Episode 431.

“His name is Edgar.”

Sylvia looked into the dark eyes that somehow resembled her husband’s and said the name Edgar for the first time in a very long time.

“He, he’s….”

She thought she’d be okay now, but as soon as she said his name, her chest ached like a sharp thorn.

The tip of my nose wrinkled and tears threatened to fall, but Raon wordlessly squeezed my hand.

His firm but warm touch slowly calmed the churning in her heart.

“The first time I met him was in a tavern in Camelune, when I was at my lowest point due to the constant missions.”

Sylvia closed her eyes and remembered those days.

“It was a boring and painful time.

Her father paid no attention to her as she trained and fought, her siblings ignored her as if she didn’t exist, and her officers were always looking for a niche to exploit, so she was only sent on missions that took her out of the family and around the world.

It was so hard that when I wanted to give up, I met him.

“I was drinking alone on the second floor of a bar, concealing my identity, when a fight broke out on the first floor, which I didn’t pay attention to because it was just drunks everywhere.”

“I saw the mess and the fight, but I didn’t do anything about it. I was exhausted, and I kept drinking, thinking I could control myself.

However, both of the drunks were heirs to quite a large fortune, and their individual fights became group fights, turning the entire tavern into a battleground.

“I was about to leave the tavern, thinking it was becoming a nuisance, when a man joined the fight.”

Sylvia narrowed her eyes and looked at the swordsman’s face.

“He was armed with nothing but an old sword, and he defeated over two dozen uninhabitants on both sides – no brute strength, no aurors, just swordplay.”

“With nothing but swordsmanship….”

“You know what’s even funnier? The fool sat down all the people he’d defeated and started lecturing them, going on and on about how fighting in taverns hurts the barkeep, how the citizens are scared, and how that’s not how swordsmanship is supposed to be used.”

“…….”

Sword Guy lowered his gaze to the stirring tea with a serious expression.

“It’s obviously pointless, but he was seriously lecturing everyone. He was about to turn around, thinking he was an idiot, when the first person he stunned tried to stab him in the back.”

For a man whose swordsmanship is second to none, you’d think he’d have a sixth sense, but he surprisingly didn’t notice the men trying to attack him from behind.

I thought about letting it go because it was none of my business, but then I realized he thought it was funny, so I threw my fork off the table and caught the attacker in the shoulder.

“That’s when I made eye contact with him for the first time. His eyes were sharp as knives, but I could feel the warmth in his blue eyes.”

He didn’t kill the man who tried to attack him, but came up to the second floor after giving a sermon.

“He bowed to me, thanked me for saving his life, and said he would repay the favor. I said enough of the favor, I wanted to ask him a question.”

My first question was, why are you preaching to them? It was obvious that it was pointless, so I wanted to know why.

“He knew it was pointless for most of them. But he said that if he could help just one person get a new life, his words would help them. He said that’s how he realized it too….”

Sylvia smiled, remembering the first time she’d seen Edgar laugh that day.

“The second time, I asked him why an Auror was so weak, befitting his superior swordsmanship, and he said with a bright face, ‘It just happened.'”

She recited the events of her time with Edgar one by one, watching the dark-haired man’s complexion harden to black.

* * *

“To make a long story short, Edgar was a weak subject, and he walked around like he was a master. Except in Siegfried. No, it was a personality I hadn’t seen anywhere else, so I couldn’t help but notice.”

“…I see.”

Swordguy Rectar smiled faintly as he listened to Sylvia’s words. However, his insides were cracking as if they had been burnt.

“That’s you. Edgar.

The stupid son hadn’t changed his name when he left Rune.

It was so like him, I thought, to hate Abi and Rune so much and still use that name.

‘And he can’t let go of that stuffy personality.

Edgar was a good and righteous man, unlike his fellow Runes. In a lesser faction, he would have made a name for himself as a collaborator.

‘But….’

He couldn’t live like that.

They say you can’t live by doing what you want, but Edgar had gone too far. He never understood killing and saving people for mutual gain without resentment.

It was no different than forcing a child to hold a sword for the rest of his life when he was better suited for a fountain pen, and it broke my heart every time I saw him.

It was impossible for Edgar to break free of his bonds, and I tried many ways to change him, but he would never bend, whether he learned it from his mother or from being broken.

“In the end, she broke free of the runes on her own.

While I went outside to fulfill the Lords’ requests, Edgar was tested by the Lords and left the Rune under his own power.

He could have been the next Rune Lord, but instead he left the Rune, scarring himself beyond repair.

He wished he had understood his son sooner and more deeply.

‘Wretch….’

When I returned from doing Lin’s bidding, I remembered my son’s last letter, which had been left in the corner of the room.

[I want to be a person who is not ashamed of myself and my family, please understand, Dad].

Edgar had left a short, but heartfelt note, and then left Rune.

I thought not looking for him would be the last thing I would do for him, but here I am, meeting the people he left behind.

“He was happy no matter what he did, even if he didn’t have money, even if he was in a difficult situation, he always smiled. He was a little scared of snow, but he was as bright as the sun.”

Sylvia smiles as she watches the garden trees sway in the wind.

“He changed me, too. Growing up in Siegfried, I was cold and heartless, but he taught me what it means to be human.”

Her eyes deepened as she remembered her time with Edgar.

“It was because of Edgar that I told Raon to take up the sword for the people, that I wanted him to be a child who could take up the sword for the world like he did, who could always smile happily… Well, the second is elusive, but I think the first has come true.”

Sylvia touched Raon’s cheek, muttering that she wished he’d smile a little more.

“You’re right, Prosecutor Raon’s suspicions are spread across the continent.”

The swordguy’s fingertips twitched in agreement with Sylvia’s words.

“Edgar. You’ve gotten what you wanted.

Your life is in this place.

When Raon told him his father was dead, Edgar thought he’d been killed.

I thought the man who might have been called the Sword King when the seals were lifted if he had stayed in Rann, had wounded himself and died stupidly.

But no.

His son’s will had not died, but remained with them.

Just as Edgar’s name meant: happiness maker. His happiness was here to stay.

‘Mmm….’

The tip of his nose stung, the corners of his eyes crinkled, and he bit his lip hard. If he didn’t keep his emotions in check while operating an Auror, he felt like tears would fall.

He clenched his hands under the table as Sylvia spoke of the joys of her life with Edgar.

“You must have had a hard life.

She had deliberately avoided talking about this place, but she must have had a hard life.

My heart ached for her, for I knew what it was like to be a man who had escaped from Muga once.

“After we left Sigkhardt, we settled in a small town in the northeast, where the people were friendly and there were mountains and rivers nearby, so we didn’t have to worry about making a living, but….”

Sylvia’s bright voice sank low and heavy.

“The ghosts of Eden, who recognized my face, attacked….”

She bit her lip until it bled as she spoke of Edgar and the loss of her first daughter to Eden.

“Daughter, you mean Raon wasn’t alone?”

The swordsman looked surprised to hear that she had a daughter, and called Raon by name.

“Yes. I had an older sister who was a bit older than Raon, but together with him, she was in Eden’s hands….”

Sylvia closed her eyes tightly, unable to finish her sentence. A thin line of water dripped from her eyes as she held it in.

Hiss.

The swordsman bit his tongue tightly and curled his fist. It felt as if his energy would explode at any moment if he didn’t put pressure on his body, so he forced it down with pain.

“I had a granddaughter?

His jaw clenched and he turned his gaze to Raon, his heart clenching so tightly he thought it might burst at the realization that he had a granddaughter, not just a daughter-in-law and grandson.

“I should have found her!

No, I should have found them even if I hadn’t gone.

I feel an overwhelming sense of regret. The thought that I hadn’t done anything right, that I had lost not only my son, but my granddaughter, made my heart ache like it was being ripped out of my chest.

“Do you have any idea who attacked Eden?”

“Two-headed.”

A two-headed monster was a monster that inherited the power of Etin, the highest of monsters. But his power didn’t matter.

Rage surged through me that he had killed my son and my faceless granddaughter.

“I see.”

The swordsman nodded, forcing down his emotions.

“Thank you for telling me such a difficult story.”

He bowed politely to Sylvia.

“There….”

Sylvia swallowed dryly, setting down the teacup she was holding between her fingertips.

“By any chance, Mr. Rectar, are you acquainted with Edgar?”

My heart lurched in my chest at the words. It wasn’t just Sylvia who looked up, but Raon, too, with eyes that seemed to sense something.

There was a certain conviction in their eyes.

“I suppose it is.

She realized that she and Edgar looked like father and son, especially in the eyes.

It wasn’t strange, because when I looked at Raon, I saw the face of my son hiding beneath the glamorous exterior.

I wanted to tell him the truth.

I wanted to scream that I was your father-in-law, that I was your biological father.

‘But….’

Not now.

He was in a place where he and Siegfried could only be described as enemies.

She couldn’t reveal her identity to them unless she finished the job there. The last thing she needed was to add insult to injury.

“Not yet.”

Swordguy swallowed the word ‘not yet’ and shook his head.

“Well, I guess not.”

Sylvia smiled awkwardly, looking deeply disappointed.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

Gumkiss crushed his palms with his nails and lowered his eyes.

“No, I’m not! I’ve been talking about things that have been buried for a long time, and it’s kind of cathartic.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Gumkiss pursed his lips as he watched Sylvia and Raon smile.

“From now on, I, this ugly old man, will protect you.

* * *

“Luckily, the escort my father sent arrived and we were able to survive. After that, we returned to Sigkhart and raised Raon.”

Sylvia stroked Raon’s head and smiled wistfully.

“It must have been hard….”

The swordsman lowered his eyebrows as if he knew what life would be like here.

“It’s okay, now that I think about it, you’ve been very accommodating.”

“Convenience?”

“Yes. Sending me to this annex so I wouldn’t run into any of the other brothers, or any of the officers. At first I thought it was unappreciated, but I guess it’s more of a consideration on your part.”

Sylvia laughed at the idea that Glenn had gone out of his way to make her comfortable here.

“That’s certainly true.”

The swordsman nodded in agreement.

Raon looked at Sylvia’s soft smile and nodded.

“You’re right.

Sylvia’s comment about sending the former handmaidens to the annex after they had left the family home and returned, and leaving the former handmaidens in place, was cold, but he thought it was considerate in its own way.

‘It’s not what it seems.

Glenn Siegfried was a man of action, whether it was in his immediate circle, in the realm, or from outside, rewarding those who did well, or taking action himself when the House’s name was tarnished.

Raon clasped his hands together as he watched the swordsman listen to Sylvia for hours.

He feigned calm conversation, but he couldn’t hide the slight tremor in his eyes.

“Sadness?

I’m not sure exactly what it is, as I’m not yet familiar with human emotions, but it’s a color that seems to reflect sadness.

“Oh, come to think of it, you’re a master now, aren’t you? A clown!”

Sylvia clapped her hands and turned her head as if remembering.

“I’m a clown as of today. I was going to say I’m a rabid dog.”

“Well, that seems a little too undignified….”

She shook her chin and muttered a disapproval of the name.

“Anyway, I’ve become a master, so let’s have a party to celebrate, and I’ll invite my overlord….”

“Oh, he can’t come.”

“Huh? Why?”

“He won’t be able to move for a while, or….”

Raon shook his head, muttering that he might already be dead.

“Well, we’ll have to do it on our own then. I need to get ready. We’ll open it the day after tomorrow. Rectar, please join us.”

“I haven’t done anything, but….”

“You can come as a guest and celebrate!”

“Um, okay.”

“Thank you!”

Sylvia shook her head and headed for the annex, saying she would have to speak to the maids.

Raon’s eyes narrowed as they swept over Sylvia’s back.

‘I told you it had nothing to do with your father….’

Sylvia was convinced, and asked him if he was related to her father, but he said no.

‘That’s what I was told, too.

A very different story.

I had asked Sylvia the same question when I was in Habun Castle, and Gum Gui had said no. Only this time, there was an extra word in front of it.

“Not yet.

It’s very awkward to say that you don’t know someone who’s already dead.

“I’m sure. He and my father knew each other.

Pretty close, too.

Gum Gui didn’t know his expression, but it was obvious from the side. He and his father were definitely acquainted.

Raon watched Gum Gui raise his empty teacup, his mouth watering.

‘Either I owe my father a great debt or….’