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Chapter 29
His breathing was irregular, as though he was trying to suppress fear.
Whether Erasinus hadn’t noticed or simply didn’t care, he casually gave an order to him.
“Pauli. I have some business to attend to, so stay here and watch over this child.”
“Yes, Father.”
Paulus managed to respond and forced a smile in my direction.
Erasinus began walking toward the exit.
With every step he took, the heavy iron cane he always carried struck the floor with a loud thud.
‘His back is so straight… why does he carry a cane?’
As I stared intently at his legs, the hem of his robe shifted slightly, revealing the shape of his leg—and then I saw the reason.
‘His right leg…!’
Below Erasinus’s right knee, there was no foot. In its place was a crude wooden prosthetic.
That’s why he never returned to the Legion of Fire after his injury.
As my expression hardened, Erasinus quickly realized what I had seen and closed his robe.
He must have experienced looks like mine more times than he could count.
“U-Uncle… your leg…”
“Yes. But it’s not a problem. A flaw like this is nothing.”
Erasinus spoke gently.
“If you ever meet someone else with a similar flaw, I would tell them the same thing—that it’s not a problem. I’m confident I’m the only one in this house who would say that. In exchange for losing my right leg, I gained a heart that could understand many things. So there is no real loss.”
His tone was so full of conviction that I could only stare at him blankly.
So…
Just as I was feeling a strange mix of compassion and awe—
A voice I had heard before echoed in my mind.
—Don’t trust him.
Wuuung—
A disorienting ringing surged through my ears, so intense it made it difficult to keep my balance.
—He understands nothing.
“Little one?”
Erasinus seemed alarmed and moved closer.
But before he could reach me, my vision went dark.
The scene of reality faded away, and memories that weren’t mine began to flood my mind.
The first thing I saw was Erasinus, saying the exact same words he had just said to me now.
And then, not here but in my mother’s hometown, a red-haired child—clearly a troublemaker to those around her—ran crying into his arms.
Surrounded by swirling memories that weren’t mine, I was pulled back into the past.
When I came to, I was floating like a ghost in the annex hall, watching a past encounter between the real Lady Khalidora and Erasinus.
“Really?”
Lady Khalidora asked Erasinus.
“There’s really nothing wrong with Kannidora?”
“Of course not.”
With that, Lady Khalidora buried her face in Erasinus’s shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably.
It was a heartbreaking, warm scene. And yet, a sense of unease crept in.
So the two of them did meet in the past.
A child who wasn’t recorded in any history, and a noble by blood who left no record-worthy deeds.
What exactly happened between them?
Her uncontrollable sobbing eventually subsided.
Erasinus personally comforted Lady Khalidora and led her into the empty annex colonnade.
“It’s time to go.”
But Lady Khalidora shook her head and gripped the hem of his robe tightly.
“Again…”
“We’ll meet again,” he said.
Then he raised a finger to his lips.
“If you don’t tell anyone about today.”
Lady Khalidora understood and nodded, her face still streaked with tears.
It seemed reassuring that Erasinus treated her so kindly—but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel skeptical.
Why keep their meeting a secret?
Even though I was curious, there was nothing I could do but watch.
Soon after, the maids who had been desperately searching for her burst in.
“My lady, how did you end up here?!”
“I got losst.”
“You’ve been crying. You must have been so scared.”
“I’m okay.”
“Did you meet anyone along the way?”
Lady Khalidora paused for a moment before answering.
“…No. I didn’t see anyone.”
It was clear why she answered that way—because Erasinus said they could only meet again if she didn’t tell anyone.
He must have been the first person in her life to tell her she was okay.
That night passed without event, and after the maids left—
“Guess what? I met a really nice person today. He doesn’t hate me. All the lords of Ignitutu hate me…”
Alone in her room, Lady Khalidora smiled brightly as she spoke to her doll.
“I wanna go back to that big building.”
With those final words, she smiled sweetly and drifted off to sleep.
“My lord!”
Just as Lady Khalidora had hoped, the two met again not long after. It was in the middle courtyard on a crisp fall day, with no one else around.
“My lord?”
Erasinus seemed puzzled by Lady Khalidora calling him so formally, but didn’t correct her.
She glanced around to make sure no maids were nearby, then toddled over to him.
With such a determined expression, she was likely moving as fast as her little legs would allow.
“You really came again…!”
“I said we’d meet again, didn’t I?”
“Here, take this…”
She held out a bunch of wildflowers she had clutched tightly.
“What’s this?”
“Turnul.”
“You picked them for me?”
“Yes.”
“How did you know I’d come?”
“Dunno. Just hoped you would, so I picked them every day.”
“…Thank you.”
Erasinus accepted the flowers and gently placed them into his pocket.
Does he actually have the sensitivity to treasure a child’s feelings?
“Would you like to come with me?”
When Erasinus offered, Lady Khalidora smiled brightly and nodded.
For some reason, the garden was eerily quiet.
The slaves who usually bustled about were nowhere to be seen that day.
The place they arrived at, unsurprisingly, was the annex.
A space completely under Erasinus’s control, outside the family head’s line of sight.
“Yesterday, I drew a picture. Since Mama and the lord like fire, I drew some flames to show them.”
Lady Khalidora began speaking with a serious face, sharing everyday stories.
It seemed to be the most she’d spoken since coming to this house—apart from brief chats with a kind maid.
Not long after, Erasinus’s children entered the room.
“Why is the family head’s child here…?”
“I thought she avoided contact with us. This is unexpected.”
Nonus and Paulus looked at each other in confusion.
But Erasinus gave no explanation. He simply shook his head and sent them away.
Only Vivia pretended to leave, secretly handing something to him before exiting.
Startled by the sudden appearance of strangers, Lady Khalidora froze—but once they were gone, she resumed her chatter.
“The head asked Father if Kannidora was being good. And Father said I was.”
Her cheerful tone soon dimmed.
“If I keep being good… will the head come and say he doesn’t hate me, like you did?”
Erasinus didn’t answer.
Still, Lady Khalidora seemed comforted just by being held in his arms.
Wait a minute…
I rushed behind the chair.
In Erasinus’s hand was a white stone. A shimmering moonstone, which lost its glow the moment it touched the child’s shoulder.
When I looked up to check his face, I let out a low gasp.
Erasinus was glaring at the child’s red hair.
His eyes held the look of someone staring at something vile, something that should not exist.
The compassion that had filled his face moments ago—was nowhere to be found.
