Episode 5
After my mother died, I wandered around just to survive and eventually became a mercenary. I thought my tears had long since dried up, but perhaps because that part of my life was gone now, I couldn’t stop them from falling.
I lowered my head so that **Grand Duke Kryton** wouldn’t see me crying.
But it wasn’t easy.
After a long silence, I heard the sound of the Grand Duke moving.
Just as I wondered if he had decided not to believe me and was about to go back into the mansion, something large rested on top of my head.
When I looked up, it was the Grand Duke’s hand.
“Child. If you’re lying to me, I’ll punish you severely. Even so, do you still want me to go and confirm it?”
Perhaps his anger had softened, because his voice was much gentler now.
I answered him with a nod.
“I see. Whether what you say is true or not, I’ll find out once I go and see for myself.”
After saying that, the Grand Duke removed his hand from my head and looked toward an aide nearby.
“I’m going to verify what this child said, so clear my schedule.”
“Pardon? B-but…!”
The flustered aide stammered before bowing his head deeply.
“Yes, understood. I’ll go inside first and arrange the schedule.”
“Very well.”
The aide left first.
The Grand Duke stood beside me, staring blankly into the air with a complicated expression before suddenly looking down at me.
His eyes were still filled with doubt, but they were no longer as hostile as when I first saw him.
“Child, have you eaten?”
“…No.”
“I see. Then let’s go inside and at least have breakfast first.”
“Then what about going to Delphia Village…?”
When my voice trailed off, the Grand Duke smiled faintly.
“It will take a little time to arrange the schedule and prepare the carriage before we depart. There’s enough time for a meal, so don’t worry.”
The Grand Duke entered the ducal residence.
I followed him inside.
The mansion looked exactly the same as when I had visited it before I died.
Looking around gave me a strange feeling.
Mother must have been born and raised here. This was a place full of her memories.
But to me, it was still unfamiliar.
“Prepare breakfast. I’ll be eating with this child.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The Grand Duke ordered a maid who was waiting in the mansion.
The maid bowed without question.
“Little lady, would you come this way?”
She spoke to me.
For a moment, I looked back and forth between the Grand Duke and the maid.
I wasn’t sure if it was alright to follow her.
The Grand Duke nodded to me, giving his permission.
After seeing that, I followed the maid.
Before the meal, she prepared water so I could wash my face.
Since I wasn’t used to being treated like this, I awkwardly finished washing and dried my face with the towel she handed me.
Only then did I enter the dining room.
Inside was a long dining table with rows of chairs.
At a glance, all the furniture looked extremely expensive.
The Grand Duke was already seated at the head of the table.
When I sat to his right, the food began to arrive slowly.
“Enjoy your meal.”
It was surely the finest and most luxurious food I had ever seen, but I couldn’t properly savor the taste.
Even now, Mother must be searching for me after I suddenly disappeared. I wondered if it was really alright for me to sit here calmly eating like this.
“Are you worried?”
The Grand Duke asked while continuing his meal.
“Yes. As I said, my mother is very sick. And since I’ve left like this, she must be terribly worried. Yet here I am enjoying such luxury alone…”
“You feel guilty.”
“…Yes.”
Even delicious food felt like a burden to me right now.
If I could, I wanted to head to Delphia Village even if I had to ride a horse instead of a carriage.
As if he knew how I felt, the Grand Duke smiled faintly.
“As someone whose daughter once left without telling anyone, let me say this: if possible, I would want my daughter to eat good food, wear good clothes, and see only good things. I’m sure your mother would feel the same.”
I glanced at him.
The Grand Duke still didn’t seem to believe that my mother was **Cornelia Kryton**.
Well, it had already been ten years since Mother left this mansion.
In that time, many people must have come claiming to know where Cornelia Kryton was.
Each time, the Grand Duke’s hopes must have been shattered.
After living with a heart broken and fragmented so many times, he probably couldn’t easily believe my words.
Even so, his words felt sincere.
That even if his daughter had left home for love, he still hoped she had lived well.
Yes… Mother wouldn’t want me to return starving either.
Though I didn’t really feel like it, I slowly moved my spoon and continued eating.
I forced the food down. I couldn’t really taste it, but at least my empty stomach felt filled.
Just as I finished breakfast, the Grand Duke’s aide—who had gone to arrange the schedule—returned.
“Your Grace, the carriage is ready.”
After hearing that, the Grand Duke looked at me.
Asking if I was ready to go.
I set down my spoon and nodded.
—
A carriage bearing the crest of the Kryton family waited in front of the ducal residence.
“Climb in.”
Since I was small, the Grand Duke held out his hand so I could easily get into the carriage.
I looked at his hand for a moment.
The traces of age were clearly visible on it.
I took his hand and climbed into the carriage.
After I sat down, the Grand Duke also boarded and sat across from me.
He leaned his cane beside him and gently closed his eyes, as if resting.
Not wanting to disturb him, I simply looked at him quietly.
The Grand Duke was kinder than I had expected.
A person willing to give his time for a child he had just met.
Even after hearing my mother’s name, he still didn’t seem to believe that she was truly Cornelia Kryton.
And yet he had decided to personally accompany me on a six-day round trip.
Of course, I couldn’t deny that there must have been a tiny spark of hope within him.
But after having his hopes shattered so many times, I didn’t know how much hope he still held on to.
If Mother met the Grand Duke… he would become my grandfather.
I still remembered the Grand Duke from before I died.
A man who worried about me even though we had known each other for less than an hour while facing death.
After learning the truth about my mother, I had hated and resented him all my life.
But now that I knew everything, I didn’t hate him at all.
Instead, I felt a little sorry for him.
He had spent his whole life longing for the daughter who left, only to learn of her death right before his own.
Then I suddenly remembered that before he died, he had called me “child.”
It wasn’t really something you’d call a grown adult, but I hadn’t disliked it.
If the Grand Duke met Mother and learned that I was his granddaughter… would he call me that again?
The thought made a small laugh slip out.
Worried he might have heard, I quickly straightened my face and turned toward the window.
Fortunately, there was no reaction from the Grand Duke.
—
Night fell.
After stopping the carriage in a clearing and having a simple dinner, I watched the people of the Kryton household bustling around.
At first I thought I should help too, but they refused, saying children didn’t need to do such things.
In the end, I had nothing to do but sit and watch.
“I wish you really were Cornelia’s daughter.”
Suddenly, the Grand Duke spoke.
When I turned to look at him, I saw deep longing in his eyes.
I wasn’t foolish enough not to understand who that longing was for.
“You probably just borrowed Cornelia’s name to ask me for a little help. But to me, the name Cornelia is like a nail driven into my heart.”
The Grand Duke looked toward the campfire they had lit to keep warm.
Each time the flames flickered, his eyes seemed to flicker too.
“If only I had granted Cornelia’s wish… none of this would have happened.”
Heavy regret slipped from his lips.
“It was all because of my own greed.”
Though he didn’t explain in detail, I knew exactly what he meant.
**Cornelia Kryton—my mother—had once been the fiancée of James Vajet Castro**, who was now the Emperor.
If things had gone as planned, she would have married him and become the Empress of the Empire.
But Mother fell in love with someone else.
Her guardian knight, **Gael Houston**.
She wanted to break off the engagement and marry him, but due to the circumstances of the Kryton family, her wish couldn’t be granted.
In the end, she ran away from the capital with her guardian knight to pursue love.
That was the story of my parents ten years ago.
If only they had lived happily after leaving…
But Father died fighting monsters in the forest near Delphia Village.
After that, Mother raised me alone in the village.
All the while, she continued to send letters of apology to the Grand Duke.
Looking at him now, I felt that Mother’s heart—writing letters that never received replies—must not have been so different from his.
After watching the regret etched deeply on the Grand Duke’s face, I reached out and gently held his large hand.
He looked at me with surprise for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.
Then he withdrew his hand from mine and kindly patted my head.
“Thank you… for comforting me.”
“….”
I wanted to tell him that my mother really was Cornelia Kryton and that he would soon see her again.
But for some reason, the words wouldn’t come out.
Seeing me hesitate, the Grand Duke smiled gently.
“Are you afraid that I won’t help you if your mother isn’t my daughter?”
He had guessed the reason for my hesitation.
“Don’t worry. Even if your mother isn’t my daughter Cornelia, I’ll gladly help both you and your mother.”
For some reason, his voice sounded especially lonely as he said it.
