* * *
“Uncle, where are we going?”
Raphel asked, grinning from ear to ear in Chaser’s arms. He wiggled his feet back and forth in the air in excitement.
Raphel was especially fond of Chaser.
Although he was blunter and clumsier than Tia, who always treated him kindly, Chaser would occasionally give him a warm smile.
Plus, he often showed him his favorite stars, and he was the only family he had besides Lizelle.
“There is a star I want to show you.”
“Star! Yay star!”
Raphel enjoyed going to see the stars, but he was even happier that his uncle, Chaser, came to play with him.
“I know. You love the stars.”
Seeing Raphel laughing, Chaser smiled softly without realizing it.
Children were strange beings indeed. Or maybe this one was just special.
Until now, he’d always thought of children as weak and troublesome things.
His friends and servants who had children were usually restricted in their behavior.
Moreover, his poor childhood made him want to grow up as soon as possible.
Children are weak.
They don’t have the ability to make decisions for themselves, and they don’t have the strength to defend their loved ones. They are fragile beings who need to be watched over at all times.
Is that why? He didn’t even understand what his older brother, Yorne, meant when he said that he had more to gain than he had to lose by having a child.
And even now, as an adult, children were an inconvenience to him.
Because he didn’t know how to deal with a being as fragile and helpless as a glass bead that breaks at the slightest impact. He didn’t even want to know.
However, Raphel was different.
The child always tried to take initiative, and even when Wilhazelle was sick or injured, he would squeeze her small hand with all his might, saying he would protect her.
Is it because things were different from his childhood, when he was isolated and avoided everything?
Or is it because of the familiar hair and eye color?
Chaser couldn’t stop looking at him. He couldn’t stop staring into his red eyes.
When Raphel laughed, he couldn’t help but smile back. He felt a tug at his heartstrings as he held his tiny hand.
Chaser seemed to be able to understand Yorne’s words a little more now.
“Huh~.”
Raphel hummed a song and pressed his face against Chaser’s shoulder.
Unlike Lizelle’s soft and cozy scent, Chaser had a heavy and rich scent. A somewhat familiar scent.
“…pa?”
At that moment, Rafael suddenly remembered the scent, hidden in the back of his mind. A memory surfacing.
The gentle smile as they laid under the stars, the warm, large hand that held his, the wide embrace he’d always offered.
A certain image kept appearing in Raphel’s mind, and soon his head felt like it was about to explode.
“It hurts…”
Rafael wrapped his hands around his head and cried out in pain.
“Raphel. Are you okay, where and how does it hurt?”
Alarmed, Chaser stopped walking and checked Raphel’s condition.
“Mmm, my head…… hurts.”
Raphel’s face contorted and he gasped in pain.
It throbbed and hurt like a very thick and heavy iron ball was crushing his head.
It felt like several sharp pieces of glass were moving around in his head, cutting him raw.
“Quick! Get the doctor!”
Chaser shouted to those around him.
At that sound, the door burst open and Rohan ran out.
“My lord, what’s the matter?”
“Raphel is hurt. Hurry and call the doctor!”
Rohan hurriedly ran to fetch the doctor. Chaser went into the room he had previously prepared for Raphelion.
“Huh, it hurts… It hurts.”
He laid the pale-faced Rafael on the bed.
Chaser patted Rafael’s chest, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“It’s okay. Shhh. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”
Curling up on his side, Raphel groaned in pain.
“Ugh… It hurts, Uncle.”
A small hand gripped Chaser’s hand. He felt a pang in his chest as the hand squeezed so tightly it was almost painful.
“Is he still not here? Where is the doctor!”
Chaser chewed his lip hard, worried about Raphel, who was sweating like he was about to lose consciousness.
“Duke!”
The doctor came in huffing and puffing with Rohan.
“Take a look. Hurry!”
At the Duke’s frantic urging, the doctor quickly checked Raphel’s condition.
“Hmm…”
Raphel was in so much pain that he was shedding tears before.
Now he was so dazed by the pain that he couldn’t even speak.
The doctor carefully examined Raphel’s condition.
He looked at the movement of his pupil and the reflection of the cornea, and checked his breathing and pulse with a stethoscope, but did not notice any abnormalities.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong.”
“What? Then why is he in so much pain?”
Chaser’s eyes flashed as if they were about to catch fire.
“Well, that’s…”
The doctor flinched in surprise at the terrifying look in his eyes.
“Are you kidding…!”
“Head hurts. Uhhh…”
Chaser swallowed his words for fear that Raphel’s head would hurt more if he raised his voice.
Raphel was still whimpering while clutching his head as tears were streaming down his face.
“Are his memories starting to come back?”
Rohan, who was watching with a serious expression from the side, chimed in.
“What?”
“Has he lost his memory?”
The doctor was surprised, not realizing he had no memories.
“Yes. He said he couldn’t remember what happened before.”
“Ah, then the pain may be caused by recalling lost memories. If he suddenly complained of a headache without feeling anything else before, that might be the case.”
“Then what should I do? We can’t just leave him like this.”
Chaser frowned as he looked at Raphel who couldn’t make a sound because he was in pain.
It was so frustrating to just watch that young body struggle in pain.
“First, I will prescribe medication for the headache. I think it would be a good idea to give him some medicine and wait a little while.”
The doctor took out powder and syrup from his bag. Then, he immediately mixed the powder into the syrup and prepared it.
Rohan just happened to bring a cup filled with water that had been placed on the table.
“Raphel, you need to take your medicine.”
Chaser picked up Raphel, who was lying down, in his arms and propped him up.
“Sigh… Lizelle, Lizelle…”
Raphel searched for Lizelle while crying in pain. He missed Lizelle so much. He felt like this pain would go away if he was in her warm embrace.
“Hurry and call the lady.”
Chaser urgently ordered Wilhazelle to be brought there. He then scooped up a small amount of the medicine he had received from the doctor with a spoon and brought it to Raphel’s mouth.
“Sigh…”
Raphel swallowed his tears and shook his head. He kept his lips tightly shut because he didn’t want to swallow that bad-smelling thing.
“Raphel. If you eat this, you will get better quickly.”
Chaser became anxious because of Raphel’s stubbornness not to take the medicine.
He wanted to help the child rid the pain as quickly as possible, but the child rarely followed his wishes.
“Take the medicine and if you get better quickly, we’ll go see the stars. I promise.”
At that, Raphel raised his little finger towards Chaser.
“Sigh, pinky… Promise.”
“Okay. I promise.”
He promised, hooking his pinky around the pinky of Raphel.
Only then did Raphel open his mouth slightly.
The white, thin syrup went straight into Raphel’s mouth.
As expected, Raphel coughed heavily due to the bitter taste, which was just as bad as the smell, but he swallowed all the medicine.
Because he wanted to go see the stars. With Chaser and Lizelle.
“Swallow slowly.”
Chaser fed Raphel the water Rohan gave him and laid him back on the bed.
“If you want to sleep, you can sleep. It won’t hurt anymore when you wake up.”
He then covered Raphel with a thick blanket up to his neck.
Raphel raised his tear-stained face and stretched out his hand toward Chaser.
He realized what he wanted and held his small, thin hand.
He couldn’t hold it tightly for fear it would hurt, so Chaser squeezed very gently.
“Don’t go, I don’t want to be alone…”
“Okay.”
Chaser nodded, listening to the voice choked with tears.
He stroked his soft, tear-stained cheek and quietly looked at Raphel.
His complexion seemed to be better than before.
“My Lord. That water had the antidote.”
Rohan said cautiously, turning to Chaser.
The water he was given to help with the medicine was water mixed with the antidote.
“…”
Raphel’s image was reflected in Chaser’s eyes.
Unchanging black hair, red eyes visible through slowly closing eyelids. A face that closely resembles that of his older brother when he was young.
“… Raphelion Halos.”
A very low voice echoed throughout the room.
It was the first time he’d ever called him by his full name.
This child was indeed his brother’s child, his nephew, Raphelion Halos.
