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Chapter 11
“…So you really meant it.”
But Francesca’s reaction was the exact opposite of what I had expected.
“Everything I said today… I meant it.”
She really meant she would create a new identity and leave! She wants me to let her go!
“I understand. Then all the more reason to bring you into the family.”
Why does it feel like the more I say, the more satisfied I seem? Something about this is going strangely.
“No. I will not go.”
“The day you enter the family will be in a week. I will send a carriage, so use this time to settle your affairs here. You won’t be bringing the household with you anyway.”
“Wait a moment.”
“Do not worry. I will make sure the wedding is held, even if it’s delayed.”
Francesca seemed not to hear me at all.
Her red hair shone darkly under the night sky.
“Ha.”
Dotchef forced himself upright, barely holding on.
The frayed edges of his worn-out shirt were damp with dust.
When he focused all his energy, a single star flickered before his eyes.
It was proof that he was a first-class knight.
“Still the same.”
Everything was still the same.
The loosely trained muscles.
The sword he held, whether in rain or snow or ice.
The scorn of his family, and even the insignificant star that had always followed him.
“But why is she the only one different?”
His gaze shifted to a small house at the bottom of the hill as he muttered the words like a harsh breath.
A small house with smoke rising from the chimney all evening.
It was Halara Seheb’s house.
“Everything is the same, but why is just this one thing different?”
Not long ago, Dotchef had returned in time.
After conquering the world, he stood at the edge of a world where only peace remained.
His companions had returned to their respective families and become heads of their houses.
Instead of rebuilding Bloody Mary, Dotchef had taken the emperor’s throne according to the will of the people.
High rank, immense power, abundant wealth.
And people around him, always smiling.
He thought he would have no more regrets, because he had everything.
But gradually, he fell ill.
He didn’t know why—until he saw an old family photo right before his return.
Regret. Remorse. Sadness.
Dotchef needed his family.
He missed them.
Even those who had hated and resented him.
Whenever he saw those he had saved, he was reminded of the family he could not save, and shuddered.
So he struggled in agony and returned.
To the past, before his journey had begun.
Everything was the same.
The cold stares of his family.
Bloody Mary Castle, as if soaked in blood.
He moved quickly. Stopping the family’s ruin was more urgent than reuniting with them.
To do that, he needed strength.
A first-class rank alone couldn’t even serve as a proper shield.
So, while heading down to the village to find a usable sword, he met Halara.
“That apple…”
The moment he saw her face, old memories came flooding back.
In the past, ignorant and naive, he had searched tirelessly to achieve second-class rank.
On a lonely plain in the middle of the night, in an old tavern where a sword master stayed, in the hideout of a wanted swordsman, even in a ruined monastery.
He had hidden himself, thrown himself into situations, and never hesitated to kneel.
The last place he knocked on was the retreat of an old, washed-up swordsman.
It was there he first met someone who said, “Your sword will not accept you.”
“To pierce your sword spirit, you will need the power of a woman from the North, born with innate chi.”
It was an absurd story.
But he had a mission to manifest sword spirit. He was the only one born into the sword family of Bloody Mary who could not wield a sword properly.
Exhausted, he set out to find the woman, hoping that by contacting her, he could pierce the chi and finally awaken his sword spirit.
‘She didn’t feel like this back then.’
The Halara he saw now, after returning, looked simple and pure.
With her heavy makeup removed and dressed in plain clothes, she seemed like a completely different person.
She treated Dotchef as if he were a stranger.
“Is that some trick? A strategy?”
Frowning, he recalled the past repeatedly.
Halara had come claiming she was pregnant from that one night. That was the beginning of the family’s ruin, leaving only Dotchef behind.
Now that she had changed, he couldn’t act recklessly.
Yet, suspicious as ever, she showed no signs of anything unusual. Dotchef, frustrated, looked at the full moon.
“Found you, Prince Dotchef. So you were here.”
The family’s knights, sent by his mother, had come to find him.
“Your mother earnestly requests your presence.”
“For what reason?”
Even as he asked, he couldn’t take his eyes off Halara’s house. Seeing smoke rise from the chimney, he assumed it wasn’t about her, and looked away.
“Your mother is preparing your marriage.”
Once again, something different from the past happened.
“Marriage? Are you telling me I’m getting married?”
What nonsense was this?
In the past:
“A woman claiming to carry the prince’s child has come. The entire ducal family is in uproar. You must go immediately.”
The knight had grabbed him, all five of them, and practically dragged him away. But this time was different.
“You’re saying your mother said this?”
Whatever changed, it changed completely.
The knight merely nodded. The previously indifferent knight seemed puzzled. Dotchef’s voice, once light, was now heavy, and his tone different.
The knight quickly scanned him. His filthy clothes were no different than usual, but his expressionless face felt unfamiliar.
“What is this?”
Intimidated, the knight hesitated.
“I asked, not you.”
“Uh? Ah, ah.”
“That my mother is pushing for my marriage. Did I hear wrong?”
“No, no. That’s correct.”
“Who is the partner?”
“That I don’t know. She simply said to persuade you to come. If you refuse, you will be taken by force…”
Thud.
Dotchef placed his hand on the knight’s shoulder.
“I’ll go myself, so just follow me.”
He had no intention of running away anyway. He was more curious than anyone else about what had changed, and why.
Francesca let out a deep sigh after sending the knights to find Dotchef.
“He’ll probably return around dawn.”
Dotchef’s speed in running away increased day by day. She wondered what he was doing around the territory, but apparently, he was sneaking in and out of the woman’s house after getting her pregnant.
‘I was careless. I felt weak upon hearing he had been beaten by Nikolai and Helbern.’
She had neglected him out of guilt for failing to raise Dotchef into a fine knight like the others. She ignored the reports of him returning drunk every time, thinking it was better than him causing a major accident. But that indifference brought trouble.
“There’s no choice now. First, I have to save the baby.”
Halara’s old house kept appearing in her mind.
It was impossible to give birth there. And from the sign in front, it seemed men came and went frequently, making proper prenatal care impossible.
What would the duke say when he returned from the war? But for now, bringing her in was the best option.
‘Dotchef wouldn’t just leave with the child, would he?’
That was the problem.
Hadn’t Halara refused to come into the family?
She could just take the child and leave.
“Butler, assign a guard to her house. If she tries to escape, report it immediately!”
“Yes, madam. I will secretly send knights right away.”
“Thank you. By the way, any news from Dotchef?”
“Madam, it has been only about an hour since he went to be found. You know him well… at least.”
She was about to say it would take half a day.
Bang—.
“You’ve found me?”
“Dotchef?!”
He entered the Duchess’ study. Previously dragged by knights, now he came confidently on his own two feet.
“Why are you so surprised? You called me here.”
Francesca tried to calm her startled heart at his unexpectedly early arrival and stood up.
