Chapter 4

I stood there in a daze while the guards spoke to Jace with very troubled expressions.

"Sir Jace, please take this child with you. I've never seen His Highness the Duke so angry. Something terrible might really happen if this goes on."

Jace's gaze turned to me, where I stood frozen like a block of ice.

"Um..."

Jace placed his hand on my shoulder with a small sigh.

"Let's go together first. I'll explain on the way."

I nodded weakly. There was nothing more I could do here.

"His Highness the Duke has been searching for Lady Olivia for the past six years."

As we walked down the corridor, Jace explained what had happened over the past six years.

"When Lady Olivia suddenly disappeared, I was a squire. Even to my young eyes, His Highness the Duke seemed almost mad. Right now, His Highness must be in a difficult state. He finally found Lady Olivia, but she is in a life-threatening condition. So don't take what happened earlier to heart. Adults may seem mature, but they can often be more immature than children. Oh, am I talking too much again?"

I shook my head quickly. I usually dislike people who talk a lot, but strangely, I didn't mind listening to Jace now.

"Don't worry too much about your mother. His Highness the Duke knows more about monsters than anyone else. He knows how to treat injuries from monsters better than any ordinary doctor, so he will definitely save your mother."

Hearing those words, I felt a strange lump in my throat. I hadn't shed a single tear when my mother fainted and fell.

Then I realized, I must have been deeply hurt. I thought she was just a person unrelated to me, but perhaps because she was my father, when I saw him treat me worse than an object, I was momentarily stunned and couldn't say a word.

I now understood that being rejected by a stranger and being rejected by family are completely different. Deep down, I must have hoped he would treat me kindly, foolishly.

"Ah!"

Jace was startled when he saw tears streaming down my face. He clutched his head, unsure of what to do, and then knelt in front of me.

"Don't cry."

He gently wiped my wet cheeks.

"I'll keep you updated on your mother's condition. At a time like this, you should just eat well and sleep well. When your mother wakes up, she'll be happy to see you healthy. Understand?"

I nodded silently, and he patted my head.

"Was it to meet His Highness the Duke that you ran into the road earlier?"

"Yes."

"It was a reckless act, but you were brave. His Highness the Duke will surely be proud of you."

I thought to myself that it would never happen. If he had cared about his children at all, he wouldn't have chosen to die with his wife in the original story. To him, the only important person in the world was my mother.

When my tears had subsided, Jace said,

"By the way, I haven't even asked your name. What's your name?"

"Al."

He smiled broadly, showing his teeth.

"Got it, Al. I'm Jace Rikaind. Just call me Jace. Our family has served His Highness the Duke closely for two generations. We are a vassal family—well, it might be a bit of a difficult concept for you."

Contrary to his thoughts, I knew a lot about his family, including their relationship with my father.

About 50 years ago, the king of Castoria suddenly died.

The cause of death was never determined. Only ominous rumors spread, such as the king's body turning blue like someone who had been poisoned, or that he had eaten food given by his brother the night before.

The young prince, who lost his father overnight at the age of 10, was stripped of everything. The dukedom passed to his uncle, Viscount Nicolas.

Immediately after becoming king, the viscount gave the young prince the grand-sounding title of Duke and exiled him to the harsh northern lands.

Everyone knew that the new king desperately wished for his young nephew to freeze to death in the north or be torn apart by monsters.

However, against all expectations, the prince survived tenaciously. He began to eliminate monsters and cultivate the barren land. The Rikaind family was the one that contributed the most in this process. Led by them, the northern nobles gradually pledged their loyalty to the duke.

In just 20 years, the poor and monster-infested fief transformed into a prosperous land.

Later, the prince married and had a child. That child was my father, Karim Iskars.

If they could have lived happily ever after, it would have been wonderful, but my father, Karim Iskars, was left alone at the age of 10, just like his father. His father, who had been summoned to the palace, returned as a corpse.

It was also a mysterious death with no clear cause. The duchess, who was deeply shocked, also passed away not long after.

Thus, my father harbored a deep desire for revenge against the Castoria royal family from a young age. To him, the Castoria royal family was the archenemy who had killed his father and grandfather and stolen the throne.

To achieve his revenge, he thoroughly put on a mask and became friends with the male protagonist of the original story.

The male protagonist, Gerard Arkans, was the head of the only dukedom in the kingdom.

The Arkans family was the oldest noble family in the kingdom and one of the most powerful, even influencing the royal family.

My father approached the Duke of Arkans because he would be the biggest obstacle in the rebellion. Moreover, the reason his grandfather was stripped of the throne and exiled was that the powerful Arkans family had supported Viscount Nicolas.

At the time, the Duke of Arkans judged that it was better for Viscount Nicolas to become king rather than a powerless child, which would plunge the country into chaos. In exchange, he spared the prince's life.

Thus, my father could not view the Arkans family favorably.

However, he hid his dark feelings and smiled at the male protagonist. That's how they became the closest of friends.

One day, a beautiful and kind female protagonist, known as the 'Sunshine Heroine,' appeared before them.

The original novel begins right here.

---

Jace took me to my room and then left.

Now, all I could do was wait for my mother to wake up. Lying on the bed, I had a dream about the world I had lived in before I was reincarnated.

A world where science was extremely advanced instead of magic. Tall buildings and numerous cars on the roads. Airplanes flying in the sky—things that people here could hardly imagine. I had lived a very ordinary life there.

Perhaps to the people here, the world I lived in might seem like a wonderful utopia. Even if it wasn't actually, it was a place where everyone was nominally equal and could choose their own leaders. That world had its own problems, but I couldn't know them all.

"Al!"

I must have dozed off. Someone was shaking me awake. When I opened my eyes, I saw Jace's face.

"Are you awake?"

The room was dark, and only the flickering light of the candle Jace held in his hand was visible. It seemed to be the middle of the night.

I sat up quickly. I realized that Jace coming to see me at this hour was not a good sign. He must have come for something urgent.

"Is, is something wrong with Mom?"

My lips trembled involuntarily. I was terrified that he might say my mother had died.

Mom, who had suffered so much for me. I wanted to protect her this time.

Would it end so futilely?

At that moment, Jace smiled brightly.

"No, your mother just woke up. That's why I came to get you."

Before I could react, Jace grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

"Let's go quickly. Lady Olivia is looking for you."