Chapter 09
Meanwhile, after the guest had left, the Duke of Dierne mansion became quiet.
The sunset dyed the world in reddish light and comforted the one who worked silently.
Kyleus stopped training only after blood burst from the blisters on his palm. Even while wrapping bandages around his hand, the corner of his lips curved toward the sky.
The last arrow he shot was stuck at the very center point of the target.
Until yesterday, he couldn’t hit even one shot, but today he hit the center fourteen times.
Unlike the swordsmanship lessons taught harshly by his teacher, he was learning archery alone and had difficulty. But he finally made progress. It was because he observed the posture of others shooting and realized his bad habits.
Kyleus let out a long satisfied breath and cleaned the arrows scattered everywhere. He picked up the towel and water bottle on the tree stump and then picked up the lollipop placed beside it.
The shiny candy reflected light, and the clear green eyes of that child came to mind.
After tearing the candy wrapper, he put it in his mouth. The sweet and sour taste immediately stimulated his taste buds.
Kyleus rolled the candy with his tongue and kicked a small stone while walking back to the mansion.
Friend. There was a time when he wanted something like that.
Because of the name of the Dierne family, there were many peers who tried to talk to him and get close. The problem was that once they spoke a little, they revealed their schemes.
‘Introduce me to Brother Darius.’
‘Could you speak well to your parents about my sister?’
‘Please give this cookie gift set to your mother. Also tell her that it is a product from our family’s confectionery business.’
They were all the same.
People who tried to build connections with the Dierne family through him.
Not a single person approached him with pure goodwill.
One child he had spent quite a long time with later mocked him behind his back, calling him “a lowly illegitimate child who doesn’t know his place.”
After such incidents repeated several times, he pushed away anyone who approached him from the beginning.
If he acted cold or spoke harshly, they would leave quickly, saying he was unpleasant.
It was better than believing and getting hurt.
But this time, he had a feeling that the child who clung to him would be the most troublesome ever.
The girl who answered him cheerfully even when he was being cold was very annoying.
Her name was… Ries, right?
‘I just like you and want to be friends with you.’
That clear, bright voice struck into his mind.
And then there was the slightly shy voice saying she had no friends.
The acting was quite good; he almost fell for it, but he quickly regained his senses.
There were plenty of noble children of the same age in Pellen, so why would she specifically want to be friends with him? It made no sense.
Kyleus recalled what he had seen of Ries at the party before.
She said she would bring food to eat together with him but brought an uninvited guest.
After seeing Ries walking with Darius from the mansion, Kyleus immediately moved his position.
He glanced at the two sitting on the pergola behind the dense bushes and then returned to his room.
When he remembered Ries’s face at that time, blushing slightly while chatting with Darius, he couldn’t help snorting.
‘As expected, she approached me because she has feelings for Darius.’
She would probably reveal her true intention once they became closer.
She would clearly ask him to help her get together with Darius.
But now that they had become friends, what should he do? He had accepted the bet to drive her away, but shamefully lost.
He had played along with the friend game and even ended up attending her birthday party, which made irritation rise inside him.
Kyleus spat the candy out roughly. He glared at the candy that fell to the floor and crushed it mercilessly under his foot.
Imagining the ants that would soon swarm and enjoy the candy made him feel even more unpleasant.
After passing through the mansion gate, he reached the dining hall.
When the door opened, Darius and Violet, sitting across the long marble table, stopped talking and looked at Kyleus.
When Darius was at home, it was an unspoken rule that the three of them would have dinner together.
But because Kyleus was late, the other two had eaten first today.
The servants hurriedly brought tableware and food in front of the late arrival.
Soon, Violet’s eyebrows twisted.
“Kyleus. Didn’t I tell you to wash and change clothes before dinner? You look ugly.”
Kyleus looked down at his training clothes covered in dust and quickly tried to stand up. He had come while thinking about something else and hadn’t realized his appearance.
“I’m sorry, Mother. I’ll go wash now even if it’s late.”
“That’s enough. I’ve already lost my appetite.”
Violet put down her utensils and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
Seeing his mother’s cold expression, Kyleus bit his lower lip and lowered his head.
During morning swordsmanship class today, the teacher had praised him.
He wanted to tell his mother that he had made great progress in archery too.
“Please don’t scold him too much. He was just focused on training. Good work, Kyle.”
Darius said, pushing food toward him as if comforting him.
It was clearly a defense of him, but anger surged inside.
Even though he didn’t know how Darius spent the past year at the military academy, Darius always showed top-level skill even when living like a lazy person at home during vacations.
The praise the swordsmanship teacher had given Violet once echoed in his ears.
“Young Master Darius possesses astonishing swordsmanship talent that appears once in a hundred years! It is certain he will inherit the title of the kingdom’s best sword.”
What was Mother’s expression at that time?
It was a look of joy that he had never seen in his life.
Breaking the silence, Violet sighed.
“Fine. I was a little sensitive. Pay more attention from tomorrow, Kyleus.”
“…Yes.”
Kyleus answered in a strained voice.
The two people with very similar appearances resumed their peaceful conversation.
Kyleus was completely excluded from the topic and ate silently.
It felt as if an invisible barrier stood between him and them, and the cold meat dish tasted tough like rubber.
‘Why? Why am I…’
The word “illegitimate child” came to mind again, and his chest stung as if stung by a bee.
Hot heaviness rose in his throat.
After enduring the painful meal time, Kyleus suddenly stood up.
“Mother.”
It was impulsive that he called Violet who was about to go out to the corridor.
“I have something I want to ask.”
Sensing something unusual, Violet gestured to the servants to leave the dining hall.
After Darius also left, she nodded.
“Go ahead.”
“…Am I really your son?”
The question that burst out was also impulsive.
Perhaps it was because old memories kept surfacing today, or perhaps because the treatment he received was clearly different from his brother Darius and felt especially lonely.
It was a question he had never directly asked his mother before, even though he had been pointed at and whispered about as an illegitimate child many times.
He was afraid of what he would do if she said he was not.
Violet’s lips slightly parted.
Kyleus clenched his fist in fear that the truth would soon come.
The pain of his nails digging into his palm was nothing compared to his bitterness.
The eyes of Violet, who had been quiet all along, wavered for a moment.
“Of course, it is natural.”
She answered gently, and it took less than thirty seconds for her to even show a faint smile, but to Kyleus, that time felt like eternity.
“…Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“There are people who insult me, saying I am not your child but born from a maid.”
Kyleus’s voice trembled thinly as he barely suppressed his anger.
“Nonsense. Those foolish people are trying to slander our family. No matter what others say, you are my son and the son of Selfius Dierne. Your golden iris is the symbol of the Dierne bloodline.”
The calm, dignified tone sounded like salvation to Kyleus.
The long knot filling a corner of his heart melted away.
After a deep breath of relief, tears burst out like a river breaking through a dam.
Kyleus hurriedly wiped his tears. Violet walked a few steps toward him.
She gently stroked his cheek with a hand that almost didn’t touch him, then slowly hugged the child and patted him.
Kyleus burst into suppressed sobbing.
It was the first time in his memory that he cried while being held by his mother.
‘So I’m not an illegitimate child. Then…’
Regaining his breathing and calming down slowly, Kyleus made a resolution.
‘If I do better. If I study and practice swordsmanship well enough to surpass Darius, Mother will look at me.’
The eyes that had been moist with tears burned fiercely like a wildfire.
