***
“Look at his red eyes and black hair! There’s no doubt that this is the child the Duke has been searching for!”
The man with brown hair, resembling a weasel, pointed at the child who was cowering next to him.
He seemed extremely confident, puffing out his chest with a firm expression.
“Indeed. Black hair and red eyes. He definitely fits the description of the child I am searching for.”
The spacious reception room was lavishly adorned with expensive decorations, seemingly there to showcase the Duke’s wealth and authority.
In that reception room, below a large chandelier, on a luxurious leather sofa, legs crossed calmly, sat Chaser Halos, the current Duke who had succeeded the former Duke, Yorne Halos, when he had died. He had a well-groomed appearance with a cravat circling his neck.
The cravat’s centerpiece held a radiant green emerald that was reminiscent of a dense forest, surrounded by a golden frame. All of it was authentic. It was a unique piece that was crafted by the most popular jeweler, worth several months of living expenses for an ordinary noble.
“Yes! This is undoubtedly the child the Duke is searching for!”
The man glanced at the jewel on the Duke’s cravat, his eyes flashing with greed as he tried to discern whether the jewel was real or not. He felt reassured that he had made the correct choice.
“Is that so?”
Duke Chaser observed the child who was nervously standing there. His sharp red eyes scrutinized him, looking at the small stature, red eyes and black hair that matched the description in the flier. However, the artificially tinted ashy black hair and murky red eyes, resembling those of a dead fish, raised doubts.
It was too early to pass judgement though, there was still a chance the child could be the real Raphelion. Chaser had never seen his nephew before and had to rely solely on his brother’s description of the child’s appearance.
“Where was he found?”
Having completed his observation, Chaser stared intently at the man who’s eyes were glued to the Duke’s jewel.
“Huh? Oh, yes! He was found at the Western Orphanage. About three months ago, he was found wandering the streets and was taken in. I brought him here when I recognized him there.”
The man who had been eyeing the jewel responded quickly. He began to get excited, sensing the Duke’s interest in the child.
The Duke appeared to trust his words and accept the child as Raphelion. The man believed he was on the verge of receiving a substantial reward, a hundred million shillings.
The greedy man eagerly imagined running to the gambling den as soon as he got the money, settling the scores with those who had mocked and disregarded him when he ran out of funds.
“Rohan.”
The Duke signaled to the man behind him.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“Are you going to just leave Raphelion standing over there?”
A sly smile appeared on the man’s face, now confident that the Duke had really accepted the child as Raphelion. Soon he would be holding 100 million shillings in his hands.
“I apologize, Raphelion. Do your legs hurt? Would you like to sit over here?”
Rohan pulled out a small velvet chair for the child. Hesitating, the child grabbed onto the man’s pants with a mixture of surprise and unease.
“Oh, father… Ouch!”
“It seems Raphelion is a bit nervous.”
The man hastily interrupted, pinching the child’s arm. If he hadn’t interrupted the child, his plans may have bee ruined. He had spent a large sum on the intermediate magic potion to change his son’s hair and eye color. It was an amount that was equivalent to a month’s living expenses for his family.
The action of the man pinching the child was met with a distorted expression from the Duke. However, he smiled when he met the child’s eyes is if he hadn’t noticed.
“Raphel, there is no need to be nervous. I am your uncle. About your eyes though…”
When the child saw the stranger smiling at him, he took a step back and looked up at his father.
“Uhh… Your eyes… I mean…”
The fathers face, looking like he could explode at any moment, appeared in the child’s blurry red eyes.
“Young Master, it’s alright. It appears he’s become shy after living in an unfamiliar place for so long.”
The man gave the child a threatening look and winked, signaling for him to hurry up and sit down on the chair.
“Yes…”
In the end, the child took small heavy steps under the pressure of the man.
While walking the short distance, the child looked back countless time.
But the man just rejected him with his stern expression.
The child sat in the chair and looked like he was about to burst into tears.
“It’s alright, Raphel.”
The Duke patted the child on the shoulder.
Rohan left the room then, saying he would go fetch some drinks.
“Well, about the money…”
The man began to speak to the Duke, averting his gaze.
He wanted the money as soon as possible so that he could leave this place and escape.
When he bought the magic potion, he was told that as long as the antidote wasn’t taken, he would never get caught, but that did not make him any less nervous.
“Oh, right. I still have yet to give you my thanks.”
With a snap of his fingers, the reception door opened and two servants entered carrying a large chest.
Finally, Rohan returned, holding some drinks that were known to be favored by children.
“You should count it to make sure it’s all there.”
The servants placed the chest in front of the man.
The loud sound of the chest being placed on the floor echoed throughout the room, demonstrating the weight contained.
“Oh, no! The Duke would never deceive me. I’ll just take it and go now.”
Despite the man’s objections, the Duke’s servants opened the chest. Inside, it was filled to the brim with countless coins.
“You must be thirsty, please have a drink Young Master.”
Rohan offered the child the drink he had brought.
As the child tasted the orange colored liquid, he smiled in delight. Chaser was watching him closely.
“This is really a hundred million shillings…”
With trembling hands, the man touched the coins within.
Watching the man who was captivated by the shillings, Chaser stood up shaking his head subtly. Taking long strides, he soon stood in front of the man. Chaser’s face was emotionless as he looked down at the man drooling over the money. He looked like he could kill at any moment.
“You are the child’s father.”
“Yes, that’s right… Huh?!”
The man responded to the low voice without even thinking. He then raised his head in surprise.
“What do you mean I’m his father?”
Rohan appeared in the man’s field of vision holding the child who had been sitting on the chair. At that moment, the man’s eyes widened.
“How… It’s not possible…”
The man froze in shock.
“Brown hair and brown eyes, just like you.”
The child who was sipping the drink in Rohan’s arms was smiling brightly as he tasted the delicious drink for the first time. The child’s ashy hair and red eyes had already turned brown.
“My Lord! Please, spare me!”
Everything had gone wrong. He had been found out.
The man quickly kneeled before the Duke, body almost laying on the ground. With a sly smile, Chaser nodded toward Rohan, who then left the room with the child.
“Do you think you were the first one to think up this shallow trick?”
The cold eyes glared directly at the man.
“Please… Have mercy…”
He man grabbed the leg of Chaser’s pants with trembling hands, causing wrinkles to form.
Seeing this, Chaser’s face twitched. He spoke as he mercilessly kicked his hand away.
“Dispose of him.”
The tone was cold, with no leeway.
The sharp eyes, like a deadly blade, were cruel.
Following the instructions of the Duke, two large men grabbed him by the arms and dragged him away.
“Duke, Duke! Please! Spare me!”
A screaming voice echoed throughout the spacious room.
After the man was dragged away, Chaser, who was left alone, dropped down onto the sofa again. He stretched out his long legs and rested them on the table. Massaging his forehead in frustration.
“These bastards.”
The voice was husky, like an animal growling.
This was already the 11th time they had encountered this type of fraud since they had started looking for Raphelion.
Yorne had kept the woman he loved and the child hidden away because his father, Louis Peter Halos, the former Duke before Yorne, had tried to have them killed.
He had done this because he said he could not welcome a woman who was a commoner as his son’s spouse and duchess, also that the child who had inherited the blood of a commoner could not become the heir to the dukedom, so he had to nip the problem in the bud.
Because of this, even Chaser didn’t know what the child looked like. Somehow this fact had been leaked out as well.
No one in the Dukes household had ever seen Raphelion in person, so no one knew what he looked like.
Since then, people who were blinded by greed had been coming to the Duke’s house in order to claim the reward.
A child taken from an orphanage, an orphan wandering the streets, or, like today, claiming their own child was Raphelion.
All of them used a magic potion to change their hair and eye colors.
“They would even sell their own children for money.”
Chaser, who had predicted this situation in advance, mixed the antidote that was prepared and gave it to the children. Soon after, their original hair and eye color would return.
The children were always the victims of those blinded by greed.
Children who had no idea what to do were forcedly taken into the hands of selfish adults.
It was giving Chaser a terrible headache. He roughly stroked his hair and let out a deep sigh.
Knock, knock
Chaser gave permission to enter and Rohan opened the door approaching Chaser and stopping in front of him.
“Master.”
“The child?”
“Fortunately, the mother came looking for him, crying, so we sent him back with her.”
“Okay.”
Chaser closed his tired eyes.
They had been searching for Raphelion day and night, but were still unable to locate him.
Chaser had become more and more anxious as the search dragged on. The had looked in every possible location, but still could not find him. They still didn’t even know if he was dead or alive.
Please, be alive…
“Leave.”
“Yes, Sir.”
After Rohan left, the room was filled with silence again.
Chaser was exhausted.
He had become disappointed in humanity, there were too many greedy people who were crazy about money and wanted to deceive him.
He would not tolerate another person committing a scam like this again.
A red sunset shone behind Chaser making him look fierce, though he already had a reputation as being cold blooded in society.
