Side Story 11: Mother (7)
It was in the dining room prior to dinner where the couple met again with their son after getting caught being embarrassingly affectionate with each other.
As they had accepted Michael’s request to invite Serena and Junior Count Orgiu as well, they would be arriving soon.
What Michael was planning to do, they had no idea.
The three family members gathered in the empty dining room where the guests had yet to come.
They kept their silence, staring at each other in embarrassment.
“Abel.”
“Yes, mother.”
Abel was glancing over at Aisha’s lips, then answered Aisha right away, startled.
Aisha asked with an awkward smile, “Is-is there something on my face?”
“N-no. I just thought… you really were beaten up until you were swollen blue…”
“What?”
“Ugh! I-It’s nothing. I-I was mistaken!” Abel clasped his hands over his mouth in surprise.
Recalling that Abel’s eyes were on her lips until just now, Aisha instinctively reached to touch her lips. Indeed… her lips were swollen due to how hades was biting and sucking on them after Abel had left.
Unable to hide her embarrassment, Aisha ended up covering her face with her two hands and let out a sigh.
Looking at Aisha and Abel both being embarrassed, Hades couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into laughter.
Aisha raised her eyebrows in sharp angles and shouted, “You think this is funny?”
“No, haha… ah, this is crazy, really…” Hades thought for a moment as he rubbed his forehead and asked Abel, “You said you want a sibling for your birthday. We are trying. So don’t come bursting in through the door like that from now on.”
“Ah, okay. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine if you know.”
“And about my sibling….” Abel opened his mouth after some hesitation, drawing Aisha and Hades’ gaze. “W-when my sibling gets born, please declare them as your heir, father. I… cannot bear to watch you being misunderstood and mother suffering anymore.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Is that what you came to say back there?”
“Abel, that is something for mom and dad to handle. Don’t you worry about that.”
Hades opened his eyes sharply in discontent, Aisha soothed Abel with pity on her face.
Staring at the two of them, Abel shook his head. “That wasn’t what I came to say. I was just going to tell mother not to worry and that I love her.”
“Hm?”
“I am not curious about my birth mother or my birth father. The only parents for me are you two. Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“Giving up? How could you say that?” Hades sighed as he brushed his hair back.
Abel started tearing up as he pouted.
“You know, father. I have a request. Even if…even if people find out that I am not your son by blood, even if they know… could you please let me stay being mother and father’s son? I want to be happy here, with the two of you… for a long time.”
“Abel.”
Hearing his words, Aisha couldn’t bear it anymore and teared up. Abel tried to hold back sniffling but eventually showed tears.
Hades couldn’t help but think up something horrid at the sight of those two.
Those two scamps who are troubling Abel and Aisha, when they were living just fine without a problem in the world…
‘Should I just… kill them?’
It wasn’t such a hard thing to do if he hired a skillful assassin, but he was holding back since there would obviously be words that house of Louvremont had done something to them.
But seeing Abel suffering, he wondered what would be so wrong with that.
He may have gotten somewhat gentler since Aisha’s arrival at the duchy, but Hades Louvremont was originally a man who did not hesitate in making ruthless decisions without shedding a single drop of tear.
“Your Grace, the grand priest and the priest to assist with baptism, Junior Count Orgiu and Miss Serena have arrived.
The butler knocked lightly on the dining room door and informed them of the guests.
Hades reached out to lightly wipe out tears from Abel sitting on his left side.
“Let’s talk about this later.”
His eyes were directed at Malcolm, the Junior Count Orgiu, and Serena. His eyes were full of killing intent, but nobody noticed.
This was especially true for Malcolm, who was excited and happy and filled with expectations. He couldn’t even imagine what Hades was thinking inside his head. This was a gathering with three members who share the Louvremont name, and there was even the grand priest and his closest priestess too.
The fact that he was standing together with the most prestigious members of the empire in this important occasion made him excited. Which was understandable since he was starting to hold grudges against Hades for not permitting them to be seated beside him, even though he had permitted his stay in the castle.
Of all people, the grand priest said he would be personally giving a baptism…
Malcolm glanced at Serena seated beside him.
Though she was an arrogant comrade, she had ambitions and was doing well so far. Neither she nor he would betray each other since they have each other’s life in their hands. If things go well, Serena would be by Hades’ side and he, who took good care of Serena until now, may end up receiving something more magnificent than what he originally wished for.
‘Heheh…. My, my… should I pick up some estates in a nice area and ask him for a duke title maybe? He wouldn’t need such a thing as imperial permission. not if it’s decided by ‘the’ Duke Louvremont.’
As Malcolm was imagining his rosy future on his own accord, Serena suddenly walked up to the seat next to Abel and sat there instead of the empty seat presented to her.
Abel turned to look at Serena beside him with a look of surprise.
“May I sit here?”
“…”
Baffled, Abel stared at Aisha on the other side and Aisha looked back at Abel, also surprised.
“Your seat is over there.”
The deep voice of Hades filled the silent dining room. Hades pointed with his chin to the seat next to Malcolm in the distance, but Serena kept her mouth closed and didn’t even give an answer for some reason.
“Hey.”
“You are so cruel.”
Hearing Serena’s answer, everyone silently gulped for air.
“What?”
“You don’t even permit me to meet Abel properly. Can’t I just see him for a moment? How could you do this to me?”
“What?”
“I tried to understand Your Grace even when you promised young naïve me eternity in one night and left me. But I cannot understand you taking Abel away from me and not even letting me see his face. You are so cruel.”
Gasps of surprise broke out here and there.
Hades was the only person who seemed unfazed.
“…Is that so?”
Looking back at Hades’ sharp glare that seemed like those of a beast targeting prey, Serena recalled Malcolm’s word.
-It’s clear that duke Louvremont is intending to never, ever reveal the Childe’s secret. For us. it’s fine whether he reveals the truth or not. And since we have the Childe’s life in our hands, we can act a little more daring.
Of course, he wouldn’t have meant for her to be acting this daring, as Malcolm’s baffled expression would indicate.
And since Serena was also a quick-witted woman who knew when to stop, she wouldn’t have dared to make such a daring situation.
But right now, she was not in her right mind.
To be precise…
“My days.”
It was because of Michael’s tricks. Michael had his hand over his mouth with a look of surprise, hiding his mouth giving away his laugh.
“Are you curious about the truth, Abel?”
With a firm expression on her face, Serena turned to look at Abel gone speechless and made her statement clear.
“You are my and His Grace’s son. That truth will not change. Only god would know.”
There was no evidence. This was supposed to be a perfect crime.
Serena tried to keep her cool inside her head.
‘There’s no need for even someone like me to be living a low life forever.’
‘There is no way to confirm the truth at this time within this empire anyway. Like what the Junior Count said, what I believe can be my truth.’
‘I will become the young Louvremont’s mother.’
* * *
Was there truly no way to confirm the truth? — Calten hung onto that question for days.
While everyone was in the dining room, he was visiting his master Roxa’s room.
Though there was no answer coming from inside after his knocks, Calten opened the door and entered. As he had expected, Roxa was lying on the sofa as always, asleep and snoring.
And when every member of the Louvremont household is worried about Abel, how could this man be this laid back? And he was supposed to be his master…
Calten sighed.
Still, Roxa was one of the few talents that Calten had respect for. And he was the only person who could accept his request right now.
“Er, master.”
“Me days, ye gave me a fright!”
Though he called him quietly, Roxa was quite startled, floundering as he fell to the floor with a thud.
Wiping out his saliva across his face, Roxa winced. “Whatcha coming in fer?!”
“I have something to talk about with you. I knew you were inside but you wouldn’t answer even after knocking…”
“Den ye shoulda come later!”
“You weren’t busy anyway. You were just sleeping.”
“Eep… so wot do ye want?”
“Would you take a look at this?”
As if he was waiting, Calten shoved the pile of paper he was carrying to Roxa.
There were at least a good 10 pages of papers full of intricate equations.
Glancing over the paper, Roxa let out an absurd laughter.
“Wot’s al’ dis den…”
“It’ll be limited to Crescientians who are all born with their individual elements, but I had an idea if it would be possible there would be a way to confirm the child’s biological parents. This is the report for the design of a magical artifact I came up with based on that.”
“Ye flippin nuts…”
“Fundamentally, a child is born with the elements provided by their parents, don’t they? Then there should also naturally be genetic traits on the mana they wield as well.”
Though Roxa seemed uninterested, Calten continued earnestly with his eyes sparkling.
“Even if they are of the same element, if they are related to each other by blood, there should be some genetic formula engraved in their mana too, something that would confirm one’s personal identification like fingerprints would. If we could materialize those traits and equations, I am certain that we can also create a magical artifact that could confirm one’s biological relationship.”
“Are ye doing dis fer da childe? Wot, ye think da birth mother who showed up now is not da childe’s real birth mother?”
“Rather. I think this is quite a change of paradigm in the magical approach. The bluebloods of the empire suffer through all kinds of troubles because of lovechild issues…”
“An’ wot if she really is da birth mother? Wouldna His Grace know da truth better dan anyone? Wot wouldda be use o’ dis?”
“Ah… O-of course that’s true, but you never know.”
Calten was taken aback. He wasn’t able to tell him that Abel was not Hades’ son by blood and consequently, the fact that Hades was incapable of confirming the birth mother’s face.
Come to think of it, though he thought up this artifact feeling sorry for Abel, but it would be a problem even if Roxa did makes this.
It would not only confirm or deny whether the birth mother was telling the truth, but it could also confirm that Abel is not Hades’ son by blood.
‘Maybe I was too focused on one thing.’
Calten got discouraged at once and sighed.
His shoulders drooped, and he bowed to Roxa.
“I’m sorry. Come to think of it, I have done something pointless… you may go back to sleep, you seem tired, master.”
“Doncha come bursting in like dis from now on!”
“Right…”
After Calten left the room with his head hanging low, Roxa sprawled on the sofa once again as if he was about to get to sleep.
And after a long while,
Roxa shot up from where he lay and looked through Calten’s report left on the table beside the sofa once again.
“Dis punk…” Looking uncharacteristically tense, Roxa swallowed dryly and muttered, “…Is he a genius?”