156 - 168

DAILY LIFE OF THE DUCAL COUPLE(4)

Hugo laughed upon hearing what she said. He lowered himself, his weight pressing down on her. Then he whispered in her ear.

"You miss the point."

"…What?"

"I'm crazy about you even without this."

So don't make me anymore crazier, he whispered in a low, dangerous voice and brought his lips to Lucia's neck. He kissed and sucked on it, making it sting. She moaned slightly and he licked her gently.

She couldn't move like she caught in a trap. She felt like a prey caught in the jaws of a beast. Her whole body felt so sensitive that the mere sensation of him sweeping past her inner thighs made her ache and moan.

'Strange…'

The underwear was supposed to be for exciting and seducing the man, but she was the one excited instead. Her body felt more sensitive than usual, it ached, she felt short of breath and her eyes burned with heat.

Lucia didn't know this but the underwear she wore was slightly imbued with a fragrance that functioned as a kind of aphrodisiac. It was small but its effect was absorbed into the skin. It wasn't that Antoine didn't tell her deliberately but that this was a function normally imbued in this type of underwear, so she just didn't talk about it and Lucia had absolutely no idea.

Hugo bit her breast, covered by the see-through lace underwear, and soon noticed that there was something there because of the subtle taste. But for someone like him who wasn't affected by a considerable dose, this kind of aphrodisiac had no effect on him. He guessed that his wife probably didn't know this was on it when she wore it and swallowed a laugh.

As he licked her collarbone, trailing up to her nape, she shook in surprised and sobbed. She was definitely more sensitive than usual. Perhaps she also realized that something was strange because her face was filled with puzzlement. Seeing that, Hugo felt sorry, and at the same time, he felt like laughing.

However, it wasn't an unfair situation. Afterall, he was already heated up from head to toe by the aphrodisiac that was his wife, herself.

He bit her nipple which was protruding from the lace. When he bit it a little harder, she uttered a cry. He took her breast into his mouth, sucking on it and she moan while crying at the same time.

Well, well. Seeing as she was so weak to this level of playful teasing, she was completely intoxicated. If he told her about the underwear, she would probably turn red from head to toe and refused to lift her head. When he imagined that sight, he felt amused.

Should he act like he didn't know? Or tease her a little? While he snickered inside, his mouth was busy with her breast and his hand kept caressed her waist and thighs. As he watched her react so vividly, he grew more and more excited.

The lace on her chest was wet with his saliva. But as expected, he loved the feeling of her bare skin. He grabbed the front of her lace and ripped it apart.* Then he took her quivering nipple into his mouth again.

"Hk…Uuuee."

Every time he rolled his tongue around her nipple and suckled on her breast, the curve of her back tingled. Lucia felt like she would scream whenever she opened her mouth, so she turned her head and blocked her mouth with the back of her hand. Everywhere he touched tingled so much that it hurt.

He grabbed her wrist, removing her hand from blocking her mouth then he held her jaw, turning her to face him and kissed her. Lucia's vision flickered as his heated kiss rummaged through her mouth and she closed her eyes. The skillful movements of his tongue made her unable to think straight.

Hugo softly sucked on her swollen lower lip then he separated their lips and planted a deep kiss on her neck.

Something was missing. The area between her legs itched and throbbed. Lucia couldn't help but twist her body, wringing her legs together. The only thought on her mind was cooling down this heat somehow.

He clicked his tongue and squeezed his leg between her legs again. His thigh pressed against her groin.

"Did you know?"

He bit her ear and whispered to her.

"That the underwear you're wearing is open down there."

Despite being in a daze, Lucia's face turned hot. Of course, she knew. That's why she was so freaked out at first. It was an underwear that wasn't even faithful to its job as an underwear.

So even though she still had the underwear on, her private part was directly touching his thigh. His thigh began to slowly move up, rubbing against the exposed crevice.

"Hnng!"

The stimulation caused Lucia to lift her waist. She felt embarrassed to death. But she felt like it wasn't enough. She needed a greater stimulation. As if reading her mind, his thigh moved again.

"Hn…ah! aah! ang!"

He moved his thigh up and down on her flesh as if hammering into her center. The stimulation from the friction caused fluid to flow from her nether regions and his thigh rubbing against her grew slippery and wet.

"Ah!!!"

Her sight flicked, flashing between brightness and darkness. Her waist shot up for a moment before falling down. The short, intense climax made Lucia feel listless for a moment.

But her satisfaction did not last long. She still throbbed with heat somewhere inside. She wanted him to enter her. She longed for his big, hard flesh to fill her up to the brim and stir her up. Lucia let out a breath and licked her lips. She felt like some part of her head had turned strange.

Hugo raised his torso then he held her arms and lifted her.

"You do it."

Eh…?

Lucia looked at him with wide eyes. He leaned against the pillow and sat back on the bed. As she looked into his red eyes that seemed to be aflame, he frowned slightly and beckoned to her.

"Come here."

Lucia slowly lowered her gaze and saw his huge thing standing erect and turned away with a start. She felt like she could hear his mischievous laughter.

Her whole body felt feverish and her heart felt like it would burst out of her chest, but she couldn't bear the urge to glance at his erect manhood again. She gulped unknowingly.

"I said come here. You have to move if you want something. You want to put it in, don't you?"

She glared at her husband, who was saying lecherous things. She subconsciously licked her dry lips. Feeling his fierce gaze on her, Lucia's eyes crinkled as her lips curved into a smile. Seeing him look restless like he would pounce on her at any moment, Lucia spoke.

"Don't move."

When she saw him freeze in place, Lucia gave an even more sly smile.

"You're not allowed to move."

Lucia approached him on his knees. She couldn't move her eyes from his member, which seemed to be showing off its presence. The sight of his thing standing upright was unbelievably indecent. But as she kept looking at it, she got goosebumps and the area between her legs ached and squeezed. She reached out and held it with her hands. He seemed to flinch in that moment. Lucia lowered her head like she was spellbound and put her lips to the tip.

"Eu…"

When she heard his moan, she felt ecstatic. The male scent coming from the thing touching her mouth made her feel dizzy. She opened her small mouth and took the round end into her mouth. The slightly fishy taste didn't bother her.** Then she took it deep into her mouth and rolled her tongue around.

"Huu…"

He breathed hard and reached out, holding onto her with his fingers woven into her hair. He sluggishly closed his eyes, immersed in the pleasure of her hot, wet mouth on his thing then he opened his eyes, capturing the provocative sight before him. The sight of her taking his member in her mouth like candy was incredibly erotic.

"…Stop."

He grabbed Lucia's arm and pulled her into his arms. Lucia's pulled frame landed on his thighs, and she looked up at him with her hands on his bare chest.

DAILY LIFE OF THE DUCAL COUPLE(5)

It seemed like there was a fire burning in his red eyes. There was no smile on his face. But he wasn't expressionless either. Lucia liked seeing this look on his face. His gaze, filled with desire, excited her.

Lucia grabbed his arm around her waist and took it off. His brows furrowed in discontent and she straightened the wrinkles on his forehead.

"I said don't move."

Lucia slowly moved her hand on his firm chest, caressing it. His whole body was firm with muscle. Every time she saw his naked body, Lucia thought it was truly beautiful.

She nuzzled her head under his jaw and kissed his neck. Just like he did to her, she slowly trailed down his neck with her lips, going down his shoulders and chest, tickling him with her tongue. She stroked his firm skin, enjoying the feeling in her hands.

"…I still can't move?"

His voice was murky and subdued.

Lucia hummed a refusal. She was absorbed with caressing him. When she sucked on the protrusion on his chest, his breathing became rough. It was fun and she was also excited by his reaction. She could somehow understand why he liked to bite and lick her whole body.

A strong force suddenly gripped her chin and a pair of lips covered hers. His patience had finally reached its limit. His feverish tongue ploughed through her lips and fiercely traced the innards of her mouth.

"Ng…Hnn."

Lucia closed her eyes and let herself sink into his kiss. He grabbed Lucia by the butt and lifted her up. The moment their lips separated, he pulled her down by the waist, to meet his erect member.

"Aak!"

"Keuk…"

Rough moans escaped from both of their mouths. In a single motion, he penetrated all the way to the hilt and the two of them became one.

Lucia gasped for breath as she took in his entirety and waited for his movements to continue. But unlike usual, he did not move. She took in a restless breath and looked at him. His blazing red eyes were oddly smiling.

How detestable; he was harassing her for no reason. She began to move following her instincts. His breathing went into disarray that moment. The feeling was electrifying so Lucia moved her hips slowly while watching him.

When she lifted her butt a little, sat down and moved her body forward, he moaned under his breath. Finding that somehow interesting, Lucia began to move more aggressively. At first, it was fun to stimulate him then gradually, she began to get stimulated. However, the coming stimulation wasn't as satisfactory as when he was the one moving.

Lucia threw her head back, closed her eyes, and moved diligently searching for satisfaction.

Hugo moaned and he watched her move diligently on him, his throat grew drier. The sight of her moving slowly while biting her lips with a slight frown on her face was both erotic and cute. She was being active in her own way but maybe she was scared because she only pecked at the entrance without daring to do anything else.

Just being inside her felt good but his body begged for a stronger stimulus. He couldn't bear it anymore, so he grabbed her waist and lifted it up.

"Ah!"

Her inner flesh gripped him tight, overcome by the sudden stimulation. He lifted her waist up and down, continuously. She mewled loudly and leaned backwards. He let her fall to the bed and rammed in powerfully. He grabbed her thighs and pressed against her as if going to fold her body in half then he began to thrust into her intensely.

"A-ung! Ah!"

A sharp scream continuous cut through the air. Her tender insides latched onto him and clenched and unclenched repeatedly, squeezing him so tight that it hurt.

"Ahh!!"

"Uk…"

As she reached her climax, her body reacted violently. He couldn't win against the stimulation of tight grip of her inner walls and ejaculated inside her. He swallowed the curse climbing up his throat. He could feel the pleasure raising the hairs on the back of his neck, but he had wanted to hold back and do it later.

He grabbed her lethargic frame and pulled her to his chest. He sat her to face him and kissed her eyes, lips, ears and neck over and over again.

His manhood, still buried inside her, regained vigor and began to get hard again. Feeling the pressure of his thing getting bigger and filling her up to the brim, Lucia uttered a moan.

The night was still long.

DAILY LIFE OF THE DUCAL COUPLE(6)

T/N: Slight trigger warning. Read with caution.

Lucia woke up rather late, and when she opened her eyes, she idly thought that the bedroom seemed stranger than usual, then she remembered that this was her husband's bedroom. She couldn't see her husband anywhere. Perhaps the fireplace had been lit because the room was warm unlike yesterday.

She blinked her eyes, buried deep inside the blanket then she lazily got up. Her whole body felt listless and heavy.

She felt like they had really set a record last night. After all, they had gone to sleep around when the sun was dimly rising. Like she had taken a stimulant, Lucia didn't fall asleep as easily as usual. And maybe thanks to that, he didn't even think of letting her go. Because of this, Lucia came to a realization. All this while, whenever she fell asleep, her husband also stopped.

As the blanket came off, cold air hit her body. She was naked. As she wondered where her underwear was, she remembered the lingerie from yesterday and heat rose to her face.

She turned around and found the lingerie in question, lying neatly on the bedside table. She picked it to check it and her mouth fell open. It had totally become a rag.

When the door suddenly opened, Lucia was startled and quickly dragged the blanket to cover herself. Her husband entered the room, fully dressed like he would be going out soon.

In that moment, Lucia felt like she had gained the power to see through things(1). She could see the tight muscles on his broad chest even though he was wearing a shirt. The sweat flowing down his chest caught her eyes, suddenly shimmering before her. Even as he approached and perched on the bed, Lucia couldn't look straight at him.

"Y-You haven't left yet?"

"I'll be going soon."

He gazed at her with a mysterious look in his eyes then he picked something up and seeing the rag in his fingers, Lucia screamed inwardly. He chuckled, looking at Lucia, who couldn't meet his eyes at all, then he put his hand down again.

"…How could you tear it up like that. Do you know how much it cost…"

"Hmm. So you planned on wearing this again?"

"Eh? N…No. Not that. I mean, I'm just saying."

The sight of her babbling away in embarrassment was so pretty that Hugo couldn't help but lower his head and plant a light kiss on her lips.

"Um…yesterday…was it okay?"

"Be more specific."

"Uh…I mean…was it better than usual or something like that."

He burst into laughter.

"What did you think? Was it better than usual?"

"Ah…it was a little…embarrassing."

Then Lucia added in a small voice, 'the usual is just fine.' His gaze turned deep as he looked at her white cheeks stained with red. Once again, he pecked at Lucia's lips. It lasted a bit longer than the previous one, but it was still a light kiss.

"I already said this before but I'm crazy enough about you even without such things."

He lifted her chin with a finger and kissed her again. This time, he sucked on her lower lips for a long time.

"I don't think you knew, but there's an aphrodisiac on your underwear. From the looks of it, you're quite sensitive to drugs, so don't wear it anymore."

"An aphrodisiac?"

Lucia's eyes widened with a start. And then remembering how she was unusually sensitive last night and didn't fall asleep unlike before, she was convinced. And she also remembered Antoine's face, confidently claiming that these things had never been returned.

"…By the way, how do you know this?"

"The taste. I've been trained to distinguish between all sorts of poison, so I can tell when something tastes strange."

Lucia held her burning face. She had basically worn an indecent underwear and ran to her husband, drunk on aphrodisiac. Hugo chuckled, seeing her face so red it looked like it would burst.

"Now, I wonder where you heard this strange talk from."

"Huh?"

"Whenever you do something unusual, that's usually the case, isn't it? I told you, didn't I? Don't listen to what those women say."

Lucia pursed her lips. What exactly is the range for 'those women'? Inwardly, she grumbled, your wife isn't such a refined lady, you know.

"…They said I should be careful. So…"

"Careful? About what."

"…Marital boredom."

"…Ugh, seriously."

Hugo clicked his tongue in disbelief. Marital boredom? How was that even possible, even now there wasn't the slightest hint of it. His heart was more passionate for her with every day that passed. Today more than yesterday and tomorrow more than today. It was to the extent that he feared the heat of the passion swallowing him up.

"So? Do you think we have marital boredom? Are you tired of me?"

Lucia stared at him. Somehow, she felt like this was usually a question asked by a woman.

As Lucia kept staring at him silently, his expression gradually became more threatening. Seeing his changing expression, Lucia felt a surge of mischief and acted like she was seriously thinking about it.

"Hmm…you know…"

"Vivian!"

Lucia burst out laughing and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I love you."

Seeing that his expression was fully relaxed, she kissed his again.

"I love you very very much."

He held the back of her neck and covered her small lips with his, like he was replying in this manner. His tongue entered deep into her mouth, sweeping through her soft flesh. When the long, sticky kiss came to an end, both of them sucked in a low breath.

"…Let's do it once."

"What?"

Hugo flung away the blanket and flipped her over in one move.

"You…You said you were going out!"

"Why'd you have to provoke me then?"

"When did…Kyaa!"

He grabbed her ankles and like that, pulled her down. Her legs hovered at the bottom of the bed as she lay face-down on the bed while he held her waist and lifted her butt.

When he heavily entered from behind, Lucia let out a scream. She didn't even have the time to breathe properly. He moved out then he thrust in all the way to the hilt again.

"Uk…Hng. Wa…Wait…"

He didn't even listen to her pleas. Mercilessly, he rammed into her, over and over again. He roughly penetrated deep inside her innards that was still excited from taking him all night. Her sensitive flesh clung tight to his firmness.

It hurt. And at the same time, her sight flickered due giddiness. He was different from his usual self, he didn't caress or soothe her. As if fucking her was his purpose, he focused only on that. Her face was buried in the sheets and every time his thighs hit her butt, her entire body shook.

"Hk! A little slower…"

She reached behind her, trying to grab his thigh and push him out. But no matter what she did or said, she couldn't stop him from driving in relentlessly.

Her lewd body quickly got wet, making a path for him as if asking him to enter deeper. A hot thing rode along the path, rummaging inside her.

He feverishly drilled into her from behind, his breathing not wavering in the slightest. Every time a firm rod slammed into her, she felt like she couldn't breathe. His manhood entered deep inside her, piercing and stirring up her spasming walls before leaving.

"Ah! Ahhk!"

Lucia cried out, the dizziness overwhelming her. It felt like her entire body was hit with a strong stimulus.

Just when she thought she couldn't endure anymore, he bit her neck and ejaculated inside her. She thought he would continue to persist like he usually did, so she was thankful. The powerful thrust into her, the stinging pain at the back of her neck, and the hot liquid spreading inside her gave Lucia a sense of pleasure that almost drove her unconscious.

Her whole body trembled minutely. As he kissed her shoulders a few times, he slowly pulled out of her. Lucia fought for breath, unable to move. The only thought on her mind was 'what is this?'. There were times when he was rough, but this was the first time he fucked her like a savage beast.

"I'll head out."

He whispered in her ear.

Even after he left and the door closed, Lucia lay blankly on the bed for quite a long time, her whole body filled with tingles. After a good while passed, she slowly raised her body. You couldn't call that sex anything but instinctual. It felt like her soul was being sucked out.

There was still a side of him that she didn't know. She held her reddening cheeks. She felt very ashamed because her heart was pounding; not because she discovered her man's romantic charm but because of his lust that was closer to instinctual.

Lucia Side Story 5.1: Where Dream and Reality Meet

WHERE DREAM AND REALITY MEET (1)

The brooch Lucia planned to give Hugo as a birthday present took much longer than she expected to be completed. The craftsman who sketched the design was injured in a sudden accident and had to stop working for a while.

The jeweler sent a letter explaining the situation and stated that they could hand over the design to another craftsman if it was needed urgently.

Lucia considered it for a while, but for some reason, she didn't want to have another craftsman in charge of making it. So she decided to leave the design to the original craftsman even if she had to wait longer.

Just when she had almost forgotten about it, the completed brooch was delivered to the mansion.

Lucia placed the brooch wrapped in luxurious velvet on the table and press her hand on her turbulent heart to regulate her breathing. Then she carefully picked it up, like it was a very precious treasure, and brought it closer to her face.

'I'm right. It's the same.'

Lucia didn't make any other further requests of the craftsman nor did she ask the craftsman to add anything at all. She only left it to the craftsman and waited. In other words, the brooch was completely the craftsman's creative work.

Despite that, it looked exactly like the item that Lucia kept for many years in her dream. No matter how she looked at it, even when she closed her eyes to remember, it looked the same. As she stared at the item in her hand, she felt like she was going back and forth between dream and reality.

'Was this originally his…?'

If that was the case, then she really had no idea how his thing found its way into her jewelry box.

Lucia didn't have any relationship with him in her dream. She had really never touched his collar even once. And as for him, he probably didn't even remember that someone like her existed. In her dream, he was someone completely out of her reach.

Jerome carefully approached her as she was lost in thought.

"Milady. The two young masters are back."

"Only the kids are back?"

Lucia wrapped the brooch in velvet again and put it in the box.

"Yes. I only saw the two of them come down from the carriage."

"He didn't say he would be returning late today…"

Lucia gave the box to her maid and told the maid to take it to her bedroom, then she left the receiving room.

* * *

Damian entered the mansion and a smile bloomed on his face as he watched the girl who was rushing down from the second floor. He was ready to hug his sister, running to him with her dazzling golden hair fluttering behind her. Damian opened his arms, but his sister betrayed his expectations.

Evangeline came to a stop just a few steps away from Damian and screamed at him.

"Elder brother, did you stop Jude from coming?!"

Evangeline's pearly cheeks were flushed red. Her expression wasn't that a cute sister joyfully greeting her returning brother but of fury and indignation.

The unfamiliar look on his younger sister's face made Damian pause and he couldn't say anything. Because he was so taken aback, he didn't even really hear what Evangeline said.

"Eve."

"I heard elder brother stopped Jude from coming here! Did you really do that?"

Seeing the raging figure of the girl before him, Damian searched his mind for why his sister was angry.

Jude. He felt the boy was now much older, so it wasn't right to keep allowing them to behave so familiar, which is why he advised his parents to restrict the boy's access. His father agreed with him on that and when his father chose to do something, his mother usually respected his father's will.

Damian didn't personally block Jude's visits, but it was true he played a decisive role in making it happen.

"…Yeah. I told father he should."

Despite her anger, Evangeline wanted to believe that her brother wouldn't do such a thing but hearing this, her expression frozen with shock.

"Why? Why can't I play with Jude?"

"Eve. You and Jude aren't children anymore, you cannot keep playing together forever."

"Why aren't you allowing my friend to come to our house? I've never told any of your friends not to come here. I like big brother Chris and big brother Bruno too, but why does elder brother hate Jude?"

Even though Evangeline finally called his name properly, Bruno unfortunately couldn't be happy about it because of the current situation. As he watched the thunderous war-like atmosphere between the two brother and sister, Bruno slowly stepped backwards. He didn't want to be caught up in it for no reason. He certainly didn't want to be tied to Damian and draw Evangeline's hate.

"It's not because I hate Jude, Eve. There's a reason why this was necessary. If you just get angry like this, we can't really talk properly."

"I won't talk! I hate you!"

"Evangeline."

A firm voice cut off the girl's angry cries. Evangeline turned her head with a start. Her lips trembled when she saw her mother not smiling at all. Whenever her mother scolded her, she always called her Evangeline instead of Eve.

"What is this rude behavior towards your brother?"

Lucia had raised Evangeline relatively freely. She didn't enforce formal attire like it was commonly done for noble young misses, nor did she make her practice covering her mouth modestly when she laughed.

Instead of that, she thoroughly enforced education in etiquette and manners. Her daughter's act of screaming and throwing a tantrum at her older brother, who was much older than her, in front of the servants, was something completely against Lucia's education philosophy.

"Apologize to your brother and go to your room."

Evangeline bit her lips and lowered her head. Her mother usually didn't get angry but when she was scolding someone, she was strict. Most of the time when Evangeline was scolded, she admitted her fault. But not this time. What her elder brother did was far more wrong than rude behavior towards him.

Lucia frowned, seeing that her daughter was stubbornly insisting on keeping her mouth shut.

"Evangeline."

"…"

When Lucia said 'Evangeline' one more time, with anger seeping into her voice, Evangeline abruptly lifted her head.

"I'm not at fault. Why are you only like this to me, Mother?"

Lucia was really caught off-guard by her daughter's reply. She suddenly couldn't think of anything to say and just stared at her daughter.

"Eve."

Damian cut in with a fixed expression. Damian didn't care if his sister yelled at him or anything, but he couldn't just watch her act rude to their mother.

"How can you talk to Mother like that?"

Attacked from both sides, Evangeline had nowhere to escape. Tears began to fill the girl's amber eyes.

Bruno's hand subconsciously moved, wanting to wipe the child's tears, then he quietly brought it down. Even though they were staying together as a family, his fundamental circumstances didn't allow him to cross the family border. So he had no choice but to simply watch a situation like today's unfold.

Evangeline's shoulders heaved as she began to cry. She shut her mouth, as if showing her stubbornness while tears fell from her eyes.

Although Lucia was taken aback by her daughter's defiance, she felt sad to watch her sob her heart out. But even if that was the case, she couldn't just let this behavior pass over like this.

Damian sighed heavily as he alternated gazes between his troubled mother and the crying Evangeline. Normally, Damian was the one hugging and appeasing Evangeline, but right now, he couldn't do anything.

'I should have talked to Evangeline first and made sure she fully understood before talking to my parents.'

Damian chided himself for his actions that ultimately hurt Evangeline.

Evangeline was crying while Lucia and Damian were helplessly trying to figure out how to solve this situation. A servant hesitated upon sensing the mood in the air but eventually relayed the news.

"Master…has arrived."

When she saw that her husband had returned, Lucia felt it was actually good timing. She couldn't retreat first in this scenario and she didn't want to hurt her daughter by pushing her even more.

Side Story 5.2: Where Dream and Reality Meet

WHERE DREAM AND REALITY MEET (2)

"What's going on?"

As soon Hugo stepped inside, he sensed the unusual atmosphere in the house. And he found his daughter crying, with the rims of her eyes and nose red. Her amber eyes that were like her mother's were filled with tears and when she met his eyes, her shoulders shook even more.

It was both loveable and pitiful. With a faint smile on his face, Hugo bent down and stretched out his arms to his daughter. Evangeline glanced at her brother and mother once, then she slowly walked to her father. As she wiped her flowing tears with the back of her hand, her steps towards her father gradually grew faster. Evangeline ran into her father's arms and threw her arms around his neck.

"Waaaaaa!!"

Hugo gently patted his daughter's back as she sobbed on his shoulders. He hugged Evangeline and stood up before turning to look at his wife. He nodded at her, telling her to leave this to him then he headed to the receiving room.

Who knew how such a small body was pouring out so much tears, but Hugo's neck was quickly soaked as his daughter buried her face in it. He sat down on the receiving room couch with his daughter in his arms and simply patted her back, not saying anything and just letting her cry as much as she wanted.

When the child's cries turned to snivels, Hugo asked his daughter.

"Do you want water?"

Evangeline nodded her head. Hugo got up, still carrying her, walked to the table, poured out some water and brought it to her lips. Evangeline quickly gulped down the water while hiccuping from the aftermath of crying.

Hugo returned to the couch, sat down, then he spoke to his daughter who was sulkily sitting on his lap.

"Eve."

"…"

"You don't want to tell me what's going on?"

Evangeline shook her head.

"…Elder brother…stopped Jude from coming."

"Damian drove Jude away?"

"Jude didn't come. But I heard elder brother made him not to come."

Hugo was able to grasp the entire situation with her brief explanation. He had gotten increasing skilled in doing this as he raised his young daughter who wished to express many things with her limited but sufficient vocabulary.

He remembered telling his wife not to allow the boys into the ducal residence anymore. And when he said that, his wife had told him:

[You can't just stop the children from playing together all of a sudden. If you forcibly take Eve's friend away from her, she'll be hurt. Let me try to make Eve understand even if it takes some time.]

He felt his wife had a point, so he told her to do as she saw fit. There was no way his wife would unilaterally stop Jude from coming to visit without talking to Evangeline. And even if Jude was truly restricted from visiting, it had no relation to Damian. Hugo thought Eve had misunderstood something.

"Eve, did you ask your mother why Jude didn't come to see you?"

"…No."

"Your brother didn't do it."

"Elder brother said he did it."

"Then Damian is also mistaken. Damian can't stop Jude from coming to visit. Only your mother and I can. I have never stopped Jude from coming here, and your mother had never done so as well."

"…"

"Did you cry because you were upset Jude didn't come?"

"…I…yelled at elder brother…and…mother got angry…"

Seeing Evangeline slurring the end of her sentence and hesitating, Hugo sensed that there was something more to it than just crying because she was scolded by her mother.

"And?"

"…I talked back to mother."

Oh dear. Hugo chuckled. He might have to placate his wife next after his daughter.

"Eve. You have to apologize to your mother for acting rude to her, and you also have to tell your brother you're sorry for misunderstanding him. Okay?"

"…Okay."

* * *

When her husband carried her daughter to the receiving room and the cries slowly petered out, Lucia heaved a sigh of relief. She realized her daughter who she only fought to raise up well, had now reached the age to confront her and express her own opinions. It was an admirable but lonely feeling.

"It's my fault, mother. It seems she's angry because she can't play with Jude."

"Jude? What about Jude?"

"Didn't you take measures to stop Jude from coming here anymore?"

"No. If you suddenly separate two children who've always played together, it will hurt them both, so I was going to give it some time and make them both understand. Today, Jude didn't come but I was not notified about it and this had never before. I was about to send someone to the Marquis residence to see if anything has happened. I guess Eve heard something strange somewhere."

Displeasure flashed in Lucia's eyes. For a young child to get such news, it was very obvious where the source came from. It was the close servants waiting on her. Lucia had always instructed them to be careful with what they say around the child. It seems she couldn't just let this incident pass. She had to imbue caution into the servants once again and severely scold whoever was responsible for spreading this rumor.

"Even though you're innocent, you became the target for Eve's anger."(Lucia)

"No. Eve is right. I don't have the right to stop Eve's friend from coming to our house."(Damian)

"If you don't have the right, then who does? You did it because you're worried for Eve. Go up and get some rest. I will sent Eve to apologize to you later."

"I don't think you need…"

"Wrong is wrong, Damian. You cannot just accept everything Eve does. Both you and your father, you only know how to say she's pretty. I'm worried she'll grow spoiled at this rate."

Damian didn't agree with his mother's worries. He believed Eve would grow into a lady more thoughtful, lovely and beautiful than anyone else.

'Afterall, she is mother's daughter.'

* * *

Damian lifted his head at the sound of someone knocking on his door. It was obvious who it was, so Damian told them to come in with a smile on his lips.

The door opened and Evangeline poked her head in through the crack of the door. It seems she planned to carefully look around the room but found herself staring straight at Damian who was looking at the open door.

Evangeline flinched in surprise, then she hesitantly entered the room with a bashful smile. The rims of her eyes were still reddish due to her crying earlier. Damian's chest squeezed with pain as he was once again reminded of the sight of his sister crying before.

"I'm sorry."

Evangeline was startled to hear Damian's apology since she had come here to apologize to him. Evangeline stared at Damian, her eyes asking why he was apologizing to her.

"I'm sorry for telling our parents that Jude shouldn't come anymore, Eve."

"…But it wasn't your fault that Jude didn't come today."

"I know. But I still insisted on what I thought without even talking to you. Next time, I will definitely talk to you first."

"…Nn. I'm sorry too, for yelling at you. I was wrong."

The two of them reconciled pretty quickly.

Evangeline skipped down the stairs in a happy mood. Her mother was tough sometimes, but Evangeline really loved her mother a lot. She held a book in her hand, wanting her mother to read it to her.

It seemed like Evangeline was going to jump into the receiving room, but she quickly stopped when she looked inside the open door. Her parents sat side by side on the sofa. She couldn't hear what the both of them were talking about. Her mother's face was filled with smiles, and her father was looking at her mother with very affectionate eyes.

Her mother said something, and her father smiled then kissed her mother's lips. This was a sight Evangeline had seen several times already, so after seeing the familiar affectionate sight of her parents, she turned around.

WHERE DREAM AND REALITY MEET (3)

As Bruno was heading down to the first floor, he discovered Evangeline sitting down at the corner of the staircase. The sight of the girl resting her chin on her small hand seemed serious.

He got worried she might still be in a bad mood, so he approached her carefully. When he quietly sat down next to her, Eve turned around slightly and from what he could tell, she seemed okay.

"Eve."

Evangeline glanced at Bruno then she turned back again and sighed deeply, like a tired old man.

Bruno pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing. The serious look on her face was so cute that he just wanted to hug her.

"Why do you look down? Are you still mad at Damian? Do you want me to scold him for you?"

"No. I've made up with big brother Damian."

"Then what is it?"

"Pretty big brother."

"…Hm?"

"I wish I had someone who likes me the most."

"What? Of course, there's someone who likes you the most, Eve. Both your parents and Damian, they love you a lot."

"No, I know that. But Father loves mother the most. And big brother Damian loves mother more."

"…"

Caught off-guard, Bruno couldn't say anything. And he couldn't reply that it was not just Evangeline complaining.

The Taran family's father and son were both in the very tight grasp of the Taran Lady of the House. But it didn't mean they didn't love Evangeline. The familial love for Evangeline, and the other form of love for the Duchess were both absolute. Since Bruno could sense this, it was hardly possible that Evangeline couldn't. On the contrary, because she was a child, she was more sensitive to it.

"Big brother, you like mother more than me too, don't you?"

"Eve."

Bruno didn't know what to do. He wondered how best to explain this in a way that wouldn't hurt Eve's feelings.

"You can't compare who like who more when it comes to this. Eve, can you say you like one of your parents more than the other?"

Evangeline was quiet for a while then she muttered.

"…Jude isn't like that."

"Jude isn't like what?"

"Jude said he likes me more. He said he likes me way more than his mom and my mom."

Bruno lip's twitched upwards crookedly. That little rascal.

"And so you like Jude?"

"Mn."

Ha, Bruno snorted. And he remembered the affable smile of Jude, the younger brother of his friend, Chris.

'We shouldn't underestimate him because he's a child.'

Didn't he sneakily ask Eve to marry him? He had thought it was just something an immature little boy said without really knowing what it was, but perhaps the boy's intention was more cunning than he thought.*

Even if he was Chris's little brother, Bruno couldn't leave his precious little sister to be eaten up. Bruno's fighting spirit burned against Jude.

"Then I will be the one Eve likes the most."

Bruno smiled meltingly as he watched his sister's eyes open wide. It was a sweet smile that might have caused the young ladies who were always peeking at him to faint from ecstasy if they saw it.

"Or do you like Jude but not me?"

Evangeline quickly shook her head. Then she grinned softly with rose cheeks.

How cute, Bruno rubbed Evangeline's small head then he picked up the book next to her and stood up.

"Let's go upstairs. I'll read it to you."

"Mn!"

Evangeline took Bruno's held out hand with excitement.

"But big brother. You're really so pretty. You're prettier than Patricia."

Evangeline was still too young to fall for Bruno's charming smile. So she expressed her appreciation from the viewpoint of a child. Patricia was a lovely princess doll that Evangeline cherished.

"…"

Bruno knew it was a compliment, but he let out a sigh. His complex mood couldn't really be described as pleasant. He prayed for the day Evangeline would remove the title 'pretty' from his name.

* * *

"They say kids only listen when they're kids."

Hugo pulled her close and squeezed her shoulders. His large hand gently stroked her back.

"Are you still unhappy? Eve apologized and said she was sorry."

"I'm not mad at Eve. It's just…my heart feels lonely. She's already so big…"

"It's just a child's tantrum. Don't take it so seriously."

"I guess I've only thought of Eve as a young child."

"She is still young."

"No. I think she's grown up. I remember you saying this a while back: Even after raising them up, children will later go out to find their own path."

Hugo laughed deeply as he listened to his wife's grumbling. It looks like today, he was fated to appease both mother and daughter.

"I did say that. Let the kids grow. All I need is you."

"…"

Actually, when he said it like that, Lucia was unwilling. Just as she couldn't imagine a life without him, she couldn't imagine a life without her children.

"Wow, you won't say it back, even if it's just lip service."

"…Hugh. Um…"

"It's fine. This is why they say the one who loves more loses."

"Where in the world is that weird confidence coming from? Did you look into my heart or what?"

"Originally, the lacking side is the side that feels it."[1]

Lucia was silent for a while then she sat up.

"Lacking?"

Hugo felt like he could see her rigid expression despite the darkness in the room, so he grabbed her arms and pulled her back into his embrace.

"Why're getting serious again? Guess I can't say anything."

"I love you. I don't want you thinking that I love the children more than you."

"I know. It's just an issue that can't be helped. You have a definite priority between me and the kids and I know you have a hard time distinguishing it. I have no intention of pushing you to feel exactly like I do. I just don't want you to worry too much over the children's issue. Don't set your sight elsewhere when someone who's always thinking about you is right next to you."

"…Your smooth talk is getting better and better."

Lucia burrowed into his chest. When she lost her mother at a young age, she thought she would never meet someone who would love her unconditionally like her mother did. Sometimes when she felt the overflowing love he had for her, her heart was overwhelmed.

Translator's corner:

[1] Not sure how to word this. From my (limited) understanding, he's saying the side that wants more feels the lack of love?? That's my best explanation. For anyone that knows KR, this is the raw: ["원래 부족한 쪽이 느끼는 법이야."] If you have a better wording, please let me know.

Side Story 5.4: Where Dream and Reality Meet

WHERE DREAM AND REALITY MEET (4)

She seemed to have had a strange dream. Lucia squinted her eyes and tried her best to recall the dream, but she couldn't remember anything. She felt like it was a very pleasant dream. She dawdled for a bit, feeling down then she got up. As soon as she left her blanket, which was heated by her body temperature, the cold air in the room covered her entire body.

She placed her feet down beside the bed and the sensation of the cold wooden floor on the soles of her feet made her shiver. She used her feet to grope for her slippers and put them on. The inside of the slippers was cold as well, but it was made of soft wool so it quickly grew warm.

She dipped her hand in the water that she had left out last night in advance. The chill from it made goosebumps rise till the crown of her head. 'Ueeee', she groaned bizarrely and quickly finished washing herself with the cold water.

Lucia looked at her blurry image in the mirror. Clear mirrors were very expensive items, so unfortunately, the mirror she had was stained with black.

This sort of mirror also had its advantages. Because it showed no blemishes or wrinkles, it had the effect of making the reflected image pretty. There wasn't anyone to show herself to anyways, so it was enough to just check that there was nothing on her face; that's what she thought, but nowadays, the blurry mirror irritated her.

Fixing a stare at the mirror, she brought her face close to it. And with that, she could see a small wrinkle that wasn't very noticeable.

'My life has just gone by without me even noticing. I'm already so old…'

She had already gotten older than the age her mother was when she passed away. As she grew older, she realized her mother was actually very young when she gave birth to her. She couldn't help but wonder how many nights her mother secretly cried to herself while raising a daughter at such a young age. She felt sorry to her mother for not living a good life despite her efforts.

"This isn't the time for this."

After sitting absentmindedly for a while, she suddenly sprang to her feet and threw on her clothes. As she left her bedroom, she found the door of the opposite room open. She used to use this room for storing miscellaneous things, but now, there was a guest staying there for a while.

Lucia quietly approached and glanced inside the room. As expected, it was empty. The guest was an early riser so he always woke up earlier than Lucia, then he would leave the door open as if to indicate that he was already up.

'I didn't think he'd stay here this long.'

She was seized with a strange feeling. Someway or the other, she had been living together with this guest who suddenly appeared for a little over a month.

'It's amazing how it doesn't feel uncomfortable.'

Even though a stranger had butt into the space where she had lived alone for many years, it didn't feel out of place, as if she had lived with someone for a long time.

The man probably couldn't even imagine it. That the bumpkin living in this little rural area knew his identity. Lucia had heard a banging on her door at sunset and when she opened the door, she couldn't even begin to describe how surprised she saw to see the man standing in front of her. When he asked if he could rent a bed for the night, she had quickly nodded her head like a fool.

'Don't even dream about it. He'll be leaving soon.'

Lucia chided herself. He was someone way out of her league.

'When he leaves, he'll quickly forget about an old peasant like me.'

He wouldn't even remembered her as a woman he passed by. Even though she knew that, she was aware of the changes in herself as these days, she kept looking in the mirror. The gentle breeze blowing in her heart kept making her excited.

–

–

Lucia went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She chopped the ingredients and lit the fire. She habitually reached out to scoop water from the water jar that was filled to the brim, but then she paused. The water jar that was half-full from yesterday's use was now filled to the brim as always.

Even though she had never asked, he filled the jar with water, every morning without fail. And in his spare time, he chopped firewood. Her storage was filled with so much firewood that she felt like they could last all winter.

Lucia suddenly laughed. She wasn't sure why such a precious personage was so stringent in doing this kind of unpleasant tasks.

When the soup began to boil, she stepped out to look for him. She checked his room first since he might have come back while she was cooking but it was empty. Next, she checked the backyard where the firewood was usually cut. But there was no sign of him there too. She walked around the house several times, but he was nowhere to be found.

'Did he leave? Without even saying goodbye?'

Her heart felt a bit empty. She went to the backyard again and stood, vacantly staring at the pile of wood that was yet to become firewood.

"What are you doing?"

Lucia spun around in surprise.

There he was, looking at Lucia with a particularly indifferent expression. In his hand were a few wriggling rabbits bound up together by a vine.

'Right…hunting.'

He often went hunting in the morning. Lucia's face grew hot. She felt so embarrassed of herself because she had completely forgotten about it and gotten all sad on her own.

"Ah…breakfast is ready."

"I guess I'm late."

"Well…please come in and eat."

Lucia nodded to him in greeting and hurried into the house. She couldn't look back because for some reason, she felt his gaze on her back.

Side Story 5.5: Where Dream and Reality Meet

WHERE DREAM AND REALITY MEET (5)

'I guess lunch will be rabbit stew. Should I make some grilled clams too?'

As she ate breakfast, Lucia was thinking about the next meal. When she lived alone, she made roughly three meals for herself and that was it, but ever since she had a guest, it became something she put effort into. Furthermore, he was certainly used to eating only high-quality dishes, so she felt embarrassed to give him her shoddy meals.

Lucia secretly watched him as they ate. She couldn't believe it even though he was right in front of her. Even though she knew it was impossible for there to be two men with such an appearance and atmosphere around them.

Her gaze fell on the soup bowl he was eating from. Lucia gave a small sigh as she watched him eat a breakfast consisting of soup with only onions and potatoes.

'This place…it doesn't suit him.'

She used him as an excuse, but the truth was, it was for her own sake. He was going to leave anyways. It was better for her to send him away before spending time with him became something she was used to in her daily life.

After they were done eating, Lucia brought out some tea and spoke as if she was just saying it in passing:

"When it gets colder, it will be harder to move."

He looked at her with a brow raised.

"Do you mean you can't let me sleep and eat for free anymore? Do not worry, I will pay the lodging fees."

He had already done more than enough work to pay for accommodation. The firewood he cut alone was enough to last the entire winter. Thanks to his regular hunts, there were piles of skins in the storage and if they were sold, it would bring in a considerable sum of money. Lucia had never eaten meat almost every day like she did nowadays.

No matter where they were, capable people always shone. His tenaciousness was true. He was the only person who made her heart flutter in her memories, marking with the pain of her youth. So Lucia's heart throbbed when she looked at him and she felt bitter because she was reminded of her place and knew that she didn't suit him at all.

"That's not what I meant. The person waiting for you…will be worried."

"There is no such person."

He nonchalantly declared. Lucia wanted to immediately ask, 'how can that be?'. He was already married. He had both a wife and a son waiting for him. And it wasn't just his family. Many of his subordinates were probably stamping their feet, searching for his whereabouts.

"I am uncomfortable."(Lucia)

"…"

"I've lived alone for so long that living with someone else is too much for me."

Lucia felt him staring at her, but she looked down and deliberately maintained a look of determination on her face. A while later, she heard the sound of something metal hitting her wooden table. Lucia lifted her gaze slightly to look and flinched.

'Why is that…?'

The thing he put on the table was an item she kept buried deep in her drawer. It was a brooch, framed in the shape of a lion with red jewels on it. She still had no idea how it came into her possession, but there was someone she was reminded of when she looked at it so she just couldn't throw it away.

Sometimes when she remembered it, she took out. Just like how her mother took out the pendant from time to time. And nowadays, because the person she thought of when she took out the brooch was actually in front of her, she found herself taking it out more often.

'Have I ever brought it out of my room?'

She quickly reached for the brooch, but his hand was faster. Seeing the brooch in his hand, Lucia bit her lips. And she glared fiercely at him.

"I see you repay my goodwill in this manner. Did you go through my room?"

"Do not misunderstand. I only picked up something that was dropped on the floor."

"Dropped where?"

"In front of your bedroom door."

"If that's the case, you didn't have to pick it up. Isn't it obvious that something misplaced in the house belongs to the house owner? I would have found it pretty quickly."

"You're right. But, there is something I want to ask. Is this yours?"

"You're being really rude. Are you suspecting me of having something that isn't mine? Is it an item too precious for a puny woman to have? It's definitely mine so please give it back."

He looked at Lucia's fuming figure then he chuckled.

"Did you know? You've said more today than you've done the past month I've been here till now."

She could say the same for him; he was saying much more than usual. Lucia studied his change in attitude with doubt in her eyes. His expression was usually cold and emotionless but somehow, today, he had a smile on his face.

"You know who I am."

Lucia flinched in spite of herself. When she saw his eyes narrow slightly, she inwardly knew something was wrong.

"A farming woman living alone in a remote corner knows who I am? Of course, I was suspicious of your identity and tried to find out. I'm the type of person that can't let things pass when I'm suspicious. If not for this thing, I probably wouldn't have ever figured it out. But it's been so long ago that it took me a while to remember."

"What do…"

"Your name, if my memory serves me right, is Vivian."

Lucia's face instantly turned pale. She unknowingly tightened her fist even more and her clenched fists trembled on the table. He flicked the brooch at the tip of his fingers, caught it, then he grinned. His vivid red eyes curved slightly.

"You're right; this is yours. Afterall, I gave it to you. I put it in the jewelry box you hid in that secret passage."

* * *

Lucia was trembling as she woke up with a start. She couldn't move an inch, like she was frozen, and her eyes darted around frantically in the dark.

Where is this? Which one is the dream, which one is reality? Then she felt his warmth beside her and heaved a sigh of relief. This was reality.

'Oh…Oh my god…'

She couldn't believe this dazzling wonder at all.

'I remember now…'

When she woke up from the dream in the morning at 12 years old, she thought she hadn't seen her life in her later years. But today's dream told her something different. It wasn't that she didn't see it but that her small head at the time couldn't take some parts of her extremely vast dream.

In her dream, all the bitter events in her life happened in her youth. Her life afterwards was relatively calm and stable. In particular, the events that shocked Lucia the most was her marriage to Count Matin and the things that happened after that marriage. They were so overwhelmingly shocking that it pushed away her memory of other events. However, the memory lying unconscious in her mind was stimulated by the brooch she received today and made itself known.

She could even faintly recall her memories of old age in her dream. She was smiling and was accompanied by a man who looked like her husband, decades later.

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest. It squeezed so tightly that it hurt. Her eyes heated up and she couldn't stop the tears that flowed down her face. She covered her face with her hands and tried to stop her sobs from leaking.

'It was you. It was always you.'

She thought she had lived a life with no connection to him, but her memory showed her that in her dream, she had met him. Although she went through many incidents and spent many years alone before she met him, she eventually did and formed a relationship with him.

Lucia thought she had distorted the original flow of the future. She thought she had forcefully made him connected to her. But now she saw that she would have certainly met him in the future. There was a long thread of fate between the two of them. Her whole body trembled with emotion.

"Vivian?"

As he was a light sleeper, he was woken up by the sound of her subdued sobs.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

He asked urgently and his voice was filled with worry. Lucia couldn't hold back her overflowing emotions and wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight. Her tears kept flowing so she could only hold him and keep crying.

"It's okay, Vivian."

He thought she might have been shocked by a nightmare, so he kept coaxing her. He supported her with his hand and gently stroked her back.

"I love you, Hugh."

Much more than you can imagine, perhaps so much more than you. Although she wanted to say this aloud, she couldn't speak because she was crying. He laughed softly before kissing her ear and whispered into it.

"I love you."

Lucia trembled and burrowed further into his embrace. The Lucia in the dream had her life saved thanks to him, and even though they didn't spend their youths together, they spend the end of their lives alongside each other. The Lucia in reality met him and was able to obtain complete happiness without repeating the tragic future in her dream.

Her relationship with him was the greatest miracle in her life.

[End of Sidestory: Where Dream and Reality Meet.]

Side Story 6.1: In Another Future – Damian

IN ANOTHER FUTURE – DAMIAN (1)

"I have done my part in declaring you as my successor. The rest is up to you. Graduate. Then this place is yours."

The six year old Damian believed in his father's promise and entered the Academy. He fiercely strove to graduate, as it was the only means towards achieving his goal of taking over his father's position. No matter what was around him, his eyes never strayed. Because he wanted the meaning of his existence to be recognized.

When Damian was 13, he was informed that the Duke of Taran had gotten married. Damian didn't think the news was anything special and merely noted it in his memory. A few months later, Damian was notified that he had been registered into legal status and received a portrait of the new Duchess/ his step-mother along with the news. The woman drawn in the painting was dressed in showy clothing and for some reason, both her expressions and posture looked rigid.

'His Grace the Duke's standards are lower than I thought.'

By Damian's standards, the woman could never classify as a beauty.

'A mother…is it?'

Since his status had become legal, it meant the Duchess was now his mother. However, Damian didn't really feel like it meant much. Even if he met the Duchess in person, it was unlikely for him to be able to call her mother. Then again, he was sure the Duchess wouldn't want to be called by such a title. The Duchess hadn't even had her own children, yet she was dirtied by the likes of an illegitimate child. It was obvious to him how humiliated the Duchess would feel.

He had gained a new family, but he felt no joy. Anyways, he would only meet the Duchess after he graduated from the Academy. And even if they met, he would be glad if the Duchess simply ignored him instead of trying to harm him.

* * *

Damian didn't pay anymore attention to the Duke's marriage. He was focused only on studying. Although he was always ranked first, at other times, he was just an unremarkable student. There were guys who tried to pick fights with him when he was young but as they got older, they lost interest in Damian, who had nothing but excellent grades.

Damian was always alone. He wasn't interested in anything other than his grades. He never once thought he needed a friend. He thought he felt no loneliness even though he was alone. But without even realizing it, the walls of solitude around Damian were growing higher and thicker. The boy who already didn't smile much, gradually forgot how to smile.

Finally, when he finished all of his studies at the Academy and held his diploma in his hand, Damian felt a sense of emptiness rather than a sense of accomplishment. The result of what he consistently clung to for more than a decade was nothing more than a piece of paper. He believed he could prove his existence when he graduated but it was merely false hope.

'I…Why did I want to become the Duke?'

The boy who only ran forward without reserve began to look back when he became a young man.

'I wanted to receive father's recognition.'

He wanted to be praised; he wanted to be told he had done well. However, after sending Damian to the Academy at six, his father didn't even send a brief letter till he graduated.

'It didn't have to be me.'

The Duke didn't choose Damian as his successor because of Damian himself, but because Damian was his only child. It wouldn't matter if the position of 'young lord' went to the son the Duchess might have someday instead of Damian.

The winter he was seventeen, Damian realized something.

He was alone.

Story 6.2: In Another Future – Damian

IN ANOTHER FUTURE – DAMIAN (2)

The swinging blade made a dull sound as it reaped a life. As Damian stared at the neck flying the air, he thought to himself that the drops of blood on his face were exceptionally hot. He had learned to have this kind of mental state when destroying barbarians.

"We are done after we finish up here, young master."

"Good job."

Damian showed his appreciation for the knight in charge of the miscellaneous clean-up, then he turned to take a wide look around. Dead bodies with parts missing were scattered all over the place. The knights were moving around to gather the bodies in one place and were piling up firewood in preparation to burn them.

When Damian turned twenty, he began to go to subjugate barbarians. And ever since then, he stayed in Roam. The Duke's days were extremely busy as the king's closest aide and he could not leave the capital, so naturally, father and son lived apart from each other.

"Wait."

Damian approached the knights that were moving two bodies. Even from a distance, it was obvious the two corpses had very different physique and it bothered him for some reason.

When he drew closer, he realized that it wasn't only their physiques that were different; there was a considerable age difference between the two bodies. It was a middle-aged man and a young man who had just come of age. And their very similar facial features told anyone that they were related somehow. They had protected each other, the father for the child, and the child for the father and they were dried tears and blood around the rims of their eyes.

"Young master, do you have a different order or…?"

The knight carefully asked after seeing Damian stand there silently, looking at the corpses for a while.

"…No. I'll leave the rest to you. I shall return first."

When Damian turned around and quickly walked to his leased horse, the knight hurriedly ran after him.

"Young master, it is dangerous to move separately. We are in the middle of the barbarian land and…"

"Didn't you say there are no movements in the vicinity?"

"That is correct, but one can never know."

Damian hopped on the horse despite the knight's protests.

"I want to hurl. The smell of blood is especially nauseating today."

Damian held the horse and kicked the horse's side in one swift motion. Seeing Damian's back becoming distant in the blink of an eye, the knight quickly called for a nearby knight to join and followed after the young master.

After running with the two knights for a while, Damian felt something strange, so he slowed down and came to a stop. The knights followed suit and came up to Damian.

"Young master, is something the matter?"

"…We're surrounded."

"What?"

The knights were startled and looked around in a hurry. There were no signs of people around but Damian was born with sharp senses so he could sense the movements of a group slowly narrowing around them. Their suppressed bloodthirst could be felt in the air as they carefully approached like a pack of wolves round up prey.

'Dozens…no, more than that?'

The power on Damian's side was only that of three people. No matter how skilled a knight was, there was a limit to overcoming an absolute inferiority in numbers.

'I guess this is it.'

Damian's expression was calm as he predicted the end of his short life. He looked up at the sky; it was particularly clear today, without a cloud in sight. He had heard that when the end approached, you would see the person you missed the most drawn in the sky. Damian stared at the sky for a good while, then he smiled bitterly and lowered his head.

Nothing was drawn.

* * *

The Duke of Taran rushed to Roam upon receiving the terrible news of Damian Taran's death. He met his son for the first time in a very long while, but his son's body was already cold.

After the funeral of the young lord, the Duke of Taran gathered the entire power of his family and declared war against the barbarians. No one was able to stop the Duke of Taran's quest for the price of his son's life.

The conquest of the northern barbarians ended in a year, being more of a unilateral massacre than an actual war. Countless barbarians were killed, regardless of age or gender. The bodies formed mountains and rivers of blood. The repulsive smell of burning bodies rode on the wind and covered the entire barbarian land. And so, the vast barbarian land became a territory with no owner.

It was like a vast, empty piece of land had suddenly dropped from the sky causing many countries to drool over it. A vast territory was a necessary condition to be reborn as a prosperous country. Heated competition for the land began to break out all over the place.

It was a prelude to an enormous war which was later called the Second Continental War.

Story 7.1: The Beginning of All Stories

THE BEGINNING OF ALL STORIES (1)

He was born the third son of the Hawkes family of the Madoh Empire. The Hawkes family was a distinguished household known for its outstanding bloodline that had produced great magicians for generations. In a world where innate magical power was a measure of power and authority, the Hawkes family stood in a position to preside over order.

However, he was a variant that didn't deserve to bear the name of the great Hawkes family. He had poor magical power from birth and it didn't get better even when he got older. While his parents and siblings walked the path of first-class magicians, he was unable to cast the magic for even a small flame and fell behind.

His parents and his siblings considered him to be the shame of their family. He was neglected by his parents and was a target of harassment for his siblings. His siblings' malicious pranks grew worse over time and got to the extent that it threatened his life.

When he woke up after being in a coma for a couple of days, he was banished from the house. His parents didn't want useless gossip to arise about siblings killing each other, so they decided to erase the issue from the root. So under the pretext of recuperation, he left on exile to a family-owned remote villa. This happened when he was ten.

He had been abandoned but now, he could enjoy a much calmer life. The old villa was so remote that people in his family almost couldn't find it and it became his home. There was no one to torment him and nobody who saw him as a bug.

The residents of the nearby village had never seen a noble personage before and were afraid due to all the terrible rumors surrounding the appearance of a noble but gradually forgot their fear when he caused no harm.

Although his magical power wasn't anything to write home about, he was very knowledgeable, so he was able to provide the solution to many difficult problems. The residents gradually forgot their fear of nobility and as more time passed, they began to follow the wise young noble.

He could not use magic, but he did not slack on getting knowledge into his head. He truly enjoyed reading books, gaining new knowledge, and exploring truths with unlimited imagination. Once he got lost in thought, he never realized the passing of the day nor the rising of the sun; he was simply absorbed into it. His knowledge was endlessly deep in every way, apart from his lowly magic.

* * *

He was immersed in a world of infinite imagination. In his head was a space made for questing for the truth. In his mind, his thoughts split and spread like the roots of a tree.

"Young master!"

He was startled awake by a fierce scream. He felt like he was just about to have something in his grasp, so it was really a pity. He frowned at the plump middle-aged woman beside him.

"Martha! I told you not to disturb me."

"I wouldn't if you behaved with moderation. You've been like this since last night and the sun is already high in the sky today! Whatever you do, I don't care, but you have to eat!"

Martha exclaimed.

Seeing Martha giving him a stern look with her hands on her waist, he smiled dispiritedly. Martha was obsessed with making sure he was eating properly and did not tolerate him skipping more than two meals.

'I won't die even if I don't eat. Why can't she understand?'

Even though his magical power was meagre, his innate bloodline was so exceptional that he would be fine even if he went starving for a week. However, Martha thought the young master she had been taking care of since he was a child was very weak, so even though he was now fifteen years old, he was still treated as a child.

"Alright, I got it. I'll go eat."

He grumblingly rose to his feet. Although he was interrupted, he couldn't get mad at Martha. For him, who had been abandoned by both his parents and siblings, Martha was his only family. He had never once thought Martha was lowly because she was a villager.

* * *

"Why is the young master still not here? It's way past mealtime."

Martha mumbled to herself and went to find the young master. No matter how old he got, the young master's bad habits showed no signs of getting better. She had to chase him around to eat like a four year old, and even then, he only ate one meal.

Martha felt a great sense of responsibility towards making sure the young master ate properly. Martha looked for the young master in places he was likely to be. Fortunately, there were only a few places that he visited frequently. Most of the time, he was in his study, and if the weather was warm, he walked around the backyard or sometimes, he went a little farther and sat under the tree on the low hill behind the villa.

Since he wasn't in the study or the backyard, there was only one place left. As she climbed the hill, she met another villager to happened to be passing by.

"The young master is sitting up there."

The person knew who Martha was looking for, so they immediately told her where the young master was.

Martha walked faster and reached the top of the hill. And there, she found the young master sitting back, under the huge tree, with his eyes closed. He probably wasn't sleeping. The young master was always in this position when he was lost in his thoughts.

Martha drew closer, planning to call out really loud in order to drag the young master out of his thoughts but when she got close enough and saw the gentle expression on his face, she stopped. It was unknown what the young master was thinking about but there was a smile playing on his lips.

Martha didn't want to disrupt his good mood, so she decided to just sit down. But perhaps she felt a little peeved for she sat down quite loudly but the young master didn't seem to hear a thing and didn't move an inch. Then again, this was the same person she had to scream out several times before he finally heard her and woke up, so this was expected.

'He's grown a lot, hasn't he?'

Martha look in the image of the grown-up young master anew. As the young master was already eighteen years old, there were no signs of a young boy on his visage. His black hair, which couldn't be found among common people like herself, reminded her of the difference between them.

Martha was amazed every time she saw the young master's black hair and black eyes. And she forgot that the young master was one of those scary noble people. The young master was a good man with a warm heart.

'He's a pitiful person.'

Martha just couldn't understand the behavior of the nobles who abandoned their child or brother without any hesitation. If your child was weak, then you should protect them and care for them even more. Wasn't that how a parent should act?

'Despite all that, he grew up very well.'

Martha was filled with satisfaction every time she saw the young master who had grown up graciously. The village maidens who didn't know their place were eyeing the young master, but they shouldn't even bother trying for the impossible. He wasn't someone that those thoughtless rural girls should desire. The young master was going to have a virtuous and beautiful woman as his wife, have a son and daughter, and live happily ever after.

After watching the young master with contentment for some time, signs of boredom began to show on Martha's face. She had been sitting there without doing anything for a while, so she was feeling impatient plus she was hungry. In the end, Martha couldn't bear it and called out.

"Young master."

As expected, he was too lost to hear anything even if she called out once or twice. So Martha yelled.

"Young master!"

He opened his eyes like he had been startled awake.

"Martha. Is it time for lunch already?"

"It's a good while past that actually. I've been waiting for you, young master. Do you know how hungry I am?"

"That's why I said you should go ahead and eat first."

"What's the fun in eating alone?"

"…Do you eat for fun?"

He got up. Martha was the type to reply with two words when you said one word so he had learnt to just say he understood no matter what, otherwise he would just get caught up in Martha's nagging.

THE BEGINNING OF ALL STORIES(2)

The space of truth in his mind expanded infinitely over time. He added knowledge and created new knowledge in the seemingly endless space, filling it with the truths pursued by pioneers and explored unknown area, never explored before.

He lay down in bed to sleep but the thought that suddenly sprang into his mind made him fall into contemplation. He couldn't sense the sun rising in the sky or the day darkening to night. He felt like he was floating aimlessly, like the air around him had changed into a space with no gravity.

'Ah…!'

He lamented and abruptly opened his eyes. His eyes flickered with a golden light. He was overwhelmed with an indescribable sense of joy and looked down at his trembling hands. There was a faint light lingering around his hands. The change that had shown up on his body felt very mysterious to him, so he carefully closed his hands, opened them, then flipped them back and forth to examine them.

The light coming from his hands gradually began to spread all over his body. And the energy streaming from the light gradually began to gush forth and wrapped around him, as if wanting to swallow him.

Pop! There was no actual sound, but he could feel the sound of something popping all over his body. And a golden beam of light burst from his body, piercing the ceiling and into the skies. Like that, he lost consciousness.

It was the awakening of a Great Archmage.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he found unfamiliar people gathered around the bed he was in. As he sluggishly sat up, a luxuriously dressed woman began to speak to him.

"You're up. How do you feel?"

He frowned, wondering who this familiar but unfamiliar woman was. When he didn't reply, the woman's face darkened, and she spoke like she was embarrassed.

"Aren't you going to greet your mother after seeing her in a long time?"

Mother? He barely managed to remember. Was this woman his mother? The mother in his memory always looked coldly at him with thinly veiled contempt. His mother was ashamed whenever she saw his young self because she couldn't believe she had given birth to such a useless thing.

"Don't rush the child too much, he just woke up."

A man beside the woman added, and because of the woman who introduced herself as his mother, he quickly remembered who the man was. It was his father. The father who always clicked his tongue icily whenever he saw him, was now talking as if he was very worried about him. It was a strange sight.

"There has been no precedent of magic power manifesting late like in your case. Everyone saw your pillar of light. It was really beautiful. I am very proud of you, my son."

Ahh. He finally understood what was going on. He looked at his hand and clenched his fist. He could feel strong power coursing through his entire body. The energy was so powerful and bottomless, it felt like he could have the entire world in his grasp.

The child, who was abandoned for his uselessness, was actually a radiant jewel covered in mud. When the mold trapping him was taken off, and his true self was revealed, they came to find the child they had abandoned. He couldn't hold back at all and burst into laughter.

His parents were initially pleased to see him laugh but as they noticed the madness in his laughter, their expression slowly hardened. It was only when the people around him began to exchange serious glances that he stopped laughing. His expression was extremely cold.

"Where is this…no, where is Martha?"

Martha? Who was that? No one knew who he was looking for.

He had already forgotten this fact, but Martha was a commoner. It was a title with the meaning 'animal' in it, a lowly thing. Perhaps they didn't even know that a commoner had a name. He felt uneasy for some reason.

"I'm talking about the commoner who waits on me. The old woman."

"You do not need to be served by a commoner any longer."

"Agreed. You can't have such a lowly thing around you."

"I said! Where is Martha?!"

"If you're talking about the lowly thing that dared to stop us from taking you, it has received the appropriate punishment."

The answer came from the mouth of a certain man. He remembered this man. It was his brother, the one who tormented him viciously and the party responsible to putting him close to the jaws of death. The man smiled crookedly and spoke in a mocking manner.

"I see you didn't learn properly because you lived with such a lowly thing. How rude of you to raise your voice at your parents."

"By appropriate punishment…do you mean you kill her?"

The man scowled.

"Saying it that way isn't right."

"I asked if you killed her."

"I merely passed down punishment. Commoners are originally awfully weak."

Something snapped in his head and he closed his eyes. His heart froze over but at the same time, it began to burn with hot rage. When his eyes opened again, they were filled with golden light. He felt the power in his body boil and overflow. He indifferently watched as shock filled the gazes of the people around him and he unleashed all of his power.

* * *

"We hereby command you to forfeit the family name of Hawkes, and to be banished forever."

He was given the most severe punishment for killing more than ten people, his parents and brother included. He was harshly punished to wander a desolate land with nothing but his body.

A restraint hung from his neck. It was a stigma showing that he was a criminal and it could never be removed for the duration of his punishment. Since his crime was so severe, he received a life-time sentence, which meant he would never be able to take it off, in addition, expulsion magic had been added to his restraint. The criminal wearing this restraint could not approach any borders where the influence of the Madoh Empire reached.

He accepted his punishment. Not because he acknowledged his crime, but because he had no attachment towards his family and the country he was born and raised in.

There were the commoners who weren't treated as people simply because they weren't born with power, and then there were the imperials who saw themselves as gods and would never pass down the punishment of death no matter how serious the crime was. He felt something was wrong with this world.

No matter how powerful your magical power was, you would die if you didn't eat. When imperials who were used to being waited on for everything got banished, they couldn't last long and would starve to death. Outside the borders of the Madoh Empire was a wild wasteland filled only with beasts.

He walked on endlessly in his exile. The knowledge he gained from being around commoners from a young age helped him survive. He knew how to distinguish between some edible weeds and using a mousetrap he made, he caught rat for food.

He continued to contemplate and explore endlessly, only stopping to eat and sleep. He grew thinner and his skin became rough due to exposure to wind and rain, but his gaze grew deeper. One day, he chanced upon a building that was falling apart. It was a temple made of stone and he guessed it was made in ancient history. He decided to settle down and live there. It seemed to have been built with a solid foundation because the basic structure was still remaining.

The pendant-shaped restraint on his neck wasn't one that restricted his ability, so his magic power grew more powerful over time. He used his magic to make a stone doll and controlled it to renovate the temple into a mansion. The doll he made was gradually able to perform more detailed instructions and was able to do basic tasks such as cooking and cleaning.

Since he no longer had to worry about his survival, he spent all his time studying magic. It did not matter if there were no books or experimental materials with him. There was already boundless knowledge in his head and everything around him could become test material.

As he lived estranged from the world, not noticing the passage of time, he suddenly discovered something strange. He had casually taken a look at his face and realized he looked very young, around twenty years of age. He hadn't counted the days, but he knew that at least 10 years had passed. He wasn't sure how, but time was leaving him untouched. Now, even the flow of time could not disrupt his passion for learning.

One day, he broke the sturdy wall surrounding him and gained new, tremendous power.

He found himself in a place that could be described at pure-white, or pitch-dark. He was standing on a golden path that stretched out for miles with no end in sight. He slowly walked along the path and watched as countless fragments of time flashed by him. Day, months, and decades of time swiftly flew by. Absurdly colossal events left afterimages in his head in the blink of an eye.

He saw a future in which the Madoh Empire disappeared and the magic in the world dispersed. A future was coming where the commoners found a new country and ruled the world, a future where the imperials were trampled by the commoners whom they disdained so much and not even a trace of them was left.

The restraint around his neck could no longer restrict him. He could take it off if he wanted to and return to the Empire at any time. But he continued his life as a hermit.

He had no attachment to life but the more he knew, the more he couldn't abandon his desire to see the end of the seemingly infinite truth. And so, he prepared for the day things would end. He set up a barrier around the vicinity of the mansion and gathered magical power. The barrier would protect him and the mansion even if the magic power in the world dispersed in the distant future.

Then a very long time passed; a time so long that he couldn't even guess it.

Side Story 7.3: The Beginning of All Stories

THE BEGINNING OF ALL STORIES(3)

He was enjoying an early morning bath. Today like usual, he was soaking in a bath full of warm water with his eyes closed. Upon detecting the sign of an intruder touching the barrier, he frowned and clicked his tongue. It was definitely that fearless and impudent little girl.

One day, a little girl got through the barrier that thoroughly prevented all intrusion and she had even entered the mansion. The barrier didn't work on the child at all. He tried his best to figure out why but eventually had to conclude that there was a minute loophole akin to a variable somewhere in the dense membrane.

The problem was the little girl. He had left her alone since she wasn't exactly causing any harm but ever since then, she had been coming and going frequently as if this was her own house.

After he was done having a relaxed bath, he came out. His senses caught an energy signal moving around restlessly in the dining room. He put on clothes and went down to the dining room.

"Cael-nim!"

Seeing the woman with a bright smile on her face, he stopped.

"You haven't had breakfast yet, right? I brought a few dishes you'll like."

He looked at the chattering woman with a new gaze. When did that tiny little girl grow so big? She was no longer a young child. The little kid dressed in bright and beautiful clothes had at some point, become a full-fledged young lady.

When he merely stood there, watching her without saying anything, Evangeline studied his face.

"…Are you angry? Because I moved around as I liked…?"

Cael stared at Evangeline for a moment then he snorted.

"Is this the first time?"

When he sat down at the set table and picked up a fork, Evangeline giggled and quickly scuttled over to him. Then she filled his empty glass with water and began to serve the food.

"Just for me? What about yours, kid?"

"I already ate, so don't mind me. And I'm not 'kid'. I have a name, you know. Evangeline. I've told you so many times now."

Evangeline sourly watched as he began to eat without even replying then her gaze turned prideful and filled with joy. She felt like she understood what it meant to feel full just by watching someone else eat.

* * *

"I'm getting married."

Cael stared at Evangeline, who had shut her mouth right after suddenly spitting out such a phrase. Was she already at that age? When did the tomboy that used to run around everywhere begin to walk and cover her mouth slightly when she laughed instead of grinning widely?

"I am yet to see the face of the man who will become my husband. I have to leave home and live in my husband's house. It's very far from here."

"…Right."

"I won't be able to come see you ever again, Cael-nim."

"…I see."

Evangeline's amber eyes quivered as she looked at him as though she was pleading.

"Should I live here?"

"…"

"I am quite useful. I can cook very well, I can clean, do laundry, I can do everything. If I'm here, Cael-nim won't even need to lift a finger. Ah wait. No. You'll need to at least use a finger to call me."

Cael had noticed that the little kid had at some point started to look at him with the eyes of a woman. He knew but he acted like he didn't. Because he couldn't return her heart even if he knew. If he were to truly be honest, perhaps he was afraid that if Evangeline knew he was aware of her secret feelings, he would have to cut her off because he couldn't accept her heart and because of that, she would not come to see him again.

"…Kid."

When Cael gave a troubled sigh, Evangeline actually smiled sweetly.

"You're surprised because I said something strange, right? It's just, I felt sad thinking I won't see you again."

"…"

Evangeline spun around and quickly walked to the door like she was running. She grabbed the door and stood without moving for a while then she said,

"Did you know? You've never called me properly by my name."

Her head was turned so he couldn't see her face, but her voice trembled at the end. As if she was holding back her tears. Cael couldn't even imagine how the kid who always smiled at him looked when she was holding back her tears.

Evangeline went out the door without looking back. Cael's heart felt empty as he stood, staring at the tightly shut door for a long time. It felt like the door would open again anytime soon and Evangeline would jump in, calling out 'Cael-nim'.

However, both the next day and the day after the next, the door did not open.

* * *

Evangeline, whom he thought he would never see again, re-appeared in front of him. She looked very exhausted and thin, holding a very swollen belly.

"I'm sorry, Cael-nim. I couldn't think of anywhere else to go but here."

Her eyes seemed like they would burst with tears at any moment, but Evangeline smiled, refusing to show her tears.

Evangeline's father, who used his daughter in a political marriage to solidify his power base, had led an army and destroyed his in-law's family. Her heartless father did not care about his daughter or about the young life growing in her stomach. For Evangeline's father, his daughter was nothing but a means to be used in political battle.

Evangeline barely managed to escape. If Evangeline was alone, her father would have let her leave since she was at least his child. However, the pregnancy of his daughter meant she was nothing but a seed of trouble. So Evangeline was pursued by a very persistent party.

After losing her only guard who protected her loyally, Evangeline felt death drawing closer and closer. She ran away because she wanted to live but she felt it was in vain, not knowing why she wanted to live like this. As she thought of death, there was someone whose face she wanted to see at least one last time. As so, she decided on her final destination.

People called it the Devil's forest. Only Evangeline could enter this place where no one else entered and left alive. When she saw him again, Evangeline smiled. And she made a brazen excuse, saying she came to find him in order to save the life of herself and her baby in her stomach. She would have rather he coldly turned away and ignored her. However, he silently accepted her inside.

* * *

The baby was born. It was a boy. Evangeline asked Cael to name the boy and asked him to be the child's godfather.

'I want to have your child.'

The feelings she couldn't bear to expose were buried at the bottom of her heart. Someone like her, who had born another man shouldn't even dream of making such a shameless confession. Just the fact that she lived depending on him meant she owed him a debt she could never repay.

"Baden."

Cael named the baby after a great king that had appeared way back in history, long before the world changed. And he became the godfather of Baden.