Nella, who had woken up, was still not in a good condition.

At times like this, she needed something enjoyable that suited a child's taste.

"Now, let's go quickly!"

Pola, who was pulling Nella's hand.

Nella, who held Pola's hand tightly, began to regain her smile little by little at the new air she was feeling after a long time.

The ten-year-old child was fast at everything.

In addition, the Naiads hovering around Nella were now gathering large and small energies and sharing them with Nella, and thanks to that, the child's recovery was even faster.

Amazing natural affinity.

Lucas and Aman couldn't hide their surprise at Nella's natural affinity, which surpassed that of an elf.

The spirits were helping the child on their own? At this rate, it was as if she were a spirit herself.

"Go slowly! What if you fall again!"

Skir, who was the oldest, took good care of the children in his own way.

As they got on Skir's family's carriage and headed to the city, Nella's body began to tremble again.

"Hey! Kir. Let's walk!"

"That would be good. The weather is nice, after all."

Thinking that she might be scared of the carriage, the children immediately stopped the carriage and chose to walk.

"Now, we can just walk."

"That's right. It's just around the corner from here."

It wasn't a distance that required a carriage in the first place.

But Skir, who had gotten into the habit of taking a carriage even for a short distance, had always dragged the children and put them in the carriage.

"Hey, so I told you to walk from the beginning, right?"

"Sister, I'm fine..."

Nella pulled her hand at Pola's sharp rebuke.

"I understand."

Pola, who stroked Nella's head once, glared at Skir.

"Ahem..."

Then Skir looked at the distant mountain, avoiding her eyes. It was a very familiar scene now.

But even after getting off the carriage, Nella's body was still trembling slightly.

'Ah... she must have been here before.'

His thoughts were short. Nella was from the Esna immigrant tribe.

The Esna people, who lived in a forest not far from the imperial palace, would come to the city when they needed something, and during the festival, they would bring out and sell the handicrafts they had made.

There would be no immigrant child who had not been to the area around the imperial palace.

But to have brought such a child out again to show her a good sight... Lucas's head was throbbing.

"Nella! Let's go over there."

But whether she knew his feelings or not, Pola just cheerfully led Nella's hand and began to wander around.

Nella would flinch every time she passed a certain point.

It must be a place she knew. A place she had passed by, holding her mother's hand, and riding on her father's shoulders.

A happy family had collapsed in an instant, and for a child who had lost her father and mother in front of her eyes, the present was a very harsh reality.

But Nella was holding up well.

Nella, who held Pola's hand tightly, trembled but followed her, moving her feet diligently.

"Here, try this."

"Uh-huh..."

Nella's pupils, who had received the small candy that Pola had given her, shook violently.

"Why? You don't want to eat it?"

"Hic... hic..."

Nella, who was just looking at the candy in her hand without eating it, suddenly began to sob.

"Why, what's wrong? Nella, if the candy doesn't taste good, let's not eat it. Huh? I'm sorry."

Pola, who couldn't have known the child's feelings, was flustered and tried to take back the candy in the child's hand.

"No... sob! No, it's delicious..."

Thick teardrops fell from Nella's eyes as she brought the candy in her hand to her mouth.

It was pitiful to see the child with an expression that was hard to tell whether she was smiling or crying, putting the candy in her mouth.

"Ugh... sob... M-mom..."

Nella finally collapsed on the floor. The child, who was holding the candy in her arms without eating it, cried out for her mother.

It had finally burst. The child's festering wound had finally exploded in a place filled with memories of her parents.

Lucas, who was watching the child, also felt his eyes sting.

How hard it must have been for that small child. The entire village had been shattered, not just ruined, by a single doll she had picked up.

She must have thought that she had destroyed the immigrants, who had been living by leaning on each other even though it was hard, with her own hands.

That it was no different from killing her own parents with her own hands.

The parties who could tell the child, who was carrying all this guilt alone, 'It's not your fault,' were either no longer in this world or had left this place.

She couldn't even say it, for fear that if she did, it would all become true.

She thought it was a luxury to feel that a piece of meat that went into her mouth was delicious, after having driven her parents to their deaths and all the villagers to ruin.

The candy that her parents had put in her hand, after selling only a few teapots that they had carried on their backs and heads on the day of the festival.

The child was not crying for the candy, but for her lost parents and the guilt she was holding in her arms.

"Mooom... Daaad... waaaah!"

The hand of the beautiful countess she had met on the road she had run away from, leaving her dying mother behind, was so warm.

That touch had saved Nella, but since she had held her hand, Nella had been anxious every day.

The child, who was holding on to the end of this happiness that she didn't know when it would break, had sleepless nights due to guilt.

The child trembled secretly every day, not knowing if it was a happiness she was allowed to have, or a luxury she was allowed to enjoy.

"Nella, Nella... I'm sorry. Huh? I'm sorry..."

Pola, who was hugging Nella, was also shedding tears like beads.

"Waaaah! Take me too... Mom... Daaad!!!"

Skir, who was watching them, also had tears welling up in his eyes.

'Ha, it's a sea of tears.'

They were all children going through a difficult time.

Skir, the second son of a central noble family that supported the empire, was also experiencing unprecedented hardships, and Pola was also thinking about her lost older sister every day.

And Nella, who thought that the villagers' and her parents' affairs were all her fault.

The children sat there for a long time and had a tearful storm.

***

Lucas, who had brought the children who had stopped crying to a restaurant, decided to get in the mood.

Children are simple. They must be hungry after crying for a long time.

As if his thoughts were right, the children obediently followed Lucas into the restaurant.

"Now, let's eat whatever you want."

"...Hic!"

Nella, who was still not over the aftereffects, couldn't even answer properly and was hiccuping, but her expression was much better.

The festering wound had finally burst, so the wound would gradually heal. No, he had to make it heal.

'Because she's my younger sister.'

As the table began to be filled with food, the children began to swallow their saliva.

"Now, let's eat."

"Thank you for the food!"

As Pola shouted brightly, the children also said a word each after her.

"Thank you for the food."

"Thank you... hic! for the food."

As the children began to eat, Lucas also picked up his fork and knife and began to eat.

Pola was cutting the meat into small pieces and putting it on Nella's plate, and Skir was carefully spreading butter on the bread and putting it on Pola's plate.

"You eat too, oppa... hic!"

Then. Nella picked up a skewer in front of her and carefully placed it on Lucas's plate.

"...Thanks."

Lucas, who was looking at the skewer on his plate, smiled brightly.

It was fun. There were many times when he was annoyed and irritated by being pushed around by the children, but all his annoyance melted away like snow at a single act like this from the children.

'Is this what they mean by the joy of raising children...'

Lucas, who had taken a piece of meat from the skewer and put it in his mouth, looked at the children.

He wanted to raise these children well. He wanted to completely heal all the large and small wounds that the small humans in front of him had received.

If he had the power, he wanted to watch over the descendants of these children even after he died and became a god.

"Eat a lot."

The children also smiled brightly at Lucas's warm words.

"Okay!"

"You eat a lot too."

"...You too, oppa!"

Right, no more, no less, just this much was enough. If there was just this much peace...

***

The Rodrigo County. A man got out of the carriage that had arrived in front of it.

"Is this it?"

"Yes, young master. This is the Rodrigo County."

"Right, you've worked hard."

One corner of the man's mouth, who had placed a few silver coins in the coachman's hand, curled up.

Looking around, he saw that the county estate was under renovation, and the workers were moving busily.

He felt annoyed at the sight.

They were no different from traitors to the empire. To think that such people would tear down and rebuild their house as soon as they got some wealth, it was pathetic and an eyesore.

He also knew. The fact that the concubine's son who had killed the first prince and had become the emperor was no different from a traitor.

But something like that was not important.

In any case, the fact that the O'Neil Duchy he belonged to had sided with Emperor Grad did not change.

So he thought it was right to call others traitors so that he would not become a traitor himself.

The thought that had bloomed like that had at some point settled in his mind as a fact.

A traitor who had betrayed the empire and had stood on the opposite side of His Majesty the Emperor. The Rodrigo County.

The tears of regret of his father, Duke Cirus, whom he had accidentally seen in his childhood. He knew exactly what those tears meant.

But he had been annoyed every time he saw those tears. His own father looked weak.

He couldn't understand why he was crouching in a corner and crying, after having driven him out with his own hands.

He also didn't like his mother, who was comforting him. To think that she was just crying next to him, instead of correcting her husband if he seemed to be going down the wrong path!

"Annoying."

His brow furrowed at the rising past, and then an old knight approached him.

"Who are you?"

"Ah, I am Stun O... no, Stun Nimrod. I would like to see the Count."

"Stun... Nimrod?"

"Yes, Alberto Nimrod. I am the adopted son of the Mage Tower Master."

"Ah, I understand. Would you please wait a moment?"

As he mentioned the Mage Tower Master's name, the knight tilted his head once and then disappeared into the county estate.

Looking at the knight's behavior, it seemed that the rumor that Alberto had adopted a son had not yet reached this remote corner.

Not long after, the knight returned, and the closed gate of the county estate opened.

As he entered the county estate, he could see Count Cibie walking from a distance.

As he looked at the Count's appearance, he vaguely remembered the Count's appearance he had seen in the past.

Jet-black hair and blue eyes. Stun knew those eyes.

"Hello."

Even at Stun's greeting, the Count just looked at him and did not say anything.

'What? This is so annoying...'

"You've come. Stun."

"Ha, you seem to remember me?"

The Count's expression as he looked at Stun, who was letting out a big sigh... was completely unreadable.

The Count was in a complicated mood, not knowing what to do now.

His godson, whom he had seen after more than ten years, was as crooked as he could be.

He couldn't know why he had come to see him. But a feeling similar to anger was boiling up from deep inside his heart.

He had promised himself that he would correct this child if he ever tried to go down the wrong path. But he was a child who had even left the hands of his friend, Duke Cirus.

"Right. I remember. How could I forget you."

The Count, who had tried to ignore the complicated feelings, smiled faintly.

"Then the story will be easier."

"Right. I don't know what story you want to talk about, having come all this way..."

"Ha! I have nothing to say to you. I just came to let you know that my father... no, Duke Cirus has lost his eldest son because of you."

He realized his mistake at the words he had uttered, swayed by his emotions, but the words had already been spoken.

In fact, his goal was to stay in Citata for a while and dig up their weaknesses.

But he couldn't bear it when he saw the Count's benevolent smile.

'What does he think he is...!'

He didn't want it either. He had just left home in a fit of pique, but he had made a very rash decision because he couldn't control his anger.

But he repeated to himself several times in his mind. That he would not be like his foolish father, who regretted his choices.

That this was the right path.

"Hoho, you've grown up to be very... insolent. You need to be beaten."

The Count, who smiled cheerfully, rolled up his sleeves.

"W-what..."

-Thwack!!

"Ugh!!"

His vision flashed.

"You little brat... how dare you look your godfather straight in the eye! Huh?!"

Cibie didn't hold back.

(End of Chapter)