🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 11
*〈Hey, Kairos!〉*
*〈……!〉*
Another commotion erupted from the direction of Kairos’s room in the once-quiet mansion.
With Kairos—who had heard the story from Felix, who’d barged in so abruptly—it was confirmed that all three siblings had returned with their memories intact.
But even Felix, who acted thoughtlessly and recklessly, wouldn’t go so far as to barge into Duke Kallion’s bedroom or office.
Gwyneth also couldn’t determine whether the Duke had his memories, since his behavior showed no difference from usual.
However, the brothers’ question was resolved that evening when they learned that the head maid had been urgently summoned to the office.
Since Duke Kallion had entrusted all household management to the butler, there were very few occasions where he’d call for the head maid separately—and around this time, there was no major incident in the household that would warrant such a call.
Moreover, the next morning:
*〈Young masters, the master calls for you.〉*
At the butler’s words, Duke Kallion’s regression was fully confirmed.
At this time, Duke Kallion had never summoned them separately—not when Gwyneth was running the household according to his whims, nor when Felix, in a fit of rage, had taken up his sword and blown away part of the building.
When Gwyneth opened the office door after knocking, Duke Kallion—now back in his thirties—was seated on the sofa with Felix, who had arrived first.
Though Duke Kallion in his thirties didn’t look significantly different from his forties, for some reason Gwyneth felt a sense of unfamiliarity, as if that face belonged to someone else.
Once Gwyneth sat down, they began discussing this bizarre phenomenon—calmly, even coldly.
Normally, household affairs were led by Duke Kallion and Gwyneth, but on this day, most of the conversation was between Duke Kallion and Felix.
*〈From what I’ve observed, Diya doesn’t seem to have her memories.〉*
*〈Yes. From what I can tell, she appears to be exactly as she was at nine years old.〉*
*〈What about Kairos’s condition?〉*
*〈He hasn’t come out of his room—seems quite shocked. I left him alone since he said he wanted to be by himself.〉*
*〈……I see. I’ll have to speak with Kairos later.〉*
Gwyneth sat silently, listening to their conversation.
It felt strangely surreal to see a young Duke Kallion, a young Felix, and himself gathered in one place, having a long discussion.
Though Felix didn’t seem to be thinking much of it.
*〈It’s either that we saw the future, or that time has returned.〉*
*〈Isn’t seeing the future something only granted to certain mages or high priests?〉*
*〈There’s no precedent, but it’s not entirely impossible.〉*
*〈True. Magic is said to have infinite properties.〉*
*〈Yes. The magical power inherent in Diya’s body may have affected us. Or it could be a revelation.〉*
*〈Still, I find the theory that time has returned more convincing. I don’t know much about prophecy, but it was too first-person and personal in perspective. Above all, the emotions I felt at the time were too vivid.〉*
*〈Indeed.〉*
*〈However, I don’t think she did this intentionally. It’s likely the influence of dark magic, or similarly, the power of a god.〉*
*〈We’ll need to investigate everything possible. This is no ordinary phenomenon.〉*
*〈But when and how did Nadiana learn magic in the first place?〉*
*〈……I’m not sure. We knew almost nothing about Diya.〉*
*〈…….〉*
*〈We’ll have to watch her closely from now on.〉*
With those words, silence fell over the office.
Duke Kallion closed his eyes for a moment.
He seemed to be trying not to show his fatigue in front of his children, but unlike usual, his lost and unsettled aura was impossible to hide.
Frowning faintly as if deep in thought, Duke Kallion slowly raised his eyelids.
Then he spoke.
*〈Looking back…… I did many wrongs to you. Everything happened because of me.〉*
*〈…….〉*
*〈I’m sorry.〉*
At the unexpected words, Felix’s eyes widened—a rare sight. Though he found the apology surprising, Felix accepted it easily without much thought and moved on. After all, from the moment Duke Kallion had changed, Felix had long since forgotten whatever he’d been like in the past.
Simple, light, unwilling to hold onto regrets or worry about futures that might never come. Nothing ever held Felix back.
That was the foundation of his free-spirited, straightforward way of life.
But what about Gwyneth?
*’What meaning does an apology like that have now?’*
Now that everything had already happened.
Gwyneth believed there was nothing more meaningless, more worthless, than an apology.
It solves nothing. It changes nothing.
Of course, he didn’t show those thoughts in front of Duke Kallion. He simply nodded as he always did.
With that apology, the conversation—long if you considered it long, short if you considered it short—came to an end.
Duke Kallion’s final request to the two brothers was to look after their younger siblings. Felix thought it was only natural, but Gwyneth—unlike Felix—had no intention of continuing the family charade that no longer held any meaning.
“I only said I would because I couldn’t outright refuse in front of the Duke.”
“What’s that supposed to mean……. You’re not seriously holding a grudge against Nadiana just because of what she said, are you?”
“Felix.”
“You want to keep treating her like that even though she doesn’t remember anything? What’s wrong with you? Did you forget your own age?”
Even at the warning in Gwyneth’s voice, Felix didn’t stop.
Gwyneth, now thoroughly irritated, stopped walking and turned to face Felix.
Those dark eyes, so unpleasantly similar to his own.
But unlike his, those eyes—which never looked back—stared at him with reproach.
Gwyneth found those eyes more grating than ever.
“How can you be so sure she doesn’t remember anything? What if she’s fooling everyone and putting on an act even now?”
“That’s ridiculous……”
“Even if she truly has no memories—do you think Diya wants our attention? She’d be more uncomfortable. Like just now. Did you already forget what we heard before we died?”
“So you’re saying we should just leave her alone?”
“Then what do you want to do with someone who said she never even thought of us as family?”
“You think she was like that from the start? Don’t you remember how we treated Nadiana?”
“So you’re saying we should treat her well from now on? And you believe that’ll make the past disappear and everything will be harmonious again?”
“At least I’m saying we shouldn’t do the same things we did before.”
“What a clear conclusion—fitting for you.”
“Argh, seriously……! Quit the sarcasm, you bastard! What’s so wrong with trying to correct a mistake?!”
“What’s amazing is that you think it can be corrected.”
Unlike Felix, whose voice grew louder and more heated with frustration, Gwyneth’s tone remained steady.
From the very beginning, despite being brothers, they had completely opposite personalities.
Gwyneth, with a nature like ice. Felix, with a nature like fire.
Gwyneth, whose outside differed from his inside and was hard to read. Felix, whose outside matched his inside and was easy to read.
Gwyneth, who would wrap even a single word in layers of indirection. Felix, who was straightforward and simple.
Gwyneth, who would run through multiple simulations before acting on even one thing. Felix, for whom thinking seemed like a luxury, who acted first and thought later.
That was why, since childhood, they had always found each other’s drastically different personalities disagreeable and irritating.
They were the kind of brothers who wouldn’t bat an eye if they received news of the other’s death.
Yes, that was what they had always been to each other.
They were born only to protect the family and the empire. They were supposed to concern themselves with nothing outside the safety of the household and the nation. That was how they’d been raised, and that was how it had to be.
But foolishly, they had completely forgotten that fact.
Living within a peaceful illusion built from a single person’s acting, they had believed that fantasy to be reality.
“Wake up, Felix. Wasn’t family, in the end, just one of many means for the Barderias—to continue the line or elevate its status?”
“You son of a bitch……!”
At those words—self-mocking and yet seemingly mocking him as well—Felix’s anger reached its peak, and he grabbed Gwyneth by the collar.
But Gwyneth’s expression remained unchanged, his composure unbroken.
“Even if we’ve returned to the past—it’s already been nine years.”
“……”
“The time you and I spent not just ignoring, but tormenting Diya—a full nine years. Even excluding the 2-3 years of early childhood when she supposedly won’t remember, that’s over five years. Do you really think memories built over that time can disappear?”
“……”
“The first button was already buttoned wrong. Give it up. That will never disappear.”
A low, quiet echo.
