66 — Chapter 66

“What did you say…?”

Lucas’s eyes widened at the unexpected confession.

“One linked to the demonic.”

It was a term that encompassed the Demon Race—the leaders of all things foul—as well as magic beasts, magic insects, and any creature tainted by miasma, including those possessed by evil spirits.

However, the Demon Race was supposed to have been wiped out long ago, and there was no way Kevin was a magic beast or insect.

He didn’t exactly show eccentric behavior from being obsessed with the dark arts either—that described the previous Jonas more accurately—so Lucas furrowed his brows in confusion.

Kevin, rather than looking shocked, simply stared up at his father with a blank expression.

“…I’m linked to the demonic?”

“Were you attacked by a magic beast and had your blood sucked, or something?”

Lucas threw out the most likely possibilities he could think of, but Jonas only shook his head, his voice low.

“No. He… Kevin was a stillbirth. He was brought back to life by a Demon.”

He quietly dropped the bombshell.

“…!”

“…What did you say…?”

Both of them gasped.

Kevin in particular turned pale, his fingers unconsciously tightening around his ring.

“…W-What do you mean, Father?”

“Exactly what I said. You died once along with Elisa, immediately after you were born. Your breathing stopped, your pulse ceased, you lost your body heat… you were certainly dead. But you were saved by a Demon. A Demon in the form of a young man, accompanied by a little sister.”

To the speechless group, Jonas gestured, “Let us change locations.”

Moving to a deserted spot with a complicated expression and ensuring several times that there were no eavesdroppers, Jonas began his explanation.

Originally, Elisa’s recovery after giving birth to Deborah had been poor, and she was told it would be difficult to conceive a second child.

However, a new life was granted to them.

Thinking it might be a boy who could inherit her beloved husband’s house, she laughed off the worries of those around her and declared she would give birth no matter what.

As if obeying Elisa’s will, the pregnancy proceeded very smoothly. She spent her days happily adjusting rings and sewing baby clothes for the child to come.

However, on the night a month before the due date—Elisa’s condition took a sudden, sharp turn for the worse.

“At that time, I was foolishly at ease, immersed in my official duties. I didn’t even go to check on my wife’s bedroom and worked late. But on that night of all nights, a servant came to call for me. They said they had found a suspicious girl in a corner of the estate and wanted me to come.”

“A suspicious girl?”

“Yes. Though I say ‘suspicious,’ she looked like an ordinary… no, an exceedingly lovely child. She had black hair and strikingly well-defined features… yes, she might have resembled the true face of Lady Elma we saw earlier.”

However, Jonas added:

“—However, that girl, who was curled up and sleeping in a corner of the stables… had crimson eyes.”

“Crimson eyes…”

“Yes. When she woke from her nap and lifted her eyelids, her eyes were—a sinisterly beautiful, dripping crimson that felt as if it would steal your soul just by looking at them.”

That color, which no human could possess, was a trait that frequently appeared in the now-extinct Demon Race.

Fearing her excessive beauty and those soul-sucking eyes, some of the servants concluded the girl was a survivor of the Demon Race and tried to kill her on the spot.

However, Jonas, who had rushed there after receiving the report, stopped them.

“When I looked at her, the girl didn’t even seem to understand she was about to be killed. Her innocent, helpless state looked no different from my daughter Deborah. They seemed to be almost the same age. So, thinking to ask her circumstances first, I knelt down beside her.”

But at that moment, something strange happened.

The girl, whose eyes had been somewhat glazed as if she were half-asleep, suddenly looked up and murmured.

The lady is crying.

She was staring fixedly at a section of the mansion—near Elisa’s bedroom.

She is saying, “Help me. Help my child…”

His spine froze at her words, which seemed to trace Elisa’s own.

However, it wasn’t the terror one felt when facing a monster; it was more like the sensation of having your heart gripped by a cold hand when a priestess speaks the truth.

Jonas ordered the servants not to lay a hand on the girl and rushed to his wife’s room.

And there—he found his wife crouching, her lower body stained with blood.

“My wife was already in a state where she couldn’t even scream. Her blood was vanishing before my eyes… the doctor I hurriedly summoned did everything he could, but we could only watch in a daze as Elisa and the child in her womb died.”

He lost himself for a while.

Returning to his senses, the young Jonas threw away his usual composure and screamed.

He shook his limp wife’s shoulders, brushed off the doctor’s attempts to stop him, and embraced her cooling body.

A beast-like roar, a doctor hanging his head, servants breaking down in tears.

In the midst of such frenzy, his wife, who had seemed to have already breathed her last, moved her trembling lips.

Help… my child…

It was a voice that sounded as if she had gathered the fragments of her soul remaining in her body and squeezed them out.

In fact, with that final breath, Elisa slumped back, truly gone this time.

Jonas, the only one who had heard her final words, lifted his tear-stained face and ordered the doctor to cut open his wife’s womb.

The doctor suppressed his hesitation and sliced Elisa’s belly with the greatest speed he could muster.

“But… you, having come out before the months were full, were so small you couldn’t even let out a birth cry. We wrapped you in cloth, rubbed your back… but even so, your tiny pulse grew further and further away…”

Everyone despaired.

Even Jonas felt the strength drain from his arms as he held his son.

It was then that the door to the room opened with a light creak.

Excuse me for interrupting. It seems my “little sister” was in your care.

At the inappropriately cheerful voice, everyone’s shoulders shook as they turned around.

“Standing there was a young man, about twenty years old, holding the girl from earlier in his arms.”

His age was around twenty or so.

He had slightly wavy tawny hair, intelligent hazel eyes, and a slender build.

While he had an air of refinement, unlike the girl, his appearance wasn’t exceptionally beautiful.

However, the way he slowly curled his lips upward, and the words spun from them, had a terrifying intensity that made even Jonas flinch instinctively.

Shall I give you a reward?

The young man leaned the girl, who seemed to have fallen back asleep, gently against the wall and declared as if it were nothing.

I’ll save that baby for you.

It was an effortless tone, as if he were saying he would retrieve a hat caught on a branch.

Slipping through the bewildered people around him, he snatched the infant from Jonas.

“And—there, he… wielded magic power.”

It was a sight that could only be described as magical power.

Instruments never seen before, manual techniques whose meaning one couldn’t even imagine.

The movements of his arms were so fast they could hardly be caught by the eye.

Had it been minutes, or hours—?

…Phew.

Suddenly, the air felt as if it had begun to move slowly.

…H-he… he… wahhh!

It was a small, thin cry, but it was unmistakably the birth cry emitted by the baby.

Here you go.

Just as when he had snatched the child away, the young man tossed the infant back to Jonas with a casual gesture.

Then, after firing off a series of instructions regarding temperature management, hydration, and how to provide breast milk, he turned on his heel.

“The young man held the girl as if she were precious and prepared to leave. I hurriedly asked his name, but he wouldn’t tell me. He only replied that no one called him by a human name anymore, and that he didn’t like them. So I thought that he had either fallen into the demonic path for some reason, or was a survivor born between a Demon and a human.”

In fact, the girl he called “little sister” was clearly a Demon, and the manual techniques he showed were an abnormal sight, far beyond human.

To top it off, when Jonas asked why he had helped, he simply shrugged. “As I said, a reward. Also, I suppose it’s because I also delivered the child of the Queen of Hell, so I couldn’t quite overlook this one. Just a whim.”

With that, Jonas became convinced that the young man was a being belonging to a non-human world—a Demon.

Leaving behind Jonas and his men, who were left dazed by the unbelievable miracle, the young man and the girl vanished into the darkness of the night.

“Afterward, I became entirely devoted to caring for the infant I named Kevin… and while imposing a gag order on the servants and doctors involved, I hardened my resolve.”

A life granted by the demonic is, by extension, a life linked to the demonic.

No matter if he was the son of a Lord, his blood—his very fate—might contain a miasma that brought misfortune to those around him.

In Frenzel, such a being was viewed with particular hostility as something to be annihilated.

—The people must never know that my son was saved by a Demon.

“…For me, the option of killing my son… of killing you… never existed.”

Jonas looked Kevin in the eye and spoke, the words sounding as if they were being squeezed out of him.

“As the guardian of the holy vineyards and the Lord of Frenzel, perhaps I should have killed you. No, I should never have accepted the help of that demonic youth in the first place. I should have killed the girl as well. But—even if I am to fall into Hell after death, I did not want you to die.”

His right hand, covering his mouth as he looked down, trembled slightly.

“Because you were the life my beloved wife desired above all else… and you are my dearest son.”

“…!”

Kevin gasped at the words, hearing them addressed to him directly for the first time.

Jonas cleared his throat with a “And so,” regaining a somewhat calmer tone as he continued his confession.

“On the other hand, I certainly had a desire to fulfill my responsibilities as a Lord. In particular, I couldn’t allow the Magic Moths—against which the Ringing Chains were becoming less effective every year—to ravage the vineyards. But… the Magic Moths are the primary kin of the Demon Race. If I were to harm them—to return a favor from the demonic with a grudge—I feared I might incur that young man’s wrath. I thought that, by some chance, your life must not be taken from you a second time.”

“So that’s why…”

That was why Jonas had become obsessed with driving the moths away or neutralizing them, rather than disposing of them.

“I understood, of course, that I should have explained things to the people. I knew my research would look bizarre to those who didn’t know the circumstances, and that it would make them anxious. But… if I explained the reason why I was obsessed with detoxification, then you would be the one unable to escape the people’s hostility. Rather than having stones thrown at you or being attacked, I used your poor health as a pretext to keep you tucked away in the depths of the mansion. …I intended it as protection.”

“…Father…”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in you, nor was it my intention to hurt you. I simply… wanted to protect you.”

Please believe me, he whispered softly, and then Jonas fell silent.

A stifling silence descended among the three men.

Eventually, it was Kevin who spoke in a trembling voice.

“…Then… was that why you let the ring from Mother grow tarnished…?”

“…Yes. It may be a superstition, but I heard that silver burns the demonic. I couldn’t bring myself to dispose of Elisa’s memento, but I was too anxious to give it to you as it was. At the very least, I thought to coat the surface with chemicals to tarnish it.”

“…And the reason you didn’t try to teach me the work of a Lord…?”

“If you were involved in the work, contact with the people would inevitably increase. I wanted to avoid even the slightest possibility of exposure.”

At least until there was a prospect of driving away the Magic Moths.

Until the people’s anxiety was cleared and the culture of blindly loathing the demonic softened, even if only a little.

Jonas replied that he had kept dragging out the timing like that, and before he knew it, things had reached the present.

“…!”

Kevin bit his lip hard.

He tore the ring hanging from his chest off its chain and thrust it toward his father.

“Father, you said you didn’t mean to hurt me… but you! That very way of thinking of yours is what hurt me!”

The ring resting in his palm proudly bore the inscription Elisa was said to have carved.

Kevin gripped it tight and struck his father’s chest with a heavy thud.

“…I wanted you to tell me. Even if those were the circumstances, I wanted a proper explanation from you.”

“Kevin—”

“I wanted you to tell me that you loved me. I wanted you to say that I was born because I was truly wanted—that I was allowed to be alive, and that this ring wasn’t a symbol of my sin…!”

Forgetting the venomous air he used to put on to act older and the common sense he had rapidly acquired recently, Kevin cried out, his face crumpled.

“Even if the silver burned my skin, even if the people threw stones at me, if only you had told me that I was loved…! I could have endured… anything—!”

Finally, Jonas’s eyes grew moist as well.

He whispered “I’m sorry” in a raspy voice.

Then, lifting his trembling arms, he pulled his son into a tight embrace.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I thought that was what love was—!”

Youthful sobs and a powerful embrace.

It was like a reenactment of that night ten years ago, and at the same time, it was the moment the two of them finally faced each other as father and son.

The father and son, held fast in each other’s arms, gradually calmed their excitement and pulled away from each other at the exact same moment, like a mirror image.

The two, whose features looked quite similar upon closer inspection, wore expressions of the awkwardness and shyness that came from showing tears in public—and the refreshed look unique to those who had just bared their feelings to one another.

“—Pardon me for losing my composure.”

Eventually, Jonas spoke up, regaining his seniority and dignity as he cleared his throat.

“…The reason I could not kill the Magic Moths is as I have stated.”

Standing naturally as if to shield his son, he radiated the spirit of a frontier Lord who had fought the demonic without end, as well as an unmistakable parental love.

“The inspection of this land and my house is Your Highness’s true purpose. To repay the debt for saving us from our predicament, I, Jonas, have spoken without concealment. …How you handle my house, which has harbored one linked to the demonic, is entirely up to Your Highness’s discretion.”

It seemed Jonas had finally decided to step into Lucas’s side of the circumstances, which he had been pretending not to notice until now.

However, while he said it was up to Lucas’s discretion, a dangerous glint—like that of a beast protecting its young—flickered in his narrowed eyes.

He no longer needed to keep silent to avoid hurting Kevin.

With things as they were now, the people likely wouldn’t turn against the Lord’s family.

Furthermore, Kevin could also control the Magic Moths with his whistle.

If the Royal Capital were to attack Kevin—to attack Frenzel—they would resist with all their might.

Jonas’s sharp gaze declared exactly that.

But.

“—Oh, how scary.”

Lucas didn’t show even a hint of agitation, merely shrugging his shoulders.

“What need is there to threaten a carefree failure of a prince who only came to a famous wine-producing region for a vacation with a beautiful girl?”

In his light, laughter-tinged tone, there was the composure and intensity unique to a man who had built his position as the “Second Prince who is ignorant of politics”—and who, behind the scenes, had swallowed both the pure and the corrupt.

“…In that case.”

“Are you worried about what kind of travel stories I’ll tell my half-brother, with whom I’m not even that close, when I return to the capital? It’ll surely be nothing much. Just that the Lord, rumored to be an eccentric, was a brilliant man who cared for his family; that the children seem to be growing more reliable by the day; and—that the wine of Frenzel is, as it has been and will be, delicious. If he hears that much, that man will be satisfied.”

The eccentric behavior was not a sign of rebellion against the capital; the children were also people capable of maintaining loyalty; and Frenzel would continue to be a province of Luden.

In other words, it meant the Royal Capital would not attack Frenzel, but would protect it.

“This is just me talking to myself, but the distinction between a demon and a heavenly messenger is a vague thing. You saw it too, didn’t you, Margrave? A hideous moth that eats branches is a magic insect, but a beautiful winged insect that spins silk looks like a butterfly sent from heaven. Who can judge whether what happened in this land long ago was a profane art of the demonic, or a miracle of an apostle?”

“…Prince Lucas…”

As Jonas murmured, overcome with emotion, Lucas curled his well-shaped lips as if a thought had suddenly occurred to him.

“Oh, that’s right. However, I’ll get thirsty telling those travel stories. If I could get a few bottles of this land’s prized wine, I’m sure my tongue will be able to spin quite the beautiful tale.”

It was hush money.

The price was far too cheap—but sensing Lucas’s intention to properly arrange a “contract” for the sake of form, Jonas shook his head, unable to contain his feelings.

“—Of course.”

Nodding deeply, he stroked his son’s head with one hand.

“I shall deliver our territory’s finest wine. If you prefer something strong, shall I prepare some brandy as well?”

It was a consideration born from knowing that Lucas was quite a strong drinker after his stay.

However.

“No—”

Lucas gave a light, wry smile and made an unexpected request.

“I appreciate the kindness, but… in that case, could I have some grape juice that doesn’t contain alcohol?”

“Juice…?”

Jonas looked puzzled.

In Frenzel, even children who had just started walking enjoyed wine.

He wondered why Lucas wanted juice, which was usually only used for making sweets, but Lucas only shook his head gently.

“…There’s someone I can’t exactly woo by getting them drunk.”

He then turned around and looked toward the market, which was still showing signs of excitement.

“—Honestly, it’s frustrating.”

Far beyond his gaze, in a gap between the rows of stalls, was the figure of Elma, surrounded by a frenzied crowd and adorned with flower crowns.