~Chapter 18~
“You’re the one spouting nonsense! If she received divine authority, then it means the god chose her. And you would reject that…?”
“…And you! After throwing both me and Kardem into the temple, do you mean to watch it happen again?”
Kaelos bared his teeth as he spoke, and Ernheart fell silent.
The cowardice of that silence made Kaelos scowl deeply. He soon rose from his seat.
“I trust you understand my meaning. Soon, someone from my side will come. Leave things as they are, whatever you do.”
He turned sharply to leave.
“You’ve come all the way here, and you won’t even see your mother?”
“What would an unfilial son gain from visiting her? I despise this family.”
Kaelos’s voice was flat.
Everything in this family existed only as parts to uphold its prestige.
For generations, they had grown in that way.
Thanks to it, they had become the most powerful house after the Imperial family, so influential they rivaled the throne itself, especially after seizing control of the temple.
But all of that had been built on someone’s blood and tears.
“I find it strange, Father. You yourself entered this family as a son-in-law, yet you love this bloodless, tearless house so dearly.”
“….”
Without sparing Ernheart a glance, Kaelos strode out of the drawing room and left the mansion, without a trace of hesitation.
Only Ernheart remained behind.
“Ern, you are the first sin I committed—and the last.”
A vivid memory suddenly rose. Ernheart slowly pressed his eyelids with his hand.
“I must make Egbert stronger than any head of house of any era before. So swear to me: if something happens to me, you’ll live only for this house.”
“…I swear before the god. I’ll devote my life to you, support what you desire.”
It was a decades-old memory, faded with age, but still sharp.
The promise of a future he gave up in exchange for the person who became his life.
He had steeled himself for this path long ago.
So why, now, did the image of that child rolling her eyes before suddenly breaking into a wide smile keep surfacing?
“I really am old,” he murmured.
Just one quarrel with his son, and his eyelids already felt heavy with fatigue.
He covered his eyes with his palm, sank deep into the sofa, and let out a short sigh.
Above Ernheart Egbert’s head, a pitch-black exclamation mark seemed to appear, with not a single ray of light piercing through.
“Brother, I heard something strange.”
The silver-haired man burst into the office as though to break the door.
Kaelos Egbert, quietly working through a mountain of documents, frowned.
“Kardem Egbert. I told you to knock before entering.”
“But I heard you’d gone to the duke’s estate! And that our niece went to the temple!”
“Yes. She recklessly went alone, so I had to take her back.”
At Kaelos’s answer, Kardem’s mouth dropped open.
Both bore the striking silver hair of their house, yet their airs couldn’t be more different.
Kaelos radiated an icy presence, while Kardem’s smile, with eyes that curved softly, seemed gentle and warm.
Where Kaelos tied his long straight hair in a loose braid, Kardem’s curls made him look boyishly mischievous.
Both wore pure white robes—clearly of the temple.
“You personally took our niece back?!”
“Is that a problem?”
“Well… I heard she might have the qualities of a Saint.”
Kardem said gravely, and Kaelos fell silent.
“…Yes. I already told them not to entertain such thoughts.”
“Whether they’ll listen is another matter.”
At Kardem’s darkened expression, Kaelos set his pen down.
“It’s none of your concern. Also, we’ll quietly send knights to the Gillian Mountains.”
He recalled what the child had said.
“…The Gillian Mountains? That dangerous wasteland? Why send knights there?”
“You must have heard. The child received a relic.”
“…Yes, I heard.”
“And apparently, divine authority as well. At first sight, she diagnosed my illness and told me how to cure it.”
“Your illness? But no physician could ever determine it…”
“True.”
“So what did she say it was?”
“…We’ll see. When the knights return. If her method is wrong, the diagnosis will be too.”
“If your illness can be cured, that’s a blessing. But divine authority…?”
Kardem’s face clouded.
He, too, had manifested divine authority as a child—and so had been imprisoned in the temple for life.
Bound by doctrine, rules, and countless restrictions, forced to sacrifice for the Empire in the name of faith.
“It could be nonsense. I’ll confirm it. Relax.”
“But if it’s true…”
“Even if it’s true, I won’t let her stay here. She cannot be a Saint.”
Kaelos’s voice was resolute.
“This Empire is no place for one with demon’s blood.”
The Destroka Empire was land blessed by the god.
Even its water and air brimmed with divinity.
And the demons were its perfect opposite.
Magic had originated from demons and dragons. All magicians, if traced back, carried at least a drop of their blood.
That was why magicians had once suffered persecution, until they built their own towers and called them nations.
The girl’s mother’s homeland had been the fallen Kingdom of Surt—a land whose people carried demon blood.
They’d tried for ages to conceal it, but history cannot be erased. Burn the books, kill the knowers, and still the blood persists.
“When the time comes, I’ll send her away. So you needn’t concern yourself.”
Kaelos murmured slowly, as if convincing himself.
“I missed you, Dada!”
“I like you, Dada…”
“Dada, when are you coming home?”
“Hug me, Dada.”
The child’s voice echoed in his mind, and his hand clenched into a fist.
“Go on like that. No wonder Sister-in-law cut ties with you. Keep it up, and our niece will truly despise you.”
“Whether she likes me or not isn’t the point.”
Kaelos’s reply was cold.
“Then let’s do it this way. If you give me a house, I won’t be your kid anymore.”
“…I mean it. I really won’t. I won’t ever see you again.”
He had always intended to let her go someday.
He’d thought it often. Yet her words had stung more than expected.
He knew she hadn’t been cherished. It was worse than he imagined.
But if he cut ties early, they’d both be spared greater pain later.
Children are resilient, he thought.
Scars like these would fade in a few years.
When she was a little stronger, he’d send her back to her mother, to her homeland.
“Brother.”
“Do you think treating her kindly will change her lot? Look at her mother—who insisted on living here.”
“….”
“She and I should never have met.”
That child, too…
The thought struck Kaelos, and he quickly grabbed his pen again.
“If you understand, don’t bring this up again. Leave.”
“Then why did you secretly order the knights to bring Madame Silonia from high society? Why not just let her die?!”
At Kardem’s words, Kaelos’s eyes sharpened.
His gaze, trembling slightly, fixed on his brother.
“How did you—”
“What does it matter how I found out! So I trailed the knights and pried it out of them—does that change anything?!”
Confessing his own meddling, Kardem left Kaelos rubbing his forehead.
“That was just the bare minimum…”
“Brother, whatever the past, whatever the future—our niece was born. She’s still a child. She needs parents.”
Kaelos answered only by shifting his gaze back to his papers.
“You sound just like His Grace the Duke now.”
“…What?”
Kaelos’s head snapped up.
He was about to retort when a knock came at the office door.
“Pardon me, is Priest Kardem here? Urgent news! The knights have been gravely injured fighting a magical beast!”
At the voice outside, Kardem’s eyes darkened.
He told the priest he’d come shortly, then dismissed him.
“…Duty calls. I’ll be off.”
“….”
Kaelos said nothing. Kardem clenched his fist.
“Fine! I hate you, Brother! I’ll write and tell Sister-in-law everything!”
Covering his eyes with the back of his hand like a tragic heroine, Kardem stormed out of the office with a dramatic clatter.
