Chapter 47
Ruías swallowed dryly.
His heart was pounding—not only because he had broken his promise to his elder brother, the Emperor, and used the necklace, but also because something felt off in the atmosphere inside the imperial palace.
‘Where did he go?’
It shouldn’t be this quiet.
Carefully, Ruías slipped into the small space beside a pillar in the Emperor’s office and cupped his hands over his mouth.
Then came the sound of the door creaking open.
‘Who came in?’
Was it his elder brother? If not, then there would surely be another fight between the mages and the Awakened because of him again.
Terrified, the boy pressed both hands tighter over his mouth and held his breath until his cheeks flushed red.
“Come out.”
It was his brother’s voice!
Ruías exhaled with a phew and peeked his head out.
There stood his elder brother, looking more exhausted than usual, yet still strikingly handsome.
“Ruías, what are you doing here?”
Though it was a reproachful question, the boy felt only overwhelming relief. He dashed forward and clung tightly to his brother’s leg.
Tears welled up and spilled.
Hearing his master sob earlier had left him deeply shaken.
And now, seeing the only family he had left—his brother—made all his tension melt away.
As he smeared tears and snot all over those luxurious trousers, a sigh sounded above his head.
Then his body lifted off the ground.
His brother had slipped his hands under his arms and hoisted him up.
“Ruías.”
Kaishis felt a headache coming on.
He had known his little brother was there the moment he opened the office door.
He motioned the knights waiting behind him to retreat after they had brought the remaining reports.
Only after closing the door and stepping closer did this troublemaker rush into him, sobbing and sniffling.
‘What am I going to do with this tiny thing.’
After being forced to relive the image of his younger self countless times inside that psychic assault-type gate, the child before him looked all the more pitiful.
Was he so hurt by being sent away coldly that he used the emergency measure reserved only for dire situations?
He couldn’t bring himself to cast the boy out harshly. Instead, he picked him up and set him on his lap—only for the child to throw his arms around him and cry even harder.
Warm body heat. The quick thump of a tiny heart.
“Ruías.”
Aside from the soft hiccupping sounds, his younger brother couldn’t form words.
Such a small, fragile life.
Kaishis had always been a man of steel, but the quiet tears of his little brother stirred something tender in him.
“I won’t scold you. But if you use it recklessly, it might not work when a real emergency comes.”
Ruías shook his head repeatedly. It seemed like a promise never to do it again, so Kaishis let it go at that.
He gently lifted the child out of his arms and rubbed his flushed cheeks, which were as red as if they would burst.
They were damp. Ruías wasn’t usually such a crybaby.
Had he come here because he had something to say? The boy quickly dabbed at his cheeks and then pulled out a writing tool from his clothes to scribble a message.
—Master is sick.
“The Duke?”
Kaishis’ brow furrowed deeply.
Considering how fiercely the mages had been barking at each other like rabid beasts today, it didn’t seem like a bluff.
Yet, at the same time, it was hard to believe that cold, unyielding woman would collapse so easily.
Part of him wished for the latter to be true.
‘But she’s really sick?’
His silence made Ruías anxious, and the boy tugged at his sleeve to make him look at the paper.
—There was a lot of blood. Big Brother, you hurt her.
“…That wasn’t intentional.”
Those words grated on him even more.
Because it reminded him of how she had stood still, accepting his attack.
That haughty woman who had so callously treated Ruías’ life as nothing—why hadn’t she avoided it?
And what unsettled him even more was…
‘The fact that she was hurt by my power…’
Why was his heart pounding so violently because that woman was injured?
What was she to him? Nothing!
In that hostile, dangerous moment, what else could he have done?
—She was sad.
He stared at the sentence, as though trying to burn it into his mind.
Then he ruffled his little brother’s hair roughly.
“Lying is wrong.”
—It’s true! Please don’t get angry. Please don’t fight.
Kaishis’ heart softened at the sight of his little brother, glancing nervously between both sides as though trying to keep peace.
“Your master and I were never on good terms, so don’t trouble yourself over it. And don’t blindly cover her faults. That woman didn’t try to save you.”
One careless lapse in judgment, and his defenseless little brother could have lost his life.
The mere memory of it made his blood boil.
But then, the boy’s little hands scrawled something again—hurried, almost frantic.
—Master tried to save me.
What was that supposed to mean?
—She reached for me. I couldn’t say anything!
She had tried to save him?
That didn’t make sense.
That woman was a grand mage who could cast spells in the blink of an eye.
Yes, she was a fire mage, and her delicate control over non-offensive spells was poor, but if she had wanted to, she could have saved him easily.
With an attack spell, or even with instantaneous teleportation magic.
—Master is kind. Gentle. The other mages are nice to me too.
He frowned but didn’t stop the boy from writing.
Instead, he quietly watched his little brother pour out the thoughts he had been holding in.
—There’s lots of delicious food. I can’t eat oysters well, so Master shucked them for me.
That woman…
Ruías’ bright eyes shone with deep affection for his master—something Kaishis had never seen before.
Things that make people weak.
Affection. Warmth. Attachment.
Was that what this was?
‘Is she just manipulating a child?’
Or had his suspicion been right all along—that something in Ariel, the Duke, had truly changed, and she was sincerely giving her heart to her apprentice?
But there was no denying Ruías looked well.
Kaishis had already heard reports that his treatment had improved. His clothes were neat, his expression natural.
‘He looks confident, not cowering.’
So maybe it really was all a misunderstanding.
That she had tried to save him.
Then why—why had she spoken that way? Why hadn’t she explained?
—Big Brother.
The child wrote the old affectionate term again, just like before.
Kaishis couldn’t bring himself to bark at him, to tell him to stop indulging in such delusions.
And then, a fragmented memory flickered in his mind.
Someone reaching out to save him.
A ripple of crimson hair.
And—that face.
A face that shouldn’t be there.
And now, the one person who could confirm his suspicion was right in front of him.
Children don’t lie.
Especially not his little brother.
“Ruías.”
The boy’s eyes sparkled with expectation as he looked up at him. Kaishis asked:
“Last night—was your master at the mansion?”
Ruías’ heart lurched.
Why was his big brother asking that? Why did it matter?
He remembered how the cat, Lucy, had urged him again and again to leave quickly.
And the sound of that sobbing he’d heard when he returned after hesitating.
‘This is…’
He couldn’t tell.
He didn’t know why, but saying it felt like crossing a line that could never be undone.
Long ago—
‘My beautiful boy. You must keep this secret, just for yourself.’
Just like those frightening whispers his beautiful mother had breathed to him, holding his tiny hand.
I’m sorry, Big Brother.
He couldn’t lie outright.
His heart thudded violently as he wrote:
—I don’t know. I was asleep.
The silence stretched.
His brother’s gaze, quiet yet piercing, had never seemed so frightening.
After a long moment—
“…I see.”
Kaishis lifted him up and set him down on the floor.
Ruías found himself standing before he realized it and looked up desperately at his brother.
Would they make up now? Had he done the right thing?
“I understand what you mean.”
A gentle hand brushed his hair back. The touch was comforting, just like his master’s.
“I’ll have the knights secretly escort you back to the Duke’s mansion. And don’t ever use that again—unless it’s truly an emergency.”
Ruías nodded, looking downcast.
If only he could say it—that he was happy just to see his big brother today, even if he got scolded.
If only he could say it out loud.
That wish filled his small chest completely.
