.

 

‘… What is going on?’

 

The first order the Duke gave to the Jenaire shamans was to remove the darkness attached to his son’s heart.

 

The pieces of darkness that left the child slowly belonged to the father.

 

The oldest darkness lives by feeding on the host’s heart.

 

Normally, the host whose life force is drained would weaken, but the man with a steel-like body showed no sign of it.

 

Even though the darkness seemed to behave as if it didn’t care what happened to the host.

 

Normally, he should be withered by now, but the Duke was still beautiful and strong.

 

He didn’t receive blessings from the church or treatment from shamans.

 

Was it just that no one could see it?

 

Or…

 

Lim’s eyes narrowed as he watched the man calmly flipping through papers.

 

‘Did he tame that perfectly in such a short time?’

 

“What are you doing? If there’s nothing to report, leave. Guard the top floor well.”

 

The order came in a flat tone to Lim, who didn’t move. Lim bowed slowly and left the office.

 

‘Probably the former. There’s no way he tamed the oldest darkness perfectly.’

 

Only one person could control the power of darkness perfectly.

 

The illegitimate child the Duke had desperately searched for in the last two years.

 

The royal of Jenaire, daughter of Kanok, the leader of the shamans who died in the sealing ritual 30 years ago.

 

The unfortunate owner born with the oldest darkness inside her.

 

Following the order, he went up to the mansion’s top floor. There, “her body” was imprisoned.

 

Irak, the shaman guarding the door, handed Lim a small folded note.

 

It was an order from the Jenaire prince currently in Lezan.

 

Our empire’s only remaining weapon after Eleanor completely crushed it. The misfortune and its host raised in Jenaire royal castle. Take it back.

 

The note burned as soon as Lim read it.

 

Irak gestured quietly.

 

“The Duke will leave the mansion tomorrow. At that time…”

 

“Yes. Let’s prepare.”

 

A secret silent communication passed between Lim and Irak.

 

Then, the bedroom door on the mansion’s top floor, locked tightly in an ancient language, opened.

 

 

The Rosram forest, where the hunting contest was held, was lively only twice a year — during the founding festival and the Emperor’s birthday.

 

The Rosram forest was a special place where the royal family managed the types and numbers of game.

 

Not only animals and plants living in Lezan but exotic beasts and trees sent as tribute from other countries were also managed there.

 

Before the hunting contest, forest keepers blocked all paths to dangerous beasts’ habitats. To prevent getting lost in the rugged mountains, they placed signs and management posts everywhere.

 

During the contest, the forest was managed more strictly than ever.

 

Most participants were men, but noble ladies, young noblewomen, and children also often attended.

 

In Lezan, there was a superstition that if you offer the animals caught in the hunting contest, blessings and luck would come to your family, and your greatest wish would come true.

 

“Will Celia go too?”

 

The Countess of Irope subtly hoped her daughter would enter the forest.

 

Of course, not alone.

 

“Although the official engagement announcement will be on the last day… It’s only a day or two difference. There’s no harm in showing it early.”

 

She meant she should go with the Emperor.

 

Ines awkwardly smiled at the Countess’s hand gently pushing her right shoulder.

 

‘I wondered why she told me to wear riding clothes under my dress.’

 

However, the Countess’s wish was unexpectedly granted. The Emperor, brushing the mane of his glossy white horse, turned his head toward them.

 

The strange atmosphere between the Emperor and Lady Irope was already a hot topic in the capital’s social scene.

 

His Majesty, who seemed to keep a distance from noblewomen, had even attended a secret masked ball at night, and danced a volta, a dance he never danced before, with her.

 

He was kind and gentle to everyone, but no one had seen him look at a woman with such tender eyes before.

 

When the Emperor approached her, the noblewomen around Ines squealed softly and pinched each other’s sides.

 

“Long time no see… no, it’s been a while. Ce-Celia.”

 

It was a good thing they spoke quietly.

 

Edgar almost made the mistake of addressing her formally and by her original name as usual, then awkwardly changed his words.

 

A small laugh broke out.

 

Ines whispered softly to him as he kissed the back of her hand.

 

“You should change that habit, Your Majesty. If you keep making mistakes like this, someone will notice.”

 

Edgar responded in a very cheeky tone.

 

“No need to change. There have been Emperors in history who addressed their Empresses formally.”

 

“Oh…”

 

“Even if it’s noticed that I formally address my fiancée once or twice, what more will it mean than being called a devoted husband in the history books?”

 

The bright smile on Ines’s face slightly froze at the word “Empress.”

 

Edgar wasn’t wrong, but the tone felt strange.

 

After all, the one who would become Empress later was probably Celia, not Ines.

 

‘Could he be saying this on purpose?’

 

Edgar was always kind and playful with a smile, but sometimes, like now, he looked at her with an unusually sweet gaze.