Chapter 47: Not Easy part 1
Kassel closed his eyes tightly upon hearing the duchess’s heartfelt plea.
‘Mother, I…’
He couldn’t bring himself to say the terrifying words he had buried deep in his heart. What he had seen and heard through his suffering was no trivial matter. It could not be overlooked; he had to uncover the truth.
It was the same feeling that had driven him from the Rozia borderlands to the capital. But how could he say it?
To a mother who had carried and birthed her child with great difficulty, only to send her away for recuperation, then lose her on the very day of her return five years later, only to finally find her again, much later, how could he say that her daughter might not actually be her daughter?
That she could be the seed of an evil beyond their control?
Difficult and painful as it was, he had no intention of extinguishing the ember of truth and despair he had uncovered. Someday, the wrongs must be righted. Someday, without fail.
Kassel Deuplione Klein silently embraced his grieving mother.
* * *
As the long winter passed and the ice began to thaw, invitations announcing the Imperial Spring Ball were sent out one by one. One such invitation arrived at the Magic Tower.
Any noble lady would have been overjoyed to receive it, yet here it sat, quietly placed on a desk, unnoticed.
“Lucius.”
“Hm?”
The one who called him, Fay, was sitting by the window, resting her chin on her hand. The undulating water currents of the undine spirits surrounding her created a scene as serene as a tranquil lakeside.
Yet, to Lucius’s eyes, the only dazzling presence in that scene was Fay herself. She had let down her long, soft pink hair for the first time in a while, and she smiled faintly.
“Winter is finally leaving.”
“Are you sad about that?”
Did she know?
Lucius had been making a tremendous effort not to show any weakness in front of Fay. Even just responding to her normally was a challenge.
Was this love?
What an agonizing and difficult emotion.
He never wanted to feel it for anyone else. Let this be the first and the last.
His trembling fingers instinctively curled into the folds of his coat. Even if pretending to be unaffected was difficult, it was still better than not seeing her at all.
The only thing bothering him these days…
Momo, who had always teased him mercilessly, had stopped and now occasionally looked at him with a grave expression, as if he were some incurable patient. Anyone would think Lucius was about to drop dead.
D**n it! I am perfectly fine!
“I don’t know.”
“Well, even if the snow stops falling, you can always make it yourself. Just freeze the surrounding air and summon snow or ice. It’ll last for as long as you want.”
Despite his disregard for natural climate conditions, Fay’s gentle tone remained unchanged.
“You know… I almost never talk about this, right? About the monastery.”
“…What?”
A topic he wasn’t prepared to face.
At the mention of Grace Monastery, Lucius momentarily lost his composure, his stance faltering slightly.
He couldn’t help it. No matter how painful, he must never forget this original sin of his.
“When I was young, I was badly injured. Someone helped me and left me at Grace Monastery. I lived there until I came to the Magic Tower.”
“…”
“The season I hated most was winter. Thinking about it now, it’s ironic, given that I’m most adept at handling water and ice. I never starved, but winter was cruel. Especially when doing laundry. It was pure agony.”
Fay’s light green eyes held traces of past suffering.
“You worked even in winter?”
“Even if I barely touched the laundry with a wooden paddle, the cold water would seep into my hands, making them itch and freeze.”
Lucius murmured in a quieter voice.
“If you’ve been through hardships, tell me without hesitation. I may not be able to erase your pain, but I can listen.”
Khehekehk!
Momo, who had been watching Lucius from his basket, let out an odd noise. He couldn’t believe that his cold, merciless master had just uttered those words.
But today, neither the fearsome Lucius nor the pensive Fay paid him any attention. As the weather grew warmer, their moods remained drenched in the melancholy of a rainy park.
“There were too many hardships to count. Ah, but I do remember the saddest day. Due to poor storage management, nearly all the apples rotted. The potatoes sprouted and became moldy. We had to throw everything away… in the dead of winter… while crying.”
“…”
Fay’s calm gaze darkened with sorrow.
“Mother Superior never blamed anyone. But after that, until the barley harvest, our food portions were drastically reduced. I think that’s when I started developing a small obsession with food.”
“What do you mean?”
“I started keeping a bottle of water in my room every day, just in case. Even if there’s no food, water can keep a person alive for a few days.”
Lucius felt an unfamiliar surge of hatred watching her lament her meager past. Half of that hatred was directed at himself. The rest… would be distributed among many others. If not, this dragon might just go berserk again.
Some of those responsible were certainly the fake princess and the fools reveling in her presence.
“Fay.”
“Yes?”
Lucius hesitated before speaking.
“If you found out that someone close to you had betrayed you… what would you do?”
She didn’t answer right away.
One person came to mind immediately.
Dottricia…
