Chapter 39
~Chapter 39~
Kiark remembered what had happened just a few hours earlier.
He already knew that Ered would be coming to see him—Ered had sent a letter in advance to let him know.
It was a bit surprising that Ered had traveled all the way from a foreign country just to see him, but since they were close friends and met from time to time anyway, Kiark didn’t think it was too strange.
However, what Ered said as soon as he arrived was something Kiark found very hard to accept.
“What would you do if I told you that Litya has a son?”
“Honestly, I still can’t believe it.”
“Oh dear, sounds like you’re still not accepting what I said.”
“Isn’t that natural? My brother and I have always been by Litya’s side. There were never any signs that she was seeing someone or had a child.”
“How can you be sure? Litya hasn’t been living at the main house for quite some time now.”
“But that child looked about three or four years old. At that time, we were still seeing Litya often, at least once a week, even if she was busy.”
“So you’re saying there’s no way she had a child. That makes sense.”
“But…”
“But?”
“There’s no way you’d come all this way to make a bad joke. And that child… He definitely seems to have our family’s blood. Honestly… yes, I think he really is Litya’s son.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“You know a bit about our family’s special ability, right?”
Ered nodded seriously.
“Of course. Alongside the powers of the royal family, your family’s ability is considered extremely important in this country. I’m not from your family, though, so I don’t know all the details.”
“Not everyone in our family is as sensitive as I am. I’m a bit unique. To put it simply… I can sense that ability in others.”
“Oh? So you can tell if someone has the ability or not.”
“Yes. Though, it’s not very useful since only people in our family inherit the ability anyway.”
“Did you use that ability on Sertien?”
“It’s not something I can turn on or off at will, so I wouldn’t say I ‘used’ it. I just… sensed it. I never thought it would come in handy in a situation like this.”
Ered listened closely.
“So? What did you sense?”
“To put it bluntly… he’s inherited the ability very strongly.”
“…”
“I know how the power is passed down in the royal family.”
Ered nodded.
“Yes, it’s a very strange and irregular system. I inherited the power, but I can’t even use it.”
As he said that, he raised his hand, and a faint glow briefly appeared and disappeared.
Watching that, Kiark paused before continuing.
“Our family’s case isn’t as complicated. The farther someone is from the bloodline, the weaker the ability becomes.”
“What do you mean?”
“In the royal family, unless it’s sealed, the power is inherited directly from the emperor or from a prince, and the strength is usually the same.”
“That’s right.”
“But in our family, it’s different. If inherited from a prince, for example, the power is weaker.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“And people who don’t inherit the ability can’t pass it on either. That’s why people who want to continue the family line have to marry someone else with the same ability.”
It was complicated, but Ered seemed to follow along just fine.
Kiark scratched his head and added, “Right now, the ones who’ve inherited the strongest abilities in our family are me and my brother. The power I felt from Sertien… it’s far too strong to have come from anyone other than us.”
“So you ended up believing Sertien really is Litya’s son because of that.”
“It sounds ridiculous, but neither my brother nor I married a duke and had a kid, right?”
Ered burst out laughing at that.
“Hah… It still makes no sense. Litya doesn’t seem to remember having a child at all.”
“…”
“Does the Duke know about this?”
“He’s more or less figured it out.”
“Then why hasn’t he told Litya?”
“Who knows, maybe it’s just hard for him to bring up. Maybe he thinks it’s better if she doesn’t know. After all, you came all this way and still couldn’t say anything to her either, right?”
Kiark sighed, seeming to agree.
“My head really hurts. I left my family to avoid all this drama, and now here I am again.”
“There’s nothing you can do. You were born into it.”
“I’m not the type to just go with fate.”
Ered looked at Kiark, his eyes thoughtful, as if he was planning something.
“The reason I’m telling you all this… is because I’ve heard that people from your family always try to protect their abilities.”
“Well… yes, that’s true. But why do you bring that up?”
“What do you think would happen if it was revealed that Sertien is Litya’s son?”
“Well… the family would try to protect him, no matter what.”
“Even if the Council of Elders tries to kill him?”
“…Why is the Council involved? Is there something else going on that I don’t know about?”
Kiark’s face became serious.
Of course it did. If the Council was involved, it was definitely serious.
“What kind of trouble did Litya get into? Losing her memory on top of it all.”
“To be precise, she didn’t lose her memory because she made trouble.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? You keep saying cryptic things. My brain’s going to explode.”
“You? With your brain? That’s funny. I bet even a passing dog would laugh. You’ve already guessed a lot of what’s going on, haven’t you?”
“Nope. I have no clue. Well… maybe I do think Litya might be connected to the royal family more deeply than I thought.”
“Maybe you should talk to Duke Alpres instead. He knows more about palace matters than you do, and he’d understand even without me explaining everything.”
“Well, I did leave the family because I didn’t want to be involved in those matters, so I guess that makes sense.”
“…Hey, will you help me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Talking to the Duke about it.”
When Ered asked Kiark to help him talk to his older brother, Kiark jumped up, almost having a fit, and said,
“What should I say? That Litya has a child but doesn’t know it? I can handle this, but if my brother finds out, it’ll be a disaster!”
“Don’t be like that. Do it for Litya, think of it as helping her!”
“If my brother finds out, he might faint. He might even try to kill the Duke! Are you sure that’s okay?”
“No, don’t do that!”
“I don’t want to die at my brother’s hands!”
Ered and Kiark argued back and forth.
I was lying in my room when I suddenly heard some noise coming from the room next door.
That room must be where Ered was staying. I wondered if something was going on with my brother.
But I figured it was just drunkenness and tried to lie back down to sleep.
I wanted to sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come.
After tossing and turning in bed a few times, I finally decided to get up.
I figured I might as well go get some fresh air.
I quietly left my room.
The corridor in the inn was quiet.
Most people must have been asleep.
As I was thinking about where to go, I suddenly noticed the stairs leading up and thought I might as well go to the rooftop. So I started climbing.
The air outside was cold.
Once I reached the roof, I could see a beautiful view of the capital of Silvian.
I realized that this inn was in quite a nice spot.
As I was peacefully enjoying the view, I suddenly heard someone approaching from behind and quickly turned around.
“Ah…”
“It’s you, Litya.”
It was Latryne.
Latryne, standing with the beautiful backdrop of Sylvia’s capital, looked stunning.
As I thought that, I started feeling awkward about being with Latryne again.
Once everything had calmed down, I remembered what I had said to Latryne, and it made me uneasy.
But despite my thoughts, my heart was pounding at the sight of Latryne.
‘Why is my heart like this… I can’t think straight whenever I see someone as pretty as Latryne…’
I tried to distract myself by thinking of something else, trying to avoid looking at Latryne.
But while I was doing that, Latryne had gotten closer.
Realizing too late, I hurriedly turned my head away from Latryne.
“Umm… do you have something to say to me?”
My voice was shaky, and anyone could tell how awkward I felt.
I mentally scolded myself for being unable to say anything better.
“…”
Even though I had asked, Latryne didn’t respond right away.
Not knowing what to say, I stood still, and then Latryne spoke first.
“…I like you, Litya.”
“Eh…?”
I raised my voice in surprise.
My face must have turned completely red.
I didn’t know exactly what Latryne meant by those words, but since the person I liked had suddenly confessed, it was hard for me to process.
“So… what do you mean by that? You’ve always been kind to me, so you didn’t have to say it…”
“I like Litya, not Erias.”
