Chapter 107
Throughout the carriage ride back to their inn, Ruth showed interest in Trika and Lionel who suddenly appeared.
However, when Lionel kept his mouth shut and did not say anything, the child’s attention turned to Tria.
“Hey. Is Trika a friend of Celsion?”
Trika, sitting quietly on Ruth’s lap, meowed.
[You could say that.]
“Wow.”
Ruth carefully smoothed the cat’s head. Trika made a purring sound as if she was in a good mood.
Then Celsion, who was sitting next to Ruth, spoke jealously.
[Ruth, you are my successor. Not the successor to Trika.]
“Ugh, I understand.”
Ruth thought for a moment and then rubbed Celsion’s furry back. Only then did Celsion yawn as if he was satisfied.
Lionel, who was watching the scene intently from the other side, clenched his fists.
“That kid…”
Cassis cut him off.
“This is my son, Lucius Adelhard.”
“Son?”
Sparks flew from Lionel’s eyes. He had a face that made him want to ask Cassis the truth right away.
Cassis seemed to want to investigate Lionel’s past.
Evelia quickly interrupts.
“It’s in front of the child. We’ll talk about it in detail when we go to the inn.”
Fortunately, Ruth, who was distracted with Trika and Celsion, was unaware of the harsh atmosphere of the three adults.
The child shouted excitedly when they arrived at the accommodation.
“Mom, mom. Can I play with Trika and Celsion?”
“Sure.”
“Wow, then let’s all go to my room together!”
Trika and Celsion walked along on both sides as if protecting the child. Several knights under Cassis’ orders followed them.
Evelia, Cassis, and Lionel headed to the living room. As soon as the drawing room door closed, Lionel asked a question.
“Is that boy really the Duke’s son?”
Cassis frowned. Evelia answered instead.
“There are many ears will listen.”
Then Lionel waved his hand carelessly. A white light appeared and disappeared from his fingertips.
“I cast a spell. They won’t hear what we say.”
“Please sit down first. Cassis, you too, sit down. I think the story will be long.”
At Evelia’s words, the two men obediently sat down on the chairs. As soon as Evelia sat down next to Cassis, Lionel urged hom.
“Ask again. Is that kid the Duke’s son? or not…”
His red eyes shone sharply.
“Is he Julia’s child?”
Cassis’ hand, clenched into a fist, trembled. Evelia covered the back of his hand with hers to show that it was okay.
Cassis seemed to have trouble controlling his emotions. As he closed his eyes and caught his breath, Lionel urged him:
“Duke Adelhard. That kid….”
“Ruth is my son.”
Cassis opened his closed eyes. There were all kinds of emotions in his eyes. Anger, resentment, longing, etc.
“But he is also Julia’s son.”
Lionel jumped up from his seat and grabbed Cassis by the collar. Evelia was surprised and tried to stop him, but Cassis stopped her with a glance.
“Why, why did you hide that fact until now?”
Cassis sneered.
“Why do you care about that?”
“What?”
“Why do you care so much about Ruth’s birth?”
“That’s I…!”
Cassis grabbed Lionel’s wrist tightly. Lionel frowned at the strong grip.
“It’s been eight years. After eight years of no contact, do you now want to claim that you are Ruth’s biological father?”
“If I knew the child was alive, of course…”
“Then why didn’t you contact me sooner?”
Cassis’s hands became stronger.
“Julia waited for you until the day she died. She firmly believed that you would come back someday. However, to protect your honor, she never revealed who the child’s father was. So we knew nothing about that.”
“…….”
“You abandoned Julia like that and now you’re showing up and claiming to be Ruth’s biological father? Why? Are you coveting Celsion’s power?”
Cassis, uncharacteristically, spoke a lot. Lionel just listened silently.
“This is the child that Julia protected. Do you have the right to claim that you are the biological father?”
“I-I…”
Lionel let go of Cassis’s collar. He stumbled and fell into a chair.
“There were circumstances.”
“…….”
Tears formed in his eyes again.
“Julia… What happened?”
“She passed away shortly after giving birth to Ruth.”
“But why did you call Ruth the Duke’s son?”
“It was for Julia’s honor.”
“Why didn’t you look for me?”
“As I said, we had no way of knowing who Ruth’s biological father was.”
Lionel buried his face in his hands. Cassis waited for him, and Evelia held Cassis’ hand and whispered that it was okay.
After a while, when Lionel’s trembling had subsided, Cassis asked in a cool voice.
“Now tell me your story.”
“…….”
“Why on earth didn’t you come? And why are you now trying to pretend to be Ruth’s biological father?”
Lionel raised his head. His eyes were red and bloodshot, but his expression was solemn, befitting a prince of a country.
“As you all know, I am Trika’s successor. My father didn’t want to let me go.”
The story that followed was what Cassis and Evelia had guessed. The story is about someone who was imprisoned in the royal castle and could not escape.
“Why didn’t you send a letter? If only you had sent a letter…”
“I did. I thought I had, but Your Majesty stole the letter.”
“……”
“Then I heard from someone from the Empire that Julia had died. It was said that the Adelhard family had no children, so I naturally assumed that the child was dead.”
Lionel muttered bitterly.
“I had a vague guess when I saw that Celsion’s successor had awakened from the Empire. Maybe the child was still alive, but seeing him in person convinced me otherwise.”
“…….”
“Did you say Ruth? That child’s smile looked exactly like Julia’s.”
It was an unexpected story. Ruth looked so much like Cassis that people believed he was his illegitimate son.
However, Lionel found traces of Julia in such a child.
“I knew your story well. That was probably the only way to protect Julia’s honor. Thank you. From now on, Ruth…”
Cassis dismissed it.
“No. No matter what anyone says, Ruth is my son. I have no intention of sending him to Cesia.”
Lionel frowned.
“What? Then why on earth did you come here?”
This time Evelia answered calmly.
“Ruth is sick.”
“……!”
“He’s suffering from fever periodically because he can’t handle Celsion’s power. We came because they said that in order to solve this problem, he needed to get the blessing of King Secia or the Crown Prince. There is no other reason.”
“I see. Come to think of it, I also received a blessing as soon as I entered the royal palace when I was young.”
Evelia added, looking at Lionel who nodded slightly.
“There is one more reason.”
“What?”
“The Queen of Cesia knows of Ruth’s existence.”
Lionel’s eyes widened.
“What? How can a child I don’t even know…”
Evelia explained with a slight resentment.
“The person who told you about the Adelhard family situation was Count Venion, right?”
“How did you…”
“He was executed not long ago. There are complicated circumstances, but to put it simply, I think Count Venion did something before he died to get revenge on the Adelhard family.”
“So what did the Queen do?”
Evelia opened her mouth with a look of horror just thinking about it.
“She sent an assassin to Ruth.”
“What?”
“Fortunately, Ruth awakened his power and got through without any trouble, but he almost got into big trouble.”
Lionel clenched his fists.
“That woman definitely made me….”
“Anyway, that’s why we came. I want to cure Ruth’s illness, find out who was behind the assassin, and make them pay for their crimes.”
“…….”
Evelia looked at Cassis, who still couldn’t control his emotions, and declared on his behalf.
“And I don’t plan on telling Ruth about his biological father, or the prince.”
Essa é realmente uma situação complicada, se contarem a verdade a Ruth agora,ele pode se sentir traído,mas se contarem mais tarde,ele também pode se sentir traído por não ser informado antes. Não tem uma maneira certa de contar a verdade a Ruth sem feri-lo…
To be completely honest, I think that, even if they told him the thruth, Ruth will still choose Evelia and Cassis, the Prince is a stranger to him and the kingdom is more dangerous for him than the Empire.