Chapter 38
“Hmmm, I don’t get what you’re saying at all.”
Lucian scratched the back of his head with a puzzled expression.
Edwin was quite popular at the orphanage because of his good looks.
He already received plenty of love from his friends, so why did he want more?
“You wouldn’t understand. You have a family.”
Lucian had people who loved him unconditionally. But Edwin had been alone from the beginning, so Lucian could never truly understand his loneliness.
“I want to be like you…”
He wanted a warm home, a kind family.
Tears welled up in Edwin’s big eyes.
“Hey, are you crying?”
Lucian’s eyes widened when he saw tears rolling down Edwin’s cheeks.
Maybe it was because they had spent so much time together, but seeing Edwin cry made Lucian feel uncomfortable.
“Y-You don’t know anything! Family isn’t that great.”
Panicking, Lucian tried to comfort him, though awkwardly.
Compared to how he used to ignore other people’s tears, this was quite an improvement.
“They say they love you but always scold you. And if you cry, they never hug you first—you have to apologize first.”
“Sniff… But they still love you.”
“Well… yeah, but…”
“Sob.”
Edwin, who had been calming down, burst into tears again at Lucian’s blunt response.
Lucian tried to soothe him with all kinds of clumsy words, but nothing worked.
‘How did it come to this?’
Lucian thought as he watched Edwin cry his heart out.
He had found Edwin hiding, tried to take him back, and Edwin had refused to return.
‘He’s crying because I said no.’
Because he told Edwin he couldn’t stay.
There was only one way to stop his tears.
“Fine! You can stay!”
He might lose his aunt’s attention, but she had always said she loved him the most in the world.
“I give you permission! You can live here!”
“Really?”
Edwin sniffled and looked up.
“Yes. So stop crying.”
Lucian rubbed Edwin’s tear-streaked face with his sleeve. If he couldn’t stop him from crying, he would just wipe the tears away.
“Really? I can really live here?”
Edwin’s tears finally stopped.
“Yes. But we have to ask my father. He’s the owner of this house.”
“So if your father allows it, I can stay?”
“Yes.”
Lucian nodded, and Edwin’s tear-streaked face lit up instantly.
Lucian let out a small sigh of relief, but then his face darkened.
‘To get permission from Father… I have to meet him.’
He had been avoiding his father by hiding all the way here. Now he had to go see him.
Ugh.
“Lucian? What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing.”
He still had his pride. He couldn’t go back on his word now.
Besides, Edwin was his younger brother by half a year.
As an older brother, he couldn’t take back what he had said in front of him.
“We’ll ask when my father returns. Let’s wait quietly until then.”
“There’s no need. He’s already here.”
Lucian brushed off his clothes and reached out his hand to Edwin.
It was the first time he had ever offered his hand to someone other than his aunt.
“Let’s go now and ask him.”
“Okay!”
Edwin jumped up and grabbed Lucian’s hand.
For some reason, holding Edwin’s hand made Lucian feel a little less afraid.
“This wasn’t even a big deal.”
Duke Bellomon showed no emotion after hearing the story from the butler.
“If you find him, just send him back.”
With that, the duke turned away and started heading up the stairs.
‘Should I be relieved or disappointed?’
It was a relief that the duke wasn’t angry.
But at the same time, seeing him so indifferent about a missing child was disheartening.
“Yes, please don’t worry too much.”
Hiding my thoughts, I called out to the duke’s retreating figure.
I planned to continue searching for Edwin once the duke returned to his office.
That was when I heard footsteps at the end of the hallway.
“Edwin!”
Lucian and Edwin were walking toward me, holding hands.
Forgetting about the duke, I ran to them.
“Where have you been? I was so worried!”
“I’m sorry…”
Edwin lowered his head apologetically.
Seeing him look so guilty made my heart ache.
“It’s okay. But from now on, don’t go out alone. Understand?”
“Yes…”
I gently ruffled Edwin’s hair before turning to Lucian.
“Did you find him, Lucian?”
“Yeah.”
“Good job! You’re great at finding things.”
Lucian usually loved being praised.
Normally, he would be beaming with joy at this.
But this time, there was no trace of a smile on his face.
In fact, he looked unusually serious.
‘Lucian and seriousness? That doesn’t match at all.’
While I was lost in thought, Lucian let go of Edwin’s hand and walked toward the duke.
“Father.”
At his quiet call, the duke stopped on the stairs and turned around.
“…Um.”
Lucian hesitated, his lips dry.
Whenever he talked to his father, it was always like this.
His lips would dry up, and his hands would get sweaty.
“If you have something to say, speak clearly. Don’t mumble.”
It was a harsh remark for a six-year-old.
‘This is why I tried to avoid him.’
Lucian felt small under his father’s cold gaze.
But a promise was a promise.
If Edwin cried again, that would be even worse.
“I have a friend who wants to live here. I promised him that if you allowed it, he could stay… Is that okay?”
“What?”
The duke raised an eyebrow.
He knew Lucian was still childish.
But bringing a child from the orphanage to live here?
“Father, you just have to say yes…”
But this wasn’t as simple as Lucian thought.
For Edwin to stay, he would have to be officially adopted.
And adoption was a complicated process.
More than that, the duke had no intention of going through all that trouble for a child whose background he didn’t even know.
“No.”
“Why, why not?”
“Living together isn’t as easy as you think.”
“But I promised Edwin… I told him we could live together…”
“Then why…”
Just as he was about to scold the child for making a promise he couldn’t keep—
“Um, sir.”
A small voice came from behind Lucian’s shoulder.
Soon, a child timidly stepped forward and stood beside him.
A child with jet-black hair and red eyes.
“I don’t eat much. I sleep only a little. I’m really good at cleaning too. And…”
The child kept talking, but the duke couldn’t hear a single word.
His eyes were fixed only on the child’s face.
Those fiery red eyes reminded him of a woman.
The duke quickly walked down the stairs and stood in front of Edwin.
Up close, the child’s face looked even more like the woman in his memories.
“You.”
“Yes?”
Startled by the duke’s call, Edwin froze.
For some reason, the duke licked his suddenly dry lips before speaking again.
“You said you’re an orphan.”
“Yes.”
“Then you don’t know your parents’ faces or names.”
“I don’t know my father, but I know my mother. I lived with her until I was five.”
“…Really?”
His heart pounded as if he had been running at full speed.
He wanted to hurry and ask more about the mother, but the words wouldn’t come out.
“People said I look exactly like my mom. But she used to say my hair color was just like my father’s.”
A faint smile appeared on the child’s face as he recalled happy memories.
That expression looked exactly like the woman in his memories, making it even harder for the duke to breathe.
“And my mother’s name was…”
The child rolled his eyes, trying to remember.
The duke held his breath, waiting for the words to come.
And finally—
“Iris.”
“…”
“People called my mom Iris.”
“Ah…”
A small gasp escaped the duke’s lips as he heard the answer he had been waiting for.
The small child in front of him, with the face of his beloved, was his son.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Freya• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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