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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Weight of a Name
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“Your Excellency! Your Excellency!”
The one who burst in this time was ‘that man’s’ attendant.
A grim premonition hardened Duke Kroiche’s face.
And that premonition was not wrong.
“An assailant has kidnapped the youngest young master! And they… they left this…”
The duke took the envelope offered by the attendant’s trembling hand.
Ivory Tower Invitation Committee.
The clearly written words revealed the assailant’s identity.
The paper crumpled in Duke Kroiche’s hand.
* * *
Upon hearing of Duke Elpinade’s return, Axel went to his office again.
The duke looked as neat and proper as ever.
He didn’t look at all like someone who had just barged into another family’s home and kidnapped their son.
Axel wondered if Logan had been joking when he’d mentioned a kidnapping.
But when he spotted a large sack lying on the sofa, he realized it was no simple joke.
Dumbfounded, Axel quickly opened the tied sack.
A pale-faced child with black hair was curled up inside, fast asleep.
“Did you really kidnap him?”
At Axel’s incredulous stare, Duke Elpinade tilted his head to one side.
“It’s not a kidnapping, it’s an invitation.”
“How is bringing someone in a sack an invitation?”
“I admit I used somewhat forceful methods. But I did leave an invitation.”
Duke Elpinade offered no more excuses, his eyes narrowing.
“But did you come rushing here just to question that?”
“I’m not questioning you, I’m just surprised. I never knew you had this side to you, Your Excellency.”
He had always known him as a man who was proper and never discomposed.
As a child, he had found such a father intimidating and difficult, so he couldn’t approach him easily.
The distance ingrained in him back then hadn’t disappeared even after he became an adult.
As a result, their father-son relationship was distant.
The fact that Axel called Duke Elpinade ‘Your Excellency’ instead of ‘Father’ was proof of that.
‘But…’
The Duke Elpinade before him now seemed like a different person from the man in the memories Axel had held since childhood.
He felt as if the vast distance between them had shrunk a little.
Feeling a strange tickle inside, Axel cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject.
“More importantly… I heard a rumor that you’re sending Lesia back to the temple. Is that true?”
* * *
I didn’t go to the Ivory Tower today.
Because I was summoned by Duke Elpinade as soon as I woke up.
Lily and the other two handmaidens washed and dressed me with determined, almost tragic expressions.
The trio of flower names seemed to think that something decisive would happen during my meeting with the duke.
‘If he’s already decided to send me to the temple, maybe he called me to inform me of his decision.’
Of course, I didn’t voice my speculation to the three of them.
After I was ready, I walked to the main building with Lily.
I thought we were heading to the duke’s office as usual, but Lily led me somewhere else.
As I looked around at the unfamiliar path I’d never taken before, Lily’s tense expression relaxed into a small smile.
“His Excellency summoned you to the ancestral hall today, Young Lady.”
“The ancestral hall?”
“Yes. It’s where the portraits of the Elpinade ancestors are kept. It holds the history of the family.”
Just as Lily finished her explanation, we arrived at the entrance to the hall, right on cue.
“Let her in.”
The duke’s voice came from inside.
Lily hadn’t even announced our arrival, but the duke seemed to have noticed we were here just from the sound of our footsteps.
As a swordmaster, it probably wasn’t difficult for him to sense the presence of an ordinary handmaiden and a small child.
Lily opened the massive door and let me inside.
Again today, I was the only one to enter.
‘Whoa.’
So this was the hall of ancestral portraits.
The place was filled with faces right from the entrance.
The space was rather dim, and the portraits covering the walls seemed to be watching me, creating an intimidating atmosphere.
Even before I faced the duke, my childish heart began to pound senselessly.
I forced my trembling legs to move forward.
The duke was standing in front of a large portrait in the center of the innermost part of the hall.
As I hesitated, wondering how close I should get, the duke, who had been looking at the portrait, turned his head toward me.
“Over here.”
Duke Elpinade beckoned.
Thinking he meant for me to come to his side, I scurried over. He cleared his throat and turned back to the portrait.
“This is the first Duke Elpinade.”
Listening to the duke’s brief explanation, I looked at the portrait as well.
Blond hair and blue eyes.
His features were slightly different, but his overall aura resembled the duke and Axel.
Is this what they mean when they say blood is thicker than water?
“The story that the Elpinade family’s history began with the founding of the empire is a famous one. Are you aware of it?”
“Yess.”
“The first duke aided the founding emperor in establishing the empire and became a meritorious subject. He was an exceptional scholar, and many of the empire’s systems that continue to this day came from his hand.”
So that’s how Elpinade, the family of scholars, began.
“The book of prophecy that the Ivory Tower is working so hard to interpret also came to Elpinade during the time of the first duke. It was said that deciphering it would bring an era of great peace to the empire…”
“They still haven’t figured it out.”
“That’s right. The founding emperor and the first duke probably didn’t realize it would take this long, either.”
The duke calmly finished the story of the first duke and then walked to another portrait beside it.
I scurried after him again and stood at his side.
“This is the second Duke Elpinade. He too was a brilliant scholar, particularly knowledgeable in architecture.”
The duke’s history lesson continued.
Without knowing why, I followed along with the grand saga that started with the first duke, through the second and third, all the way to the current duke’s father.
Did he call me here all of a sudden for a history lesson?
As I glanced quizzically at his face, the duke, who had been looking only at the portraits, turned his gaze to me.
“Do you understand why I am suddenly reciting the family history to you?”
The atmosphere suggested I should say yes, but I had no idea why.
Thinking it was better to be honest than to lie, I gave a slight shake of my head.
“Nuh-uh.”
“It is to show you how deep the history of Elpinade is, and how heavy its name weighs. Since it is the name you will carry from now on, you should at least be aware of that much.”
Casually woven into his words was the phrase ‘from now on.’
‘Huh…?’
It sounded as if he was saying I would be Lesia Elpinade for good.
‘Well, even if I return to the temple, the adoption will still be valid, so I’ll still be an Elpinade.’
Unless I’m disowned, an adoption lasts until the day I die.
‘Is he warning me not to tarnish the family name, since I’ll have to live with it?’
He must want to lay down the law before I leave.
But the duke’s next words completely shattered my thoughts.
“From today, you will stay in the Sapphire Room in the main building. The annex is for guests.”
“Huh? But…?”
“But, what?”
“I’m going to the temple soon anyway… I don’t need to move, it’s okay. I can just go from the annex.”
The duke’s eyes narrowed at my reaction.
His sharp, glittering gaze was as terrifying as ever, and I flinched reflexively.
