~Chapter 05~
“So, I met this child by chance while leaving the palace…”
“She’s my mom!” Sertien interrupted, almost as if arguing with me.
It seemed that Zetton was fully convinced that Sertien was my son.
“He really does look like you, Commander. Well… congratulations? If I had known you had a son, I would have brought a gift or something…”
‘No, I’m telling you it’s not like that!’
But I could tell that if I denied it again, Sertien would throw a fit. And if that happened, it would only draw more attention.
“…”
I quickly started thinking. There was only one answer.
I picked up Sertien, tucked him under my arm, turned around, and ran.
“Commander!”
“I’ll see you later!”
“Bye, Uncle!” Sertien cheerfully waved to Zetton as I ran off.
Already, I was dreading how I would clear up this misunderstanding the next time we met.
“I’m relieved that you’ve returned to the palace,”
“I’m sorry. I’ve had many things to handle,” Latryne replied with a slightly troubled look.
After a brief meeting, Phaedris and Latryne were now having a meal together. It wasn’t usual for them to share a meal, and because Phaedris was the emperor, there weren’t many chances to do so. But since it had been a while since they last met, they decided to eat together.
“I’ve heard a bit about what happened.”
“…”
“It must have been hard for you.”
“I’m fine.”
“You know as well as I do that those who survive must continue to live, even if they miss the ones who are gone.”
“…”
Latryne didn’t respond. His expression was unreadable, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“By the way, has anyone at the palace been bothering you with unnecessary talk?”
“What kind of talk are you referring to?”
“Asking if you’ve considered getting married.”
“Ah, yes, I’ve heard it.”
Phaedris sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“I figured. It’s outrageous, really. To bring up marriage to someone so soon after such a difficult event. Of course, finding a proper partner would strengthen your position, so logically, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“Do you also wish for me to marry, Your Majesty?”
“The marriage partner they suggest for you… the Commander of the Alpress Knights… is someone I care about. And you, too, are someone I care about. I wouldn’t oppose it if two people I care about wanted to marry. But it’s only something to celebrate if both people want it. If neither of you wants it, I won’t push it. Besides, you’re not really interested in marriage anymore, are you?”
“That’s right. And considering I’m a widower with a child, I doubt there’s anyone who’d want to marry me.”
“Well… you’d be surprised. There are plenty of people who’d still want to marry you.”
What Phaedris said was true.
Even though Latryne had a child, his appearance, wealth, and status made him highly sought after by many who would still want to marry him.
But Latryne only responded dryly.
“You’re joking… Anyway, it’s getting late. May I take my leave now?”
“Ah, yes. You mentioned you brought your child with you, didn’t you? You’d better go. Take care of yourself, too. You look like you’ve lost weight.”
“Thank you.”
Latryne stood up, bowed to Phaedris, and left the room.
Although Sertien was a child who could play well on his own, Latryne’s pace quickened as he thought about his son waiting for him in his office.
He had asked a palace attendant to watch Sertien, so he wasn’t too worried. But when Latryne neared his office, he noticed the attendant seemed flustered.
“What’s the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?” Latryne asked.
The attendant, not realizing Latryne had approached, jumped in surprise when he turned to face him.
“Duke…!”
“Where is my son?”
“Well… that is…”
The attendant’s reaction was strange.
Latryne had a bad feeling and opened the door to his office.
There was no one inside.
“I’m sorry. I was watching him carefully, but… Please forgive me…”
“What happened?”
“I… I don’t know. I just looked away for a moment, and then suddenly the young master was gone…”
The attendant was trembling with fear.
Losing the only son of a duke—he must have been thinking he would be fired on the spot.
But contrary to the attendant’s expectations, Latryne didn’t scold or dismiss him. He remained calm.
“It’s fine. Please search the area. He couldn’t have gone far.”
“Thank you! I’ll do my best to find him!”
Overwhelmed with gratitude, the attendant quickly ran out of the building.
Outwardly, Latryne appeared calm, but in reality, he was far from it.
He also left the building and began searching for Sertien.
Though Sertien couldn’t have gone far, his son was nowhere to be found.
Latryne grew more anxious with each passing moment and began asking passersby if they had seen a young boy around.
“Excuse me, but have you seen a boy about this tall?”
But everyone’s response was the same. No one had seen him.
Frustration grew. How could he have gone far…?
At that moment, a knight who had been watching Latrine from a distance approached him.
Latrine, too distracted to notice earlier, was unaware of the knight’s gaze. The knight stepped forward and spoke first.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes? What is it?” Latryne asked.
Latryne finally looked at the knight and answered.
The knight asked, “You’ve been looking for a child, right? A child about this tall, with long black hair and blue eyes?”
Latryne’s eyes widened slightly.
He was definitely talking about Sertien.
“Yes, that’s right. Have you seen him?”
“Well… My commander has the boy with her. The child refused to leave the commander’s side, so there was no other choice…”
Commander? Could he be talking about the person the palace officials mentioned?
Latryne felt uneasy for a moment, but there was no time to dwell on it, so he quickly responded.
“I see… Where is the commander now?”
“Well, the prince suddenly went missing, so the commander went to Reed Harbor to search for him.”
‘The prince?’
“I understand. Thank you.”
Latryne answered and immediately moved away from the knight.
The knight, who had been about to say that the commander would bring the child back, was startled and thought to himself:
‘What is he planning to do? Is he really going to Reed right now?’
As the knight predicted, Latryne headed to the stables, preparing to go to Reed.
“Seri, come here. Let’s treat your wound.”
“Hmph!”
After leaving the area with Sertien, I stopped by a nearby restaurant to treat Sertien’s injury.
It was also lunchtime, so I planned to feed Sertien while we were there.
However, Sertien was pouting and refusing to come over, likely upset because I had said I wasn’t his mom.
I didn’t really mind him being upset, but I needed to treat his wound, so I tried to calm him down.
“Is this because of what I said earlier?”
“Hmmph! You even said you were my mom before!”
“I’m sorry, Seri! Do you want a cookie?”
“Huh? A cookie?”
To distract him, I held up a cookie I had ordered in advance and asked.
Thankfully, Sertien seemed to love cookies and quickly forgot that he was mad, showing interest in the treat.
“What kind of cookie is it?”
“A chocolate chip cookie!”
“Wow, I want one!”
As soon as he heard “chocolate chip cookie,” Sertien started jumping up and down.
‘He really likes chocolate chip cookies? I like them too.’
Sertien quickly grabbed a cookie from the basket and started munching on it with both hands.
While he was busy with the cookie, I checked his condition and began treating the visible wounds.
As a knight commander, I’d dealt with many small battles, so I was skilled at treating injuries like this.
I was worried about internal injuries, but from what I could see, Sertien didn’t seem to have any.
It was a relief, really.
If that kick had landed, it could have been a disaster.
As I sighed with relief, Sertien looked up at me with wide eyes and asked, “Mom, why?”
“It’s nothing. Does it hurt anywhere?”
“Nope, I’m fine!” Sertien answered cheerfully.
I couldn’t help but smile at how cute he was and patted him on the head.
“Why did you do that? Weren’t you scared?”
“No… but my dad always helped people so coolly…”
“So, you wanted to help people like your dad?”
“Yeah!”
I was a bit surprised.
I hadn’t seen many righteous people among the high-ranking palace officials.
My curiosity about Sertien’s father kept growing.
