CH 9

Smoke rose as the mansion began to burn in earnest.

We’ll talk about it later, so I grabbed Kiverin and left the mansion.

The flames had engulfed nearly half of the mansion.

As the knight said, heavy raindrops began to wet the ground.

Less worrying about going to the forest, I took a seat at a reasonable distance from Kiverin.

I laughed as Kiverin picked up a large leaf and placed it on my head like an umbrella.

“It rides well.”

It’s good that I made a mistake, but it twisted the original properly.

I rubbed my rain-drenched cheeks and muttered.

“Will I get a divorce because I ruined the mansion owned by the Duke?”

What if he asks for a repair fee?

What if Kiverin is locked up in another mansion again?

“Divorce, huh?”

Kiverin’s eyes wide open.

Kiverin mumbled something with his lips clenched, but was buried by the fast-growing sound of the carriage.

I could hear the footsteps of people, if there were servants watching the mansion from a place out of my sight.

And.

“Kiverin!”

It was a Winter Nectarian.

“Let go! I will go in myself!”

Winter tried to escape the maids who discouraged her and entered the mansion.

I pat Kiverin’s back slightly.

“Go ahead.”

Kiverin turned to me.

I shook my head, meaning to go alone.

If my parents-in-law are a better person than I thought, Kiverin may not become a scumbag.

Of course, my parents were trash everywhere.

Kiverin grows fine and I grow strong.

Yeah, that’s perfect. After all, walking alone is the best way to go down the road.

The farther away Kiverin was, the louder the sound of rain.

I thought I might catch a cold before Kiverin, but at first a shadow fell.

“… Huh?”

Raising my head, I saw a man with a very handsome face turned upside down.

The man had the same silver hair as Kiverin.

He looked like he was in his late 20s, and the place where his right arm should be is empty.

There was a faint bitter scent that came from smoking.

Oh, I know who you are.

It was Menelik Nectarian, Kiverin’s biological father.

He opened his mouth

“Were you injured?”

A terrifyingly low voice broke through the sound of the rain and reached my ear.

I was nervous, so I replied a little late.

“… Uh, no.”

Then he held out the umbrella he was holding.

“You listen. As you can see, it’s burning.”

I accidentally took an umbrella with both hands. It weighed quite a bit.

Then Menelik took me in one arm.

What?

I didn’t know it meant sharing an umbrella, so I panicked and then my hand slipped.

Suddenly, the umbrella wobbled and struck Menelik on the head.

“Ouch.”

“Oh, sorry!”

Cheria, who should grow up strong, makes such a mistake!

My face got hot.

Menelik had dynamic eyes that were not sure if he was really sick or bearable.

His face was as calm as if he had just woken up.

“It’s okay. Thanks to you, I woke up.”

Hey, Don’t get mad…

I mustered up the courage to look at Menelik.

Menelik’s eyes were pale golden green.

It was quite different from Kiverin’s golden eyes, which had a clear presence even from a distance.

I didn’t know much about Menelik Nectarian.

In the novel, Menelik never went out except when the Pope insulted Winter’s homeland.

As a result, in social circles, saying that the true owner of the Duke was Winter was treated as a fact.

On the other hand, there was speculation that Menelik would have taken all the titles that the male lead in the novel had won had he not lost his arm.

He was the youngest swordmaster of the Empire, and the Hero who was ruler of the  buried dark city.

“I… , I can’t get close…”

At the sound of Winter’s crying voice, Menelik’s head turned at the same time.

Menelik walked over to Winter holding me.

Winter took a half step back, avoiding Kiverin, facing the pouring rain.

“They said, no, I’m hurting you. It’s all my fault. So I….”

“I, I am fine.”

Winter’s face twisted at Kiverin’s answer.

She bit her lips tightly.

It was also unreasonable to narrow the distance at once.

I tugged on Menelik’s clothes.

“Put me down, please.”

“What?”

“I will walk with the young master.”

Menelik dropped me off.

I grabbed my umbrella and ran to Kiverin.

“… Okay, well, don’t worry about me.”

Menelik, suddenly hit by the rain, muttered absurdly behind me.

I knew that my father-in-law could stand a little rain, so I quickly put an umbrella on Kiverin.

“You will catch a cold, young master.”

Kiverin blinked.

The raindrops hanging from the silver eyelashes rolled down quietly.

“I’m okay.”

Kiverin said as before.

I pressed my forehead to Kiverin’s wet forehead.

“You can’t say it’s okay for me. I have reliable shoulders that can embrace a young master.”

“Uh, where’s the trust…”

“Just say so and wait.”

“……”

I felt the hem of my clothes being pulled, and looked down.

Kiverin’s little hand was holding my clothes.

Menelik, who grabbed the umbrella from the servant, called for Winter.

“I just have to go back.”

Menelik put an umbrella over her and put his face in front of her nose, but Winter was still dazed.

I thought for a moment and called Winter.

“Mother?”

Some shock therapy worked.

This time she responded immediately.

“You call me that…”

“Why don’t you ask? How did the fire happen, and how did we escape?”

Winter clicked her tongue.

“I bought you from Count Mayall, who was desperate for not being able to sell his child, but I don’t want you to be treated as an equal. It’s never too late to hear that.”

“…….”

“Don’t stand still and get into the carriage.”

Winter, who had come to her senses, blinked in the direction of the carriage.

The inside of the carriage was very warm, unlike the outside where the rain and wind blew.

While warming up with Kiverin, Menelik came in.

As soon as Menelik closed the door, the carriage departed.

Are the three of us going?

“What about mother?”

“She will come later. The temple warns that the closer Winter gets to Kiverin, the worse Kiverin’s condition will be.”

“……”

“Of course it could be a lie. I usually disliked the Duke, so maybe it’s just a joke.”

“…….”

Menelik, who had been rummaging through his arms like a habit, made a sound and put it back in.

I could guess how Menelik was usually doing.

There were no children in the Duke’s house, so he would have only smoked cigarettes every day.

Menelik looked at my expression and smiled.

“But what if that thing is true? What if the dogs of the temple were right?”

“…… ”

“Well, that’s it. It’s hard to gamble with children. But we are not good parents.”

Suddenly, I turned to Kiverin.

Kiverin looked at Menelik with a doll-like expressionless face, then felt my gaze and turned his head slightly.

Soon, the expressionless face made me smile like a lie.

He turned to Menelik again, and he smiled.

Both seemed to reassure me.

What… Do I look like I’m afraid? Really?

There was no mirror in the carriage, so I rubbed my pitiful cheek.

When I finally met and talked to Menelik Nectarian, my impression was, ‘I don’t know who he is’.

Actually, this is normal.

Neither Winter nor Menelik were characters in the novel, so there were many aspects.

The carriage quickly drove off the slope. It did not rattle as the carriage belonged to the wealthiest family in the empire.

Having tasted this capital, running away from home can only be a last resort…

As Kiverin began to nod, the light outside the window gradually became brighter.

Lights that had been successive gathered at a certain point, revealing a Duke residence.

It was a huge gothic-style mansion that looked like it would appear as an illustration in a children’s book.

However, it was not likely that a princess or a prince would live there.

It felt like a beast was about to pop out of a curse, losing most of it and all that was left was money.

I smell money.

Not at the townhouse level?

Without realizing it, I stuck my nose to the window and looked through it.

Seeing this, Menelik burst into laughter.

“You like things like that.”