‘…I have to.’

Even though his resignation was confirmed, the fact that he was still the chief servant of the ducal family remained unchanged. Moreover, when it came to such an important matter.

It was not a problem that could be overlooked. The chief servant opened his mouth, feeling like he was swallowing a ball of fire.

“Well, Duke.”

“Do you have anything more to say?”

“Actually, there is something I need to tell you about the young master.”

“Well.”

I’d like to recommend not making unnecessary comments.

Lutis’s voice, which had been giving out orders to dismiss the guests in a somewhat softened tone until just now, became sharp again. There was a warning, full of vitality, not to cross the line if there was any intention to extend his life even a little.

At that, the chief servant bowed his head. The black front of the well-maintained shoes filled his field of vision.

“…I heard a story from the young master’s dedicated maid.”

If that was all, he wouldn’t have dared to open his mouth any further, knowing that his life was precious.

“But since there are things I’ve witnessed directly… I judged that it was the right thing to tell the Duke. I’m sorry.”

The chief servant answered in a resolute voice. In the past, it wouldn’t have been strange if Lutis had cut off his head in an instant, saying that this was an overstepping of boundaries. However…

Somehow, the current ducal family seemed to be going wrong somewhere. The chief servant finally confirmed the uneasiness he had been holding onto.

He had hoped that his great master, whom he had been watching since he was a newborn, would overcome his pain and stand up on his own.

Even if he had made a twisted choice and escaped in the middle, the expectation that he would soon take the right path had been pleasantly off the mark for a long time. It was right to turn back a little before it became too late to do anything.

“…Go ahead and say it.”

When there was no sign of backing down from the unwavering voice, Lutis finally opened his mouth with a sigh. He looked quite tired.

“When I went to the annex to find the young master on the Duke’s orders, I saw a strange scene.”

“A strange scene?”

“Yes. Just as I was about to open the door and enter, I heard a voice and checked, and the young master was calling out to the Duchess in the air…”

“……”

“He showed tears, telling her not to go. Judging from the fact that he had his eyes on the empty space rather than on the people around him, I suspect that he might have been seeing things…”

At the chief servant’s words, Lutis leaned his forehead on his clasped hands, lost in thought.

The chief servant observed Lutis’s reaction for a while and then continued the story.

“Also, according to the young master’s dedicated maid, they had a small birthday party the day before, and even then,”

“He saw things?”

“…No, not things, but he was looking for the Duke.”

“…For me.”

Lutis’s eyebrows twitched as if surprised by the unexpected answer.

The chief servant nodded his head up and down briefly at Lutis, who rarely showed an expression other than annoyance or anger.

“Yes. But he didn’t just look for you. When the flowerpot he had been cherishing for nearly a week broke, he cried and said,”

“……”

“‘Since I couldn’t take care of it properly, Dad won’t come anymore.’…”

As the chief servant said those words, he recalled the content he had heard from Mari again.

It was certain that the flower the young master had been caring for was the same species that the Duchess had cherished when she was alive. Moreover, the maid’s words, which she had added with a pale face, stuck with him.

“…Furthermore, the young master said, ‘Even though the Duke doesn’t like it, the Duchess likes it, so I was planning to give the flower I was taking care of to him.'”

“……”

“The maid speculated that the young master thought the Duke would come if he had the flower the Duchess liked…”

“I understand. You may leave now.”

“…The young master is still very young. It seems he needs the Duke’s care a lot…”

“…That’s not for you to meddle in.”

Don’t assume that I’ll turn a blind eye to you crawling up just because I’ve let it slide so far. How long do I have to overlook you climbing up?

Kwajijik.

It was when Lutis, who had opened his mouth in a low voice, interrupted the chief servant’s words.

An unfamiliar sound other than the awkward silence that filled the office struck the ears of the two. The chief servant, who was quickly rolling his eyes to find the source of the sound, suddenly hesitated.

‘…Did the desk crack just from putting some strength in his elbow?’

That can’t be. Due to the nature of the ducal family, where work piles up every day without fail, the office desk was very important.

If the desk is damaged, the work processing speed slows down significantly, so it has to be that way.

For that reason, the Duke and Duchess’ offices would have carefully selected and arranged furniture that would not be easily damaged, even using mithril alloy with post-processing.

The product of that extraordinary waste of money, which would not even be scratched by a considerable weight or attack, was broken like a thin tree branch.

“……”

The chief servant swallowed his saliva as he looked at the desk, which was deeply dented and full of cracks centered around Lutis’s elbow.

Seeing the sight that seemed like it would collapse with a loud noise at any moment if touched slightly, he newly realized what kind of monster the Sword Master in front of his eyes was.

The chief servant staggered, inhaling at the overwhelming force that heavily pressed down on the office air. Lutis stared blankly at the chief servant and opened his mouth with a neck bulging with tendons.

“Don’t act out of line.”

“……”

“Leave.”

“…Yes.”

The chief servant stepped back, unable to add any more words. Just as he said, it seemed that if he intervened any further, his own appearance would soon be no different from the desk in front of his eyes.

After the chief servant left, Lutis, who had been sitting still without moving, leaned his body against the back of the chair and tilted his head back.

When he placed the back of his hand over his face to cover his eyes, he finally felt the throbbing in his head.

Perhaps it was due to his dream, but he had been feeling uncomfortable and unpleasant all day, and on top of that, the contents that were brought to him under the guise of a report were all uniformly unable to find any normal aspects.

Moreover, what they said next grated on his nerves.

“……”

They said he was looking for his mother.

In the grand scheme of things, it was not an unusual report. There was no way he would remember his infancy, so it was not something he did knowingly.

Regardless, when a child is in pain, they may seek their mother in their young mind. It was unexpected that he would cause such an absurd incident simply because he missed her, but it was not something he couldn’t understand.

However.

‘Of all times, at the same time.’

The timing was somewhat coincidental.

Something that was small enough to completely lift its body on his two hands.

There couldn’t be anyone else that existence would call mother.

Lutis recalled the time when he woke up at dawn and ordered the chief servant to go check on the annex.

If the chief servant’s report was not false, it meant that around the time Lutis had a dream about Aeli, the child had seen an illusion.

And it was of the same person.

“Is it a coincidence……”

Aeli, who pleaded in a sobbing voice in his dream that the child was sick. When he sent someone to check due to an uneasy feeling, the child was actually ill.

And two people who thought of the same person at almost the same time.

…To say that this was all a coincidence.

Lutis felt his nerves on edge with an inexplicable, strange sensation. However, he tried hard to ignore it and bit his lip.

When he felt a sharp pain, it seemed to bring him to his senses a little.

‘It’s a nonsensical thought.’

He knew it was not a common occurrence, but it was not a particularly special situation either, was it?

This was all because he had a strange dream at dawn. If it were normal, he wouldn’t have thought much of it, but now it was making him speculate for no reason.

Lutis, who had put strength into his remaining arm that was hanging under the chair, let out a deep sigh at the smell of blood lingering at the tip of his nose.

He felt the bitterness of the blood thinly seeping out, perhaps from injuring his lip when he bit it.

‘I thought I had gotten used to the smell of ink in the past few days.’

It was a scent he had forgotten for a while since he didn’t even have time to go to the training ground due to the lack of time to process documents.

The product of the battlefield that he had been sickeningly familiar with for several years.

He thought this suited him better than such useless sentiments.

Lutis got up from the chair and headed to the couch on one side of the office. It was where he had been consistently sleeping since returning to the mansion.

He couldn’t muster the courage to set foot alone in the room filled with traces of his time with Aeli.

“……”

Let’s just sleep.

Lutis, who thought that having too many thoughts was simply because he hadn’t gotten enough sleep, laid his body on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

However, paradoxically, in the office where he had deliberately removed any trace of Aeli, Lutis couldn’t help but recall a time in the past.

Perhaps it was due to the strange dream, or because of the child who was said to have shed tears while looking for Aeli and him.

Or maybe it was to reproach himself for not being able to do anything while stupidly reaching this point.

No one knew the truth. Even Lutis, who was forcibly closing his eyes at the moment, was no exception.

“Lutis, shall we go for a walk today?”

“The weather hasn’t fully cleared up yet. You’re not feeling well, so going outside is a bit……”

“No! I think I’m a bit better today. Look, look, I slept in late and woke up, finished my plate, and even had dessert?”

“But,”

“The flowers outside have bloomed so much! The baby has been staying indoors because of me. Staying inside too much is not good for health either.”

“…Then just for a bit. Promise me we’ll only look at the garden in front of the main building and come back in. If you feel tired, tell me right away.”

“Okay!”

Despite usually being unwell and unable to sleep deeply, for some reason, that day, Aeli slept soundly without waking up until late.

Perhaps because of that, her condition was exceptionally good, and she finished her meal cleanly without difficulty, which she always left behind.

When they actually went out to the garden, the weather was warmer than expected, and they stayed out for well over an hour.

Even the child, who was usually well-behaved, seemed to enjoy the rare outing, constantly drooling and blinking his eyes.

Even after returning to the mansion, they had to work together to calm the child who was excitedly waving his arms.

Lutis perfectly remembered that day from several years ago. In a way, it was natural since he had already reminisced about it countless times.

“Sleepy?”

“Mm, no.”

“You’re obviously sleepy. Your eyes are drooping.”

“Oh, is it noticeable?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe it’s because I woke up late. I feel a bit reluctant to sleep now……”

Her voice, spoken with a bashful smile and half-closed eyes, was drowsy with sleep.

Lutis, lying next to Aeli, gathered her disheveled hair and organized it, saying,

“You should still sleep. Look, the baby is sleeping well too.”

“This child is a baby, so of course he sleeps at this time. Besides, he never fussed about sleep in the first place.”

“Even so, if we keep talking, he’ll definitely wake up.”

“…Is the baby such a light sleeper?”

“Not necessarily… But since you put him on your chest to hold while sleeping, he’ll probably feel the vibrations whenever you speak.”

Ah, then there’s no choice. Aeli shrugged her shoulders slightly in a tone suggesting that she was very regretful but would make an exception today. Despite her words, her face with closed eyes looked quite satisfied.

So that day was,

Looking back now, it was a strangely perfect day.

To the point where it was puzzling why he hadn’t noticed it sooner.

Lutis thought. Was it a problem that he had forced Aeli to sleep when she was reluctant to go to bed, or was it a problem that he didn’t stop her from staying outside for a long time because he liked seeing her smiling face?

If it was neither, perhaps the problem was that he had stood by and watched her stuff food into her stomach that had shrunk from not eating properly for a while.

Even in countless reflections, he still couldn’t find an accurate answer.

So it was probably his fault.

“…Aeli?”

That the very next day, he found you no longer breathing.