Chapter 140 – Chapter 02: The Gold Half Is a Warrior, the Other Half Is XXX
“… “If what you say is true, then the young master we have brought in is not the master’s child, but the current young master should have been the master’s child.”
“But the child that my husband and I have raised with love is Stral Zenon, not Jeol Yujin.”
“That…”
When the female knight spoke to comfort Iris, whose voice was filled with sadness, the Archduke responded in an even more solemn voice.
Soon, he was no longer talking to the female knight, but stood up from his desk, stood in front of a window on one side of the room, and looked up at the blue sky outside the window.
“… .”
“… .”
While there was such a heavy silence, the Archduke who had created the silence was the first to open his mouth.
“… Strahl, when that child committed an irreparable sin and had no choice but to be expelled, he was honestly prepared.”
Just like Strahl, the Archduke looks up at the sky with the green eyes that prove he is an Archduke, and stands and talks blankly with his beautiful black hair down to his waist.
“That couldn’t be…”
The female knight, who realized what the Grand Duke was preparing for, predicted what she was preparing for and let out a voice of regret.
“… Not only me but also her husband was prepared. “She had to take responsibility for an accident that could not be covered, no matter how much she loved her child.”
Yes. When the Archduke and his wife heard the news that Strahl had joined hands with the Demon Lord’s army and had no choice but to immediately expel him, they shed bloody tears in their hearts and made up their minds.
They are prepared that no matter what happens to Stral, who they can no longer protect, it could eventually lead to death.
… So when I received news from the Academy that he was alive and well, I was honestly so relieved that his legs gave out.
“But I guess heaven is fair. Joining hands with the devil’s army… , No, in this case, they were probably the limbs of the Demon King’s army to begin with.”
And the Archduke said in a voice that could not hide his sadness and bitterness that he had finally taken away the child who was born for the Demon King and lived for the Demon King, and whom he thought of as his own child his whole life.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad. But from the moment he banished the child, he had no choice but to endure whatever outcome he had decided to accept.”
“Master…”
The horse was saying that he would endure it, but no matter how you look at it, the archduke’s frail appearance seemed to be in danger, and when the female knight let out a voice filled with pity, the archduke moved.
“… Return to home. “Although it is difficult, I must share this news with my husband, who is anxiously waiting for the child.”
“… Are you really planning to end your relationship with me like this?”
No matter how you look at it, the female knight asked as if it was difficult to understand the appearance of her lord, who did not look good, and the archduke smiled bitterly and asked back.
“Then what shall we do? That’s what the child wants now. Even if the imperial family recognizes the child’s innocence because everything the child said is true, we do not want the child to become involved with our Grand Duke’s family.”
Just as she is wondering if she can think of Eugene, a person different from her immediate past, as her child, she wonders if Eugene might be similar as well.
“If someone I don’t even remember right now turns out to be a parent, it would be difficult for that child to accept it.”
“But…”
It was not that the Archduke’s story was incomprehensible, but the Archduke expressed his feelings in a sombre voice to the female knight who expressed her intention to meet as they were parents and children.
“… To be honest, I’m afraid to meet that child. Even though he met that child, as the child said, he doesn’t think of that child as his own child.”
And to put it another way, as the current character Jeol Yu-jin said, it would be proof that Stral Zenon, the child he loved, was completely dead.
Iris Zenon was so afraid of having to prove that fact to herself that she was afraid of meeting Jeol Yu-jin in person.
“In that case, as the child said, I think it would be better for the current situation to have the hope that the child might still be alive rather than meeting him.”
That was the original mindset of the parents. The feeling of not being able to give up on your child until the very end.
The reason he was expelled from the Grand Duchy was only because Strahl had caused such a serious accident.
If the Archduke family had taken advantage of Strahl there, they would have been accused of colluding with the Demon King’s army and the entire Archduke family, along with Strahl, would have been punished as traitors to the empire.
If that happened, not only Strahl but also his other child, the eldest daughter, would be in danger, so he just gave up on Strahl despite shedding bloody tears.
However, since it was still difficult for parents to give up their children, it is not impossible to understand why the Grand Duke said that he would not meet Eugene now, which would mean Stral’s death.
“… All right.”
The female knight, who had no choice but to understand the Archduke’s feelings, did not offer any further advice to the Archduke.
Because he understood that no matter what advice he gave, it would inevitably end up hurting the current Archduke.
“… I’m worried about her husband seeing me. “I wonder if he, who was young at heart, would be even more shocked by the fact that the hope he had been seeking was gone.”
In Orbital World, it was a world where it was natural for women to be the heads of the earth and men to be the housewives of the earth.
In other words, the story is that the father takes on the role of mother of the earth. Therefore, the Archduke was worried about his husband, who was waiting for news from Stral more than himself, and was trying to leave the room to return to his home.
“… “Master, how should I convey this to you?”
At that time, when the female knight cautiously asked the Grand Duke, who was about to return to his home, the Grand Duke paused for a moment, thought about it, and then answered.
“… That child is the one who will sit in the Grand Duke’s seat from day to day. Hiding it out of consideration would not be a good idea. He also holds the position of Sogaju, so he just needs to convey what he conveyed to me.”
“But…”
When the female knight hesitated with a complicated expression in response to the Archduke’s answer, the Archduke expressed his sorrow and said,
“I do know that the child followed her older brother well. But that’s why it’s a story that needs to be told even more.”
“… You will be greatly shocked. “Aren’t you going to enter the academy this year?”
In other words, the female knight says that it will be even more difficult since she will be in the same grade as Eugene, who is entering the academy as a first year student.
“Don’t you feel a lot of guilt toward the master?”
Her eldest daughter, Aria Zenon, the rightful successor to the Grand Duchy of Zenon, was her younger sister who had followed Strahl Zenon since she was young.
Because Aria was not the head of the family, Iris, but her husband had a similar personality, and she was a quite lively girl.
That’s why she got along well with her older brother, Strahl, who had a strong sense of being the chosen one ever since she was young.
To put it another way, having a strong sense of being the chosen people means giving different treatment to fellow nobles.
In addition, in Orbital Continent, a world where the genders are reversed, it is confirmed that Aria, her younger sister and eldest daughter, will be the head of the family, not Stral.
In other words, looking at her status alone, there is no reason for Strahl to treat her poorly as she is an Aryan higher than Strahl.
As she grew up, the difference between her arias and her own talent was revealed, and her stral side just felt inferior to her arias and became distant from her.
Aria, who was actually her younger sister who followed her brother well, still feels guilty that Strahl has become crooked because of her.
“… No matter what anyone says, Aria is the head of the family who will continue to lead the Zeno family. So, you will have to overcome that level of hardship on your own.”
For that reason, upon hearing the words of the knight leader who is worried about Aria, who will encounter Eugene at the Academy, the Grand Duke does not change her will as the head of a huge grand ducal family before being Aria’s parent.
“… But I’ll just talk to her husband for now. “When he has a problem, he goes to her husband rather than to me to pamper him.”
“Yes.”
Of course, even if that were the case, there was no way the grand duke, who loved not only Strahl but also Aria with the utmost sincerity, would just throw Aria away.
Her Iris thought of asking her own husband to comfort her on her behalf.
In response to her decision, the female knight did not express any further opinions and tried to move to escort the Grand Duke, who was trying to return to his home.
“Please allow the leader to remain in this mansion.”
“But…”
“In the first place, didn’t the leader take leave from her position to protect Aria?”
So, when the Archduke said that it was his job to remain in the mansion where Aria was currently staying and escort her, she politely bowed her head in response.
“… In that case, I will escort you at least to the front of the warp gate.”
“This body also has enough strength to defend itself.”
The Grand Duke laughed bitterly at the story of a loyal knight who would not break his stubbornness and showed off the self-defense weapon he was wearing in the form of a bracelet.
The bracelet was an armament that could change its form and was actually the Archduke’s weapon.
Although he did not reach the level of a superhuman like the knight commander, he had the power of the highest level of a user, able to strengthen his body with essence through constant training.
Therefore, the knight commander did not break his stubbornness despite the Archduke’s opinion that he did not need to be escorted.
“Please let me escort you.”
“Hehe, if you’re that stubborn about what will happen within the system, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
In the end, Iris Zenon leaves the mansion to return to her home with the knight commander.
And as I was escorting her out of her mansion, I asked the woman who lived here just before that.
“… “Do you mind if you don’t go and see the lady?”
“Hmm, today’s visit itself was a sudden visit. “If you visit without warning, the child will feel burdened.”
When the Archduke smiled and said that all girls of that age were like that, she couldn’t deny it and made an awkward expression.
It is said that the Grand Duke did not necessarily meet his daughter, but rode in her horse-drawn carriage escorted by her female attendant and then moved to her warp gate.
+++
“Hmm… It’s definitely impossible. “There’s a seal on her that even her own power can’t open.”
“… “Is it that much?”
“She didn’t even know about airspace?”
“… “To be honest, I was hoping that if I had a wedding, I would be able to eat this raw.”
“Then I’m sorry. If you try to break it with force, it seems like it would be possible to break it, but it is a structure in which the contents will inevitably be destroyed. “Even if we try to carefully destroy the seal on the box, it is impossible with my current Qigong mastery.”
Turn back time a little bit. Eugene, who has just left the female knight and purchased information on how the world flows from a company that handles information.
By purchasing information and using his position as a powerful shareholder in the company, he succeeded in receiving one of the items he had requested.
The item was none other than a box large enough to be held with one hand, and he was currently checking to see if he could lift the supernatural seal on the box with Yeonhwa’s help.
“Even Heavenly Demon’s Qigong is not enough…”
“That means that this item received from the organization is something unusual.”
