It can’t be.
The moment they all saw the exposed face, that was the first thought that crossed their minds.
Jet-black hair.
Vivid red eyes.
And, an unexpectedly languid smile.
‘How is he here?’
Why on earth is he here?
He had certainly died.
Leo, in a state of confusion, lowered his gaze with a puzzled expression, only to lift it again.
Perhaps he wondered if he was seeing something incorrectly.
However, as if to refute this idea, the herald’s voice followed.
“E-Entering, Cassion Carter… of the Carter Duchy!”
Cassion Carter.
The name, uttered by someone else’s lips, struck Leo’s mind like a bolt of lightning.
Leo realized all of this was not a dream or a mere illusion.
It was reality.
Indeed, the person he thought was dead had returned to life.
Hah.
Laughter or a sigh, I couldn’t tell, but a breath escaped involuntarily.
What was certain was that both laughter and sigh were steeped in anger.
‘Why now, of all times, and today.’
Today was the first public event since the duke started to ail.
According to the plan, it was almost the climax.
After today, the rumors about the duke’s illness would spread rapidly. And then…
‘The successor must be announced soon,’ people would say.
If there wasn’t a suitable successor for this situation, the family could be in jeopardy.
Everything was perfect.
Until another candidate for successorship appeared.
Leo raised his hand, massaging his contorted forehead.
Simultaneously, he gathered his thoughts.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Thinking about it, there was no need to get agitated. Regardless of the unfavorable timing, nothing would change.
Since he, Leo, was the one who would become the successor anyway.
That was an unchanging outcome predetermined from the moment of his birth.
How can someone who can’t use magic become the head of a household of mages?
Yet, the reason Leo tried to kill him was simply because he irritated him.
He just wanted to eliminate any potential obstacles in advance.
After all, Cassion never posed any real threat to me.
‘Still, it leaves a dirty feeling.’
Unexpected events were not enjoyable in themselves.
‘Oh, you must be thrilled, yes?’
Leo, who had been lost in various thoughts with a sensitized mind, turned his head abruptly at the voice that suddenly came from beside him.
The voice belonged to Rosetta, who stood opposite him.
Covering her mouth with a fan, she slowly alternated her gaze between Cassion and Leo.
Her eyes revealed above the fan were rounded.
“It must be delightful to have your brother, whom you thought was dead and even held a funeral for, come back to life.”
Isn’t that right, Young Duke?
At the added whisper, Leo’s gaze momentarily chilled.
It was because the woman’s gentle voice sounded as if she were mocking him.
Leo clenched his teeth once, then withdrew his icy gaze, nodding his head.
“It’s as you say. It feels like I might be dreaming right now.”
“Oh my. It’s not a dream but reality. And it’s already inconvenient if you think so.”
It was a reply with significant meaning.
“…What do you mean?”
With suspicion directed at her, Rosetta shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, it’s because there might be even more dream-like things ahead.”
Leo’s eyebrows lifted momentarily and then dropped.
Having to pretend to be Urien, who supposedly loves Rosetta, wasn’t easy in the given situation.
Especially those golden eyes. That gaze that seemed to penetrate everything.
While he faced that gaze, there was no way to prevent the involuntary shudder and discomfort.
As they continued to exchange words, a man who had been scanning the people in front of the closed door began to move slowly.
* * *
With each step Cassion took, people cleared a path for him. Hushed gazes clung to his every move.
However, the protagonist who seized the attention seemed quite self-assured.
Whether the man had died and come back to life, judging by his expression, it seemed as if the surrounding people had died and come back to life.
The place where Cassion’s steps halted was in front of Duke Carter.
Already pale from illness, his face grew even whiter, and the expression he couldn’t quite master made him look like a fainting person.
The duchess beside him had a similar expression, but she recovered quickly.
Biting her red lips once, she opened her eyes narrowly and spoke.
“How could it be…”
“Long time no see, Father, Mother. I apologize for being so late.”
It was truly a spectacle to behold.
People gathered round the three in a circle. Rosetta also moved gracefully.
“Since it seems like a family conversation, I’ll leave you to it.”
Before moving her feet, she left a remark that Leo quickly wiped off his face with a rough expression.
Though his lips remained silent, a plethora of curses amassed at the tip of his tongue.
He soon flicked his head and headed towards the people.
As it was done with Cassion, wherever Leo passed, people cleared a path for him.
Rosetta, with a light smile, mingled with the crowd, sending a fleeting smile towards the quickly departing Leo.
* * *
“Why is their reaction like that? I thought they would welcome me more.”
“Perhaps they’re just surprised, Brother.”
Leo, who had pushed through the crowd and entered the center of the controversy, replied as such.
Cassion’s gaze quietly followed him. Leo approached the duchess and wrapped his arms around her stiff shoulders.
“Right, Mother?”
“Ah, yes. Everyone thought you had departed without a word… Sniffle.”
The duchess was a perceptive woman.
Following Leo’s lead appropriately, she wiped away false tears with a handkerchief.
“But as it turned out… you’re alive.”
With a stiff voice, the duke belatedly, barely muttered these words.
Cassion stared at them expressionlessly, then a subtle smile appeared.
As he looked at each of the three, a renewed feeling washed over him.
What welcome faces, these were.
Right. He had been waiting for this day for so long.
Living a lifetime sneaking around, floating alone in the vast ocean of life.
They made him like this.
Pushing him to the edge of a cliff, and as if that weren’t enough, pointing a knife at his throat.
As if he were not even human.
Causing that carriage ‘accident’ and not even arranging a proper funeral.
In front of many, they turned ‘Cassion Carter’ into a dead person.
To them, he was just a bothersome pebble rolling around on the ground. A pebble to be kicked away.
But now, he was no mere pebble any longer.
If they dared to kick him, he had the strength to break their ankles.
Cassion smiled warmly, revealing his white and even teeth.
“I somehow managed to survive and come back like this. I’m just glad you are here to welcome me back.”
“…If you were alive, you should have come home. Do you know how much Mother and Father must have waited for you?”
Following Cassion’s brazen tone, Leo’s contending bravado followed.
The mix of reproach and longing in their voices was so well-delivered that it involuntarily drew admiration.
“There were some circumstances. And I heard that a funeral was held.”
“……”
“Many people visited the funeral, so I wanted to show that I was alive in front of many people as well. It might cause less confusion later on.”
It was a very plausible reason. It was almost absurd to scold him more.
While Leo and the duchess were choosing their words, Cassion approached Leo.
“And.”
With a brief prelude, Cassion subtly lowered his head.
After confirming Leo’s ears in front of him, he whispered with a smile.
“If I went back home, my dear family will have just killed me again.”
Leo’s eyes flashed sharply.
“…You.”
The lips that had said that much remained tightly closed.
There were too many eyes watching.
Instead, Leo’s fiery red pupils and Cassion’s coldly settled pupils met in the air, touched, and then moved apart.
Cassion twisted his head slightly and took another step back.
‘…This guy seems different.’
Leo felt something strange in Cassion.
A demeanor that’s too relaxed. A carefree attitude.
It was an exceedingly unfamiliar sight.
Cassion, who never seemed to fit with ease and nonchalance, always covered his face with long hair and busied himself with his pitiable attempts at survival.
Sometimes he expressed unmistakable hostility and anxiety, but it only made Cassion look more pathetic.
However, no such trace of that same Cassion could be seen here and now.
No, rather, it was the opposite.
He exuded a dominating atmosphere of confidence that overwhelmed anyone who saw him.
A sense of ominous discomfort arose.
Leo’s heart began to beat irregularly.
Unlike Leo, Cassion’s attitude remained consistent.
With curved eyes, his red pupils turned towards the duchess.
“I can’t believe you missed me so much… Is that true, Mother?”
“Of course, Cassion. You are my precious son.”
“That’s right. Just the same, you are my precious mother.”
“…Yes.”
“Father must have missed me too, right?”
To the question with a predetermined answer, the duke nodded his head slightly with a somewhat bewildered expression.
If asked whether he missed him, he could say neither yes nor no.
Very rarely.
He had very occasionally thought of the face of his dead son.
However, it wasn’t that he fervently wished for him to come back.
After all, he was just a thorn in the side of the Carter family.
Cassion, who read the situation, seemed to sigh with relief, as if letting go of something occupying his chest.
“Then I’m relieved. Since both of you missed me so much, I can confidently ask for what’s rightfully mine.”
“What do you mean, rightfully yours…”
The duchess, sensing unease, mumbled and asked, and Cassion widened his eyes as if wondering why such an obvious question was being asked.
“Well, obviously, my candidacy for the duchy’s successorship. Now that I’m back alive, I’ve regained my qualifications, don’t I?”
Things were unfolding in quite an interesting manner.
It can’t be.
The moment they all saw the exposed face, that was the first thought that crossed their minds.
Jet-black hair.
Vivid red eyes.
And, an unexpectedly languid smile.
‘How is he here?’
Why on earth is he here?
He had certainly died.
Leo, in a state of confusion, lowered his gaze with a puzzled expression, only to lift it again.
Perhaps he wondered if he was seeing something incorrectly.
However, as if to refute this idea, the herald’s voice followed.
“E-Entering, Cassion Carter… of the Carter Duchy!”
Cassion Carter.
The name, uttered by someone else’s lips, struck Leo’s mind like a bolt of lightning.
Leo realized all of this was not a dream or a mere illusion.
It was reality.
Indeed, the person he thought was dead had returned to life.
Hah.
Laughter or a sigh, I couldn’t tell, but a breath escaped involuntarily.
What was certain was that both laughter and sigh were steeped in anger.
‘Why now, of all times, and today.’
Today was the first public event since the duke started to ail.
According to the plan, it was almost the climax.
After today, the rumors about the duke’s illness would spread rapidly. And then…
‘The successor must be announced soon,’ people would say.
If there wasn’t a suitable successor for this situation, the family could be in jeopardy.
Everything was perfect.
Until another candidate for successorship appeared.
Leo raised his hand, massaging his contorted forehead.
Simultaneously, he gathered his thoughts.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Thinking about it, there was no need to get agitated. Regardless of the unfavorable timing, nothing would change.
Since he, Leo, was the one who would become the successor anyway.
That was an unchanging outcome predetermined from the moment of his birth.
How can someone who can’t use magic become the head of a household of mages?
Yet, the reason Leo tried to kill him was simply because he irritated him.
He just wanted to eliminate any potential obstacles in advance.
After all, Cassion never posed any real threat to me.
‘Still, it leaves a dirty feeling.’
Unexpected events were not enjoyable in themselves.
‘Oh, you must be thrilled, yes?’
Leo, who had been lost in various thoughts with a sensitized mind, turned his head abruptly at the voice that suddenly came from beside him.
The voice belonged to Rosetta, who stood opposite him.
Covering her mouth with a fan, she slowly alternated her gaze between Cassion and Leo.
Her eyes revealed above the fan were rounded.
“It must be delightful to have your brother, whom you thought was dead and even held a funeral for, come back to life.”
Isn’t that right, Young Duke?
At the added whisper, Leo’s gaze momentarily chilled.
It was because the woman’s gentle voice sounded as if she were mocking him.
Leo clenched his teeth once, then withdrew his icy gaze, nodding his head.
“It’s as you say. It feels like I might be dreaming right now.”
“Oh my. It’s not a dream but reality. And it’s already inconvenient if you think so.”
It was a reply with significant meaning.
“…What do you mean?”
With suspicion directed at her, Rosetta shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, it’s because there might be even more dream-like things ahead.”
Leo’s eyebrows lifted momentarily and then dropped.
Having to pretend to be Urien, who supposedly loves Rosetta, wasn’t easy in the given situation.
Especially those golden eyes. That gaze that seemed to penetrate everything.
While he faced that gaze, there was no way to prevent the involuntary shudder and discomfort.
As they continued to exchange words, a man who had been scanning the people in front of the closed door began to move slowly.
* * *
With each step Cassion took, people cleared a path for him. Hushed gazes clung to his every move.
However, the protagonist who seized the attention seemed quite self-assured.
Whether the man had died and come back to life, judging by his expression, it seemed as if the surrounding people had died and come back to life.
The place where Cassion’s steps halted was in front of Duke Carter.
Already pale from illness, his face grew even whiter, and the expression he couldn’t quite master made him look like a fainting person.
The duchess beside him had a similar expression, but she recovered quickly.
Biting her red lips once, she opened her eyes narrowly and spoke.
“How could it be…”
“Long time no see, Father, Mother. I apologize for being so late.”
It was truly a spectacle to behold.
People gathered round the three in a circle. Rosetta also moved gracefully.
“Since it seems like a family conversation, I’ll leave you to it.”
Before moving her feet, she left a remark that Leo quickly wiped off his face with a rough expression.
Though his lips remained silent, a plethora of curses amassed at the tip of his tongue.
He soon flicked his head and headed towards the people.
As it was done with Cassion, wherever Leo passed, people cleared a path for him.
Rosetta, with a light smile, mingled with the crowd, sending a fleeting smile towards the quickly departing Leo.
* * *
“Why is their reaction like that? I thought they would welcome me more.”
“Perhaps they’re just surprised, Brother.”
Leo, who had pushed through the crowd and entered the center of the controversy, replied as such.
Cassion’s gaze quietly followed him. Leo approached the duchess and wrapped his arms around her stiff shoulders.
“Right, Mother?”
“Ah, yes. Everyone thought you had departed without a word… Sniffle.”
The duchess was a perceptive woman.
Following Leo’s lead appropriately, she wiped away false tears with a handkerchief.
“But as it turned out… you’re alive.”
With a stiff voice, the duke belatedly, barely muttered these words.
Cassion stared at them expressionlessly, then a subtle smile appeared.
As he looked at each of the three, a renewed feeling washed over him.
What welcome faces, these were.
Right. He had been waiting for this day for so long.
Living a lifetime sneaking around, floating alone in the vast ocean of life.
They made him like this.
Pushing him to the edge of a cliff, and as if that weren’t enough, pointing a knife at his throat.
As if he were not even human.
Causing that carriage ‘accident’ and not even arranging a proper funeral.
In front of many, they turned ‘Cassion Carter’ into a dead person.
To them, he was just a bothersome pebble rolling around on the ground. A pebble to be kicked away.
But now, he was no mere pebble any longer.
If they dared to kick him, he had the strength to break their ankles.
Cassion smiled warmly, revealing his white and even teeth.
“I somehow managed to survive and come back like this. I’m just glad you are here to welcome me back.”
“…If you were alive, you should have come home. Do you know how much Mother and Father must have waited for you?”
Following Cassion’s brazen tone, Leo’s contending bravado followed.
The mix of reproach and longing in their voices was so well-delivered that it involuntarily drew admiration.
“There were some circumstances. And I heard that a funeral was held.”
“……”
“Many people visited the funeral, so I wanted to show that I was alive in front of many people as well. It might cause less confusion later on.”
It was a very plausible reason. It was almost absurd to scold him more.
While Leo and the duchess were choosing their words, Cassion approached Leo.
“And.”
With a brief prelude, Cassion subtly lowered his head.
After confirming Leo’s ears in front of him, he whispered with a smile.
“If I went back home, my dear family will have just killed me again.”
Leo’s eyes flashed sharply.
“…You.”
The lips that had said that much remained tightly closed.
There were too many eyes watching.
Instead, Leo’s fiery red pupils and Cassion’s coldly settled pupils met in the air, touched, and then moved apart.
Cassion twisted his head slightly and took another step back.
‘…This guy seems different.’
Leo felt something strange in Cassion.
A demeanor that’s too relaxed. A carefree attitude.
It was an exceedingly unfamiliar sight.
Cassion, who never seemed to fit with ease and nonchalance, always covered his face with long hair and busied himself with his pitiable attempts at survival.
Sometimes he expressed unmistakable hostility and anxiety, but it only made Cassion look more pathetic.
However, no such trace of that same Cassion could be seen here and now.
No, rather, it was the opposite.
He exuded a dominating atmosphere of confidence that overwhelmed anyone who saw him.
A sense of ominous discomfort arose.
Leo’s heart began to beat irregularly.
Unlike Leo, Cassion’s attitude remained consistent.
With curved eyes, his red pupils turned towards the duchess.
“I can’t believe you missed me so much… Is that true, Mother?”
“Of course, Cassion. You are my precious son.”
“That’s right. Just the same, you are my precious mother.”
“…Yes.”
“Father must have missed me too, right?”
To the question with a predetermined answer, the duke nodded his head slightly with a somewhat bewildered expression.
If asked whether he missed him, he could say neither yes nor no.
Very rarely.
He had very occasionally thought of the face of his dead son.
However, it wasn’t that he fervently wished for him to come back.
After all, he was just a thorn in the side of the Carter family.
Cassion, who read the situation, seemed to sigh with relief, as if letting go of something occupying his chest.
“Then I’m relieved. Since both of you missed me so much, I can confidently ask for what’s rightfully mine.”
“What do you mean, rightfully yours…”
The duchess, sensing unease, mumbled and asked, and Cassion widened his eyes as if wondering why such an obvious question was being asked.
“Well, obviously, my candidacy for the duchy’s successorship. Now that I’m back alive, I’ve regained my qualifications, don’t I?”
Things were unfolding in quite an interesting manner.
