TYLWLQ 06

 Chapter 06

While Elvin examined Irina, Theodor and Isabelle were trapped in the parlor.

“Father…!”

Theodor buried his head between his knees, clutching it with both hands. Just thinking of Magnus made his stomach churn and his chest tighten painfully.

He should have been more cautious. He should have taken Isabelle and Irina and fled abroad!

But it was too late. The moment they arrived at the mansion, Irina was taken away, and he and Isabelle were locked in the parlor.

Theodor glared resentfully at the tightly closed door.

“I wonder how Irina is now… I heard someone come and go a moment ago. Was it a doctor? Surely, if Father has any heart, it would have been a doctor.”

Ominous thoughts followed one another.

All he had wanted was an ordinary life like anyone else’s: to marry the woman he loved, have a cute child, and live a simple, unremarkable life.

When he had siblings, he could at least dream of marrying Isabelle, a commoner acknowledged by his father. But ever since he became the sole heir of Einhart, that possibility vanished entirely.

And his father’s insistence on his duties as heir only made it worse. He could deeply understand why his older brother chose to run away.

If things continued as they were, he truly felt as if he might die—be it at the hands of his father or by losing his mind and taking his own life.

So he had abandoned everything: the family, the viscount title, wealth, lands, and even the weight carried by the name Einhart.

Was he paying for that sin now?

“Irina hasn’t done anything wrong! She’s only fourteen!”

If anyone deserved punishment, it should be him—not an innocent child.

“Teo…”

Isabelle, equally anxious, pressed her face against his shoulder. Her worry and fear mirrored his.

Everything seemed like her fault. Isabelle gnawed at her lips as if she were a condemned criminal awaiting execution, feeling like a candle burning from the inside.

Then—click.

At last, the parlor door opened, and Magnus appeared. The already tense air froze even further.

He surveyed the room with a gaze as cold and sharp as a blade. Theodor Einhart—and Isabelle Bauer—sat rigid, barely touching the tea set before them.

Seeing his son look so pathetic made his brows furrow instinctively.

“Where… where is my daughter?!”

Theodor grabbed Magnus by the collar. His eyes glistened with both fear and rage, like a cornered mouse biting a cat.

But Magnus did not restrain him. He didn’t raise his voice, didn’t snatch him away.

He simply stared at Theodor with a calm, icy gaze, devoid of emotion.

Theodor even felt insulted by the emptiness in those eyes, as if even minimal contempt would be wasted on him. Could this truly be a father’s gaze toward his son?

“She’s safe, isn’t she? Irina… Irina is safe, right? If not, I swear I’ll never forgive you…!”

Theodor summoned every last ounce of courage and shouted, trembling. His knees shook, and his eyes welled with tears. Even he knew how pathetic he looked.

Magnus took a thick cigar from his pocket. Lighting it, he inhaled and exhaled leisurely before speaking in a calm, measured tone.

“Theodor, go north.”

“What?”

Theodor’s eyes widened. Go north? His grip on his father’s collar slackened from sheer disbelief.

“Your granddaughter is safe. Go north. Retrieve the name you abandoned, and the position you should hold. Then you will have her back—your daughter, your name, your title, and… even your family.”

If Theodor knew whose plan this was, he would no doubt be dumbfounded.

A mischievous curiosity flared in the back of his mind. But Magnus showed mercy and kept it hidden, choosing instead to shoulder the blame himself.

“Y-you’re crazy! Where… what do you expect me to do there?!”

Theodor shook his finger at Magnus in shock.

Magnus didn’t flinch. He merely met Theodor’s red eyes—so strikingly similar to his own—and raised the corner of his mouth in a mix of scorn and reproach.

“You failed even at running away, and yet you have the audacity to talk back, Theodor. What is that attitude toward your father? Do not act like an uneducated fool.”

At the word “uneducated,” Isabelle flinched slightly—once the family tutor who had taught Theodor.

“Who else but you made me run away! You… you have no right to be called a father!”

“And you threw away your right to be a son. I’m giving you the chance to reclaim it, and you cannot even be grateful!”

Magnus sighed, shaking his head as if disappointed, not in having raised a genius, but in having raised a foolish son.

“Give me Irina. Then… I will live quietly, never showing myself under the Einhart name again. Treat me as if I am dead, all right?”

Theodor dropped to his knees, clinging to Magnus. He demanded to be treated as if he didn’t exist, unconcerned with how cruel that sounded.

But Magnus was not weak enough to be swayed by such pleas. Perhaps he had already exhausted all human emotion when Theodor had run away.

Isabelle, too, sank to her knees, tears streaming as she begged.

“It’s all my fault. The young master and Irina have done nothing wrong! Punish me instead… please, sir…!”

“Isabelle Bauer. Lift your head. No one has called you a sinner.”

“Please, have mercy… I won’t approach the young master again. If you command, I will even protect the girl… never… never again…”

Her voice faltered.

Since she had left the mansion holding Theodor’s hand, Irina—now fourteen—had been her little angel, her reason for living, proof that her choices weren’t wrong. How could she deny such a connection?

No matter how many times she tried, she couldn’t say she would never see them again.

“Parents abandoning their children are far too common in this world. You need not join them.”

“Sir…!”

Magnus exhaled a deep, blue smoke and asked:

“Answer me, Theodor. What lies in the north?”

Theodor’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

He remembered growing up there with his siblings before moving to the capital due to his sister’s deteriorating health. He still recalled the northern snow-covered mountains, the dark forests where sunlight barely reached, the port cities full of foreign goods, and the Einhart people who had guarded the sea and woods for generations.

But what did any of that matter now?

While Theodor struggled to understand Magnus’ intent, Isabelle immediately realized that Magnus was giving them a chance.

“Teo… no, young master. Follow Sir’s orders now.”

Isabelle hastily corrected herself, carefully reading Magnus’ expression.

“What? Isabelle, are you insane?”

“Sir said to obey! It’s the only way we’ll survive!”

Magnus smirked, exhaling cigar smoke. Isabelle had been clever, indeed.

“Wise, Isabelle Bauer. My investment in you was not misplaced.”

He regarded her fondly.

“You served fourteen years as a common soldier in the border guard. Then you met Isabelle and had Irina. Raising a newborn in the north, on a mere soldier’s salary, has limits. Irina was also naturally frail. After careful thought, you decided to return to the capital once she could travel by train, leaving her in my care.”

Hearing this explanation unfold so effortlessly, Theodor’s jaw dropped.

The stage Magnus had created was already set. He had no power to refuse. Even if he played his role perfectly, he might not receive a single bouquet—but at least he could leave the stage with a clear conscience.

Blushing in embarrassment and humiliation, Theodor realized he had no choice but to accept. This was an opportunity.

If he reclaimed the name of Einhart, Irina could live surrounded by the finest life possible. Isabelle, too, would receive the respect she deserved as his partner.

What the Bauer family could not accomplish, Einhart could with a single gesture.

Theodor nodded, heavy-hearted.

“Yes…”

Magnus’ tone, drawn out as if soothing a child, made him feel even more miserable.

With his next words, Theodor and Isabelle had no choice but to rise.

“Stand up. You’re going to see your daughter, aren’t you?”

Magnus’ expression, in that moment, was as warm and grandfatherly as any could be.