CHAPTER 70………………………………..
“…Your Grace, it’s Ron.”
Leaving only that one line behind, Gurtur exited the room.
Click—
The door closed, and silence fell.
Getre’s gaze settled on the small-framed boy before him.
Hair as deep a blue as the winter night sea.
Eyes as cold as a wild beast’s.
It was Ron. Without doubt, it was his son—Ron.
For a brief moment, two red eyes met in the air.
“Ron… Ron… Kere…is.”
A trembling voice slipped from Getre’s lips.
“You’re Ron. You’re really Ron…”
He called Ron’s name twice, yet still couldn’t fully believe it.
He had found Ron long ago, but never this close.
He had not been able to speak the name “Ron” with certainty.
His trembling hand reached out before him.
“Ron.”
“…Who are you?”
“Ron, you are my son. And I… I am your father.”
Ron’s eyes, which had been staring straight at him, widened.
The boy’s chest rose and fell rapidly.
Pressing his dry lips tightly together, Ron stepped back and shook his head.
The words son and father echoed endlessly in his ears.
My father? He said I’m his child.
But I… I can’t be. There’s no way.
He had never once had a family.
Ron’s memories had always been the same—
struggling to survive among abandoned children without parents,
being sold to who-knows-where, running away only to be caught again.
How—why—could he have a family?
He was certain the man had mistaken him for someone else.
“No… I don’t… I don’t have a family.”
Just like the boy he had once been—a slave child—
Ron shrank his small shoulders and backed away.
Getre’s voice, heavy with despair and grief, broke through the stillness.
“Ron… It was I who lost you when you were young.
You—who should have grown up in your mother’s warm embrace—
I was the one who lost you.
I’m sorry, Ron… I’m so sorry…”
Ron’s eyes dropped to the floor.
He didn’t know what to do.
The man’s sincere, trembling voice felt so unfamiliar.
Was he truly Ron Kereis, just as the man claimed?
Was he really that lost child?
Emotions welled up, stinging his eyes with heat.
But everything was too confusing to accept all at once.
Click—
The door handle turned.
“Ron… Ron!”
Getre called to him, but Ron stepped away and left the room.
Gurtur, who had been waiting outside, caught him.
“Ron.”
“…Master.”
But Ron—looking as though he might burst into tears—shook off the hand holding him and ran.
Watching Ron grow distant, Gurtur turned his gaze back toward the room.
Getre stood there, shoulders clasped in pain, pupils trembling.
Seeing the duke’s anguish, Gurtur instinctively knew—
He had to go after Ron.
***
Gurtur left the lodging and caught up to Ron in a barren clearing.
The small boy’s shoulders were shaking.
Bending down, Gurtur met Ron’s gaze.
Clear red eyes, ready to spill tears like bursting flower buds.
“…He said he was my father. But I don’t have a family.”
“Ron, he is your father.”
“…But… it could be someone else’s child.”
“What?”
“He’s probably mistaken me for someone else.”
Only then did Gurtur understand Ron’s deep fear.
Ron refused to accept any of it because he was certain he had no real family.
Gurtur gently placed his large hand atop Ron’s head.
“Ron, you saw him, didn’t you?”
“…I did.”
“How was he? His hair, his eyes—they’re similar to yours, aren’t they?”
“…”
“Your hair is a deeper blue, yes, but weren’t you surprised to see how much he looked like you?”
At Gurtur’s calm voice, Ron wiped his tears with the back of his hand and nodded.
“You see? His blood runs in you.”
“His… blood?”
“Yes. He is not mistaken. That man is Duke Getre Kereis.
A fearless warrior who wields his sword against the world itself.
A man like that would never mistake someone’s identity.”
Seeing Ron gradually calm, Gurtur continued.
“Ron, as his son, you too are brave and remarkable.
No one knows that better than I do. Right?”
“…Yes. That’s right.”
Hearing Ron speak firmly after wiping his tears, Gurtur continued.
“Ron, he didn’t abandon you. You were lost.
He searched the entire empire for you.”
“He… came looking for me?”
“Yes. And when he learned you were here,
he traveled all this way to find you.”
At that moment, Gurtur noticed Getre approaching—with others.
They slowly walked toward them.
Ron still had his back turned, so he couldn’t see them yet.
Speaking brightly on purpose, Gurtur said:
“Look over there, Ron. That is your true family.”
Ron followed his gaze.
Two figures now stood close.
But Ron’s eyes focused on only one of them—
Not the Duke.
But the girl beside him.
A girl with long red hair and tears in her eyes.
…Ren.
But Ron couldn’t speak her name.
Only his lips moved silently.
He had met Ren at dawn in the fields.
He didn’t know why she was here.
He’d thought that encounter was the end.
Why—why was she standing here?
Seeing Ron’s fixed gaze, Gurtur explained:
“She is Lady Delvae, who arrived with the Duke.
Ah, that’s right—she will be your sister-in-law now.
She’s going to marry your older brother.”
“…”
Sister-in-law?
Marry his brother?
Ron couldn’t grasp anything.
The one standing before him was clearly Ren.
Yet she was someone who would marry his brother?
His head began to spin.
The scene before him blurred.
Each time he blinked, the approaching figures seemed to fade.
He felt dizzy.
Cold sweat dampened the back of his neck.
He tried to steady his breathing—
“Urk—”
—but blood spilled from his lips, making it impossible.
“Ron!”
“Ron!!”
Voices cried out for him—
and Ron collapsed.
***
Night had fallen.
Even after the doctor assured us that Ron was now out of danger,
the duke and I couldn’t relax.
It had already been two days since Ron collapsed.
He hadn’t opened his eyes once.
‘The monster’s poison has spread throughout his body.
Ordinarily, a person would have died instantly on the spot.
But the young master has an extraordinary resistance to poison—
he is enduring it remarkably well.’
Monster venom.
I realized far too late that the man I saw at dawn was Ron.
The magic-stone necklace had reacted then—
Why had I not realized sooner?
Regret filled my head—regret that could never be undone.
He had been struck because our eyes met.
If I hadn’t gone out for that walk…
This never would have happened to Ron.
“Ahn, do not feel guilty.”
The duke set down his teacup.
“…”
“It isn’t your fault Ron collapsed.
This happens when facing monsters.
Besides, he will wake soon.”
“…Yes.”
“Ahn, go rest for tonight.”
“No. I already slept earlier.
You need sleep much more than I do.”
The duke had already drunk ten cups of tea that prevented sleep.
I had dozed off and been carried to bed before I knew it,
but according to the butler, the duke hadn’t slept even once.
“When Ron wakes, you mustn’t be too exhausted.
Please go rest. Then I’ll sleep well afterward too.”
“I’ll follow the lady’s wishes.”
Butler Duve supported my words and cleared the empty cups.
The duke, dark circles beneath his eyes, reluctantly rose and approached Ron lying in bed.
He placed his large hand gently over Ron’s small one resting on his chest.
“I’ll take all your bad dreams, so only good ones come to you, Ron.”
After the duke left, the room grew quiet.
Only a small lamp glowed on my table so Ron could rest peacefully.
It was the first time since returning to the duke’s household that I had been alone with Ron like this.
Suddenly I remembered our first meeting in the cave.
There had been only one lamp then, too.
A child who had escaped and hidden inside a cave—
Small, trembling.
From that moment, we exchanged letters.
And even met in the middle of the night.
At first, I approached Ron simply to prevent the terrible future ahead.
But somehow, layers of emotion toward Ron had built up.
Sadness.
Guilt.
And tenderness…
If there was anyone in this world I wished happiness for more than anyone else—
it was Ron.
If possible, I would give him my share of happiness too.
Ron, you’re someone special to me.
My eyes fell upon the magic-stone necklace peeking out of his clothes.
I had given it to him so it would protect him in danger.
Then I looked at his sleeping face.
Long lashes resting softly.
A faint breath.
Brushing aside the long hair over his forehead, his face became clearer.
He really looks like Crimue like this.
Of course—they shared the same parents.
When Crimue grew older, he would probably resemble Ron even more.
After Ron arrived at the Kereis estate through teleportation,
Crimue was still being cared for by Terga,
so that the young child wouldn’t be confused.
I should visit Crimue tomorrow.
Just as Ron—who remembered nothing—was meeting a new family,
for young Crimue, a new older brother would suddenly appear.
He was only five; he wouldn’t understand that the brother who had gone missing had returned.
He would need time, and gentle explanations.
May the brothers of House Kereis grow to understand one another—
and care for one another deeply.
With that earnest wish, I prayed.
