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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: A Glimmer of Hope
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A signal sent in a way only I could recognize.
The guild members Rico had planted in our house were none other than my two dedicated maids.
They must have overcome the fifty-to-one competition to become my maids for the sole purpose of gathering information.
‘Gives me the chills.’
I carefully sat up.
“Um, you two…”
Then I whispered quietly to the two of them, who wore nonchalant expressions.
“I’ll be in your care from now on…?”
The two of them smiled brightly.
“Of course, my lady!”
“Absolutely!”
* * *
The next day.
Enoch was stunned by an anonymous tip he had received.
‘That boy… was Marquis Onyx's illegitimate son?’
The commoner boy he'd stumbled upon being harassed by a nobleman the day they arrived in the capital.
At Lilis's request, he had sent people to find him, but there had been no significant progress so far.
Then, an anonymous tip arrived, and surprisingly, it was about that very boy.
‘L.’
The only clue to the informant's identity was the initial L.
With no wishes or demands, it simply conveyed the boy's situation.
That he was Marquis Onyx's illegitimate son, currently being abused and held captive in his mansion...
‘L. I don't know who you are, but your intention to save the boy is clear.’
Many nobles in the capital, sensitive about their reputations, considered illegitimate children a disgrace and often disposed of them secretly.
It seemed the boy was barely clinging to life for now, but...
‘If this is true, I have to rescue him quickly.’
There was no telling how long the nobleman's whim to keep the illegitimate child alive would last.
“Damn it. But why did it have to be Onyx?”
Enoch rubbed his forehead in frustration.
He had no personal connection to Marquis Onyx. Even seven years ago, when he was in the capital, they had never once met.
Moreover, Onyx was a nobleman with considerable power and influence in the capital...
Even for someone like Enoch, there was no justification to suddenly storm the marquis's mansion and demand to know if he was hiding and abusing a child.
‘I can't just go there without a plan.’
Enoch himself also had to be mindful of prying eyes.
He couldn't cause a public disturbance when it hadn't even been a week since his return.
Was there a way to visit the marquis's residence as soon as possible, yet naturally?
“How on earth…”
“Daaaaad!”
“Oh, Princess!”
Just then, the office door burst open.
Enoch quickly hid the letter and greeted Lilis.
“My daughter, are your lessons over?”
“Uh-huh!”
Enoch sat Lilis, who came running with her teddy bear backpack, on his lap and gently brushed her hair back.
“What did my princess learn today?”
“I had my first art class today, and it was so much fun. The teacher told me about famous sculptors and works of art, you know?”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah! Dad, do you know this?”
Her eyes sparkling, Lilis pulled a book from her bag and opened it.
“It's a work of art by a sculptor named Lindell, and it's super, super famous. It's called , and it's so pretty.”
“Oh.”
It was a work of art depicting baby angels sculpted onto bronze gates.
“I want to see it in person, but I probably can't, right?”
“Why not? Where is it? If it's a famous piece, it should be in the temple's art museum. I'll take you.”
“No, it's not there. I asked my teacher, and she said some Marquis Onyx? That man bought it. So it's at his house, apparently?”
“What? Onyx?”
Enoch's eyes widened.
“The angels are so pretty… I really want to see them in person…”
“You can!”
“Ah! Really?”
“Yes! You can see them, Princess!”
Enoch smiled brightly, scooped Lilis into his arms, and shot to his feet.
He had just been looking for a natural excuse to visit the marquis's mansion...
“I'll contact that man. Let's go see it.”
“Wow, really? You're the best, Dad!”
Nestled in the arms of a relieved-looking Enoch, his worries now gone, Lilis secretly grinned.
* * *
The Marquis Onyx's Estate.
It was a busy day, with everyone bustling about since morning at the news of Duke Rubinstein's visit.
Of course, this had nothing to do with the freeloader in the second basement of the marquis's estate, where not a single ray of sunlight ever reached.
“Hurry up and eat today! This room stinks, and I don't want to stay here long!”
A maid shouted shrilly as she tossed him a tray with a crust of hard bread and some water.
Then, as if she couldn't bear to be any closer, she scurried to the doorway.
‘Where did she put it?’
The oil in the flickering lamp had run out the day before yesterday, and he hadn't been able to see since.
Chessier fumbled around on the floor in the darkness for a long time before finally finding the bread.
“By the way, do you think we'll get to see the duke today?”
“Probably? Ah, I'm so jealous of the girls who work for the Rubinstein family. If you catch the duke's eye, your life is set, isn't it?”
“Don't be ridiculous… You think the duke is crazy enough to mess around with a maid?”
“That freeloader's mother seduced our master, didn't she? It's not entirely impossible.”
The two maids chattered from a distance, then glanced toward Chessier, who was shrouded in darkness, and cackled.
The light from the lamp in their hands was faint, leaving the room in near-total darkness.
“Excuse me… could you put some oil in the lamp? I can't see a thing.”
“What is he saying? Do you have any idea how expensive oil is?”
“Young Master Jonathan would be so pleased if we refilled the lamp in your room. We'd be whipped, you idiot.”
“Just hurry up and eat. We have to go. The duke will be here soon.”
That damn duke, duke, duke…
It was because of that duke that his half-brother, Jonathan, who had come to beat him yesterday, had been in such a good mood.
“Duke Rubinstein is coming tomorrow. You vermin, you probably don't even know what kind of family the Rubinsteins are, do you?”
“…”
“I'm going to make a good impression on the duke this time. If I play my cards right, I might even marry his daughter someday.”
The man with power second only to the emperor, was it?
Either way, Chessier would never meet him in his lifetime.
“Once I get closer to the duke, Father won't let you live any longer. It would be a disgrace if your existence were ever revealed.”
Ah, so I'm finally going to die.
Now that his disposal was imminent, he was afraid, but it was also the moment he had longed for while living a life worse than death.
‘Right, I'm going to die soon. What do I need light for?’
Buried in the pitch-black darkness, Chessier thought.
Just then.
“Why are you two taking so long? Don't you know Duke Rubinstein is visiting today?”
A different voice entered the room.
“Ah, Richel. Sorry. We need to take the tray…”
“I'll get it. You go on ahead.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Thanks. Come quickly.”
Footsteps approached.
The face of another maid, holding a lamp, came into view.
Richel…
She was one of the four maids in this house who knew of Chessier's existence.
She wasn't kind, but she didn't throw his food or curse at him.
She would simply stand by silently until he finished his meal.
They had never spoken, but Chessier knew that Richel pitied him.
“Excuse me.”
Chessier spoke to Richel for the first time as she approached to take the tray.
“Could you possibly… refill the lamp?”
“…”
He knew it was a pointless request, but he asked out of fear of his impending death.
Before he died, if only one person…
He wanted to remember that there had been at least a speck of warmth from someone…
“You won't need a lamp.”
But Richel spoke coldly as she picked up the tray and stood.
Then she turned and left.
“Because today, your world will become bright anyway.”
Leaving him with words he couldn't understand.
*Slam.*
*Clank.*
The door was locked, just like every other day.
Chessier's world became darkness.
‘My world will become bright?’
What a ridiculous thing to say.
As always, he crawled across the cold floor, fumbling his way to a corner where he curled up.
And out of habit, he took out the thing he kept tucked away and held it in his hand.
A week ago.
A pink handkerchief with a rabbit on it, given to him by a little girl who had looked at him with such pity.
Chessier thought he now understood why he had kept it.
Warmth.
He knew it was nothing more than the fleeting pity of some high-and-mighty nobles, but he was thirsty for even that meager warmth.
Though he always said he wanted to die, this small boy had always tried to survive, always wished for someone to be by his side.
The reason he had stubbornly stayed by his mother's side, even as she tried to strangle him every day, begging him to die with her…
The reason he was enduring this life like an animal in this house, after finally being abandoned by his mother…
It was all, all of it…
It was because of this damn will to live.
“Father won't let you live any longer.”
Was that why?
At this moment, with death truly at his doorstep.
He was feeling the emotion of fear for the first time.
His eyes stung. He had never cried, no matter how much it hurt, but today, tears fell.
“I…”
The one small piece of warmth he was allowed.
Chessier clutched that single handkerchief and sobbed.
The truth was, he didn't want to die.
More than anyone,
“I want to live…”
He wanted to live.
