“I’m sorry, Cale. Your real father was never a good person. You’ll find out someday, so I’m just telling you in advance.”

That’s how father explained it even as he was dying.

That he had been hiding this fact from him all this time.

And father’s words were true.

Cale, who had fled to the Northern Continent, learned that his biological father was the emperor who had ruled the Devil’s Empire and was a condemned war criminal.

Perhaps his determination to take revenge on the saint had already begun to waver from that time.

The girl’s eyes widened, and she gave another unexpected answer.

“Eh? What! Then why bother avenging your parents?”

“…What?”

“I mean! Just because they gave birth to you doesn’t mean you need to avenge your already dead parents.”

“That’s…”

Cale’s face, blinking in confusion, contorted painfully.

But if he didn’t take revenge…?

He had lost his only father overnight in a carriage accident.

Now he had no family, no home.

All that remained was a dishonorable bloodline.

If not revenge, then what should I live for now?

The question that had constantly tormented him after learning his biological father’s identity assailed him again.

The girl watching Cale suddenly shouted loudly.

“What. Are you crying?”

“Tsk… No?!”

Cale rubbed his eyelids and snapped irritably for no reason.

He couldn’t cry shamefully in front of a girl much smaller than him.

The girl, who had been looking at him with sympathetic eyes as he struggled to hold back tears, said,

“…Alright. Since you told me your secret, I’ll tell you one of mine too.”

“What is it?”

“…Actually, my mom is such an amazing person that I’m not supposed to tell anyone I don’t know about this.”

“What, are you bragging in front of an orphan?”

That wasn’t true.

“My mom and dad… Actually…”

Because tears welled up in the girl’s beautiful eyes as she was continuing to speak with a proud face.

“What, what! Are you crying?”

This time, the girl didn’t try to pretend she was okay.

“Yes. I’m crying… The tears keep coming…”

In the end, Arwen burst into loud sobs.

“All we can do is wait without losing hope…”

The low, subdued voice of Uncle Lin that she had heard through the window.

Maybe her parents would pass away early.

In fact, Arwen had already noticed their secret before.

She had just been pretending not to know for the sake of her worried mom and dad.

But no matter how much she tried to act fine, she became helplessly afraid whenever she heard such words.

If both mom and dad disappeared from her side…

“Both of them… might pass away early, leaving me alone… Waaah, I’m so scared…”

Seeing Arwen crying without restraint, tears began to form in Cale’s eyes as well.

“Hey! Don’t… *sniff* Don’t cry!”

“Waaah… My mom said it’s okay to cry!”

Even while stuttering from sobbing, Arwen shouted.

“She said it’s okay to cry when you want to… that it’s fine when you’re a child…”

“…Damn it.”

At those words, Cale, who had been trying to act mature, finally started shedding tears.

These were tears he hadn’t shed even once since his father passed away.

And so, the two children cried under the large tree until their bodies were drenched in sweat.

The occasional rustling of bushes and the bird songs filling the forest muffled the children’s noisy crying.

How long did they cry like that?

The two children finally stopped crying almost simultaneously, completely exhausted.

They found themselves lying on the grass facing each other, tightly holding hands.

“…Done crying?”

Cale said gruffly, looking up at the blue sky while lying down.

“Are you always such a crybaby? You were crying so much.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“…”

She was just as small as a peanut. With only her emerald eyes round and pretty, she was a child who didn’t back down at all.

What could he say to comfort such a girl?

After hesitating for a moment, Cale finally spoke.

“…Anyway, your parents are still alive now.”

“Yeah…”

“I was a good, obedient, and kind son, but when my father passed away, I had many regrets.”

After shedding tears, it felt like even the lump in his heart had melted away.

“So for now, just listen to your parents well and live well. What else can we do as children but endure?”

It was very clumsy and raw, but that made the consolation feel even more sincere.

“Right. I’m still a gentle and obedient good daughter, but…”

“…”

“I’ll do as you say.”

The girl got up first with a face that had shaken everything off.

Cale suddenly felt a deep regret.

“…Are you going home now?”

Then the girl casually reached out her hand to him, who was still lying down.

“Yeah. You come too.”

“…What?”

Ah, again.

For a moment, Cale blankly looked up at the girl’s face and thought.

The tropical sun was shining behind the girl.

Like when they first met, he had the illusion that faint, transparent wings were shining behind the girl’s back.

“Let’s go to my house together. My parents will solve your problem right away.”

The girl added with a confident face.

“I told you. They’re capable people with connections everywhere.”

Feeling like all his worries were being solved so simply, Cale mumbled with a relaxed expression.

“How can that be…”

However, he still couldn’t bring himself to shake off the girl’s hand leading him.

And so Arwen led Cale by the hand towards home.

There was no more hesitation in the girl’s steps now that she knew where her heart was heading.

In the end, Arwen’s short excursion ended around sunset.

Delphine was already waiting in front of the cabin to greet them.

“Ari. You’re a bit late today?”

“Mommy!”

The child who had been pretending to be mature immediately ran to her mother, acting spoiled.

“Where’s Uncle Lin?”

“He’s already left. He was disappointed he couldn’t say goodbye.”

“Waaah… Uncle is always so busy.”

Cale, who was hesitating to approach and quietly observing the woman from afar, was startled.

Red hair and unique emerald eyes.

‘Then, could it be…’

As if hearing the noise outside, this time a blonde man burst out of the cabin.

An imposingly large body with a cold face.

Cale flinched once more at the sight of the man with his terrifying appearance.

The man silently examined the tense Cale for a while.

Then he slowly parted his red lips and murmured.

“…You should wash your hands first, Ari.”

“Okay. Oh! I brought a friend, can we eat dinner together, Dad?”

“…”

The girl seemed to take the man’s expressionless face as permission.

“This means it’s okay. Hey, hurry up! I’m hungry!”

Then she hurriedly went inside the cabin with the man.

Cale hesitated, unable to move readily, and remained in the garden.

But then.

The woman’s white hand touched Cale’s head.

Towards Cale, who was frozen in place, unable to even raise his head, the woman’s gentle voice was heard.

“Oh my, you must have gone through a lot alone.”

“…”

“It’s okay. Leave the rest to the adults, and come inside quickly.”

Cale hesitated, then slowly raised his head.

The beautiful woman smiled gently at him.

Sniff.

In the end, the boy’s heart melted and loosened ridiculously easily.

“Cale. With your gentle nature, it probably won’t happen, but don’t even dream of something like revenge.”

Yes. In fact, that day, his father told him that while revealing all the truth.

“You just need to be happy. No matter what anyone says, you are my son…”

The girl called Arwen was right.

Why should I take revenge for a biological father I don’t even know the name or face of, who abandoned me?

My real father is only one person…

At that moment, Arwen, who had poked her head out of the cabin, shouted loudly at him.

“Are you crying again after crying so much? How about we eat first since I’m hungry?”

“…Arwen. When a friend is crying, you should comfort them gently.”

The woman chided her daughter with an embarrassed expression, then suggested once more.

“Come on, you must be hungry? Let’s go inside.”

“…Yes.”

Cale wiped his eyes with his sleeve and entered the cabin with the woman.

A modest dinner was set on the table.

Cale sat down at the table with wide eyes.

It had been exactly half a year since his father passed away that he ate a warm meal prepared by an adult.

Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes again as he took a spoonful of steaming pumpkin soup.

Then Arwen, who was chewing with her cheeks full of bread, said,

“You really are a crybaby.”

“…I told you I’m not. You’d be surprised if you heard how long I held back my tears.”

Delphine looked at the two bickering children with a fond yet somewhat sorrowful expression.

Maybe we could have been like this in our childhood too?

If only there had been even one trustworthy adult around us.

Lost in thought, Delphine suddenly murmured.

“…Come to think of it, I was exactly that age when I met you.”

Flinch.

At those words, Iohan’s indifferent gaze suddenly turned intensely cold.

His face as he looked at the boy became exactly like when he faced an enemy in war.

Regardless, Delphine smiled softly as she looked at the table that had become even more lively with the two children.

“Well, even if the secret of their birth is complicated, it’s good that they like each other…”

The island of Rinosa had few people Arwen’s age due to its small population and many elderly residents.

That had been a bit worrying, but this worked out well.

Delphine with a satisfied face and Iohan with a cold, combative expression.

However, Arwen and Cale were too busy talking to each other to notice the adults’ expressions.

As if they had been waiting a long time to meet each other…

Behind the children, the red sunset was already sinking.

Another peaceful day on Rinosa Island was coming to an end like that.

– End of Side Story.