It was partly due to the violent tutor who taught him swordsmanship in his childhood, but above all, the influence of his father, the former Duke of Daiern, was significant.

The image of his father ingrained in Kardiel’s mind was always that of an authoritative nobleman with a decorative sword at his waist.

From a very long time ago, since the hazy memories of infancy.

Children rely on instincts and desires to act until their brains are fully developed.

Especially during that period, survival instincts are developed, and in some sense, they are said to be better at recognizing surrounding danger information than adults.

Kardiel’s instincts made him fear his father, Carlos Nikolai, who was also the Duke of Daiern.

Particularly, the sword hanging at his waist was the cause of that fear.

“Hah, you worm. I’ve raised you this much even though you’re my child. You don’t know how to respect your father.”

“I’m sorry, Father. I won’t do it again.”

Young Kardiel, who always had to tremble when he heard his father’s inexplicable shouts, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Father would look for Kardiel and his siblings simply because he was in a bad mood, or because he had been drinking, or just because something displeased him.

Every time that happened, the scabbard would be separated from Father’s waist.

Although he never drew the sword, the repeated symbol of violence was enough to be imprinted on Kardiel’s subconscious.

The sword is violence, and swordsmanship is the most active means of attack.

So, isn’t attack the best defense?

“Huu.”

A deep sigh flowed slowly from the very bottom of his lungs.

That’s what Kardiel thought.

If breaths could be seen with the eyes, his room would be entirely polluted by the black sighs he had accumulated over the years.

A breath of resentment created by the poison he had harbored for over a decade.

The dregs of emotions he had piled up alone, unable to pour them out to anyone.

However, these hardened lumps of stubbornness were also serving as a solid foundation that had kept the boy from collapsing for a long time.

That’s why Kardiel had no choice but to continue relying on his own obstinacy.

Reminding himself that the only thing he could trust was himself, his decisions, and his values.

‘This isn’t a normal state.’

Of course, Kardiel knows this too.

His inflexible self, trapped only in his own thoughts. Also, his unyielding self that never compromises with anything, even while being aware of it.

Is he the only one who knows? Euphemina and Chersion must also be well aware of their eldest brother’s dogmatic aspects.

The servants, the tutor as well.

Still.

‘I don’t want to reveal this side of me in front of my new mother.’

That was the reason Kardiel hid his true feelings in front of Lieselotte.

He wanted to be a perfect and reliable eldest son in front of her.

To Kardiel, Lieselotte is more special than anyone else. No, such a crude word is insufficient.

Respect and adoration.

Someone he loves more than his birth mother and trusts more than any teacher.

‘I can’t disappoint her.’

To explain Kardiel’s feelings for Lieselotte, we need to go back ten years in time.

A brutal father who treated his children as if they were his toys, like dogs he was raising, or even slaves.

In contrast, Kardiel’s birth mother was an extremely frail person.

“I’m sorry, children. I’m so sorry that Mother is powerless…”

She never tried to stop or intervene no matter how Kardiel and Euphemina were treated by their demon-like father.

Or rather, she was unable to do so. After all, she too was a victim of the demon called her husband.

Her fear of her husband robbed her of youth and vitality, slowly withering her away.

Although she was said to have inherited the blood of a collateral imperial family, after marriage, she thoroughly became an outsider, and no one helped her.

On the day she finally gained freedom from the demon’s hands after years of suffering, it rained.

Kardiel only heard the news of his youngest sibling, who had exchanged their life for his mother’s, late in the evening.

However, he could neither mourn his mother’s death nor feel relief at his sibling’s safe birth. If it were the opposite, perhaps.

A month passed like that.

Just when he thought nothing had changed in the demon’s castle even after his mother’s departure.

His father’s second marriage was arranged. It was shortly after Kardiel turned five and Euphemina turned four.

“How pitiful.”

To be honest, Kardiel pitied the woman who became his new mother.

Her life, voluntarily becoming a sacrifice, lured by the grand name of the duchy, was incomparably pathetic.

He firmly believed that her dazzling white skin, her glossy dark purple hair, and her eyes shining like pale violets would soon become as hideous as his birth mother’s.

However, surprisingly, she managed to endure well in this demon’s castle for a full 10 years.

Of course, the process wasn’t smooth.

For the first few months after the wedding, the new mother didn’t pay much attention to the children.

She would just greet them when they met or ask what they had been up to lately, that was all.

“Kardiel, right? I heard you’re learning swordsmanship these days. Is that why your arms are so bruised?”

“…Yes.”

“I see. But as the young lord, you don’t need to learn swordsmanship, do you? Do you perhaps want to become a knight?”

“That’s not it.”

“Is that so? Even so, the intensity of the lessons seems too high. Should I meet with the swordsmanship instructor and raise this issue?”

“…No. There’s no need for that. I’d prefer if you didn’t interfere.”

“If you insist, I won’t get involved from now on. Still, make sure to apply medicine regularly, and it would be better to refuse lessons that are too harsh.”

As if you know anything.

The reason for learning the sword was because he had a goal to stand against his demon-like father and protect Euphemina and Chersion.

Also, it was because he no longer wanted to fear his father’s sword, which was a symbol of violence.

“Well. Who could genuinely give affection to children from their husband’s previous wife?”

Forget affection, it would be fortunate if they weren’t hated.

However, not long after, Kardiel realized that he had greatly misunderstood Lieselotte all this time.

“You, what are you doing to Kardiel right now?”

It was when the sturdy leather whip and ornate scabbard were drawing dozens of red lines on young Kardiel’s back.

To Kardiel, who was clutching the bed sheets and swallowing his cries, unable to move due to the demon’s orders, her voice was like salvation.

“Ah, if it isn’t my beautiful wife. I am currently disciplining the children, so please wait in the bedroom for a moment.”

“You call this discipline? This is violence!”

She strode in and immediately snatched the whip and sword from the demon’s hands, throwing them to the floor.

Then she wrapped a blanket around Kardiel, whose back was covered in blood, and embraced him.

Her sharp voice calling for the doctor to be summoned somehow felt warm, and it seemed like he might cry.

“This is not something for you to concern yourself with, wife. I am disciplining my child as a father.”

“Stop with this discipline nonsense. I don’t know what wrong Kardiel has committed, but for a father to wield violence like this, treating his child like a slave? Do you know that slavery was abolished 500 years ago?”

“Are you trying to teach me now?”

“Why? Is your pride hurt because I’m telling you something you don’t know? Or are you ashamed of yourself for doing such barbaric acts despite knowing better?”

Realizing that she was an opponent he couldn’t win against with words, the demon had no choice but to let the two go, despite glaring fiercely.

Until this point, Kardiel thought her sense of justice might be a momentary impulse.

That he shouldn’t expect any more kindness.

That only he could protect himself.

However, Kardiel’s expectations were pleasantly proven wrong.

Because even after that, she continued to save Kardiel and Euphemina from the demon’s hands.

“If that person ever tries to torment you again, whether by sending someone or passing a note, make sure to tell me without fail.”

As a little more time passed, the violence certainly decreased.

It seemed the demon couldn’t even approach the siblings at all, and it wasn’t hard to see that it was all thanks to their new mother, Lieselotte.

The most peaceful period of Kardiel’s childhood.

Shortly after, the younger brother born to the new mother was also very lovable, resembling her.

Kardiel vowed to cherish and care for his half-brother like his own sibling from now on.

Just as Lieselotte had done.

The peaceful childhood, however, did not last very long.

An incident occurred about three years later. The younger brother born to the new mother passed away.

However, Kardiel couldn’t confess that the cause of death lay with the demon in front of his new mother, whose eyes were red from crying.

It wasn’t so much because of guilt towards the brother he couldn’t protect, but because he feared that it might cause his new mother to leave the demon’s castle.