Chapter 54
“That child would be dead by now, wouldn’t he?”
“Ha ha……”
The man who claimed to be Cassian spoke with a bitter smile.
“I actually lost my memories.”
“How convenient. And predictable.”
Aizen clearly didn’t believe him.
Of course he wouldn’t.
How many people must have come trying to scam him all this time?
The Duke of Valkyrisen’s nephew had gone missing during the war—and he had only been twelve back then.
And to make things worse, the only person who could recognize his face was the Duke himself.
Face blindness doesn’t seem to be widely known, but whether they know it or not, it’s still a tempting setup for fraudsters.
Naturally, all sorts of riffraff would have gathered to try and deceive him.
That was probably why this supposed family reunion was happening near the city gates instead of somewhere private.
He must have planned to listen briefly, then kick the man out immediately.
“I lived as the son of a serf, not even knowing who I really was. Then one day, the moment I saw this locket, all my memories returned.”
As he spoke, the man removed the locket hanging from his neck and held it out.
“It contained portraits of my parents.”
“So?”
“This locket was a gift from you, Uncle, wasn’t it? I personally asked my parents to place the portraits inside. Even that memory returned to me, which is why I came looking for you.”
“……”
“I didn’t come expecting anything. Everyone I remembered… is already gone from this world……”
At least, I wanted to see my uncle’s face.
Cassian finished speaking with an expression that looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment.
“What else do you remember?”
“That you used to call me ‘shorty,’ Uncle. Haha……”
“More.”
“That I absolutely hated corn. Ah, of course, I eat it just fine now. I even farmed it myself.”
“……”
“And… I remember my father, who was always dissatisfied with me, turning his back to the enemy at the very end and shouting for me to run away.”
“……”
“My mother hid me inside a chest. The last thing I remember is losing consciousness while hearing screams that never stopped.”
That was… suspiciously specific.
The servants, who like Elodie had been glaring at the man as if he were a con artist, now began to look uncertain.
He was clearly different from the fraudsters who had shown up before.
Aizen, who had remained silent, placed a hand on the man’s shoulder—he was at least a head taller—and said:
“Look me in the eyes.”
“Oh—sorry. Old habit.”
Come to think of it, Uncle scolded me a lot for not lifting my head when speaking.
Cassian added that with a faint smile.
“I really wanted to see you.”
“……”
Aizen narrowed his eyes, then let out a deep sigh.
“We’ll talk about the details inside.”
* * *
Aizen had a younger brother.
And that brother’s only son was Cassian.
The brother had inherited a countship but died during a war with a neighboring lord.
Because Aizen had been participating in the Great War, he arrived at his brother’s territory too late.
Everyone—including his brother’s family and all the servants—had already been killed.
Cassian’s body was never found.
That was the story.
But in reality, the nephew survived, lost his memories, couldn’t come looking for him, then finally recovered them and sought out his face-blind uncle?
Wasn’t that a little too convenient?
It’s way too suspicious.
“Way too suspicious.”
Did I just say that out loud?
Startled, I looked up—only to see Geno fuming in irritation.
“How does it make sense that someone suddenly shows up claiming to be his nephew? He’s obviously a scammer!”
“Same. (Agreed.)”
“Hey, you can turn into a mouse, right? Go spy on that guy. Who knows if he’ll show his true colors when he’s alone.”
“I hate being a rat. (I don’t want to.)”
“Th-That! Sorry…….”
He actually apologized.
Elodie looked at the boy in surprise—she hadn’t even pressured him.
Then she shrugged.
“He didn’t reveal anything. (He didn’t show his true nature.)”
“What? No way. Wait—does that mean you already checked?”
“Not just me. (I wasn’t the only one.)”
Where did he think this place was?
This was Valkyrisen Ducal Castle.
There were eyes and ears everywhere.
Especially when someone was under suspicion.
Just like Elodie had gone around as a field mouse, most small beastkin had already sneaked into Cassian’s guest room at least once.
Yet his behavior never changed.
Timid. Clumsy. Awkward. Simple-minded.
He consistently showed the same demeanor.
If he hasn’t slipped even once despite all that scrutiny, then either he truly is the lost nephew—or he’s an exceptional con artist.
In that case, there was only one solution.
Aizen himself had to determine whether the boy was real.
“Woof!”
“Huh?”
“Woof woof! Woof woof woof!”
Hearing sudden barking, Geno turned toward the window in confusion.
A large white dog with fluffy fur was barking ferociously at Cassian as he passed by.
“G-Good boy……!”
Cassian, pale and drenched in cold sweat, stumbled backward.
Grrrr—
The white dog didn’t hold back.
It bared its teeth, growled savagely, and charged straight at him!
“Aaaahhh!!”
Cassian dropped everything he was holding and ran for his life without looking back.
Even when he tripped over a rock and fell, he cried, scrambled up, and kept running as fast as he could.
“Pfft—!”
Geno burst out laughing.
He pointed at Cassian while cackling, then turned to Elodie.
“Hey, I’ve never seen anything that pathetic in my li—hey. What are you doing?”
Elodie, who had been sitting across from him, was now crouched under the table.
With an unusually calm face, she said:
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How am I not supposed to worry?”
“I just suddenly felt like being here.”
“What kind of feeling makes you want to crawl under a table……?”
Was this something only mice could understand?
Geno stared at the girl who was deliberately avoiding his gaze.
“Wait… are you scared of dogs?”
“……No.”
“That ‘no’ doesn’t sound convincing.”
“Woof! (Hello!)”
At that moment, the massive white dog—who had happily chased Cassian—placed its front paws on the windowsill and greeted them.
Elodie jumped straight up from her seated position.
All attempts at maintaining composure were completely pointless.
“Ah, Butler Dogren. I saw your performance. Very impressive.”
“Woof woof. (Did I entertain you?)”
“Why didn’t you just bite his ass while you were at it?”
“Whine…… (We’re not even sure he’s truly His Grace’s nephew, so that might be a bit much…)”
“Hey, who cares? I’ll take responsibility. Yeah?”
“Woof. (You’ll really get kicked out one day.)”
Geno tried coaxing the now-serious Dogren, but the butler firmly turned his head away.
He’s actually conversing with a real dog.
Elodie was dumbfounded.
Knowing he’d grow up to be a mad dog lunatic, he’d already learned canine language.
Out of all the animals in Valkyrisen, the fact that he learned dog language felt downright prophetic.
No wonder in the future he’d spew nonsense every time he got drunk……
“Woof, woof woof! (Young miss! It’s a pleasure to meet you!)”
That was when Butler Dogren noticed Elodie and wagged his tail happily.
