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chapter 15
“Erhi, Irene.”
I climbed onto the bed and sat facing the children.
“You came all the way here yesterday to see me, right?”
A spirited reply came back.
“Yeah!”
“Mm-hm.”
I apologized sincerely.
“I’m really sorry for breaking our promise without saying anything. And I’m really sorry for making you wait.”
Then I made another promise.
“From now on, I’ll always keep the promises I make with you.”
Irene grabbed the pinky I had casually held out.
“Will you come to see Irene and Erhi again?”
“Yes, I’ll come.”
I reached out my other hand to Erhi.
After hesitating, he followed Irene and hooked his pinky with mine.
“And I’ll also find a way for you two to come see me first.”
The children’s faces suddenly darkened.
‘Because of Killian, I suppose.’
As I replayed yesterday’s events all night, I had a rough idea of what was bothering them.
The moment their emotional state suddenly destabilized was right after I asked Hans when Killian would arrive.
I had let it pass at the time, but now I remembered clearly—
Irene had muttered Killian’s name several times.
And there was that voice that wouldn’t leave my mind.
The voice accusing me of planning to let Killian kill the children.
‘It sounded like someone completely convinced Killian would attack them.’
Even if it was a delusion born from my shaken mind, I couldn’t just ignore it.
“Nothing that would ever scare you will happen again.”
Strictly speaking, that depended on Killian—but this promise was something I was making to myself as well.
‘I will never let them go through something like that again.’
Someone knocked softly on the door.
“My lady, it’s Anna. Breakfast is ready.”
I tightened my grip on the children’s trembling hands.
“It’s all right.”
I soothed them and opened the door.
As instructed beforehand, Anna was the only one standing outside.
“I’ll take it in myself.”
I took the tray from her hands.
But the amount… no matter how I looked at it, it was far too little for three people.
“Didn’t I ask you to prepare the children’s meals as well?”
Anna glanced uneasily down the empty hallway.
“Well….”
Just then, footsteps came up from downstairs.
“Lady Rubin, my apologies for being late.”
It was Commander Remfrey.
“Sir Winter?”
“Good morning, my lady.”
My gaze naturally went to the large leather sack he was carrying.
“What’s all this so early in the morning?”
He wiped the sweat on his forehead and held the heavy sack out to me.
“What… is this?”
At my question, he looked at me in mild confusion.
“I heard you were having breakfast with the young lord and lady.”
“Yes, I am. But?”
“His Grace heard that and immediately ordered preparations.”
As Remfrey took pride in his explanation, Anna bowed deeply.
“I’m so sorry, my lady. I was careless and failed to prepare properly. I caused Sir Winter unnecessary trouble so early.”
Remfrey waved his hand and laughed loudly.
“Haha, not at all. The knights would’ve needed to prepare it anyway.”
I was the only one getting increasingly anxious, clueless about what was going on.
What kind of ingredient must be prepared by the knight order?
“So what’s in that sack?”
Remfrey opened the sack wide in front of me, proud as ever.
“These are first-grade mana stones, mined less than a week ago.”
Inside the sack, the pitch-black stones glimmered brilliantly.
* * *
“Your Grace, it’s Hans.”
“Come in.”
At the click of the door, Killian pushed himself up in bed.
“I’ll change your bandages.”
Hans efficiently removed Killian’s shirt and unwrapped the worn bandages.
“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be infected.”
“It’s just a scratch.”
“As scratches go, it’s far too deep.”
At Hans’s firm remark, Killian looked away, unable to reply.
“Was it a beast’s claw?”
“……”
Hans applied medicine to the long wound across Killian’s ribs.
“You didn’t come back this injured even during the large-scale subjugation operation years ago.”
He tried to sound calm, but he couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice.
“Thank goodness we already ordered new armor for you in the capital. If we hadn’t…”
“Hans.”
Killian cut him off.
“I told you—I don’t die.”
“Your Grace!”
A rare burst of emotion escaped Hans.
“Master Kyrsian said the same thing! But—…!”
Kyrsian was Killian’s older brother.
Hans was the only person in the ducal house who had witnessed both his birth and death.
And he had also watched Killian grow since the moment he was born.
Killian placed a hand on Hans’s trembling shoulder.
Hans’s wrinkled hand gripped his tightly.
“I failed to protect Master Kyrsian. And he entrusted you to me. If something were to happen to you—”
“You’re mistaken, Hans.”
Hans lifted his head.
“My brother asked you to protect the Syfried house—not me.”
Hans stared at him, confused.
“You are the head of House Syfried.”
Killian walked to the window.
“For now.”
Hans’s eyes widened.
“‘For now’… what do you mean?”
“Have you forgotten that Erhi and Irene’s claim to the title is stronger than mine?”
Hans tried to answer, but Killian’s gaze remained fixed outside.
“Erhi, Irene—hold my hands tight until we reach the annex, okay?”
Hearing Cielina’s voice, Hans followed Killian’s gaze to the window.
“It seems the lady is taking the young lord and lady to the annex.”
Hans naturally shifted the topic away from succession, wiping his damp eyes with a warm smile.
“It still feels like a dream.”
Killian neither agreed nor disagreed. He only watched their silhouettes for a long moment.
“On my way through the hall, I heard laughter coming from the lady’s room. It sounded like they were having a pleasant meal.”
Killian asked,
“Cielina wasn’t startled? By the mana stones.”
“According to Sir Winter, she was very flustered at first—but also seemed relieved, somehow.”
“Relieved? Why?”
“He didn’t hear the reason.”
Hans was delighted that Killian showed interest in his wife and his nieces/nephews. He wanted to keep the conversation going.
“I heard the two little ones love sweets.”
But Killian didn’t respond.
‘Ah…’
Hans worried he might have said something bothersome.
‘He still hasn’t said a word about what happened yesterday… It worries me.’
But despite his anxiety, hope kept creeping in—because Killian’s actions had changed.
‘He carried the lady and brought the children back to her bedroom.’
And he himself had spoken of the children’s right to inherit the title.
Of course, Hans had never imagined Killian stepping down as head of the house. He didn’t even want to imagine it.
But what mattered was that Killian—and the ducal house—were changing.
‘He must truly feel there’s hope that the curse might be lifted.’
And it was certain that the duchess was the one who had brought about this change.
‘We must do our best to support them.’
Hans strengthened his resolve.
Lifting the curse was important—but he had an even bigger dream:
For Killian to build a loving, happy family, like the former duke and duchess had done.
‘His Grace may have vowed to end the cursed bloodline, but I cannot give up hope.’
So he chose to believe:
That the duchess becoming the lady of the Syfried ducal house was fate.
‘Her abilities must be a blessing from the merciful goddess.’
With renewed determination, Hans carefully voiced something he’d been considering.
“What do you think about assigning a personal guard to the lady? Sir Winter can’t escort her every time she goes to the annex.”
Killian finally looked away from the window and faced him.
Hans flinched, feeling as if Killian had seen straight through all his hopeful fantasies, but he quickly composed himself and continued.
“Since the existence of the young lord and lady has been revealed, it is necessary for their safety as well.”
The response came surprisingly fast.
“I was already planning to.”
* * *
The children, Remfrey, and I walked into a quiet, secluded path.
“Cielina, can we let go now?”
I looked at Remfrey.
“It’s fine. The guards won’t patrol this area.”
Hearing that, the children reluctantly let go of my hands.
“Cielina, you’ll follow us, right?”
“You’re not going back home, right?”
I waved with a smile.
“I’ll be right behind you. Go on ahead.”
The children giggled and ran down the path.
“They must be worried Royena is waiting.”
“Ah, I see.”
Remfrey replied a beat late—he had completely forgotten about Royena.
‘Honestly, I would have, too, if the kids hadn’t mentioned her.’
But the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
