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Chapter 02
“…Pitiful?”
Grandfather’s eyes, which had been fixed forward, turned directly toward me.
For a moment, it felt as if his massive figure had doubled in size.
The quiet air of the corridor suddenly felt like deep, pitch-black seawater pressing down on my entire body.
My palms tingled from the tension, but I endured it and nodded to confirm his question.
Grandfather looked me up and down with blood-red eyes, clearly intrigued.
I searched my memory for how he had been described in the original story.
He was the lord of the North, a prince-elector who had defended the land from monsters for generations. Even by himself, he had already been a formidable warrior.
Just because he had grown old didn’t mean the aura that could overwhelm monsters with a single glance had disappeared.
If anything, age had only added experience and maturity—so now instead of crushing monsters, that pressure crushed people.
Something like curiosity gleamed in his red eyes.
To put it bluntly, it was the gaze of a beast that had just discovered interesting prey.
“Why?”
The corner of Grandfather’s mouth curved gently as he looked at me.
It was meant to be a kind smile, but unfortunately his eyes weren’t smiling at all.
To be honest, he looked far more like the villain from a fairy tale than a gentle grandfather.
Stay calm…
Seeing my reflection in those crimson eyes gave me chills.
If I had been an ordinary child, I would have run away already.
But I wasn’t an ordinary child.
Even if the one before me were an omnipotent god, I couldn’t run.
Not that I intended to anyway.
After organizing my thoughts, I slowly spoke.
“That’s because he’s just a pitiful old man who lost the most precious thing in the world with his own hands because of a moment’s mistake.”
“…Go on.”
“The Thunder Emperor knows too. He knows his dead son will never come back.”
“So he despairs, and he grieves.”
“I… feel more pity for the emperor in the painting than fear. I feel sorry for him.”
Instead of being frightened by the painting, I was sympathizing with the emperor.
Grandfather let out a short laugh.
“Hah.”
“You’ve got quite the eye for art.”
“Let’s say that’s true about the emperor. But me?”
“You say I’m pitiful? Why would you think that?”
“Because just now, Grandfather had the same look in his eyes as someone who had lost something precious—just like the emperor.”
If things continued as they had in the original story, he would lose everything again—his power, his wealth, and eventually even his family.
If that wasn’t pitiful, it would be a lie.
But it’ll be okay now.
Because I’m here.
At my answer, Grandfather leaned back and burst into loud laughter.
As if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
“Hah, hahaha! Ha ha ha!”
“Me? The Silver Wolf Duke of this empire?”
Looking down at me with genuine amusement, he muttered to himself.
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
A clear smile hung on his lips.
“Do you know who I am, young lady?”
His voice had softened considerably as he tilted his head.
The tense air finally began to move again, making it easier to breathe.
I hesitated for a moment.
Should I tell the truth?
Or pretend not to know?
“…I don’t know.”
No.
Not yet.
Soon my parents—who were probably searching the entire museum—would find me.
Until then, I decided to pretend ignorance.
Even if I told him now that he was my biological grandfather, he probably wouldn’t believe me anyway.
“I am one of the few people who can call the Emperor by name.”
“I am the teacher of the imperial princes.”
“And the chancellor who holds this empire’s finances in my hand.”
“The only thing I do not possess is something that does not yet exist in this world.”
“And you think a man like me regrets losing something?”
His confidence was overwhelming.
Even though I already knew these things, hearing them directly from him felt different.
I nodded again.
The smile disappeared from Grandfather’s face.
“…So you’re saying I made the same mistake as the Thunder Emperor?”
For the third time, I nodded.
At the same time, I glanced toward the corridor entrance.
Shouldn’t my parents be finding me soon?
Maybe I should have brought Grandfather to the place where I originally met them.
I had been so rushed that I came straight to him instead.
“No. That’s wrong.”
“…What?”
What did he mean?
Startled, I looked back at him, but I couldn’t read his thoughts from his expression.
“More importantly, where are your parents? Why is a child wandering around alone?”
Grandfather suddenly changed the topic.
Trying to remain calm, I kept glancing toward the corridor entrance.
“…They’ll be here soon. I lost them in the crowd earlier.”
…Had he already figured out who I was?
“They’ll come? Hmm. How can you be so sure?”
“Because they’re my parents.”
“They have the superpower to find their child with their eyes closed.”
“You sounded mature earlier, but now you’re saying childish things.”
“Isn’t fourteen still an age where that’s allowed?”
“In front of me, even a forty-one-year-old would still be a child.”
“……”
Well, that’s fair.
Then maybe I should act even more like a kid.
I was just about to say something when—
“Irina!”
Th-that voice…!
My mother’s furious voice struck my ears like thunder.
I turned around.
My mother stood there, pale and panting as she looked at me.
“Irina! Do you know how much we’ve been looking for you—!”
Her voice trembled with the fear of losing me forever.
Only then did I realize how cruel I had been to her.
How terrified must she have been?
The museum was far from our home.
Losing your only child in a place like this…
How agonizing must that be?
Even if I was fourteen instead of four, she would still be worried.
Guilt surged like a tidal wave and choked my throat.
No—it wasn’t seawater rushing in.
It was the tears my mother must have shed.
“Irina! Oh my God…!”
My father arrived moments later and pulled me into a tight embrace.
How long had it been since I was held like this?
When was the last time I felt my father’s arms were this reliable?
Tears almost spilled out.
Only after being held by my parents did I truly realize that I had returned to the past.
I wanted to cry loudly.
I thought I had already shed all my tears in prison, but my eyes kept burning.
But crying could wait.
Swallowing my tears, I managed to say—
“…I’m sorry…”
My father was frantically checking my face for injuries when he suddenly noticed someone standing beside me.
“Are you hurt anywhere? I… I…”
He froze.
Then barely forced out the words.
“…Why are you here…?”
“You—! What did you do to my daughter?!”
My father glared at Grandfather like he was an actual kidnapper.
My mother even grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind her protectively, as if Grandfather might drag me away.
“M-Mom?”
I hadn’t expected them to greet each other warmly, but I certainly hadn’t expected this level of hostility either.
“Isabel. Take Irina and leave.”
My father said stiffly, his face pale.
Through my mother’s tight grip on my wrist, I could feel her fear.
It made my own heart tighten painfully.
“It’s been a while, Isabel. And Theodore.”
“W-Why are you here, sir…?”
The moment Grandfather spoke, the atmosphere changed again.
This time in a way that made breathing even harder.
The air tightened instantly, wrapping around my lungs like threads.
“You dare speak to your father like that…”
“So? Was playing house fun?”
Grandfather turned toward my father with a mocking smile.
“Isabel! Take Irina and leave! Now!”
My mother immediately nodded and tried to pull me away.
But before she could even take a step, one of Grandfather’s attendants blocked her path.
I saw Grandfather’s lips tilt upward over my mother’s frozen shoulder.
“Irina, was it?”
“A pretty name.”
“You said the Thunder Emperor and I are alike?”
“That I’m pitiful?”
“That we made the same mistake?”
Grandfather slipped his hand inside his coat.
“Haha… Let me correct one thing.”
“Unlike that emperor…”
“I do not make mistakes.”
Click.
A metallic sound echoed.
The source was a silver pistol in Grandfather’s hand.
A… gun?
In the original story, Grandfather was known as a legendary sharpshooter who could hit any target.
The chance that this gun would shoot flowers like a clown’s trick gun was practically zero.
It was more likely he would throw the gun away and hug my father.
But as if to prove my thoughts wrong—
Grandfather calmly loaded a bullet and placed his finger on the trigger.
Even his attendants were too shocked to stop him.
W-wait.
Grandfather.
Are you really going to shoot?
“Don’t worry.”
“The pain won’t last long.”
You’re aiming straight at his heart!!
Wait—did I reincarnate into a side story instead of the main novel?!
It didn’t matter.
I had to stop him.
“Most importantly, the difference between me and the Thunder Emperor…”
“That fool killed his son by mistake.”
“But I—”
“I will shoot my son dead by my own will!”
