Translator: Nox

Chapter 29

“Haha……. It seems Young Master Kiriel was quite sensitive. Please don’t mind it, Your Grace.”

“Y-Yes! Why… didn’t Young Master Kiriel follow the late Young Duke Dios so closely?”

“Of course, he was a splendid man. The true hero is undoubtedly Young Duke Dios, Your Grace.”

As the retainers each tried to lighten the chilled atmosphere with their words, Ludbrid Yudia’s face hardened coldly.

He frowned deeply, as if he were extremely displeased, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

“Tch. Why drag a guy who already died losing to the demon race back onto the table?”

“No… We were just saying how great the late Young Duke was…….”

“If you’re going to wag your tongues so noisily, then get out, all of you. Or do you want to retrain your brains?”

“Y-Yes……? N-No, sir.”

The retainers glanced around cautiously, and when even Klein, with his arms crossed, shot them a chilling gaze, they finally rose completely from their seats and withdrew.

“You lot get out of my sight too, you bastards.”

“Always with the harsh words.”

Klein Yudia smirked and uncrossed his arms.

The muscular man indifferently regarded Rudbrid, who was glaring at him fiercely with a stubborn old man’s stiff expression, and shrugged his shoulders.

“Brother’s death wasn’t exactly Father’s fault, so don’t worry about it. He’s the youngest, so he’s just acting childish because he’s young.”

“Shut up and get out?”

“What’s the point of having kids if you don’t show a weak side now and then? No one’s going to spread rumors just because Father sheds a few tears.”

Ludbrid’s eyes narrowed further, veins bulging, at Klein Yudia’s nonchalant words, delivered with his chin propped up in a thoroughly cheeky manner.

“Brother’s death was a sad thing. Protecting him was the responsibility of all of us. So there’s no need for you to blame yourself.”

“You insolent brats think you can mock your father? Shut up and get out!”

“As expected… You’re no good at being honest.”

Ludbrid glared fiercely at Klein, who was clicking his tongue in disapproval.

“Well, I’ll handle this one. I’m curious if my prospective niece’s words are right too…… And if they really are, we might figure out the principle behind how dungeons are generated.”

Though it was a hassle.

Klein scratched the back of his head as he added that, picked up the crystal from the center of the table, rose from his seat, gave a light wave, and left the conference room.

“Why haven’t you left?”

“Just because. They say only a daughter can soothe a man in times like this.”

“Cut the crap and start thinking about getting married already. You planning to never show me any grandkids?”

“If it’s grandkids, you’ve got some from big brother. He’s number one in the line of succession, and unlike you, he has a good personality. What more could you want?”

Salame waved her hand dismissively, scowled, and quickly rose from her seat.

Click-clack.

Salame paused as she headed toward the conference room door and glanced back.

“Don’t cry too much alone~”

With those light words added, Salame waved her hand breezily and left the conference room, shutting the door with a thud.

“As expected, they’re all insolent brats……. Who said I was crying?”

Ludbrid clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction and slowly buried his face in his large, callused palm.

“…Father’s always like that. As if my opinion doesn’t matter at all. I wish I weren’t Father’s son.”

What good would it do for a man without the right to cry to shed tears?

The last voice of his son that came to mind lingered with such heavy regret that belated responses and atonement had echoed only within him for years.

* * *

As Kiriel walked down the long corridor toward his room, he turned and headed for the temple within the estate.

Something small and warm plopped against Kiriel’s cheek with a soft tap as he strode along.

Kiriel’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

When Kiriel glanced down, Bunny was staring up at him steadily, though he didn’t know when she had woken.

Her pink eyes sparkled transparently. Her water-colored hair flowed softly.

“Oh, did I wake you?”

“Young Master, stiff face.”

Kiriel paused at Bunny’s words.

He chuckled softly at the child’s blunt tone and stroked her hair gently with the arm not holding her.

“Is my face stiff? I’m not angry.”

“Yeah. Not angry. Young Master sad. Cry?”

Kiriel’s eyes widened slightly again as he tried to compose his expression and resumed walking slowly with a casual face.

“If Young Master sad… Bunny sad.”

He came to a complete stop at her small, echoing voice.

“Why do you think I’m sad? Father just got angry over some harsh words, that’s all.”

“…Lies.”

Bunny said.

“Bunny knows everything. Bunny not baby.”

Bunny stretched out her short little arms and hugged Kiriel’s neck a bit tightly.

Kiriel unconsciously drew in a deep breath at the child’s body pressing close to him.

“Luri said. If you don’t cry when you’re sad, it like, umm. It rots inside. So when sad… you gotta cry.”

“…That’s weird. I’m not particularly sad.”

Kiriel chuckled and carefully stroked the back of the child clinging to him as he slowly reached the front of the temple and tilted his head back vacantly.

The temple was Kiriel Yudia’s refuge.

No one disturbed him when he holed up in the prayer room, and no one came looking.

After Dios’s death, when Kiriel had shut himself in the temple’s prayer room and spent his days listlessly, Ludbrid had grown fed up and once banned him from entering the temple.

After being chased out of the temple, Kiriel had been found on the verge of starvation in his room several times.

After being discovered like that two or three times, Ludbrid lifted the ban.

From then on, an unspoken rule formed in the temple.

Do not disturb Kiriel Yudia when he enters the prayer room.

It was the judgment that, at the very least, Kiriel wouldn’t die in the temple—where his mother had loved to go and his brother had frequented.

Kiriel looked down to see the child in his arms gazing up at him with clear eyes.

“That’s why, crying isn’t just for babies, grown-ups gotta do it too.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah! Not crying isn’t the biggest thing, it’s crying your eyes out, then getting up tomorrow to eat yummy food and play pat-pat-pat and nom-nom and chi-chi-chi—that’s the real biggest thing!”

“I see.”

Kiriel let out a low laugh as he watched Bunny wiggle her fingers and stick out her thumb proudly.

“So Bunny cries when sad too. And tomorrow, works hard at nom-nom. Does pat-pat-pat too!”

“Good girl. Our daughter’s better than me.”

“…Heehee.”

Bunny rubbed her face against Kiriel’s clothes.

Kiriel stroked her hair a couple more times.

“But still, when tears are like, super super puffy…… Put Toto by the pillow and hug Magomi tight tight and sleep. Toto eats up all the bad dreams chomp-chomp, and Magomi says it’s okay, it’s okay…….”

Bunny thumped Kiriel’s chest with her small hands and shrugged.

“Bunny’s a grown-up now, so lend Young Master to Bunny.”

Pretty great, right?

Her proudly upturned little nose seemed to ask.

A faint smile rose to Kiriel’s lips.

“Did you have something sad happen too, little one?”

“Yeah!”

“What happened?”

Remembering how she had wailed when the quail egg appeared, Kiriel thought it must be something adorably cute and tossed the question lightly.

“Bunny… separated from Luri…… Daddy and Mommy too harsh…… Was a little sad when alone…….”

Kiriel’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected words.

Worried she might be crying, he looked down, but Bunny wasn’t crying. She was smiling, instead.

“So to be a great grown-up, needed a super strong daddy, and when Young Master said he’d be Bunny’s guardian, Bunny was happy.”

She wriggled her body as she spoke, then suddenly hugged his neck tight. Kiriel silently stroked her back and tilted his head back.

A clear blue sky came into view.

A clear blue sky like his brother’s and mother’s hair color.

Come to think of it, the child’s hair was a similar water color.

Perhaps the reason he had taken her in was because that hair color had stood out so strikingly in the Blessing Room?

“Little one, shall we go back to the room after all?”

“Yeah!”

At the child’s bright reply, Kiriel, who had been standing tall in front of the temple, slowly turned and headed back to the estate.

Spending the whole day in the room with Allen, who had been pacing in front of the door, eating, sleeping, and rolling around playing games wasn’t anything particularly new.