‘How on earth is this child…’
After a moment of surprise, Erich let out a hollow laugh.
‘The eye color is different.’
While the child in his dream had violet eyes, the child before him had blue eyes.
‘It seems I was mistaken again.’
Since he had mistaken Cornelia earlier, he thought it was a mistake this time too.
In fact, he was not sure because it was a face he had seen in a dream and not in real life, and Erich thought that the faces of children of that age had many similar features.
‘That aside… this child looks only about three or four years old, too young to be wandering around alone.’
Erich reached a conclusion.
The child must have gotten lost while out with his father.
“Child, where is your father?”
He asked in a gentle voice, fearing he might scare the child. The child raised a fern-like finger.
“Here!”
And what the child pointed to was himself.
‘Hmm, maybe he’s too young to distinguish people well.’
Eventually, Erich crouched down and took off his hood.
“Child, I am…”
Not your father. Just as he was about to say that,
“Waaaah! Daddy!”
The child sobbed and hugged Erich tightly.
Erich was bewildered and didn’t know what to do. It was understandable, as the child he was holding was far too fragile and small to push away.
He sighed.
‘If I just try to pull away and say I’m not his father, he’ll probably cry even more.’
First, he decided to get the child to stop crying.
‘So, how do I soothe a child like this?’
He racked his memory and tried patting the child’s back like he had seen somewhere, but the child cried even louder, as if something were truly sad.
‘Is this not it?’
Just as Erich was sweating in anxiety, the child exclaimed,
“Daddy, Daddy, I missed you so much. Please don’t leave me again. Don’t leave me behind!”
With a face smeared with tears and snot, the child hugged Erich again, crying as if he were truly the father he had lost.
‘It seems the shock of getting lost was quite significant for this little one.’
How long did he keep patting the child?
When the child finally stopped crying and calmed down, Erich opened his mouth.
“Child, so I am…”
At that moment, the child rubbed his eyes and responded loudly.
“Daddy, I’m Demian!”
Erich sighed, then picked up Demian.
The child’s eyes sparkled as he laughed brightly.
“Hehehe!”
It was strange.
The moment he held this little being, something inside his chest felt ticklish.
At the same time, there was a familiar feeling, as if he had found something lost for a long time.
Even though he clearly had no connection to this child, he felt so warm that he wanted to keep looking at him.
‘How foolish! What am I thinking about a child who I have nothing to do with…?’
Eventually, Erich spoke to the child.
“Alright, Demian, I’ll take you to your parents.”
At those words, the child’s eyes widened, and then a sullen expression crossed his face.
“Daddy, I hate you.”
Erich heard the soft muttering, but he paid it no mind.
‘There’s a bustling area nearby; it would be best to inquire about the child’s father there.’
However, when they reached a place with people, Demian burst into tears.
“Daddy, don’t leave me! Waaah!”
Seeing this, the expressions of the people around turned to one of condemnation.
“Seriously, he looks fine but is trying to abandon his own child.”
“How can he be so heartless? He’s a tall and strong-looking guy.”
Feeling embarrassed, Erich pulled his hood down deeper and spoke soothingly to the child.
“Demian, I told you, I’ll help you find your dad.”
But the child was relentless.
“My daddy is right here! Why are you saying you’ll find him? You’re so mean! Waaah!”
The glares from the crowd grew more hostile. Erich broke out in a cold sweat, holding the child, and he moved again.
‘It seems it would be better to take the child to the local guard.’
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Someone wearing a black mask was raising a sword towards my child.
[Mom, save me!]
I ran like crazy. To save my child.
But my child was too far away.
[Please…]
The moment I reached out my hand—
“No!”
I woke up startled, almost hitting the ceiling.
“Madam!”
“Your Highness! Are you alright?”
Seeing the worried faces of Janet and Marquis Philippe, I finally remembered that I was heading to the capital.
‘What an ominous dream…’
Suddenly, the carriage shook.
Thud!
The carriage came to a sudden stop.
“An ambush!”
The coachman’s voice made Marquis Philippe reach for his sword.
“Your Highness, stay here. I’ll handle this.”
Before he could finish his words.
Bam-!
The carriage door suddenly opened. And as the assassin tried to enter the carriage, Marquis Philippe drew his sword and tried to stop him.
Bang!
The assassin’s head was pierced by a bullet fired from the pistol in my hand.
“Janet.”
At my call, Janet quickly drew the dagger she had hidden under her skirt and rushed out.
Seeing this, Marquis Philippe spoke with admiration.
“To think such a strong maid exists; I guess I don’t need to step in.”
I frowned at his words.
“No, given Janet’s personality, she’ll kill them all without even interrogating them. So hurry out and save one of them.”
At my words, Marquis Philippe chuckled and went outside the carriage.
After some time, he returned, covered in blood.
“They committed suicide without revealing the mastermind, but they didn’t intend to harm you, Your Highness.”
“What?”
“Their mission wasn’t to assassinate, but rather to threaten the Countess of Herde.”
‘What? A threat? For what purpose? And rather than threatening me…’
For a moment, I turned pale as I recalled Demian’s bright face.
“Turn the carriage around! Right now!”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Meanwhile, Erich was frowning.
‘This is strange. Why do I keep circling the same area?’
It was an unbelievable and surreal situation. Erich focused his mind and carefully examined the energy around him.
Eventually, he sensed an unfamiliar energy surrounding him.
‘It’s too natural to be called an aura.’
Though unfamiliar, Erich instinctively felt that it was causing the current phenomenon.
Gathering all the aura in his body, Erich released it explosively.
Boom!
Finally, the strange energy dissipated, and the surrounding scenery changed.
‘This place is far from the center of the territory.’
He had no idea when he had come to this place.
‘I need to get this child to the security forces quickly.’
At that moment,
“Gasp, gasp…”
He lowered his head in response to the rough breathing and noticed that the child in his arms had turned pale.
Startled, Erich called out to the child.
“Demian, what’s wrong?”
The child, shedding tears, replied,
“Daddy, it hurts! It hurts!”
Then Erich realized that the strange energy he had felt earlier was flowing back toward the child’s heart.
‘Could it be that this child…’
At that moment, the child tightly grabbed Erich’s hand.
“Daddy, don’t go. Please, don’t leave me. If you die because of me…”
As the child fainted without being able to continue speaking, his energy gradually began to stabilize.
‘What on earth is this child’s identity?’
Erich gazed at the small child’s hand, gripping his finger with a complex expression.
He couldn’t let go of that hand because he felt a strange sense of longing and pity.
‘This child is clearly unrelated to me, so why do I feel this way…’
At that moment…
“Uh? Young Master Demian?”
Turning his head, Erich saw two soldiers patrolling the territory, calling out as if they recognized the child.
“Do you know this child?”
“Yes, he is the son of our lord, the young master of the County of Herde.”
At those words, Erich looked at the child with surprise.
‘This child is…’
He felt a sense of emptiness at the fact that this child, who was completely unrelated to him, was the closest blood relative to the subject of his investigation.
At that moment, the soldiers questioned him with suspicion.
“By the way, how did you come to be protecting the young master?”
“I was walking down the street, and he followed me. So I was looking for the security forces.”
Even with Erich’s answer, the soldiers were persistent.
“The young master wouldn’t be alone, so if you don’t mind, could you tell us your identity?”
In response, Erich showed his identification badge to the soldiers.
Eventually, they bowed their heads and spoke.
“We apologize. You are Sir Chester of the Blant Duchy. Thank you for protecting the young master.”
Having revealed his identity and considering that a vassal of the Blant Duchy wouldn’t likely kidnap the child, their demeanor softened.
Erich replied stiffly, as if it were nothing special.
“I just did what I had to do.”
“Indeed, a distinguished knight is different.”
One of the soldiers passed his spear to the other and opened his arms.
“You are a busy man, and we have taken up too much of your time. We will escort the young master to the mansion.”
At that moment, Erich adjusted the child in his arms and replied.
“I refuse.”
