“LUCIAN.”
He looked up at his father’s call.
The curve of a pair of pale legs was revealed under the rolled-up pant legs. The pale calves, which seemed to have no color, were stripped with red lines.
The blue lines hidden below the brightness of the new red lines, and the yellow lines hidden even deeper below them, were intertwined like a spider’s web.
“Yes, Father.”
While looking indifferently at his son, who was beaten to such a severe state but showed no tears, the Duke recalled his father.
He imagined that his Father had come back. In his mind, he spat at, insulted, and plunged a dagger into his chest without a hint of hesitation.
The twisted frown on the duke’s mouth became even more contorted.
“What the hell did you do to that good boy? Why the hell does that kid keep looking for you?”
Lucian couldn’t answer his father’s question.
He was also curious.
Why does his new brother come to visit him?
“I don’t know either.”
So for the first time, he gave his father an uncertain answer.
At his words, the duke raised one eyebrow suddenly.
“Don’t you know? Do you think that makes sense? You must have used some kind of trick to seduce that innocent and naive child.”
“……No.”
“Why, do you think you’ve hit the nail on the head and figured everything out? Do you think using him will change anything?”
“I’m…”
‘I’ve never thought of that.’
He didn’t question his father in the first place.
He just waited silently.
He thought his father would see him differently if he finished all the schedules as his father wanted and became a reliable successor.
Yeah, like… like the way he looked at Raphael.
Yeah, he’d been waiting so long for him to see him like that.
But…
“…I never thought of that.”
No wonder he choked.
It felt as if he had stuffed the bread he often ate into his mouth without any water.
“That can’t be true. Otherwise, why would he behave like that?”
Lucian thought of his brother
It is rather amazing that he approached him with a bright expression every single time. Everyone in the castle passed by him like he wasn’t really there.
Even the employees didn’t seem to view him as a living person. It seemed as if he was passing through, almost as if he were invisible.
But only that child faced him clearly.
Whenever he sees his reflection is in his dark blue eyes, a strange sensation pricks at his mind.
He still didn’t know what it was, but one thing was clear.
Contrary to his initial thoughts, he cares about the child now. That’s more than he would have ever thought possible.
“Don’t accept Raphael when he comes. Then he’ll eventually stop on his own.”
The duke found Raphael’s behavior very difficult. He wants to see the kid who looks just like Liam.
Every time, just by watching him, he is soaked in his memories of Liam and remembers some of his past happiness.
But seeing Lucian with the same face as his father hanging around Raphael made him upset.
The nightmare of that day came back to life, and he couldn’t even sleep properly.
It’s been a long time since he has been dead, but he questions himself why his father still bothers him.
The Duke became even more displeased by the sudden surge of his unhappy past. The anger that had lost its place to go quickly filled back up while he stared at Lucian, despite the Duke knowing there is no reason to hate Lucian.
Every time before, Lucian has calmly accepted his Father’s way of expressing disapproval just like that very familiar person he couldn’t seem to stop remembering.
But this time Lucian stared at his father with a different look than usual. He looked like a child who wanted to rebel against his parents for the first time.
It was just a moment, but it was a clearly rebellious expression. However, he did not notice the duke who was drunk on his own emotions.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
“WHAT? OUTING?“
“Yes, can you go shopping with dad and go to a dessert shop?”
The Duke suddenly came to me and asked me to go out. Of course I don’t hate it, but… what should I do? Should I ask him?
“What about the young Duke?”
As soon as I asked, the Duke’s expression turned cold. Recently we ate together, so I thought it would be okay, but I guess not.
“Doesn’t Rap want to go out with Dad alone?”
“No! I want to go out with the Duke!”
“Huhuuu, I wish you would call me dad… but it seems you’re still feeling awkward. Yeah, you can work up to it slowly.”
“Yes…”
It’s not that I don’t like the Duke, that’s not the reason I don’t want to call him Dad.
I’m just a little scared. Because it didn’t end well with all the people I called my dad.
I may not be able to call the Duke my father for life.
I could not help but fall for that smile that shows infinite affection even though I know his true nature.
I feel like I’m charging up something in my heart that’s been depleted.
“Then, our little Rap. Let’s go out and play.”
“Okay!”
I am sad that I can’t be with Lucian, but I am looking forward to going out.
I felt like I had abandoned my original age and kept becoming more and more like a child.
I held the Duke’s big warm hand with all my might. The Duke’s outing was much more enjoyable than expected.
First of all, there are many things to see because it is my first time going to those places, and I liked it because there was a lot of cute stuff.
Ack cute stuff. My favorite.
I murmured while looking at the box in the middle of my room.
“You must really have a lot of money.”
I went shopping with my Count parents before.
They did not lack money, but the Duke’s stockpile of money was much larger than theirs.
I didn’t see him buy just one of anything, he bought every variation.
By color, by size, or by type…
“So, Raphael from the original story grew up quite luxuriously.”
This degree of luxury is really hard to grasp just by reading it.
If I had possessed this character without remembering the original story, I would probably be as spoiled as Raphael from the original.
That’s how quick the Duke was to buy everything I could see.
If I hadn’t stopped him in the middle, the boxes might have been stacked even higher.
“Oh, right.”
I yanked a box out of my pajamas. It contained a pair of letter openers.
It has a simple design with a brilliant emerald embedded in the main body of the golden letter opener.
But I bought it because I liked the colors.
Doesn’t it look like Lucian and my combined colors?
I was worried that the Duke would be suspicious if I bought two of the same things, but I snuck one more while in the midst of buying many things.
“Well, wouldn’t this be okay? It doesn’t even look that expensive.”
I’m sure I’m a successful fan of his.
I took good care of the letter opener with a satisfied expression. I lay on the bed waiting expectantly for tomorrow to arrive.
I fell asleep before I knew it while fiddling with my pajamas that had a soft and expensive texture.
After breakfast with the Duke the next day, I carefully hid the letter opener in my inner pocket and visited the Duchess before I went to see Lucian.
I know I’m gonna be rejected, but I am not gonna enter and visit her in a discourteous way.
“Come on in.”
Really? She is the duchess who hadn’t even shown herself for more than a month.
“Madam, Young Master Elrand is entering.”
Instead of the Duchess’s maid calling her “Mistress,” her original title was replaced in the process.
They introduced me by stating my original surname.
Just hearing that, I knew what the Duchess would think of me.
“Let him in.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Under the guidance of the maid, I entered through the huge door.
There was the Duchess basking in the pouring sunshine. She was sitting upright on the sofa right next to the window.
“Greetings to the Duchess, I am Raphael de Elrand.”
“You’re his child.”
The Duchess wasn’t really looking at me when her gaze fell on me, she was looking through me at someone else. While her gaze was directed outside the window, she opened it.
“Do you know the word mirage?”
“…Pardon?”
Isn’t that out of the blue? The Duchess’ voice was so small that I even had to breathe out quietly and listen.
“There is a desert in the country next to the empire. I heard a story from a man who saw an oasis in the middle of a desert without water.”
“………”
Why is her voice so quiet?
I had no choice but to get closer to her so I could listen to her properly.
“The man who hadn’t been able to drink water for a few days said he dove toward it with his face first as soon as he saw the oasis. But the only thing that came into his dry mouth was the rough sand.”
“Yes…”
“When I first heard this story, it was when I was the same age as Lucian is now… …I thought it was so amazing and strange when I first heard it… …is it the same for you?”
“Of course it’s amazing!”
Are you explaining it because you think I don’t know what a mirage is? Why are you talking about a mirage all of a sudden?
I rudely stared at the back of her head without realizing it.
I couldn’t help it. She still didn’t really look at me.
“Yeah, that’s amazing. It’s amazing and fun to be a newbie to anything.”
“Yes.”
I already knew what it was from the beginning, but I nodded profusely.
I wanted to be close to the Duchess. I wanted to get close and help her.
She needs to heal her heart’s disease so she can help my favorite. There must be a limit to helping her discreetly, who is not even my original family member.
The more we are on the same side, the better.
I was staring at her, who was lost in thought for a while, and as soon as I turned my gaze toward her, it was met with a pair of brittle blue eyes.
Unlike her beautiful appearance, she had a dry look in her eyes and an expression just like the desert she spoke of. The Duchess whispered softly as she looked at me.
“Is the mirage always only in the desert? What do you think?”
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