Chapter 15

There were no historic buildings, no sea, and no mountains. The central town of the territory was fairly prosperous, with a fair number of people, but beyond it, fields stretched out. In such a boring rural town, Nate grew up in the central town of the Viscount Mills territory.

Nate's father was absent from the moment he was born, and he was raised by his mother alone, who worked as a maid in the Viscount Mills household. When his mother was out working and not at home, young Nate was entrusted to an elderly woman in the neighborhood. It was from this elderly woman's words that Nate became aware of the existence of a "father," but he never had the courage to ask his mother who his father was.

When Nate was six years old, his mother's family, the baron's house, renounced their title. As a result, his mother's younger sister, who had dropped out of a noble academy, stayed with Nate and his mother for half a year until she could enter a magic academy.

One night, Nate woke up to use the bathroom and overheard his mother and aunt talking about his father. Nate, careful not to be noticed by the two, eavesdropped and learned that he was not a child his mother had wanted.

While working as a maid in a marquess's household, his mother had been forced into a lover's relationship with the heir of the marquess's family. When his mother tried to quit, the heir threatened her, saying he would not give her a letter of recommendation and would claim she had been fired for misconduct. Thus, his mother became the heir's lover.

The marquess's heir, who had a fiancée, was caught cheating with another young lady and impregnating her, leading to his disinheritance. He then inherited the Viscount Mills title from the marquess's wife and married the young lady he had impregnated, but it was not Nate's mother. In other words, the Viscount Mills had cheated on his fiancée and forced his mother into a lover's relationship.

That despicable man was Nate's father.

During the chaos of moving from the capital to the Mills territory after the marquess's heir became Viscount Mills, Nate's mother realized she was pregnant and gave birth to Nate. After coming to the Mills territory, the viscount took on another lover, and Nate's mother was finally released from her role as a lover.

Even after leaving the role of a lover, Nate's mother could not quit her job as a maid because Nate was a boy. She worked hard, accepting the additional allowance for Nate's upbringing on top of her maid's salary.

The Viscountess Mills, who had married the Viscount Mills, was regaining her reputation as if the fact that she had stolen the marquess's heir from his fiancée had never happened. Despite this, she was a rotten bride, pretending to be a good person in public while thoroughly bullying maids she disliked in private. She was a beautiful woman with a corrupt nature, skilled at maintaining appearances. The viscount, fearing retaliation from his wife, was thoroughly hiding the existence of his lover.

The Viscountess Mills had only one daughter. Although Nate's mother was no longer a lover, there was no risk of her relationship with the viscount being exposed, but Nate's mother was desperately trying to keep the existence of her illegitimate son, Nate, a secret from the viscountess.

When Nate was seven, his aunt entered the magic academy and moved into the dormitory, and Nate began attending a commoner school. The commoner school only lasted in the morning, where he learned to write and do calculations. After lunch, he would go to the elderly woman's house, but after Nate started attending school, she moved to live with her son and daughter-in-law in a distant place.

The couple who owned the bakery, around the same age as Nate's mother and with a daughter who had married and left home, offered Nate a job. They paid him a small salary, just enough to cover lunch and a little pocket money, and found tasks for Nate, such as stamping boxes and bags and doing simple errands.

Nate was fascinated by how the robust, masculine hands of the bakery owner could create delicate pastries and by the lively banter between the couple. Every night, Nate would tell his mother about the bakery, and she would always listen with a smile. Whenever something small and happy happened, like a flower blooming or Nate's shoes getting bigger, his mother would buy a cake from the bakery, and they would celebrate together.

When Nate turned ten, his salary at the bakery increased slightly, and he was given the task of baking cookies once a week. The first customer for the cookies Nate made was, of course, his mother.

One day, Nate was asked to run an errand for the lady of the house.

"Nate, can you go to the liquor store and order a can of the usual brandy?"

"The rum is also running low."

"Then please get a can of rum as well."

Nate headed to the familiar liquor store, which was a bit far from the town center. The liquor he ordered would be delivered later, so Nate didn't need to carry the heavy one-gallon cans back.

When Nate arrived at the liquor store, a girl about his age was talking to the owner, so he stood behind her and waited for their conversation to end.

"The strong alcohol I recommend is this. It's quite heavy, but can you carry it, miss?"

The owner said this and handed a large bottle of brandy to the girl.

"...I can manage. I'll take this."

Standing behind the girl, Nate felt a sense of unease and, after some thought, realized that the girl was his half-sister.

Her brown hair was a wig. It was well put on, but being an adult's wig, it was a bit too big and didn't fit quite right. Upon closer inspection, there was no parting. The wig hid her eyes, and only her nose and mouth were visible, but they looked exactly like his own, which he always saw in the mirror, hidden behind his long bangs.

Most importantly, she smelled different from a commoner.

She was wearing old, worn-out clothes, but she smelled very good. It was the faint, noble scent that wafted from his mother when she came home from work. It's not that commoners smelled bad; it's just that such a good smell never came from a commoner.

The only noble child in the area was the daughter of the Viscount Mills, which meant she was Nate's half-sister.

If it weren't for the smell, the slight discomfort with the wig might not have been noticeable, as she was cleverly disguised as a commoner. This half-sister, whose name Nate didn't know, had a mouth that looked just like his. If she saw him, she might recognize him as her half-brother, Nate thought.

At that moment, Nate had a slight desire to talk to his half-sister and become friends. But remembering his mother, who was working hard at the viscount's mansion to keep Nate's existence hidden from the viscountess, Nate decided to hide from his half-sister and casually moved to the shadow of a nearby shelf.

"Your father will surely be happy. I'll tie a ribbon on it as a gift. Red, okay?"

"Any color will do."

"I'll give you this chocolate as a bonus."

"Thank you."

With that, the half-sister, who had just finished her purchase, left the liquor store with the large, heavy bottle of alcohol. There was no one around who looked like a bodyguard, and she walked alone in the direction of the mansion.

The half-sister, disguised as a commoner, was buying brandy at this remote liquor store as a gift for the Viscount Mills. Was she trying to surprise him without his knowledge? Despite what his mother had said about her being a despicable person, she was still taking care of her father, which surprised Nate, but he was a little relieved that he didn't want her to be unhappy.

While walking back to the bakery from the liquor store, Nate saw something red out of the corner of his eye. The red was sticking out of a vegetable scrap box in front of a greengrocer's shop. Unable to resist, Nate peered into the scrap box and saw the red ribbon the liquor store owner had tied around the brandy and the chocolate he had given as a bonus, both discarded.

Some time after this encounter with his half-sister, in the middle of spring when the bakery's display was filled with strawberry cakes, the day came when Nate's ordinary and happy daily life came to an end.

That day, Nate woke up earlier than usual and had breakfast with his mother, who was working the early shift and had to leave early in the morning.

Nate noticed that his mother was wearing a hair clip with a glass bead he had never seen before.

"Do you have such a hair clip?"

"This big glass bead is made by melting glass of your favorite color with a fire magic tool. The young lady at the mansion is obsessed with it and is making decorations and hair clips with glass beads and giving them to the servants. Each one is different in color and pattern, and she seems to be very particular about making them."

Nate's mother was unaware that he had overheard her and his aunt's conversation and knew that his father was Viscount Mills. She probably didn't even think that the "young lady at the mansion" was his half-sister.

"Hmm, but isn't it a bit big for a decoration?"

"That's true. Well, it's made by a 9-year-old girl, so it can't be helped. It's heavy, and I didn't wear it, but I was caught, and she begged me to wear it today."

The blue glass bead, which seemed to be aware of his mother's eye color, had a dark, murky blue due to the black material used in the core. Nate thought his mother's blue eyes were much prettier.

Today was his mother's early shift. They were supposed to meet at a park between the mansion where his mother worked and the bakery where Nate helped, and then go shopping together and return home.

"Today is my early shift, so we'll meet at the usual park."

"Okay. Have a good day."

After gently patting Nate's head, his mother left the house. Nate had no idea that this would be the last time he would see his mother.

Nate finished helping at the bakery earlier than usual and was walking to the park to meet his mother when he noticed the commotion around him.

"I hear the viscount's mansion is on fire, and the large water-spouting magic tool is broken, making it difficult to extinguish."

Hearing this, Nate, instead of heading to the park, ran straight to the mansion where his mother worked. His mother, who was hiding Nate from the viscountess, had strictly forbidden him from going to the mansion, just as she had forbidden him from showing his face. But he couldn't help but run, ignoring his mother's words.

There was a crowd around the mansion, but Nate, using his small body, pushed through the onlookers. He ignored the people trying to stop him, entered the mansion, and ran towards the center of the fire, where the smoke was the thickest. Although his mother might not have been there, he couldn't shake off a bad feeling.

Once inside the mansion, there was no one in sight. Everyone must have escaped.

As the flames engulfed everything, Nate saw a blue flame.

Nate, who helped at the bakery, knew that pouring brandy over dried fruit and igniting it would produce a blue flame. Could this fire be caused by alcohol?

Strong alcohol, a noble scoundrel buying a gift at a commoner's store, a perfect disguise with no bodyguards, a gift with a discarded ribbon, a glass bead from a hair clip that was demanded to be worn, and a burning mansion.

The small inconsistencies added up, and Nate, sensing his mother's danger subconsciously, ran towards the blue flame. The pain in his lungs from the smoke didn't even register.

In the room enveloped in blue flames, three people were lying on the ground.

Two of them, a man and a woman, were likely the Viscount and Viscountess Mills, based on their clothing. Their clothes were not burned, and there were no burn marks on their bodies, yet they were unconscious. Nate had never imagined he would see his father in such a state. Perhaps the servants didn't come to their rescue because of their usual behavior.

The third person was his mother.

Even though her head and upper body were burned, and she was completely blackened, Nate recognized her as his beloved mother. Her old, worn shoes were still on her feet. At the spot where her hair clip had been, a fireball remained, even as her head and the surrounding area were burned and charred.

It was the glass bead from the hair clip.

Without thinking, Nate grabbed the fireball. He held it in both hands, pressed it to his face, and managed to extinguish the fire. From his torn palms, a small magic tool emerged.

Later, when the magic tool was examined, it was said that if Nate had just watched, it would have burned out and disappeared.

Nate gave up on taking his mother out, left the unconscious Viscount and Viscountess Mills, and ran out of the mansion. On his way out, he saw some suspicious people, but later realized they were looters.

Searching for an exit in the burning mansion, Nate looked out a large, burning window and saw a young girl looking up at the burning mansion with several servants in the garden. The girl, with her golden hair and red eyes, looked just like Nate and was laughing at the burning mansion.

Nate, with his burned hands, touched the magic tool in his pocket and realized that his half-sister had started the fire and that his mother had been caught up in her plan to kill the Viscount and Viscountess Mills.

All of this was based on Nate's memories and impressions, and there was no concrete evidence. The encounter at the liquor store might have been a coincidence, and the blue flame might have been a coincidence. The magic tool that had turned into a fireball might not have been the cause of the fire.

Still, Nate was convinced that his half-sister was the culprit.

There was no way a commoner like Nate could accuse a noble young lady, his half-sister, based on such vague testimony. Moreover, his half-sister was only 9 years old. Who would believe that a 9-year-old girl had planned to kill her parents?

Nate had magic power. His half-sister, being the child of two nobles, must also have magic power. He would meet his half-sister, who was the same age as him, at the magic academy when they were 16. That's when he would take his revenge. He would set her head on fire and burn her, just like his mother.

Nate, with deep burns on his face and hands, returned to the house without his mother. She never came home, not that night, not the next morning. By noon, the landlord entered the house without permission, ignored Nate's burns, and told him to go to an orphanage immediately because his mother's burned body had been found at the mansion. The landlord had kicked Nate out to take his belongings and property.

When Nate resisted, the only thing in his hand was his piggy bank, which contained the money he had saved from his bakery salary. He couldn't take any of the things his mother cherished.

Hurt by the landlord's sudden change in attitude, and fearing that the kind bakery couple might also change, Nate decided to go to his aunt's place and headed to the Reeves March without proper treatment. He was worried about what had happened to his mother's body, but there was nothing he could do as a young child.

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Time passed, and when Nate was 12, he was suddenly kidnapped by his half-sister in Roten and forced onto a carriage heading to the capital.

There were many clues. The cousin of the same age, the golden hair and red eyes, the cunning that deceived everyone and framed Melissa, and the eerie lack of empathy in a young child. Nate was frustrated with his own carelessness for not realizing that the cousin Melissa feared was his half-sister. His recent indulgence in imagining a life with Melissa at the imperial magic academy had led to this mistake.

He had encountered the person he intended to kill at the magic academy. He was closer to his goal, but he was unsure why his half-sister, Amelia, was so delighted to kidnap a boy who looked just like him. In the carriage, Nate was forced to write a farewell letter to Melissa, and Amelia, sitting next to him, lifted his bangs to examine his face.

"Until yesterday, I was visiting my relatives in Reeves. This eye color and this face, are you the illegitimate child of the March Lord Reeves?"

Nate, taken aback by the unexpected question, couldn't answer.

"...Well, it doesn't matter. Can you check all the children of the March Lord