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Chapter 141
It was heartbreaking that this was just a fragment of the past summoned by the item.
All I could do was watch Sione.
The mother who cradled my unborn self spoke to me in detail even before I was born.
“I dislike cucumbers, but I wonder if you will. Maybe your taste will be different.”
So she didn’t like cucumbers.
“The festival I went to with Vallere was so beautiful; I hope my baby will see it one day, too.”
Okay. I’ll hold Dad’s hand and definitely go see it.
There were other small stories, too.
Judging that she couldn’t hide her pregnancy, Sione fled from the regent and lived a modest life, yet she was happy.
“I hope you are born soon.”
She longed to see me soon.
“Ah, then we’ll have to part.”
She whispered, reluctantly, asking me to stay a little longer in her womb.
Sometimes she looked somewhere off with a pained expression.
“I wonder… if he’ll be okay.”
But more than that, she thought about my future.
I recalled something my father once told me:
“You are a daughter born because your mother loved you.”
Was there a more fitting expression than that?
I had thought I was born from the love between my father and mother, too.
But truly, my mother gave birth to me because she loved me.
It didn’t require much explanation.
Every feeling was conveyed clearly through her gentle eyes, her kind voice always speaking to me, and the excited gestures showing how eagerly she awaited my arrival.
“If I had been born in an ordinary household, I could have spent more time with you…”
The woman, who had suffered her whole life being swept along by things she never wanted, regretted that she couldn’t pull me out of that fate.
“I hope your fate won’t be like mine.”
I think I now understood why Dad sometimes seemed like an undergrown boy.
Having grown up receiving this kind of love, he lost someone who gave that same love so absurdly. He couldn’t help being trapped in that moment.
“My baby.”
What would it have been like if Sione had been born into an ordinary household and given birth to me, as she had always wished?
I would have received the love I so desperately wanted from my mother, and then… then…
“I’m sorry.”
I wanted to hold her outstretched hand, to tell her not to apologize.
I knew all this was merely a record of the past, yet I wanted to enter that moment.
“I loved you so much, and you were so precious. I sent you to him to protect you, to ensure your happiness.”
Father had been right.
Mother truly loved me and valued me so much that she entrusted me to my father to keep me safe.
Entrusting her daughter to someone she loved and could trust completely—that was the best choice she could make.
Vallere, Arellin.
These two were everything Sione loved.
[You have read the past memories of Sione Siguria Halbern.]
[Next question reuse cooldown: 38 days 18 hours]
It showed the longest cooldown yet, but I had no regrets. This was a memory I had to see, no matter the cost.
“So Mother’s legacy was this close all along.”
Even though it was right beside me, I hadn’t realized.
My eyes were wet. Apparently, I had been crying without noticing.
“Father…”
He truly had been loved immensely.
Vallere wanted to save Sione, and Sione wanted to protect Vallere.
The heartbreaking part was that such deep love had ironically led to tragedy.
“I need to go back to Dad.”
I finally understood why my father often had such an ambiguous expression when he looked at me.
“Isn’t he a fool?”
I couldn’t sum up such complex emotions in one sentence, but why should he bear them alone like a fool?
I think I now understood why Dad clung to me like a child. He must have felt the same way I did.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Well, I was still too young.
But wait!
Who cares? If I had known this sooner, I wouldn’t have misunderstood Dad!
I’m just a good reader who dislikes sweet potatoes!
“I’ll just steam all the sweet potatoes and eat them myself!”
A whirlwind of emotions—whether guilt or sorrow—I couldn’t tell, surged inside me.
I stomped out of the Grand Duchess’s room, huffing, venting my anger that didn’t even have a target.
I wanted to see Mehen, I wanted to see Dad.
“Regent, let me meet him.”
It was truly time to leave the Southern Empire.
“If they don’t let me go this time, I’ll use the escape route I saw in Mother’s memory!”
The Duke of Halbern and the Saren Knights safely arrived in Remsha, the capital of the Southern Empire, where Locke Castle was located.
Some traveled disguised as ordinary travelers, others as a traveling troupe, making it surprisingly easy to enter the capital.
“Wow, I guess it’s because it’s a southern country; the weather is nice.”
“It’s always spring here because of some blessing or other.”
“Truly blessed.”
“Blessed indeed…”
Compared to the northern lands of the Empire, Halbern’s territory felt impossibly blessed.
In the north, winter transformed the land into a frozen hell.
Enormous heating costs, insufficient firewood even when gathered, and thick coats were essential for survival.
“Suddenly, I dislike the people of the Southern Empire.”
“You too? Me too.”
“They’ve probably never worried about heating costs in their lives, damn it.”
Zaren clicked his tongue watching the knights complain about how miserable it was when their armor froze.
“Why are the guys who made a fortune selling dragons living so miserably?”
“What?! Zaren, you—”
“Am I the only rich one here?!”
There were knights ready to give a spear to these silver spoons, but Zaren’s remark about drawing attention kept them quiet.
“We’ll see when we get back.”
“Not scary at all, huh?”
Suppressing the knights’ grumbling, Zaren approached Vallere, who remained silently distant, wearing a peculiar expression.
“So, my lord, when do we do ‘that’?”
“That” referred to the Arellin Kidnapping Operation. Vallere glanced at Locke Castle from a distance and nodded briefly in response.
“Tonight.”
“What?”
Ludwig squinted in confusion, while a servant flustered and lowered his head.
“Miss Arellin said she absolutely wants to meet the Regent. If not, she threatened to… jump, jump out.”
Ha.
No surprise there—like mother, like daughter; even threats were delivered artistically.
“Tell her not now. Promise her later.”
Ever since losing Sione, Ludwig’s insomnia had worsened over the past few days, making daily life difficult.
He prayed that Arellin wouldn’t test his patience further.
The thought that she wasn’t his blood relative made him want to snap awake and confront Sione, but Arellin had done nothing wrong.
He wasn’t the type to take out his frustration on an innocent child.
And…
“She’s similar, yet different.”
Her face resembled Sione’s perfectly, yet Arellin often did things Sione never would.
“Soft Sione… impossible to imagine.”
One thing was certain: Ludwig didn’t want to scare Arellin. He didn’t want to be harsh; he wanted her to approach comfortably.
This was a feeling he had never experienced before in his life.
“Why are you here again?”
“Well…”
The servant he had kicked out earlier entered again, making Ludwig narrow his eyes.
Then:
“Regent! Mister!”
Arellin barged recklessly into the office.
Had no one stopped her on the way here?
Ludwig frowned.
“Send her back.”
“Again with that story? That story’s already been settled…”
“She’s not your daughter. I know everything.”
Her confident reply made Ludwig’s eyes narrow.
If this story got out, he’d sworn to kill everyone present—so who dared?
“I want to see Mom.”
“Again, is Mom here?”
“I want to see Dad too.”
Dad? That must mean Vallere.
A pang of twisted emotion surged.
Intense envy came over him. The moment he realized it was envy, Ludwig’s eyes twitched.
Hah… envy…
“Still, no. You’re my daughter.”
“I’m not your biological daughter!”
“As long as your mother is my wife, I have priority over parental rights. If I say you’re my daughter, you are my daughter.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“There’s no room for compromise, so go back.”
Arellin, huffing and glaring, suddenly clutched her chest.
“Ugh.”
Her contorted expression made Ludwig touch his forehead. Not everything had to resemble Sione.
“Ah, she’s using a trick. I don’t know where she learned it, but I won’t fall for that act…”
Arellin, clutching her chest and groaning, muttered as if realizing something:
“Ah, I didn’t take my medicine.”
“…?”
At that moment, Arellin collapsed.
