“You only have chores to take care of.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t even go near your father’s room.”
“Yeess.”
“I’ve asked Maeta to help, so you’ll be stationed at the annex and only have cleaning to do.”
“Understood, young master.”
Harlid was well aware of the young master’s anxiety. Therefore, he smiled more brightly than ever in an effort to reassure him.
“I’ll keep all your words in mind. So don’t worry.”
Nox tried to force a smile, pulling the corners of his lips upwards. Harlid nodded, and with that, Nox left for his mother’s family house along with his mother.
For some, it was just a week, but for them, it was a week that felt very long. Nox should have brought the child with him then.
Even while attending parties at his mother’s family, Nox kept thinking about the child. Assigned to the annex, he wouldn’t meet with his father. And since his father was laying low because of his mother’s words, Nox thought there wouldn’t be any issues.
However, for some reason, he couldn’t shake off a nagging sense of unease. A strange apprehension kept pricking at his heart.
“Why are you so distracted?”
“Ah, my apologies.”
His mother seemed displeased with him, and Nox straightened up to focus. Yes, that stupid and servile kid was unlikely to do anything contrary to his mother’s command. Nox reassured himself everything was fine as he whispered to himself to calm his restless heart.
After that long week, Nox returned home from the event at his mother’s family and noticed something strange.
“Where did Harlid go?”
House steward Maeta bowed apologetically, her face expressing utter shame.
“Well, Harlid has disappeared.”
She could not straighten up and cautiously glanced at Nox. Nox immediately frowned. Maeta knew how much Nox cared for Harlid.
“I specifically told you to keep an eye on that child.”
“That is… The last time I checked, he was surely in the annex.”
Maeta tried to defend herself. Nox thought with a furrowed brow. The child who had been in the annex disappeared without a trace? He coldly watched Maeta, suspecting she was hiding something. Under his persistent gaze, she finally gave in.
“In fact, as soon as you and the madam left the mansion, the duke called for Harlid.”
“What…?”
His heart sank. He hadn’t expected his father to be so brazen. Or had he really not known? On hearing this, Nox immediately started running towards his father’s room.
“Young master, young master!”
He ignored Maeta’s voice behind him and ran unaristocratically through the corridors to his father’s room. His clothes and hair were disheveled from rushing. Catching his breath for a moment, Nox didn’t even knock before swinging open his father’s door. The smell of alcohol wafted through.
“So, you even see your father as nothing but water now! Opening the door without permission?”
“Where is the child?”
“What child?”
“I asked where Harlid has gone.”
“Harlid?”
His father took a moment to think with his drunken, blurry eyes and then clapped his hands as if he remembered.
“That pretty and insolent child?”
“What have you done to that child?”
Dolan immediately laughed loudly and threw the bottle he was holding onto the floor. CRASH! The noise echoed in the room, but Nox didn’t even flinch as he glared at Dolan. Dolan wheezed as he met the gaze of his son who was glaring at him.
His son resembled his wife too much. The black hair with a tinge of green, those dark green eyes, and the look of contempt for him. Dolan Lynerio couldn’t stand it, and so he began to shout and gesture wildly.
“You respect a mere commoner servent over your own father!”
“I never did such a thing.”
Nox lied calmly, and his father raged even more. Not even realizing he was stepping on the broken glass shards, he approached Nox. Due to Nox’s young age, his father loomed over him, but that was all. The gaze that Nox lifted to meet his father’s was cold, the emotion within it frozen like icicles.
“I asked what you’ve done to that child.”
“I couldn’t do anything. Absolutely nothing! The child just wouldn’t stay still!”
He raised one arm as if lamenting, revealing clear bite marks on his forearm.
“Dare to wound the body of a noble. I should have caught and punished him immediately, but he ran off so quickly. I don’t know where the child has hidden himself!”
“……”
Contempt flashed even more clearly in Nox’s eyes. His father found this unbearable.
“Get out! Get out! Take that contemptuous look away from me!”
He staggered toward the bed and collapsed onto it. Nox watched the pathetic figure for a moment, then slammed the door and started heading toward the annex. Fortunately, it seemed the child had managed to escape his father’s grasp. But where he had fled to, Nox could not ascertain.
You can Read Advance Chapters!!
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
