Chapter 80
“Will they come tomorrow?”
“They should.”
Bedol scratched the back of his head, looking bored.
The festival was already nearing its end.
The streets were still crowded with people enjoying the final day of the festival.
Even though the laughter and chatter from the market might lift one’s spirits, it was only so for a day or two—it had already grown tiresome.
“We can’t even go to the mansion. What is this?”
“Exactly.”
Su and Bedol slumped into their chairs.
Unlike the people happily enjoying the festival, their faces were full of worry.
“If they come, just wait…”
Bedol stared blankly at the ground before suddenly standing up.
“I, Bedol Arpedi, will give them a proper scolding! How can they just disappear without a word in this chaotic world?”
“They did leave a letter…”
“A letter? What letter! That’s not a letter, that’s a notification! And then they tell us not to inform the mansion!”
Su, quietly listening to Bedol, stood up quickly, following his lead.
“Exactly!”
“What?”
“This time, the young lady really needs to be scolded! A whole week! A whole week! Can you believe that?”
“Exactly!”
For a few days, Bedol and Su had been bickering constantly, but at this moment, they seemed perfectly in sync, their eyes shining with resolve.
“When they come, we’ll make sure they’re punished…”
“Brother!!”
Bedol’s words were cut off.
The voice was familiar, but the way “Brother” was said sounded awkward, almost unbefitting the title.
Bedol didn’t have a younger brother.
Only a precious younger sister, Velia.
So both Bedol and Su ignored the call.
“Brother!!!”
Yet, when the shout came again, the voice was unmistakably familiar, and their conversation stopped.
Su turned toward the source of the call, tilting his head in puzzlement.
“Huh?”
“Why are you here?”
Seeing the person rushing over with a pale, almost terrified face, Bedol also tilted his head in recognition.
“Master!! No, brother! You said to come immediately if anything happened!”
“That’s right. But why?”
Standing beside Su, he finally realized the identity of the man in the passerby’s clothes and felt a pang of recognition.
“Oh, it’s the guard knight!”
“What guard knight? What guard does a swordsman like me need? He’s basically just my aide!”
“Anyway! Master! No, brother! It’s a big problem!”
“A big problem? What kind of problem?”
“There are many issues, but first, I must tell you that the elder master has moved!”
“Brother? Moved where?”
“Where? He’s coming here right now!”
“What? Why?”
“He’s looking for the young lady!”
“What?!”
Bedol and Su’s eyes met at the same time.
“We should have stopped this!”
“How could we stop it! The master already heard that the young lady had left home…”
“She hasn’t run away!”
At Su’s shout, the guard knight, Ben, realized his mistake and corrected himself.
“Ah, anyway! He went on a trip alone for a few days, so I was surprised too. How could I stop him? And it was the master who ordered us not to let the mansion know! How could I prevent the elder master from coming himself, saying he wants to spend time with his sibling?”
Bedol tapped Ben on the head.
“You should have done something, Su! If you freaked out over Velia being gone, how do you think your brother will react?”
“Master, what should we do? The young lady won’t arrive until tomorrow…”
Su nervously bit his fingers.
“What do you mean, what should we do! She needs to be scolded!”
“Will it end there?”
“What?”
During the past few days together, Bedol had heard things from Su about Baron that he hadn’t expected.
Even if he wasn’t kind, he believed the elder brother was dependable—but the idea that he would keep an eye on Velia was almost unimaginable to Bedol.
He still didn’t fully trust Su’s words, but somehow, he felt that Velia’s absence had to be kept from Baron.
Above all, Velia had emphasized it so much in her letter.
“For a week, pretend I’m here and enjoy the festival.
Su will pretend to be me.
Go out at least once a day.
See you in a week.”
She had asked for someone to keep watch over her, using Su as her stand-in.
What if the person meant to watch her was Baron?
“Ah!”
Bedol raised a hand and ruffled his hair in frustration.
“When did brother depart?”
“He hasn’t left yet. According to the coachman, he’ll leave early tomorrow. I came as soon as I heard the news!”
“At least he’ll arrive by morning. Ah! Seriously! I’m not even a nanny—what am I supposed to do!”
Bedol, as anxious as Su, pounded his own head.
“I was wrong! I was wrong!”
Kneeling, Carlton’s eyes fell upon the children, starving for days.
“Yes. Then listen carefully.”
Carlton flinched at the hand that gently rested on his head.
The hope of leaving this place vanished within a day of arriving.
“You are the most special among these children.”
The gentle smile on the pale fingers was just like that day—the day he had come to the temple basement, where all the corruption of the temple gathered, and whispered about escaping.
“The children are hungry… Could you give them something to eat?”
Despite his fear, Carlton began begging in his familiar way.
At the temple, it might have been out of pity, but here, it was now his responsibility.
The children knew nothing, and neither did he—but there was one difference: he had received a direct offer from Bain.
And this time, he had made that offer to the children.
From toddlers barely able to say “mother” to older children, he had the impossible task of trying to save them all.
“Please! I’ll do everything you say!”
A book fell by Carlton’s bedside.
“Then learn this.”
Carlton quickly picked up the book. Written in complex ancient language, he stared at it as Bain’s cold voice cut above him.
“If you learn it, I’ll give you food.”
“What?!”
Bain got up abruptly, and Carlton chased after him, grabbing him.
“There are young children! If we leave them like this…”
Bain shook off Carlton’s hand.
“I don’t want to speak to a child who can’t even repay me. Didn’t I say that?”
Bain leaned down toward Carlton.
“I said I’d get you out of the temple. And what did you say? You said you’d do everything I asked and asked me to bring the others too, didn’t you? I only picked three, but because of your request, I brought all the children.”
“That’s…”
“I granted your request. Are you going to change your mind now?”
“No!”
Carlton pushed Bain.
A frail child’s hands had no effect on the fully grown man.
“I… I wanted to leave, not be brought here! And what’s the difference between here and there? I can’t even leave now!”
“Why can’t you leave?”
Bain brushed Carlton’s chin.
“Look. Here, you can see the sky.”
Tears filled Carlton’s eyes.
It seemed so.
The sky he had longed to see, which was impossible to see in the basement, stretched before him.
Yet he hadn’t wished for a sky where night would never come.
“If you learn what’s in this book, I’ll save the children. Like this.”
Bain stretched his hand toward a child struggling on the floor.
Holy power flowed from his hand to the child.
The child regained vitality, and Carlton stared blankly.
“I swore before the gods. I promised to rescue you and place you under the blue sky. Now it’s your turn to keep your vow.”
With that, Bain left the room.
Carlton, left alone, cried under the blue sky.
Time passed quickly.
Intelligent and experienced in the temple library from a young age, Carlton quickly learned Bain’s instructions.
Carlton was talented and clever enough to understand why Bain had chosen him.
Thus, Carlton and the other children adapted to the mansion.
They believed Bain was their father.
Even his rare smiles and gentle touches were like rain to children who had never been loved.
Enduring the disgusting hypocrisy, Carlton faithfully obeyed Bain’s orders, all the while longing for escape.
And that day was just like that.
