Chapter 24

A signal sent in a way that only I could understand.

The guild members that I had planted in my house turned out to be my two personal maids.

They must have become my personal maids, breaking through a competition ratio of 50 to 1, in order to gather information.

‘Chill.’

I carefully got up.

“Hey, sisters, sisters….”

And I quietly whispered to the two, who had a sly look on their faces.

“I hope we can get along well…?”

The two smiled brightly.

“Of course, Miss!”

“Certainly!”

* * *

The next day.

Enoch was shocked when he received an anonymous tip.

‘That kid… is the illegitimate child of the Onyx Marquis?’

The commoner boy I had encountered by chance on the day I arrived in Jede, who was being bullied by a noble.

I had been looking for him at Lylis’s request, but there had been no significant progress so far.

But the anonymous tip that suddenly arrived contained surprisingly the story of that boy.

‘L.’

The only clue to identify the informant was the initial L.

Without any demands or requests, the informant had simply conveyed the boy’s situation in full.

That he was being imprisoned and abused in the Marquis’s mansion as the illegitimate child of the Onyx Marquis….

‘L. I don’t know who you are, but your intention to save the child is clear.’

Among the Jede nobles who were sensitive to their reputation, it was common to treat illegitimate children as a disgrace and dispose of them secretly.

The boy, it seemed, had somehow managed to survive so far.

‘If this is true, I need to rescue him quickly.’

It was uncertain how long the noble’s whim to keep the illegitimate child alive would last.

“Damn. But why Onyx of all people?”

Enoch rubbed his forehead irritably.

He had no personal relationship with the Onyx Marquis. Even when he was in Jede seven years ago, they had never met.

Moreover, Onyx was a powerful and well-known noble in Jede….

Even if Enoch were to suddenly barge into the Marquis’s house and ask if he was hiding and abusing a child, he had no grounds to do so.

‘I can’t just go there blindly.’

Enoch himself had to be careful of prying eyes.

He had only returned a week ago and couldn’t afford to cause a commotion.

Was there a way to visit the Marquis’s house as soon as possible, yet naturally?

“How….”

“Daddy!”

“Hey, Princess!”

At that moment, the office door burst open.

Enoch, who had quickly hidden the tip, greeted Lylis.

“Is my daughter’s class over?”

“Yep!”

Enoch sat Lylis, who had run over with her teddy bear bag, on his lap and affectionately stroked her hair.

“What did you learn today, Princess?”

“I had my first art class today, and it was so much fun. The teacher told us about famous sculptors and artworks.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Dad, do you know this?”

With sparkling eyes, Lylis pulled out a book from her bag and opened it.

“It’s a sculpture by a sculptor named Rindel. It’s super famous. The title is ‘The Gates of Heaven,’ and it’s so beautiful.”

“Wow.”

It was a bronze door with the figures of baby angels carved on it.

“I want to see it in real life, but I can’t, right?”

“Why not? Where is it? If it’s a famous artwork, it’s probably in the temple’s art museum. I can take you there.”

“No, it’s not there. I asked the teacher, and she said the Onyx Marquis bought it. So it’s in his house?”

“What? Onyx?”

Enoch’s eyes widened.

“The angels are so cute…. I really want to see it….”

“You can!”

“Really? For real?”

“Yes! You can, Princess!”

Enoch, beaming, picked up Lylis and stood up.

I needed a natural reason to visit the Marquis’s house….

“I’ll contact the gentleman. Let’s go see it.”

“Wow, really? Dad, you’re the best!”

Hugging Enoch, who looked relieved, Lylis secretly smiled.

* * *

The Onyx Marquis’s residence.

It was a busy day for everyone since the news of the Rubinstein Duke’s visit had spread.

Of course, this had nothing to do with the basement’s second floor, where the bread-eater lived, where no sunlight ever reached.

“Eat quickly today! This room smells, and I don’t want to stay here long!”

The maid threw a piece of hard bread and a tray of water and snapped.

Then, as if she didn’t want to be any closer, she ran to the door.

‘Where did I put it?’

The lamp oil, which had run out a few days ago, made it impossible to see in the dark.

Cesear, feeling around the floor in the darkness, finally found the bread.

“By the way, can we see the Duke today?”

“Probably. Oh, I envy the girls who work for the Rubinstein family. If they catch the Duke’s eye, their lives could change, right?”

“Yeah… Do you think the Duke would even look at a maid?”

“The bread-eater’s mother tried to seduce our master. It’s not impossible.”

The two maids, standing at a distance, chatted and giggled, looking at Cesear, who was hidden in the darkness.

The light from the lamp they held was so weak that the room was almost pitch black.

“Hey… can you put some oil in the lamp? I can’t see anything.”

“What did you say? Do you know how expensive oil is?”

“If you say you’ll change the lamp oil in your room, Master Jonathan will be so happy. We’ll get beaten, you fool.”

“Just eat quickly. We need to go. The Duke is coming soon.”

That Duke, Duke, Duke….

Yesterday, when his half-brother Jonathan came to beat him, it was because of the Duke.

“Tomorrow, the Rubinstein Duke is coming. You, a piece of trash, don’t even know what the Rubinstein family is, do you?”

“……”

“This time, I will definitely catch the Duke’s eye. If I do well, I might even marry one of his daughters.”

The second most powerful person after the emperor?

Cesear would never see him in his lifetime.

“If I get close to the Duke, Father won’t keep you alive. Your existence would be a disgrace.”

Ah, so I will finally die.

Although I was afraid as the moment of execution approached, it was also a moment I had longed for, living a life worse than death.

‘Right, I’m going to die soon. What’s the point of light?’

Buried in the darkness where he couldn’t see a thing, Cesear thought.

Then.

“Why are you so slow? Don’t you know the Rubinstein Duke is coming today?”

Another voice entered the room.

“Oh, Richel. Sorry. I need to take the tray….”

“I’ll take care of it. Go ahead.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Thanks. Hurry up.”

Thud, thud.

The face of another maid, holding a lamp, appeared.

Richel….

One of the four maids in the house who knew of Cesear’s existence.

She wasn’t affectionate, but she didn’t throw food or insult him.

She just stayed quietly by his side until he finished eating.

Although they had never spoken, Cesear knew that Richel pitied him.

“Hey.”

Cesear spoke to Richel, who was approaching to take the tray, for the first time.

“Can you, maybe, change the lamp oil?”

“……”

Knowing it was a meaningless request, he asked out of fear of the approaching death.

Before I die, I want….

I want to remember that there was a bit of warmth from someone….

“You don’t need a lamp.”

But Richel, picking up the tray and standing up, said coldly.

“After all, today, the world of the young master will be bright.”

Leaving behind words he couldn’t understand.

Bang.

Clank.

The door was locked as usual.

Cesear’s world became pitch black.

‘My world will be bright?’

What a ridiculous statement.

He crawled to a corner, feeling the cold floor as usual, and sat down, hugging his knees.

And, as usual, he took out what he kept in his pocket and held it in his hand.

A week ago.

The pink handkerchief with a rabbit drawn on it, given to him by a girl who looked at him with pity.

Now, Cesear understood why he had kept it.

Warmth.

Even though he knew it was just a bit of sympathy from the highborn nobles, he was thirsty for that meager warmth.

Always saying he wanted to die, this little boy always tried to survive and hoped someone would be by his side.

Even when his mother, who tried to strangle him every day, remained by his side….

Even when he was abandoned by his mother and had to endure like an animal in this house….

All of it, all of it….

Damn it, it was all because of the will to ‘live.’

“Father won’t keep you alive anymore.”

That’s why.

For the first time, in this moment when death was truly approaching,

Cesear felt the emotion of fear.

His eyes stung. He had never cried, no matter how much it hurt, but today, tears fell.

“I….”

The only warmth allowed.

Cesear clutched the handkerchief tightly and sobbed.

He didn’t really want to die.

More than anyone,

“I want to live….”

He wanted to live.