Chapter 66
“Marie, you are beautiful today as well.”
“Stop saying such silly things and if you’re going to do it, then hurry up….”
Creak.
The sound, so familiar it had become tiresome, twisted the faces of the two people—so close just a moment ago—like demons.
When Ernhardt Egbert barely managed to turn his head, suppressing the rage that welled up inside him, his granddaughter’s sly little smirk came into view. She wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore.
“Esther, Egbert…!”
“Good evenin’! Grandma, Grandpa! You can keep doing what you were doing, you know.”
At the child’s words—spoken while she leaned her chin on her hand as if to mock them—the couple trembled with fury and hurriedly pulled away from each other.
“You… didn’t you promise me yesterday that you wouldn’t come in again! Must I block off every passage in my own house?!”
“Oh, Grandpa, come on. Sure, I said I wouldn’t yesterday. But I also said that the day before, and the day before that, too.”
“Exactly! And yet you still came every day!”
“Yes!”
After all, it was only a little lie.
When Esther answered brightly with a big grin, Ernhardt’s face looked as though it were rotting away.
It wasn’t just once or twice—they’d been interrupted for five days straight now.
Five days!
And somehow, every time, she appeared through the secret door at just the perfect moment. At this point, he felt like sealing off the exit for good.
“How long are you going to keep barging in like this? And without even saying where you’re going.”
“I won’t go anymore.”
She had already found what she wanted.
The Demon King’s power…
She wasn’t sure from when exactly this “Demon King’s power” dated back. Supposedly, it was the very same power sealed away by the first head of House Egbert…?
Then that must’ve been around when the Kingdom of Surtr was founded…?
Could it be that the Demon King who loved humans was the same one sealed within the Egbert family?
She was left with more questions than answers, but she had a general idea of where—and what—had been done.
That must be why the annex is isolated….
Esther skipped toward the door.
“What if, you know, someone thought to be dead came back alive?”
“What?”
“Would you kill them again?”
“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
Marie Egbert asked wearily.
“Hakan Egbert.”
“….”
Both Marie’s and Ernhardt’s faces froze stiff and then drained pale.
The murderous glare they gave her was so intense that it made a chill run down Esther’s back.
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I see.”
“You—you didn’t go into the secret archives, did you?”
“Nope? Uncle Naiman and Father just told me.”
Of course, neither of them had actually said a word.
But they were easy names to drop. Hearing Esther’s claim, their expressions eased just a little.
“I asked if there were any other siblings, and they told me.”
“…I see.”
“So I got curious, you know… like, what if he came back like a zombie or something.”
Marie Egbert let out a sigh.
“There would be nothing to do. The dead do not return.”
“But what if he didn’t die?”
“Things that cannot happen aren’t worth thinking about.”
Good grief, such cold and stubborn people.
Esther sighed loudly on purpose and turned her back on them.
There was no reason to go back into the secret archives anyway.
She had already read every book and document there.
Leaving the duke and duchess’s room, Esther headed straight for her own.
Tomorrow, she’d go to the annex.
The entrance should be in there somewhere.
The reason it was isolated, the reason it was practically abandoned—surely it was because the first Egbert head, sealed away, was hidden somewhere inside.
Since it was already late at night before she managed to slip out of the archives, she decided not to move immediately….
“…Huh?”
Panting from her short legs working hard so Shiffon wouldn’t worry, Esther stopped dead when she saw two figures slumped in front of her door.
“…You’re late, Esther.”
“Aaron…? …O…Brother…?”
Who knew how long they’d been waiting—one squatted on the ground, the other leaned against the wall with a dark look on his face.
“Skull, you’re way too late.”
Dylan stood up, complaining.
Both boys’ faces were gloomy, with cuts and bruises here and there.
Come to think of it, didn’t they just enter the academy recently?
The academy was at the edge of the capital—she’d seen them ride the carriage to school a few times in the mornings.
“Why are you hurt?”
Esther tilted her head.
“Just… got into a fight. Someone was spouting crap like it was nothing.”
“You said our father might still be alive, right? Isn’t that true?”
As Aaron explained, Dylan came closer, his face twisted, his steps heavy.
His expression looked like he was about to cry—still just a child, after all.
“Mm, maybe. But maybe not.”
Esther said.
Truthfully, after reading the records, she wasn’t sure anymore.
If her hypothesis was correct, it would all depend on willpower.
“…But you found something, right?”
Aaron asked. Esther nodded.
“Mm, I’m going tomorrow.”
“Can’t we… can’t we go now?”
Dylan clung to Esther’s small shoulders.
Esther rolled her eyes in discomfort.
I’m sleepy…
Honestly, she could probably fall asleep standing right here.
Reading those boring books in a child’s body was practically torture.
Not that she had ever napped in there or anything.
Nope, never.
“…Let’s go now.”
Clearly, something had happened to them at the academy.
Staring at Dylan for a moment, Esther sighed deeply.
“Fine…. Raksa.”
“Yes, Lady Esther.”
Even before she finished speaking, Raksa appeared behind the two boys, perfectly composed.
“Wh-what the—! Out of nowhere….”
“Where did he even come from….”
Startled, Dylan and Aaron flinched violently.
“Where’s Shiffon?”
“I told her you seemed to have business to take care of, Lady Esther.”
“Mm, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
At night, the annex looked even more desolate.
Dylan was so tense that he clung to Esther’s hand, following right at her heels.
“Uh….”
“I-it’s not that I’m scared or anything! Just, you know, I was worried you might be scared, so I held your hand!”
Uh-huh. Sure.
Aaron, though pretending otherwise, was pale and breathing heavily. He was obviously scared too.
Sure enough, he crept closer and grabbed her other hand.
“…I heard girls are scared of places like this.”
The added excuse was downright pitiful.
With both her hands held by the boys pressing close, Esther let out a dry, cold laugh.
I don’t know where the entrance is, though.
She rubbed her chin.
“Raksa, look for some kind of entrance. There should be a hidden passage.”
Glancing at the boys clinging to her, Esther sighed again.
“At your command.”
Raksa’s crimson eyes glowed as he slipped away into the darkness.
“Hey, Skull, isn’t your butler kind of scary?”
“Dunno?”
What was scary about him?
“You’re amazing, you know. Even though you’re so young, you actually came here. I never even thought about coming. Never thought about finding out the truth about Father.”
Well, most people wouldn’t believe a dead man might still be alive.
“Esther, why are you helping us?”
Aaron suddenly asked a pointless question.
“Um…”
Because I want that exclamation mark floating above your heads…?
…was what she couldn’t say, so Esther thought fast.
“Uh…, be…because I wanted to get closer to you, brothers…?”
“….”
Aaron’s eyes widened slightly.
And at that moment—
The parchment unfurled wide before her once more.
[The Brothers’ Wish]
Dylan Egbert and Aaron Egbert lost their father, Hakan Egbert, and suffered deep grief.
Everyone was kind, everyone was gentle—but the boys knew even as children that it was only pity.
They had no mother, no father.
The label “parentless children” colored how others saw them, forever a tag that followed them.
Everyone said their father devoted himself to a noble cause, but that meant nothing to them.
They had no memories of their mother. They had no memories of their father.
The demons had stolen everything from them.
The curse of the Demon King, sealed by the first head of House Egbert, had passed down to Hakan Egbert.
The crimson mark became Hakan’s brand.
He disappeared, leaving behind only two newborns.
Everyone pitied them. Everyone mocked them. Everyone found them pitiful.
The brothers endured by holding each other’s hands. They wounded those who approached, becoming sharp blades.
And yet—they still wanted to see him.
Even just for a moment.
If they had one wish, it would be this:
To embrace their mother and father—whom they had never once met—hold them tight, cry, resent, and love them.
At last, everything that had been hidden was fully revealed.
And, just as she had expected, the request was exactly what Esther thought it would be.
