CHAPTER 34

Only then did I realize the perception of mana spread throughout the world.

Just as believing in St. Marianne would awaken holy attribute magic and make you a priest, dark attribute magic was a power that the Demon King only gave to his own people.

In a word, proof that the Demon King has invaded.

It was usually shocking and frightening to find out that the Commander who you believed and followed had a mana.

But I already knew that.

If anything, the fact that he hadn't had black hair all along was even more shocking.

Meyer had no idea what it felt like to be judged by the color of his hair, and I never doubted that I would never know.

But it wasn't that.

It was the mark of the Demon King who was branded from the moment he was born.

I replied with a sigh and a shake of my head.

"There's no reason to be afraid."

"… Is that so."

"Yes. The Commander is very important to me. I can't change him with anyone else. That's why there's no way I'm going to be intimidated by something like that."

I added in a strong tone to ease Vince's concerns. Vince's eyes opened wide.

Only then did I realize that my words were perfect for misunderstanding.

Like Meyer is precious, him, special… No, I said it competently!

I tried to make a hasty correction.

"I just said, I mean."

"… I was scared."

But it was late. Vince opened his heavy mouth as if to slur his words.

I didn't dare to cut him off for making excuses.

"No, everyone in Castle Nokentoria was afraid of His Excellency. Except for my wife."

"If it's your wife."

"She was his nanny. His Excellency's mother, the previous Grand Duchess, was reluctant to His Excellency, so my wife, who had lost her child, nurtured him."

Is it okay for me to hear that? It was excessively confidential to do so.

I have intervened deeply enough at this point. I shook my head stiffening my face.

"… I don't know if it's something I can know."

"If it's the Vice Commander… You may know. It's something you should know."

"I don't know… I wonder if the Commander really wants me to know about this?"

The past was, in a way, his only and secret weakness. Furthermore, Meyer has not yet revealed to me that he has mana.

This must be his disgust.

Then it was right to approach as carefully as possible.

But Vince was frustrated that he couldn't tell me about Meyer's past.

"Of course I don't want His Excellency to be rejected. His Excellency is a man who has strong self-esteem and wants to never show off his weakness. But I still want the Vice Commander to know that."

"Why?"

"Because you are the only person His Excellency trusts and relies on."

"… That's it."

I'm thirsty. Trust and will? It's all just pretending.

Words came over my throat that he was firmly mistaken.

Vince, who doesn't know the inside, said again.

"His Excellency has met you face to face and shared a drink with you. He's not one to keep people close like that."

Meyer Knox, how much distance is this human being keeping from the people around him?

Do you have an aide who you will never have again just because we drank one alcoholic beverage together?

And, besides. Isn't he usually begging me to tell you a secret?

It was the first time begging for a secret.

"And there is only one person who thinks so of Your Excellency, the Vice Commander… If you have such firm beliefs and faith that you don't care a bit about the fact that Your Excellency has power like a demon, you are fully qualified to know about His Excellency's past."

Well, you're completely mistaken!

I didn't care a bit because I already knew. I can't tell him that…

After a slip of the tongue, I became the loyalist of Meyer Knox.

At that short moment, I chewed and chewed on the lesson that words should be careful.

When I was biting my lower lip in a difficult situation, Vince moved lamentably with a deep sigh.

"I'm old now, so I don't know when I'll be out of the world, but I'm the only one left who knows what His Excellency has been through. Your Excellency will never open his mouth to me, and you will continue to bear the pain alone… It's too bad. So, could the Vice Commander take charge of this old man's memory?"

I mean, I don't know if it's okay for me, who suddenly appeared in the Black Knights only a few months ago, to receive those precious memories.

I tried to persuade Vince as much as I could.

"…. You know I could have a falling out with the Commander later and threaten him with his past that I just heard about. You don't know what people are like. You don't know what to believe about me."

"Then it's because I'm old and dumb, and I'm mistaken. But in my old experience, people like that usually dig into secrets first."

And Vince's eyes, staring at me, asked back as if I was really going to.

"And… If you are going to threaten, there is no threat at all beyond the fact that the Commander has magic. The Vice Commander already knows that."

I'm giving up. If that's what you want to call it. Vince's willpower got the better of me, and with a sigh I raised my hand in a sign of defeat.

"Very well. But if His Excellency gets angry later, it's your fault."

"This old man will take full responsibility."

Vince nodded his head determinedly.

Then, after picking a rough breath for a moment, he recalled the distant memory and opened his mouth every single word.

***

Meyer Knox had black hair since he was born.

The color of hair that cannot be born from the great contrast of silver gray hair and light brown hair.

No one had black hair even if you went back to the family tree.

Grand Duke Knox and his aides were confused by the unprecedented incident.

"Maybe the Grand Duchess committed an injustice."

"The Grand Duchess is not the one to do that!"

"And the young master's eyes and nose are just like His Excellency the Grand Duke. It's an outrageous story."

"Then the color of the hair has changed… There is only one case like that. He must have been born awakened to mana."

"You mean the young master is a wizard?"

The Grand Duke, who had been listening to the vassals, opened his mouth seriously. The vassals who answered nodded gravely.

Yes. And the black magic is… Only demons have it."

"I can't believe he's a demon! Are you saying that the young master is a demon now?"

"The demons disappeared after the Holy Demon War. It's impossible."

"This must be the curse of the Demon King."

"Bad noise!"

The office was filled with commotion. The flaring anxiety spread with no way to calm it.

After a long time, Grand Duke Knox made a decision.

"Let the child be imprisoned and watch his prognosis. Let everything be silent about this sinister thing."

The baby, Meyer, was confined to the spire.

His mother, the Grand Duchess, hated Meyer for making her chastity be questions, and horrified at the fact that what was suspected of being a demon had come out of her stomach.

She never looked for Meyer after she sent him to the spire.

As a result, many people in Nokentoria Castle, including the people of the estate, came to know that the Grand Duchess's child was stillborn and that Meyer was the Grand Duke's illegitimate son.

No matter how much of the Grand Duke's bloodline he was, they couldn't have a clean view of the illegitimate child.

If it weren't for the nanny Jonata, Meyer would have been left in a state of indifference.

While everyone hated Meyer, Jonata raised him as if he were her own child, instead of her own dead child.

For nearly ten years, Meyer Knox lived in seclusion.

As the only child of the Grand Duke, it was fortunate that he could receive education as the successor.

Raised in a closed space, Meyer absorbed all the education given and performed well. Literature, politics, arithmetics…

However, it was useless to achieve excellent results.

The Grand Duke of Knox did not approve of Meyer's excellent fulfillment, as it may have been due to the demon's specter.

That wasn't all. Grand Duke Knox, who was afraid that the mage might spread outside even after locking Meyer in the spire, donated a large donation to the church and built a large monastery on his estate.

Then he called together priests and monks, and the territory was filled with the mercy of St. Marianne.

Still, it wasn't enough, and he made Meyer pray properly for six hours a day.

He believed that it would purify the magic.

When no one else wanted to be so deeply connected to Meyer, the nanny Jonata complimented him on how great he was and stroked his hair.

"Now everyone doesn't know how nice you are, but they will soon find out."

Little Meyer nodded quietly.

"I don't care as long as my nanny stays with me. Later, when I become the Grand Duke, I'll be sure to repay my nanny for this favor."

"What do you mean, favor. I have to return the favor. I can't tell you how happy I am to spend time like this with you."

But even that small repose disappeared the moment Meyer turned ten.

Jonata had died after a long illness from an infectious disease.

The vassals who knew about Meyer's identity agreed that it was because of Meyer that Jonata died.

"It all happened because she touched that cursed hair! Jonata must have been cursed too!"

Jonata's husband, Vince, stepped in the spire after the funeral.

Jonata was worried about Meyer even though she was dying, and Vince was not the one who could refuse such a wife's will.

What Vince found in the spire was that young Meyer sat with a blank face and cut his hair without hesitation.

"What are you doing, young master!"

Vince hurriedly stopped Meyer. Meyer's hair was already cut all over the place, and his scalp was scratched by the scissor blade and blood was formed.

However, Meyer rather asked as to why he should stop himself.

"Why?"

"Why… It's bleeding. You shouldn't do this. You have to care for yourself…"

Vince blurted out his words. He couldn't figure out how to calm Meyer down.

Meyer stared at Vince. When Vince saw his reflection in Meyer's golden eyes, he felt as if everything was closing in on him.

Meyer spoke in a voice as clear as day.

"Even though my hair cursed Jonata to death?"