Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father

This was also an unexpected question.

Paimon hesitated and stretched out his front paws as he pondered whether or not to catch the soap bubbles.

[“Of course they will like it.”]

“Instead, if I ask them to protect the castle until the end of winter, would they listen?”

Paimon’s ears drooped.

[“I am really …… not good enough, oh no. I’m not qualified because I couldn’t protect Eve.”]

Paimon who was about to dig a tunnel again, so I said,

“You couldn’t help it this time. And there will be many opportunities in the future? Some madman is looking for me.”

[“…….”]

“Paimon? Will you still stay by my side?”

[“But the Demon King would be more helpful than me…….”]

“Huu…….”

[“Ahh! Don’t cry, Eve! I will follow you always! I’ll definitely protect you from that madman or whatever!”]

“Thank you.”

As soon as I stopped sobbing, Paimon tilted his head.

[“…… Eve? Are you done crying? Did, did you trick me?”]

“Don’t know? Are you going to take it back?”

[“Devil…….”]

Paimon trembled.

I’m not the devil, I’m the Grand Duchess.

* * *

When I finished my bath, sleepiness came over, but there was still one person left to meet.

He was the most important person.

I forced my weary body and went to Regen.

I just stood in front and didn’t even knock on the door, but I heard a voice from inside.

“Don’t come in.”

I hadn’t even shown my presence yet.

“Do you know who I am?”

“It’s Your Grace.”

It was a watery voice.

“How did you know?”

“I just heard it.”

Aha. I came alone, and he could hear me even when the floor was carpeted.

My adopted son is extraordinary.

As if approaching the door, Regen’s voice was heard closer than before.

“Your Grace, do you remember what you promised me?”

“What promise?”

“Even if I disappear…….”

I burst open the door. Regen widened his eyes, but he continued to struggle to speak calmly.

“Maybe I will attack Your Grace. I have to leave.”

Regen wiped tears with his sleeve.

How many emotions was he hiding in that tiny body? I’m sure Kadan must have been trying to play another trick.

I closed my distance with Regen.

“I don’t remember making that promise.”

“That, that’s a lie…….”

“It’s real.”

“…….”

Regen looked at me. His eyes were swollen and red.

It wasn’t due to him crying for a short while. Maybe he had cried all day since the day I disappeared.

“Lord, in the beginning, adults change their words as they please.”

“…….”

Regen avoided my gaze.

I spoke lightly, meaning I didn’t mind much.

“If you want to leave the castle like that, there are two ways.”

“…… Two ways?”

“Yes. One of them is to knock me down.”

Regen was appalled.

“I, I’m leaving because I don’t want to attack Your Grace!”

“The other is to call me Mom.”

“…….”

“What are you going to do?”

“…….”

“Lord?”

There was a ripple in Regen’s eyes. As expected, the first reaction was denial.

“I think I……misheard you.”

I tilted my head to the side and casually nailed it.

“I told you to knock me down or call me Mom if you want to get out of the castle.”

“…….”

“If you don’t want to do either, you can use the black diamond to get a good night’s sleep. I don’t use it for that purpose, but it helps me sleep without having nightmares. I don’t think you’re going to have nightmares for the next 20 years.”

“…….”

He gave no answer. I smiled brightly.

“Then, knowing that you are not leaving, I will go sleep.”

“Uh…….”

“Have a good dream, Lord.”

I lightly kissed Regen’s cheek.

Regen looked blank even when I left.

At least he wouldn’t cry anymore.

I left Regen behind and, as I crossed the empty hallway called Paimon.

“Paimon.”

[“Leave it to me! I’ll watch him quietly without chattering!”]

“Yes, please.”

I also lightly kissed Paimon’s cheek.

It was a dark night, close to dawn.

As soon as I reached the bedroom, I jumped into Aedis’ arms. He hadn’t applied perfume, and he smelled of soap.

“Regen is fine. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to depend on me yet.”

Ugh, I’m sleepy…….

Aedis procrastinated and muttered, unable to push me away as I approached him.

“The magic tool that Regen wore did not function properly.”

I frowned.

“That bracelet?”

“Perhaps he recognized Wife’s wounds.”

Oh no. As soon as my wounds heal, the first thing to do is to tell Regen.

Even as I sighed, my eyes were closing. It was partly because I was next to my husband, so the tension was quickly relieved. I’m afraid I’ll sleep after thinking a little.

“I’m tired, Aedis.”

“Is that so?”

Yes.

“How about a goodnight kiss after the reunion kiss?”

Aedis forced me to sit while I was half asleep and babbling nonsense.

“Treatment comes first.”

How cruel. Can’t I lie down and receive treatment….?

I kept talking while showing my shoulders.

“By the way, I heard Eleonora asked you to take off your shirt while treating you?”

I was trying my best not to fall asleep, but a blue flame suddenly caught on to the spider’s web that was acting as a bandage.

It did no harm to me, but the flame burned the web without a trace.

“…… Well, you’re not angry, right?”

“To the wife.”

“It’s alright then.”

I roughly agreed. Aedis seemed to smile softly, then pursed his lips again.

“Sorry.”

“Are you going to apologize, too?”

“This is the poison I ate.”

“…….”

Kadan said that, too.

It was when Kadan changed his appearance to Aedis.

– Do you know what poison it is?

– I know it very well. Because my brother also ate that poison.

That trash bastard.

“This poison slowly hardens the kidneys in the body. Later, you will be unable to walk, and you will not be able to do anything without the help of others.”

“Isn’t this a drug that will kill you?”

“Because I’m alive like this, I don’t think it’s poison that causes death.”

That’s weird? Eleonora said I was going to die?

He insisted that I needed treatment for at least ten days so I wouldn’t die. And I believed Aedis’ words and Eleonora’s diagnosis. The only problem is that Eleonora explained the poison by saying it was hard to find, so it was hard to find other examples.

Was it simply because Aedis was the strongest in the world, so the poison didn’t work well? But didn’t he say that Aedis was also an ordinary human back then? What’s the difference with me?

Then Aedis’ finger touched the wound.

I flinched greatly.

“Does it hurt?”

“There, um, that.”

Without realizing it, I shrugged. Aedis immediately took my hand.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“It’s not…… It suddenly reminds me of treating the wolf in the forest.”

I could never forget the look of the wolf, who eventually passed out at the touch of the hand poking through the stomach.

Aedis narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t worry, I won’t put my hand in it.”

“Can I trust you?”

“…….”

“Can I really, really trust you?”

I trembled and asked over and over again.

But regardless of my intention, the treatment started, and I closed my eyes.

Within a minute, Aedis’ voice woke me.

“It’s over.”

Huh? Really? It didn’t hurt at all?

I carefully opened my eyes. I mustered up the courage to check my shoulder. The wound had disappeared without leaving a scar. Even the pale skin had returned to its original state.

“Wow, you can be a doctor. Aren’t you better than Eleonora?”

“Who are you comparing me to….”

Aedis suddenly stopped talking.

I took my eyes off my shoulder and looked at Aedis.

“Why don’t you speak?”

Instead of answering, Aedis grabbed my pajama top, which was about to fall off.

The soft cloth twisted around Aedis’s long fingers, wrinkling it.

I hadn’t even loosened the buttons a lot, so I guessed it was going to slide down.

“Aedis, I’ll do it. If you hold it that hard, it will tear.”

“…….”

Rescuing my pajamas from Aedis’ hand, I asked,

“Hey, can you see if I’m brainwashed?”

Aedis answered with his head turned.

“I have already checked. You are safe. You will never see him again in the future.”

“That’s fortunate. But I also have to get my ring back, and I want to slap his brazen face if possible…….”

“…….”

“But Aedis, how did you twist Kadan to death?”

I adjusted all the buttons and rubbed my sleepy eyes. Aedis then looked at me again.

“I was going to give it away.”

“What?”

“The immortality I have.”

“Is that possible?”

“I do not know. Even if it is possible, it will not be easy. There’s no way he wouldn’t have tried.”

“…….”

“Once I pulled out the body, I was thinking of sending it to the other side of the shadows.”

I remembered Aedis popping from my shadow the day Regen went on a rampage.

I had never heard of any magic that travels through shadows. It was something only Aedis could do. Seeing that he was locked up there, it seems that even Kadan couldn’t break the magic.

I stared intently at Aedis.

“Aedis, don’t you like to live long?”

“If possible, I want to die with the wife.”

“…… It’s touching, but don’t pretend you don’t care about anything else. We have to give Regen a dream and a hopeful future.”

Aedis sighed and laughed.

“It used to be a thing of the past that I thought it might be possible to die with my wife. He said no.”

I guessed who would have said that.

“The beast?”

Aedis reached his hand toward me. This time it was not for the purpose of treatment.

“Yes. He said I couldn’t die with the wife.”