What flowed out of my mother’s lips, as if shattering, was the name of a man.

“Bin.”

Her bloodshot eyes were moistened.

Bin?

It was the first time I had heard such a name.

However, it didn’t take long to guess who this person might be.

‘Perhaps it’s father’s name.’

More precisely, it might be a nickname rather than a name.

The person I’m imagining is probably a noble, and Bin seems too simple to be considered a noble’s name.

In reality, whatever father’s name was, it didn’t matter.

As it has always been.

Just… I would certainly know once again.

That he was still imprinted in mother’s mind.

I stood still for a moment, quietly observing mother’s back as she sobbed.

Long ago, I would have stood here blankly, watching until her tears dried up, or I would have run away, but now I didn’t want to do that.

Taking big strides, I soon found myself by her side.

Startled by my presence, mother turned around, her face terribly smeared with tear stains.

When I offered her a handkerchief, she wiped her tears with an embarrassed look.

“You know, mom.”

The sound of waves crashing—overlapped with my voice.

“If you could meet father again, would you want to?”

Mother, with a face half-returned to memory, nodded slightly with eyes that remained in those happy times.

“Yes. At least once.”

“…”

“I’d like to at least check if he’s doing well.”

A faint smile spread gently across mother’s lips.

Even if not for me, it might be so for mother—this thought suddenly crosses my mind now.

Although I can’t fully understand that emotion, seeing mother’s face, I can no longer pretend not to know.

What does he mean to mother, who has lived her whole life cherishing an intangible longing for father?

‘Would father also be waiting for mother like this?’

That’s unlikely.

Judging by the fact that he hasn’t sought us out until now, he must have predicted the all too obvious ending to this love story.

Even my refusal to hear about father, thinking about it now, was a result stemming from a baseless fear.

The feeling of thinking he abandoned me and having that confirmed would be different.

That’s why I tried not to open that Pandora’s box.

However, all those fears were trampled under mother’s tears.

The thoughts that had been puzzling until now were sorted out in an instant.

Towards finding father.

The project deadline is approaching, so if there’s a will, finding father shouldn’t be difficult.

I sincerely hope that father is truly a good person.

So that I can bring him before mother.

No, even if that’s not the case, I pray he at least has a minimum of conscience.

Someone who can at least mourn desperately in the face of mother’s death.

The scorching sun beat down on the training ground at the center of the Periot estate.

Despite this, at the end of the continued training, the knights were scattered under trees, exhausted.

Among them was a new recruit with wheat-colored hair.

The rookie, who silently endured the harsh training that usually drove most people out quickly, slowly began to gain recognition from the senior knights.

Despite rolling under the scorching sun together, the senior knights occasionally made silly jokes to the recruit who remained pristinely white like a snowman.

“With that face, promotion won’t be a problem at all, haha.”

“…”

“That’s right. None of the knights we’ve had so far were as pretty as you.”

Shaking his head resignedly, the recruit settled under a tree.

A cool breeze blew pleasantly under the long-cast shadow.

With an expressionless face, he closed his eyes and ran his large hand through his wheat-colored hair.

The hidden silver hair faintly revealed itself, but soon the hair returned to its place, showing a complete wheat color.

He recalled the day he dyed his hair wheat-colored.

The day he abandoned the name Hael.

In fact, entering under Lady Phiocel wasn’t an impulsive decision.

Joining the Periot family was, in a way, closer to a kind of stubbornness.

The day he learned that El was taking medicine from that man, and the day he learned she was leaving that hotel…

The emotions that arose after that day congealed and clumped into a petty color.

His position of not being able to properly question Yuriel, nor stop her, was ridiculously laughable.

How petty he was to try to stop her despite this.

He was nothing more than a guy who made irresponsible remarks without being able to give her anything.

He didn’t want to repeat such things as he had long ago in Alphonse.

At first, he was afraid Yuriel would leave his side. Then, seeing her cold face, he came to his senses.

After that, it didn’t take long to reach a conclusion.

His steps headed aimlessly towards the Periot estate.

If he couldn’t give Jane’s medicine, and couldn’t do anything else, he wanted to stay like this and be of help to her.

In reality, it might have been a petty desire to somehow recover his trampled pride, but…

Eventually, winning Lady Phiocel’s heart became the goal of his life now.

So that you, Yuriel, could rise to the position you desire.

Now, he didn’t expect Yuriel to acknowledge him.

He just felt that he needed the consolation of having done at least one proper thing in Yuriel’s life to continue living from now on.

The initially daunting life in the Periot family’s knighthood was adapted to quite quickly.

Probably because there was a purpose.

Soon, he came to consider it fortunate that he had entered the Periot family.

Hael learned that much more was going on behind the scenes than he had thought.

Lady Phiocel was not someone who would simply throw money envelopes and be done with it.

On the night Lady Phiocel planned to sell Yuriel to Slayer Jang, Hael, knowing this, immediately sent a rescue signal.

Sending it to that young master was somewhat ridiculous, but Hael had no other choice.

In any case, that young master was smart as expected, and Yuriel was released from there.

The relief was short-lived.

After Young Master Blanchet left for the battlefield, Yuriel could no longer receive that medicine.

Yuriel roamed everywhere to find it.

Whether it was a crude coincidence, or Lady Phiocel’s malicious intent, she too was looking for that medicine.

On the day a senior knight found out the location of that medicine, Hael sent an anonymous letter to Yuriel with the name of that clinic.

Of course, sending that letter again wasn’t without personal greed.

But one thing was true.

Hael hoped that Yuriel would find that medicine faster than Phiocel by any means, and be at peace even for one more day.

He could no longer bear to see Yuriel withering away every day under Lady Phiocel’s threats and in that unsettling relationship with that young master.

However, those who have much will always be faster in every aspect than those who have nothing.

That medicine eventually ended up in Lady Phiocel’s hands first.

The reason for obtaining that medicine in a noble house with no Reimock patients was all too clear.

Just to trample on that child.

Yuriel, who seemed not to have eaten even a bowl of gruel properly, had turned ashen, dry beyond measure, like a night without any light.

Yuriel looked as if she might disappear from this world if she didn’t have that medicine.

Hael knew well that she was actually capable of doing so.

After all, Yuriel was a child who would stake everything when it came to matters concerning Aunt Jane.

‘If that happens…’

Hael closed his eyes in dizziness. Over the past time, he too had searched for other clinics to help her several times.

But now, there was only one person who could give that medicine to Yuriel—Lady Phiocel.

She would never give that medicine to Yuriel.

But if Yuriel promised to leave that young master…

Yuriel, who had nothing more to gain from that man, wouldn’t mind leaving him, would she?

On his way out, Hael turned his steps towards the post office and pressed hard to write letters on the anonymous note he would send.

Yuriel, holding the letter, trembled.

‘Lady Phiocel has that medicine…!’

Without time to organize her thoughts, her legs hurriedly stretched towards the outside.

Meanwhile, her mind continuously picked apart this impossible situation.

‘Why would the Periot family, with no Reimock patients, have that medicine…’

The reason was all too clear.

Because Lady Phiocel had even planned to kidnap and sell her to Slayer Jang.

She must know that the savior who appeared before Slayer Jang was that man.

She was not unaware of what color her hatred towards her would take.

Yuriel, barely gathering her strength to maintain balance while soothing her burning insides.

Soon, with a resolute expression, she boarded the carriage.

Unlike Yuriel’s heart, the carriage moved steadily.

Inside, Yuriel tried hard to compose herself.

In a way, this turn of events might be fortunate.

If it’s not a desperate person with the disease who bought the medicine, but someone just holding it like a game, there might be a chance.

If she tells the Lady that she will never see that person again, she might give her the medicine.