I looked at Blizen. His head slowly sank down.
Just like me back when I was Yoo Hyemin.
It felt like sparks were flying from my eyes.
“Don’t bow your head if you haven’t done anything wrong!”
“......”
“The environment is never the child’s fault.”
“......”
“Just because your parents don’t value you doesn’t mean you’re worthless.”
“......”
“You are a miracle just by being born — a very special and precious existence.”
I couldn’t tell if he was speaking to Blizen or to Yoo Hyemin.
But one thing was certain: there wasn’t a trace of falsehood in those words.
“Y-yeah. Blizen, you’re very precious─”
The mad Noarizen tried to babble nonsense again, so I stomped hard on the back of his hand.
Noarizen shouted furiously.
“You, you...!”
No matter how much he was in pain, he was still an adult man.
He must have thought he could overpower a ten-year-old like me even in this state.
‘What use are the guards then?’ There was still Grandfather in the jurisdiction, Dad the master, and the terrifying twins.
And I even had a monster.
‘If I just call Ragon, he’d foam at the mouth...!’ Just as I was puffing up and staring at Noarizen,
Blizen opened his mouth.
“Don’t shout.”
Noarizen and I flinched.
The sharpness of his voice was so chilling, it sounded like Grandfather or Dad.
“B-Blizen, how can you leave your father to be with such a shameless woman─!”
“Father always said he loved me, but he always blamed everything on me.”
“W-what?”
“He told me that none of it was my fault.”
“He doesn’t take responsibility! He’s not the one responsible for you, so he can speak recklessly like that! Blizen!”
“Is a father’s responsibility abusing his child?”
Now I understood how kind a son Blizen had been to Noarizen.
Because of that single reply, Noarizen looked utterly incredulous.
Blizen said to the stammering Noarizen,
“When I was barely holding on to my father’s love, I couldn’t see.
But once I let go, I finally saw clearly.”
“Blizen?”
“How shallow and worthless that feeling was.”
“S-son.”
“...”
Blizen looked coldly at Noarizen, who was trembling violently.
“Just as Father abandoned me before desire, this time I will abandon him.”
Thud! Noarizen looked at Blizen as if struck by lightning.
That scumbag must have believed Blizen would save him.
How vile to demand love from a child when you never truly loved them.
Blizen’s voice was flat.
“Goodbye.”
“Blizen!”
Noarizen screamed, so I grabbed Blizen’s hand.
“Let’s go.”
“...Yeah.”
Unable to hold back, I kicked Noarizen one more time and left.
Blizen smirked faintly.
.
.
Noarizen was moved to the Twelfth Tower in the morning.
His whole body tightly bound to a big tree.
Stoned by the crowd.
Exactly fifteen days passed.
News spread around the Astra estate that Noarizen had committed suicide.
When he died, his hair had turned white like Grandfather’s.
You could guess how terrible those fifteen days must have been.
Noarizen’s business was over.
Blizen had been living in our jurisdiction.
I woke up early like a sick chicken and left my room.
“Ugh...”
Mornings are so hard.
I think I used to jump out of bed easily when I was younger.
*‘If it’s this hard at ten, how much harder will it be at twenty?’
Thirty? Forty?*
Just getting up early and going to work deserves respect. Really...
In the courtyard, Blizen was already waiting.
I greeted him first.
“Hello, Brother Blizen.”
“Yeah. Up early.”
“Mm.”
I was about to pass by, but stopped with an “Ah.”
“Your arm.”
I checked Blizen’s arm every day.
He offered it without hesitation.
I carefully rolled up his sleeve.
Hmm. Much better. “Don’t skip applying the medicine. Your wounds need to heal fast so you won’t think about that nasty guy.”
Better for him to forget Noarizen quickly.
Blizen chuckled softly.
“But I don’t think I’ll forget.”
“Why?!”
“His name is so lovely — Noarizen — that’s why he’s Blizen.”
“......”
Blizen patted my head and walked by.
I kept staring at his back.
Aisa Aunt was kind, gentle, and capable... but her taste in men and naming was terrible.
Then someone placed a hand on my head again.
I turned to see Dad.
“Dad.”
“Why are you looking at Blizen like that?”
Dad looked kindly at Blizen’s back with me.
Hmm... I considered telling him about Blizen’s situation, but shook my head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
No point worrying unnecessarily.
I’m not going to change his name or anything.
“Let’s have breakfast!”
“...Okay.”
I held Dad’s hand and headed to the dining hall.
After the storm passed, the Twelfth Tower began to settle.
First, they confiscated all of Noarizen’s property.
There was no money left, but one huge thing remained.
‘ Gaho stones.’ Noarizen had been storing all the stones.
There was only one with Count Talos, but that was also recovered.
Four stones — worth more than a mansion each — had been gathered.
More importantly, there was a notebook kept in the treasury of Aisa jurisdiction.
An enormous...
‘Notebook describing how to extract Gaho from people.’ The direct relatives were in uproar.
“That would be tremendous!”
If they could extract all sorts of Gaho, they could build the world’s greatest magic army.
Everyone coveted it, but the rightful heir was, of course, Blizen.
So it was natural that Blizen became the storm’s eye of the Astra estate.
The Astra Twelfth Tower banquet hall.
It had been newly refurbished after several years.
Countless diamonds studded the grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
A gigantic table to fit all direct relatives.
Six hexagonal pillars embroidered with intricate golden patterns.
Wow, so magnificent. Truly... I widened my eyes at the banquet hall’s grandeur.
That’s the continent’s top financial power. The hall buzzed with relatives chatting loudly.
Then, the fifth son, Uncle Silvan, asked Grandfather quietly.
“What will happen to Blizen now?”
Grandfather paused, holding his knife, and glanced at Uncle Silvan.
Meeting eyes, Silvan awkwardly smiled, noticing the knife.
“Isn’t Blizen still young to live without parents?”
“So?”
“I spoke with my wife; she feels uneasy leaving her nephew alone. How about I take Blizen in─”
Before Silvan could finish, Uncle Deconz sharply interrupted.
“My wife and I are better. We have only one child, Liantin. We always hoped he’d have siblings.”
“If you want, you can try tonight.”
Silvan muttered quietly.
“Silvan!”
“Those who think Liantin is the best in the world will raise Blizen without discrimination.”
Others joined the argument.
Valderic laughed heartily and spoke loudest.
“What nonsense are you talking? Blizen’s mother is Aisa, my full sister. Of course, I should # Nоvеlight # raise him.”
Even Aunt Bastina joined, intensifying the argument.
“If a child with Blizen’s brilliant talent will be a sibling, we’re all excited.”
To them, Blizen was a delicious prize.
That tremendous talent.
Gaho stones.
The notebook explaining Gaho extraction.
If they took Blizen, all that would be theirs.
The debate grew louder and fiercer.
Another commotion today. I shook my head and focused on eating.
Aunt Basile, Dionera’s mother, mediated.
“The most important thing is the child’s wishes. Let Blizen decide.”
A reasonable suggestion.
At least Blizen would prefer to have a guardian. A teenager with treasure alone would be a target for the second generation.
Grandfather nodded slightly.
“Blizen, you choose.”
All eyes in the banquet hall focused on Blizen.
The third generation, eating, also looked up and stared.
Listening to the second generation’s words, Blizen lowered his head but slowly spoke.
“I want to go to Daymond jurisdiction.”
“...!”
“...!”
“...!”
Everyone was shocked, mouths agape.
Huh? Uncle Deconz finally managed to say,
“B-Blizen, Daymond jurisdiction has three children. Balzac and Joshua haven’t been adopted yet?”
“That’s right! And there’s no lady of the house, so no one will care for you.”
Uncle Valderic added.
“Daymond brother’s workload is heavy. He won’t have energy for you.”
Other second generations chimed in, and the hall grew noisy again.
“We say it all for you, Blizen.”
Grandfather slammed down his crystal glass loudly.
The banquet hall fell silent immediately.
“Among your children, is there anyone ranked higher than Erilot who grew up motherless?”
“......”
“......”
“......”
“Looking at how Daymond raised Erilot, Balzac, and Joshua, there’s no doubt about his ability.”
Once rank was mentioned, everyone was mute like they’d eaten honey.
Grandfather turned his head to Dad.
“Daymond. What do you think?”
“I...”
Dad looked at me and the twins.
We exchanged glances.
I nodded slightly. The twins shrugged.
“If you think so.”
“Alright.”
With the twins in agreement, I looked at Dad.
“We’re fine with it.”
Dad’s face was stoic.
But since he’d spent quite some time with Blizen, both Dad and I noticed his slight nervousness.
Dad told Grandfather,
“I’ll take him. That one.”
Blizen’s pupils narrowed.
“Then Blizen will be in Daymond’s care─”
Just as Grandfather tried to settle the matter, Dad added,
“Please change Blizen’s name while you’re at it.”
‘Oh? No way.’ We realized immediately. Blizen did too.
Dad had heard everything Blizen and I said in the courtyard.
How, as long as he used the name Blizen, Noarizen would come to mind.
‘So you knew.’ Grandfather glanced at Dad.
“He’s your child, so it’s not my business. Do as you please.”
“If so, the new name will be Resimund.”
Me, the twins, even Blizen were all surprised, staring at Dad.
‘We all know what Resimund means.’ Uncle Lisian, the twins’ biological father.
My father, Daymond.
Combining the two gives Resimund. Balzac and Joshua were still Dad’s half-brothers.
So technically, the twins and I were closer to Blizen than that.
That’s why Dad gave Blizen the name ‘Resimund.’
‘So you won’t be an outsider among us.’ Dad usually didn’t seem like it, but when he was occasionally kind, I thought he was incredibly cool.
Grandfather looked at Dad quietly.
Then...
“Alright.”
Permission granted.
With that, the twins and I looked at Blizen, or rather, Resimund.
“Welcome, Brother Resimund.”
“I’m in charge of cutting Erilot’s nails.”
“I’ll read the books to him.”
Resimund laughed with his eyes fluttering.
It was a genuine laugh I’d never seen before.
So I got one more brother.
Unlike the twins, a normal brother.
...Or so I thought.
I looked with blurry eyes at four men standing before me with their hands behind their backs.
“What now?”
I asked, but the four men were silent with their lips pressed tightly shut.
I closed my eyes and pressed my temples, saying,
“Speak. Why did you fight again?”
Including Resimund?
Balzac now looked genuinely wronged and shouted,
“You’re twenty-three and he’s sending you a marriage proposal! He’s crazy!”
It probably wasn’t because he liked ten-year-old me, but because I was the only heiress in Daymond jurisdiction.
‘Trying to secure a marriage alliance somehow.’ Of course, I thought it was ridiculous.
But couldn’t they calm down a bit and settle this quietly?
Typical of a scheming family, ruin the other family or
Find a weakness and torment them for life so they never speak again!
I bit my lip and said,
“Who’s the one that smashed Poliron’s nobility? Raise your hand quietly.”
Resimund quietly raised his hand.
...That’s betrayal.
I thought he was normal!
Meanwhile, at the Twelfth Tower.
Marquis Debussy smiled gently and raised his teacup.
It had been a long time since such a leisurely moment.
The days had been hectic dealing with a series of incidents.
Marquis Debussy glanced at Duke Astra and said,
“Most things are settled now; let’s enjoy some leisure.”
The Duke ignored Debussy and flipped through documents.
“Enough idle talk. What of the Emperor?”
“They deny knowing anything about the Gaho stones.”
“What about Count Talos?”
“He’s in the salt fields.”
Count Talos’s family desperately searched for him.
𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 ‘It’ll be hard to find him.’ His mind was completely gone; he no longer knew who he was.
Debussy smiled thinly.
Noarizen’s property confiscation was resolved.
Blizen, or Resimund’s adoption was settled.
Debussy took a sip of tea.
Very good. The weather was fine, the breeze pleasant.
Because of Resimund-related incidents, the Twelfth Tower was on 24-hour alert.
They were overwhelmed rejecting all the resignation letters submitted by the lower ranks. Truly.
Again, this leisure was something else...
Now I could finally go fishing.
I hadn’t even opened the fishing rod package I bought four months ago.
Go fishing, get some sleep, burn the pile of resignation letters...
As Marquis Debussy smiled contentedly, there was a knock knock knock! Urgent knocking.
A sound that carried a very ominous feeling.