Chapter 55
But in the end, I had no choice but to nod.
“No use trying to hide it. Too many people have already seen it.”
Too many people had seen Lucian use his “Purification ability”—starting with the shop owner, then the duke’s knights, and even the curious bystanders who gathered after the commotion. Since the chaos happened in a busy street, word must have already spread far and wide that the son of the Duke of Bellomon had some mysterious power.
“That’s probably true.”
“Then there’s nothing we can do.”
I shrugged.
“Like the Marquis said, we’ll just have to report it to the higher-ups.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault—this was just something that couldn’t be helped.”
I tried to comfort Claude, who looked guilty and was watching my reaction carefully.
At this point, there was only one thing to do—
‘Turn the crisis into an opportunity.’
Maybe this was a great chance for me to prove Lucian’s worth to the Duke’s household. If I could establish Lucian as a capable person, then he might even win back the heir position that Edwin took from him in the original story.
‘I need to think positively. What’s done is done.’
Just then, Riley, who had been standing outside the door, peeked in.
“Lady Lucella.”
“What is it?”
“Young Master Lucian is here to see you.”
“Tell him to wait a little.”
“I already told him, but he wouldn’t listen…”
“Auntie!!”
Lucian’s loud voice overpowered Riley’s, and soon after a loud thud, Lucian stormed into the room.
“Where were you all day? You didn’t even tell me!”
“I had something to do in my hometown.”
“Hometown? You mean Rilfrey?”
“Yeah.”
“You should’ve taken me too! I wanted to go there!”
Lucian stomped his feet in frustration, so I quickly picked him up and placed him on a chair to keep the noise down.
“Sorry. I wanted to take you, but you were sleeping so soundly I couldn’t wake you.”
“You still should’ve woken me! I wanted to see where Mom lived!”
Lucian had only been to Count Rilfrey’s estate once, and that was for his mother’s funeral. He was just two years old then, so he wouldn’t remember anything.
“I know how you feel, Lucian. That’s why I brought you something.”
I pulled an old stuffed animal out of the bag beside me.
“Ta-da!”
It was a pink bunny doll made of soft fur. My dad gave it to my sister for her ninth birthday.
“What’s this?”
But Lucian didn’t look too happy.
“It’s all dirty.”
Of course it was. The doll didn’t even have eyes anymore. The eyes used to be small rubies, but my uncle had taken them.
“Why would anyone put real gems on a doll?”
He couldn’t stand seeing nice things in our hands. He took the rubies and later gave them to Jake, who wore them as a brooch. The doll itself had been tossed aside in my sister’s old room—I’d just barely managed to find it.
But I couldn’t tell Lucian all that.
“This was your mom’s favorite doll when she was little. The eyes fell off because it’s really old.”
“Mom used to play with it?”
Lucian’s expression changed.
“Yeah. It was her favorite. Want to hold it?”
I handed the doll to Lucian as he held out his arms.
“Isn’t it cute?”
“It’s not bad. Kinda soft.”
“Pfft.”
I pinched Lucian’s cheek for acting cool.
“Give it back now. It’s dirty—I’ll wash it for you.”
“No.”
He turned away, hugging the doll tightly.
“It’s dusty, though.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It hasn’t been washed in over ten years. It probably smells.”
“Then it still smells like Mom, right?”
Lucian’s eyes sparkled. He was trying so hard to find traces of his mom that I couldn’t bring myself to insist on washing it.
“Okay. Do what you want.”
“Yay!”
“But if you keep coughing, don’t blame me.”
I’ll just wash it while he’s sleeping.
“By the way, Auntie.”
Lucian suddenly called me while fiddling with the doll’s ears.
“What?”
“What were you doing with that man?”
“Huh?”
The question caught me off guard.
“You should’ve come to see me first when you got home! Why did you go to him before me?”
“Well, I had something to talk to him about…”
“Just the two of you?”
“Yeah.”
Now that I said it out loud, it did sound strange.
Wait… was I really alone with Claude this whole time? In my room, no less?
“Did you two do something weird without me?”
“W-What do you mean, weird?!”
I jumped up in surprise.
“Why are you so shocked?”
“Because you’re saying weird things!”
“You did do something without me, right? You know, that thing—”
Lucian knelt in front of me and brought my hand to his lips.
“Like making a vow or whatever.”
Ah… he must be talking about when Claude made that oath to me after finding Amelia.
“If you did that again, you’d better wash your hands! Germs, y’know—scrub scrub!”
“Don’t worry, Lucian. We didn’t do anything like that.”
I stopped him from grabbing a bar of soap from who-knows-where.
Where did this kid even learn about germs?
“Saliva is gross.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“And Auntie is mine.”
“Yeah… wait, what?”
Lucian hugged my leg tightly and glared fiercely at Claude.
“Were you talking to the Marquis just now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, Lucian, but people aren’t things. No one can be owned.”
Claude gently scolded him.
“People choose for themselves who they want to be with.”
…Wait, is he really scolding him? That sounded kind of off.
“Auntie is my Auntie!”
“Sure. You can be with your Auntie. I’ll be something else.”
“What do you mean, something else?”
Is this man seriously talking like that to a six-year-old?
“I’m just letting him know there are other possible relationships with you.”
“Really?”
That… didn’t sound like just information.
“No! Auntie can’t be anything else! She can only be my Auntie!”
“Alright, alright. Calm down. Marquis, I’m going to take Lucian out now.”
“Understood.”
I carried the squirming Lucian out, not noticing Claude’s smirk as he looked at the boy.
***
The New Year had begun.
Every other Monday, the Duke of Bellomon held a vassals’ meeting to discuss and report various matters.
This time, I was also in the meeting—not just because I’d been given authority above a normal retainer, but for a bigger reason.
“His Majesty the Emperor has ordered that Young Master Lucian be brought to the capital.”
Now that Lucian’s purification ability had become known, the Emperor had summoned him to the royal palace. As his guardian, I had the duty to speak on this matter.
“Do we really have to follow that order? He’s only seven! He’s too young to join monster-hunting missions!”
“Surely they won’t send such a young child on hunts? They probably just want to see his power—it’s nothing to worry about.”
“And what comes after that ‘check’? They’ll want him in the monster-slaying squad, of course. We can’t send the Duke’s only heir into danger.”
“The only heir? Have you forgotten about Young Master Edwin?”
The room quickly split into two camps—those who supported Lucian and those who supported Edwin.
Lucian’s supporters wanted to keep him at the Duke’s house, while Edwin’s supporters wanted Lucian to be sent to the battlefield, giving Edwin time to solidify his position.
“Are you seriously suggesting we recognize a child born out of wedlock as the Duke’s official heir?”
“Why not? He’s the Duke’s blood.”
The atmosphere was heating up.
“Everyone, please calm down.”
It was Gillian who stopped them.
“We’re here to have a meeting, not a fight.”
“…Ahem.”
“…Hmm.”
At his words, the arguing vassals quieted.
Since the Duke was absent, Gillian—the highest-ranking aide—acted in his place.
“For this matter, let us defer to Lady Rilfrey, Young Master Lucian’s guardian.”
