Chapter 28

Chapter 28

I had dealt what I thought was a decisive blow, but after a long silence, Camille said, “Young Master. I’m sorry, but may I speak with my brothers before giving you an answer?” and left.

“……”

I hadn’t expected that.

Honestly, I thought Camille would accept my offer without the slightest hesitation.

And who wouldn’t? It was none other than the Winterbell Ducal Family’s knight order. The ideal every swordsman in the world dreamed of.

The King of the North.

The White Wolf.

The graveyard of all knights.

That was the Winterbell Ducal Family. I thought any mercenary who lived by the sword would be instantly tempted.

She even said she’d stake her life on me becoming the next Patriarch.

And now she’s hesitating? Thinking it over?

Seriously…

I wanted her even more.

That only made me want her more.

How could I not? It meant she was the kind of person who wouldn’t just snatch at gold and jewels dangled in front of her but would carefully consider it first.

If someone like that became the commander leading my direct knights, I’d feel confident leaving my back to her. And those under her command would no doubt be just as capable.

‘I’ll make them mine no matter what. The Harlan Mercenaries.’

When I got back into the carriage, Cecil looked at me with a frosty gaze, glancing between me and the fake Bestia on my shoulder.

“……What exactly is going on, Young Master?”

It didn’t seem like my imagination—her voice was definitely colder than usual.

Not sure how to explain it, I decided to just answer honestly.

“She’s a woman who might become a new attendant. I brought her along because there’s something I want to look into personally, so I hope you’ll also….”

“……”

“Ahem. Please help her out.”

“So that’s what you’ve been pondering in the carriage? About this woman you’re thinking of hiring as an attendant?”

“No. It was something else.”

“Really?”

“It’s true.”

She stared at me for a long moment, then turned her gaze to the fake Bestia. If her face had felt cold when she looked at me before, now it felt downright chilling—almost murderous.

‘Is this instinctive disgust? Why does she seem to hate her so much?’

At that moment, Attica, who had just woken up, slowly rubbed her eyes and shouted as she looked at Bestia, who I had set down.

“Oh! Mommy!”

Attica ran over and threw herself into the arms of the unconscious Bestia. Then she began sniffing her.

Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff.

“Huh? It’s not Mommy? What the… It smells weird. There’s a bit of Mommy’s scent mixed in, but… Daddy, this isn’t Mommy, right?”

While glancing anxiously at Cecil, I quietly replied.

“She’s not your mom. She’s someone else.”

“I knew something felt off! Where’s Mommy!? I wanna see Bestia!”

At the mention of “Bestia” from Attica’s mouth, I flinched and glanced at Cecil. But surprisingly, she remained calm as she asked,

“You said… Bestia?”

“Yeah. Bestia!”

“Attica. Is Bestia your mother?”

"Yeah! Mommy is Bestia! And Daddy is Van Descartes!"

The atmosphere grew increasingly strange when even the name Van Descartes, humanity’s most notorious villain, was thrown into the mix.

"……Young Master. Then, have you been pretending to be Van Descartes all this time?"

"Th-that’s… more or less."

"Haa…."

With a sigh, Cecil looked at Attica and spoke gently.

"Attica. You must never tell anyone that your father is Van Descartes. It’s for the sake of the father who’s right here with you now. Do you understand?"

"Umm… okay!"

"And from now on, Bestia is not your mother anymore. If you need a mother figure that badly, you may call me Mother instead."

Huh?

…What was that supposed to mean?

It felt extremely out of the blue, but Cecil’s expression was quite serious.

"Why? Bestia is my mom…"

"She wasn’t your biological mother to begin with, was she? You’re a dragon, and Bestia is human. Humans give birth to humans. They can’t give birth to dragons."

Thanks to Cecil suddenly revealing the secret of her birth, Attica’s eyes began to glisten with tears.

"……No! Bestia is my mom! You idiot! Dummy! Dumb dog!"

"But I can become your family. The Young Master and I will become your family."

"Family?"

"Yes, family. From now on, call me Mother. That is the best path for you and the Young Master."

Attica looked at me with a face that clearly said she didn’t quite understand, but she ended up nodding. It seemed she was swayed by the idea that this would be good for me.

Cecil said nothing more on the matter.

In silence, we headed toward the Winterbell Ducal Estate.

---

We safely arrived at the Winterbell Ducal Territory.

The caravan leader and the Harlan Mercenaries said they would remain in one of the villages within the territory to wrap up their remaining business. Their original purpose had been trade anyway, so we parted ways there.

As soon as we returned to the estate, the servants welcomed us with overwhelming enthusiasm. Even the family knights stood in a line to show their respect. The news of what had happened to us had already spread throughout the estate, carried by the family’s messengers.

Which of course meant that the Patriarch was also fully informed.

In truth, someone like him would know everything happening in the North, whether he wanted to or not.

“Salute!”

In any case, we had successfully completed the mission of safely bringing Ron Winterbell home. On top of that, we had persuaded the ruler of the Bakal Mountains, preventing what could’ve been catastrophic damage to our lands.

We had done nothing but build up achievements, and the Winterbell Family was practically in a festive mood.

"Young Master Lux! You’ve done a great job!"

"Lord Ron! We’re truly relieved that you’ve returned safely!"

"Lady Lin! You’re as impressive as ever today!"

"Lady Marian! Please look this way, just once!"

Even before we could rest, the chief steward, Turk, approached us and relayed that the Patriarch wished to see us.

Honestly, the journey back had been so peaceful that I wasn’t really tired at all.

Together with my siblings, I headed straight to the reception room. Even Lin Winterbell, who had been grumbling all day, went silent like a mouse when it was time to meet the Patriarch.

Lux Winterbell, who had led the mission, stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Knock knock.

"Patriarch. This is Lux."

"Enter."

The door opened, and as we stepped into the office, the Patriarch and Izumi, the commander of the Black Sword Unit, were waiting for us.

“Sit.”

“Yes.”

We took our seats without saying a word, waiting for the Patriarch, Arkan Winterbell, to speak.

“Report.”

Lux stood and faced the Patriarch, briefly summarizing all that had happened.

“……We have returned.”

Arkan tapped his index finger on the desk twice. He seemed to be thinking for a moment, then looked toward Ron Winterbell and spoke.

“Ron Winterbell.”

“…Yes, Patriarch.”

Gone was his usual confident demeanor; now Ron hung his head like a man guilty of a mortal sin. At this point, I almost felt sorry for him.

“You’ve disgraced the name of Winterbell.”

“……I’m sorry.”

“You are sentenced to 100 days of reflection in the Snow-Frozen Prison. If anything like this happens again, I will take your head.”

“I will bear that in mind.”

A hundred days of reflection.

Knowing the Patriarch’s personality, it could be considered fortunate that he didn’t lose his head outright. Arkan Winterbell was the kind of man who didn’t show leniency even toward his own blood—in fact, he held them to even stricter standards.

Once Ron sat back down, Arkan turned his gaze to Lin and Marian.

“Lin Winterbell. Marian Winterbell.”

“Yes, Patriarch.”

“Do you have any requests?”

After a brief moment of thought, Lin Winterbell shouted boldly.

“I wish to receive swordsmanship training from you, Father!”

This wasn’t just a simple request for training.

She wanted to gain the experience of Arkan Winterbell—King of the North and one of the strongest swordsmen on the continent.

“Very well. And you?”

“I’d like the same.”

Arkan nodded. He rarely ever offered to teach the sword unless it was for a truly special occasion.

The fact that he accepted meant he was greatly satisfied with the outcome of this mission.

“Lux Winterbell.”

“Yes.”

“You faced the Sword Demon, did you not?”

“I did.”

“What was he like?”

“…He was stronger than expected.”

“So you thought you wouldn’t be able to win?”

“No, that wasn’t it.”

“Next time, don’t bring me an arm—bring me his head. That’s an order. Understood?”

“…Understood.”

Arkan turned his head and looked at Izumi.

“Izumi.”

“Y-yes.”

Izumi took a small box from inside her coat and walked over to Lux Winterbell, handing it to him.

“Open it. It’s a gift from our Patriarch to his second son, because he was just so admirable.”

“…Izumi.”

“Oh dear. That slipped out.”

Lux Winterbell opened the box. Inside was a round, red orb-like object. Upon seeing it, Lux was too stunned to speak.

It must have been something he hadn’t expected at all.

Just what was that?

“Th-this is… the Scorching Jewel (초열옥), isn’t it…?”

“A man who achieves results deserves to be properly rewarded.”

It was the first time I’d ever heard the name, but judging from Lux Winterbell’s reaction, it seemed to be something extremely rare and valuable.

Well, to be honest, Lux had worked the hardest on this mission. He’d put up with that lunatic woman, led the charge against magical beasts, slashed the Sword Demon’s side—he must’ve been overwhelmed the whole time.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of hell we’d have faced if he hadn’t been there.

‘Still… if we’re being honest, wasn’t I the one who made the greatest contribution?’

At this point, I couldn’t help but start getting my hopes up. Lin and Marian Winterbell had received the tremendous reward of being personally trained by the Patriarch himself, and Lux appeared to have been given something of immense worth.

But among all of us, the one who had accomplished the most—if we were purely measuring merit—was me. I took down the Twin Ogres, rescued that idiot Ron Winterbell, and even persuaded the Mad Dragon of the Bakal Mountains, averting disaster.

So what kind of reward would I receive?

I was already salivating at the thought.

“Ran Winterbell.”

“Yes!”

“Everyone except you—leave.”

……Excuse me?

What was that just now?

At the sudden command, my siblings all stood up and left the room without a word.

Izumi, of course, followed as well.

Now, only Arkan and I remained in the wide reception hall.

I hadn’t done anything wrong, but the atmosphere felt so heavy, it was as if I had.

“……”

“……”

What on earth was he about to say that needed this kind of buildup? Was it some kind of reward so grand my siblings weren’t even allowed to hear about it?

Yeah, someone like me… I deserved something that huge…

“Ran Winterbell.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“…No. Should I say… Van Descartes?”