Chapter 73
“Time must have flown by.”
Mehen sat and thought.
“The mansion is the same, but the ecliptic has changed.”
What was he trying to say?
His eyes, transparent and purplish today, looked at her with a smile.
“Suddenly, Mum?”
Mehen didn’t answer.
The Archduke of Halbern, who was laughing so hard that his forehead was red from the punch he’d received, but still incredibly handsome, laughed and teased him.
“You’ve become a mother while I wasn’t looking, and the years haven’t hurt you. Who would have thought, Mehen, that you’d become a mother.”
“If you want to die, talk more.”
“It’s an assassination announcement, I’m already excited.”
“Why do you think it’s an assassination?”
“So you’re going to kill me fair and square, which is just as good as it sounds.”
“Cut the crap.”
“Who’s the father? Is it me again?”
Pffttt.
It was an unexpected blow. Watching the maids and butlers explode without resistance, Mehen could barely contain the flush of shame.
“So you’re my darling, then, Mehen?”
“Do you want to die?”
The Archduke of Halbern chuckled breathlessly at the immediate response.
“What’s the matter, my dear, I’m sorry to see your husband so long.”
“Shut up, please.”
“But when did we get married?”
“Shut up.”
A vein rose in Mehen’s forehead. If it weren’t for Arellin beside him, he would have lost his temper and beaten him with whatever he could get him hands on.
‘I can’t do that.’
It’s bad for her education, bad for her emotions.
Mehen desperately suppressed his murderous intent.
“Ha, that’s funny.”
“Oh, is it?”
Any more touching here, and he might actually strangle him, the Archduke of Halbern said, his jaw clenching with regret.
His gaze drifted to the small child who had clung to Mehen from earlier and wouldn’t let go.
Flinch.
The Archduke of Halbern’s eyes dimmed as he watched the small body under the gaze, using Mehen as a shield.
“Hmm.”
Noticing the subtle tension in the Archduke of Halbern’s openly intrigued expression, Mehen sighed, suppressing a pout.
‘That bastard.’
“Arel, please go back and rest.”
Arellin, almost buried in Mehen.
“Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
In the midst of what seemed to be the end of their first face-to-face encounter in a long time-nay, in fact, the end of their first father-daughter encounter at all-Mehen didn’t want to suggest anything to Arellin.
Not while her father was like this, not ever.
“Mmm.”
Arellin glanced from Mehen to Archduke Halbern. It’s too much for her to bear.
The Archduke of Halbern’s expression grew puzzled as he watched the small head seriously consider whether she should go.
“It’s all right, you may go.”
His voice is gentle and reassuring, and she smiles and gets up.
“See you later.”
Trust and faith in a small, whispered voice.
Mehen hugged her once, and without a glance at her father, the child took the maid’s hand and left.
The Archduke of Halbern tilted his head as he watched, not breaking eye contact.
“Honey, my daughter is scared of me.”
A cushion flew out of nowhere.
“It’s your karma, you bastard.”
Mehen let out the anger he’d been holding in.
***
“So.”
Mehen pressed his temples together and opened his mouth.
“Where have you been all this time?”
“Hearing as soon as I got here.”
The Archduke of Halbern looked pitiful, his handsome eyes drooping.
“I’m a little tired.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“It’s not working.”
The Archduke of Halbern pouted his lips in frustration and set his jaw.
“Well, try it.”
Archduke Halbern’s head tilted to the side as Mehen slammed the Albrecht Times he’d read this morning onto the table.
“What on earth do you think you’re doing here?”
“Apparently, emptying the northern castles is not an easy task.”
“And to capture a dragon?”
“Were you worried about me? I’m not hurt, dear.”
“If you yell at me one more time, honey, I’m going to sue you for sexual harassment and defamation in the workplace.”
“That’s one hell of a reaction.”
He was shaking and laughing like he was scared, but he didn’t look scared at all. It only made him more tired.
Mehen fought the urge to strangle him right now.
It would have to wait. Blessed are the patient ones…
“How did you become a mother?”
“It’s none of your business, you irresponsible human.”
“You’re so mean.”
Mehen glared, wanting to stab him further, but realizing he’d only end up dry heaving at the human’s pace, he barely managed to contain his excitement.
“How did you get here?”
“It’s obvious, you already know.”
There really is such an artifact?
Mehen’s eyes widened, furious that he hadn’t come here before, even though there was such a thing.
Perhaps sensing his hardening gaze, the Archduke of Halbern, buried deep in his couch, smiled languidly and tilted his head.
“I’m not going anywhere, you don’t have to look at me so intently.”
“Can I hit you?”
He threw the cushion. The Archduke of Halbern, who had managed to dodge by tilting his head, smiled.
“No questions? I’m sure you have many.”
“Ha.”
Questions? Of course he had many. He didn’t even know what to ask.
So many things came to mind at once that he thought hus head might explode, but in the end, there was only one question.
“Why did you come back?”
The purple eyes blinked. Long lashes fluttered and fluttered and fluttered, then she looked down.
“You advised me.”
“For that alone?”
“What more reason do you need?”
He thought he was joking, but the eyes that met mine weren’t smiling. They were saying something more, but Mehen didn’t want to know, didn’t want to understand.
“Then you should have come a long time ago! I’ve been asking you to come for years, and you haven’t even turned up your nose at me! Do you really want to die by my hand?!”
“I would be honoured to die by your hand.”
Done. Mehen let out a deep sigh that he’d been gathering since the beginning.
“You’re kidding!”
“Do I look like a joke?”
Mehen let out a deep sigh, drawn from the battlefield.
“Forget it. Let’s not talk.”
Archduke Halbern laughed.
“Laughing? Are you laughing now?”
“Why are you so angry?”
“How can I not be angry!”
It was one thing to cause an accident, it was another to leave a mess behind.
“Why did you go to the northern castle in the first place?”
“Trade.”
“Trade? What trade?”
Mehen’s expression grew uneasy.
Pressing his index finger to his handsome lips, the Archduke of Halbern shook his head.
“I can’t tell you what the deal was. I’m afraid I’ve sworn an oath.”
Mehen’s expression hardened.
The Oath of the Gnome was the highest level of secret oath. One that could not be broken even if one wanted to.
Mehen’s head spun tensely as he let out an involuntary sigh.
An unspoken oath. Imperial Palace. Halbern.
‘Why?’
What could the Archduke of Halbern, Valar, possibly lack that would cause him to bargain for an unspoken oath, with the gruesome condition of imprisonment in a northern castle.
He demanded answers, but as usual, the Archduke of Halbern only gave him a strange smile.
“How’s the medication going?”
“Well, it’s a precious thing, and I must feed it well.”
“Well, that’s precious. You should feed it well. Hmm?”
Mehen’s expression hardened.
He made a sickening sound as he realized the cause and effect of his belated answer.
“Where did it come from?”
He asked softly, his voice low.
He felt like if he hit him with just one of those things, he’d lose his wish.
“The Imperial Palace.”
He started the investigation because he couldn’t trust the mysterious medicine to be fed to her endlessly.
The backtracking on the Arellin pills led to a mysterious passageway that ended at the imperial palace. An obscure, intimate place, with no indication of which palace.
‘I thought it would tire me out if I touched it any further, so I buried it.’
More tired. Pressing the corners of his eyes, which had grown heavy with fatigue, Mehen spoke politely. His respect for his master, who had left the house, briefly returned.
“The medicine, was it your master’s?”
“If not me, then who.”
Valar tone was gentle. Mehen’s face twisted in surprise.
“That drug is what kept you in the northern castle, until now?”
Archduke Halbern shrugged.
