Akkad with an umbrella was standing there.
“…Lord Bachell.”
“Please, just go inside.”
“It’s just, I like the sound of rain.”
Pristin responded with just that and then turned her head forward again. However, she soon sensed someone sitting next to her. When Pristin turned her head again, she saw Akkad’s face staring intently at her, not at the front. Pristin became emotional for a moment.
“…It feels strange.”
“Why is that?”
“I didn’t expect to run into the prince in a place like this.”
Pristin whispered,
“Lately, I’ve been feeling like the situation I’m in is like a dream.”
“…”
“And I often have nightmares.”
“I heard.”
“In your treatment of me,”
Pristin asked with curiosity,
“Was there ever a moment when you were sincere?”
“That doesn’t matter…”
“You said that last time too. But it does matter to me.”
Pristin added earnestly,
“I also wonder why the lord made this choice.”
“…”
“If I don’t hear it, I think I’ll keep wondering about it even after I return to the capital. Of course, in a negative way.”
“My story isn’t very interesting.”
“Please. Everything will be over soon anyway.”
Pristin said in a dry voice,
“If not now, there may not be another time to hear it.”
“…”
Akkad was silent for a moment, and Pristin waited patiently.
Originally, the intention behind asking was to understand this person’s situation in the hope that it might be useful later. But she was also genuinely curious.
Why did he make this choice?
“I am not Duke Bachell’s biological son.”
…Why was he saying this without hesitation?
Pristin turned with a slightly surprised expression.
The speaker’s expression was as dry as his voice.
“I was from an orphanage.”
“…I didn’t know.”
“It’s a fact that no one knows. I was adopted when I was very young.”
Akkad began his story with a nostalgic expression.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
So the first memory in Akkad’s mind was that an aristocratic couple from the capital, who were very rich, came to see him.
“You’re Akkad? I heard you’re very smart.”
“Come with us.”
As he later heard, the couple had been childless for a long time. This was the case even though doctors had repeatedly told them there was nothing wrong with their bodies.
Eventually, the discouraged couple decided to adopt a child rather than pass the succession to a distant branch of the family. They searched the capital and found an orphan with no connections.
He had to be smart because he was going to be a successor to the family. A strong, intelligent, young boy. It was difficult to find, but not impossible.
“Your name is Akkad Bachell now.”
Akkad was officially registered as the eldest son of the Duke of Bachell after leaving the orphanage where he spent a long time. The Bachell were pleased in their adopted son’s outstanding qualities. Although they had not been able to have their own child, they believed that Akkad would allow them to maintain their glory and honor for a long time.
Akkad was loved, and he thought that such days would last forever.
“Congratulations, ma’am.”
“What do you mean…”
“You’re pregnant.”
Until he heard the news of Duchess Bachell’s pregnancy.
No, to be precise, there was no problem in itself in hearing about the pregnancy. Young Akkad was still pure, apart from being smart. At that time, he was completely unaware of the threat the mother’s biological child would bring to him. He was just vaguely happy that he had a younger sibling, too.
And if Akkad had a sister, the joy might have continued. Maybe to this day.
“Congratulations. You have a healthy baby boy.”
Unfortunately for Akkad, however, the baby born was a son. But this was indeed a joyous occasion for the Bachell family.
A male child had finally been born to the couple. And from that moment on, the mood around Akkad changed.
“I want to see my mother…”
“Madam is currently busy.”
Everyone in the Bachell family began to distance themselves from Akkad. Not only the Bachells but also the servants because of course he was supposed to be the heir, but now a ‘real son’ had been born.
At first, Akkad was puzzled by the changes in his surroundings, but soon he realized with his clever mind.
‘Ah, I’ve been abandoned.’
He was no longer useful.
His life was no different than it had been in the orphanage, except that he kept his surname and was treated well. Gradually, the adoptive parents’ attention shifted from Akkad to their own blooded son.
And at some point, they began to treat Akkad as if he were not their child, but as if he were a stranger.
Akkad was hurt by the callousness of their attitude, as if a family connected only by a family register was no family at all.
His childhood was lonely, and his boyhood was even lonelier. Having once tasted the joy of familial love and harmony, his sense of deprivation only increased.
“How about going to a military academy?”
When he had grown up and was on the verge of adulthood, the Duke of Bachell, who had almost become a stranger, made that suggestion to Akkad. The reason for suggesting a military academy was obvious: he would hardly ever be out in the world.
He didn’t want to look at him anymore, he guessed.
Akkad didn’t think he was exaggerating. It was likely even worse than he imagined.
“I want to pursue a degree in pharmacy.”
“Pharmacy school? Where did that come from all of a sudden?”
“What I want, what I am interested in.”
Akkad spoke in a cold, dry voice.
“You never showed any interest, did you?”
Not once, exactly, since his brother was born.
“I’m not good with my body, I’ll go to pharmacy school.”
“But then…!”
“I know. That you don’t want to see me living in this mansion,”
Akkad interrupted them once again, his voice cold.
“I’ll go out with the money I’ve saved up, and I’ll stay in the dormitory, don’t worry.”
“Akkad, I…!”
“Thank you for everything.”
Akkad bowed as if he would never see his father again.
“I won’t forget the grace you’ve given me.”
“…”
“But that’s it.”
Those bittersweet words were their last conversation. Akkad immediately left the Bachell manor. He entered the Department of Pharmacy at Asanders University, the most prestigious institution in the empire, after pledging never to go back there again.
While staying in the dormitory, he decided to focus only on his studies.
“You must be Akkad. The top student this year.”
He was then confronted by the dean of the university.
“Nice to meet you, Akkad Bachell. I’m Albert Limburg.”
That was Albert, the now-deposed emperor.
Initially, Akkad didn’t pay much attention to Albert. However, Albert took a keen interest in Akkad and, upon learning that he was staying in the dormitory, provided him with a special room free of charge. He also covered all the expenses necessary for university life out of his own pocket.
With such financial support, the two gradually grew closer. Akkad eventually came to regard Albert as a father figure.
“But at first, I thought it was a bit surprising.”
“Surprising? That the heir to the Bachell family was studying in the dormitory?”
“Yes. Usually, they commute from home.”
“I ran away from home.”
Akkad calmly confessed his secret.
“I am not, in fact, the biological son of the Bachell family.”
Albert promised that day,
“I will be your patron for life. I promise.”
“…For a price.”
“Work for me, that’s all.”
It was an emotional pact, but Akkad obeyed, treating Albert like a biological father. He was still a child in need of a parent’s love, and Albert provided it all.
Paternal love, money, recognition, and everything else a human being needs to fulfill their needs.
So it was only natural that he obeyed him.
“Enter the Imperial Herbal Garden. You will soon become the chief herbalist.”
He entered the palace because he was told to enter the palace, and as Albert predicted, he became the chief herbalist.
Soon afterward, Albert usurped the throne, which is why he was able to keep his position in the garden through the change of regime.
Some might have speculated that there was some connection between Albert and Akkad, but the position of herbalist was so far removed from power that no one suspected anything.
“And when my lord was deposed, I was given a task.”
Pristin stared at Akkad with an expression of anticipation.
“To watch over me, I take it?”
“Yes.”
“From the first time I met you in the library till now.”
Pristin concluded in a slightly trembling voice,
“It must have been intended for a long time.”
“That’s right.”
“…”
“I was his spy, reporting everything that happened in the palace, and everything about the countess.”
“To use me like this from the beginning.”
Pristin’s voice was shaking more than before.
“To use it as a weakness to strangle His Majesty’s neck.”
“…That’s right.”
“And the lord knew that.”
Pristin sneered.
“You must have had a lot of fun playing a woman who knew nothing. Your act of love was a masterpiece.”
“…”
“I really didn’t notice anything. Like a fool.”
Pristin stood up from her seat and turned to Akkad with a scowl.
“In my mind, the lord will always be the villain.”
With those last words, Pristin turned on her heel and stalked back into the castle.
As he watched her go, Akkad’s expression was strangely desolate.
