There was a time when I had a conversation with Yoon Doyoon about this.
‘Aren’t you also staying close to that guy to avenge your mother? We’ve investigated everything. You know that he was the one who bankrupted your mother’s company!’
I tried to persuade him. After thoroughly investigating Yoon Doyoon’s family background and childhood, I found that Yoon Doyoon had no reason to be loyal to that guy.
In fact, the person who was the cause of Yoon Doyoon’s misfortune was that guy. So, I thought there might be hope in joining hands with Yoon Doyoon.
If I could bring someone like Yoon Doyoon, who had the full trust of that guy, to our side, it wouldn’t be an impossible dream to bring that guy to justice.
But as if mocking me, Yoon Doyoon smiled with a twisted lip.
‘Who said I want to avenge my mother, Inspector?’
‘What?’
‘Oh dear, Inspector. You know one thing but not the other. I find that quite cute.’
That day, for the first time, I saw his face without any expressions, a face that was always smiling leisurely.
‘It’s not that I want to avenge my mother. I want to take revenge on my mother.’
He added with the same smiling face, as if he had never erased his expression.
‘The words sound very similar, but the meanings are completely different, right?’
While I stood there in shock, Yoon Doyoon softly stroked my stiff shoulders with his large hand and said,
‘There are parents who would give up everything for their children, but my mother wanted to protect even the smallest amount of money, even if it meant selling her child.’
‘…That’s.’
‘So, I was sold to the person you are so desperate to catch and put away, Inspector.’
On that day, confronted with the raw emotions of deep resentment and hatred in Yoon Doyoon’s glaring eyes, I felt an overwhelming urge to vomit.
‘What kind of mother is that, inspector?’
As I struggled to suppress the urge to vomit, Yoon Doyoon moved away with a bitter smile and casually threw out those words.
Those words lingered inside me for so long.
The moment Enoch said the same thing as Yoon Doyoon, the memories of that day came back to me as vividly as if it had just happened.
“Everyone says if we wait, my mother will come back, but I won’t believe it anymore. I won’t wait anymore.”
Enoch’s voice snapped me back to reality.
‘Enoch is different from that guy.’
I promised Enoch that I wouldn’t look for anyone else in him while seeing him.
Enoch didn’t even know the word ‘Inspector’, his pronunciation was very strange, and most importantly, he was much more humane than that guy.
Comparing him to the guy who spewed ancient hatred in front of a heartbroken child made me feel immensely sorry.
“Aunt Diana isn’t dead, you know. She’s missing in the forest. So, she could come back at any time. She even said in her letter that she would come back!”
“She might be dead.”
“Enoch…”
It seemed Enoch had already given up all hope.
“My Grandfather said he’s going back to the Kratyn Forest.”
“…………!”
“Everyone outside thinks my grandfather is going on a vacation. But that’s not true. He’s going to find Aunt Diana.”
No matter what I said, it seemed like nothing would break through Enoch’s iron wall.
“There are circumstances among the adults that we don’t know about. After talking to my grandfather, it seems Aunt Diana is not dead. I think she’s alive.”
“How, how do you know?”
“My grandfather isn’t the type to get enraged in front of someone whose daughter has died.”
Even though I might seem like a cute and adorable seven-year-old here, inside, I was a sharp inspector with a keen nose for incidents.
Considering my grandfather’s personality, who was the last person to see aunt Diana alive, my instinct told me that Aunt Diana wasn’t dead.
My mother misunderstood that my grandfather, being an Emblem, would have ignored the danger facing Aunt Diana.
However, the grandfather I knew was someone who was imbued with the spirit and blood of the Emblem down to his bones. He was the type to move before even thinking if he determined someone was a weakling.
To my grandfather, Aunt Diana was weaker than himself, and failing to protect the weak was his shame.
If he was sure of aunt Diana’s death, my grandfather wouldn’t be able to stand proudly before Jade Gray.
“My grandfather cursed Duke Gray right in front of me, saying he had no manners.”
“N-No manners…”
Enoch stuttered as if it was the first time he heard such a harsh evaluation of his grandfather.
Indeed, there was probably no one else in the empire who could speak about Jade Gray like that.
“Even though my grandfather speaks roughly, he knows how to choose his words in front of someone who lost their child.”
“If he is human, he should.”
“I know. Sometimes my grandfather doesn’t seem human, but he is human nonetheless.”
Enoch looked doubtful at my words. But I was glad to see his varied expressions.
It felt like hope, which had been abandoned, was reviving in his empty eyes.
“So believe that Aunt Diana is alive, Enoch.”
“……….…”
“If Aunt Diana doesn’t return, there must be a reason for it.”
I waved the letter Enoch handed to me in front of his eyes.
“What did Aunt Diana say in this letter? She said she became interested in your sword and wanted to see your growth, so she decided to return!”
“…………”
Enoch’s eyes widened at my words.
“Then you have to work hard, learn, and grow. So much that Aunt Diana can’t resist coming back.”
So that the news of Enoch could reach Aunt Diana wherever she was.
So that his reputation would resonate loudly even from afar, making it impossible for her to ignore.
“Do you resent and hate Aunt Diana? Then take revenge like this. Become such an excellent knight that she would regret not seeing your growth.”
